Monday, March 3, 2014

Putin's Dance: One foot on a slippery slope, another one - up in the air... | How Moscow Orchestrated Events in Crimea - WSJ

Наблюдение за военными учениями

3 марта 2014 года, 19:20

Владимир Путин наблюдал за военными учениями на Кирилловском полигоне в Ленинградской области. Главу государства сопровождали Министр обороны Сергей Шойгу, командующий войсками Западного военного округа Анатолий Сидоров и начальник Главного управления боевой подготовки Вооружённых Сил Иван Бувальцев.

Russia Seizes Border Posts in Crimea

Ukraine accused the Kremlin of violently seizing border posts and making moves to significantly expand its forces in Crimea, while Russia's currency and stock markets plunged. 10:27 AM
- EU Weighs Arms Embargo

How Moscow Orchestrated Events in Crimea
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 11:52 AM

March 2, 2014 11:07 p.m. ET

Russia has moved military vehicles into place along its border with Crimea as tensions with Ukraine escalate. WSJ Moscow Bureau Chief Greg White joins the News Hub to discuss. Photo: AP.

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine—A week ago, Dmitry Polonsky was a fringe political activist in the Ukrainian province of Crimea, signing up middle-aged men rankled by the new authorities in Kiev to a small pro-Russia militia.

Russia has taken advantage of the new, weak government in Kiev by swiftly moving its troops into the Ukrainian province of Crimea. James Marson explains the events that led to this standoff.

Today, as thousands of Russian troops swarm through Crimea, Mr. Polonsky's star is rising. He introduces himself as an adviser to Crimea's new prime minister. His Russian Unity party, though holding only three of 100 seats in the regional assembly, is the de facto authority in the Black Sea peninsula that has cut itself off from mainland Ukraine. On Sunday, the party's leader said he would be raising an army to defend Crimea against invasion from Kiev.

"The government of Crimea will be owned by Crimeans," Mr. Polonsky told a gathering Sunday, as Russian flags waved above the crowd.

The sudden rise of Russian Unity shows how the Kremlin, faced with a pro-Europe uprising in Kiev that emerged victorious, responded by helping push a once-marginal group of Russian nationalists into power—a feat of political stagecraft that played out like clockwork under the cover of chaos.

The turn of events in Crimea shows how adroitly Moscow has used old allies and long-simmering resentments to fill a power vacuum left by the Feb. 22 overthrow of Ukraine's Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych . By potentially transforming Crimea into a dubious unrecognized republic and destabilizing Ukraine's east, Moscow has gained a crucial lever of power over the new, weak government in Kiev.

Russian solders walk as a local resident holds a Russian flag outside of a Ukrainian military base outside of Simferopol, Ukraine, on Sunday. Associated Press

In seizing control of Crimea, long an autonomous region of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putinappears for the moment to have reversed what looked like a major political setback. But he has also provoked perhaps the largest rift between Moscow and the West since the fall of the Soviet Union. With Ukrainian and Russian troops facing one another at bases in Crimea, he also risks a shooting war.

Mr. Putin has said that Russia is defending threats to Russians and to Russian-speakers in Crimea. Moscow says it reserves the right to defend Russian citizens as well as "compatriots"—a vague term the Kremlin uses to refer to residents of the former Soviet Union.

Even before Ukraine's new interim leader had picked a cabinet to regain control of the country last week, Crimea was on a path toward independence, in a seemingly choreographed string of events that saw Crimea's assembly building seized by unknown gunmen. They presided over a closed-door session where deputies kicked out the old Crimean leadership and appointed a new, Moscow-friendly leader.

Vladimir Putin's new plan for world domination

Vladimir Putin's new plan for world domination

Vladimir Putin's new plan for world domination » The Spectator
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 10:15 AM

The Spectator » The Spectator

Listen

Mary Wakefield and Freddy Gray discuss Putin's master plan

It’s been a generation or so since Russians were in the business of shaping the destiny of the world, and most of us have forgotten how good they used to be at it. For much of the last century Moscow fuelled — and often won — the West’s ideological and culture wars. In the 1930s, brilliant operatives like Willi Muenzenberg convinced ‘useful idiots’ to join anti-fascist organisations that were in reality fronts for the Soviet-backed Communist International. Even in the twilight years of the Soviet Union the KGB was highly successful at orchestrating nuclear disarmament movements and trade unionism across the West.

Now, after two decades in the economic basket, Russia is decisively back as an ideological force in the world — this time as a champion of conservative values. In his annual state of the nation speech to Russia’s parliament in December, Vladimir Putin assured conservatives around the world that Russia was ready and willing to stand up for ‘family values’ against a tide of liberal, western, pro-gay propaganda ‘that asks us to accept without question the equality of good and evil’. Russia, he promised, will ‘defend traditional values that have made up the spiritual and moral foundation of civilisation in every nation for thousands of years’. Crucially, Putin made it clear that his message was directed not only at Russians — who have already been protected from ‘promotion of non-traditional relationships’ by recent legislation — but for ‘more and more people across the world who support our position’.

He’s on to something. Ukraine’s near-revolutionary turmoil this week pits East versus West — but it’s also a culture war between social conservatives and social liberals. The forces against the government in Kiev tend to be aligned with the EU and modern ‘democratic values’, including gay rights; whereas government supporters tend to be more Russophile and their banners include ones that say ‘EURO = HOMO’. These are precisely the battle lines on which Putin has raised his conservative ideological standard.

A recent report by the Centre for Strategic Communications, a Kremlin-connected think tank, neatly summarised Putin’s ambition: it’s entitled ‘Putin: World Conservatism’s New Leader’. The report argues that large, silent majorities around the world favour traditional family values over feminism and gay rights — and that Putin is their natural leader. ‘The Kremlin apparently believes it has found the ultimate wedge issue to unite its supporters and divide its opponents, both in Russia and the West, and garner support in the developing world,’ says Radio Free Europe’s Brian Whitmore. ‘They seem to believe they have found the ideology that will return Russia to its rightful place as a great power with a messianic mission and the ability to win hearts and minds globally.’

Putin’s siren call has found support in some unexpected quarters. The conservative American commentator — and one-time arch anti-communist — Pat Buchanan was one of the architects of the Reagan-era ‘Moral Majority’ movement which heralded the rise of the Christian right as a political force. Now he’s full of praise for Putin’s ‘paleo-conservative moment’. The great ideological struggle of the 21st century will be between ‘conservatives and traditionalists in every country arrayed against the militant secularism of a multicultural and transnational elite’, Buchanan wrote in a recent blog post. ‘While much of American and western media dismiss him as an authoritarian and reactionary, a throwback, Putin may be seeing the future with more clarity than Americans.’ The Illinois-based World Congress of Families, an organisation that promotes family values, has already accepted an invitation to hold its eighth annual International Congress in Moscow. ‘Russia could be a great ally for conservatives, on issues like defending the family, abortions, even strengthening marriage and promoting more children,’ the Congress of Families managing director Larry Jacobs told the state-run RIA news agency.

