Russian President Vladimir Putin poses a "real and present danger" to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and NATO is getting ready to repel any possible aggression, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Thursday.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin poses a "real and present danger" to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and NATO is getting ready to repel any possible aggression, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Thursday.
Тони Блэр стал советником правительства Сербии, - СМИ
Утро Все это несмотря на свою политическую роль среди сторонников бомбардировок Белграда в 1999 году, утверждает британская газета Guardian. Блэр являлся видным политиком, занимая пост премьер-министра Великобритании с 1997 по 2007 год. В своих мемуарах, вышедших в 2010 ... и другие » |
Ministry of Defence says Typhoon fighters scrambled to escort planes spotted in international airspace off Cornwall
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The mayor of Birobidzhan, the capital of Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region, has been detained on corruption charges.
 ЛІГА.net |
ДНР готова к обмену пленных из Дебальцево по формуле «всех на всех»
Газета.Ru Представитель самопровозглашенной Донецкой народной республики Денис Пушилин заявил, что ДНР готова обменять пленных силовиков из Дебальцево по формуле «всех на всех», передает РИА «Новости». <div style="background-color:#fff;padding:10px;margin:0;display:table;"> <div ... В ДНР готовы обменять пленных по формуле «всех на всех»ИА REGNUM Пушилин заявил о готовности ДНР обменять пленных из ДебальцевоВзгляд ДНР пообещала обеспечить безопасность представителей ОБСЕ в ДебальцевоИнтерфакс РБК Украина -Вести.Ru -Комитет избирателей Донбасса Все похожие статьи: 1 998 » |
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ИА REGNUM Представители 13 «добровольческих батальонов» и военных организаций вечером 18 февраля подписали совместный меморандум о создании «Объединенного штаба добровольческих сил Украины», передает корреспондент ИА REGNUM. В числе подписантов соглашения: «Правый ... Батальоны заявляют о создании штаба добровольческих силКорреспондент.net От Порошенко требуют сменить руководство ГенштабаПравда.Ру "Айдар" против идеи Семенченко: Дебальцево раскололо тербатальоныФедеральное агентство новостей No.1 Преступности.Нет -ДеПо -Trans-Port Все похожие статьи: 82 » |
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Putin ‘a World-Class Hooligan without a World-Class Policeman,’ Zaydman Says by paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, February 19 – Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine and the West’s failure to stand up to him shows what can happen when there is “a world-class hooligan without a world-class policeman,” Vadim Zaydman says, a horrific situation that may continue for decades if Putin remains in office and the West remains in the state where it is now.
Everyone is familiar with what happens when there isn’t an effective police force in one or another city: the worst emerge and impose their will on the innocent. But that situation has now spread to the world as a result of Putin’s actions and the unwillingness of the Western powers to force him to live according to the rules.
And they are well aware of something else: what will stop hooliganism when it first appears is relatively small compared to what will be necessary to do the same when the hooligans have gotten away with their crimes and assume that they will be able to continue to act with impunity.
For 15 years, the West has deluded itself about the nature of Putin, hiding behind the question “who is Mr. Putin” as if it were not clear to the unaided eye as a result of his actions in Chechnya, Georgia and now Ukraine what kind of a criminal he is and why stopping him will be ever harder, thecommentator says (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=54E47FF80BF4B).
Had the West taken a hard line against Putin after he invaded Georgia, he wouldn’t have seized Crimea. Had it imposed the kind of sanctions now in place immediately after his Anschluss of the Ukrainian peninsula, he wouldn’t have expanded his aggression into eastern Ukraine. And tragically, it appears this is not the end.
“Ukraine has been betrayed as at one time Georgia was betrayed,” Zaydman says. Not only has the West refused to live up to its responsibilities under the Budapest Memorandum, but it is apparently going to continue to refuse to provide Ukraine with the arms necessary to effectively defend itself against the hooligan Putin.
“’The conflict in Ukraine does not have a military solution,’ Chancellor Merkel and the other European leaders love to repeat as a mantra.” But they are wrong: Ukraine will have a military solution. It will be Putin’s military solution, one that the West has allowed by its inaction. And it won’t be the last one if nothing changes.
Perhaps because the prospects of that are so horrific, many believe that Putin and/or the West will change. But Putin has been remarkably consistent: he uses force whenever he thinks he can get away with it; and the West by its failure to oppose him with force has allowed him to assume he can get away with ever more of it.
