Crisis in Oekra�ne #62 Rusland is een tankstation.

quote:

Tijdlijn van de ontwikkelingen in Oekra�ne

- 21 november 2013
President Viktor Janoekovitsj maakt bekend dat de regering niet van plan is een samenwerkingsverdrag met de Europese Unie te tekenen, maar in plaats daarvan de banden met buurland Rusland wil aanhalen. Betogers gaan de straat op.

- 30 november
Beelden van betogers die tot bloedens toe zijn geslagen door agenten met gummiknuppels duiken overal op. Steeds meer mensen sluiten zich aan bij de betogers.

- 1 december
Een demonstratie op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein in Kiev trekt driehonderdduizend betogers. Het is de grootste demonstratie sinds de Oranjerevolutie in 2004. Activisten bezetten het gemeentehuis van de hoofdstad.

- 17 december
De Russische president Vladimir Poetin maakt bekend dat Moskou voor 15 miljard aan Oekra�ense staatsobligaties koopt en de gasprijs verlaagt.

- Eind december
De protesten in Kiev blijven tienduizenden mensen trekken, maar de opkomst is een stuk lager dan begin december, toen honderdduizenden mensen zich aansloten bij de protestbeweging.

- 22 januari 2014
Drie betogers komen tijdens vechtpartijen met de politie om het leven. Demonstranten richtten barricades op.

- 28 januari
De Oekra�ense premier Mykola Azarov maakt het aftreden van de regering bekend. Het besluit is bedoeld als een concessie aan de protestbeweging. Strenge wetten die de protestbeweging moest beperken in haar bewegingsvrijheid worden herroepen.

- 16 februari
Oppositieleden en demonstranten maken een einde aan de bezetting van het gemeentehuis in Kiev in ruil voor de vrijlating van alle 234 betogers die waren opgepakt en vastgezet.

- 18 februari
Betogers vallen linies van de politie aan en stichten brand bij het parlementsgebouw, nadat een grondwetshervorming die de macht van de president moet inperken, was blijven steken in het parlement. De oproerpolitie reageert met geweld in een poging de betogers te verdrijven van het Onafhankelijkheidsplein. Zeker 26 mensen komen om het leven en honderden raken gewond.

- 20 februari
Enkele uren na de afkondiging van een wapenstilstand breekt opnieuw geweld uit. Scherpschutters van de regering nemen betogers vanaf daken onder vuur. Van de 82 slachtoffers die in totaal omkomen vallen de meesten op deze dag.

- 21 februari
Protestleiders en president Janoekovitsj komen na bemiddeling van de Europese Unie overeen een nieuwe regering te vormen en vervroegde verkiezingen te houden. Het parlement perkt de rechten van de president in en zijn politieke rivaal, Joelia Timosjenko, wordt vrijgelaten uit de gevangenis. Ondanks de overeenkomst blijven de betogers op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein. Janoekovitsj ontvlucht Kiev.

- 22 februari
Het parlement stemt in met de afzetting van Janoekovitsj en besluit tot nieuwe verkiezingen. Timosjenko komt vrij en spreekt tienduizenden mensen op het Onafhankelijkheidsplein toe.

- 23 februari
Het parlement van Oekra�ne draagt de bevoegdheden van de president over aan voorzitter van het parlement Oleksandr Toertsjinov, een bondgenoot van Timosjenko. De nieuwe autoriteiten vragen het Westen om leningen om een naderend bankroet te voorkomen. Pro-Russische betogers op de Krim gaan de straat op om te protesteren tegen de nieuwe regering. De Krim is een schiereiland in Oekra�ne met een autonome status, waar de Russische Zwarte Zeevloot is gelegerd.

- 24 februari
De interim-regering in Kiev vaardigt een arrestatiebevel uit tegen Janoekovitsj. De Russische premier Dmitri Medvedev schildert de nieuwe leiders van het land af als mensen in bivakmutsen met kalasjnikovs.

- 26 februari
Leiders van de Oekra�ense protestbeweging stellen voor om Arsenij Jatsenjoek aan te wijzen als premier. In Moskou geeft president Vladimir Poetin het leger opdracht tot paraatheidsoefeningen bij de grens met Oekra�ne.

- 27 februari
Gemaskerde en gewapende lieden bezetten overheidsgebouwen op de Krim. De Oekra�ense regering belooft met steun van het Westen een opsplitsing van Oekra�ne te voorkomen. Janoekovitsj wijkt uit naar Rusland.

- 28 februari
Volgens de Oekra�ense regering hebben Russische militairen positie gekozen op strategische plekken op de Krim. Het Oekra�ense parlement neemt een resolutie aan waarin van Rusland wordt ge�ist dat maatregelen die in strijd zijn met de soevereiniteit en territoriale integriteit van Oekra�ne worden teruggedraaid. Toertsjinov maakt bekend dat hij het leger in opperste staat van paraatheid heeft gebracht vanwege de mogelijke agressie.

- 1 maart
Russische militairen nemen de Krim over zonder een schot te lossen. Poetin krijgt van de Federatieraad toestemming om het leger in te zetten in Oekra�ne. De regering in Kiev en haar westerse bondgenoten staan machteloos. De Amerikaanse president Barack Obama belt Poetin en eist dat hij zijn militairen terugtrekt.

- 2 maart
Oekra�ne roept de hulp van de internationale gemeenschap in uit vrees voor een Russische invasie. Aanhangers van de regering en haar tegenstanders gaan in diverse steden in Oekra�ne en in Moskou de straat op. Volgens de Verenigde Staten heeft Rusland meer dan zesduizend militairen naar de Krim gestuurd. De G7, de groep zeven rijkste landen op aarde, schorten voorbereidende gesprekken voor een G8-top in Rusland op.

- 3 maart
Pro-Russische militairen bezetten een veerbootterminal in Kersj, in het oosten van de Krim. De vrees dat Rusland voorbereidingen treft om meer militairen naar de Krim te sturen neemt toe.

- 6 maart
Zowel de Europese Unie als de Verenigde Staten besluiten om maatregelen te nemen tegen Rusland. Als de Russische regering besluit niet in gesprek te gaan over de crisis in Oekra�ne volgen hardere sancties. De voormalige Oekra�ense premier Joelia Timosjenko roept het westen op om snel in te grijpen en dat Rusland gebruikt maakt van de zwakte van het Westen.

- 7 maart
"Er komt geen oorlog met Oekra�ne". Dat zegt de voorzitter van het hogerhuis van het parlement in Rusland, Valentina Matvijenko. Ze zegt zeker te weten dat er nooit een oorlog tussen de twee “broedernaties” zal komen.

- 8 maart
De Oekra�ne benadrukt opnieuw dat het de Krim nooit zal opgeven.

- 10 maart
De regering in Kiev geeft aan dat het bespreekbaar is dat de Krim en het oosten van het land meer autonomie kunnen krijgen. De NAVO maakt bekend dat men meer vliegtuigen langs de grens met Oekra�ne stationeert om de situatie te volgen. AWACS-vliegtuigen zullen oa vanuit Polen en Roemeni� opereren. De EU gaat ondertussen verder met de voorbereiding van sancties tegen Rusland.

- 11 maart
Lavrov (Rusland) en Kerry (VS) bespreken opnieuw de Oekra�ne. Tot een akkoord leidt dit niet maar er wordt afgesproken verder met elkaar te blijven praten. De Krim maakt bekend dat ze de oorlogsschepen van de Oekra�ne in beslag wil nemen.

- 13 maart
Demonstranten uit het Pro-Russische kamp raken slaags met demonstranten die de Oekra�ne steunen in Donetsk. Daarbij valt ��n dode. De Oekra�ense interim-premier Arseni Jatsenjoek spreekt openlijk in de VN-veiligheidsraad en uit zijn bezorgdheid. Tevens benadrukt hij dat Oekra�ne geen oorlog wil. Zijn Russische ambtsgenoot in de VN zegt hetzelfde. Rusland brengt inmiddels meer en meer troepen naar de grens met de Oekra�ne. "Een grootschalige militaire oefening", aldus de Russen.

- 14 maart
Rusland maakt een nieuw dreigement aan de Oekra�ne. De Russen zeggen dat het duidelijk is dat de regering in Kiev de situatie in het oosten van de Oekra�ne niet in de hand heeft en dreigt met ingrijpen. In Londen praten de Russische minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Sergei Lavrov, en zijn Amerikaanse tegenhanger John Kerry met elkaar. Het topoverleg levert niets op.

- 15 maart
Zoals verwacht blokkeert Rusland met een veto een stemming in de VN-veiligheidsraad waarbij de uitslag van het Krim-referendum ongeldig wordt verklaard. China onthield zich van stemming, alle overige leden stemden voor het voorstel. Zaterdag meldde de Oekra�ense regering dat de Russen een dorp net buiten de Krim hebben ingenomen. In die plaats, Strilkove, staan een gasfabriek en een verdeelcentrum die de Krim van energie voorzien

- 16 maart
Het referendum op de Krim vindt plaats. 96,6 % van de kiezers zou voor afscheiding hebben gestemd. De opkomst zou rond de 83% hebben gelegen.

- 17 maart
De EU en VS stellen nieuwe sancties op tegen Rusland. Onder andere de tegoeden van individuen die betrokken waren bij de onrust op de Krim worden bevroren. De Oekraine noemt het referendum van zondag een farce en blijft bij hun standpunt de Krim niet op te willen geven. Rusland wil een steungroep Oekra�ne oprichten om landsdelen meer autonomie toe te kennen. Oekra�ense veiligheidstroepen hebben de bewaking van de gasleidingen elders in het land opgevoerd.

- 18 maart
De Russische president Poetin gaat akkoord met de conceptwet waarbij annexatie Krim door Rusland een feit zou zijn. In april zijn ze in staat om de 'roebel’ te herinvoeren. Japan maakt bekend ook sancties tegen Rusland in te stellen.

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John McCain: Russia is a ‘gas station’

Sen. John McCain lit into Russia and President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, describing Russia as “a gas station masquerading as a country” on the Senate floor.

While most of their colleagues were at a party lunch, McCain and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) took a broadside to Putin and Russia, portraying the country’s government as little other than a petrochemical exporter.

“I have no illusions or worry about the long-term future of Russia. Russia is now a gas station masquerading as a country,” McCain said.

“They are an oil and gas company masquerading as a country,” agreed Graham.

But in addition to their zingers, the hawkish GOP stalwarts also raised grave concerns that Putin will be emboldened by the easy manner in which the Crimean Peninsula was seized by Russia. They worry that Moldova, or Eastern Ukraine could be next.

“The value system of Mr. Putin is that of a KGB colonel,” Graham said. “I understand where he is coming from because of his value system. I just don’t agree with it. But what we can’t do is let him affect those who are living around him who want to go a different path, because the day you begin to do that, it never works out well. In World War II, every time somebody gave Hitler a little of this and a little of that, eventually it never works out well.”

“Vladimir Putin’s forces are on the border of Eastern Ukraine right now, and they are poised to invade. They even have forces in Belarus and Vladimir Putin is figuring out the cost-benefit ratio to moving into Ukraine,” McCain added.