But the Kremlin’s true target audience is not on the right-wing fringes of western politics but people in what was once called the Soviet sphere of influence in the former Soviet Union, Middle East and Africa. Russian diplomats and academics have taken a leading role in promoting an anti-gay-rights resolution in the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva, building a coalition of conservative nations behind a resolution declaring that human rights had to be subordinate to ‘traditional values and cultural sovereignty’. (In 2011 the US backed a resolution explicitly protecting sexual minorities under the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights — but Russia stepped in to lead the counteroffensive.) ‘Russia has been using this issue to develop a constituency in Muslim and African countries,’ says Mark Gevisser, an Open Society Fellow who is writing a book on the global debate on gay rights. ‘This brand of ideological moral conservatism was originally minted in the US. It is highly ironic that these countries are mounting an anti-western crusade using a western tool.’ Moscow plays on opposition to gay rights most effectively closer to home. Last November, when it looked like the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was close to signing an Association Agreement with the European Union, billboards appeared across the country warning that the ‘EU means legalising same-sex marriage’. The campaign was paid for by Ukraine’s Choice, a group associated with the Kremlin-connected politician and businessman Viktor Medvedchuk.

But Putin’s new mission goes deeper than political opportunism. Like the old Communist International, or Comintern, in its day, Moscow is again building an international ideological alliance. The Comintern sought to bring ‘progressives’ and left-wingers of every stripe into Moscow’s ideological big tent; Putin is pitching for moral leadership of all conservatives who dislike liberal values. And again, like the Comintern, Putin appears convinced that he is embarking on a world-historical mission. It’s certainly true that such a moral mission has deep roots in Russian history. Many previous occupants of the Kremlin have set themselves up as defenders of orthodoxy and autocracy — notably Nicholas I, the ‘gendarme of Europe’, and the arch-conservative Alexander III. Putin quoted the 19th-century conservative thinker Nikolai Berdyaev in his Duma speech. ‘The point of conservatism is not that it prevents movement forward and upward,’ Putin said, ‘but that it prevents movement backward and downward, into chaotic darkness and a return to a primitive state.’

It would be easy to dismiss Putin’s conservative Comintern as another Sochi-style vanity project if it weren’t for the fact that Russia’s hard power is growing in parallel with its soft power. For the first time in a generation Moscow called the shots on a major international diplomatic issue last year, when Sergei Lavrov’s plan to supervise Syria’s chemical weapons disarmament derailed US plans for military strikes on Damascus. Over recent years Moscow unsuccessfully backed local despots in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and Libya — and they lost their heads, just like old Soviet clients from Afghanistan to Yugoslavia. But with Syria that run of failure is finally changing. Moscow’s diplomatic protection in the UN, backed by Russian weapons, intelligence and military expertise, finally means something again. If Harry Truman wanted to make the US the arsenal of democracy, then Putin seems to have a similar plan for Russia to be the arsenal of reaction.

There’s a third plank to Russia’s ambitious programme to shape the world in its image: an ongoing campaign to redesign the global architecture of the internet to allow more control by individual states. Since the foundation of the world wide web, its effective control centre has been at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — known as ICANN, the non-profit organisation that assigns internet addresses and traffic routes based in Los Angeles, California. Russia has long demanded that ICANN be moved out of the US — and has been quick to seize on the leaks of the National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s reports as a tool to topple the US from the moral high ground of internet user freedom and embarrass Washington.

Last November a delegation of Russian senators and Foreign Ministry officials paid an official visit to the US to complain to American service providers for failing to guarantee user privacy. They also renewed demands to reform ICANN. A logical enough demand, on the face of it, after Snowden’s revelations revealed deeply flawed oversight systems over America’s spies. But the problem with dismantling ICANN is that it could lead to an increase in the control allowed to individual states not only over their own internet space — which they have already — but over the entire world wide web. In other words, Russia could block someone it doesn’t like in Germany by invoking an anti-terror clause and shutting down opponents’ domain name server, or DNS, the basic address book of the internet. Without a DNS, web pages become unfindable and effectively disappear.

The issue of who controls the internet will be debated at a major international conference next year, the biggest such confab since 2005. Strategically, Russia has clearly set its sights on two goals: wresting control of the internet away from the US, and creating a new definition of ‘cyber-terrorism’ that’s as loose as its own legislation on ‘extremism’, which has recently been used to prosecute eco-activists, peaceful protestors, independent media outlets and gay activists. Russia’s suggestion is to shift control of the internet away from ICANN to the International Telecommunication Union or ITU, the United Nations agency responsible for co-ordinating global use of the radio spectrum and satellite orbits. The ITU’s basic charter guarantees freedom of access to the internet — except, crucially, in cases of cyber–terrorism. Over the last ten years Russia has tried three times in the UN and once in the Organisation on Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to push through resolutions on cyber terror on the internet. But such legislation has been opposed by the US and Europe because ‘the only practical implications of such a move would be to allow countries to suppress dissent,’ says Alexander Klimburg, an adviser on cyber security to the OSCE.

Conservative values, international diplomacy, the architecture of the internet: apparently diverse areas where Russia is exercising international influence. They are all united by a common theme, the same one that is trumpeted very plainly by the Sochi Games: Russia is back as a major global player, and doesn’t care how much it costs to show it. The scheme has feet of clay, of course, as does Putin’s rule itself, insofar as it is founded on sky-high energy prices which are already beginning to tumble under the assaults of cheap shale gas and alternative energy. But for the time being at least, Putin has the means and now the plan to project Russian power, both hard and soft, beyond Russia’s borders for the first time since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

This article first appeared in the print edition of The Spectator magazine, dated 22 February 2014

Tags: Comintern, Conservative, cyber terrorism, dissent, Gay rights, ICANN, ideology, Internet,Kremlin, Larry Jacobs, Moral Majority, OSCE, Pat Buchanan, Putin, Russia, Sergei Lavrov, Sochi,traditional values, Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych

Flight Of The Bumblebee - Rimsky-Korsakov (+playlist)

Flight Of The Bumblebee - Rimsky-Korsakov

...the relentless anti-Americanism on state media was in the past dismissed as crude propaganda that served a transparent political purpose but appeared now to reflect the actual worldview of the Kremlin. “It’s a catastrophe for Ukraine and for Russia,” he said. “The problem is that quite a few people in Russia don’t understand the consequences. They believe the country is strong and can do whatever it wants to do.”

Putin Engages in Test of Will Over Ukraine
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 10:36 AM

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin has left little doubt he intends to cripple Ukraine’s new government, forcing it to make concessions or face the de facto partition of areas populated predominantly by ethnic Russians, from the Crimea to Odessa to the industrial heartland in the east.

That strategy has been pursued aggressively by subterfuge, propaganda and bold military threat, taking aim as much at the United States and its allies in Europe as Ukraine itself. The pivotal question now for Kiev and Western capitals, is how boldly Mr. Putin continues to push his agenda, risking a more heated military and diplomatic conflict.

So far, the Kremlin has shown no sign of yielding to international pressure — but it also has not taken the most provocative step yet, openly ordering Russian troops to reinforce those already in Crimea and expand its incursion into southern or eastern Ukraine.