Or such optimists have assumed that things will change because Putin will leave the scene or because the West will come to its senses. But there seems to be little prospect of either. An article in “Vedomosti” suggests that Putin could be in power for another 30 years, wreaking havoc on the world all that time (vedomosti.ru/opinion/news/39537941/izderzhki-pozhiznennogo-liderstva?full#cut).
And Vytautas Landsbergis, the Lithuanian leader who knows more than a little about Moscow’s willingness to engage in criminal activities when the West refuses to oppose it, suggests the current situation provides little basis for optimism and much for fear (ru.delfi.lt/news/politics/landsbergis-zapad-nastolko-glup-chto-putinu-uzhe-ne-nado-ego-durachit.d?id=67213460).
Landsbergis says that the West is now “so stupid” that Putin doesn’t have to try to “stupefy it.” Western leaders won’t even challenge Putin’s assertions that Russia isn’t a participant in the war in Ukraine, let alone do something about it. Indeed, one has to ask whether the West has already “capitulated” to him.
The West now is “afraid to respond to Russia, and if that doesn’t change,” the Lithuanian leader points out, “Russia will be able to continue to behave badly in Ukraine and later in other neighboring countries.” Indeed, he says, the West is so afraid that it doesn’t even want to impose more sanctions, let alone do something more effective.
There is a solution, he points out. “How does one overcome fear? By not being afraid. To be afraid is a defeat and a capitulation.” And Landsbergis cites the words of US President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks: “they’ve attacked us and we must respond because if we are afraid to do so, the terrorists will win.”
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Russia 'danger' to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - Fallon
BBC News There is a "real and present danger" of Russia trying to destabilise the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, the UK defence secretary says. Michael Fallon said he was worried about "pressure" from Russian President Vladimir Putin on the ex ... Russia A 'Real And Present Danger' To NATO StatesSky News Russia a threat to Baltic states after Ukraine conflict, warns Michael FallonThe Guardian America Threatens to Wage War on Russia: “US public is being Prepped to Hate ...Center for Research on Globalization The Independent- Telegraph.co.uk-ABC News all 994 news articles » |
Ukraine is marking one year since anti-government protests in the capital, Kyiv, ended in clashes that left more than 100 dead and sent then-president Viktor Yanukovych fleeing to Russia. Despite a change in government, no one has been held accountable for the deaths and the families of many victims are skeptical they will ever see justice. VOA's Daniel Schearf reports from Kyiv.
The Ministry of Defense said the two Russian airplanes were “escorted” in international airspace “until they were out of the U.K. area of interest.”
A Checklist of Ten Russian Developments Worth Watchingby paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, February 19 – The situation in and around Russia is now changing with such dizzying rapidity that it is all but impossible to keep up, given the overriding need to focus on Vladimir Putin’s continuing aggression in Ukraine. But many, small and large, are worth watching because of the potential each of them has to produce major changes in the future.
Below is a checklist of ten:
- The real incomes of Russians fell by 29 percent last month as a result of the recession and the collapse of the ruble, and more than a third of Russians expect that they will lose their jobs or see their wages cut in the coming months (kasparov.ru/material.php?id=54E58DA1E9E42and meduza.io/en/news/2015/02/18/more-than-a-third-of-russians-are-braced-for-layoffs-and-wage-cuts).
- The economic situation in Russia’s rural areas has deteriorated to the point that people from there are flooding into Moscow and other major cities in the hopes of finding work, possibly replacing Central Asian gastarbeiters who have left and not come back and forming a new and volatile class in many places (sobkorr.ru/news/54E31EBB48ED5.htmland ng.ru/economics/2015-02-17/1_migranty.html).
- Russians are increasingly aware that if they are arrested, they may face more than punishment: they may die at the hands of their jailors, a pattern that some have called “death by arrest” given how widespread it has become (svpressa.ru/society/article/113256/).
- Ethnic Russians are indeed leaving the Baltic countries, but they are going to Europe rather than returning to Russia, a reflection of the opportunities they have even if they are not citizens to travel and work in the EU and their lack of interest in responding to Putin’s appeals to become part of his “Russian world” (stoletie.ru/vzglyad/pribaltika_pustejet_414.htm).
- Russian officials in the regions, facing their own economic problems, are putting pressure on refugees from the war in Ukraine to leave, and Moscow is imposing new and far more restrictive rules on people living near the Ukrainian border regarding transit (nr2.com.ua/News/politics_and_society/Ukrainskih-bezhencev-vygonyayut-iz-Rossii-90647.htmlandnr2.com.ua/News/Ukraine_and_Europe/Rossiyanam-uzhestochayut-pravila-vezda-v-Ukrainu-90659.html).
