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Russia preps for WWIII against US...or maybe not...Hegelian Dialectic?

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
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September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
September 20, 2017, 04:32:32 am Christian40 says: "The most popular Hepatitis B vaccine is nothing short of a witch’s brew including aluminum, formaldehyde, yeast, amino acids, and soy. Aluminum is a known neurotoxin that destroys cellular metabolism and function. Hundreds of studies link to the ravaging effects of aluminum. The other proteins and formaldehyde serve to activate the immune system and open up the blood-brain barrier. This is NOT a good thing."
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September 19, 2017, 03:59:21 am Christian40 says: bbc international did a video about there street preaching they are good witnesses
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Author Topic: Russia preps for WWIII against US...or maybe not...Hegelian Dialectic?  (Read 42541 times)
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« Reply #360 on: June 16, 2014, 11:09:17 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-president-seeks-truce-push-peace-plan-133446266.html
Ukrainian president proposes truce to push peace plan
6/16/14

KIEV (Reuters) - President Petro Poroshenko called on Monday for a truce in east Ukraine, where his government faces a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists, to provide time to seek agreement on a peace plan.

In a statement to security chiefs, Poroshenko said he had set government forces the task of regaining full control of Ukraine's border with Russia this week.

Once the frontier was secure, he said, a temporary ceasefire should be observed and efforts made to agree on a peace plan.

"Declaring a ceasefire while the border is open would be irresponsible," he said.

The separatists rose up against central rule in April following the removal of a president in Kiev who was sympathetic to Moscow, and Russia's subsequent annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Scores of government troops, rebels and civilians have been killed in fighting since then.

Since he was sworn in on June 7, Poroshenko has been trying to win agreement for peace proposals, few details of which have been published. His efforts have included talks with a Russian envoy and a phone call with President Vladimir Putin.

Kiev and the West have accused Russia of arming the rebels in east Ukraine but Moscow denies the accusations.

Poroshenko said his proposals included constitutional changes to allow more decentralization of power, a demand by many people in eastern Ukraine. He did not say how long the truce he was proposing should last.
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« Reply #361 on: June 17, 2014, 10:13:24 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/reverse-gas-flows-ukraine-legally-sound-says-eu-132225770.html
Reverse gas flows to Ukraine 'legally sound' says EU
6/17/14

Brussels (AFP) - The EU is exploring alternative gas sources for Ukraine, the European Commission said on Tuesday, a day after Russia cut off a key energy flow that also feeds Europe.

With the Russian gas supply to Ukraine now halted, the EU is considering ways to replenish Kiev with imports from neighbouring Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Moscow is strongly opposed to so-called "reverse flows", but the European Commission on Tuesday said the process was perfectly legal.

"The option of the reverse flows … is legally perfectly sound," said the EU's Energy Commission spokeswoman Sabine Berger.

"There are possibilities (for Ukraine) to buy gas from European companies," she said.

Ever since the Ukraine-Russia gas feud erupted earlier this year, Gazprom has cast doubt on the legality of European companies, who are locked into their own Gazprom contracts, pumping gas back into Ukraine.

European energy groups "do not have the right to do that," Miller said again on Monday.

A Ukrainian delegation set out for Budapest on Tuesday to confirm support for "reverse flows", with Kiev confident it can win a cheaper price than what Russia is willing to offer.

Weeks of acrimonious debt and price negotiations broke up on Monday with Russia walking away from a compromise solution proposed in Kiev by the European Union's energy commissioner.

Ukraine receives half its gas from Russia and transports 15 percent of the fuel consumed in Europe -- a dependence that has not diminished despite similar supply disruptions in 2006 and 2009.

The reverse flow option did not exist at the time and was developed as a way to reduce the impact of any new cut-off from Russia.

The EU also said Tuesday that 500 million euros ($680 million), part of a 1.6 billion euro aid package, had been disbursed to Kiev, the proceeds of which could pay for the reverse flows.

Amid the gas dispute, the European Commission also said Russia's President Vladimir Putin had accepted a proposal for talks on the impact on Russia of a planned EU-Ukraine association accord.

Putin bitterly opposes the association accord which Ukraine's pro-Russian former president Viktor Yanukovych ditched in November, setting off the current crisis, and called for talks with both Brussels and Kiev to discuss its impact on Russia.

"We are working at many levels to alleviate concerns," said European Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen, adding that officials from Moscow and Brussels had just held technical talks on the impact of the agreement on the Russian economy.
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« Reply #362 on: June 20, 2014, 08:47:33 am »

NATO reports new Russian troop build-up near Ukraine

NATO on Thursday reported another build-up of Russian forces near Ukraine as its new president put in place key pieces of his pro-Western government and embraced an EU trade pact that has been bitterly fought by the Kremlin.

Ukraine's parliament unanimously confirmed as foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin -- a charismatic 46-year-old ambassador to Germany who had spearheaded the EU negotiations and now represents Poroshenko at closed-door talks with Moscow.

Those high-stakes meetings and Poroshenko's late-night phone exchange on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin bolstered hopes for a solution to Ukraine's worst crisis since independence in 1991.

Poroshenko promised to soon unilaterally halt the army's 10-week push against pro-Russian insurgents who have proclaimed independence in Ukraine's eastern rustbelt -- a plan some fighters rejected but Moscow cautiously endorsed.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin called Klimkin "one of Ukraine's most experienced and well-known diplomats".

"We wish the new minister success and are ready for contact with him," the Russian diplomat said.

But the Kremlin's good will was immediately put in question by new charges from NATO that Putin had seen "at least a few thousand more" troops to the border in a reversal of a withdrawal he had begun at the start of the month.

"I consider this a very regrettable step backwards," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in London.

"It seems that Russia keeps the option open to intervene further into Ukraine."

NATO's findings -- met with stony silence in Moscow -- came on the heels of US charges that rocket launchers and even tanks were starting to cross the Russian border into the conflict zone.

Daily clashes that have now claimed at least 360 lives saw the Ukrainian border guard services on Thursday report "stepped up activities by rebel groups" near the Russian frontier.

US President Joe Biden called on Russia "to stop the flow of weapons and militants across the border and to exercise its influence among the separatists... both of which Russia has thus far failed to do."

- EU trade alliance -

Poroshenko was certain to irritate Putin on Thursday by vowing to sign the trade and economic relations portion of an historic EU pact in Brussels on June 27.

The old Kremlin-backed leadership's rejection of the EU Association Agreement in November sparked months of deadly protests that led to the February ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych.

The interim government headed by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed the political relations portion of the deal in Brussels on March 21.

But Kiev delayed signing the economic section because it demanded that Ukraine lift import barriers aimed at protecting its farmers and steel mills in the east from direct EU competition.

The complete pact's signing will effectively cut Ukraine off from a Moscow-led economic alliance of a few former Soviet nations championed by Putin.

Russia on Thursday once again threatened to impose trade restrictions against Ukraine should it sign the full EU deal.

- 'Positive signal to bankers' -

Poroshenko intends to keep Yatsenyuk -- a 40-year-old economist embraced by the West -- and most members of his cabinet.

The ministers represent the European aspirations of the energetic crowds that engineered Ukraine's second pro-Western revolution in a decade and are still viewed by many as the voice of the people.

But Poroshenko -- a 48-year-old chocolate baron with substantial knowledge of Western finance -- realised that he must act quickly to save Ukraine from spiralling inflation and a banking sector collapse.

His decision to appoint 49-year-old Valeria Gontareva as Ukraine's first female central bank chief -- backed comfortably by parliament on Thursday -- won immediate praise from IMF chief Christine Lagarde.

"I think that my appointment is a positive signal to bankers," Gontareva told reporters on her way out of the confirmation hearing.

"I hope it also will be a positive signal for foreign investors."

Gontareva has worked in international financial institutions for nearly two decades and held top positions in the Kiev branches of the Amsterdam-based ING Bank and France's Societe Generale.

She will play a vital role in turning around the economy by implementing painful economic reforms prescribed under the terms of a $17-billion (12.5-billion-euro) IMF rescue loan.

"She has a good understanding of financial culture," said Vasyl Yurchyshyn, an analyst with the Razumkov Economic and Political Studies Centre.

"We should expect more transparency, openness and clarity in the central bank's work."

http://news.yahoo.com/nato-reports-russian-troop-build-near-ukraine-170230444.html;_ylt=AwrBEiGCHKNTDiIA45HQtDMD
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« Reply #363 on: June 21, 2014, 06:35:56 pm »

Vladimir Putin orders Russian troops onto 'combat alert' as Ukraine fighting spills across border Tensions between Moscow and Kiev continue to mount with Vladimir Putin's latest show of force as Russia dismisses Petro Poroshenko's 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10916449/Vladimir-Putin-orders-Russian-troops-onto-combat-alert-as-Ukraine-fighting-spills-across-border.html
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« Reply #364 on: June 26, 2014, 01:39:32 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-flee-ukraine-russia-truce-nears-end-161333623.html
6/26/14
Thousands flee Ukraine for Russia; truce nears end

IZVARYNE, Ukraine (AP) — Thousands of Ukrainians in cars stuffed with belongings lined up Thursday at the eastern border to cross into Russia, with some saying they felt betrayed by their government and vowing never to return.