Asked on Sunday about President Obama’s suspension of preparations to attend the Group of 8 summit meeting scheduled for June in Sochi — along with Canada, France and Britain — Mr. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, replied cuttingly and dismissively. “It’s not a minus for Russia,” he said. “It will be a minus for the G-8.”

Mr. Putin has yet to make public remarks on the crisis in Ukraine, leaving his ultimate goals uncertain and unpredictable. Still, his strategy is aimed at blunting the impact of a popular uprising that sought to push the country away from Russia and deepen ties with Europe, and Mr. Putin has already left the fledgling government disorganized, discredited and forced to compromise on terms that would keep the country firmly within Russia’s sphere of influence, especially regarding the Crimea peninsula.

The Kremlin’s pledge to protect compatriots in Ukraine from suppression of a Western-minded majority mirrors Russia’s role in other disputed territories of the former Soviet republics over the years, including Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Those two breakaway regions of Georgia survived in a diplomatic limbo after the collapse of the Soviet Union with overt and covert Kremlin pressure until war erupted in 2008 and Russia routed ill-prepared Georgian troops.

Russia brushed aside strong warnings from the United States and others at the time and recognized them as independent countries — and paid little price for it in the long run. Mr. Putin appears to be calculating again that Russia is too important for other countries to respond more forcefully, despite warnings like those by Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday that the United States would consider an array of sanctions that could include freezing assets and travel of senior officials here.

“As brilliant as the man is, he has only one pattern,” Nina L. Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York, said of Mr. Putin. Ms. Khrushcheva, the great-granddaughter of Nikita S. Khrushchev, whose decision to cede Crimea to Kiev’s jurisdiction instead of Moscow’s in 1954 is a disputed legacy at the heart of Russia’s claims in Ukraine, added, “It’s a clever pattern, but he has only one.”

The stakes in Ukraine are, however, much higher than the war with Georgia. And given Ukraine’s strategic position in the center of Europe, so are the risks. Russia has significant trade with Ukraine, but even more so with Europe. Its gas monopoly, Gazprom, has already made it clear that it was prepared to forgo discounts on natural gas that Russia offered the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych and to collect on the debt Ukraine already owes. As it did in 2006 and 2009, Russia could turn off the supply to Ukraine. But since its pipelines pass west through Ukraine, that would mean cutting off Russia’s largest customers in Europe, too.

Any escalation of Russia’s military intervention, especially if it meets resistance and bloodshed, will almost certainly rattle investors and plunge Russia’s unsteady economy into free fall. With the value of the ruble already falling, there was quick speculation of a rocky start when the stock market opens on Monday.

For now, such calculations appear to be secondary to the fury that the toppling of Mr. Yanukovych’s government has caused inside the Kremlin. Ukraine has deep historical, social and religious connections to Russia that are often underestimated in the United States, especially. More significantly, Mr. Putin and the close circle of aides he relies on most, view the overthrow of Mr. Yanukovych as a coup orchestrated by the West to undercut Russia’s vital interests.

Sergei Utkin, the head of the Department of Strategic Assessment, part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the relentless anti-Americanism on state media was in the past dismissed as crude propaganda that served a transparent political purpose but appeared now to reflect the actual worldview of the Kremlin. “It’s a catastrophe for Ukraine and for Russia,” he said. “The problem is that quite a few people in Russia don’t understand the consequences. They believe the country is strong and can do whatever it wants to do.”

How Mr. Putin perceives these events remains central to what happens next, experts said. Does he believe he has already succeeded by making clear that Russia has the will and the means to force its agenda in Ukraine? Or does he feel the job is only half done and that having stoked Russian nationalism, he has no choice but to plow ahead?

The deployment of Russian troops across Crimea — which Mr. Peskov refused to acknowledge — has already effectively severed Crimea from Ukrainian control, even as it provoked tense confrontation with Ukrainian troops at some bases. It allowed a new regional leader to plead for Russia’s protection and gave the Kremlin the pretense to oblige.

Ethnic Russian supporters — abetted by Russia’s secret services, according to Ukrainian and foreign officials — are now mounting demonstrations in other cities, including Kharkiv and Donetsk, that could lead to similar calls for Russian intervention.

The unanimous vote by Russia’s upper house of Parliament on Saturday night to authorize an intervention, after a debate that vilified the United States in ways reminiscent of the darkest periods of the Cold War, took place after the first Russian reinforcements had already begun arriving, according to Ukrainian and other Western officials. The vote nevertheless gave Mr. Putin a strong hand to play, threatening a much larger conventional military operation to protect “citizens and compatriots” in Ukraine, as Mr. Putin said in telephone conversations with Mr. Obama and the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, according to the Kremlin.

Mr. Peskov said that Mr. Putin had not yet ordered the operation but now had “the full array of options available to him” if the crisis worsened. He emphasized that Russia supported a unified Ukraine, but also argued that the country’s new leaders had violated the agreement brokered by the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland to establish a unity government that would leave Mr. Yanukovych in place as president until new elections in December.

He suggested a diplomatic resolution would begin with a return to the terms of those agreements. That would mean the dismissal of the new interim government that the United States and others have already endorsed and the return of Mr. Yanukovych, who appeared on Friday at a surreal news conference in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don after dropping out of sight for a week. “He may be the last man to present himself for the presidency,” Mr. Peskov said, reflecting the greatly diminished reputation of Mr. Yanukovych in Moscow now, “but he is the legitimate one.”

For now, though, with a large-scale military exercise in western Russian already underway, the country felt very much on a war footing. By Sunday, an information campaign swept like an orchestrated gust through state-controlled news media. There were frenetic reports of clashes in Ukraine, of fascist threats to ethnic Russians and of the flight — entirely unsubstantiated — of 675,000 Ukrainians crossing Russia’s frontier as refugees. (One channel, in fact, showed a short line of cars at Ukraine’s border with Poland, not Russia.)...

"Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. “In another world,” she said."

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Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 9:16 AM

WASHINGTON — As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully.

Working the telephone from the Oval Office, Mr. Obama rallied allies, agreed to send Secretary of State John Kerry to Kiev and approved a series of diplomatic and economic moves intended to “make it hurt,” as one administration official put it. But the president found himself besieged by advice to take more assertive action.

“Create a democratic noose around Putin’s Russia,” urged Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. “Revisit the missile defense shield,” suggested Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “Cancel Sochi,” argued Representative Mike Rogers, the Michigan Republican who leads the Intelligence Committee, referring to the Group of 8 summit meeting to be hosted by President Vladimir V. Putin. Kick “him out of the G-8” altogether, said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip.

Credit Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

The Russian occupation of Crimea has challenged Mr. Obama as has no other international crisis, and at its heart, the advice seemed to pose the same question: Is Mr. Obama tough enough to take on the former K.G.B. colonel in the Kremlin? It is no easy task. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. “In another world,” she said.

That makes for a crisis significantly different from others on Mr. Obama’s watch. On Syria, Iran, Libya and Egypt, the political factions in Washington have been as torn as the president over the proper balance of firmness and flexibility. But as an old nuclear-armed adversary returns to Cold War form, the consequences seem greater, the challenges more daunting and the voices more unified.