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Ukraine's combat dolphins fall into Russian hands after Crimea takeover

By Roland Oliphant in Simferopol

Russian forces have completed their takeover of the Ukrainian navy's assets in Crimea with the storming of the minesweeper Cherkessy.

The Ukrainian navy has been reduced to only 10 vessels, with the other 51 it held at the beginning of this month, including its only submarine, now flying the Russian flag.

But of all the Ukrainian military assets Russia has seized during the annexation, none is quite as unusual as the combat dolphin programme.

The Soviet Union began training dolphins and other marine mammals to locate mines, mark underwater obstacles and detect - and if necessary kill - enemy frogmen in the 1960s. The programme is shrouded in myth, but the dolphins are believed to have been trained to kill frogmen with special harpoons or knives fitted to their backs, or drag them to the surface to be captured.

They were also reported to be fitted with packets of explosives and trained to carry out suicide attacks against enemy vessels, using their natural sonar to distinguish Soviet submarines from potential targets.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine inherited the animals and the experts who trained them at Sevastopol.

With fewer geopolitical foes to worry about, the dolphins found a new role providing therapy swimming for disabled children.

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Ukraine relaunched the military programme in 2012 and the current generation of dolphins is already proficient at marking lost weapons and underwater obstacles with buoys. But last month, the defence ministry in Kiev announced plans to release the dolphins into the wild or rehouse them in civilian aquariums in a cost-cutting move.

Now the base is hoping for a new lease of life under a better funded Russian navy. "Our experts have developed new devices, which convert the detection of objects by the dolphins' underwater sonar to a signal on an operator's monitor," an employee told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency yesterday.

"But the Ukrainian navy lacked the funds for such know-how."

The programme has not always run smoothly, however. In March last year three dolphins reportedly "deserted" to look for mates.

The only other country to train military dolphins is the US, which runs a programme in California.

Much like Soviet-era military equipment, "graduates" of the academy are reportedly to be found in militaries around the world. In 2000, Boris Zhurid, a former submariner who ran the training programme in Sevastopol, sold 27 marine animals including walruses, sea lions and a Beluga whale to Iran, saying he had run out of food and medicine for them at the Black Sea base. It is unclear whether the animals are still in the service of the Iranian military.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 08:38 schreef DustPuppy het volgende:

[..]

Ik mag aannemen dat we dan toch al wel in oorlog zijn.

De VN lijkt me nu een minder afwachtende houding aan te nemen dan de Volkerenbond van weleer.

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The real front in US-Russia 'Cold War'? Nuclear power
The new Cold War brewing between Russia and the U.S. has the potential to go nuclear—just not in the conventional sense.

In the wake of the Ukraine crisis, a debate has ensued about whether the U.S. can use natural gas to counter Russia's global ambitions. However, some experts say the real front in the global energy battle lies not in oil and gas, but in the arena of nuclear technology.

Moscow has quietly taken the lead in the $500 billion market for nuclear exports, building the lion's share of new facilities—and by extension earning influence and good will in key regions around the globe—as the U.S. sits on the sidelines.

Fueled in part by its bounty in natural gas and oil, Russia has transferred nuclear technology to a host of countries, including Hungary, Venezuela, Turkey and, most controversially, Iran. According to the World Nuclear Association, Moscow is building 37 percent of the new atomic facilities currently under construction worldwide, while nearly doubling its own domestic output by 2020.

"The Russians view nuclear as an excellent export product," said Barbara Judge, former chair of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority, in an interview with CNBC. "They are using it as part of their plan to establish themselves as a geopolitical economic power."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101507755

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 09:23 schreef Stephen_Dedalus het volgende:
[..]
George Walden exposes deep roots of this mistrust in his superb little book "China: A Wolf in the World?". As a diplomat in Russia and then in China -- one of the tiny handful of Westerners in Beijing through the Cultural Revolution -- he saw first-hand how the Marxist brotherhood had come to loathe each other. Indeed, they came close to nuclear war. The CIA and State Department were dumbfounded by his accounts at a debriefing in Washington. They had no sources on the ground in Mao's era.

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The EU summit text last week was a call to arms. Officials have been ordered to draft plans within 90 days to break dependence on Gazprom. Even if this crisis blows over, Europe will take radical steps to find other sources of energy. Imports of Russian may be slashed by half within a decade

quote:

Nor has he chosen a good moment for his gamble. Europe's gas tanks are unusually full. The price of oil is poised to fall -- ceteris paribus -- as Iraq's output reaches a 35-year high, the US adds a million barrels b/d a day this year from shale, and Libya cranks up exports again. The International Energy Agency says global supply jumped by 600,000 b/d last month. Deutsche Bank predicts a glut. So does China's Sinopec. Mr Putin needs prices near $110 to fund his budget. He may face $80 before long.

quote:

Oil: Price above $100, traders shrug off jump in supplies

The price of oil rose above $100 a barrel Wednesday as the market looked beyond a large increase in oil supplies.

Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery gained $1.07 to $100.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, a contract for international varieties of oil, added 4 cents to $107.03 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

A report from the Energy Department for the week ended March 21 showed crude oil supplies rose by 6.3 million barrels, more than double the gain of 2.6 million barrels expected by analysts, according to Platts. However, supplies at the oil hub in Cushing, Okla., where benchmark U.S. oil is priced, fell by 1.3 million barrels. And gasoline supplies dropped by 5.1 million barrels, a much bigger drop than analysts anticipated.

http://www.tulsaworld.com(...)88-0017a43b2370.html

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 10:09 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

[..]

Ik denk dat hij er niet ver vanaf zit.
De EU is al decennia bezig om minder afhankelijk van rusland te worden en het laatste decennium zijn er grote slagen gemaakt die alleen maar versneld zullen worden.

En zonder de gasinkomsten is het kremlin nergens.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 10:58 schreef icecreamfarmer_NL het volgende:

[..]

Maar die prijs staat ook onder druk.

Overigens snap ik je opmerking over de goedkoopste optie niet.
Vooral de oost-europese staten worden uitgeknepen met hoge gasprijzen.
En gezien hun veiligheid willen ze daar graag vanaf.

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A sub-strategic role: The SDR also defined a sub-strategic role for the Trident nuclear deterrent alongside its principal strategic function. It stated:

The credibility of deterrence also depends upon retaining an option for a limited strike that would not automatically lead to a full scale nuclear exchange. Unlike Polaris and Chevaline, Trident must also be capable of performing this 'sub-strategic' role.

In comparison with a strategic strike, which would involve a full-scale attack against an adversary in which all or a significant part of the available Trident force would be launched, a sub-strategic strike would involve the launch of one or a limited number of missiles against an adversary as a means of conveying a political message, warning or demonstration of resolve. Commodore Hare told us that this sub-strategic role "offers the Government of the day an extra option in the escalatory process before it goes for an all-out strategic strike which would deliver unacceptable damage to a potential adversary". Although the Government has revealed little information about the precise number and yield of UK warheads, it is widely believed that Trident missiles intended for this sub-strategic role carry only a single warhead, potentially with a significantly reduced yield.
http://www.publications.p(...)dfence/986/98605.htm

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Angela Merkel miffed at Nuclear war game


The Hague: German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not enjoy what other leaders did at the ongoing nuclear security summit in The Netherlands — a ‘nuclear war game’.
The German chancellor grumbled at being asked to play games and take tests with the Prime Minister, US and Chinese presidents around a table with dozens of heads of state at a nuclear summit in The Hague, the report said.

The nuclear war game was a computer test based on the scenario that if an atomic bomb was to hit any of their metropolitan cities what steps would they take — would they inform the people or would they accede to the demands of the terrorist organisation?

US President Barack Obama helped make the game and the test was also aimed at being impulsive and without the aid of any advisers. In a competitive environment, with a ticking clock, the leaders had to make rapid choices before the results were presented to the group, anonymously stripped of their identities and followed by discussion.

http://www.deccanchronicl(...)fed-nuclear-war-game
_{(foto is toegevoegd)}

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Western governments see continuing Russian buildup on Ukraine border

(Reuters) - U.S. and European security agencies estimate Russia has deployed military and militia units totaling more than 30,000 people along its border with eastern Ukraine, according to U.S. and European sources familiar with official reporting.

The current estimates represent what officials on both sides of the Atlantic describe as a continuing influx of Russian forces along the Ukraine frontier, the sources said.

The 30,000 figure represents a significant increase from a figure of 20,000 Russian troops along the border that was widely reported in U.S. and European media last week.

But U.S. and European security sources noted that these estimates are imprecise. Some estimates put current troop levels as high as 35,000 while others still suggest a level of 25,000, the sources said.

However, the sources said that U.S. and European government experts believe that there has been, and continues to be, a steady and noticeable buildup in the total number of Russian forces along the Ukrainian border, though some military units have rotated in or out of the area.

U.S. and European security sources said that the Russian force deployed along the Ukraine border includes regular military including infantry and armored units and some air support.

Also deployed are militia or special forces units comprised of Russian fighters, wearing uniforms lacking insignia or other identifying markings, similar to the first Russian forces to move into Crimea during Russia's recent military takeover there.

U.S. officials said that what Russian President Vladimir Putin actually plans to do with his forces deployed on the Ukraine border is unknown. Some officials say intelligence information available to policymakers regarding what Putin is thinking, and what he is saying to his advisors and military commanders, is fragmentary to non-existent.

But the portents are potentially ominous. "No one's ruling out the possibility of additional Russian military aggression," one U.S. official said.

U.S. President Barack Obama was non-committal when asked about the 30,000 Russian troops estimate at a news conference in The Hague on Tuesday.

"With respect to the Russian troops that are along the border of Ukraine at the moment, right now they are on Russian soil. And if they stay on Russian soil, we oppose what appears to be an effort of intimidation, but Russia has a right, legally, to have its troops on its own soil. I don't think it's a done deal. And I think that Russia's still making a series of calculations," Obama said.

http://www.reuters.com/ar(...)dUSBREA2P22120140326

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Poll: Ukraine Crisis Hurts Obama Approval Ratings
_{WASHINGTON March 26, 2014 (AP)
By CONNIE CASS and JENNIFER AGIESTA Associated Press}

Foreign policy used to stand out as a not-so-bleak spot in the public's waning assessment of Barack Obama. Not anymore. He's getting low marks for handling Russia's swoop into Ukraine, and more Americans than ever disapprove of the way Obama is doing his job, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.

Despite the poor performance reviews, Obama's primary tactic so far — imposing economic sanctions on key Russians — has strong backing.

Close to 9 out of 10 Americans support sanctions as a response to Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, the poll indicates. About half of that group says the U.S. sanctions so far are about right, while the other half wants to see them strengthened, the AP-GfK poll found.

Most Democrats say the sanctions were OK, while a majority of Republicans find them too weak.

"We're supposed to be a country that helps smaller countries in need," said Christopher Ashby, 29, a Republican in Albemarle, N.C., who wants a more powerful response. "Ukraine at this time is definitely in need."

Ashby, a stay-at-home dad caring for three young daughters, said, "When I look at Obama, I see my 5-year-old daughter looking at something that just happened and saying, 'What do I do?'"