- Ethnic conflicts are intensifying in the Russian armed forces with commanders and prosecutors forced to take the nationality of those under their command into account whenever they impose punishments and probably in many other cases as well (kavpolit.com/articles/chechentsy_v_armii_ravnee_ravnyh-14215/).
- The Russian communications ministry is calling on publications to cut honoraria for freelancers, a step that it says reflects the worsening economic situation of these outlets but one that will give Moscow yet another whip hand in controlling the media (colta.ru/news/6378).
- GONGOs, “Government-Organized Non-Government Organizations,” are making a comeback and being used as political weapons by the government against opposition figures and political parties (kavpolit.com/articles/provlastnye_nko_mogilschiki_partij-14137/).
- Despite economic problems, many regions are doing more to promote regional identities and branding. The latest example: Hard-pressed Siberia has announced plans for a new Siberian historical encyclopedia of more than 50 volumes (interfax-russia.ru/Siberia/view.asp?id=584171).
- And although they have received little attention in recent months, the problem of company towns continues at a low boil, creating problems for Moscow to the point that one author says there is now “a Russian city that even Moscow fears” because of what problems there could mean for the entire country (uralpolit.ru/article/sverdl/18-02-2015/56133).
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British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon says Russia poses a "real and present danger" to the Baltic states and NATO is preparing for possible attacks against them.
 BBC News |
Russia accuses Ukraine of aiming to destroy Minsk accords
BBC News Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin has denounced Ukraine's call for the deployment of UN peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine as a destructive move. The Ukrainian president's call "raises suspicions that he wants to destroy the Minsk accords", Mr Churkin ... Russia marches on uninhibited in eastern UkraineWashington Post Canada increases sanctions against Russia as key Ukrainian rail hub falls to ...National Post Russia, rebels attack Ukraine's call for peacekeepersYahoo News Business Insider -Telegraph.co.uk all 5,622 news articles » |
New attempt to enforce Ukraine ceasefireby Alec Luhn in Artemivsk and agencies
Putin, Poroshenko, Merkel and Hollande agree by telephone that measures agreed last week should be implemented ‘strictly and in their entirety’
The leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia agreed by telephone on Thursday to make a new push to impose an accord seeking to establish a ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to a French statement, the four condemned the ceasefire breaches of recent days and agreed that the package of measures agreed on 12 February in the Belarus capital, Minsk, should be implemented “strictly and in their entirety”.
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At times it has seemed patience is a substitute for strategy
Poroshenko’s Call for Peacekeepers a Test for Putin, Portnikov Says by paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, February 19 – By pulling Ukrainian troops out of Debaltsevo, thus preserving them to fight another day and straightening the ceasefire line, and by calling for UN or EU peacekeepers to monitor it, Petro Poroshenko has put Vladimir Putin in a difficult position because if he rejects that idea, he will show himself “ready for a major war in Europe.”
Those are the most important consequences of the events of the last 48 hours, Kyiv commentator Vitaly Portnikov argues, even though “at first glance,” that may not appear to be the case after Ukraine’s loss of Debaltsevo (liga.net/opinion/223497_proverka-mirotvortsami-zakhochet-li-putin-vyyti-iz-igry.htm).
Ukraine was not in a position to hold the salient, Portnikov says, but Putin’s plan was “not so much about the seizure of Debaltsevo as in creating a cauldron in which there would be thousands of Ukrainian soldiers” whose capture would discredit Ukraine and thus open the way for the collapse of the government in Kyiv.
By pulling the Ukrainian forces out of the salient, Poroshenko blocked the realization of Putin’s plans. But he did more than that: he stabilized the situation along the ceasefire line and made it easier for Ukraine forces to oppose Russian ones without the risks of the kind of losses that the salient might have entailed.
“Can Putin attack further?” Portnikov asks rhetorically. “Of course, he can,” but any new attack will undermine “the rickety balance in relations with the West which was achieved as a result of the Minsk agreements. If Putin does go further, then the path to new sanctions and to the arming of Ukraine will be open. And in the Kremlin, they know that very well.”
This is a question of tactics, the Kyiv commentator says, and what is necessary is to think about Putin’s strategy. “What does Putin want today: to continue the war or to get out of the Donetsk battles with the least damage to his image?” The answer to that will not be long in coming thanks to Poroshenko’s proposal of international peacekeepers.