A commander at the rebel-controlled border post southeast of the city of Luhansk said 5,000 people had left by evening, joining a stream he said has continued unabated through a shaky cease-fire set to expire on Friday.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have sought safety in Russia since the fighting began two months ago between government troops and Moscow-backed separatist fighters.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday called on Russia to support his peace plan "with deeds, not words" as the weeklong cease-fire neared its end in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said they too were looking for more action from Moscow ahead of a summit on Friday of European Union leaders, who will be considering a new round of punitive sanctions on Russia.

The summit also will see Ukraine sign a sweeping trade agreement with the EU that will bind it more closely to the West. It was the former Ukrainian president's sudden decision late last year to back out of the EU deal under pressure from Russia that led to his ouster and triggered the current crisis.

By declaring a cease-fire only through Friday morning, Poroshenko may have been trying to push forward the peace process ahead of the EU summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged him to extend the truce and hold talks with the separatists, who have declared independence in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Poroshenko announced Thursday that representatives of the mutinous regions have agreed to talks with the Russian ambassador, a former Ukrainian president representing Poroshenko, and a European envoy. The first round of talks on Monday brought rebel leaders to the negotiating table for the first time.

Russian news agencies quoted Andrei Purgin, a leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, as saying the next round would be held Friday in Donetsk.

Poroshenko has shown willingness to extend the cease-fire and his next step may hinge on the outcome of the talks.

It was unclear how many Ukrainians will end up settling in Russia. Russia's migration service said last week that it had registered the arrival of 90,000 Ukrainians, but few asked for refugee status because it would oblige them to stay in Russia for at least six months.

Many of those at the Izvaryne crossing on Thursday were taking household items, including refrigerators. One family from a village south of Slovyansk, a separatist stronghold that has come under frequent shelling from the military, said they "hated Ukraine" and would not return.

The rebel commander, who would give only his first name, Alexander, said whenever there was a spike in the hostilities the flow of refugees would increase. The day before the cease-fire was announced, the line to cross the border stretched for 5 kilometers (3 miles).

The United Nations estimates that from April 15 to June 20, 423 people, including servicemen and civilians, were killed in eastern Ukraine.

Even though some rebel groups agreed to observe the cease-fire, Poroshenko said 18 government troops have been killed this week. Separatist leaders also have reported deaths among rebel fighters.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Thursday, Poroshenko urged Moscow to stop the flow of fighters from Russia and take other steps to end the conflict.

"Without that, we cannot talk about peace," Poroshenko said. "Support the peace plan with deeds, not words."

Kerry, speaking in Paris, said "it is critical for Russia to show in the next hours, literally, that they're moving to help disarm the separatists, to encourage them to disarm."

Merkel also stressed the importance for Russia to show its commitments "in the coming hours," saying that Germany will "have to decide how we will further proceed" on possible sanctions against Russia after a meeting with Poroshenko on Friday.


Putin and Merkel spoke by phone on Thursday, discussing extending the cease-fire and releasing people held by armed rebels, the Kremlin said.

Germany also announced that it was easing its immigration restrictions for Jews from Ukraine due to reports of an increase in anti-Semitic incidents since the crisis broke out.
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« Reply #365 on: June 27, 2014, 03:41:12 am »

Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova sign partnership agreements with the European Union, in a move opposed by Russia http://t.co/S4cyYEetei - @BBCBreaking

Russia warns "grave consequences" will follow Ukraine's signing of EU agreement http://t.co/2JFUf4YQCp - @BBCBreaking


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« Reply #366 on: June 27, 2014, 09:42:52 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-says-extends-ceasefire-72-hours-until-june-214952543.html
Ukraine extends ceasefire by 72 hours until Monday
6/27/14

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine on Friday extended a government forces' ceasefire against separatist rebels by 72 hours until 10 p.m. on Monday, the website of President Petro Poroshenko said.

The announcement came shortly after Poroshenko returned to Kiev from Brussels where he signed a landmark free trade deal at a European Union summit.

The ceasefire extension had been undertaken, it said, in line with a deadline set by EU leaders for Ukrainian rebels to agree to ceasefire verification arrangements, return border checkpoints to Kiev authorities and free hostages including detained monitors of the OSCE rights and security watchdog.

At a separate meeting, Poroshenko and national security chiefs said that during the next 72 hours recruitment centers for Russian fighters across the border in Russia should be closed.

Movements of rebel forces around the east and the setting-up of rebel checkpoints or barricades should also cease.

Ukrainian government forces would have the right to end the ceasefire ahead of time in any areas where ceasefire conditions were not being implemented, the announcement said.
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« Reply #367 on: June 30, 2014, 07:22:45 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-president-ends-unilateral-ceasefire-221108916.html
Ukrainian president ends unilateral ceasefire
6/30/14

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was abandoning a unilateral cease-fire in the conflict with pro-Russian separatists and sending military forces back on the offensive after talks with Russia and European leaders failed to start a broader peace process.

Poroshenko's decision, announced shortly after the much-violated 10-day cease-fire expired, raises the prospect of renewed escalation of a conflict that has killed more than 400 people.

A grave Poroshenko made a televised address early Tuesday vowing that "we will attack, and we will free our country." The cease-fire expired at 10 p.m. Monday.

There was no immediate sign of a response from Russia early Tuesday.

The idea behind the truce announced June 20 was to give pro-Russian rebels a chance to disarm and to start a broader peace process including an amnesty and new elections. Poroshenko, a wealthy candy magnate elected May 25, had already extended the cease-fire from seven days.

But rebels did not disarm, and the cease-fire was continually violated, with both sides blaming each other. Rebels called the cease-fire fake and did not yield to Poroshenko's latest push to get them to turn over key border crossings with Russia and permit international monitoring.

"The unique chance to put the peace plan into practice was not realized," Poroshenko said. "This happened because of the criminal actions of the fighters." He said the militants violated the truce "more than a hundred times."

Poroshenko said the government was ready to go back to the cease-fire "at any moment, when we see that all sides are keeping to the basic points of the peace plan."

"Peace is, was and will be my goal," he added. "Only the instruments of achieving it are changing. ... The defense of Ukraine's territorial integrity, of the security and lives of peaceful citizens, demands not just defensive but offensive action against the terrorist militants."

Poroshenko said he made the decision after a meeting of the national security council. "After discussion of the situation, I, as commander in chief, took the decision not to continue the unilateral cease-fire."

"Ending the cease-fire, this is our answer to terrorists, armed insurgents and looters, to all who mock the peaceful population, who are paralyzing the economy of the region ... who are depriving people of a normal, peaceful life," Poroshenko said in his speech.

Poroshenko's decision followed four-way talks in search of a solution with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Monday as the deadline approached. He issued a statement after the talks ended, saying the key conditions needed to continue the cease-fire had not been met.

European leaders and the U.S. have urged Russia to use its influence with the rebels to ease the bloodshed and have threatened to impose another round of economic sanctions against Moscow.

While Putin has expressed support for the cease-fire, the West has accused Russia of sending weapons and fighters across the border into Ukraine. Russia says any Russians there have gone as private citizens.

Tension between Russia and Ukraine escalated in February when protests by people who wanted closer ties with the European Union drove pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych from office. Russia called that an illegal coup and seized Ukraine's Crimea region, saying it was protecting the rights of people there who speak Russian as their main language.

The insurrection in the eastern regions near the Russian border started soon afterward, with separatists occupying buildings and declaring independence.

Poroshenko said he meant for a cease-fire to be followed by an amnesty for fighters who had not considered serious crimes, and political concessions such as early local and regional elections, protections for speakers of Russian and, in the longer term, changes to the constitution to decentralize power to the regions.

The end of the cease-fire raises the question of what action the Ukrainian military can take. It has so far been unable to dislodge rebels occupying the city of Slovyansk or to retake control of three key border crossings with Russia. At one point, the rebels shot down a government military transport, killing 49 service members.
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« Reply #368 on: July 10, 2014, 04:45:46 pm »

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/donetsk-separatist-prepare-several-hundred-thousand-refugees-n152731
Donetsk Separatist: Prepare for 'Several Hundred Thousand Refugees'

MOSCOW – A voluntary evacuation of residents will begin from the embattled east Ukraine city of Dontesk, a pro-Russia separatist leader warned Thursday amid fresh fighting. A substantial number of people are already preparing to leave and railway and bus stations are busy, local media reported. "Russia needs to prepare for several hundred thousand refugees. Nearly all of them want to go to Russian Federation," the prime minister of the self-proclaimed separatist Donetsk republic, Alexander Borodai told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Ukrainian government forces have recently gained the upper hand in the three-month conflict against separatists in the Russian-speaking eastern regions, and the military says it has a plan to deliver a "nasty surprise" to the heavily-armed separatists who have dug in at Donetsk after being pushed out of Slaviansk last weekend. There was heavy fighting Thursday between Ukrainian forces and the rebel fighters near Donetsk airport, according to the city’s mayor and the separatist commander, Igor Strekov.