“It’s the most important, most difficult foreign-policy test of his presidency,” said R. Nicholas Burns, a career diplomat who became under secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration. “The stakes are very high for the president because he is the NATO leader. There’s no one in Europe who can approach him in power. He’s going to have to lead.”

Mr. Obama came to office with little foreign-policy experience and has been repeatedly tested by a new world in which the main threats are Islamic extremism and civil war. While increasing drone strikes and initially building up forces in Afghanistan, he has made it his mission to pull out of two long wars and keep out of any new ones.

But the limits of his influence have been driven home in recent weeks, with Syria pressing its war against rebels and Afghanistan refusing to sign an agreement allowing residual American forces. Now the Crimea crisis has presented Mr. Obama with an elemental threat reminiscent of the one that confronted his predecessors for four decades — a geopolitical struggle in the middle of Europe. First, the pro-Russian government in Kiev, now deposed, defied his warnings not to shoot protesters, and now Mr. Putin has ignored his admonitions to stay out of Ukraine.

Caught off guard, Mr. Obama is left to play catch-up. With thousands of reinforcements arriving Sunday to join what American officials estimated were 6,000 Russian troops, Mr. Putin effectively severed the peninsula, with its largely Russian-speaking population, from the rest of Ukraine.

“Russian forces now have complete operational control of the Crimean peninsula,” a senior administration official said on the condition of anonymity.

No significant political leaders in Washington urged a military response, but many wanted Mr. Obama to go further than he has so far. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, has already devised language to serve as the basis for possible bipartisan legislation outlining a forceful response, including sanctions against Russia and economic support for Ukraine.

The president has spoken out against Mr. Putin’s actions and termed them a “breach of international law.” But he has left the harshest condemnations to Mr. Kerry, who on Sunday called them a “brazen act of aggression” and “a stunning willful choice by President Putin,” accusing him of “weakness” and “desperation.”

In addition to Ms. Merkel, Mr. Obama spoke with his counterparts from Britain and Poland on Sunday and won agreement from all the other G-8 countries to suspend preparations for the Sochi meeting and find ways to shore up the economically fragile Ukrainian government. The administration also canceled a trade mission to Moscow and a Russian trip to Washington to discuss energy while vowing to also scrap a naval-cooperation meeting with Russia.

In television interviews, Mr. Kerry suggested that the United States might impose sanctions, boycott the Sochi meeting in June and expel Russia from the G-8. Germany, however, publicly expressed opposition to expulsion, an ominous sign for Mr. Obama since any meaningful pressure would need support from Berlin.

But Mr. Obama offered Russia what aides called an “offramp,” a face-saving way out of the crisis, by proposing that European observers take the place of Russian forces in Crimea to guard against the supposed threats to the Russian-speaking population cited by the Kremlin as justification for its intervention.

Mr. Obama’s aides said that they saw no evidence of such threats and considered the claim a bogus pretext, and that they wanted to call Mr. Putin’s bluff. Privately, they said they did not expect Mr. Putin to accept, and they conceded that Mr. Obama probably could not reverse the occupation of Crimea in the short term. They said they were focusing on blocking any further Russian move into eastern Ukraine that would split the country in half.

Some regional specialists said Mr. Obama should ignore the talk-tough chorus and focus instead on defusing a crisis that could get much worse. Andrew Weiss, a national security aide to President Bill Clinton, said the Obama administration should be trying to keep Ukraine and Russia from open war. “For us to just talk about how tough we are, we may score some points but lose the war here,” Mr. Weiss said.

The crisis has trained a harsh spotlight on Mr. Obama’s foreign policy, with critics asserting that he has been too passive.

Mr. Corker traced the origins of Mr. Putin’s brash invasion to September when, in the face of bipartisan opposition in Congress, Mr. Obama pulled back from plans to conduct an airstrike on Syria in retaliation for a chemical-weapons attack on civilians. Instead, he accepted a Russian offer to work jointly to remove the chemical weapons.

“Ever since the administration threw themselves into the arms of Russia in Syria to keep from carrying out what they said they would carry out, I think, he saw weakness,” Mr. Corker said of Mr. Putin. “These are the consequences.”

Of course, had Mr. Obama proceeded with an attack, he would have paid a different price for ignoring the will of Congress and the grave misgivings of an American public weary of war. Republicans who opposed confrontation in Syria insist this is different.

Mr. Rubio, who opposed authorizing force in Syria, agreed that that conflict had serious ramifications for American interests. But he said the showdown in Crimea was about freedom itself and the hard-fought American victory over totalitarianism in the Cold War. In that sense, even Republicans who opposed Mr. Obama in Syria were pushing for a hard line against Mr. Putin.

“The very credibility of the post-Cold War world and borders is at stake here,” Mr. Rubio said in an interview.

Obama aides reject the notion that he has underestimated Mr. Putin. From the beginning, they said, he had a cold-eyed assessment of the possibilities and limitations of engagement with Mr. Putin. And they noted that neither President Bush’s reputation for toughness nor his courtship of Mr. Putin stopped Russia from going to war in 2008 with another neighbor, the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

While Mr. Obama has not gone as far as many in Washington want him to go, the president has been less focused on immediate actions than on making sure he and America’s traditional allies are on the same page. Working from the Oval Office over the weekend, wearing jeans and a scowl, he called several of his G-8 counterparts to “make sure everybody’s in lock step with what we’re doing and saying,” according to a top aide.

Administration officials said Mr. Putin had miscalculated and would pay a cost regardless of what the United States did, pointing to the impact on Russia’s currency and markets. “What we see here are distinctly 19th- and 20th-century decisions made by President Putin to address problems,” one of the officials said. “What he needs to understand is that in terms of his economy, he lives in the 21st-century world, an interdependent world.”

Read the whole story

· · · · · ·

World Leaders Warn Kremlin as Ukraine Standoff Continues
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 9:07 AM

Credit Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine — With small military standoffs around Ukrainian bases continuing in Russian-controlled Crimea and deepening anxiety about Russian intentions in eastern Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday called Ukraine “the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st century.”

Visiting the new government in Kiev, Mr. Hague urged Russia to pull back its forces in Crimea or face “significant costs,” echoing comments made by President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who is due here on Tuesday.

Mr. Hague, speaking to the BBC from here, emphasized diplomacy. “There are diplomatic measures which we have started on already,” he said. “There are a range of other significant costs. I don’t want to anticipate at the moment what those will be, those will be discussed among my fellow E.U. foreign ministers today. They are also for discussion with the United States, Japan, Canada, other nations. But be in no doubt that there would be such costs. The world cannot just allow this to happen. The world cannot say it’s O.K. in effect to violate the sovereignty of another nation in this way.”

A series of maps that help explain the crisis in Ukraine.

European Union foreign ministers are to meet in another emergency session in Brussels later on Monday, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is also meeting and has sent two observers to Crimea. Washington has proposed sending monitors to Ukraine under the flag of either the United Nations or the O.S.C.E.

