Ukraine postpones 'trade suicide', halts talks with EU

[ubuntu]

I bet most Indians would have sided with the West if not for the the DK episode

Indians are always pro mother Russia.

 

[Mad Indian]

Indians are always pro mother Russia.

Mother Russia?

Anyway, DK episode is definitely an eye-opener for many Indians on the western hypocrisy and propaganda!

 

[ubuntu]

Mother Russia?

Anyway, DK episode is definitely an eye-opener for many Indians on the western hypocrisy and propaganda!

Yep any doubt?

 

[amoy]

Gazprom Mulls Cancelling Ukraine Gas Discount Over Debt



Gazprom Mulls Cancelling Ukraine Gas Discount Over Debt | World | RIA Novosti

Tymoshenko is dubbed "Gas Princess"since her company "Unified Energy System" founded with her husband as a post-Soviet oligarch controls natural gas wholesales.



Sent from my 5910 using Tapatalk 2

 

[The Messiah]

I bet most Indians would have sided with the West if not for the the DK episode

Not me, but you're correct.

 

[pmaitra]

REPORT: Ukrainian Warship Defects To Russia

Hetman Sahaidachny

Ukrainian Navy flagship Hetman Sahaidachny has reportedly refused orders from Kiev and defected to the Russian side, a Russian senator has claimed in an interview with Ivestia Daily.

"Ukraine's Navy flagship the Hetman Sahaidachny has come over to our side today. It has hung out the St Andrew's flag," Sen. Igor Morozov, a member of the committee on the international affairs, told Izvestia. "The crew has fulfilled the order by the chief commander of Ukraine's armed forces Viktor Yanukovych."

The ship recently took part in counter-piracy patrols with EU naval forces and was sailing towards its homeport of Sevastopol, Naval Today reports.

Ousted Ukraine President Yanukovych, under Kremlin protection in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, railed against those who forced him out of power in a press conference on Feb. 28, calling them "radical mobsters" who took over the country.

"I believe that the Ukrainian parliament is not legitimate," he said.

Source: REPORT: Ukrainian Warship Defects To Russia | Business Insider

 

[ladder]

.......................It has hung out the St Andrew's flag,"

The naval ensign of the Imperial Russian (1696–1917) and Russian navies (1991–present) is a blue saltire on a white field.

Saltire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[nrupatunga]

[tweet]439930220033081344[/tweet]

 

[nrupatunga]

The UNSC meeting is now closed – A quick analysis — Russia has finally spelled out exactly what its given justification for invading Crimea is. According to their logic:

** The EU, the UK, and the US incited the protests and fueled the revolt.
** Yanukovych signed a deal with the opposition politicians that would keep him in power until, at least, early elections in December.
** The "armed militants" broke this agreement by taking over government buildings, therefore:
** Yanukovych is the legitimate leader of Ukraine and the people in charge are radicals, "Kiev," the catchphrase for these radicals who are now
running the country, is sending provocateurs to takeover government buildings in Crimea (interjection — there is literally no evidence that this is
true). Therefore:
** The government of Crimea has asked Russia to send troops to restore order, and Russia has done so unilaterally because the West helped
conspire to remove a democratically-elected government and put these radicals in charge.
** The bottom line: the international community needs to help remove the radicals and enforce the February 21st agreement (which, by the way,
would require reinstating Yanukovych back as President).
** If this is not done, Russian troops will defend Crimea, and possibly attack Kiev to make it happen.

 

[anoop_mig25]

Goblin Putin & Ruskies have pissed in their pants as Ukrainian freedom fighters have thrown the russian dog yanukovich out.
Ukraine is finally free of Russies & now it can join EU where it truly belongs soon.

Well i said n picture abhi baki dost.........

Now tell ur american and europen gov to send their army if they have gutus

 

[nrupatunga]

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

[tweet]439930220033081344[/tweet]

Does this mean a war will start at any moment?

 

[nrupatunga]

Does this mean a war will start at any moment?

I doubt, and hope not. War is not solution either for west, russia and more importantly ukraine.

 

[nrupatunga]

The ukrainian flag was thus formed.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Russia has been emboldened to wield the energy card WESTWARD thanks to big deals striken with EASTERN buyers. now u see Russia even attempts brokering 2 Koreas for a pipeline through the peninsula. quite a "rebalancing" in the double headed eagle's calculus.

hard power is the source of soft power.

The 'Realists' Misjudged Ukraine - The Daily Beast

The paradox at the heart of foreign policy realism, is that the same, all-powerful West which is capable of overthrowing governments with the flip of a switch is incapable of confronting Russian hard power.

 

[amoy]

Russia to cancel price discount on gas supplies to Ukraine | Fox News

Gazprom chief Alexei Miller said Tuesday in televised remarks that Ukraine has accumulated a $1.5-billion debt for Russian gas supplies. He added at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that Gazprom will cancel a price rebate for Ukraine starting April 1.

Russia offered the discounted price and a $15-billion bailout to Ukraine in December following President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to ditch a pact with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.