The Ukrainian president’s proposal is “completely logical” given that Russia isn’t obeying the ceasefire even as it lies about its support of the Minsk agreements. The only way to change the situation now is to introduce peacekeepers who can act as a buffer between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
If they were to be in place, Portnikov says, that would put an end to talk about “’the restoration of the territorial integrity of the DNR’” because the pro-Moscow militants would have to “shoot at German or French troops” rather than Ukrainian ones. Any militant attacks on the former would have a much more immediate impact on the international situation.
That is because “the sanctions that would come would not be for Ukraine but for France or Germany. And these would be quite different sanctions” than those seen so far, Portnikov argues. As a result, Putin would have to impose far greater control on the militants and likely eliminating one way or another many of their current leaders.
But all of that can only occur if the West and Russia agree to Poroshenko’s call for peacekeeprs. “For the West, the dispatch of such a contingent is simpler than giving Ukraine arms and also more risky because the price of the life of each soldier in the West is much higher than is the case on the post-Soviet space.”
Moreover, if a EU police mission really did come to Ukraine and any of its personnel died, “the Europeans would seriously ask their governments why they had sent boys into such an unstable region. Therefore, the EU will need to get the agreement of Russia.” But that is possible only “if Putin really wants to stop the war.”
That could work to his advantage, but “if he refuses, then it will be completely unimportant which city he has already seized and which one he intends to seize tomorrow. It will be finally understood that Putin is preparing for a major war” and not one just with Ukraine. That will force the West to take far more intensive steps to prevent that from happening.
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Pro-Russian rebels repeatedly launched missiles and grenades at Ukrainian soldiers as they retreated from the key strategic town of Debaltseve, according to reports from the frontline.
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Leaders Speak by Telephone to Try to Impose Ukraine Cease-Fire by By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Fighting has continued between government and separatist forces in the east of the country despite a truce brokered by Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.
'Many Died, Many Were Wounded' In Debaltseveby Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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Ukrainian military forces have retreated from the town of Debaltseve, which has been under siege by pro-Russian separatists. Correspondent Levko Stek of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service spoke to...
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ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian soldiers were forced to fight their way out of the embattled town of Debaltseve in the early hours of Wednesday, casting further doubt on the credibility of a days-old cease-fire and eroding the promise of ending a war in Europe that has killed more than 5,000 people.
It was unclear Wednesday how many of the thousands of Ukrainian soldiers trapped in the eastern Ukrainian town had survived the hellish retreat under enemy fire and avoided capture. President Petro O. Poroshenko put the figure at 80 percent, but since the Ukrainian military has never commented on its troop strength, the final accounting may never be known.
By midday on Wednesday, as limping and exhausted soldiers began showing up in Ukraine-held territory, it became clear that the Ukrainian forces had suffered major losses, both in equipment and human life.
“Many trucks left, and only a few arrived,” said one soldier, who offered only his rank, sergeant, and first name, Volodomyr, as he knelt on the sidewalk smoking. “A third of us made it, at most.”
The political fallout was as uncertain as the military situation. Mr. Poroshenko sought to cast the retreat in a positive light, saying in a televised statement that he had ordered the troops out of Debaltseve, a strategic transportation hub where intense fighting raged in recent days despite acease-fire agreement signed last week in Minsk, Belarus.
Yet, his decision to fight for several days before retreating, and his earlier refusal to hand over the town during the cease-fire talks even when a Ukrainian defeat seemed inevitable, could prove contentious in Ukraine as the scale of the potential slaughter comes into focus.
“It was clear they couldn’t get a deal on Debaltseve,” Samuel Charap, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said of the Minsk talks. “The question then becomes: What the hell was Poroshenko thinking?”
The brazen disregard for the cease-fire on the part of the Russian-backed separatists also called into question the future of the Minsk agreement and the standing of two of its primary sponsors, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President François Hollande of France, who once again proved powerless to stop President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia from achieving his objectives in defiance of Europe’s wishes.
Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said that Secretary of State John Kerry had on Wednesday urged Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, “to stop Russian and separatist attacks on Ukrainian positions in Debaltseve and other violations of the cease-fire.”
In Brussels on Wednesday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the group “stands ready to take appropriate action in case the fighting and other negative developments in violation of the Minsk agreements continue.”
The latest updates to the current visual survey of the continuing dispute, with maps and satellite imagery showing rebel and military movement.
Mr. Putin, speaking on Tuesday in Hungary about the fate of Ukraine in Debaltseve, said that it was always tough to lose. “But life is life,” he said. “It just goes on. No need to dwell on it.”
