Crisis in Ukraine

A

Alan

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Because of his naive and foolhardy 'reset' policy which has proved an abject failure.

Gotta feel sorry for the Polish and Baltic leaders. Feeling rather insecure right now and who pitches up for reassurance? Joe 'hair-plugs' Biden :eek:

Or as Robert Gates put it Biden is "wrong on nearly every major
foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades."...
 
A

Alan

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It was our Western partners who created the precedent; they did it themselves, with their own hands, as it were, in a situation that was totally analogous to the Crimean situation, by recognizing Kosovo's secession from Serbia as legitimate,” said Putin. And then, as he cited American statements on Kosovo, he got more and more worked up until he said, “They wrote it themselves. They spread this all over the world. They screwed everybody—and now they are outraged!” (The Kremlin's official translators, who are forever civilizing the Russian president's speech, translated this sentence as “They wrote this, disseminated it all over the world, had everyone agree, and now they are outraged!” The expression Putin used, however, was “vsekh nagnuli,” street slang for having had nonconsensual anal sex with everybody, rather than for having everybody agree.)
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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...he_u_s_bombed_kosovo_in_1999_putin_has.2.html

hard to believe a president would use such a term in a presidential speech especially considering the dodgy source :wtf:
 
LazyLion

LazyLion

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RUSSIAN PROFESSOR SACKED FOR CRITICISING CRIMEA TAKEOVER

One of Russia's most prestigious universities faced accusations Tuesday of "political censorship" after it sacked a prominent professor for comparing Russia's takeover of Crimea to Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria.

The Moscow State Institute of International Affairs (MGIMO), which is run by the Russian foreign ministry, on Monday said it had dismissed philosophy professor Andrei Zubov for his public criticism of Russia's actions in Ukraine's Crimea region.

Zubov on March 1 published an opinion piece in Vedomosti business daily where he compared Russia's absorption of Crimea with the Anschluss of 1938 when Nazi Germany annexed Austria.

MGIMO said in a statement that it had terminated his contract and dismissed him from the university.

The university said that Zubov's "statements on the events in Ukraine and Russia's foreign policy cause outrage and bewilderment within the university."

"They go against the course of Russia's foreign policy (and) expose the actions of the government to reckless and irresponsible criticisms," it said.

"This is discrimination against me for my political views," Zubov told AFP, adding that he planned to appeal his dismissal.

The university said Zubov had been handed an official warning on March 5 over his "public statements on the events on Ukraine and Crimea... about their incompatibility with the status of a professor at MGIMO."

Zubov had made "inappropriate and insulting historical analogies," it added.

More than a thousand students and alumni on Tuesday signed an online petition calling for Zubov's immediate reinstatement and accusing the university of "political censorship."

"During my 12 years of work for MGIMO I did a lot of articles and lectures that differed from the Russian foreign ministry's opinion. That didn't cause a problem," Zubov said.

"If everyone is going to be uniformly delighted with the authorities, who will tell them something is wrong? But evidently the times have changed."

Zubov is a historian who lectured at MGIMO on the history of religious ideas.

MGIMO in southern Moscow is the training ground for Russia's diplomats and political elite. Its alumni include Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and opposition-supporting television host Ksenia Sobchak.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 25 Mar 2014 11:26
 
LazyLion

LazyLion

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KREMLIN CALLS G8 SUMMIT SNUB 'COUNTERPRODUCTIVE'

Russia on Tuesday dismissed as counterproductive the decision of G8 member countries to snub a June summit in the Russian resort of Sochi following Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

A summit of the smaller Group of Seven agreed in The Hague on Monday to deepen Moscow's isolation over the crisis in Ukraine and meet without Russia in Brussels instead of gathering in Sochi.

"When it comes to contacts with the G8 countries, we are ready for them, we have an interest in them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the ITAR-TASS news agency.

"But the unwillingness of other countries to continue dialogue -- we consider it counterproductive, both for us and for our partners themselves," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said.

At the G7 summit in the Netherlands, US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada agreed that Russia's actions were "not consistent" with the group's shared beliefs and scrapped plans to attend Sochi.

Shortly before their decision, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said it would be "no great tragedy" if Russia were dropped from the G8.

"If our Western partners think that this format (the G8) has outlived itself, then so be it," Lavrov told reporters.

Peskov said that Russia's role within the G8 had involved work on hundreds of projects and "judging by everything, some of them will be wound down."

"But that does not affect contacts with those countries that choose not to walk away from dialogue. We will definitely continue cooperation with them," he said.


Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 25 Mar 2014 11:03
 
LazyLion

LazyLion

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PUTIN SPOKESMAN: G7 DECISION ON RUSSIA "COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE"

The decision by G7 leaders to exclude Russia from the G8 summit in June is "counter-productive," a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin says. "We have an interest in these contacts," Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. Despite the summit being moved from the Sochi to Brussels, Russia and the West were still in talks at expert level, he said. Moscow was willing to keep up dialogue with those who wanted it, especially on the global fight against drugs and terrorism, according to Peskov.


Source : Sapa-dpa /kd
Date : 25 Mar 2014 13:14
 
G

Greylor

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Mr Putin, I think you'll find that trying to take over part of another country is also counter-productive.
 
DreamKing

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Ukraine far-right leader Muzychko dies 'in police raid'

Ukraine far-right leader Muzychko dies 'in police raid'

A Ukrainian ultra-nationalist leader has been shot dead in what officials describe as a special forces operation.

Oleksandr Muzychko, better known as Sashko Bily, died in a shoot-out with police in a cafe in Rivne in western Ukraine, the interior ministry said.

He was a leader of Right Sector, a far-right group which was prominent in the recent anti-government protests.
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Earlier, a Ukrainian MP, Oles Doniy, gave a different version of events. He said two cars had forced Muzychko's car to stop, and he had then been dragged into one of the other cars. Later his body was found dumped, his hands tied behind his back and two bullet wounds in his heart, Doniy wrote overnight on his Facebook page.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26729273

don't want him to talk too much?
:whistling:
 
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Z

zippy

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ghoti said:
Well... massive economic isolation for a tiny part of the world.


This is a nice balanced opinion on Putin

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/25/putin-trapped-by-history/
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Putin's supporters inside and outside of Russia are rejoicing at Russia flexing its military muscle. But as the article points out, their neighbours no longer trust the Russians.

A lot of gloating at the EU's perceived weakness because the economic impact that sanctions will have on Europe. But, now Europe is already making plans to reduce their dependence on Russia's oil and gas. In the long term, the EU will have invested a lot of money in becoming less reliant on Russian oil and gas and even when things cool down, there will be too much committed to non-Russian energy sources. Oil and gas is Russia's major export. US dependence on Russian oil and gas is already negligible.

There is also a lot of talk in the UK press about reversing UK troop withdrawal from their German bases. I believe the US are also talking about increasing presence in European bases.

Even China aren't that thrilled with Russia. They probably realise that Putin's little adventure is going to cost them a lot of money. Any negative impact in the EU and US as a result of sanctions is going to impact the value of China's investment. And another slowdown in the means China slows down too.
 
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