COUP IN KYIV?

@Walter Hinteler,

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has accepted a proposal by the German chancellor, Angel Merkel, to set up a “fact-finding mission” that would pave the way for some form of political dialogue in the crisis.

That’s according to a spokesperson for the German government, who has been giving Germany’s account of a conversation earlier between the two leaders.

The mission would possibly to be led by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Merkel is also said to have accused Putin of an “unacceptable Russian intervention” and of breaching international law. (From the Guardian's blog, I was too lazy to translate)

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@Walter Hinteler,

Quote:

BERLIN March 2, 2014 (AP)

The German government says Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel for a fact-finding mission and a "contact group" on Ukraine that could be led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Government spokesman Georg Streiter said the proposal came in a telephone conversation Sunday in which Merkel accused Putin of breaking international law with the "unacceptable Russian intervention in Crimea."

The "contact group," which Merkel's foreign minister floated earlier Sunday, would be aimed at getting dialogue going between Russia and Ukraine.

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I have been reading along. Nothing new to add.

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@Walter Hinteler,

Quote:

"The Prime Minister remains gravely concerned about events in Ukraine and is determined to pursue all avenues to reduce tensions and de-escalate a very dangerous situation," the spokesman said in a statement.

Hague travelled to Kiev on Sunday to meet the pro-Western government that took power when Russia's ally Viktor Yanukovich fled last week. He said Britain would join the United States and France in pulling out of preparatory meetings this week for a G8 summit in Sochi.

"The focus of our engagement with Russia must be the situation in Ukraine, rather than other normal business," the spokesman for Cameron's office said.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/british-ministers-will-shun-sochi-paralympics-over-ukraine-n42556

The Brits say, as they escalate Drunk

The Germans seem to be the outliers, calmly working to solve the problem as everyone else to include Obama issues threats as they take their toys and go home.

The folks in Kiev who issued a statement that Russian acts are a declaration of war is the best hyperbole yet, though the competition is fierce. As if the rag tag band currently claiming to be the bosses of Ukraine could do anything if they actually found themselves in a war with Russia.

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@Walter Hinteler,

Lets hope something gets worked out. I am encouraged that Merkel said Russia has broken international law and that it is unacceptable and that Putin is actually talking to her.

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@revelette2,

They don't need interpreters Wink

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@hawkeye10,

Escalate? Applying diplomatic pressure is your idea of escalating, as opposed to deploying troops.

Britain, Germany and America aren't acting in a vacuum. All three are NATO members and all three will be working together.

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@Walter Hinteler,

Very nice work by Merkel!!!

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@hawkeye10,

hawkeye10 wrote:

Quote:
Meanwhile GOP Senators are saying Obama looks weak because he hasn't thrown Russia out of the G8 already.

I was not aware that Obama runs the G8.

Apparently the GOP Senators are not aware either.

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@oralloy,

oralloy,

Every human being and, further, groups and countries peopled with them use all manner of tactics to influence events and people that affect them. I'm sure we (and all countries, special interest groups, etc) have lobbyists and advisors all over the place doing the same thing. What the people in the video said was mild compared to some of the lovely deadly plans being hatched worldwide at any given moment.

You and I use a myriad of strategies to bend others to our will. So do our countries, and our school systems, and our bosses, and our children on their playgrounds.

What happened in the Ukraine wasn't a result of our meddling. Our meddling was an attempt to help the cause of democracy in the region - not because we're saints, but because that is the best situation to avoid the **** that has just unfolded. Russia's meddling is leading to civil war - and maybe worse.

(BTW, I wouldn't take that video for proof of anything unless I had access to sensitive voice-analysis technology. I don't give it credence now, though future information may convince me. Just playing along with your assertion - which I addressed above.)

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@revelette2,

Rev: If Russia is renting, rents can be cancelled can they not? If someone I was renting to was barricading me with arms right outside where I live it at, I can guarantee I would kick them out. Its an act of intimidation.
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Let's think for a moment, Rev. The USA has a base in Cuba where the USA has a torture camp, but that's for another post. The USA isn't renting Guantanamo because Cubans don't want the there. The USA is using its overwhelming power to keep what they should long ago have given back to the people of Cuba.

Cuba says keep your ******* pittance, we want nothing to do with you or your filthy money.

Not only has the USA illegally kept that base, they have been committing terrorist acts against Cuba for almost 60 years.

