EU sanctions Russia despite new Putin-Poroshenko peace push - Yahoo News
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Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat by Shaun Walker in Mariupol
The battalion's far-right volunteers' desire to 'bring the fight to Kiev' is a danger to post-conflict stability
"I have nothing against Russian nationalists, or a great Russia," said Dmitry, as we sped through the dark Mariupol night in a pickup truck, a machine gunner positioned in the back. "But Putin's not even a Russian. Putin's a Jew."
Dmitry which he said is not his real name is a native of east Ukraine and a member of the Azov battalion, a volunteer grouping that has been doing much of the frontline fighting in Ukraine's war with pro-Russian separatists.
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The Russian branch of global IT giant Google is investigating the reported leak of some five million passwords of Gmail account users.
Most Russian Forces Now Out of Ukraine, Kiev Saysby By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine said the withdrawal of Russian forces augmented the chances for a lasting cease-fire in the southeast.
Президент России Владимир Путин подписал указ, согласно которому руководить Военно-промышленной комиссией будет он лично. Как сообщил Путин на совещании по развитию Военно-промышленного комплекса России, благодаря этому «повысится эффективность государственной политики в сфере обороны и безопасности страны». Путин отметил, что Россия «не намерена втягиваться в гонку вооружений», однако необходимо учитывать угрозы для безопасности страны. Заместителем главы...
 Reuters |
It's Time to Stop Putin's Nuclear Arms Buildup
Foreign Policy Once again, Russian President Vladimir Putin is flexing his muscles with no serious response from President Obama. Not only did Russia violate the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader ... Sen. Inhofe: Putin 'Flexing His Muscles' While Obama Sits StillNewsmax.com all 32 news articles » |
LeJDD: Загадочный Путин почти никому не доверяет
RT на русском Не только западные лидеры, но и высокопоставленные чиновники в Москве не знают, что на уме у Путина, пишет Le Journal du Dimanche. Авторы статьи полагают, что российский лидер принимает решения, почти ни с кем не советуясь, и доверяет лишь узкой группе людей, которых ... |
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EU sanctions Russia despite new Putin-Poroshenko peace push
Yahoo News Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Petro Poroshenko just as Ukraine's pro-Western leader was paying a highly symbolic visit to a government-held city that was hit by rebel bombardments a day after the peace pact was struck on Friday. |
 RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |
Do Some Russians Think Vladimir Putin Is God?
Vocativ As I stand in the courtyard of a Moscow arts and craft center, a dark-haired, 20-something woman turns to me and asks: “Is this the venue for the 'Is Vladimir PutinGod?' lecture?” She smiles nervously, seemingly worried that I'll think she's crazy ... In Russia, Orthodox Radical Ponders Putin's DivinityRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Russians say successful international policy is Putin's major achievementRT all 4 news articles » |
 Forbes Россия |
Путин согласился упразднить Минрегионразвития и «Рособоронзаказ»
Forbes Россия Президент России Владимир Путин на встрече с премьер-министром Дмитрием Медведевым в понедельник поддержал его предложения об упразднении министерства регионального развития, «Рособоронзаказа» и «Рособоронпоставки», передает «Интерфакс». |
Who Will NATO Save From Putin?
Bloomberg View It may seem that the response of the U.S. and European Union to Russian President VladimirPutin's Soviet revanchism is entirely ad hoc and reactive. There is, however, a logic to it that even Putin appears to accept, if not acknowledge, which is that ... |
 Wall Street Journal |
Panorama - Putin's Gamble
BBC News Panorama - Putin's Gamble. Vladimir Putin stands accused of launching an undeclared war against Ukraine. As fears of a wider war grow, John Sweeney challenges the Russian strongman on the killing in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin stands accused of launching ... Making Mr. Putin feel the heat of sanctionsWashington Post What Does Vladimir Putin Want?Wall Street Journal Did Western Hubris Create Vladimir Putin?National Journal San Jose Mercury News-Tuscaloosa News (subscription)-Kyiv Post all 986 news articles » |
 Fox News |
AP Analysis: Putin hopes to achieve his goals in Ukraine with truce; military ...