The government in Kiev also faces significant economic problems, and a team of economists from the International Monetary Fund is reportedly due here on Monday to analyze the budget situation. Officials in Kiev have said that they need $15 billion in new loans this year alone and a total of $35 billion over two years. But the fund director, Christine Lagarde, has said that there is no cause for panic and that the agency will await the report of the economists.

The uncertainty hit the Russian stock market and the ruble hard on Monday morning. The Russian central bank raised its key lending rate 1.5 percentage points after the ruble fell 2.5 percent to an all-time low against the dollar at the opening of exchange trading on Monday, while the Micex benchmark index of Moscow stocks sank 10 percent to 1,294 points. Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly that supplies Europe through Ukraine, was down more than 13 percent.

Mr. Kerry warned on Sunday that Russia risked losing its seat at the Group of 8 industrialized nations, but Germany disagreed and Mr. Hague demurred. Western countries, however, have suspended preparations for the scheduled meeting of the G-8 in Sochi, Russia, as part of their response to Russia’s move on Crimea.

The situation in Crimea remained one of a tense standoff. Russian troops, wearing no badges on their uniforms, and pro-Russian “self-defense” forces surrounded Ukrainian bases, neutralizing and essentially imprisoning the soldiers and sailors there. But there continued to be no real violence.

Ukraine said Russia was moving more armored vehicles to its side of a narrow stretch of water near Crimea, while Russian forces took over the headquarters of the Ukrainian border control in Simferopol. Trucks outside had no license plates but at least one car had Russian military plates.

Ukraine’s government worked to stem protests in the east, recruiting wealthy eastern businessmen to become provincial governors in an effort to dampen secessionist sentiment there.

In Kharkiv, the eastern city that is the country’s second largest, a sprawling pro-Russian protest camp occupied the central square, and Russian flags were on display. Many protesters said they would even prefer that Russian troops invade the city, just 20 miles from the border, rather than submit to Kiev’s rule.

“I would welcome them with flowers,” said Aleksandr Sorokin, 55, a pensioner walking by a phalanx of riot police officers guarding the administration building in Kharkiv. “We do not want to spill blood, but we are willing to do so.”

There were reports that two pro-government supporters died from injuries suffered on Saturday in Kharkiv, where there was a major pro-Russian demonstration and an attempt to take over government buildings.

Even as Kiev’s pro-Western government called up its army reserves and vowed to fight for its sovereignty, calling Russia’s invasion of Crimea a “declaration of war,” it mustered a mostly political response to demonstrations in the east.

The office of President Oleksandr V. Turchynov announced on Sunday the dispatch of two billionaires — Sergei Taruta in Donetsk and Ihor Kolomoysky in Dnipropetrovsk — and more were reportedly under consideration for positions in the eastern regions.

The strategy is recognition that the oligarchs represent the country’s industrial and business elite, and hold great influence over thousands of workers in the east. Officials said the hope was that they could dampen secessionist hopes in the east and keep violent outbreaks — like fighting between pro-Western and pro-Russian protesters in Kharkiv that put at least 100 people in the hospital on Saturday — from providing a rationale for a Russian invasion in the name of protecting ethnic Russians.

At the same time, Ukrainian officials sought international help after a rapid Russian invasion of Crimea over the weekend turned into a celebration of pro-Kremlin sentiment in the streets there.

Hundreds of troops acting in the name of the provisional pro-Russian government in Crimea fanned out to persuade the thin Ukrainian forces there to give up their arms or swear allegiance to the new authorities, while the new government in Kiev tried to keep their loyalty but ordered them not to shoot unless under fire.

There were reports Sunday evening that the newly appointed Ukrainian Navy chief, Rear Adm. Denis Berezovsky, had sworn allegiance to “the people of Crimea” and its new government. A YouTube video showed an anxious, sweating Admiral Berezovsky, eyes downcast, quickly pledging to protect the region and its people — ostensibly against the Kiev government. Embarrassed officials in Kiev immediately removed him and said they would investigate him for treason.

What began in Ukraine three months ago as a protest against the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych has now turned into a big-power confrontation reminiscent of the Cold War and a significant challenge to international agreements on the sanctity of the borders of post-Soviet nations.

But even as Western leaders warned that Russia would face political and economic penalties, and reiterated their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, it was difficult to see what immediate penalties could persuade the Kremlin to retreat from Crimea and stop exerting pressure through its supporters in eastern Ukraine.

Russia on Sunday kept up its propaganda campaign in defense of the Crimean takeover, citing undefined threats to Russian citizens and proclaiming large defections of Ukrainian forces in Crimea, which Western reporters said appeared to be unfounded.

Instead, the scenes were of Ukrainian troops in the peninsula being bottled up in their bases, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers without insignia.

Read the whole story

· · · · · ·

Tensions Rise In Ukraine Crisis
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:57 AM

Ukraine Is Game Of High-Stakes Poker For Obama
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:54 AM

Barack Obama says Ukraine is not a cold war chess game and he is not going to play it.

Actually it is more like high-stakes poker. The President plays poker and whether he likes it or not he is at the table for this game, up against the Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

President Obama does not have a good hand. There are no military options, and European allies are apparently divided and too poor to offer Ukraine the economic help it needs.

Mr Obama knows the US cannot offer much more. Were he to go to Congress and ask for billions of dollars to help the fledgling Ukrainian government, the answer would probably be no.

Vladimir Putin knows exactly what his American opponent has in his hand. Conversely the Russian leader is keeping everyone guessing.

On Friday afternoon Mr Obama made a play, threatening unspecified costs if Russia intervenes in Crimea.

Mr Putin read his opponent and called his bluff, upping the ante and asking for parliamentary approval to intervene in Ukraine - that's Ukraine, not just Crimea.

Who makes the next move? In trying to predict Vladimir Putin's calculations it is worth noting that he spent years and billions preparing for the Sochi Winter Olympics, all to enhance Russia’s prestige and reputation.

In two days he has undone all of that with an act of naked aggression drawing condemnation from the rest of the world.

That is all you need to know about how important Crimea is to President Putin and to Russia.

Historic ties, the feelings of its people and the Russian military bases on the peninsula are worth an enormous amount. It is hard to know what the US can threaten to alter that calculation.

The more costs the president threatens the more the Russian leader is likely to call his bluff and the weaker Mr Obama is going to appear.

The alternative is to do next to nothing, with his Republican rivals lambasting his impotence.

In a sense the president is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

He can threaten to pull out of the G8 summit in Sochi in Russia and persuade others to do the same.

He could threaten to throw Russia out of the G8.

He can warn Russia about the economic costs of its action.

But all the signs are that it will not make any difference.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Read the whole story

· ·

Russia Stands With Putin Over Ukraine Gamble
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:51 AM

President Vladimir Putin asked his parliament for permission to use Russian troops in Ukraine, but the result was never in doubt.

His senate voted unanimously in favour with almost palpable glee, applauding themselves as they did.

Where much of the international community sees a leader dangerously poised on the verge of annexing Crimea, his supporters see much to like.

The case that Mr Putin is making is one that resonates well in Russia: that he is being forced to act to protect the lives of Russian citizens, compatriots, and Russian armed forces in Ukraine.