Hope pragmatism will prevail among Ukrainian politicians to seek compromise with Russia for their own bail-out

Also Ukraine Crisis: Keep Your Eyes on Angela Merkel : The New Yorker

Official German accounts of the conversation made no mention of this description, although it fits Merkel's reputation as a blunt talker. But, whatever she really thinks of Putin, Merkel will be determined to broker a peaceful solution in Ukraine. That's not just because Germany gets about a third of its energy from Russia, mostly in the form of natural gas; it also reflects Germany's broader interests. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, no country has benefitted more from expanded ties to Eastern Europe and friendly relations with Russia. As members of the E.U., many former Communist countries, such as Poland, Slovakia, and Romania, now serve as production centers and consumer markets for German manufacturers.

Over the past few years, Merkel has made clear she would like for Ukraine to eventually join the club of Germany's democratic trading partners. But, like all Germans, she also knows the dangers of lasting enmity with Russia. According to some informed commentary, Europe is now facing the prospect of a new Cold War. Even if that's over-egging things, as it might well be, Germany would be among the biggest losers in any permanent East-West standoff. In any case, Merkel will do all she can to prevent such an outcome. And, as many Europeans have learned over the past decade, she often gets her way.

Ukraine a setback in China's eastern Europe strategy | beyondbrics @Akim

 

[Srinivas_K]

The game plan seems to be centered around the deals that china struck. Russia do not want Chinese influence in its backyard and at the same time cannot bail out Ukraine entirely. Russia has its own concerns of chinese rise in its own backyard the crimean peninsula.

Russia will get the Crimean peninsula there by negating China and the rest of the Ukraine will join NATO and will tilt towards EU in trade.

Chinese investments are in danger as there is no stable govt. to negotiate.

Ukraine a setback in China's eastern Europe strategy

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. Ukraine a setback in China's eastern Europe strategy | beyondbrics

Just three months ago, China was in diplomatic overdrive to establish a grand plan for economic and political cooperation with central and eastern Europe (CEE) at a summit with 16 regional leaders in Bucharest.
Since then, more than $19bn in Chinese investment and loan pledges have flowed to the region, outstripping in scale any previous phase of bilateral economic engagement, according to research by Grison's Peak, a London-based merchant bank. The $19bn plus in pledges since November accounted for the lion's share of a total of $22.2bn in signed loan and investment deals between China and the region for all of 2013, the Grison's Peak figures show.

Source: Grison

But "plans cannot keep pace with changes" as a Chinese phrase puts it. The revolution in Ukraine has thrown up a series of delicate questions for Beijing, which had a "strategic partnership" with the government of ousted president Viktor Yanukovich.
Ukraine was a key plank in Beijing's CEE strategy. Of the estimated $19bn in investments and loans announced since November, $8bn was destined for Ukraine. In addition, most of a further $10.9bn for Romania, $783m for Macedonia, $507m for Hungary and $306m for Serbia was in the form of Chinese investment and loan pledges, according to data collected by Grison's Peak.
Ukraine has several key attributes from Beijing's point of view. Logistically, it is a gateway to China's big markets in western Europe as Beijing ramps up rail freight exports along the "iron silk road". Its farmland, already the object of ambitious leasing schemes with China, could help secure Chinese imports of grain. Strong military ties include Kiev helping to build engines for Chinese fighter jets and co-operating on other projects as part of the strategic partnership.
For these reasons and others, Beijing had extended about $10bn in loans to Ukraine even before the $8bn in Chinese investments promised at the end of last year. A key question now is how much of an impact the revolution may have on these commercial arrangements and on Beijing's broader plans for engagement.
"I don't see that this development is likely to change China's investment policy very much," said Rana Mitter, professor of history and politics of modern China at Oxford University. "It seems to me that China does not have the ideological commitment that Russia has to a particular view of Ukraine."
"China's major issue these days is to encourage other countries to serve its security and trade interests, not to pay much attention to the form of those governments per se," Mitter added.
This type of pragmatic approach would be broadly consistent with Beijing's nuanced diplomatic stance during the protests against Yanukovich's government. The foreign ministry hedged its bets, supporting Kiev's efforts to "preserve stability" but expressing respect for the "people's choice".
China's main preoccupation now will be protecting its economic interests in Ukraine, said Bill Bishop, author of the Sinocism China Newsletter. But it will tread carefully so as to avoid antagonising Russia, which views Ukraine as within its sphere of influence.
"I assume Beijing does not want to be at odds with Russia and [Russian president Vladimir] Putin over this, nor does it want a 'victory' for the west [US and EU] in a colour revolution," Bishop said.
"Yes, Beijing will want to protect their economic interests but is there even a new government with whom they can negotiate?" he added. "Ukraine clearly needs cash and Beijing could play a role in a bailout, but I doubt they would do that given the uncertainty and Russia's concerns."
The deals struck during Yanukovich's visit to China in December were for investments in energy, infrastructure, ports, airlines and food. The largest was with Wang Jing, a Chinese entrepreneur, who signed a $3bn agreement for the first phase of a deep water port construction project in the Crimean peninsula.
The port would be designed to redistribute rail freight flows from the east to Europe by cutting 6,000km off the current shipping routes. A second phase in this envisaged project, costing $7bn, would be focused on grain elevators, crude oil reserves and natural gas production bases, according to Grison's Peak.
However, with armed men seizing Crimea's regional parliament and government buildings on Thursday amid fears that separatists could split the region from Ukraine, the outlook for Wang's Crimean port investment looks bleaker.
Some doubt may also attend the closeness of the strategic ties that Kiev under Yanukovich had built up with Beijing, analysts said. Much in this regard depends not on Beijing but on the attitude of Ukraine's new leaders.
Nevertheless, in other areas of its CEE strategy, China is showing no sign yet of scaling back the momentum. In one example this month, Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, met with Li Keqiang, his Chinese counterpart, and announced that they had agreed on the financing of a Budapest to Belgrade rail project which they had proposed at the China-CEE summit in Bucharest last November.
Orban appeared to be keen on seeing further Chinese investment in infrastructure in CEE countries. "Highways and high-speed railways in the North-South direction are still not completed"¦ and central European countries lack resources. We believe we have cooperation opportunities with China in this respect," Orban was quoted in China's official media as saying in Beijing.

