Oil Conflict Ukraine vs. Russia

There is a war brewing in the eastern Donets'k region of Ukraine over who the country should look to or submit to, as a center of government....the East or West. The western and more liberal portion of Ukraine recognizes a partnership with Poland, whilst the eastern portion is more populated by Russian speaking Ukrainian citizens that recognize the Eastern border neighbor, Russia. These divisions have long-standing roots. During the 16th and 17th centuries, for instance, much of Ukraine was under the control of the Poland-Lithuania. This country, which at one point constituted the largest nation in Europe, declined in the 18th century and was eventually partitioned by its stronger neighbors Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Interestingly enough the western portion of Ukraine has strong ties to Europe including Poland, Italy, and Germany and all have very large 75 billion+ discounted trade agreements with Russia for their natural gas. The problem for me is that Ukraine, is a considerably small country of 233,090 sq mi (ref: Texas 268,820 square miles) and over half of that wants to join Russia. The other half wants to maintain ties to Poland (read: Europe and ultimately The United States), regain control over the eastern region, and still maintain the agreement for discounted gas prices...this, for me, is either two faced or serving two masters... Rep. Ted Poe says 'Cold War II' Is Coming. Mar. 22, 2014 - According to Ted Poe, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,

"the Ukraine issue is causing another Cold War."

He said,

"We're in Cold War II. The Russians know it ... but I don't think the United States knows it."

He suggested that the U.S. might be able to make progress in this situation by providing natural gas to European NATO nations. This would lessen their dependence on Russian energy and allow them to stand against further aggression from Putin. I actually agree on this reccomendation, absent the recommended resouces available to supply the 2.2 trillion cubic feet (per year) of natural gas that europe will require. The U.S. has on reserve 223 billion barrels of oil equivalents, which include crude oil and gas currently, so it is possible to offer a portion of the reserve as a resource. However, and importantly noted, that this is not a smart strategy when thrawting off war. Ukraine has long been recieving gas from Russia for discounted prices in exchange to utilize the Crimea port and land, which sounds quite fair personally, and to cry wolf to the United States when no bloodshed has occured is not fair to the soldiers and citizens that could potentially lose thier lives behind a conflict that surronds divided civilly, and is a local issue. Only in this issue does Leslie the Barber agree, becuase Ted Poe is famous for racist statements including comparing immigrants to grasshoppers, quoting the Klu Klux Klan Grand Master Nathan Bedford Forrest on the Senate Floor, and because Ted Poe has sentenced over 20,000 criminals as former 228th Felony District Court judge. Nationally Poe is renowned as a firm believer in harsh punishment and in humiliating criminals, ordering thieves to carry signs in front of stores from which they stole; required men who abused their wives to publicly apologize on the steps of Houston's City Hall; commanded sex offenders to place warning signs on their home after serving jail time; and directed murderers to securely place a photo of their victims on the wall of their prison cells, creating a daily reminder of their crime. He voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 and against the DREAM Act when it was introduced in 2010. More recently, he opposed the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, calling it "an imperial decree to unilaterally ignore portions of the immigration law of the land". He is the sponsor of the Deport Foreign Convicted Criminals Act of 2011 (H.R. 3256), which would provide for denial of immigrant and non-immigrant visas to nationals of countries which have "refused or unreasonably delayed repatriation" of persons ordered deported from the United States.

United States Oil Resources 2013