Overall disapproval of the job Obama is doing ticked up to 59 percent — a record high for his presidency — in the poll released Wednesday. That's still well below the 72 percent disapproval rate that former President George W. Bush recorded in the AP-GfK poll in October 2008. Still, Obama's 41 percent approval rating is a sobering number for fellow Democrats running in this fall's House and Senate elections.
http://abcnews.go.com/Pol(...)-obama-home-23069843

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Ukraine agrees to 50% gas price hike amid IMF talks

Ukraine's interim government says it will raise gas prices for domestic consumers by 50% in an effort to secure an International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid package.

An official at Ukraine's Naftogaz state energy company said the price rise would take effect on 1 May, and further rises would be scheduled until 2018.
Ukrainians are accustomed to buying gas at heavily subsidised rates. But the IMF has made subsidy reform a condition of its deal.

Ukraine currently buys more than half of its natural gas from Russia's Gazprom, and then sells it on to consumers at below market prices.
Yury Kolbushkin, budget and planning director at Naftogaz, told reporters that gas prices for district heating companies would also rise by 40% from 1 July.

IMF negotiators are still in Kiev to negotiate a package of measures worth billions of dollars to help Ukraine's interim government plug its budget deficit and meet foreign loan repayments.

Deal expected
The IMF is also asking Ukraine to crack down on corruption and end central bank support for the Ukrainian currency.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's finance minister Olexander Shlapak said the country was seeking $15-20bn (�9-12bn) from the IMF. The Financial Times has reported that a rescue package worth about $15bn is close to being agreed, and could be announced as early as Thursday.

An agreement with the IMF is necessary to unlock further financial support from the EU and US.
Financial help is urgently required as Ukraine has been forced to plunder its foreign currency reserves, and the economy is expected to contract by 3% this year, according to the country's finance ministry.

In the US, arguments in Congress over reforms to the IMF have held up plans to offer Ukraine $1bn in loan guarantees.
The EU says its financial support, potentially worth 1.6bn euros (�1.3bn) is contingent on the IMF deal being agreed.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26758788

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Crimean chief prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya ‘wanted’ by Ukraine's security service


Ukrainian national security service has put Crimea’s chief prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya on its wanted list. She is charged of taking actions aimed at the violent overthrow of constitutional order and takeover of government power.

Poklonskaya took the office as Crimea defied the coup-imposed government in Kiev and sought independence from Ukraine. After the peninsula joined the Russian Federation, she was appointed as Crimea's acting chief prosecutor by Russia’s General Prosecutor Yury Chaika.

The Ukrainian National Service for Security and Defense accuse her of violating article 109 of the Criminal Code, which deals with overthrow of the government.

Poklonskaya became somewhat of an internet sensation due you relative youth, attractive appearance and emotional media conferences. A number of anime-style drawings of the official are currency circulation on the web, with many supporters calling her ‘kawaii prosecutor’ after the Japanese term for cuteness.

The now-wanted in Ukraine officer of the law is somewhat irritated with her web popularity, she told the media, because it undermines the serious nature of her job.

Last week the Ukrainian security service said it was investigating 22 alleged cases under Article 109. Seven of the alleged ‘separatists’, as Kiev calls them, are under arrest. Among those charged are several leaders of protests in eastern Ukraine, which defied the new authorities.
http://rt.com/news/prosecutor-poklonskaya-wanted-crimea-349/

quote:

Workers fear for the future in Ukraine's industrial east

Standing outside Donetsk's coal mine, Igor Yefremov mused over the future of Ukraine's heavy industry. "If we join the European Union our mines and factories will shut down," he said. "Already the orders from Russia are drying up. Russia doesn't want us because of the chaos in Kiev."

Yefremov was waiting to meet his brother-in-law, who was working on the early shift at the city centre mine. Above ground, the scene was tranquil. Off-duty workers sat on benches in a small, sunny rose garden, dwarfed by two giant pit frames.

It has been a tumultuous month for Ukraine. There has been a revolution in Kiev, the abrupt exit of the country's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, and military occupation. Russia has seized Crimea, denounced the country's new interim government as "fascist" and launched an all-out information war to justify Crimea's annexation.

The uprising against Yanukovych started last November when he dropped plans to sign an association agreement with the EU, and instead announced a $15bn bailout from Moscow. Last week, Ukraine's new interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, signed the original agreement in Brussels. In theory, at least, this puts Ukraine on a path towards European integration.

But in the heavily industrialised Donbass area of eastern Ukraine, many are wondering what this geopolitical tug of war might mean for them. The Donets basin – the political home of Yanukovych and his Party of Regions – hosts numerous Soviet-era factories: machine-building works, steel and chemical plants, mines, and medium-sized businesses that make fridges.

quote:

Economists say that Kiev's move towards the EU will have positive and negative consequences. The EU last week abolished import tariffs for Ukrainian goods, previously at 14%. This will help Ukraine's agricultural sector, they suggest – principally businesses that export milk, cheese and sunflower oil. The EU says the deal will help trade between Moscow and Kiev.

http://www.theguardian.co(...)-industrialised-east

quote:

Clegg 'shocked' by Farage's stance on Ukraine

Nick Clegg has gone on the attack following his EU debate with Nigel Farage, accusing the UKIP leader of "siding with Putin" on Ukraine.

At the end of their hour-long clash, Mr Farage said the EU had "blood on its hands" for encouraging revolution.
Clegg 'shocked' by Farage's stance on Ukraine
Mr Clegg, speaking on his weekly LBC radio show, said he was "shocked" by the UKIP leader's comments, which he would raise at the pair's next debate.

A YouGov poll for The Sun suggested Mr Farage had won by 57% to 36%.

Mr Farage will get a chance to react to the debate on Friday, when he takes part in an LBC phone-in - and the pair will stage another debate on whether Britain should stay in the EU on 2 April, which will be shown on BBC Two.

Most newspapers declared the UKIP leader the winner of the first round, taking their cue from the YouGov poll:
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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-26761258

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Nationalists Keep Ukraine on Edge as Stability Is Elusive
By Aliaksandr Kudrytski and Jake Rudnitsky Mar 27, 2014 11:38 AM GMT+0100
http://www.bloomberg.com/(...)s-start-to-fray.html

Beneath the scorched, black facade of the Trade Union building in Kiev’s central square, armed nationalists who stoked the deadly overthrow of Ukraine’s previous rulers are undermining their successors.

A month after the uprising, militants in camouflage gear and flak jackets line up empty glass bottles ready to be turned into Molotov cocktails, defying demands to abandon their arms. Some of the protesters who fought riot police for regime change are now turning on the new administration. One of their commanders was killed in a firefight with police this week.

“The people who’re still here helped install the new authorities but now they want to slip out of our control,” said Vyacheslav, 40, a Pravyi Sektor activist in sand-colored U.S. military fatigues. He declined to give his last name because of the tensions. “We’ll stay to keep them in check.”

As Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk races to stave off bankruptcy and grapples with Russia’s takeover of Crimea, his interim cabinet is battling unrest among former allies within the country’s borders. Nationalist groups risk damaging security, discrediting the government and handing Russia a pretext to push its forces further into Ukraine, which President Vladimir Putin says is in the grip of fascists.

[..]

“Muzychko’s death was a signal to other ultra-right wing groups,” Makarkin said. “Europe and the U.S. have told the authorities in no uncertain terms that the government needs to deal with this issue.”

Russia, which says it had to annex Crimea to protect its kin from a backlash, has pounced on the unrest. Incidents in eastern Ukraine, where Russian is widely spoken, have sparked concern Putin will give the green light for thousands of troops on his neighbor’s border to advance.

To help bolster Ukraine, the International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement with the government that unlocks $27 billion in international support over the next two years, the lender said in an e-mailed statement today. If approved by the IMF’s board in Washington, it would be the country’s third bailout since 2008.

Ukraine’s new rulers have added fuel to Russia’s narrative, naming four members of the nationalist Svoboda party to the government. Svoboda, labeled racist and anti-Semitic by the European Union parliament in 2012, an accusation it denies, got posts including deputy premier and prosecutor general.

Fighting Enemies

The party’s lawmakers have also caused a storm outside the corridors of power. Ihor Miroshnychenko, who had to apologize in 2012 for an anti-Semitic slur toward Ukrainian-born actress Mila Kunis, was filmed physically intimidating the head of state-run UT1 television. He accused the executive of pro-Russian coverage and made him sign a resignation letter.

While Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok said afterward that the authorities must use legal means to fight Ukraine’s “enemies,” Russian state TV channels such as English-language RT pounced on the video to back up the Kremlin’s claims of extremism.

A Kiev court on March 25 ordered providers to stop carrying three Russian state channels as of today, according to a statement from Volia, a Ukrainian cable operator. Volia added TV Rain, an independent Russian channel that has been dropped by major cable companies at home amid a crackdown on the opposition.

Arresting “Goons”

“Moscow is continuing to gather multiple cases of gross violations of the rights of the Russian-speaking population and other ethnic groups in Ukraine by homegrown ultra-nationalists and neo-Nazis,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said March 26.

The government, which has seen the hryvnia drop 20 percent since Yanukovych was deposed, has begun to fight back. Prosecutors opened a criminal case into the UT1 attack, while Interior Minister Avakov pledged to arrest “goons” who dress in protest-movement outfits after a “huge number” of disturbances.

“Let’s distinguish between the real self-defense force that did and still does exist and those thugs who disguise themselves in the same clothes,” Avakov said. “Everyone who’s covering themselves and acting under the guise of self-defense, carrying weapons or shields, is a criminal.”

More than 3,000 guns and 30,000 bullets were surrendered to authorities during the amnesty, the Interior Ministry said March 24 on the government website.

Kalashnikovs, Handguns

The government is also proposing militants join a newly created National Guard in which 4,000 enlisted on the first day. Many of those who’ve remained stationed in the tent camp at Independence Square, or Maidan, have refused because the new force reports to the police rather than the army, which remained neutral as Yanukovych fled to Russia.

Aside a rickety wooden table that doubles as a recruiting post, Pravyi Sektor nationalists lure passers-by to join their militia instead of the National Guard, which is seeking volunteers nearby. The bulk of the uniformed paramilitaries -- who show off weapons including a hunting rifle, a handgun and a Kalashnikov -- scoffed at the idea of uniting protesters with the police with whom they so recently locked horns.

“What we see here is Maidan syndrome,” said Oleksandr Suprunyuk, a 51-year-old construction-company owner who’s also a member of the 38th division of the protesters’ defense force. “Many of these people lost their friends here and they’re still full of hatred. Time must pass to heal this.”

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"Russia produced approximately 510 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas in 2011, and approximately 60% of it was sold on the domestic Russian market. Russia has one of the highest domestic consumption rates per capita of natural gas - understandably so, since Russia is one of the world's coldest countries, and heating and electricity use is high. Russian industry also depends heavily on natural gas.