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« Reply #369 on: July 11, 2014, 11:57:55 am »

http://www.businessinsider.com/a-proposed-russian-gas-pipeline-could-divide-europe-2014-7
7/10/14
A Proposed Russian Gas Pipeline Could Divide Europe

With the Ukraine crisis ratcheting up tensions between the European Union and Russia, Europe is more eager than ever to find other natural gas suppliers. But a proposed new Russian gas pipeline is making that difficult, and threatening to divide a continent that has pledged solidarity in Ukraine's wake.

This week, Russian officials pushed forward with plans to build South Stream, a 578-mile-long pipeline that would ferry up to 63 billion cubic meters of Russian gas under the Black Sea and into southeastern Europe. That route would bypass Ukraine, which currently transports the majority of Europe's Russian gas imports. 

The project is highly controversial. Some tout the short-term economic benefits of added gas supply and infrastructure, while others worry about the long-term risks of an expanded relationship with a mercurial supplier. 

Western officials have to some extent succeeded in blocking the pipeline's construction, on the grounds that it gives Russia increased leverage over Europe on Ukraine and other energy negotiations. But on Tuesday, a subsidiary of Russian gas giant Gazprom announced it had signed a contract with Serbia to begin construction on its section of South Stream. The same day, Italian foreign minister Federica Mogherini talked up the importance of the project in an interview with ITAR-Tass, a government-owned Russian media organization.   

"South Stream has always been a project of strategic significance for Italy since it would help to diversify routes for the Russian natural gas supplies, eventually enhancing energy security both for Italy and the European Union,” Ms. Mogherini said, according to ITAR-Tass.

In the short term, South Stream could provide Europe with additional supplies of natural gas, a critical heating and electricity fuel, and economic opportunities for parts of Europe hit hardest by the global economic recession. It would also guard against any supply disruptions in Ukraine – something that has already happened twice before, and could happen again.

"What everybody understands but are not saying officially is the energy security issue is not about Russia supply but about the Ukraine transit route," Chris Weafer, founding partner of Macro-Advisory, a Moscow-based business and investment consulting group, writes in an e-mail. 

Last month, Russia shut off gas supplies to Ukraine, after the former Soviet republic failed to pay down the billions Russia says it owes in unpaid gas bills. That hasn't disrupted flows to Europe yet, but a prolonged shutoff could complicate the future of Europe's energy supply.   

It's why some, mostly in southeastern Europe, see South Stream as a boon to the continent's energy security. That's why after Ukrainian disruptions in 2009, Germany worked with Russia to build Nord Stream, a pipeline that sidesteps Ukraine to bring roughly 50 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Western Europe each year. Now, Bulgaria and other countries along South Stream's proposed route say they are equally entitled to secure their own economic interests.   

"Bulgaria’s political elites see it as hypocritical behavior given some EU countries that are demanding Bulgaria drop the project also receive gas shipments from Russia," Amanda Paul, an analyst at the European Policy Centre in Brussels, writes in an e-mail. "Hence EU solidarity is fragile because of the different situations of different member states."


But in the long term, more gas from Russia does little in the way of diversifying supply or make those supplies more affordable, says Kristine Berzina, a program officer on energy and society in the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels office. European countries that rely almost wholly on Russian gas pay some of the highest prices for it because they are negotiating with a monopoly. Another Russian pipeline also means paying for more infrastructure and gas supply on a continent that has seen flat or even falling energy demand. And Gazprom's tendency to own both natural gas supply and distribution goes against EU energy policy.

"Having Russia versus Russia doesn’t push down the price of gas," Ms. Berzina says in a telephone interview. "Having access to additional or different suppliers would help put prices down and help energy security in that particular sense."

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« Reply #370 on: July 17, 2014, 11:08:12 am »

PASSENGER JET SHOT DOWN OVER UKRAINE

A passenger plane with 295 people on board has been shot down as it flew above eastern Ukraine, according to aviation sources.

The Malaysia Airlines plane, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was travelling at an altitude of 10km (6.2 miles) when it was shot down, Russia's Interfax reported.

The Boeing 777 was brought down by a Buk ground-to-air missile, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry quoted by the news agency said.
A map showing Ukraine and Russia

The adviser said the 280 passengers and 15 crew members who were on the plane are all believed to have died.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has ordered an immediate investigation into what he described as a "catastrophe".

A spokesman for Malaysian Airlines, still reeling from the loss of flight MH370 in March, confirmed it had lost contact with flight MH17, which departed from Amsterdam at 12.14pm local time.

The flight disappeared from radar as it flew over Ukrainian airspace, the spokesman said.

Sky's Katie Stallard, in Moscow, said media reports suggest the plane came down in the Donetsk region, where there has been recent heavy fighting amid continuing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Data from Flightradar24 suggests the plane had just passed the city of Kremenchuk, around 300km (186 miles) from the Russian border, when it disappeared.

Several videos apparently filmed in the area, none of which Sky News has been able to independently verify, show plumes of thick, black smoke rising high into the air.

An aviation source told the Reuters news agency the wreckage of a burning aircraft had been found on the ground.

Aviation expert Major Charles Hayman told Sky News: "It's highly likely this aircraft was flying along a fault line between Russian and Ukrainian defences.

"It’s possible the Ukrainians flapped a bit, thought it was hostile and shot it down.

"Perhaps it was confusion at the Ukrainian air defence centre.

"It looks like someone failed to recognise this was a civilian plane and shot it down."

A spokesman for Boeing said it was aware of reports of MH17's disappearance, while a Foreign Office official added: "We're urgently working to establish what has happened."

More follows...

http://news.sky.com/story/1302864/malaysian-plane-shot-down-with-295-on-board
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« Reply #371 on: July 17, 2014, 11:10:48 am »

Boeing 777 Travelling From Amsterdam With 295 On Board...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_UKRAINE_PLANE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-07-17-12-00-29

MALAYSIAN AIRLINES lost contact with flight...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28354856

REPORT: Was flying at 33,000 feet when hit by missile fired from a Buk launcher...
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/07/17/ukraine-adviser-malaysian-airlines-jet-shot-down-by-missile-near-ukraine-russia-border/

Crashed 35 miles from Russian border...
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/741158
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« Reply #372 on: July 23, 2014, 06:13:50 pm »

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=17231
July 23, 2014
Oil and natural gas sales accounted for 68% of Russia’s total export revenues in 2013



Russia is a major exporter of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas. Sales of these fuels accounted for 68% of Russia's total export revenues in 2013, based on data from Russia's Federal Customs Service. Russia received almost four times as much revenue from exports of crude oil and petroleum products as from natural gas. Crude oil exports alone were greater in value than the value of all non-oil and natural gas exports.

Europe, including Turkey, receives most of Russia's exports of crude oil and products, as well as virtually all exports of natural gas. Asia (especially China) receives substantial volumes of crude oil and some liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia. Recently, Russia finalized a 30-year, $400 billion deal to supply China with natural gas from fields in Eastern Siberia, which will further increase Russian export revenues. North America imports some Russian petroleum products, particularly unfinished oils used in refineries.

Although Russia exports less crude oil and less natural gas than it consumes domestically, domestic sales of crude oil and natural gas are much lower in value than exports because of vertical integration of the oil and natural gas industry and subsidized domestic prices.

Many Russian oil firms are vertically integrated, owning both the oil fields and refineries that process crude oil. These firms can sell crude oil directly to their own refineries at low prices. Domestic natural gas prices are also subsidized, forcing Russian companies like Gazprom to use export revenue to fund investment in new infrastructure and projects. EIA estimates that Russian domestic sales of natural gas and crude oil were about $20 billion in 2013, based on data from IHS Energy.

Although revenue from domestic sales of crude oil and natural gas in 2013 was significantly lower than revenue from exports, Russian domestic sales of petroleum products, particularly motor gasoline and distillate fuel oil, were approximately $102 billion, similar to revenue from product exports.

Oil and natural gas activities make up a large portion of Russia's federal budget. According to the Ministry of Finance, 50% of Russia's federal budget revenue in 2013 came from mineral extraction taxes and export customs duties on oil and natural gas.
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« Reply #373 on: July 27, 2014, 02:45:09 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/us-russia-fired-rockets-ukraine-151819521--politics.html
7/27/14
US: Russia has fired rockets into Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping up pressure on Moscow, the U.S. on Sunday released satellite images it says show that rockets have been fired from Russia into neighboring eastern Ukraine and that heavy artillery for separatists also has crossed the border.

The images, which came from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and could not be independently verified by The Associated Press, show blast marks where rockets were launched and craters where they landed. Officials said the images show heavy weapons fired between July 21 and July 26 — after the July 17 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

The four-page memo is part of the Obama administration's push to hold Russia accountable for its activities in neighboring Ukraine and the release could help to persuade the United States' European allies to apply harsher sanctions on Russia.

The timing of the memo also could be aimed at dissuading Russia from further military posturing. The Pentagon said just days ago that the movement of Russian heavy-caliber artillery systems across its border into Ukraine was "imminent."

Russian officials have denied allegations of Russia's involvement in eastern Ukraine. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on Sunday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, but details about their discussion have not yet been released by the State Department.