Fox News Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, right, at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow on Monday, Sept 8, 2014. (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Government Press Service)The Associated Press. |
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 Lenta.ru |
Путин отправил в отставку брянского губернатора
Lenta.ru Президент России Владимир Путин отправил в отставку губернатора Брянской области Николая Денина. Как говорится в сообщении на сайте Кремля, глава государства подписал указ, согласно которому Денин лишается должности в связи с утратой доверия. Временно исполняющим ... |
 Telegraph.co.uk (blog) |
How Bulgaria and Interpol are helping Vladimir Putin imprison European citizens
Telegraph.co.uk (blog) Today an innocent man called Nikolay Koblyakov will appear in front of a Bulgarian judge in a desperate effort to fend off an unscrupulous attempt by Vladimir Putin to deport him to Russia. The world knows very little of Koblyakov, but his story gives ... The Telegraph: How Bulgaria and Interpol are helping Vladimir Putin imprison ...Standart News all 6 news articles » |
 The Moscow Times |
The West Is Wrong to See Putin as the Enemy
New York Times And blaming President Vladimir Putin is also easy because it is true that Russia is in no way a model of democracy. The country has a well known record of electoral fraud and plenty of political prisoners. A year ago, Ukraine represented a merging ... Making Mr. Putin feel the heat of sanctionsWashington Post Don't be fooled by the Russia-Ukraine cease-fireCNBC Rubin: If Putin's actions aren't an invasion, what is?The Desert Sun The Moscow Times-RIA Novosti-The Atlantic all 440 news articles » |
 GORDONUA.COM |
Профессор Зубов: Весь ужас ситуации состоит в том, что ни Путин, ни Порошенко до конца ситуацией не управляют
GORDONUA.COM Поскольку переговоры президента Украины Петра Порошенко и президента РФ Владимира Путина происходят едва ли не каждый день, это свидетельствует о том, что обе стороны заинтересованы в перемирии, хотя пути решения конфликта никому не ясны, считает российский ... Путин поговорил по телефону с Порошенко о мире на УкраинеBFM.Ru Беларуси грозит аншлюс, Путин готов к новой мировой войне, — ИлларионовЭкономические известия Все похожие статьи: 173 » |
 Business Insider |
Putin Has Opted For The More Devious Course In Ukraine
Business Insider Putin apparently has calculated that the price would be too high, both because of the devastating economic punishment the West would impose and because of the need to spend tens of billions of dollars to support eastern Ukraine. With the Russian ... |
 Lenta.ru |
Путин и Порошенко обсудили соглашение об ассоциации Украины с ЕС
Lenta.ru Российский президент Владимир Путин и его украинский коллега Петр Порошенко в ходе телефонного разговора во вторник, 9 сентября, обсудили соглашение об ассоциации Украины с ЕС и другие актуальные темы экономического сотрудничества между двумя странами, сообщает ... Путин и Порошенко провели переговорыМосковский комсомолец Путин подтвердил готовность содействовать мирному урегулированию кризиса на УкраинеИТАР-ТАСС Путин подтвердил Порошенко готовность России помогать урегулированию конфликтаВзгляд Профессор Зубов: Весь ужас состоит в том, что ни Путин, ни Порошенко до конца ситуацией не управляютGORDONUA.COM BBC Russian- РИА Новости-NEWSru.com -BBC Russian Все похожие статьи: 1 041 » |
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 РБК |
Путин в кругу единомышленников: чего ждать от саммита ШОС в Душанбе
РБК В четверг начнется визит президента России Владимира Путина в Таджикистан. В Душанбе он примет участие в саммите Шанхайской организации сотрудничества (ШОС) и проведет несколько двусторонних встреч. В ШОС шесть постоянных членов: Россия, Казахстан, Киргизия, Китай, ... Путин 11-12 сентября примет участие в саммите ШОС в ДушанбеРИА Новости Путин примет участие в саммите ШОСТВ Центр - Официальный сайт телеканала Путин 11-12 сентября посетит Душанбе для участия в саммите ШОСRuNews24.ru - круглосуточная служба новостей ИД Алтапресс- Аргументы.ру-Пронедра Все похожие статьи: 167 » |
The Moscow Times |
Making Mr. Putin feel the heat of sanctions
Washington Post IN CARRYING out his stealth invasion and lawless land grab in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried hard to divide the Western alliance and make it look impotent. It's critical that he not succeed. On Monday, the European Union decided on ... Don't be fooled by the Russia-Ukraine cease-fireCNBC Putin to Poroshenko: Russia Is Committed to Ukrainian Peace ProcessThe Moscow Times Putin says Russia committed to Ukraine peace processDeccan Herald The Daily Star all 347 news articles » |
Макфарланд: Хитрый Путин знает, как обыграть слабый Запад
RT на русском Военный ответ НАТО на действия России невозможен, потому что доказать вооруженную агрессию Москвы невозможно, заявляет Кэтлин Макфарланд. Владимир Путин адекватно оценивает возможности Запада и знает, как сыграть на его слабостях, полагает аналитик Fox News. |
With new European Union sanctions looming over Russia, the country has announced that it considered blocking international flights through its airspace. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev referred to Western airlines in general, but in reality such restrictions would mainly hit European airlines which offer direct flights to Asia. The necessity to "bypass our airspace ... could drive many struggling airlines into bankruptcy," Medvedev was quoted as saying Monday in the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti.