Russia uses a four-tier pricing system for natural gas: two tiers for domestic prices, one for the former Soviet states and one for its European customers. Russia has long capped domestic natural gas prices, a practise left over from the Soviet era. Currently, Russia charges between $75 and $97 per thousand cubic metres (tcm) on the domestic market, with households and municipal entities, such as schools and hospitals, paying the lower price and industrial entities paying more. Most of the former Soviet states pay in the mid-$200s and Europe pays $350 to $450 per tcm.

Russia's natural gas firms - primarily Gazprom - are suffering financially because of measures that let domestic users pay a fraction of the price Russia's foreign customers pay. In the past decade, the Kremlin has permitted Gazprom to increase its price by 14 to 25% a year. This gradual increase has prevented a massive backlash from natural gas consumers in Russia because it has been accompanied by improving economic standards in the country. However, Gazprom says this increase is insufficient.

Gazprom has continued to stay afloat and remain strong because of its sales abroad, where its revenue is approximately $279 per tcm (double the cost of production).
http://www.euractiv.com/e(...)emma-analysis-512092

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United Nations General Assembly Vote Isolates Russia

UNITED NATIONS — In the first barometer of global condemnation of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Ukraine and its Western backers persuaded a large majority of countries in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to dismiss the annexation as illegal, even as Russia sought to rally world support for the idea of self-determination.

The resolution, proposed by Ukraine and backed by the United States and the European Union, represented the latest effort to isolate President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia over the annexation, which followed a March 16 referendum in the peninsula that has been internationally regarded as Ukrainian territory.

The resolution garnered 100 votes in favor, 11 votes against, with 58 abstentions. The two-page text does not identify Russia by name, but describes the referendum as “having no validity” and calls on countries not to recognize the redrawing of Ukraine’s borders.

Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, Andriy Deshchytsia, called Russia’s actions “a direct violation of the United Nations Charter.”

Russia said Crimea should not have been part of Ukraine anyway and appealed to another element in United Nations principles: the right of Crimeans to self-determination.

That assertion was disputed by Samantha Power, the United States ambassador, in the debate that preceded the vote. Coercion cannot be the means to self-determination, she argued. “The chaos that would ensue is not a world that any of us can afford,” she said.

The most poignant argument came from Costa Rica. Small states have only the power of international law “to defend our sovereignty,” its ambassador, Eduardo Ulibarri, said. The resolution proposed by Ukraine, he said, would help to reaffirm that power.

The resolution was regarded as an important pressure point on Russia by the United States and European Union, which had been lobbying intensely for its passage. “This is critical for the U.S.-Europe strategy to isolate Putin and condemn him internationally for Russia’s violation of the U.N. Charter in invading Crimea,” said Nicholas R. Burns, a former American diplomat in the Bush administration.

Although the resolution has no enforcement power, it is symbolically significant in the history of General Assembly votes. The United States has rarely corralled a majority of General Assembly members, especially after the American-led invasion of Iraq more than a decade ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/20(...)-on-Crimea.html?_r=0

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Ukraine leader Turchynov seeks approval for joint Nato exercises

Ukraine's leader sought parliamentary approval yesterday for military exercises with Nato partners that would put American troops in direct proximity to Russian forces in the annexed Crimea peninsula.

Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov's request came as the chief of Russia's general staff announced in Moscow that his forces were now in full control of all of Ukraine's 193 military bases in the Black Sea region before its seizure by Kremlin forces at the start of the month.

Turchynov said Ukraine wanted to conduct two sets of military exercises with the United States this summer - Rapid Trident and Sea Breeze - that have prompted disquiet in Russia in previous years.

Ukraine is planning two additional manoeuvres with Nato member Poland as well as joint ground operations with Moldova and Romania.

The Sea Breeze exercises have especially irritated Moscow because they had on occasion been staged in Crimea - the home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Those manoeuvres have in more recent years been moved to the Black Sea port of Odessa where Ukraine also has a naval base.

An explanatory note accompanying Turchynov's request to parliament said the naval section of Sea Breeze would this time be conducted over a 25-day span between July and October out of two Odessa ports and "along the waters of the Black Sea".
http://www.scmp.com/news/(...)joint-nato-exercises

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:03 schreef theNull het volgende:

twitter:

EuromaidanPR twitterde op donderdag 27-03-2014 om 19:58:58 Live stream from the rally of the Right Sector activists near the #Ukrainian Parliament now http://t.co/EzX1SSgik9 | PR News reageer retweet

quote:

Beneath the scorched, black facade of the Trade Union building in Kiev’s central square, armed nationalists who stoked the deadly overthrow of Ukraine’s previous rulers are undermining their successors.

A month after the uprising, militants in camouflage gear and flak jackets line up empty glass bottles ready to be turned into Molotov cocktails, defying demands to abandon their arms. Some of the protesters who fought riot police for regime change are now turning on the new administration. One of their commanders was killed in a firefight with police this week.

“The people who’re still here helped install the new authorities but now they want to slip out of our control,” said Vyacheslav, 40, a Pravyi Sektor activist in sand-colored U.S. military fatigues. He declined to give his last name because of the tensions. “We’ll stay to keep them in check.

quote:

Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:11 schreef TLC het volgende:
A new classified intelligence assessment concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine, CNN has learned.

quote:

Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:28 schreef theNull het volgende:

twitter:

EuromaidanPR twitterde op donderdag 27-03-2014 om 20:25:40 FALSE All #Russian Media reports that the Verkhovna Rada of #Ukraine are captured by the Right Sector. Live: http://t.co/EzX1SSgik9 |PR reageer retweet

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In Kiev, the activists of the "right sector" blocked the building of the Verkhovna Rada and demanded the resignation of the acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov , which , in their opinion , ordered the destruction of Alexander Muzychko movement coordinator . They also urged the tribunal to give former acting Defense Minister Igor Tenyukh for inefficient Command, in the Crimea. Several thousand radicals and their supporters chanting " Revolution! " And plan to storm the parliament. On this evening, March 27 writes "Ukrainian Truth" .

Gathered in front of several thousand people. Militants besieged Radu tires, smashed glass on the front door. When the protesters came Verkhovna Rada Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov , they booed him with cries of "Shame! ".

By vsedeniyam "Vesti ", one of the organizers of the rally became a member of the political council of the "right sector " Oleg Odnorozhenko he called to occupy parliament as MPs take " anti-national " laws . On the morning of Friday , March 28 , the extremists are going to be on duty to the Parliament , and at noon to report on what is happening on Independence Square .

Currently, to the parliament building shrink column "right sector," come and civilians it is reported that some protesters are armed .

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 20:31 schreef Woestijnvos het volgende:
Gebeurd nog maar weinig.

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Kiev warns EU that transit of Russian gas via Ukraine territory may stop

KIEV, March 28, 0:16 /ITAR-TASS/. A warning came to the European Union that transit of Russian natural gas to the EU via Ukrainian territory may stop. This warning is made in a letter Yuri Prodan, appointed by the Supreme Rada as minister of energy and coal industry of Ukraine, addressed to EU Energy Commissioner Guenter Oettinger, the press service of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry reports.

“We must say there is not much time for arranging for natural gas deliveries from EU countries to Ukraine. Unless this problem is resolved promptly, one may forecast the repetition of the ‘gas war’ of 2009 with the same scenario and with the same economics consequences and even with complete stoppage of gas deliveries to the West,” Prodan’s letter says.

The minister noted that the most pessimistic forecasts about the price of Russian natural gas had been proved in the recent days. Prodan stated it had already become known that since April 2014 there would be no discount specified in the Kharkov accords in the price of Russian gas for Ukraine.

In this connection the minister reminded to the European side about its stated intention to support Ukraine with gas supplies if Russia decreases or stops gas deliveries to Ukraine or raises the gas price considerably.

The Ukrainian cabinet of ministers expects that the price of Russian gas for Ukraine will rise to 480 dollars per thousand cubic meters from April 1. The price of Russian gas for Ukraine is 268.5 dollars per thousand cubic metres till the end of March.

Meanwhile, as deputy head of the board of the Russian gas giant Gazprom Andrei Kruglov said on March 26, 2014, Gazprom considers ways of redistributing transit streams to Western consumers if there were problems with transit via Ukraine. “Yamal-Europe and Nord Stream will provide for certain compensation if there are difficulties with transit via Ukraine,” Kruglov said.

“There are no problems with transit via Ukraine so far, and, I hope, there will be none,” he said. “Transit deliveries are made according to contracts,” Kruglov said.

He also said that Ukraine’s debt for gas amounts to 1.7 billion dollars. Regarding the possibility of the change of the gas price for Ukraine, Kruglov said that the gas price for Ukraine had been fixed by the contract up to 2019. Gazprom’s representative pointed out that the discount on the gas price for Ukraine operated from the beginning of the year. “We will issue the information, also to reporters, whether the discount holds from the second quarter of the year,” Kruglov said.

Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said earlier that March 7 was the deadline for Ukraine making payments for February gas deliveries. “Gazprom received no payments toward the debt. Ukraine’s debt amounts to 1.860 billion dollars,” Miller said. “Ukraine actually stopped paying for gas. This is contrary to provisions of the contract and to international trading practice,” Miller said. “We have always fulfilled and will fulfill our contractual obligations but we cannot supply gas free. Either Ukraine repays the debt and pays for current deliveries, or there will be the risk of the repetition of the situation of early 2009. We will keep the Russian government posted on how the situation develops,” the Gazprom CEO said.

In 2013, Gazprom increased gas export to Europe by 23.8 percent as compared to the previous year, bringing it to 139 billion cubic metres, Itar-Tass reports. Over half of this amount (84 billion cubic metres) is delivered by transit via Ukraine. According to the BP annual survey, Russia’s share in the European gas market in 2013 made up 34 percent, that of Norway 35 percent, Algeria 14 percent, Qatar ten percent, Nigeria three percent and Libya two percent.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/725649

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Vote on Ukraine resolution in UN GA shows Russia not in isolation
UNITED NATIONS, March 27. /ITAR-TASS/. The results of the vote on the Ukraine resolution in the UN General Assembly on Thursday, March 27, show that Russia is not in isolation, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said.

“This is a rather good result for us. We have earned a moral and political victory. There can be no question of Russia’s isolation in this situation,” the diplomat said.

The resolution against the secession referendum in Crimea, which was part of Ukraine but seceded from it and reunited with Russia last week, was passed by a 100-11 vote with 58 abstentions.

Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, and Sudan voted against the resolution.

The document urges countries not to recognize Crimea’s accession to Russia after the referendum held on March 16.

Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, those adopted by the UN General Assembly are not binding and are advisory in nature.

The resolution is “confrontational in nature”, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said. “Russia’s attitude towards the proposed draft resolution is negative,” he said before the vote in the UN General Assembly.

Churkin believes that the document “is trying to call into doubt the significance of the referendum in Crimea, which has already played its historic role”.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/725621

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 22:32 schreef Pharmacist het volgende:
Vote resultaten geven een leuk overzicht van Ruslands vrienden: Armenie, Wit-Rusland, Bolivia, Cuba, Noord Korea, Nicaragua, Rusland, Sudan, Syrie, Venezuela en Zimbabwe.

Interessant trouwens dat Servie niet tegen stemt. Mss ivm EU lidmaatschap plannen? Van Iran had ik ook verwacht dat ze Rusland zouden steunen.