The U.S. images claim to show multiple rocket launchers fired at Ukrainian forces from within Ukraine and from Russian soil. One image shows dozens of craters around a Ukrainian military unit and rockets that can travel more than seven miles.

The memo said one image provides evidence that Russian forces have "fired across the border at Ukrainian military forces and that Russian-backed separatists have used heavy artillery provided by Russia in attacks on Ukrainian forces from inside Ukraine."

Another satellite image depicted in the memo shows "ground scarring at multiple rocket launch sites on the Russian side of the border oriented in the direction of Ukraine military units within Ukraine."

"The wide areas of impact near the Ukrainian military units indicates fire from multiple rocket launchers," the memo said.

Moreover, the memo included a satellite image that it stated is evidence of self-propelled artillery only found in Russian military units "on the Russian side of the border oriented in the direction of a Ukrainian military unit within Ukraine."

Tensions have run high in that region since Russia seized Crimea in March and Washington has been highly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin's behavior.

More recently, U.S. intelligence officials have said they have what they call a solid circumstantial case that Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine are responsible for downing the Malaysia Airlines plane. Citing satellite imagery, intercepted conversations and social media postings, officials say a Russian-made SA-11 surface-to-air missile hit the plane on July 17.

Moscow angrily denies any involvement in the attack.

U.S. officials said they still don't know who fired the missile or whether Russian military officers were present when it happened. But until Sunday, they were unwilling to share evidence that the separatists had the technology to down a plane.
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« Reply #374 on: July 29, 2014, 07:07:30 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/u-expands-economic-sanctions-russia-over-ukraine-200047136.html
U.S. expands economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine
7/29/14

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States has expanded sanctions against Russia over its support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Obama said the sanctions targeted energy, defense and finance sectors of the Russian economy.

"If Russia continues on this current path, the costs on Russia will continue to grow," Obama said.
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« Reply #375 on: July 29, 2014, 07:17:13 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/eu-adopts-tough-sanctions-russia-185850323--finance.html
EU adopts tough new sanctions on Russia
7/29/14

BRUSSELS (AP) — Shocked into action by the downing of the Malaysian airliner and the resulting deaths of more than 200 Europeans, the European Union approved dramatically tougher economic sanctions Tuesday against Russia, to be followed swiftly by similar punitive measures from the U.S.

The new sanctions adopted by the Europeans over the uprising in Ukraine include an arms embargo on Moscow and a ban on the unapproved sale to the Russians of technology that has dual military and civilian uses or is sensitive, such as advanced equipment used in deep-sea and Arctic oil drilling, EU officials said.

To restrict Russia's access to Europe's capital markets, EU citizens and banks will be barred from purchasing certain bonds or stocks issued by state-owned Russian banks, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make public statements.

European Union President Herman Van Rompuy and the head of the EU's executive, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, said the 28-nation bloc meant to send a "strong warning" to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the "illegal annexation" of Crimea and Russia's destabilization of Ukraine cannot be tolerated.

"Furthermore, when the violence created spirals out of control and leads to the killing of almost 300 innocent civilians in their flight from the Netherlands to Malaysia, the situation requires urgent and determined response," the two top EU officials said in a statement.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was blown out of the sky by a missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 people aboard, most of them Europeans. The Obama administration has blamed separatists armed and supported by Russia.

The new EU sanctions bring Europe in sync with the U.S., which has been pressing the bloc to take a harder line against Moscow.

Europe, which has a much larger trade relationship with Russia than the U.S. does, had hesitated to take actions as strong as Washington's for fear among some leaders that sanctions could boomerang against their own economies.

Germany, for example, imports one-third of its gas from Russia, while France has a contract to deliver two warships.


But on Monday, in a rare videoconference call with President Barack Obama, the leaders of Britain, Germany, Italy and France expressed their willingness to slap new sanctions on Russia in coordination with the U.S.

Up to now, the EU had only targeted specific individuals, businesses or rebel organizations accused of undermining Ukraine.

"Unlike the Americans, we always have to get 28 countries together," German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview with ARD television. "And the interests are very different. All the same, I think that we — at the latest with the shooting-down of this plane — have a situation in which we cannot simply carry on in the same way."

The U.S. hailed the Europeans' harder line.

"We welcome these early indications that European countries are going to take additional steps today," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. He said further U.S. penalties would be announced as early as Tuesday.

The West has accused Russia of supplying weapons and fighters to Ukraine's pro-Moscow separatists in the uprising that has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-April.

In the past few days, the U.S. has also accused Russia of massing 15,000 troops at the border, unleashing artillery attacks on Ukraine from its territory, and shipping more heavy weaponry to the rebels.

"It is now up to the Russian leadership to decide whether it wants to choose the path of de-escalation and cooperation," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday.

The new EU actions will be published Thursday, when they will take immediate effect.

The ambassadors also added eight names to the list of people subject to asset freezes and travel bans, including four people close to Putin, an EU official said. In addition, the ambassadors put three more entities on the list of companies and organizations subject to sanctions.

Paul Ivan, a policy analyst with the European Policy Center, a Brussels-based think tank, said that because of Russia's "lack of cooperation" in helping bring about a peaceful solution in Ukraine, the EU had been moving toward hardening its stance in the days before the jetliner was shot down.

But "the killing of so many of its citizens and especially the undignified way of treating the bodies in the days after, just added to (Europe's) frustration," Ivan said.

"I think EU leaders realized that this is not just a small localized conflict that they can half-ignore, and the feeling of moral outrage has forced even the more reluctant ones to follow."
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« Reply #376 on: August 01, 2014, 03:33:59 pm »

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-31/molotov-ribbentrop-20-russia-and-germany-allegedly-working-secret-gas-land-deal
7/31/14
Russia And Germany Allegedly Working On Secret "Gas For Land" Deal

While many were amused by this photo of Putin and Merkel during the world cup final showing Europe's two most important leaders siding side by side, some were more curious by just what the two were scheming:

Thanks to the Independent, we may know the answer, and it is a doozy, because according to some it is nothing shy of a sequel to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact: allegedly Germany and Russia have been working on a secret plan to broker a peaceful solution to end international tensions over the Ukraine, one which would negotiate to trade Crimea's sovereignty for guarantees on energy security and trade. The Independent reveals that the peace plan, being worked on by both Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin, "hinges on two main ambitions: stabilising the borders of Ukraine and providing the financially troubled country with a strong economic boost, particularly a new energy agreement ensuring security of gas supplies."

Amusingly, this comes on the day when the WSJ leads with "On Hold: Merkel Gives Putin a Blunt Message. Germany's Backing of Russia Sanctions Marks Breach in Pivotal European Relationship" in which we read that " Angela Merkel spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for at least the 30th time since the Ukraine crisis erupted. She had a blunt message, according to people briefed on the phone conversation: Call me if you have progress to report in defusing the conflict. That was July 20. The two leaders haven't spoken since."

They may or may not have spoken since, but it is not because Putin has "no progress to report" - it's because the two leaders have come to a secret agreement which will hardly make Ukraine, or most of Europe, not to mention the UN, happy as it requires that Crimea be permanently handed over to Russia in exchange for Russian gas, which has been cut off for a month now due to non-payment by Kiev.

Here is how the deal came to happen:

    Sources close to the secret negotiations claim that the first part of the stabilisation plan requires Russia to withdraw its financial and military support for the various pro-separatist groups operating in eastern Ukraine. As part of any such agreement, the region would be allowed some devolved powers.

    At the same time, the Ukrainian President would agree not to apply to join Nato. In return, President Putin would not seek to block or interfere with the Ukraine’s new trade relations with the European Union under a pact signed a few weeks ago.

    Second, the Ukraine would be offered a new long-term agreement with Russia’s Gazprom, the giant gas supplier, for future gas supplies and pricing. At present, there is no gas deal in place; Ukraine’s gas supplies are running low and are likely to run out before this winter, which would spell economic and social ruin for the country.

    As part of the deal, Russia would compensate Ukraine with a billion-dollar financial package for the loss of the rent it used to pay for stationing its fleets in the Crimea and at the port of Sevastopol on the Black Sea until Crimea voted for independence in March.

To be sure, in the aftermath of the MH-17 shooting, which in light of this revelation would clearly not benefit Russia, negotiations have stalled they are expected to restart once the investigation has taken place. “It is in everyone’s interests to do a deal. Hopefully, talks will be revived if a satisfactory outcome can be reached to investigations now taking place as to the causes of the MH17 catastrophe."

But while Germany can't wait to put the Ukraine conflict behind it and restore normal Russian relations (see Adidas' record plunge earlier today, blamed on the Ukraine conflict) others are far more eager to stir the pot some more: "A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said they had no knowledge of such negotiations taking place. However, the spokesman said he thought it highly unlikely that either the US or UK would agree to recognising Russian control over Crimea. There was no one available at the German embassy’s press office yesterday."

Which, of course, goes back to the fundamental question behind the Eurozone experiment: just who calls the shots. And despite what the UK (and certainly France) believe, that one person was and continues to be Merkel.  And at the end of the day, pragmatic Germany knows that for all the posturing and rhetoric, the biggest loser from a western embargo of Russia (which is now actively shifting its attention to China and now India) would be Germany itself.