In other words, that he is defending Russian national interests and lives.

That much of the rest of the world considers those interests to be part of the sovereign territory of Ukraine is not necessarily a problem for Russia.

In Moscow, the state propaganda machine is already in overdrive, dismissing Oleksandr Turchynov as the "self-imposed president" and dismissing the mass protest movement as extremists and armed gangs.

Mr Putin has made his case and he will likely stick to it: that a legitimately-elected president has been overthrown and Russian citizens are under threat.

And there are ever-increasing numbers of them to protect. An estimated 143,000 Ukrainians have been issued with Russian passports in the last two weeks, including members of the Berkut riot police.

The old Kremlin tactic of passport politics seems to be alive and flourishing in Ukraine.

The next 24 hours will see the inevitable volley of stern diplomatic warnings and rhetoric from all sides, but Moscow will be scrutinising all those words for any real threat of action, and so far there is not much to fear.

One commentator characterised US President Barack Obama's latest statement on Ukraine as: "Stop, or I'll say stop again."

The US has now paused preparations for this summer's Russian-hosted G8 summit.

Mr Putin does not respond to threats of condemnation. He has never sought approval, just respect.

He wants Russia to be seen as a great superpower once again, and himself as its strongman president.

If that means playing the bad cop in the West and weathering a diplomatic storm, he probably will not lose much sleep.

For Russia, this is about more than just the loss of Ukraine joining the EU. It's about Europe, Nato - the old Cold War bogeyman of the West - advancing right up to the Russian border, and Moscow does not like that at all.

Mr Putin wants to defend his sphere of influence and the national interest. They count for much more in the Kremlin than whether Mr Obama does or does not come to Sochi for G8.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602,

Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Read the whole story

· ·

Russia And China 'In Agreement' Over Ukraine
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:40 AM

Ukraine Protests: Timeline Of Events

Updated: 11:46am UK, Monday 03 March 2014

Protesters in Ukraine have staged three months of demonstrations at the decision to reject an EU deal in favour of closer ties with Russia. Here are the key events:

:: November 2013 - Ukrainian authorities suspend talks on an Associated Agreement with the EU in favour of closer economic ties with Russia. The decision prompts pro-European opposition groups to call for protests.

:: December 1, 2013 - A crowd of up to 500,000 gathers on Independence Squaure in Kiev, setting up a camp and building barricades.

:: December 11, 2013 - Security forces move against protesters in Kiev but are forced back.

:: December 17, 2013 - President Viktor Yanukovych travels to Moscow where he secures a $15bn (£9bn) bailout deal and a huge price cut for Russian gas.

:: January 19, 2014 - Dozens are injured in clashes between police and protesters in the capital after 200,000 defy new restrictions on demonstrations.

:: January 22, 2014 - Police smash barricades in central Kiev. Protesters respond by hurling rocks and firebombs.

:: January 25, 2014 - Yanukovych offers opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Vitali Klitschko entry to the government, but they decline.

:: January 28, 2014 - Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigns, parliament scraps the anti-protest laws.

:: January 29, 2014 - Parliament passes an amnesty bill, but the opposition rejects its conditions.

:: February 2, 2014 - Yatsenyuk and Klitschko call for international mediation and Western financial aid in Kiev.

:: February 4, 2014 - Klitschko calls for an "end to the dictatorship" during a heated parliament session.

:: February 5, 2014 - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and top US envoy to Europe Victoria Nuland visit Kiev.

:: February 7, 2014 - Yanukovych meets his ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

:: February 9, 2014 - 70,000 protesters gather on Independence Square.

:: February 10, 2014 - The EU stops short of any immediate threat of sanctions.

:: February 14, 2014 - All 234 protesters who have been arrested since December are released, but charges against them remain in place.

:: February 16, 2014 - Protesters evacuate Kiev city hall after occupying the building since December 1. A day later, protesters are granted amnesty.

:: February 17, 2014 - Moscow says it will release $2bn (£1.2bn) from a vital aid package to Ukraine "this week".

:: February 18, 2014 - At least 25 people are killed in the bloodiest day of clashes in nearly three months of protests. Riot police encircle Independence Square, where thousands of protesters remain after a deadline set by security forces.

:: February 19, 2014 - Ukraine's president announces a truce with the opposition.

:: February 20, 2014 - More than 50 people are killed in more clashes between riot police and protesters.

:: February 21, 2014 - President Yanukovych agrees to form a coalition government, hold early presidential elections and make constitutional changes to limit his powers. Mr Yanukovych leaves Kiev.

:: February 22, 2014 - Parliament votes to remove Mr Yanukovych and hold new elections. Yulia Tymoshenko is freed and addresses a huge crowd in Independence Square.

:: February 23, 2014 - Presidential powers are assigned to the Ukraine parliament's new speaker, Oleksandr Turchinov. Pro-Russian protests begin in Crimea, where Russia has a major naval base.

:: February 24, 2014 - Ukraine's interim government draws up an arrest warrant for Mr Yanukovych.

:: February 27, 2014 - Masked gunmen seize regional parliament and government buildings in Crimea. Mr Yanukovych is granted refuge in Russia.

:: February 28, 2014 - Ukraine says Russian troops have taken up positions around strategic locations on the Crimean peninsula. Mr Turchynov says he has put armed forces on full readiness.

:: March 1, 2014 - Russian troops take control of Crimea.

:: March 2, 2014 - Ukraine appeals for international help. The US says it believes Russia has more than 6,000 troops in Crimea. Preparations for June's G8 summit in Russia are suspended.

:: March 3, 2014 - Troops take control of a ferry terminal in Kerch.

Read the whole story

· · · ·

Next Page of Stories

Page 2

US concedes Russia has control of Crimea and seeks to contain Putin | World news
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 8:22 PM

World News And Comment From The Guardian | Theguardian.Com

The US conceded on Sunday that Moscow had “complete operational control of the Crimean peninsula” and announced that the secretary of state, John Kerry, will fly to Kiev in an attempt to halt a further Russian advance into Ukraine.

Senior US officials dismissed claims that Washington is incapable of exerting influence on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, but were forced to admit that Crimea had been successfully invaded by 6,000 airborne and ground troops in what could be the start of a wider invasion.

“They are flying in reinforcements and they are settling in,” one senior official said. Another senior official said: “Russian forces now have complete operational control of the Crimean peninsula.”

Although President Barack Obama’s administration called for Putin to withdraw troops to Russian military bases on the peninsula, its objective appeared to have shifted to using political and economic threats to prevent any further military incursion.

One senior official said the major decision facing Putin was whether to “continue to escalate troop movements into other parts of Ukraine”.

“We’ve already seen the intervention in Crimea,” the official said. “It would be even further destabilising to expand that intervention into eastern Ukraine.”

The official added: “Our bottom line is they had to pull back from what they’ve already done, go back into their bases in Crimea. We’ll be watching very, very carefully of course and will be very, very concerned if we saw further escalation into eastern Ukraine.”