[ afbeelding ]

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 22:58 schreef Pharmacist het volgende:

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Dit zegt natuurlijk helemaal niets over de wereldbevolking. Dit zegt alleen iets over de leiders. Voor hetzelfde geld steunt de meerderheid van de Amerikanen Poetin, of de meerderheid van de Chinezen de USA.

Dit stemmen heeft alleen te maken met geopolitieke belangen. En daarom is het zo interessant. Servie is echt opmerkelijk, zeker gezien die Servische milities in de Krim en dat Kosovo verhaal dat RT er tot vervelens aan toe bij blijft halen. De andere interessante is Iran. Iran heeft traditioneel altijd partij gekozen voor Rusland. Misschien is die reproach tussen Iran en de USA toch succesvol.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 23:23 schreef Nintex het volgende:

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Nou vooruit, voor een keer geloof ik die Russen. Maar de fascisten zaten toch al in de regering RT, hoe kunnen de fascisten dan tegen hun eigen regering zijn.

Oh wacht.

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Op donderdag 27 maart 2014 23:45 schreef Woestijnvos het volgende:

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quote:

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has announced that within the next few days the Interior Ministry will publish audio files that may shed light on the attempt to detain Right Sector coordinator in western Ukraine Oleksandr Muzychko, also known as Sashko Bily, and his subsequent death.

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Ukraine: manifestation d'un mouvement paramilitaire nationaliste

Un millier de partisans du mouvement nationaliste paramilitaire ukrainien Pravy Sektor ont manifest� jeudi soir � Kiev pour exiger la d�mission du ministre de l'Int�rieur apr�s la mort d'un de leurs responsables lors d'une fusillade avec la police.

Brandissant des drapeaux noirs et rouges de ce mouvement en premi�re ligne de la contestation de ces derniers mois, les manifestants ont afflu� autour du Parlement, dans le centre de la capitale ukrainienne, demandant aux d�put�s de limoger le ministre Arsen Avakov, nomm� par les autorit�s de transition pro-europ�ennes au pouvoir depuis la destitution du pr�sident Viktor Ianoukovitch.

Certains d'entre eux ont cass� des fen�tres de l'imposante b�tisse, mena�ant d'en forcer l'entr�e, puis la tension est retomb�e et ils ont d�cid� de revenir vendredi matin � l'ouverture de la s�ance du Parlement. Pravy Sektor (Secteur droit), mouvement d'extr�me droite, s'est transform� samedi dernier en parti politique incluant d'autres formations nationalistes, et son leader Dmytro Iaroch a l'intention d'�tre candidat � l'�lection pr�sidentielle anticip�e du 25 mai en Ukraine. La formation demande le d�part du ministre de l'Int�rieur depuis la mort d'Olexandre Mouzitchko, dit Sachko Bily� (Sachko Le Blanc), chef de Pravy Sektor en Ukraine occidentale, lors d'une fusillade avec des policiers qui venaient l'arr�ter � Rivne.

Les forces de l'ordre ont expliqu� que Mouzitchko �tait recherch� pour appartenance � la criminalit� organis�e. Elles ont affirm� que le suspect avait tir� en premier et qu'il avait �t� tu� par une balle tir�e par sa propre arme. Selon les agences de presse russes Ria Novosti et Interfax, Mouzitchko faisait l'objet d'un mandat de recherche international lanc� par la Russie, qui l'accuse d'avoir particip� en 2000 aux combats en Tch�tch�nie du c�t� des s�paratistes islamistes et d'�tre responsable de la mort de plus de 20 soldats russes.

Cet homme massif �tait connu pour avoir mis sur YouTube deux vid�os qui le montraient en train d'apostropher, arm� d'une kalachnikov, le conseil municipal de Rivne, et de frapper un procureur.

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Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 11:54 schreef DeJori het volgende:

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Dat zal de tactiek wel zijn: niet laten weten wat je denkt of wil houdt je onberekenbaar.

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Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 14:24 schreef DeJori het volgende:

twitter:

pravolivo twitterde op vrijdag 28-03-2014 om 14:01:19 How interesting: reportedly Kremlin's directives on how to cover #Ukraine in media, via @barabanch: http://t.co/GgtORIbmZS”; reageer retweet

[ afbeelding ]

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Ukraine leader Turchynov warns of far-right threat


Ukraine's interim President Olexander Turchynov has condemned the ultra-nationalist Right Sector, saying the group is bent on "destabilisation".

Right Sector activists blocked the parliament (Rada) building in Kiev on Thursday night and smashed windows.

They blamed the interior minister for the killing of a Right Sector leader.

Meanwhile, ousted President Viktor Yanukovych has called for a national referendum to determine each region's "status within Ukraine".

He fled to Russia last month after massive demonstrations against him and clashes between protesters and police in which more than 100 people died. The Kremlin says the new government in Kiev came to power illegally.
[..]
Attempt to destabilise

At a parliament session on Friday, Mr Turchynov, called the Right Sector rally outside parliament "an attempt to destabilise the situation in Ukraine, in the very heart of Ukraine - Kiev. That is precisely the task that the Russian Federation's political leadership is giving to its special services".

Right Sector activists are furious over the death of Oleksandr Muzychko, better known as Sashko Bily, one of their leaders. The interior ministry said he died on Monday night in a shoot-out with police in a cafe in Rivne in western Ukraine.

A member of the far-right group in Rivne threatened revenge for the killing of Mr Muzychko.

"We will avenge ourselves on [Interior Minister] Arsen Avakov for the death of our brother. The shooting of Sashko Bily is a contract killing ordered by the minister," Right Sector member Roman Koval was quoted as saying by the Ukrayinska Pravda website.

The Right Sector played a prominent role in the Kiev protests - and the clashes with police - which led to the removal of Mr Yanukovych from power. Its main support base is in western Ukraine.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26784236

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Ex-German chancellor warns of overreaction to Ukraine

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt has become the latest German politician to express understanding for Moscow’s position on Ukraine as he warned that overreaction by the West could spur Russian President Vladimir Putin to further aggression.

The 95-year-old Social Democrat sharply criticized the sanctions imposed against Russian individuals as “nonsense” and cautioned that serious economic sanctions could hurt the West, especially Germany, as much as Russia.

He said it was a mistake to exclude Russia from the Group of Eight leading nations just when it was important to maintain a dialogue, but felt the G-20 would be a better forum for resolving the issue in any case.

Schmidt’s remarks in the weekly Die Zeit come as a new poll out this week shows a majority of Germans accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea as a fait accompli and believe Moscow views Ukraine as part of its zone of influence.

While a majority polled believe the West’s response has been appropriate, fully a third consider even the weak sanctions imposed so far as excessive.

Schmidt’s critique comes after another former Social Democratic chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, also expressed understanding for Putin’s actions and criticized the European Union for forcing the issue in Ukraine by insisting on an either-or choice between the EU and Russia.

However, Schroeder is considered particularly close to the Russian leadership and was criticized for his links to Gazprom RU:GAZP -13.62% OGZPY +1.21% after he left office, so Schmidt’s remarks are likely to carry more weight.

The Left party in Germany, which has also criticized the Western response to Ukraine and accused the new government in Kiev of being fascist and antisemitic, quickly seized on Schmidt’s remarks as echoing their own.

German ambivalence regarding Russia and Ukraine has to be an important part of any calculation about a U.S. response, since the EU’s biggest country will steer the entire bloc in the direction it wants to go.

Schmidt said Putin’s action in Crimea was “fully understandable.” Yes, it violated international law and territorial integrity, but so did Western action in Libya. Schroeder has compared it to the war in Kosovo during his chancellorship, which he says was also technically a violation of the U.N. charter.

The agitated reaction of the West is dangerous, Schmidt said, because it will lead to a corresponding agitation of Russian public opinion.

As to whether Russia might now invade other areas of eastern Ukraine, Schmidt said: “I think it is conceivable, but I think it is a mistake for the West to act as if it was inevitably the next step. That could possibly result in fueling the appetite on the Russian side.”

Schmidt had praise for the “caution” shown in the crisis by the current chancellor, Angela Merkel. He criticized those in the U.S. like Sen. John McCain who are calling for more forceful intervention, reminding his German audience that “at the end of the 21st century, Russia will still be a big neighbor.”

The former chancellor noted that while Ukraine is certainly an independent state, historians still debate whether Ukraine is actually a distinct nation.

Schroeder, at an event sponsored earlier this month by Die Zeit, suggested the West should allow some time to pass before engaging in negotiations with Putin. It might only be possible after elections in Ukraine for a government “that represents all the people.”

Germany is particularly sensitive to the fact that the current government in Kiev includes members of the Svoboda Party, which in the past has used Nazi symbols and maintained contact to the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) in Germany.

Schmidt reminded his readers that in World War II, Russia was on the side of the West and it was Germany that was the enemy.

“It is very important to remember that despite the Second World War, the Russians have put aside hatred of Germans,” Schmidt said. “There is no hatred, no rejection of Germans by the Russian people.”

http://www.marketwatch.co(...)o-ukraine-2014-03-28

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The Danger of False Narrative
_{March 27, 2014 by Robert Parry}

Exclusive: Like a decade ago with Iraq, Official Washington’s pundits and pols are locked shoulder-to-shoulder in a phalanx of misguided consensus on Ukraine, presenting a false narrative that is taking U.S. policy into dangerous directions, writes Robert Parry.

The American people got a nasty taste of the danger that can come with false narrative when they were suckered into the Iraq War based on bogus claims that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction that he planned to share with al-Qaeda.

Nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers died in the conflict along with hundreds thousands of Iraqis. The war’s total financial cost probably exceeded $1 trillion, a vast sum that siphoned off America’s economic vitality and forced cutbacks in everything from education to road repair. Plus, the war ended up creating an Iraqi base for al-Qaeda terrorists that had not existed before.

But perhaps an even more dangerous problem coming out of the Iraq War was that almost no one in Official Washington who pushed the false narrative – whether in politics or in the press – was held accountable in any meaningful way. Many of the same pols and pundits remain in place today, pushing similar false narratives on new crises, from Ukraine to Syria to Iran.

Those false narratives – and their cumulative effect on policymaking – now represent a clear and present danger to the Republic and, indeed, to the world. The United States, after all, is the preeminent superpower with unprecedented means for delivering death and destruction. But almost nothing is being done to address this enduring American crisis of deception.

Today, Official Washington is marching in lockstep just as it did in 2002-03 when it enforced the misguided consensus on Iraq’s WMD. The latest case is Ukraine where Russian President Vladimir Putin is accused of committing “aggression” to expand Russian territory at the expense of noble ”democratic” reformers in Kiev.

Not only is this the dominant storyline in the U.S. media; it is virtually the only narrative permitted in the mainstream press. But the real narrative is that the United States and the European Union provoked this crisis by trying to take Ukraine out of its traditional sphere of influence, Russia, and put it in to a new association with the EU.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with Ukraine joining with the EU or staying with Russia (or a combination of the two) – depending on the will of the people and their elected representatives – this latest U.S./EU plan was motivated, at least in part, by hostility toward Russia.