    [S ]trong trade ties between the two countries have also served to strengthen Ms Merkel’s hand and the Russian speaker has emerged as the leading advocate of closer relations between the EU and Russia. “This is Merkel’s deal. She has been dealing direct with President Putin on this. She needs to solve the dispute because it’s in no one’s interest to have tension in the Ukraine or to have Russia out in the cold. No one wants another Cold War,” said one insider close to the negotiations.

    Some of Germany’s biggest companies have big operations in Russia, which is now one of Europe’s biggest car markets, while many of its small to medium companies are also expanding into the country. Although Russia now provides EU countries with a third of their gas supplies through pipelines crossing the Ukraine, Germany has its own bilateral gas pipeline direct to Russia making it less vulnerable than other European countries.

    However, Russia is still the EU’s third-biggest trading partner with cross-border trade of $460bn (£272bn) last year, and the latest sanctions being introduced by the EU towards Russian individuals and banks will hurt European countries more than any other – particularly Germany, but also the City of London.

Curiously, if there is one entity that could scuttle the deal it is, no surprise there, the US.

    Central to the negotiations over any new gas deal with Gazprom is understood to be one of Ukraine’s wealthiest businessmen, the gas broker, Dmitry Firtash. Mr Firtash – who negotiated the first big gas deal between the Ukraine and Russia between 2006 and 2009 – is now living in Vienna fighting extradition charges from the Americans. But he has close relations with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders – he supported Mr Poroschenko – and has been acting as a go-between behind the scenes at the highest levels.

Incidentally, the same Americans which over the past 2 years has been desperate to start a regional war in any one part of the globe in order to break some more windows and boost GDP courtesy of the tried and true "Military Industrial Complex" GDP boost. Which is why if indeed the Ukraine peace process is in the arms of the US, then perhaps Putin's advisor was spot on when he said that "There is a war coming in Europe." Compliments of the United States?

Finally, for those wondering how much of the Independent's story is a fabrication, here is Germany denying it all:

    GERMANY: REPORT OF SECRET DEAL ON UKRAINE `TOTALLY UNFOUNDED'

Which, if Jean-Claude Juncker is any indication, seals it.
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« Reply #377 on: August 07, 2014, 05:54:36 am »

Faced with Western sanctions, Moscow resorts to food fight

As Western countries launch each new salvo of sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, Moscow has returned fire with bans on food imports -- ostensibly for consumer protection.

Milk, cheese and onions from Ukraine, Greek peaches, Serbian prunes, Polish apples and cabbage, Spanish meat -- according to Russia's food safety regulator Rosselkhoznadzor all these products contain toxic elements, are infected with dangerous bacteria or violate other regulations.

In recent weeks, while Brussels and Washington discussed new sanctions, Rosselkhoznadzor on a near daily basis has uncovered a new foreign food threat to Russian consumers, ordering bans on products from the EU or United States.

Last Friday, it was Poland who had a ban slapped on its fruit and vegetables for "repeated violations" of food safety certificates.

One of the staunchest supporters of the Ukrainian government, which is battling pro-Russian separatists allegedly supported by Moscow, Poland has now lost a market worth more than one billion euros ($1.3 billion) per year, according to official statistics.

Before that, the watchdog had imposed bans on Ukrainian potatoes, soya, juice, canned fruit and vegetables, milk, cheese and other agricultural products because of traces of antibiotics or labelling violations.

Rosselkhoznadzor has also threatened to block powdered milk from EU member Latvia, US chickens and bourbon and all Ukrainian food products.

- 'Measures resemble revenge' -

The reason cited by the Russian authorities for the bans is always the same -- consumer protection and the health of the population -- but never political motives.

"What political decision?" said the head of agriculture committee of the Russian Parliament, Nikolai Pankov, this past week.

"Ukraine is a country at war... Why should we import meat, for example, (from animals) killed by mortar fire?"

Rosselkhoznadzor is operating in step with consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, whose previous chief Gennady Onishchenko was flippantly dubbed the "minister of foreign microbes" during Russia's previous fights with trade partners.

"It is clearly, in reality, a reaction to sanctions, a continuation of diplomacy by other means," said Russian political analyst Konstantin Kalachev.

"All these measures resemble revenge against countries perceived as hostile."

Russia has often been accused of using trade as a weapon, in particular citing health reasons to ban food imports as a means to pressure its neighbours.

It slapped a ban on wine from Georgia in 2006 as the ex-Soviet nation pursued an increasingly Western-oriented policy, hitting its biggest export item to Russia. The embargo was tightened when the two fought a brief war in 2008, and was lifted only last year.

More recently Moscow limited imports of meat, fruit and wine from Moldova after the ex-Soviet republic signed a free trade deal with the EU in June.

Previously Moldova, like Ukraine, had benefitted from privileged trade relations with Russia.

Moscow has warned it may need to take protective measures to shield its economy and consumers as the two ex-Soviet countries begin implementing the free trade deals with the EU.

- 'Propaganda effect' -

Russia may be able to replace some imports by turning to other countries, but it is still heavily dependent on food imports, which account for around a third of total consumption.

Its self-sufficiency is also undermined by being heavily dependent on imported seeds, pesticides and farm equipment.

Yet Europe is not the only region to have been targeted, with Moscow slapping a near total ban on imports of US meat in 2013 after the US Senate approved sanctions against numerous Russian officials.

US fast food giant McDonald's is also feeling the heat.

Consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor has filed a court case seeking to block a range of the burger restaurant's products for mislabelling the calorie content and not meeting food safety regulations.

"We found violations that make us doubt the quality and safety of food products in the entire McDonald's chain," a spokeswoman for Rospotrebnadzor said.

McDonald's, which has operated in Russia since January 1990 and now has 430 locations throughout the country, said the consumer watchdog had not informed the company of its complaints.

"Other than their economic effects, these measures have a larger propaganda effect: Russia's self-sufficiency and import substitution," said Kalachev.

"These measures are supported by a majority of Russian society because people don't feel they have suffered at all," he added.

http://news.yahoo.com/faced-western-sanctions-moscow-resorts-food-fight-094323814.html;_ylt=AwrBJSDhXOJTUgMA8lnQtDMD
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« Reply #378 on: August 07, 2014, 05:56:20 am »

Russia Sanctions Accelerate Risk to Dollar Dominance

U.S. and European Union sanctions against Russia threaten to hasten a move away from the dollar that’s been stirring since the global financial crisis.

One place the shift has become evident is Hong Kong, where dollar selling has led the central bank to buy more than $9.5 billion since July 1 to prevent its currency from rallying as the sanctions stoked speculation of an influx of Russian cash. OAO MegaFon, Russia’s second-largest wireless operator, shifted some cash holdings into the city’s dollar. Trading of the Chinese yuan versus the Russian ruble rose to the highest on July 31 since the end of 2010, according to the Moscow Exchange.

While no one’s suggesting the dollar will lose its status as the main currency of business any time soon, its dominance is ebbing. The greenback’s share of global reserves has already shrunk to under 61 percent from more than 72 percent in 2001. The drumbeat has only gotten louder since the financial crisis in 2008, an event that began in the U.S. when subprime-mortgage loans soured, and the largest emerging-market nations including Russia have vowed to conduct more business in their currencies.

“The crisis created a rethink of the dollar-denominated world that we live in,” said Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist at Bank of America Corp.’s U.S. Trust, which oversees about $380 billion. “This nasty turn between Russia and the West related to sanctions, that can be an accelerator toward a more multicurrency world.”

Such a transformation may take as long as 25 years, with the dollar remaining “top of the heap” even as other currencies play a greater role, Quinlan said, speaking by phone on Aug. 4 from New York.
Weapons Embargo

The U.S. and EU announced further restrictions on trade with Russia over its support of insurgents in Ukraine on July 29. The additional sanctions limit state-owned banks’ access to European and U.S. capital markets. Europe also imposed an embargo on weapons sales while the U.S. added a shipbuilder to a list of blocked defense-technology entities.

MegaFon, a Moscow-based company that hasn’t been targeted by the sanctions, is moving funds into the Hong Kong dollar, Chief Financial Officer Gevork Vermishyan said in a phone interview last week. Billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s wireless operator has traditionally kept its foreign cash in U.S. dollars and euros, according to the company.
Wealth Exits

OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium, is also keeping some of its cash in the Asian currency, two people with knowledge of the situation said last week, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The nickel producer keeps its free cash-flow in a variety of currencies and instruments, spokesman Petr Likholitov said last week, declining to elaborate or comment on the use of Hong Kong dollars.

In addition, rich Russians are looking to move funds to banks in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai, Danilo Lacmanovic, chief executive officer of Moscow-based Third Rome LLC, which manages $400 million on behalf of high net-worth individuals, said in a phone interview yesterday.

Dollar Trials

Since the U.S. currency replaced gold as the bedrock of the financial system after World War II, the greenback has weathered numerous crises. It emerged from the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, endured the introduction of the euro almost three decades later and maintained its status as a haven currency even when the 2008 collapse spread from Wall Street to economies around the world.