Makes your comparison of what Russia is doing seem a bit silly, wouldn't you say? Doncha think it is important to know the history of your own country?

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@Walter Hinteler,

Don't you think it odd, Rev, that izzy and Walter are not reminding you that what the Russians are doing, the USA has done myriad times?

Are they naive, no they are not. Are they both bootlickers?

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@revelette2,

If the USA went home where it belongs, if the USA took its hundreds of bases out of Europe and the Middle East, if the USA stopped its incessant CIA terrorist actions then Russia would have no reason to worry and this would all have never arisen.

Given your propensity to be frightened so incredibly easy by your governments, how would you feel if Russia had military bases all over Central America and Canada and South America? With nuclear missiles pointing directly at all your cities?

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@Walter Hinteler,

Russia hasn't invaded two sovereign nations just since 2000.

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@Walter Hinteler,

Quote:

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel accused Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday of breaching international law with "unacceptable Russian intervention" in Ukraine, a German government spokesman said on Sunday.

Russian forces have bloodlessly seized Crimea - an isolated Black Sea peninsula with a majority of Russian speakers and where Moscow has a naval base.

"The chancellor called upon the Russian President again to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity," deputy government spokesman Georg Streiter said in a statement after a phone call between the two leaders.

Putin accepted Merkel's proposal to establish a "fact-finding mission" like a contact group, possibly under the leadership of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to start a political dialogue, the spokesman said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/02/us-ukraine-crisis-germany-merkel-idUSBREA210S320140302

I think it is very encouraging.

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@Lash,

Lash: What happened in the Ukraine wasn't a result of our meddling. Our meddling was an attempt to help the cause of democracy in the region - not because we're saints, but because that is the best situation to avoid the **** that has just unfolded. Russia's meddling is leading to civil war - and maybe worse.
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You do know, Lash, that you are full of ****. If the usa's meddling is to promote democracy why is it then that the USA has so many right wing dictators under its huge wings?

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@Walter Hinteler,

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Foofie wrote:

Does the point on who speaks which language correlate to which religion (Catholic or Eastern Orthodoxy) is the dominant regional religion?

Catholicism is a minority in Ukraine - less than 8% of the population.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is dominating in two eastern oblasts, the Ruthenian Catholic Church, and the Armenian Catholic Church are really small. (These latter three churches are Catholic but follow the Eastern Orthodox Rite.)

Interesting in that religion does not seem to play a part in the preferences. It might be purely economics? Anyway, I do not think Russia is about to let 60 years of Russifying the Ukraine go down the sink, so to speak, because of the histrionics of those that want to join the EU.

Do the western Ukranians understand the Russian Bear?

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@Walter Hinteler,

Walter Hinteler wrote:

Already in 2012, a Foreign Policy magazine contributor stated that Russia should be deleted from the G8 altogether.

Now it's happened.

Quote:

Russia's G8 partners have condemned Moscow's military build-up in Ukraine amid fresh diplomatic efforts to avert a dangerous escalation of the crisis.

The world's seven major industrialised powers also suspended preparations for the G8 summit in Sochi in June.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26412914

1 Reply

Quote:

Reuters
09:35 a.m. GMT, March 3, 2014

GENEVA (Reuters) - Switzerland, which chairs the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said on Monday it is trying to convene an international contact group on Ukraine and urged all players to help defuse the crisis.

Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter, who holds the rotating presidency of Europe's main human rights and democracy watchdog, said that the OSCE contact group would support Ukraine during its period of transition and coordinate international aid.

Addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva as the OSCE Council met in Vienna, he said: "These talks also aim to discuss an observer mission with a particular focus on the rights of national minorities and human rights in Ukraine."

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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@Walter Hinteler,

Watching France24 News last night, they had an interesting piece about the financial bits snd pieces going on in Russia, because of the situation.

Three of their major banks have massive 'exposure' re.Ukraine, and if the Ukranian economy fails, then at least one of the banks will fold, possibly all three.
Off the top of my head, it also said that the rouble was 17% down on this time last year, and their 1.3% growth is likely to shrink back to zero or even go negative.
It also mentioned the gas situation, and noted that Ukraine has been stockpiling as much as poss for the past few months, and also mentioned that the shrewd Germans have now amassed a stockpile equivalent to four months supply.
Gas prices are also set to skyrocket if things don't calm down soon.

1 Reply

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