That attitude was expressed in a Sept. 26, 2013, op-ed in the Washington Post by Carl Gershman, the neoconservative president of the National Endowment for Democracy, which doles out more than $100 million in U.S. funds a year to help organize “activists,” support “journalists” and finance programs that can be used to destabilize targeted governments.

Gershman, whose job amounts to being a neocon paymaster, expressed antagonism toward Russia in the op-ed and identified Ukraine as “the biggest prize,” the capture of which could ultimately lead to the ouster of Putin, who “may find himself on the losing end not just in the near abroad but within Russia itself.”

The NED, which was founded in 1983 to do in relative openness what the CIA had long done in secret, listed 65 projects that it was financing in Ukraine, using U.S. taxpayers’ money. In other words, Gershman’s op-ed reflected U.S. policy – at least inside the State Department’s still-neocon-dominated bureaucracy – which viewed the EU’s snatching of Ukraine from Russia’s embrace as a way to weaken Russia and hurt Putin.

....

quote:

Export crude, not gas, to help allies, oil exec says

An oil executive told the House Foreign Relations Committee that the United States should export crude oil to allied countries to help their energy security and reduce Russia’s influence.

The testimony from Harold Hamm, chairman and CEO of Continental Resources Inc., came amid bipartisan calls to increase exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to undercut the influence Russia holds by being an energy superpower in Eastern Europe.

“We could help with oil exports that could have an immediate impact all over the world,” Hamm, who is also chairman of the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, said at the Wednesday hearing.

While Ukraine and other Eastern European countries currently lack the infrastructure to import LNG from tanker ships, they have the infrastructure for oil.

“Making America a world leader in LNG exports is a worthy goal, but the truth of the matter is these new export terminals will not be up and running for some time,” he said in written testimony. “If we want to have an overnight impact on today’s global events, we can immediately begin exporting crude oil, which does not have the same infrastructure constraints.”

Continental has significant oil drilling operations in North Dakota's Bakken region, where it is one of the largest producers.

The Domestic Energy Producers Alliance said allowing crude exports are a “longstanding tenet” of its policy platform. A law passed during the 1970s OPEC oil embargo makes it illegal to export crude.

Continental also produces natural gas. Hamm called for quick approval of the 24 applications currently pending at the Department of Energy for projects to export LNG to countries with which the United States does not have a free-trade agreement.

http://thehill.com/blogs/(...)e-says#ixzz2xGfIUEWp

quote:

Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 16:30 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

[..]

Hitler achtig

quote:

Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 17:17 schreef DeParo het volgende:

[..]

Afghanistan gaat steeds beter .

quote:

Four trapped inside Kabul guesthouse stormed by Taliban
_{KABUL Fri Mar 28, 2014 11:47am EDT}
[..]
Violence has spiraled in Afghanistan in recent weeks, with Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacking an election commission office in Kabul on Tuesday.

Last week, nine people including an AFP journalist and an election observer were killed in an attack on a highly fortified hotel in Kabul.

A senior police official said one attacker in Friday's raid was still resisting, with 18 foreigners, including children, having been evacuated and taken to a safe house.

Deputy interior minister, General Ayoub Salangi, told Reuters that at least one Australian citizen was among those rescued, but the nationalities of the others were not clear.
..

quote:

Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 17:35 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

[..]

Je moet wat meer uitzoomen.

quote:

As US war ends, Russia returns to Afghanistan with series of investment projects
[..]
In Afghanistan, Russian officials point to their development activities as a counterexample to US aid projects, which many Afghans criticise as wasteful and misguided.

"The mistake of the last 12 years is that people were eager to give money, but without the proper strategy," said Russian Ambassador Andrey Avetisyan, who was also based in Kabul as a young diplomat in the 1980s.

Many Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai, praise the Soviet model even though they fought a bloody 10-year war against the country's army, which invaded in 1979 to support an unpopular communist government.

"The Soviet money went to the right place. They were efficient in spending their money and doing it through the Afghan government," Karzai said in an interview with The Washington Post this month.

The new warmth between the Kremlin and Afghanistan was visible this week when the Afghan government released a message from Putin marking the Islamic new year. It was the only such message made public, and was released at a time when the United States and European governments are imposing sanctions on Russia for its expansion into Ukraine.
[..]

quote:

Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 17:47 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

[..]

Leuke pro Russische propaganda crap. Zou ook voor het eerst zijn dat rusland een land hielp. Heb ze amper gezien bij rampen zoals orkanen en tsunamis.

quote:

As the U.S. military prepares to leave Afghanistan after nearly 13 years of conflict with the Taliban, three visiting U.S. congressmen had to endure a statement from Afghan president Hamid Karzai that was released while they were in Kabul.

Citing “the free will of the Crimean people,” Karzai’s office said, “We respect the decision the people of Crimea took through a recent referendum that considers Crimea as part of the Russian Federation.” To date, only Syria and Venezuela have taken a similar position.

The New York Times suggests the Afghan move is linked to the fact that Russia “has been increasingly active in offering development aid. Given Russia’s heavy influence on countries along Afghanistan’s border, maintaining a long-term relationship with the Kremlin is seen as essential to Afghan foreign policy. Moscow is also ramping up its investment in Afghanistan. It is rebuilding the relics of the Soviet occupation and promoting its own political and cultural prowess.”

Indeed, Saturday’s Washington Post has an important article on the changing of the guard in Afghanistan:

“In Afghanistan, Russian officials point to their development activities as a counterexample to U.S. aid projects, which many Afghans criticize as wasteful and misguided. . . . Many Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai, praise the Soviet model even though they fought a bloody 10-year war against the country’s army, which invaded in 1979 to support an unpopular communist government.

“The Soviet money went to the right place. They were efficient in spending their money and doing it through the Afghan government,” Karzai said in an interview with The Washington Post this month.

The irony here, of course, is rich. Afghanistan was indeed invaded by the Soviets in 1979, but that is now conveniently forgotten by the Karzai regime. It is no doubt grateful the new Russian development aid is being spent “through the Afghan government,” a euphemism for the enormous corruption and bribery Karzai’s government is famous for. For some years, the U.S. tried to bribe the Karzai regime into doing its bidding. Ultimately, they failed. It seems the U.S. is not only clumsy at nation building, but also can’t seem to get the hang of “nation bribing.”

http://www.nationalreview(...)ck-country-john-fund

quote:

Punish Russia? Why some Pentagon officials would prefer restraint. (+video)

While calls mount on Capitol Hill to robustly punish Russia for its incursion into Crimea, some officials in the back halls of the Pentagon are privately pushing for restraint.

That’s because senior US military officials are well aware that a key supply line in and out of Afghanistan runs through Russia.

That supply line, known as the Northern Distribution Network, or NDN, brings food, water, and building materials that keep US troops in Afghanistan fed and America’s longest war going.
[..]
http://www.csmonitor.com/(...)fer-restraint.-video

quote:

Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 18:17 schreef DeJori het volgende:

[..]

Noorwegen heeft een van de hoogste per capita bijdragen aan de NAVO, en Stoltenberg heeft zoals ik al eerder zei aangetoond een voorstander te zijn van goede NAVO bijdragen vanuit Europa. Lijkt me dat hij mede op aanspraak van de Amerikanen is geplaatst gezien daar nogal wat onvrede bestaat over de bijdrage van Europa aan de NAVO. Hij zal wel moeten zorgen voor meer geld uit de lidstaten.

quote:

Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 20:04 schreef DeJori het volgende:

[..]

Obama wil het defensiebudget nogal verlagen. De onvrede bij de Amerikanen gaat niet over de grootte van het totale NAVO budget maar over de scheve verhoudingen wat betreft de bijdragen.

Wat betreft die Somali�rs, da's niets nieuws. De Europeanen en Amerikanen vechten immers al sinds het begin van 19e eeuw samen tegen piraten.

quote:

Op vrijdag 28 maart 2014 23:50 schreef DeJori het volgende:

Russian Roulette: The Invasion of Ukraine (Dispatch Nineteen)

quote:

Lyashko: No sponsors, tycoons or deputies on election list of Radical Party
_{Aug. 8, 2012, 3:10 p.m. | Politics — by Interfax-Ukraine}

Oleh Lyashko's Radical Party has approved the party list of candidates for MP and candidates in single-member constituencies.
"A total of 197 people were put on the party list, and 30 people were nominated for single-member districts," Lyashko told reporters after the fourth congress of the Radical Party in Kyiv on Tuesday.

An Interfax-Ukraine reporter said that the top five on the list includes mother-of-many-children Oksana Shevchenko (Kirovohrad region), Liashko's assistant, Andriy Lozovy, expectant mother Ksenia Sapunova, a blind singer and head of the Kalinin Rural House of Culture (Kharkiv region), Ivan Hanzera, and Schors Mayor Roman Zub.

Among the candidates nominated for single-member districts are party leader Lyashko (Chernihiv region) and TV presenter Natalia Rozynska (Kyiv).
Lyashko said that the Radical Party "will do everything to win the election, although it will be difficult."
He also expressed confidence that many of the party's candidates would win the elections.
He said that "the country needs radical changes" and that they could be made only by his party.
"Neither the government nor the opposition can do it," he said.
Lyashko also said that "there are no sponsors, oligarchs or deputies" on the party ticket.
http://www.kyivpost.com/c(...)al-party-311218.html

Ukrainian Parliament Fight Adam Martynyuk vs Oleh Lyashko

quote:

In a statement from the White House, officials said the telephone call from the Russian president had followed a proposal presented by Secretary of State John Kerry to Sergei V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, during talks at the Hague this week.

While there was no immediate indication that either side was prepared to give ground, Putin’s telephone call in itself appeared to represent a shift in tone aimed at defusing a serious rupture in relations and Russia’s increasing isolation.

U.S. officials did not describe details about the proposal but said Obama had told Putin during the call that the United States would like to see a diplomatic solution that involves Russia pulling back its troops from the Crimean Peninsula and not making any further steps to invade other parts of Ukraine.

The statement said Obama, who was visiting Saudi Arabia on Friday, had “urged Russia to support this process and avoid further provocations, including the buildup of forces on its border with Ukraine.”

White House officials said Obama and Putin had agreed during the call that Kerry and Lavrov would meet soon “to discuss next steps.”
[..]
The Kremlin described the Friday telephone call in a statement on its official website, saying that Putin “drew Barack Obama’s attention to continued rampage of extremists who are committing acts of intimidation towards peaceful residents, government authorities and law enforcement agencies in various regions and in Kiev with impunity.”
“In light of this,” the Kremlin said, “the President of Russia suggested examining possible steps the global community can take to help stabilize the situation.”
The Kremlin said “specific parameters for this joint work” were to be discussed by Kerry and Lavrov.

In citing extremist action, Putin sought to capitalize on the surrounding of the Ukrainian Parliament over the last two days by members of a nationalist group, Right Sector, that has demanded the resignation of Ukraine’s acting interior minister over the shooting death of one of the group’s leaders this week in western Ukraine.

