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Crisis in Ukraine
- Thread starter LazyLion
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Hamish McPanji
Honorary Master
Not parliament, they constitute part of the current government of Ukraine, there's a difference.
DreamKing
Honorary Master
if I count correctly, only 4/28 of EU countries do not belong to NATO.
Unhappy1
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No, not at all.
But after joined EU that is higher possibility to join nato. (yes/no?)
No
Or even east.
, thanks for the correctionThey can't join NATO because they have a territorial dispute. Don't you see the beauty of what Russia has done?
Unhappy1
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Im not the one arguing that they can and will, speak to DreamKing.
OrbitalDawn
Ulysses Everett McGill
What part?
DreamKing
Honorary Master
only 4/28 are not NATO , but you said "No" (not likely).
how can I believe that you are not biased?
Unhappy1
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To be honest i don't really care what you believe, you asked a yes or no question and i answered it.
Mystic Twilight
Expert Member
How do you beat Russia when they have this:
On a more serious note, I can't see NATO accepting another member without Russia putting up a hissy fit. Even though technologically we can start and end a war without leaving a couch, NATO being so close to Russia is going to be a reminiscence of the cold war with the USSR and Cuba at the USA's front door. That is a lot of influence and puts pressure on Russia and their relations and stance on foreign policy.
On a more serious note, I can't see NATO accepting another member without Russia putting up a hissy fit. Even though technologically we can start and end a war without leaving a couch, NATO being so close to Russia is going to be a reminiscence of the cold war with the USSR and Cuba at the USA's front door. That is a lot of influence and puts pressure on Russia and their relations and stance on foreign policy.
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LazyLion
King of de Jungle
MOSCOW THREATENS US RETALIATION OVER BLOCKED FUNDS TRANSFER
Moscow on Wednesday threatened retaliatory action against US diplomats after US bank JP Morgan blocked a transfer of funds carried out by a Russian envoy.
Russia considered as "unacceptable, illegal and absurd the decision of JP Morgan Chase bank to block the transfer by the Russian ambassador in Astana to insurance company Sogaz," said Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry.
The move was carried out "under the pretext of anti-Russian sanctions introduced by the United States," the spokesman added.
Sogaz is linked to Russian bank Rossiya, which is on the list of companies and individuals subject to US sanctions over Moscow's move to annex Crimea.
"Washington should understand that any hostile action towards Russian diplomats is not only a gross violation of international law but also a prelude to reprisal measures that would not fail to have an impact on the work of the US embassy and consulate in Russia," he said.
"JP Morgan Chase has therefore done a disservice" to the US administration, added the spokesman.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 02 Apr 2014 09:58
Moscow on Wednesday threatened retaliatory action against US diplomats after US bank JP Morgan blocked a transfer of funds carried out by a Russian envoy.
Russia considered as "unacceptable, illegal and absurd the decision of JP Morgan Chase bank to block the transfer by the Russian ambassador in Astana to insurance company Sogaz," said Alexander Lukashevich, a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry.
The move was carried out "under the pretext of anti-Russian sanctions introduced by the United States," the spokesman added.
Sogaz is linked to Russian bank Rossiya, which is on the list of companies and individuals subject to US sanctions over Moscow's move to annex Crimea.
"Washington should understand that any hostile action towards Russian diplomats is not only a gross violation of international law but also a prelude to reprisal measures that would not fail to have an impact on the work of the US embassy and consulate in Russia," he said.
"JP Morgan Chase has therefore done a disservice" to the US administration, added the spokesman.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 02 Apr 2014 09:58
Compton_effect
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LazyLion
King of de Jungle
NATO'S SUSPENSION OF COOPERATION WITH MOSCOW A 'COLD WAR' MOVE: RUSSIA
Russia on Wednesday accused NATO of succumbing to "Cold War" instincts after the alliance suspended all cooperation with Moscow over the Crimea crisis.
"Basic instincts of Cold War have awoken in NATO, affecting rhetoric accordingly," the official Twitter page of Russia's mission to NATO quoted envoy Alexander Grushko as saying.