Ukraine a setback in China's eastern Europe strategy | beyondbrics

 

[t_co]

Russia, the US, and the EU have a lot more to do with the Ukrainian crisis than China...

The US pushed the deal to the wayside because it knows Russia will do something about Crimea and thereby permanently alienate Ukraine, and create perpetual ammunition for the Ukrainian hard right. This turns Ukraine into a permanent festering wound right on the doorstep of Russia, and thereby turns Ukraine away from both Russia AND Germany, since Germany's attempts to "peacefully trade" and "have it both ways" will not satisfy hardcore pro-West politicians that will form the majority bloc in a new Ukrainian government.
@Akim @militarysta

 

[Hindi]

ITAR-TASS: World - Ukraine expected to pay about $ 440 mln for Russian gas it consumed in February



KIEV, March 09, 17:16 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine is expected to pay about $ 440 million for the Russian natural gas it consumed in February, the interim acting Minister of Energy and Coalmining, Yuri Prodan told reporters Sunday.

"It'll come to around $ 440 million for February," he said, adding that about $ 10.6 mln was remitted to Russia's main producer and exporter of natural gas, OAO Gazprom, last year.

Ukraine's outstanding debt to Gazprom for last year totals $ 1.5 billion.

The country's national oil and gas monopoly Naftogaz Ukrainy issued a statement three days ago where it said it had paid Gazprom for the gas imported in January.

========================================================================================


Its already March

 

[amoy]

Brazil's IMF Director Urges Lender Not to Bend Rules for Ukraine - Bloomberg

Brazil's representative at the International Monetary Fund cautioned the lender against easing its standards to enable a large loan to Ukraine

Bringing the Pain
Can sanctions hurt Putin enough to make him give up Crimea?

The United States, on its own, has limited levers on economic influence over Russia. Financial sanctions and asset freezes sound good, part of the newfound policymaker faith in "smart sanctions" as a way squeezing a country's elite without hurting the population. It's likely that targeted financial sanctions could, if well designed, impose some costs on Russia's oligarchs and officials. But this assumes that Putin needs the support of Russia's plutocrats rather than vice versa. The past 15 years of Russian history have demonstrated that the current Russian president has little compunction with exercising state power at the expense of Russia's 1 percent. As for opening up U.S. energy exports as a way of diluting European dependence on Russian natural gas, it's not a bad idea -- it's not going to generate much pain in the short term.

Sorry, but the fact remains that sanctions will not force Russia out of Crimea. This doesn't mean that they shouldn't be imposed. Indeed, there are two excellent reasons why the United States should orchestrate and then implement as tough as set of sanctions on Russia as it can muster. First, this problem is going to crop up again. Vladimir Putin has now invaded two neighbors in six years to destabilize regimes perceived to be hostile to him. Post-Crimea, any new Ukraine government will continue to be hostile to the Russian Federation. There are other irredentist areas in the former Soviet Union -- *cough* Transnistria *cough* -- where Putin will be tempted to intervene over the next decade. At a minimum, he should be forced to factor in the cost of sanctions when calculating whether to meddle in his near abroad again. President Obama was correct to point out the "costs" to Putin for his behavior -- now he has to follow through on that pledge.

Second, while sanctions cannot solve this problem on their own, they can be part of the solution. Over the long term, Russia does need to export energy to finance its government and fuel economic growth. Even if planned sanctions won't bite in the present, the anticipation of tougher economic coercion to come is a powerful lever in international bargaining. The closer the European Union moves towards joining the U.S. sanctioning effort, the more that Russia has to start thinking about the long-term implications of its actions. Any political settlement over the future of Ukraine will require compromise by the new Ukrainian government and its supporters in the West. Imposing sanctions now creates a bargaining chip that can be conceded in the future.