Defcon hasn’t changed.

@TylerHessthey want to get their pipeline down there and get a hand in the Mideast. They need friends.

Syria as well

@Josh M. -OH They're not trying to gain anything in this situation. They have every incentive to avoid escalation. However, the Ukrainians, and particularly Poroshenko himself, have numerous incentives to escalate, as it will force the U.S. and E.U. to step up their intervention, and possibly provide the latter with a pretext to invoke emergency powers, and delay the elections (which he's unambiguously poised to lose).

If the French are rioting over gas prices, any disruption to natural gas would cause synergistic effects

my belly is practicing for the big day

That's why I'm saying it makes no sense. Unnecessary escalation by Russians.

Taking about eating or having a baby? @Isabella Locke-MT

braxton hicks contractions

@Josh M. -OH The Russians aren't escalating; they're maintaining the post-02/22/2014 status quo. It's the Ukrainians who are escalating by attempting to move naval vessels from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov via the Kerch Strait (which Russia claims as its territorial waters).

...not to mention that Russia just spent $3.7 billion building a bridge from the Crimea to the Russian mainland.

@Freiheit - CA She's practicing for the local hot dog eating competition where she will represent IE.

Based

@Bjorn - MDhavent they been moving vessels through for a while? Did they ever stop?

Good luck @Isabella Locke-MT The future of Evropans lies in your hands (stomach)

Teach your baby to eat hot dogs so it can help.

Before you give birth.

I know we're all keto gang here, but for your loved ones: boycott palm oil
https://youtu.be/2_7Cwlo8udQ

@Josh M. -OH Russia has an a natural incentive to allow Ukrainian vessels to pass from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea, as that makes them less of a threat to Russian shipping and the Kerch Strait Bridge, but not so much in the case of the latter.

Russia might have done it to imply that they are willing to do other more drastic things even if they really arent or are hesitant, much as Trump did with his unnecessary and asinine bombing of Syria in order to make his threats towards North Korea more credible, essentially trading a temporary escalation of tensions for a long term de-escalation assuming that WW3 doesn't result along the way.

They had a temporary off limits area that Ukraine violated.

@TylerHess That's possible.

1355 stats war now

@Josh M. -OH More or less.

Ima keep it real with you chief. If you had said "Coconut Oil" instead of "Palm Oil" those tigers finnasend their job applications into Kelloggs if they want a place to stay.

I have an article to link but it's not cooperating. Standby.

I just found coconut oil at 29. Not giving it up.

Gimme dat oyl

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201811251070121395-russia-fire-strait-kerch-conflict/

I put it in my hair

Oil it king!

Annoint thyself!

🛢

@Papa Pizzagate yes coconut oil is good. and not a huge threat ecologically in the same way as palm

Is the Ukrainian government actually retarded?

@Josh M. -OH This is just a bit of linguistic sperging, but I really hate that so many people interpret "бандит" as bandit in English. While it *is* technically a cognate, who uses the word "bandit" in English in 2018...?

Just stubborn

What does meme waifu lawyer Natalya Poklonskaya have to say about this?

They ruined their relationship with what used to be their biggest ally for... ???

@Jacob Hard to know. Their government's kind of a sh#tshow...

@Jacob Crimea. Gas