But is that likely to happen, given what we know about the significance of Russia's airspace?
Banning Western airlines could indeed pose a serious problem to them, given the fact that Russia is the world's largest country in terms of land mass and is between East Asia and Europe. However, such sanctions could also have a backlash on Russia. Here are three main aspects we should keep in mind:
Russia's airspace is frequently used by European airlines
Medvedev did not specify whether "Western airlines" also incorporated the ones of Western allies such as South Korea. If we assume that potential sanctions were quite limited and only affected European airlines, we can distinguish which flights would be impacted. A visual analysis of all planes over European and particularly Russian airspace compared to all planes operated by the 60 largest European airlines on Monday 2 p.m. shows that the amount of planes seems manageable, at least at first glimpse.
Source: planefinder.net/Filter: The Washington Post
However, data provided to WorldViews by Flightradar24.com for Sept. 1 show that European and U.S. airlines actually account for the majority of foreign flights operated over Russia. The airlines that would most likely be affected by sanctions are highlighted in red:
So, we can be quite sure that European and U.S. airlines would indeed be affected — but to what extent?
There are alternatives for the Europeans
Let's go back to Medvedev's original quote predicting the demise and bankruptcy of some Western airlines if Russia banned them from its airspace. The most important airlines that show up in the visualization above are predominantly major enterprises with operations all over the world that seem stable at the moment.
Furthermore, this is not the first time Russia has threatened some of those airlines to deny them the right to fly over its territory. In 2007, it banned Lufthansa's cargo unit from its airspace, in an apparent attempt to pressure the airline to move its hub to Siberia. Instead, Lufthansa diverted its flights to Kazakhstan but finally gave up and relocated to Siberia.
"Diverting flights over the North Pole or southern alternatives is actually something Europeans have experience in. Not too long ago, Russia forced all planes flying over the country to land in Moscow. Many foreign airlines reacted by choosing the about 20 percent longer routes in the north or south that avoid Russian airspace," explains Hansjochen Ehmer, a professor of aviation management who specializes in competition among international airlines.
Russia would be punishing itself
If Russia banned Western airlines, it would also face direct economic consequences. So far, Russia earns so-called "royalty payments," which are comparable to taxes imposed on foreign airlines that want to fly over the country's airspace. Although these payments are significant for the airlines, it's still cheaper to pay them than divert flights away from Russian airspace. If European airlines were forced to change their routes, Russia would lose the royalty revenues. In other words: If Russia imposed sanctions on Western airlines, it would actually impose sanctions on itself, as well.
Rick Noack writes about foreign affairs. He is an Arthur F. Burns Fellow at the Washington Post.
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BAGHDAD — As the United States and its allies look to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, longtime adversaries with a common fear of the radical movement are scrambling to see if they can cooperate to defeat the rising threat.
The jihadist group known as ISIS has so far thrived in part because its enemies are also enemies of one another, a reality that has complicated efforts to muster a strong response to its rampage. That factor has been a crucial consideration in war planning in capitals as diverse as Tehran and Washington, London and Damascus. But the potential threat has also forced a re-examination of centuries old tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, Kurds and Turks.
“Everyone sees ISIS as a short-term nemesis,” said Vali Nasr, a former senior adviser at the State Department who is dean of the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, adding that ISIS had thrust the region’s traditional set of rivalries into a “momentary pause.”
When the United States military was preparing to leave Iraq in 2011, its primary enemies were, for example, three Shiite militias, managed by Iran’s spymaster, Qassim Suleimani, and armed with bombs traced to factories in Iran. But recently, as United States warplanes bombed ISIS fighters closing in on an Iraqi town, Amerli, Mr. Suleimani directed three militias fighting the same enemy on the ground.
