Foreign Affairs committee  —yes, a game-changer, in the eventual collapse of the regime. But Taras is talking as though we're close to a post-conflict situation, whereas there's a possibility that the military may actually invade eastern Ukraine, the way we're going.

Foreign Affairs committee  The question is what will hurt, what will cause pain in people who are actually making these decisions that are breaking international law and international conventions? That's a.... The economic sanctions that are being discussed using the Iran model apparently can hardly work regarding Russia, just because of the structure of its exports—unless Europe decides to live without Russian gas, which would have an enormous economic cost for Europe.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, I happen to be from Quebec, but I have also studied language politics in Ukraine for a long time, for 20 to 25 years, perhaps because I'm from Quebec.

Foreign Affairs committee  But inasmuch as the Russian state has been using that argument in the context of actually sending troops, it is not a footnote. It is something that needs to be addressed. I wouldn't say “chaotic”, but in the high-pressure, extremely fast adoption of all these constitutional changes a weekend ago in parliament, the language law was terminated without debate, and that didn't go well, because symbolically...and it was presented as discrimination against Russian speakers.

Foreign Affairs committee  And Jewish—I didn't even know about the Jewish part. That adds to the inclusivity. They have accepted to take over the governorship of Donetsk, for Mr. Taruta, and of Dnipropetrovsk, for Mr. Kolomoisky. In addition, if a few ministers, particularly on economic matters, could be integrated into the government, that would certainly go a long way towards inclusivity.

Foreign Affairs committee  That strategy was first used at the time of the 2008 war in Georgia, if not before, when it became clear that Russia had widely distributed passports to residents in Abkhazia and Ossetia. Those two territories, which subsequently became officially independent, were de facto reannexed by Russia.

Foreign Affairs committee  Very well. Thank you, madam. After the Soviet Union collapse, Ukraine inherited a nuclear arsenal that was probably the third or fourth largest in the world. Of course, that became an extremely worrisome situation. After several years of negotiations, Ukraine agreed to become a non-nuclear state, which led to the famous Budapest Memorandum in 1994.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The unimaginable is now before us. The higher chamber of the Russian parliament has authorized Russia to send troops “on the territory of Ukraine” leaving open the possibility that the Russian army currently occupying Crimea may be dispatched elsewhere on Ukrainian territory.