Friday, 9 May 2014

From the western propaganda machine

Don't worry! Putin will be to blame for this and anythimg else that happens. Upwards and onwards – to war!

Ukraine rebels defy Russia's call to delay secessionist referendum

Separatist leaders in Donetsk say vote to establish republic will go ahead, as Nato finds no proof of Russian troops' withdrawal

the Guardian,

8 May, 2014

Pro-Russian separatists occupying public buildings in eastern Ukraine have pledged to press ahead with a referendum on Sunday to establish their own "republic" despite Russia calling for the vote to be postponed.

"The referendum will happen on May 11," said the leader of the separatists' self-styled Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin. "The date of the referendum will not be postponed."

A separate secessionist referendum has been called for the neighbouring eastern region of Luhansk.

In Brussels, the EU denounced the plebiscite plans, while Nato said there was no evidence to support Vladimir Putin's announcement that up to 40,000 Russian troops had been withdrawn from Ukraine's eastern border.

The eastern rebel-held town of Slavyansk was in a state of confusion following Russia's apparent U-turn on the referendum. Putin has until now offered his tacit support to the Donetsk separatists and has repeatedly pledged to intervene to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine's east if they come under threat.

The rebel leaders were adamant on Thursday that the referendum would go ahead.

"If we don't have a referendum on the 11th then we will lose the trust of the people," a spokesperson said. "We face the choice: referendum or war, and we choose the peaceful way."

It remains unclear how the voting will take place since the rebels control only pockets of the regions. Militia fighters in Slavyansk, where gunfights with the Ukrainian army have become an almost nightly occurrence, reacted angrily to the news of Russia's postponement request. "He [Putin] is a coward," said Ruslan, a militia guard standing in front of the city's rebel headquarters.

About a dozen rebel fighters are thought to have died in clashes with the Ukrainian army over the last week in Slavyansk, as well as three civilians caught in crossfire.

While Putin's remarks on Wednesday appear to have brought an element of calm to a situation that seemed to be spiralling out of control, tensions were high ahead of Friday's Victory Day events, the annual Russian and post-Soviet festival marking Moscow's defeat of Nazi Germany. Given the rise in rival Russian and Ukrainian nationalism in recent weeks, the commemorations could spark ugly scenes.

Some local authorities have cancelled rallies, including in Kharkiv, which neighbours rebel-controlled regions. Three people were killed in the city centre during clashes between pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine protesters last month.

The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said Nato was treating Putin's new stance with caution. "The Nato assessment, in line with ours, is that we should approach President Putin's statement with great caution," Tusk said. "This is not yet the moment when we can announce with enthusiasm that the crisis is over. We both hope that perhaps Putin's words indicate some kind of a more optimistic scenario, but today it is too early for us to confirm that."

As Moscow said the Kiev government had assembled up to 15,000 troops on its eastern borders, Nato contested Kremlin statements about Russian troop withdrawals.

"Let me assure you that if we get visible evidence that they are actually pulling back their troops, I will be the very first to welcome it," said the Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "I have to repeat that while we have noticed the Russian statements that they have started to withdraw troops, so far we haven't seen any, any indications that they're pulling back."

The US deputy secretary of state, William Burns, said on Thursday that Russia was heading down a "dangerous and irresponsible path" over Ukraine and that Washington and its partners would steadily step up pressure on Moscow until it changed course.

After talks with Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in Astana, Burns said the situation in Ukraine was "extremely combustible".

"We do not seek confrontation with Russia … but so long as Russia continues down its current dangerous and irresponsible path we will continue to work with our international partners to apply steadily increasing counter-pressure," he said.

Asked about the prospects for resolving the crisis in Ukraine, Burns said: "The short answer is: 'We'll see.'"

CNN asks “what is Putin up to?