"'The alliance is under threat!' Seems like taxpayers will have to fork out for military games," he said.
The Western alliance's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday said that NATO is "suspending all practical cooperation with Russia, military and civilian" over Moscow's speedy annexation of the Crimea peninsula and reported massing of troops near Ukraine's border.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin derided the announcement, remarking that it was made on April Fool's Day.
"Last time (in 2008) they were freezing for three months, and thawed by December," he said, referring to Russia's short war with neighbouring Georgia.
"What can I say: it's a Cold War, so they are still freezing," he wrote on Twitter.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 02 Apr 2014 10:56
Russia on Wednesday accused NATO of succumbing to "Cold War" instincts after the alliance suspended all cooperation with Moscow over the Crimea crisis.
"Basic instincts of Cold War have awoken in NATO, affecting rhetoric accordingly," the official Twitter page of Russia's mission to NATO quoted envoy Alexander Grushko as saying.
"'The alliance is under threat!' Seems like taxpayers will have to fork out for military games," he said.
The Western alliance's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday said that NATO is "suspending all practical cooperation with Russia, military and civilian" over Moscow's speedy annexation of the Crimea peninsula and reported massing of troops near Ukraine's border.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin derided the announcement, remarking that it was made on April Fool's Day.
"Last time (in 2008) they were freezing for three months, and thawed by December," he said, referring to Russia's short war with neighbouring Georgia.
"What can I say: it's a Cold War, so they are still freezing," he wrote on Twitter.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 02 Apr 2014 10:56
How immature! Targeting a diplomat so he can't pay his insurance in such a petty manner will not go down well with Russians.
Dave
Honorary Master
It seems the Romanian airbase is pretty permanent and only a few hundred km from Ukraine and just over the Black Sea from Russia.
Nanfeishen
Executive Member
Nice to see the Russians havent lost their sense of humour.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
SWISS MOVE TO BOLSTER EU SANCTIONS OVER UKRAINE
The Swiss government has decided not to adopt European Union sanctions against 33 people in connection with Russia's annexation of Crimea, but will prevent them from using Switzerland to get around the visa bans and asset freezes.
The Swiss Federal Council, which includes the president and six other ministers, said those subject to EU sanctions won't be able to use "financial intermediaries" in Switzerland for new business.
In a statement Wednesday, the council said the 33 people won't be permitted to transfer any assets that they hold outside the EU into Swiss banks.
The council says its aim is "to prevent creating the perception that Switzerland's financial center could benefit from the EU sanctions."
Source : Sapa-AP /dm
Date : 02 Apr 2014 16:17
The Swiss government has decided not to adopt European Union sanctions against 33 people in connection with Russia's annexation of Crimea, but will prevent them from using Switzerland to get around the visa bans and asset freezes.
The Swiss Federal Council, which includes the president and six other ministers, said those subject to EU sanctions won't be able to use "financial intermediaries" in Switzerland for new business.
In a statement Wednesday, the council said the 33 people won't be permitted to transfer any assets that they hold outside the EU into Swiss banks.
The council says its aim is "to prevent creating the perception that Switzerland's financial center could benefit from the EU sanctions."
Source : Sapa-AP /dm
Date : 02 Apr 2014 16:17
Lithuania is also experiencing an increase in activity
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26849732
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
NATO VOICES 'GRAVE CONCERN' OVER RUSSIAN TROOP BUILDUP
by Dmitry ZAKS
Russia's military presence on the flashpoint border with Ukraine is of "grave concern" and Moscow's forces could invade in days if the Kremlin gave the order, NATO has warned.
With tens of thousands of Russian troops massed at its border, Ukraine's new government took the first step Wednesday towards granting more powers to the country's regions, but stopped well short of creating the kind of federation sought by Moscow.
NATO's top commander General Philip Breedlove told the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that Russian troops were poised to attack with 12 hours' notice and could take large swathes of Ukrainian territory in three to five days.
"Essentially the (Russian) force is ready to go," Breedlove told the Wall Street Journal.
"We believe that it can move within 12 hours... We believe it could accomplish its objective between three to five days," he added.