Kerry will fly to Kiev on Tuesday, to meet Ukraine’s new government and display “strong support for Ukrainian sovereignty”, a state department official said. However, in Washington there were mounting questions, particularly from Republican opponents of the administration, about the influence Kerry and other officials have over Moscow.

Kerry, Obama and other senior officials spent the last 24 hours frantically attempting to rally an international coalition of countries to condemn Moscow over the Crimea invasion, and commit to economic sanctions in order to prevent a further advance into other pro-Russian parts of Ukraine.

Obama spoke by phone with the British prime minister, David Cameron, Polish president Bronisław Komorowski and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

“We are concerned as we watch this situation that the Russians have badly miscalculated,” one of the senior officials said. “There is a very fierce and proud tradition in Ukraine of defending their sovereignty and territorial integrity. So far Ukraine has showed, and Ukrainians individually have showed, marked restraint … but the longer this situation goes on, the more delicate it becomes.”

Earlier on Sunday, Kerry told CBS leading western nations were prepared to enact economic sanctions against Russia over what he called an “incredible act of aggression”.

“You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th-century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext,” Kerry said. “It is really a stunning, wilful choice by President Putin to invade another country. Russia is in violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia is in violation of its international obligations.”

Asked how the US and its allies might respond, Kerry stressed the economic harm that could befall Russia if it continued its occupation of Crimea, but repeatedly said “all options” were under consideration.

However, in a conference call with reporters later on Sunday, three senior US administration officials made clear that the “menu” of options before the White House does not include military action.

“Frankly, our goal is to uphold the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, not to have a military escalation,” one of the officials said. “I don’t think we’re focused right now on the notion of some US military intervention. I don’t think that would be an effective way to de-escalate the situation.”

During the call, which last almost an hour, the officials said they were looking to provide Russia with “off-ramps” that would enable Putin to reverse his course, and were applying pressure through a broad international coalition that had agreed to to ostracise Moscow.

That process has begun with major powers pulling out of preparatory meetings ahead of the G8 summit which is due to be hosted in Sochi in June, as well as the cancellation of other trade-related meetings with Russia planned for this week. In effect, Russia is being threatened with expulsion from the G8 group of countries, unless it withdraws from Ukraine.

That will quickly escalate to possible sanctions, including potential visa and banking restrictions targeting Russians close to Putin. Currently, the US is reviewing “all of our economic and trade cooperation with the Russian Federation”, one official said, and all 28 members of Nato were planning to sign up to a single statement, strongly condemning Moscow.

“He [Putin] is not going to have a Sochi G8, he may not even remain in the G8 if this continues,” Kerry told NBC earlier in the day. “He may find himself with asset freezes, on Russian business, American business may pull back, there may be a further tumble of the ruble.”

The Obama administration is also working with the European Union and International Monetary Fund to fast-track a package of financial aid and loans, in order to shore-up Ukraine’s economy.

The officials argued that Russia had miscalculated by invading Ukraine and effectively conquering the Crimean peninsula. What US officials described as the Russian “intervention” was likely to bolster “the people of Ukraine’s desire to reorient towards Europe”, an official said.

Another senior official said: “When it comes to soft power, the power of attraction, Vladimir Putin has no game. So he’s left with hard power and it’s a very dangerous game to play.”

However, the senior officials sounded flustered as they struggled with accusations from reporters that Obama had shown himself to be powerless in the face of Russian aggression.

On Friday, Obama made a forceful public address, warning Putin that there would be “costs” if Russia intervened in Ukraine. On Saturday he spent 90 minutes on the phone with the Russian leader, ultimately failing to dissuade him from taking military action.

Asked if Obama had a “credibility problem”, one senior official replied: “The premise of your question is he [Putin] is strong and [the] president of the United States is weak. He [Putin] is not acting from a position of strength right now.”

The official added: “You’re seeing the ability of the United States to bring with us … the rest of the G7 countries, the rest of Nato, and frankly the large majority of the world in condemning this action.”

Read the whole story

· · · ·

Republicans hit Obama foreign policy over Ukraine
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:21 PM

President Obama(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP)

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President Obama has only limited options to punish Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over military action in Ukraine, but some Republicans say that is partly the result of Obama's own foreign policy.

"Putin is playing chess -- I think we're playing marbles," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, speaking on Fox News Sunday. Rogers said the Russians have been "running circles around us" in negotiations on such items as Syria and missile defense.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaking on CNN's State of the Union, said "we have a weak and indecisive president," and that "invites aggression."

Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama administration is working with U.S. allies to hit Russia with economic penalties if it continues its aggression in the Crimea region of Ukraine.

American allies "are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate Russia with respect to this invasion," Kerry said on CBS' Face The Nation. "They're prepared to put sanctions in place, they're prepared to isolate Russia economically."

Kerry also said the U.S. is prepared to boycott the Group of Eight Summit this June in Russia (in Sochi, site of last month's Winter Olympics). It may also move to have Russia expelled from the G-8.

On NBC's Meet The Press, Kerry said Russia could also face visa bans, asset freezes, and trade and investment penalties.

In another television appearance, on ABC's This Week, Kerry said that "the hope of the U.S. and everybody in the world is not to see this escalate into a military confrontation."

Rogers, Graham, and other officials who appeared on Sunday interview shows seconded the call for new sanctions, and suggested that Russia be kicked out of the G-8. They also called for economic assistance to Ukraine and help for other developing democracies located near Russia.

During a 90-minute phone call with Putin on Saturday, Obama "made absolutely clear" that a Russian invasion of the Crimea region of Ukraine "is unacceptable, and there will be serious repercussions if this stands," Kerry told CBS.

A White House statement on the Obama-Putin call said "the United States calls on Russia to de-escalate tensions by withdrawing its forces back to bases in Crimea and to refrain from any interference elsewhere in Ukraine."

Putin appeared unmoved. In its statement on the call, the Kremlin said that "Russia retains the right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population of those areas."

The Kremlin also said that Putin told Obama about "provocative and criminal actions on the part of ultranationalists who are in fact being supported by the current authorities in Kiev. The Russian president spoke of a real threat to the lives and health of Russian citizens and the many compatriots who are currently on Ukrainian territory."

Obama also spoke Saturday with a pair of prominent allies, President Francois Hollande of France and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada.

"The leaders affirmed the importance of unity within the international community in support of international law, and the future of Ukraine and its democracy," said a White House statement. "The leaders also pledged to work together on a package of support and assistance to help Ukraine as it pursues reforms and stabilizes its economy."

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· ·

BBC News - Ukraine crisis: Britain pulls out of G8 preparatory talks
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:17 PM

BBC News - UK

2 March 2014 Last updated at 10:54 ET

William Hague: "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine has been violated"

The UK has pulled out of preparatory talks for the G8 summit due to be held in Sochi, because of Russia's continuing build-up of military forces in the Ukrainian region of Crimea.

The decision was announced as Foreign Secretary William Hague flew to Kiev for talks with Ukraine's new leaders.

Acting president Olexander Turchynov has ordered a full mobilisation of Ukrainian military forces.

Mr Hague has said he will reiterate UK support for Ukraine's sovereignty.