Iran and the United States insist there was no coordination, but the convergence of interests was a powerful symbol of just how much ISIS has, at least for now, reordered the region.
ISIS and its bloody march — mass killings, videotaped beheadings, ethnic cleansing — is forcing nearly every nation with a stake to reconsider relationships often shaped by competing agendas. Analysts say that following on the upheaval of the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS has led to perhaps the most turbulent moment for the Middle East since the split centuries ago between Sunnis and Shiites.
“I don’t think there’s been anything like this since the seventh century,” said Daniel C. Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to Egypt and Israel who is now a professor at Princeton.
If there is one upside to the tumult, it at least offers the slim prospect of bringing greater stability to the fractured violent region by finding common ground among competing geopolitical, religious and ethnic differences.
But that may just as likely prove wishful thinking, experts said. Mr. Nasr suggested that Iran and the United States, for example, “have tactical convergence,” in Iraq, but show little chance of a more durable alliance.
“Iran is not going to get in the way of the U.S. going after ISIS,” Mr. Nasr said. “The U.S. is not going to get in the way of Iran going after ISIS.”
The Sunni power Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, whose long rivalry has shaped the sectarian divide of the Middle East and played out in proxy wars in Syria and Iraq, also find themselves both opposed to ISIS. This has raised hopes in the West of an opening in the fraught relationship between the two countries that could help not just defeat ISIS in Iraq, but perhaps help end sectarian skirmishes around the region, and resolve the three-year-old civil war in Syria.
But again Mr. Nasr said he saw only a reed of hope because, despite opposing ISIS, neither has given any indication that it is ready to give up a guiding principle of the two countries’ Middle East policies: that each opposes the other.
“Right now this is more hope in the West than a reality on the ground in the Middle East,” said Mr. Nasr of a potential thaw in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The complex landscape of shifting alliances is particularly acute in Syria, where ISIS rose in the vacuum of the civil war before sweeping across Iraq. As President Obama weighs widening a military campaign against ISIS by taking on the group inside Syria, he faces an even more complex situation than in Iraq, where there are obvious allies to do the fighting on the ground, including the Iraqi security forces, the Kurdish pesh merga, and the Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
In Syria, the United States has called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, while Iran has supported him. Russia, which has increasingly angered the West with its military involvement in Ukraine, is also another important ally of Mr. Assad. So Mr. Obama has to calculate how to fight ISIS without appearing to aid Mr. Assad and the agenda of Iran and Russia. If he helped the Syrian president, even indirectly, he would violate his own stated objective and anger Turkey, an important American partner in the region that has long opposed Mr. Assad.
The victories gained by the militant group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria were built on months of maneuvering along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
OPEN Interactive Graphic
“A year ago we were discussing if we were going to bomb this guy or not,” said Michael Stephens, an analyst in Qatar for the London-based Royal United Services Institute. “Now we’re talking about helping him out.”
Turkey has its own set of dilemmas. Early in the Syrian uprising Turkey bet that Mr. Assad would go quickly, and supported rebel groups with weapons and offered them the ability to go back and forth across its long border with Syria. As the uprising evolved into a brutal civil war, Turkey was sharply criticized for allowing ISIS to grow.
Now ISIS has become a threat to Turkey, and holds nearly 50 Turkish hostages captured when the militants overran the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in June.
So while Turkey is eager to defeat the scourge of ISIS, it has been restrained out of worry for the lives of the hostages. Publicly, Turkish leaders have opposed the American airstrikes in Iraq.
“Privately, it’s a very different story,” said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of the Center for Economic and Foreign Policy Studies, a research organization in Istanbul. “Turkey wants a more effective operation against ISIS.”
Turkey also has another important interest. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., has long fought an insurgency against Turkey, but after militants threatened Iraq’s Kurdish region — which prompted the first American airstrikes — its fighters swooped in to the fight in defense of the Kurds. The P.K.K. has long been on the United States terrorist list, but now there are calls for the group to be removed, which would enhance the group’s legitimacy, and anger the Turks.
Broadly, the rise of ISIS has sped up a process of reshaping the Middle East that began with the Arab Spring uprisings over three years ago. Across the region, the old order disintegrated.
“You basically had an open field for these regional rivals to fight over, and the fighting is not over,” Mr. Nasr said. “All of this put together is a consequence of the Arab Spring.”