The presence of masked, armed demonstrators threatening to storm the Parliament building offered the Russian government an opportunity to bolster its contention that the ouster of Yanukovych was an illegal coup, carried out by right-wing extremists with Western encouragement.

In fact, the nationalist groups, largely based in western Ukraine, had formed just one segment of a broad coalition of demonstrators who occupied the streets of Kiev for months demanding Yanukovych’s ouster.

The Kremlin, in its statement, also drew attention to Ukraine’s blockade of Transnistria, a breakaway, pro-Russian region of Moldova, that has relied on land access through Ukraine for crucial imports.
The Kremlin said the blockade was causing “significant complication of the living conditions of people in the region” impeding their mobility and economic activity and urging negotiations.

Putin’s willingness to negotiate also suggested some confidence that he will be dealing with the West from a position of strength, having annexed Crimea and largely dispersed the remaining Ukrainian military units that had been holed up on basis awaiting instructions from Kiev. The Ukrainian government this week formally ordered a withdrawal of those forces.
http://www.theglobeandmai(...)der/article17725916/

quote:

Few Signs of War Plans in Russian Border Town
_{By ANDREW ROTHMARCH 28, 2014}

BELGOROD, Russia — On the outskirts of this sleepy city bordering Ukraine, residents were surprised Thursday when a military helicopter lifted off into the dreary sky.

“Look! They brought out the real machines today,” said Viktor Naumov, 28, a courier, who pulled his car over to the shoulder of an adjacent highway to give a shout of appreciation.

The helicopter was one of the few visible signs here of what Western governments, including the United States, say is a muster of tens of thousands of troops deployed by the Kremlin that could preface an invasion of Ukraine, a step that President Vladimir V. Putin has said he might employ to protect Russian-speakers in the country’s east.

But in and around Belgorod, which sits a scant 40 miles from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and a likely target in case of an invasion, any increased military presence is largely kept out of the public eye. In a region that appears far from being on the brink of war, life continues as normal here, and many residents say they do not want war, dismissing reports of a buildup as rumors set to discredit Russia.

President Obama said Friday that Mr. Putin had signaled his intent to redress “a deeply held grievance about what he considers to be the loss of the Soviet Union.”

“It’s well known and well acknowledged that you’ve seen a range of troops massing along that border under the guise of military exercises,” Mr. Obama told CBS News in an interview. Throughout the month, videos had been posted on social media sites of convoys of heavy military trucks and armored personnel carriers purportedly moving troops into regions across Russia’s more than 1,400-mile border with Ukraine.

“It may simply be an effort to intimidate Ukraine or it may be that they’ve got additional plans,” Mr. Obama said.

Residents here are not so convinced. “Show me the tanks first, show me anything here that proves all this, and then we can talk about an invasion,” said Pyotr Kudryavtsev, a retiree walking away from the tracks near the Vesyolaya Lopan station south of Belgorod, where scores of military vehicles were filmed being unloaded on March 12. Mr. Kudryavtsev, like other locals interviewed, denied this, saying that the heavy tracks in the mud close to the rails belonged to construction vehicles.

Those weapons of war have now seemingly dispersed, either onto nearby bases or, as some have alleged, into tightly guarded hiding places along the border, ready to strike.

Despite a strong dislike for the new interim government in Kiev, most residents of Belgorod and the surrounding towns and villages rejected the idea of any kind of offensive attack against their neighbor.

“At all costs we must avoid war,” said Aleksandr Strelkov, a mechanic, who was visiting the Museum of the Battle of Kursk in downtown Belgorod with his 7-year-old son.

Mr. Strelkov stood in front of a 50-foot-tall, larger-than-life diorama of the Battle of Kursk, featuring plumes of smoke from burning tanks and scores of soldiers engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The 1943 battle between Soviet and German forces is considered one of the largest tank battles in history.

Patriotism and a hallowed respect for those killed in World War II run especially strong in Belgorod, which bills itself as the City of the First Salute, after a salvo of fireworks in Moscow was dedicated to the city after its liberation from Nazi forces in 1943.

But today the voices of those in Russia who live closest to Ukraine are far less bellicose than leaders in Russia and in the West.

“Everyone has got an aunt, a cousin, or some relative in Ukraine,” Mr. Strelkov said. “My wife is Ukrainian. How could we go to war with ourselves?”

On the stretch of four-lane highway leading from Belgorod to the border, where a patch of warm spring weather has brought farmers out to cultivate their fields and trees into bloom, there are signs of heightened precautions.

Border guards, formerly unarmed, now stand with Kalashnikovs. A checkpoint had been bolstered to a six-man patrol and officers often stop cars with Ukrainian plates, checking documents and inspecting trunks.

Yet at least overtly, the military presence is invisible. Rather than waiting tensely for the first shots to ring out, most residents see a slow cooling and cross-border trips become more infrequent.

Valery Perfilyev, a taxi driver who regularly ferried Russians across the border to shop in Kharkiv, an industrial hub, and young men visiting the nightclubs and, occasionally, brothels of the city, said that traffic had slowed to a trickle since the ouster of President Viktor F. Yanukovych last month.

“We were the oxygen,” he said, referring to the money that entered Ukraine through Russia. “Now it is like that has been cut off. They need us as much as we need them.”

At the stations along the railroad that leads from the city to Kharkiv, administrators declined to discuss troop movements or confirm recent videos that showed a column tanks and other military vehicles purportedly being unloaded at a railway stop 10 miles from the border.

A representative of the Ministry of Defense also refused to comment on troop movements.

As the clouds dispersed and the afternoon sun warmed Belgorod’s wide boulevards on Thursday, locals flocked to the promenade on Narodny Boulevard in central Belgorod.

Many discussed politics, especially fears of growing nationalism in Kiev and reports of widespread lawlessness in eastern Ukraine that have dominated the Russian news media lately.

But would Russia make the next move?

“What will Putin do?” asked Anastasia Yefremova, who wore sunglasses and a lightweight sweater as she sat with friends. “I suppose he will do the right thing, he will protect us. But he will not attack.”

On the train from Belgorod across the border to Kharkiv, many passengers were Ukrainians returning from Russia laden with goods as men drank beer and exchanged Russian rubles for Ukrainian hryvnia with money-changers roving the cars.

A border official, Aleksei Filiptsov, took extra care as he photographed a journalist’s documents, asking questions about his journey.

“If you fly from Sheremetyevo to Ukraine, these kinds of things don’t happen,” he said, referring to Moscow’s largest airport. “But lately we’ve had a lot of unstable people around now. Many more than usual.” He declined to elaborate.

A man carrying a Ukrainian passport who gave his name as Aleksei, 37, was carrying four black bags filled with bottles of oil that he would sell in Kharkiv.

“We’re doing what we always do, just the same as before,” he said, as he watched tensely as first Russian border officials checked passports for those exiting the country, and later Ukrainian border police officers walked through the car, paying special attention to Russian arrivals, particularly young men.

As the checks ended and the doors to the train swung open, he gave a happy thumbs up.

“Praise be to God, things won’t get any worse,” he said, exiting the train, now in Ukraine.
http://www.nytimes.com/20(...).html?hpw&rref=world

quote:

US Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich says US instigated Ukraine Crisis
“What I’d do is not have USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy working with U.S. taxpayers’ money to knock off an elected government in Ukraine, which is what they did. I wouldn’t try to force the people of Ukraine into a deal with NATO against their interest or into a deal with the European Union, which is against their economic interest.”

quote:

Ukraine crisis: Crimea joining Russia 'like Scotland staying in the Union'
Russia's ambassador in London compares Crimean referendum to Britain's case for keeping Scotland

quote:

Ukraine Wants Action, But U.S. Sends Hashtags Instead
As Russian troops amass along the Ukraine border and take over military facilities in the Crimea region, the United States has distanced itself from any boots-on-the-ground intervention.
The U.S. won't send troops or weapons, but it will send hashtags.
While Congress approved an aid package for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia this week, the State Department pushed a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #UnitedForUkraine, which calls on people to share their support for the country.
President Obama had great success using social media during his campaigning days, but does that same mindset work for foreign affairs?
"I don’t know what effect this is supposed to have," said former State Department diplomat James Lewis. "It's a hashtag. What’s it going to do? For this situation, it’s not a useful tool.

twitter:

EuromaidanPR twitterde op vrijdag 28-03-2014 om 21:54:53 #Ukraine PM:We won’t make same mistakes taking IMF loan,as Greece.No pensions/wages cuts. @MaximEristavi http://t.co/9Oa3bOqpgn reageer retweet

quote:

Op zaterdag 29 maart 2014 09:43 schreef theNull het volgende:
Verschillende mening over het gesprek van gisteravond:
http://www.washingtonpost(...)of-obama-putin-call/

quote:

VATICAN CITY — President Barack Obama and the Vatican gave distinctly different accounts of the president’s audience with Pope Francis on Thursday, with Obama stressing their common ground on poverty and inequality but Vatican officials emphasizing sharp differences over Obama’s health care law which mandates contraception coverage.

[..]

But Obama said those discussions took place with the Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, not with Francis. ‘‘We actually didn’t talk a whole lot about social schisms in my conversations with His Holiness,’’ he added. ‘‘In fact, that really was not a topic of conversation.’’

The marked difference in emphasis introduced a perplexing element to the long-anticipated meeting, which the White House has looked forward to as way to validate Obama’s economic policies. In a report on Vatican Radio the day before the meeting, the Vatican had signaled that the divisive issues would indeed be on the agenda

quote:

[..]
Measures announced by Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk included axing 24,000 public sector jobs and special pensions for members of the judiciary and the military, as well as a 50% increase in gas prices, starting on May 1.

Without these reforms, Yatsenyuk said in Kiev, the Ukrainian economy could shrink by 10% in the coming year. He acknowledged that his country is "on the brink of financial and economic bankruptcy."

He also said that inflation could rise to 14% during 2014, and pledged to counter the rise in the cost of living for the vulnerable, including pensioners.
[..]

quote:

We've now heard from the supreme commander of NATO in Europe, Gen. Philip Breedlove, that the 150,000 Russian combat troops on Ukraine's eastern border are "very, very sizable and very, very ready."

NATO on the other hand is "unwilling, unable and unready," at least if you go by some of its vocal military critics in recent years.

Breedlove would contest that description, and NATO remains, after all, the largest and most successful military alliance in history. The problem with history, however, is that the 28-nation alliance has seen better and certainly more coherent days.

From a military standpoint, the Ukraine crisis hits Europe at a time when its European members have slashed $45 billion from their militaries in recent years (the equivalent of the entire German defence budget).

quote:

Op zaterdag 29 maart 2014 12:20 schreef firefly3 het volgende:

[..]

Dus jij weet het exacte aantal en beschuldigd de NATO ervan het aantal op te kloppen voor hun defensie budget, ongeacht dat het opkloppen van aantallen niet goed is voor de wereld stabiliteit? Grote beschuldiging/ aanname van je.

quote:

"The (Russian) force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizable and very, very ready," Breedlove, a U.S. Air Force general, said.

quote:

Russia may have 40,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, two U.S. officials told CNN on Thursday. The officials said that this estimate was largely based on satellite imagery and that a firm number is difficult to assess.

quote:

We've now heard from the supreme commander of NATO in Europe, Gen. Philip Breedlove, that the 150,000 Russian combat troops on Ukraine's eastern border are "very, very sizable and very, very ready."

quote:

Op zaterdag 29 maart 2014 13:42 schreef Nintex het volgende:

[..]