The Federal Reserve’s unprecedented monetary stimulus to stem that crisis channeled cash into the economy through debt purchases, leading nations including Brazil and Germany to claim the U.S. was debasing its currency.

The crunch increased interest in tenders divorced from a single nation’s strength, spurring the International Monetary Fund to boost almost 10-fold the allocation of special drawing rights, a reserve asset whose value is based on a basket of currencies, and fueling demand for so-called virtual currencies, such as bitcoin.

A $9 billion fine imposed on BNP Paribas SA, France’s largest bank, by U.S. regulators in June has also made some institutions wary of the penalties dealing in dollars can bring, according to Steven Englander, the head of Group of 10 currency strategy at Citigroup Inc. in New York.

BNP was banned from clearing certain dollar-denominated commodity trades for a year after the lender admitted to violating U.S. restrictions on doing business with Iran, Sudan and Cuba.
Geopolitical ‘Baggage’

“You used to think that you had to worry about the Fed and about the supply of dollars and the monetary policy reaction function, and now you have to worry about potentially sanctions and other kind of regulatory liabilities, so it’s baggage,” said Englander, speaking by phone on Aug. 4. “If you see yourself on the receiving end in some geopolitical dispute with the U.S., holding liquid dollar assets is risky.”

The risk may be something institutions stomach in the near term. About 38.8 percent of global payments by value were denominated in the U.S. currency in January 2014, up from 29.7 percent in January 2012, according to data compiled by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or Swift. Use of the euro slipped from 44 percent to 33.5 percent of transactions over the same period.
Dollar World

The dollar’s share of foreign-exchange transactions has also increased. Buying or selling the greenback against another currency accounted for 87 percent of all trades in April 2013, about two percentage points more than in 2010, according to a September report from the Bank for International Settlements.

Dollar pairs comprised about $705 billion of the $811 billion average daily volume seen by North American financial institutions this April, the Fed-sponsored Foreign Exchange Committee said last week.

“You can’t escape the stratosphere,” Sebastien Galy, a senior currency strategist at Societe Generale SA in New York, said Aug. 1. It’s “a broad dollar world which is dominating everything and the consequences are suffered when there’s mismanagement of the system. But it’s one that has no good alternative at this point in time.”

The U.S. currency climbed against all 16 major peers last month as fighting in Ukraine and the downing of a Malaysian jet over the country enhanced the appeal of haven assets. It extended gains today as NATO warned of a Russian incursion in Ukraine under the “pretext” of a humanitarian mission, pushing its advance to 2.5 percent against the euro since the start of last month. It traded at $1.3354 as of 11:50 a.m. in New York.

Citigroup forecasts a rally to $1.33 per euro by the end of the year, compared with a median forecast in a Bloomberg strategist survey of $1.32. SocGen predicts an advance to $1.32.
China Challenge

China is making a push for greater use of its currency in international trade. The People’s Bank of China extended a yuan swap line to Switzerland in July after agreeing a facility with the European Central Bank last year. The nation also agreed to allow companies to clear yuan-denominated transactions in London and Frankfurt for the first time.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority bought U.S. dollars in the foreign-exchange market this week to curb gains in the local dollar, which is pegged to the greenback, after purchasing $8.4 billion in July, the most since at least October 2012.

Sanctions show the potential for an increasing reliance on economic measures -- such as restricting the use of a currency - - as “an alternative to military” action, according to Marc Chandler, the chief currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York.

“This represents a big step in the evolution of U.S. foreign policy toward Russia,” he said by phone on Aug. 4. “The real challenge is converting that financial power into political influence.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-06/russia-sanctions-accelerate-risk-to-dollar-dominance.html
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« Reply #379 on: August 07, 2014, 09:17:37 am »

Russia Threatens to Block Overflights Between Europe, Asia

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday that Russia could block overflights between Europe and Asia in retaliation for Western sanctions.

Mr Medvedev said that closing the use of Russian airspace, which saves Western airlines large amounts in fuel costs, was a "serious measure" being considered in response to sanctions that have shut down Russia's first lowcost airline.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/russia-threatens-to-block-overflights-between-europe-asia-572230
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« Reply #380 on: August 07, 2014, 10:50:01 am »

Russian bombers penetrated U.S. airspace at least 16 times in past 10 days

Russian strategic nuclear bombers conducted at least 16 incursions into northwestern U.S. air defense identification zones over the past 10 days, an unusually sharp increase in aerial penetrations, according to U.S. defense officials.

The numerous flight encounters by Tu-95 Russian Bear H bombers prompted the scrambling of U.S. jet fighters on several occasions, and come amid heightened U.S.-Russia tensions over Ukraine.

Also, during one bomber incursion near Alaska, a Russian intelligence-gathering jet was detected along with the bombers.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/7/russian-bombers-penetrated-us-airspace-least-16-ti/#ixzz39iowQWOg

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« Reply #381 on: August 07, 2014, 07:38:19 pm »

Russia Delivers Blow To Petrodollar In Historic $20 Billion Iran Oil Deal

GoldCore: Russia signed a historic $20 billion oil deal with Iran to bypass both western sanctions and the dollar based western monetary system yesterday.

Currency wars are set to escalate as the petro dollar’s decline continues.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Iranian counterpart Bijan Zanganeh signed a five-year memorandum of understanding in Moscow, which included cooperation in the oil sector.

“Based on Iran’s proposal, we will participate in arranging shipments of crude oil, including to the Russian market,” Novak was quoted as saying.

The five year accord will see Russia help Iran “organize oil sales” as well as “cooperate in the oil-gas industry, construction of power plants, grids, supply of machinery, consumer goods and agriculture products”, according to a statement by the Energy Ministry in Moscow.

The deal could see Russia buying 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil a day, the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper has previously reported. Under the proposed deal Russia would buy up to 500,000 barrels a day or a third of Iranian oil exports in exchange for Russian equipment and goods.

The Russian government withdrew the statement regarding the deal last night, but said it would issue a new statement today.

In January, Russia said that they were negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month that would enable Iran to lift oil exports substantially to Russia, undermining Western sanctions.

http://etfdailynews.com/2014/08/07/russia-delivers-blow-to-petrodollar-in-historic-20-billion-iran-oil-deal/
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« Reply #382 on: August 09, 2014, 01:28:38 pm »

De-Dollarization Accelerates - China/Russia Complete Currency Swap Agreement

The last 3 months have seen Russia's "de-dollarization" plans accelerate. First Gazprom clients shift to Euros and Renminbi, then the UK signs currency swap agreements with China, then NATO ally Turkey cuts ties and mulls de-dollarization, Switzerland jumps in the currency swap agreements, and BRICS create their own non-US-based funding vehicle, and then finally this week, Russia's oligarchs have shifted cash holdings to Hong Kong. But this week, as RT reports, Russian and Chinese central banks have agreed a draft currency swap agreement, which will allow them to increase trade in domestic currencies and cut the dependence on the US dollar in bilateral payments. “"The agreement will stimulate further development of direct trade in yuan and rubles on the domestic foreign exchange markets of Russia and China," the Russian regulator said.

 

As RT reports,

    In early July, the Central Bank’s chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said Moscow and Beijing were close to reaching an agreement on conducting swap operations in national currencies to boost trade. The deal was later discussed during her trip to China.

     

    President Vladimir Putin, during his visit to Shanghai in May, said cooperation between Russian and Chinese banks was growing, and the two sides were set to continue developing the financial infrastructure.

     

    “Work is underway to increase the amount of mutual payments in national currencies, and we intend to consider new financial instruments,” Putin said after talks with President Xi Jinping.

It appears the deal is done...

    The Russian and Chinese central banks have agreed a draft currency swap agreement, which will allow them to increase trade in domestic currencies and cut the dependence on the US dollar in bilateral payments.

     

    “The draft document between the Central Bank of Russia and the People’s Bank of China on national currency swaps has been agreed by the parties,” and is at the stage of formal approval procedures, ITAR-TASS quotes the Russian regulator’s office on Thursday.

     

    The Russian Central Bank is not giving precise details on the size of the currency swaps, nor when it will be launched. It says this will depend on demand.

     

    According to the bank, the agreement will serve as an additional instrument for ensuring international financial stability. Also, it will offer the possibility to obtain liquidity in critical situations.

     

    “The agreement will stimulate further development of direct trade in yuan and rubles on the domestic foreign exchange markets of Russia and China,” the Russian regulator said.

     

    Currently, over 75 percent of payments in Russia-China trade settlements are made in US dollars, according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

*  *  *

And as we have explained repeatedly in the past, the further the west antagonizes Russia, and the more economic sanctions it lobs at it, the more Russia will be forced away from a USD-denominated trading system and into one which faces China and India.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-09/de-dollarization-accelerates-chinarussia-complete-currency-swap-agreement
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« Reply #383 on: August 15, 2014, 11:09:39 am »

Has Russia invaded? Ukraine enters a critical state

A column of Russian armored personnel carriers (APCs) has reportedly crossed Russia’s border with Ukraine. The APCs had earlier been seen traveling alongside a supposed Russian humanitarian convoy headed towards Ukraine’s conflict-torn east. Evidence of Russian troop movement over the border supports the Ukrainian claim that Russian soldiers have been actively supporting pro-Moscow separatist militants in the region.   

http://www.redstate.com/2014/08/14/russia-invaded-ukraine-enters-critical-state/
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« Reply #384 on: August 15, 2014, 11:13:50 am »

This isnt good, but everyone is focused on Obamas racial war in MO...