NATO estimates that Russia has deployed some 40,000 troops to its border with eastern Ukraine after annexing the southern Crimea region last month in response to the fall of Ukraine's Kremlin-backed president.
In the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War, both Washington and Kiev have been increasingly worried that Moscow intends to seize southeastern parts of Ukraine with large populations of ethnic Russians following the Crimea takeover.
Breedlove said potential new targets for Russia included a land corridor linking Crimea and mainland Russia, the strategic Odessa port and the breakaway Russian-speaking region of Transdniestr in Moldova.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he shared that assessment and warned of a "very massive Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian border".
"This is really a matter of grave concern," Rasmussen said, at the close of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
Ukraine's high-stakes plan to allow greater regional autonomy came after a veiled Kremlin threat to raise the price it charges for crucial gas deliveries for a second time in a week.
But having won vital financial backing from the IMF last week as well as moral support from NATO, the Western-backed government appeared ready to resist the Kremlin's diplomatic attempts to dislodge the more Russified regions in the east of the ex-Soviet country from direct Kiev rule.
The government said it would like to eliminate the current practice under which local governors are appointed by the president and move toward an election system.
But it said nothing about granting regions the right to set their own trade policies or establish special relations with foreign states.
"The main idea behind the concept is to decentralise power in the country and substantially broaden the authority of local communities," the government said.
Moscow has sought radical constitutional reforms in Ukraine in the wake of the February overthrow of a pro-Kremlin regime whose rejection of closer ties with Europe sparked months of protests.
Russia would like to see Ukraine transformed into a federation that allows eastern regions in the vast nation of 46 million people to adopt Russian as a second state language and overrule some decisions coming from Kiev.
The Kremlin has argued the changes were needed because ethnic Russians have come under attack from the ultra-nationalist forces that helped overthrow Kiev's Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in February.
But Washington and its European allies fear that Russia -- having already annexed Crimea -- is using the federation idea as an excuse to further splinter Ukraine by granting the Kremlin veto powers over Kiev's regional policies.
US officials have instead urged Ukraine's new leaders to introduce more targeted reforms that undercut Russian President Vladimir Putin's arguments for sending troops into southeastern Ukraine.
As the international sanctions against Moscow stack up, NASA has cut all contacts with Russia except for cooperation aboard the International Space Station, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge news website on Wednesday.
The US space agency did not immediately return calls for comment. There are currently three Russians and two Americans among the six astronauts aboard the space station.
The military buildup on Ukraine's border follows months of economic pressure that Moscow poured on Kiev in a seeming effort to force its leaders to reverse deepening ties with the West.
Russian state energy giant Gazprom -- which the Kremlin has long been accused of using as a weapon against uncooperative ex-Soviet and eastern European states -- on Tuesday hiked the price it charges Ukraine for natural gas shipments by 44 percent.
The punishing but largely expected step eliminated a price discount that Putin had extended the old government in December in reward for its decision to reject closer EU ties.
In a speech in Washington, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned that the crisis poses a danger to the broader world economy.
And in an interview with Russian television, deposed Ukraine president Yanukovych said he did not approve of Crimea leaving Ukraine, but blamed the new authorities in Kiev for the region's annexation by Russia.
"How can I as president of the country see the country falling apart?" he said from exile in southern Russia.
Meanwhile Russian opposition activist and chess legend Garry Kasparov on Wednesday urged the international community to make Putin respect the sovereignty of nations.
"He's very good at raising stakes all the time. I believe he has a very weak hand but he's very good in bluffing," Kasparov said during an event in Mexico City, calling for tougher US and European sanctions against Russia.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 03 Apr 2014 06:11
by Dmitry ZAKS
Russia's military presence on the flashpoint border with Ukraine is of "grave concern" and Moscow's forces could invade in days if the Kremlin gave the order, NATO has warned.
With tens of thousands of Russian troops massed at its border, Ukraine's new government took the first step Wednesday towards granting more powers to the country's regions, but stopped well short of creating the kind of federation sought by Moscow.
