Philip Williams, ABC News Online: Russia has attacked Ukrainian navy ships but what will the response be?
The flashpoint between Russia and Ukraine over access from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov is remarkable in that it did not flare up years ago.
And that's because the pinch point between the Russian annexed Crimea and the "motherland" known as the Kerch Strait is so loaded with political and military pressures that it's surprising the clash we have just witnessed hasn't happened before now.
Rewind four years and the newly assertive pro-Western government headed by President Petro Poroshenko was turning its back on Russia and looking to the West, and NATO, for trade and protection.
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WNU Editor: So why did Ukraine decide to send 3 small navy boats to challenge the Russian navy in the Kerch Strait? Russian media is saying that this is an engineered crisis that is focused on helping Ukraine President Poroshenko win the Presidential election in a few months. Ukraine is countering that they told Russian authorities that they were going to conduct this transit (Russia is saying no), and that they had the right to do so. What's my take. Ukraine Poroshenko has his crisis. He has already signed his martial law decree. And he will try to galvanize Ukrainian support for his actions .... support that he hopes will be enough to win when Ukrainians go to the polls on March 31. 2019. But while I do see a "bump" for him, it is not enough. Ukraine President Poroshenko won the Presidency on a platform to bring peace to eastern Ukraine and stable relations with Russia .... not to increase tensions and talk of war. But increase in tensions and talk of more war is what is happening right now.
