What was I thinking? I realized only this morning that there is a likely very specific reason for all this rabid, NATOid blather about Ukraine's "Territorial Integrity":

The Huge Russian Aid Convoy, last week--to eastern Ukraine that Kiev for many reasons (some strategic, some genocidal) did not want to let through, and which NATO powers were caught between, the rock of acknowledging the transparent flimsiness of Kiev's claims to sovereignty of eastern Ukraine (and indeed of Ukraine itself), and the hard place of openly denying desperately needed aid to a civilian population being ruthlessly oppressed, dispossessed, shelled, bombed and murdered by militia loyal (if that's the right word, and not just "answerable") to the jumped-up, neo-Nazis entrenched in Kiev--which, over screams of "Violation of Territorial Integrity!" and "Wait! we're not done dithering yet!" Putin simply, unhesitatingly punched his monstrous aid convoy right through Ukrainean Territory, in a brilliant fait accompli, to those desperately needy, Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine, saying loudly, for all to hear, "Only illegitimate fascist swine, and their creatures and cohorts, would try to prevent innocent, suffering civilians from receiving Humanitarian Aid!"  Peter the fucking Great could not have pulled off so dazzling a coup.  If this doesn't put Putin's approval rating with the Russian people over 90%--Well, wait until the foodstuffs start pouring into Moscow and St. Petersburgh from Central Asia, China and South America from Putin's restructuring of Russian food purchases.  Russians are going to enjoy not being poor any more.   

Anyway, that's why Merkel is doing this Mutt 'n Jeff crosstalk routine with Poroshenko about Ukraine's precious "Territorial Integrity."  Understandable of course, yes--but still: what lying, cowardly, time-serving, blackguardly, hypocritical cynical bastards they are, and no mistake.