NATO's top commander General Philip Breedlove told the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that Russian troops were poised to attack with 12 hours' notice and could take large swathes of Ukrainian territory in three to five days.
"Essentially the (Russian) force is ready to go," Breedlove told the Wall Street Journal.
"We believe that it can move within 12 hours... We believe it could accomplish its objective between three to five days," he added.
NATO estimates that Russia has deployed some 40,000 troops to its border with eastern Ukraine after annexing the southern Crimea region last month in response to the fall of Ukraine's Kremlin-backed president.
In the worst East-West standoff since the Cold War, both Washington and Kiev have been increasingly worried that Moscow intends to seize southeastern parts of Ukraine with large populations of ethnic Russians following the Crimea takeover.
Breedlove said potential new targets for Russia included a land corridor linking Crimea and mainland Russia, the strategic Odessa port and the breakaway Russian-speaking region of Transdniestr in Moldova.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he shared that assessment and warned of a "very massive Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian border".
"This is really a matter of grave concern," Rasmussen said, at the close of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
Ukraine's high-stakes plan to allow greater regional autonomy came after a veiled Kremlin threat to raise the price it charges for crucial gas deliveries for a second time in a week.
But having won vital financial backing from the IMF last week as well as moral support from NATO, the Western-backed government appeared ready to resist the Kremlin's diplomatic attempts to dislodge the more Russified regions in the east of the ex-Soviet country from direct Kiev rule.
The government said it would like to eliminate the current practice under which local governors are appointed by the president and move toward an election system.
But it said nothing about granting regions the right to set their own trade policies or establish special relations with foreign states.
"The main idea behind the concept is to decentralise power in the country and substantially broaden the authority of local communities," the government said.
Moscow has sought radical constitutional reforms in Ukraine in the wake of the February overthrow of a pro-Kremlin regime whose rejection of closer ties with Europe sparked months of protests.
Russia would like to see Ukraine transformed into a federation that allows eastern regions in the vast nation of 46 million people to adopt Russian as a second state language and overrule some decisions coming from Kiev.
The Kremlin has argued the changes were needed because ethnic Russians have come under attack from the ultra-nationalist forces that helped overthrow Kiev's Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych in February.
But Washington and its European allies fear that Russia -- having already annexed Crimea -- is using the federation idea as an excuse to further splinter Ukraine by granting the Kremlin veto powers over Kiev's regional policies.
US officials have instead urged Ukraine's new leaders to introduce more targeted reforms that undercut Russian President Vladimir Putin's arguments for sending troops into southeastern Ukraine.
As the international sanctions against Moscow stack up, NASA has cut all contacts with Russia except for cooperation aboard the International Space Station, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge news website on Wednesday.
The US space agency did not immediately return calls for comment. There are currently three Russians and two Americans among the six astronauts aboard the space station.
The military buildup on Ukraine's border follows months of economic pressure that Moscow poured on Kiev in a seeming effort to force its leaders to reverse deepening ties with the West.
Russian state energy giant Gazprom -- which the Kremlin has long been accused of using as a weapon against uncooperative ex-Soviet and eastern European states -- on Tuesday hiked the price it charges Ukraine for natural gas shipments by 44 percent.
The punishing but largely expected step eliminated a price discount that Putin had extended the old government in December in reward for its decision to reject closer EU ties.
In a speech in Washington, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned that the crisis poses a danger to the broader world economy.
And in an interview with Russian television, deposed Ukraine president Yanukovych said he did not approve of Crimea leaving Ukraine, but blamed the new authorities in Kiev for the region's annexation by Russia.
"How can I as president of the country see the country falling apart?" he said from exile in southern Russia.
Meanwhile Russian opposition activist and chess legend Garry Kasparov on Wednesday urged the international community to make Putin respect the sovereignty of nations.
"He's very good at raising stakes all the time. I believe he has a very weak hand but he's very good in bluffing," Kasparov said during an event in Mexico City, calling for tougher US and European sanctions against Russia.
Source : Sapa-AFP /gm
Date : 03 Apr 2014 06:11
DreamKing
Honorary Master
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