Before boarding his plane, Mr Hague said: "We have to recognise the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine has been violated and this cannot be the way to conduct international affairs.

Continue reading the main story

Emily Buchanan BBC world affairs correspondent

William Hague's mission is to de-escalate tension.

He has already expressed 'concern' over the crisis, but whether this amounts to more than verbal support for Kiev's fledgling government is not clear.

He will emphasise over the next two days that the new government needs to be seen to tackle corruption before badly needed IMF money can be agreed.

And it is likely he will urge them to make sure Russian minorities are protected so Moscow does not have a pretext to intervene further.

Mr Hague's hope is that a united front by the West will exert enough pressure on both sides to avoid war.

"And so, in addition to calling yesterday's emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the United Kingdom will join other G8 countries this week in suspending our co-operation under the G8, which Russia chairs this year, including the meetings this week for the preparation of the G8 summit."

He said Britain would keep its approach to further G8 meetings under review.

In Brussels, Nato has been holding emergency talks about Russia's move to take control of Crimea.

Just before the meeting, Nato secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia's troop deployments violated the principles of the United Nations charter and threatened peace and security in Europe.

"Russia must stop its military activities and its threats," he said.

British-based Ukrainians staged a protest outside Russia's embassy in London

The protest was occasionally noisy but remained peaceful

Some protesters aimed their criticism at President Putin personally

The Ukrainian government has said it will seek the help of US and UK leaders to guarantee its security.

The interim prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said Russia's military moves amounted to a "declaration of war".

Continue reading the main story

Crimea key facts

Autonomous republic within Ukraine
Most residents speak Russian and identify as ethnic Russians
Some others are anti-Russian
Russia leases naval base in Crimean city of Sevastopol
Moscow has deployed its troops outside the base and sent extra troops from Russia

Why Crimea is so dangerous

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama held a 90-minute telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged him to pull his forces back to bases in Crimea.

Mr Putin says Russia reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers in Ukraine.

The Foreign Office says Mr Hague will make clear the UK's support for Ukraine's new government, which was formed after the ousting of former president Viktor Yanukovych in a popular uprising last month.

His removal from power followed four months of street protests that culminated in bloody clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

On Saturday, Mr Hague said the UK would work with international partners to "ensure that reforms by Ukraine are matched by international willingness to provide economic support".

Continue reading the main story

From the scene: An expat's view

David* is a British citizen living with his Ukrainian wife and three-year-old daughter in Simferopol, Crimea.

It would appear that trains are no longer running, so our only option is a flight out, now that the airspace has been reopened.

It is clear that any foreign citizen must remain at home. Apparently an American man was severely beaten only yesterday, without any real provocation.

From our perspective, it is clear that Russian authorities are firmly in control here. We can only pray that Ukrainian forces do not rise to the provocation and begin a conflict, despite the injury to the integrity of the country.

We would urge William Hague to push this point home to them. The news that reserve forces have been called up is therefore deeply discouraging.

* David is not his real name. He spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity

He said Britain would also help Ukraine recover corruptly acquired assets.

BBC world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan said Mr Hague was likely to urge the Ukrainian government not to do anything to provoke Russia, in order not to give Moscow a pretext for further military action.

Mr Hague said it was also important that Russia spoke to the Ukrainian authorities directly.

Russia, which rejects the legitimacy of Ukraine's new leaders, has so far refused to do so.

Former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said the situation was the "most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War".

"This needs to be a defining moment and Putin needs to understand this... in the West's relationship with Russia," he said.

Disastrous

A former British ambassador to Moscow, Sir Tony Brenton, said Mr Hague must "damp down" the tension between Russia and Ukraine.

He said: "[President Putin] has just seen his man, in effect, [Viktor] Yanukovych, overthrown by what he sees as a Western instigated revolt. He [Putin] is determined to maintain Russian influence in Ukraine as a whole, and he has now taken Crimea... hostage."

Former British ambassador to Moscow, Sir Tony Brenton, says Crimea has been "taken hostage" by President Putin

Labour leader Ed Miliband said there could be "no justification" for Russian military action in Ukraine.

"I believe diplomatic and economic pressure we can put on Russia is the best hope we can have for what everyone wants to see, which is the de-escalation of this crisis," he said.

In London, hundreds of Ukrainians staged a protest near the Russian embassy.

The demonstrators chanted slogans and held up banners that said "Hands off Ukraine". Similar protests were held in other European capitals.

The Foreign Office is advising against all travel to Crimea, and urging British nationals in Crimea to leave.

It said train and bus routes out of the peninsula were still operating, but it did not advise British nationals to try to leave by air from Simferopol until the situation had become more stable.

Read the whole story

· · · · · · · · · · · ·

BBC News - PM says Ukraine 'on the brink of disaster'
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:16 PM

BBC News - Home

Russia continued to build up its forces in Crimea on Sunday, as Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk warned that his country was "on the brink of disaster."

Speaking to reporters, he said: "If (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants to be the president who started the war between two neighbouring and friendly countries, Ukraine and Russia, he's reached this target within a few inches".

BBC News - Ukraine: Obama telephones Putin over forces in Crimea
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:15 PM

BBC News - Home

President Obama has said Russia is in breach of international law, having clearly violated Ukraine's sovereignty.

In a lengthy telephone call, he urged President Putin to withdraw Russian forces to their bases in Crimea.

Mr Putin said Moscow reserved the right to defend its interests.

Simon Clemison reports.

BBC News - Ukraine conflict: Russian troops break into Sevastopol Navy base
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:10 PM

BBC News - Home

Armed troops have forced entry to an electricity supply room at the Ukrainian Navy's headquarters in Sevastopol.

Russian military activity in Crimea - home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet - has been increasing for the past few days.

Some 6,000 extra Russian troops and 30 additional armoured vehicles are now in Crimea, Ukrainian Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh said on Saturday.

RUSSIA and THE WEST - РОССИЯ и ЗАПАД

Monday, March 3, 2014

Putin's Dance: One foot on a slippery slope, another one - up in the air... | How Moscow Orchestrated Events in Crimea - WSJ

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Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 9:16 AM

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Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 9:07 AM

Tensions Rise In Ukraine Crisis
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:57 AM

Ukraine Is Game Of High-Stakes Poker For Obama
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:54 AM

Russia Stands With Putin Over Ukraine Gamble
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:51 AM

Russia And China 'In Agreement' Over Ukraine
Monday March 3rd, 2014 at 8:40 AM

Ukraine Protests: Timeline Of Events

US concedes Russia has control of Crimea and seeks to contain Putin | World news
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 8:22 PM

Republicans hit Obama foreign policy over Ukraine
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:21 PM

BBC News - Ukraine crisis: Britain pulls out of G8 preparatory talks
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:17 PM

Crimea key facts

From the scene: An expat's view

BBC News - PM says Ukraine 'on the brink of disaster'
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:16 PM

BBC News - Ukraine: Obama telephones Putin over forces in Crimea
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:15 PM

BBC News - Ukraine conflict: Russian troops break into Sevastopol Navy base
Sunday March 2nd, 2014 at 12:10 PM