Report: Column of 23 Russian armored personnel carriers and support vehicles crossed Ukraine border after dark, reporter says - @guardian

Ukrainian border guards cross border into Russia to begin inspecting Russian cargo of aid intended for humanitarian relief in eastern Ukraine - @Reuters

12 Russian armored personnel carriers appear near large aid convoy parked near Ukrainian border poised to cross into rebel-held territory - @AP

International Committee of the Red Cross urges Russia and Ukraine to agree quickly on getting supplies from aid convoy across the border to civilians - @Reuters

Ukrainian artillery destroyed 'significant' part of a Russian armored column that crossed into Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko says in conversation with UK Prime Minister David Cameron - statement

Britain summons Russian ambassador to clarify reports of military incursion into Ukraine, foreign office says - @Reuters, @AFP

EU foreign ministers: Any unilateral military actions by Russia in Ukraine would be considered blatant violation of international law - @Reuters

 Shocked
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« Reply #385 on: August 22, 2014, 02:48:27 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-forces-gain-east-focus-german-diplomacy-shifts-150349295.html
As Ukraine forces gain in east, focus of German diplomacy shifts
8/21/14

By Noah Barkin and Richard Balmforth

BERLIN/KIEV (Reuters) - After months of ratcheting up pressure on Vladimir Putin, concern is mounting in Berlin and other European capitals that an emboldened Ukraine's military successes in the east are reducing the chances of a face-saving way out of the crisis for the Russian leader.

As a result, the focus of German-led diplomatic efforts has shifted, according to senior officials, towards urging restraint from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and averting a humiliating defeat for pro-Russian rebels, a development that Berlin fears could elicit a strong response from Putin.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's planned visit to Kiev on Saturday, her first since the crisis erupted at the start of the year, is above all a signal of support for Poroshenko, the billionaire confectionary magnate who was elected less than three months ago.

But the German leader is also expected to use the trip to try to persuade Poroshenko, and nationalist hardliners in Ukraine who want to press their military advantage and crush the separatist rebellion in the east, to think hard about the consequences of such a course.

Central to Berlin's diplomatic offensive is the view that outright defeat for Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine would provoke an unpredictable reaction from the Kremlin that could take the crisis to a dangerous new level.

"Poroshenko needs to know that there is understanding for how his government has acted but also that there can't be a military solution in the east," one official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "He can't win with weapons. Putin won't allow this."

BATTLEFIELD REVERSAL

Germany has taken the lead in seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis, with Merkel, a Russian-speaker who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany, talking to Putin more than any other Western leader.

The dynamics of their relationship took a turn for the worse back in March, according to German officials, when Putin was seen to have deceived the chancellor about his intentions in Crimea, and Merkel has since emerged as a driving force behind EU sanctions against Russia.

Recent developments on the battlefield have flipped the logic of diplomacy in Ukraine on its head.

At the start of the conflict, Ukrainian forces were in disarray as rebels made lightning advances.

In the past few weeks, Ukrainian troops have taken the initiative. Dozens of settlements have been returned to Kiev's control, and Kiev's forces have all but encircled the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, the main rebel strongholds.

Three senior separatist leaders have been replaced, and the rebels in Donetsk have introduced the death penalty for desertion and other infractions, in an effort to restore order in their own ranks.

The battlefield successes – as well as the heavy losses in fighting men and planes that the Ukrainians seem ready to accept – have astonished many observers in Kiev after the campaign's faltering start.

The reverses for the separatists, say diplomats, may have made the Kremlin more open to the idea of a negotiated solution – even while Russian politicians publicly deny helping the rebels or being a party to the conflict.

But for Kiev, whose forces now believe they have a chance of stamping out the insurrection altogether, it may be hard to stomach the idea that its interests are best served by stopping the fighting and signing a peace deal.

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« Reply #386 on: August 22, 2014, 11:47:22 am »

Ukraine calls Russian aid convoy 'direct invasion'

Watch Russian ambassador to UN LIVE at 12:30 p.m. ET here. Russia sent over 130 aid trucks rolling into rebel-held eastern Ukraine on Friday without Kyiv's approval, saying it had lost patience with the Ukrainian government's stalling tactics.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-crisis-russian-aid-convoy-crosses-border-without-kyiv-ok-1.2743706

Russia sent over 130 aid trucks rolling into rebel-held eastern Ukraine on Friday without Kyiv's approval, saying it had lost patience with the Ukrainian government's stalling tactics. Ukraine called the move a "direct invasion."

The unilateral move sharply raised the stakes in eastern Ukraine, for any attack on the convoy could draw the Russian military directly into the conflict between the Ukrainian government and the separatist rebels in the east. Ukraine has long accused Russia of supporting and arming the rebels, a charge that Russia denies.
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« Reply #387 on: August 28, 2014, 02:14:55 pm »

As Ukraine Officials Meet on Crisis, Rebel Claims Aid of Russian Troops

Asserting that Russian soldiers and armaments had crossed into Ukraine to support the separatists, President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine canceled a trip to Turkey on Thursday and warned his national security council that a panicked response would only further destabilize the situation.

“Columns of heavy artillery, huge loads of arms and regular Russian servicemen came to the territory of Ukraine from Russia through the uncontrolled border area,” Mr. Poroshenko said at the beginning of a meeting of the Ukrainian Nation Security and Defense Council in Kiev.

Mercenaries, along with regular servicemen, were trying to overrun positions held by the Ukrainian military, he said, according to a statement on his official website.

“The situation is certainly extremely difficult and nobody is going to simplify it,” Mr. Poroshenko said. “Still, it is controlled enough for us to refrain from panic.” Panic could be used as a weapon just like tanks, armored personnel carriers and rifles, he said.

He spoke as NATO released satellite images to corroborate its accusations that Russian forces are actively involved in the Ukraine fighting. NATO also asserted that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers had joined the separatists battling the Ukrainian military.

Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the national security council, said that the Ukrainian military was planning a counteroffensive against the separatists and what he called “more and more Russians” in the country, but declined to provide details about military plans. He also accused Russia of sending new antiaircraft defense systems into eastern Ukraine.

Separatists aided by Russia held the town of Novoazovsk, he said, with Ukrainian forces having retreated a day earlier. “There was a regrouping of our troops to better protect Mariupol,” Colonel Lysenko said at a briefing in Kiev, saying the aim was to try to prevent the other side from penetrating the key southern city.

Russia officials continued to deny sending soldiers or weapons to Ukraine.

But the leader of the main separatist group in southeastern Ukraine said that up to 4,000 Russians, including active-duty soldiers currently on leave, had been fighting against Ukrainian government forces, Russian television reported.

“There are active soldiers fighting among us who preferred to spend their vacation not on the beach, but with us, among their brothers, who are fighting for their freedom,” Aleksandr Zakharchenko, a rebel commander and the prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, said in an interview on Russian state-run television.

Mr. Zakharchenko said that between 3,000 and 4,000 Russians had fought in the separatist ranks since the conflict erupted in spring.

That assertion evaded the issue of direct Russian involvement by painting the soldiers as volunteers. It suggests, however, that Moscow still seeks to organize and to some extent control a force that could be operated at arm’s length with a backbone of local participation.
Continue reading the main story Continue reading the main story
Continue reading the main story

The statement that thousands of Russian soldiers have been involved in Ukraine increased tensions with the United States and the European Union, which have threatened harsher sanctions against Russia as a result of any military incursion. The leaders of both Britain and France were among those warning that the deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine was unacceptable and further measures would be contemplated.

At the same time, Ukraine and its Western allies have not responded to criticism that the Ukrainian tactics against the separatists have included the shelling of civilian areas in rebel strongholds, with the death toll exceeding 2,000, according to the United Nations.

rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/world/europe/ukraine-conflict.html?_r=0
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« Reply #388 on: August 29, 2014, 06:58:04 am »

The Road To World War 3: Russia And Ukraine Are Now Engaged In A Shooting War

Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers are now shooting at each other in eastern Ukraine.  Could this conflict ultimately lead us down the road to World War 3?  This week, a very robust force of "tanks, artillery and infantry" has opened up a "third front" in the Ukrainian civil war in a part of southeastern Ukraine that had not seen much fighting yet.  Exhausted Ukrainian forces are suddenly being pushed back rapidly and many outsiders are wondering how the nearly defeated rebels were able to muster such impressive military strength all of a sudden.  But it really isn't much of a mystery.  The tanks, artillery and infantry came from inside Russia.  In recent days, Ukrainian units have captured ten Russian paratroopers and there have even been funerals for Russian paratroopers that have been killed in action back home in Russia.  Even though it has become exceedingly obvious that Russia is now conducting a stealth invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is still choosing to deny it.  But if he did publicly admit it, that would be even more dangerous.  Barack Obama would be forced into a position of either having to do something about the Russian invasion or look weak in the eyes of the public.  And as the Russians have already shown, they are more than willing to match any move that the Obama administration makes.