Separate from ISIS, the Arab Spring brought to power the political Islamists in many countries, sharpening a rivalry between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, all opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Qatar and Turkey, supporters of the Brotherhood.
This rivalry has played out in Libya, where the U.A.E., with Egyptian support, has bombed Islamists. Meanwhile, Israel is “quite gleeful,” Mr. Kurtzer said, to have the tacit support of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. in its effort to crush Hamas, the militant group that is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and is the authority in the Gaza Strip.
The new reality in the region is personified by the position Hakim al-Zamili, an Iraqi politician and militia leader, finds himself in these days. Mr. Zamili, a top official in the movement led by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, was once in an American detention facility, accused of leading a Shiite death squad during Iraq’s sectarian civil war in 2006 and 2007.
He was also on the ground in Amerli, along with Mr. Suleimani, the top Iranian operative.
“We have had no problems with the U.S. since they withdrew from Iraq,” he said. “I fought against them, as they were invaders. But today they are not. We are now allied to fight ISIS together.”
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 Forbes |
Putting Putin In His Place
Forbes In contrast, Vladimir Putin is the most formidable Russian potentate since Joseph Stalin. He has a clear program–to rebuild the Soviet empire–and is totally ruthless in pursuing it. Trained in the KGB, Putin is an expert liar, forger and bully, whose ... The West Is Wrong to See Putin as the EnemyNew York Times Making Mr. Putin feel the heat of sanctionsWashington Post Don't be fooled by the Russia-Ukraine cease-fireCNBC The Moscow Times -The Atlantic -RIA Novosti all 520 news articles » |
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The Minsk protocol signed on Sept. 5 as a result of a meeting of the trilateral contact group on joint steps aimed at the implementation of the peace plan by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and initiatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been made public.
Половина случаев насильственной смерти на нашей планете приходится на самоубийства
Stalin loved to resettle entire populations, casually transporting huge numbers of people over great distances like cattle. For example, over just two weeks in 1944, 180 Soviet trains forcibly relocated nearly 500,000 Chechens from their homeland to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. As the train wagons hurtled along, 56 babies were born and 1,272 died.
Основной объем работ составляет около 1,5 тысяч км траншей и ходов сообщения, более 8 тысяч окопов для техники, более 4 тысяч блиндажей
Президент Швейцарии и председатель Организации по безопасности и сотрудничеству в Европе Дидье Буркхальтер заявил, что эта организация собирается использовать беспилотники для контроля за соблюдением перемирия на востоке Украины. Вскоре начнется использование и беспилтников, принадлежащих непосредственно ОБСЕ.
Организация объявила конфликт международным, а Россию - стороной конфликта.
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В ЕС заявляли, что решение о введении санкций против России будет принято 10 сентября. Новые санкции подготовили и США.
Обмен пленными между украинскими войсками и донецкими ополченцами перенесен на четверг.
Happier workforces are more productive and take fewer sick days, but offering meaningful support is easier said than done
Sarah Mitchell was working for a busy recruitment agency in Essex when one day she sat down to read her emails and found the words blurring on the screen in front of her, and her chest constricting as if someone were squeezing her so hard she couldn't breathe. Her team leader sent her home, and when the same thing happened the following day she went to see her GP.
He told her she had been having panic attacks and suffering from depression. "I said: 'What? I'm not depressed,'" the 28-year-old recalls. But her condition would spiral into what she now describes as a complete breakdown, culminating in a suicide attempt for which she was briefly hospitalised.
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Ukraine is "regrouping" its forces in the east of the country, President Poroshenko has announced.
Sep 10, 2014
BANGKOK — As a boy, he was handsome and always picked up litter off the street. Today, he is a tireless public servant, collecting a pittance of $12.50 per day as he leads a nation of millions. He takes no holidays. He takes no guff. He recently tried his hand at songwriting and, on his first-ever attempt, penned an instant radio hit. Is this North Korea’s Kim Jong Un? Think again.
And they may be boosting their cocaine trade with Europe in the process.
Sep 9, 2014
The grisly incidents shatter the illusion of security promoted by the official press.
Robert Foyle Hunwick
Plans for a six-runway airport with Norman Foster's space-age design could leave Mexico’s president with a major legacy — or a major headache.
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday as he began a tour of the Middle East to build military, political and financial support to defeat Islamic State militants controlling parts of Iraq and Syria.
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