Beetje een hoog aluhoedje gehalte.

Het klopt ook totaal niet met de feiten, zoals die er liggen. Eigenlijk wordt dit scenario uitgelegd alsof er tussen 1991 en 2014 'niets' veranderd is en Amerika en Rusland 'vijanden' zijn gebleven.

- Rusland had lid kunnen worden van de NAVO, 9/11 en het raketschild tegen Iran veranderde de zaak, maar de plannen om erover te spreken lagen er. Putin had zelfs aangeboden om Bush te helpen bij de aanval op Afghanistan.

quote:

- De NAVO had een bewuste keuze gemaakt, om geen militaire infrastructuur of defensieve troepenmachten naar de Baltische staten te brengen en het te beperken tot politieke mogelijk economische samenwerking. Immers was er geen dreiging meer van Rusland.

- Om de relatie met Rusland te verbeteren en te 'resetten' werd het plan voor een raketschild stopgezet door Obama onder druk van Hillary Clinton en kwam er een nieuw ontwapeningsverdrag.

quote:

http://mediamatters.org/r(...)-scrapped-mis/198517
It's long been a Republican mantra that President Obama caved to the Russians when he decided in 2009 to scrap a Bush-era missile defense program and replace it with a more flexible system he said would better address the threat of potential short- and medium-range missiles the administration believed Iran had made more progress developing. Defense hawk Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the decision "seriously misguided" at the time.

In fact, experts say, the new program was no less of a threat to Russia, which has always viewed U.S. missile defense as an affront to its own security. The president called it more comprehensive than the previous program -- as well as cost-effective -- and said it would provide "stronger, smarter and swifter defenses of American forces and America's allies." And in an op-ed about the program, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that critics who were accusing the administration of scrapping missile defense in Europe entirely "are either misinformed or misrepresenting what we are doing."

One former U.S. official who worked on national security issues called the Obama administration's new program "a double whammy" to Russia. [CBSNews.com, 3/10/14]

quote:

- In Georgi� werd al heel snel tegen Saakashvili gezegd door Condoleezza Rice dat hij niet kon rekenen op de militaire hulp van de NAVO of de VS als hij zelf een conflict uitlokte. De hulp was beperkt tot economische hulp.

quote:

De EU daarentegen is wel medeverantwoordelijk voor deze rotzooi. De bureaucraten in Brussel hebben bewust de revolutie in de hand gewerkt en ondanks dat Verhofdstadt en van Baalen als twee rasmongolen stonden te schreeuwen dat ze Oekra�ne zouden verdedigen en dat ze gewonnen hadden is daar niets van terecht gekomen natuurlijk.

quote:

The Obama administration is pushing to free $50 million in long-stalled aid to promote democracy and civil society in Russia, an effort that comes amid a drumbeat of accusations that the United States is meddling in Russia’s internal politics.

The money, held up for years in Congress, represents some of the proceeds from an unusual foreign aid program in which tax dollars were invested in the formerly communist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia to help them develop into market economies.

For the most part, the investments turned out to be profitable and the money was reinvested. In recent years some of the proceeds were returned to the Treasury, while some money has been redirected to create foundations that provide foreign aid.

quote:

U.S. SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE: Voting 399 for and 19 against, the House on March 27 passed a bipartisan bill (HR 4278) authorizing $70 million in U.S. aid to Ukraine, including $50 million to strengthen its civil institutions. In part, the bill expands Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America broadcasts into Ukraine, Moldova and the Crimean Peninsula. The bill also expands and gives force of law to economic penalties and visa denials ordered by President Obama against certain Russian officials and civilians who have worked to destabilize Ukraine. To pay for itself, the bill cuts U.S. aid to Pakistan by $70 million.

quote:

De Amerikanen hebben 'geen' hekel aan de EU als in de landen op zich, maar wel in het apparaat dat in Brussel zit. Barrosso, Schulz etc. daar hebben de Amerikanen niets mee, vandaar dat ze tegen Merkel zeggen: "Prima wij leveren gas" en tegen de EU bonzen: "Jullie moeten je eigen zaakjes opknappen".

quote:

Het 'feit' is dat Yanukovich Oekra�ne failliet heeft laten gaan, dat de huizen van hem en zijn ministers vol liggen met gestolen geld en dubieuze deals en dat ze van hun vijanden martelaren hebben gemaakt door ze te vervolgen. Vergeet niet dat Yanukovich al eerder aan het shoppen was voor financi�le hulp en zowel in Europa en Rusland praktisch gezien weinig gehoor kreeg voor zijn criminele en frauderende bende. Als je de staat van het leger ziet dan snap je ook waarom

quote:

Putin heeft handig gebruik gemaakt van de situatie om de Krim in te lijven en te laten zien dat Rusland het niet accepteert als Oekra�ne een bende is, maar daardoor heeft hij verdere revoluties juist aangewakkerd. Plus hij heeft eerder nog Yanukovich neer gezet als 'zijn' mannetje en daarmee weinig vrienden gemaakt onder de niet Russisch sprekende Oekra�ense bevolking.

Het enige wat je Obama en Kerry echt kunt verwijten is dat de twee niet hun verantwoordelijkheid nemen op het gebied van Syri�, Venezuela, Egypte, Irak, Oekra�ne, delen van Afrika en zelfs Afghanistan en constant een afwachtende houding hebben. Ze laten wat drones rondvliegen in het Midden Oosten om Al Qaida kopstukken op te blazen en vinden het wel best. Nu is niemand 'voor' een Amerikaanse interventiemacht, maar enigszins moeite doen om te voorkomen dat onschuldige burgers het slachtoffer worden van burgeroorlogen en revoluties is het minste wat je van een 'supermacht' mag verwachten en wat ook vriend en vijand verwachten. Putin heeft een hekel aan chaos en zwakte.

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Op zaterdag 29 maart 2014 17:59 schreef theNull het volgende:

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GORussiaNews twitterde op zaterdag 29-03-2014 om 17:22:47 ?|?|? Breaking News Russia Conducts Test of Nuclear ICBM Missile Near... http://t.co/41Chtc6mbe http://t.co/DFNOQlsOvd #russia #asia reageer retweet

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Investigators dubbed them "the librarians," four Air Force nuclear missile launch officers at the center of a still-unfolding scandal over cheating on proficiency tests.

"They tended to be at the hub" of illicit exchanges of test information, says Adam Lowther, one of seven investigators who dug into details of cheating that has embarrassed the Air Force and on Thursday brought down virtually the entire operational command of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.

At least 82 missile launch officers face disciplinary action, but it was the four "librarians" who allegedly facilitated the cheating, in part by transmitting test answers via text message. One text included a photo of a classified test answer, according to Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, who announced the probe's findings Thursday.
- See more at: http://www.cortezjournal.(...)sthash.U1AgVv3G.dpuf

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Has Russia Figured Out How to Evade U.S. Counterintelligence Operations? Why the Crimean Invasion Has Washington Worried

As U.S. satellites observed Russian troops gathering near Crimea’s border last month, officials in the nation’s capital were shocked that they hadn’t received earlier notice of military action in the area.

In fact, prior to Russia’s takeover of Crimea, U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted virtually no Russian communications suggesting a possible invasion of the peninsula, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The failure of the U.S. intelligence community to provide Washington with detailed information on Russia’s plans before they were set into motion has many in the nation’s capital worried that the Kremlin has somehow figured out how to elude U.S. eavesdropping, the report adds.

“Even though there was a warning, we didn’t have the information to be able to say exactly what was going to happen,” a senior U.S. official said told the Journal.

In response to this surprising failure, the U.S. is scrambling to improve its communications-interception efforts. The idea is that the expanded coverage will provide U.S. officials with better information that may help them predict Russian President Vladimir Putin’s next move.

“We have gone into crisis-response mode,” a senior official told the Journal.

Still, even in “crisis-response mode,” U.S. officials are worried that Russia will continue to cloak its actions and that troop movements may continue to go undetected.

“That is the question we’re all asking ourselves,” an official said.

As a result of Russia’s swift and nearly silent takeover of Crimea, the Obama administration is “very nervous,” the Journal reported, citing an official familiar with the matter.

“This is uncharted territory,” the official said.

When Russia decided to make its play for Crimea, U.S. intelligence agencies were busy observing troops on Russian soil. Washington hadn’t anticipated that the takeover would come from Russian troops already inside the peninsula.

But that’s exactly what happened.

A few officials admitted there were some slight inconsistencies between intelligence reports on Ukraine, Russia and Crimea, but they said the reports didn’t contain anything substantial enough to suggest a sudden takeover. These same officials also said that the Russian takeover was so swift that there was little the U.S. military and President Obama could have done differently.

This leaves the lingering question: How did Russia manage to pull this off virtually undetected?

“Some U.S. military and intelligence officials say Russia’s war planners might have used knowledge about the U.S.’s usual surveillance techniques to change communication methods about the looming invasion,” the Journal reported. “U.S. officials haven’t determined how Russia hid its military plans from U.S. eavesdropping equipment that picks up digital and electronic communications.”

The Journal is careful to note that although the U.S. maintains assets observing Russia, most of the Washington’s attention is set on the Middle East.

Further, it’s important to remember that the U.S. had information as early as December indicating that Putin had his eye on Crimea, prompting the U.S. to expand satellite coverage of the area. However, after expanding coverage of Russia and observing initial satellite imagery, U.S. officials concluded that the Russian movements around and inside Crimea were typical military exercises.

They were mistaken.

By Feb. 26, U.S. officials had changed their minds and were certain Russia was going to make a play for Crimea — but they still lacked corroborating evidence of a possible invasion.

“We didn’t have someone [from the Russians] saying: ‘Let’s do this,’ ” a U.S. official said, stressing that they never intercepted early communications from Russian officials pointing to a takeover of Crimea.

Now, the annexation of Crimea complete, U.S. officials believe Russia was able to move as quickly as it did because it had already slipped small bands of highly trained soldiers into the area, somehow avoiding detection by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Of course, it’s possible that the U.S. didn’t intercept any invasion communications because there weren’t any. That is, the takeover could have been a last-minute decision from Putin that was known only by him and his closest advisors.

“Some U.S. and U.K. officials believe that Russia’s takeover plan was drawn up in advance and ready to go, reducing the need to discuss it,” the Journal reported.

Then again, as certain U.S. officials fear, it’s possible that the Russians have been given information on how to avoid U.S. spying.

Obama on Feb. 28 issued his final public warning against Putin. It was too late: Russia had already seized control of Crimea, its sights set on the peninsula’s important naval installations. On March 18, Putin signed a treaty declaring Crimea a part of the Russian Federation, the latest development in a takeover that apparently caught the U.S. off guard.

“This is the kind of thing young military officers are going to be reading about in their history books,” an official said.

A spokesperson with the CIA did not immediately return TheBlaze’s request for comment.