There has already been much written about who is to blame for all of this, and I am sure that much more will be written about who is to blame in the future.  The western world is blaming "Russian aggression" for the mess in Ukraine.    In return, the Russians point out that it was westerners that funded and organized the groups that violently overthrew the democratically-elected government of Ukraine.  To the Russians, the current government of Ukraine is made up of neo-Nazi terrorist usurpers that are attempting to brutally oppress millions of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.

So the Russians seem themselves as "the good guys" in this conflict and so does the western world.  But that is how most wars start.  Both sides usually feel morally justified at the start of a conflict.

In the final analysis, however, is it really going to matter very much who was "right" and who was "wrong" if the end result is World War 3?

If the rebels in eastern Ukraine had been able to defeat the Kiev government forces on their own, Putin probably would have been content to let them do that.  But instead, they had been pushed back to two major cities and seemed on the verge of defeat.

But now it is the Ukrainian forces that are experiencing "panic and wholesale retreat"...

    Tanks, artillery and infantry have crossed from Russia into an unbreached part of eastern Ukraine in recent days, attacking Ukrainian forces and causing panic and wholesale retreat not only in this small border town but a wide swath of territory, in what Ukrainian and Western military officials are calling a stealth invasion.

    The attacks outside this city and in an area to the north essentially have opened a new, third front in the war in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists, along with the fighting outside the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

How is this happening?

It is the Russians of course.

In fact, if you talk to Ukrainian soldiers, they are very clear on who they are fighting now...

    "I tell you they are Russians, but this is what proof I have," said Sgt. Aleksei Panko, holding up his thumb and index finger to form a zero. Sergeant Panko estimated about 60 armored vehicles crossed near Novoazovsk. "This is what happened: they crossed the border, took up positions and started shooting."

    The Ukrainian Vinnytsia brigade met the cross-border advance over the six miles of countryside separating Novoazovsk from the Russian border, but later retreated to the western edge of town along the Rostov-Mariupol highway, where soldiers were collapsed in exhaustion on the roadside. "This is now a war with Russia," Sergeant Panko said.

And as I mentioned above, Ukrainian forces have even captured ten Russian paratroopers.  Rather than denying who they are, the Russian government is claiming that they wandered into Ukraine by mistake...

    Ten Russian soldiers were detained in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, that country's Security Service said Tuesday, as tensions simmered over the conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels.

    The Russian soldiers were captured with documents and weapons on them, the Security Service said.

    Moscow has repeatedly denied claims by Kiev that it has sent troops and weapons over the border into Ukraine, where the Ukrainian military is fighting pro-Russian rebels.

    Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited a source in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying the soldiers had been patrolling the border and "most likely crossed by accident" at an unmarked point.

The denials that Russian forces are actively operating inside eastern Ukraine have become so absurd that even some in the Russian press are openly questioning them.  For example, just check out this excerpt from a USA Today article that was posted on Wednesday...

    Vedomosti, a liberal business daily, published an editorial Wednesday on events in Ukraine under the headline, "Are We Fighting?"

    It noted the recent capture of the Russian soldiers on Ukrainian territory and reports of "mysterious funerals" of Russian soldiers, some of whom are officially counted dying during training exercises.

    "The number of questions that hang in the air of the dead and detained Russian troops on the territory of Ukraine has reached a critical number. Does Russia fight in Ukraine and, if so, on what grounds? If not, then who is in those freshly dug graves or giving testimony at SBU (Russian Security service) interrogations?"

A Bloomberg editorial contained some more details about the "mystery funerals" that have been taking place inside Russia...

    One such burial, of two soldiers, took place in the village of Vybuty near Pskov in northwestern Russia, where an airborne division is based. Efforts to conceal the deaths produced a fiasco. Though the wife of one paratrooper had reported his death on the Vkontakte social network, when a reporter, Ilya Vasyunin of the Russian Planet website, called the wife's phone number, a woman who answered stated that the paratrooper was alive and well. Two reporters, from Russian Planet and TV Dozhd, who visited the cemetery where the two fresh graves had been seen were immediately attacked by men in black tracksuits. Local journalists, however, succeeded in photographing the graves. According to the independent TV Dozhd, the soldiers' names and wreaths have been removed from the graves.

    There are other reports of paratrooper funerals, which are hard to conceal. Soldiers have grieving families who do not necessarily share the authorities' desire for deception. In any case, Ukrainian troops have captured some Russian paratroopers. For the first time since the conflict began in March, they were able to record interviews with them.

Sadly, most Americans are not paying much attention to this conflict.

Most Americans are not really going to care much about a war on the other side of the planet that does not directly involve us.

But they should care.

Because things are about to escalate to a level that we rarely saw even during the darkest moments of the Cold War.  Relations between the United States and Russia are spiraling downhill, and that could end up having a huge impact on all of our lives.

For example, in my previous article entitled "Russia Is Doing It – Russia Is Actually Abandoning The Dollar", I discussed how this tug of war over Ukraine was causing Russia to think about moving away from the petrodollar.  Well, it turns out that now the Russians are actually taking concrete steps toward abandoning the petrodollar for good...

    The Russian oil company Gazprom Neft has agreed to export 80,000 tons of oil from Novoportovskoye field in the Arctic; it will accept payment in rubles, and will also deliver oil via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO), accepting payment in Chinese yuan for the transfers, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported Wednesday.

    The Russian government and several of the country’s largest exporters have widely discussed the possibility of accepting payments in rubles for oil exports.

    Last week, Russia began to ship oil from the Novoportovskoye field to Europe by sea. Two oil tankers are expected to arrive in Europe in September. According to Kommersant, the payment for these shipments will be received in rubles.

That is huge news, but you probably haven't heard a thing about it on the big mainstream news networks.

Meanwhile, one thing that you probably have heard about is how "Russian hackers" attacked JPMorgan Chase earlier this month...

    Russian hackers attacked the U.S. financial system in mid-August, infiltrating and stealing data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and at least one other bank, an incident the FBI is investigating as a possible retaliation for government-sponsored sanctions, according to two people familiar with the probe.

    The attack resulted in the loss of gigabytes of sensitive data, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the probe is still preliminary. Authorities are investigating whether recent infiltrations of major European banks using a similar vulnerability are also linked to the attack, one of the people said.

As relations between the United States and Russia continue to decline precipitously, both sides will be looking for ways to hurt one another.

And that won't be good for any of us.

So let us hope that cooler heads prevail.

But ultimately, this current conflict could end up taking us to a destination that the Cold War never did.

World War 3 will probably not happen next week, next month or even next year, but right now we are on a road which could eventually lead to the unthinkable.

Let us pray that our politicians are able to find the exit ramp at some point.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-road-to-world-war-3-russia-and-ukraine-are-now-engaged-in-a-shooting-war
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« Reply #389 on: August 29, 2014, 08:43:35 am »

Why is Vladimir Putin Referring to Eastern Ukraine as 'New Russia'?

In a new statement, the Kremlin has detailed Russian President Vladimir Putin's address to pro-Russian separatists battling Kiev's force in eastern Ukraine, which referred to the rebels as "the militia of New Russia" or "Novorossiya".

This term is not a new addition to the Russian leader's personal lexicon. In a televised question and answer session in April in the midst of the Crimea crisis, Putin told the audience, in reference to the restive eastern regions of Ukraine: "It's new Russia."

This phrase has raised fears about Putin's territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union but what does this term really mean?

"Novorossiya", which translates as New Russia, is a historical term for a region conquered by the Russian empire in the 18th century and controlled by Tsarist Russia in the 19th Century.

In the same Q&A, Putin uttered "God knows" why the "New Russian" regions became Ukrainian territory in the 1920s.

This area, shown below, today represents an area of southern Ukraine and borders the controversial Crimea region, which claimed independence earlier this year.

Putin's use of the nostalgic term rings of similar calls of historical ties to the Crimea region before Russia annexed the peninsula, again heightening fears that the Imperial Russian Bear has its sights set on territory that they still believe to be Russian at heart.

The Ukrainian regions that "Novorossiya" refers to are Donetsk, Odessa, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk. Putin has repeatedly stated his intention to protect ethnic Russians living in these regions due to the strong cultural connection between them and "Mother Russia".

"We must do everything to help these people to protect their rights and independently determine their own destiny," he said in April.

Ukraine is in both Russia's perceived "sphere of influence" and the "shared neighbourhood" with the European Union and the Nato military alliance. It is a nation torn between the attraction of a modern West and its own eastern Soviet history.

Approximately 21% of Ukraine's population is Russian and it has deep cultural and historical links with Russia. The Russian ambassador to Ukraine has even stated that "Ukrainians and Russians are a single nation".

For now, it seems that Putin, like his ambassador, is intent on framing the Ukrainian rebels as an extension of Russia itself and as part of a "New Russia".

Whether his future actions reflect the controversial rhetoric remains to be seen, but to label the rebels as a "Novorossiya" militia itself is a politically-charged move which is sure to agitate Kiev's elite.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-vladimir-putin-referring-eastern-ukraine-new-russia-1463130
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