Given Russian backing for the rebels in Debaltseve, including troops and advanced weaponry, “the question was when, not if, it fell,” said Mark Galeotti, a professor of global affairs at New York University and an expert in Russian security matters. “It is just too strategic a communications hub for Donetsk and Luhansk, and a weakness in the rebel defensive line, for Moscow or the rebel leaderships to pass up.”
If there was a shred of good news for Mr. Poroshenko, it was that by avoiding capture, the soldiers who made it out also avoided handing the rebels a powerful bargaining chip. But from the harrowing accounts of survivors of the retreat, that success was purchased at a terrible price.
A rebel assault that began within hours of the signing of the Minsk accord intensified on Tuesday with attacks by tanks and well-equipped infantry that quickly left most of the town under separatist control.
The order to retreat was kept secret until the last minute, and soldiers were told to prepare in 10 minutes and pile into the beds of troop transport trucks, according to Albert Sardaryen, 22, a medic who made the journey.
Unbeknown to them, preparations had been underway for days, as the military leadership searched for a means of escape other than the main road out of town, which was mined and controlled by the rebels. After sending ambulances over farmers’ fields and down back roads without attracting notice, they had their route.
The trucks lined up on the edge of town around 1 a.m., Mr. Sardaryen said, while tanks and tracked vehicles formed lines on either side of the convoy to try to shield the soldiers. The column of trucks, carrying more than 2,000 men, Ukrainian officials later said, kept their headlights off to make them harder to spot.
Despite the precautions, the column came under attack almost immediately, Mr. Sardaryen said, and trucks started breaking down and colliding in the dark. By dawn, the column was strung out on the plain and taking fire from all sides.
“They were shooting with tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and sniper rifles,” and firing at the disintegrating column with rockets, he said. Dead and wounded soldiers were left on the snowy fields because there were too many of them to carry once the trucks were hit.
“We stabilized them, applied tourniquets, gave them painkillers and tried to put them in a place with better cover,” Mr. Sardaryen said of the wounded.
Later, a Ukrainian unit from outside the encirclement drove in to try to retrieve the wounded, he said.
Mr. Sardaryen said he ran for the final four miles or so. Many of the soldiers who made it out also did so on foot, though some trucks made it all the way through, he said.
Oleksandr I. Bogunov, an army private, said the order had come to carry only what would be useful for the fight on the way out, and to leave all other ammunition and weaponry behind.
It remained unclear how many troops were stationed in the town. Mr. Poroshenko’s assertion that 80 percent had escaped in a column of a little over 2,000 soldiers would seem to indicate total troop strength of less than 3,000.
What did seem certain was that Mr. Poroshenko would face tough questioning in the days ahead. Though the cease-fire agreement was reached on Thursday, it did not formally take effect until Sunday.
The leaders provided no real explanation of the decision to delay its implementation for about 60 hours.
Mr. Poroshenko has said that he was willing to accept an immediate halt in the fighting, and that the delay was at Russia’s insistence. That seemed to be a reflection of the advantageous position of separatist fighters on the ground in the battle for Debaltseve.
In any event, the delay provided a window for fierce and bloody combat, and when the cease-fire did take effect, it produced only a brief lull in the fighting.
Mr. Poroshenko spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Ms. Merkel and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. about the continued fighting and the setback for the Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine had asked its Western partners to apply diplomatic pressure to encourage the pro-Russian separatists to observe the cease-fire in Debaltseve, and to allow access for monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Talks on the issue among the organization, Russia and Ukraine ended without results around 9 p.m. Tuesday, and the order for the retreat came four hours later.
Mr. Poroshenko urged the United Nations Security Council to prevent further breaches by Russia and the separatists.
In a statement, the Ukrainian presidential administration said that Mr. Poroshenko and Ms. Merkel condemned the cease-fire violations in Debaltseve.
While most analysts and European leaders urged patience to give the truce a chance to take hold after Debaltseve, the hard truth was that Ukraine and the rest of Europe were once again at the mercy of Mr. Putin and his proxies in eastern Ukraine.
“The real question is whether now that they have Debaltseve, the rebels and Russia are willing to sit back and let the conflict freeze, or whether they continue their town-by-town push while still proclaiming their support for the cease-fire,” Professor Galeotti said.
Referring to two other contested areas of eastern Ukraine, he said, “They could head for Avdiivka, or redouble their efforts on Mariupol, but I suspect Moscow will want now to settle back, at least for a while, and let Western attention wander.”
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Even if the fragile truce in eastern Ukraine fails, it has allowed us to grasp Vladimir Putin's new strategy.
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