We have with us:
|
Dr.
Pietro Shakarian, who is a Lecturer in History at the
American University of Armenia in Yerevan. His research focuses on the
history of Soviet Armenia and the Caucasus. |
|
Hi Pietro!
Armenian
News Network / Groong
Conversations on Groong: Roundup on the Ukraine Crisis
Hello
and welcome to the Armenian News Network, Groong,
I’m Asbed Bedrossian.
We’re
recording this episode on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
In
this Lightning Conversation on Groong,
we’re doing a quick roundup of the Ukraine Crisis where events are unfolding at
a dizzying pace.
We have with us:
|
Dr.
Pietro Shakarian, who is a Lecturer in History at the
American University of Armenia in Yerevan. His research focuses on the
history of Soviet Armenia and the Caucasus. |
|
Hi Pietro!
Yesterday was
quite an eventful day. Russian president Putin recognized the two component
oblasts of the Donbas region as sovereign countries: the Donetsk People’s
Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, the DPR and LPR respectively.
● Can you give us a breakdown of what exactly
happened last night?
● What do you think pushed Putin to take this
step?
● Looking at the map, the Donbas region does not
span the entire border between Russia and Ukraine. What are Russia’s objectives
in Donbas? Is this move a step towards controlling all of Ukraine?
● Much has been written in the US media about
Putin’s “nostalgia” for Soviet times and that he wants to reconstitute the
USSR. Do you think that his latest steps are motivated by that idea, or by
something else?
● Has Putin painted himself in a corner here? Does
he have a Plan B?
The western media,
the wires, major newspapers, are all the same chorus: Russia is invading, this
won’t stand, terrible sanctions are on the way, etc.
● First of all, is “The West” a homogeneous bloc
of agreement on how to proceed, or is the current chorus just the US?
● I was talking with Hrant Mikaelian a couple of
days ago and he said
the goal of the US in this crisis is to decouple Russia from the
EU. The less the two interact and inter-depend, the more Europe would need the
US. What are the divisions within The West?
Map of the Donbass Region Made up of Donetsk and
Luhansk
Wikipedia: By RGloucester - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Alright, we’ll
leave it there for today! Thank you everyone!
That
concludes this Conversations On Groong episode.
As always we invite your feedback, Thanks to Laura
Osborn for the music on our podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel
on YouTube, Like
our pages and follow us on Twitter. On behalf of everyone in this episode, we
wish you a good week, thanks for listening and we’ll talk to you soon.
Pietro Shakarian, Ukraine, Ukraine Crisis, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Donbas, Donetsk, Luhansk, DPR, LPR, USSR, Soviet Union, Armenia, Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh,