Saturday, 9 August 2014

Fast-moving events in Russia and Ukraine

I will keep it short and to the point: Kiev’s Maidan is in tatters, just as I predicted would happen. The junta is going to war against itself. Washington must be furious. Its henchmen are not following the script. Washington’s forced regime change in Ukraine is reflecting what I have always thought would happen: the law of unintended consequences. The bad news is Washington will continue to internationalize this conflict as its locals are going rogue. The good news is Russia will continue to watch as the carnage unfolds. Ukraine as a state is now dead.

---Peter Lavelle


US warns Russia on invasion of Ukraine
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power has warned Russia over further unilateral intervention in Ukraine, saying the process would be viewed as an invasion of the country.


8 August, 2014




"Any further unilateral intervention by Russia into Ukrainian territory, including one under the guise of providing humanitarian aid, would be completely unacceptable and deeply alarming, and it would be viewed as an invasion of Ukraine," Power said.

She made the remarks on Friday at a Security Council meeting focusing on the human rights situation in Ukraine.

The United States accuses Russia of sending weapons to pro-Russian forces in Ukraine under the pretext of sending humanitarian aid.

"The humanitarian situation needs addressing, but not by those who have caused it," Power said.

She added that if Russia wants to send aid, it should be delivered by international aid organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The US official also accused Russia of increasing "more and more" troops and hardware near the border and launching shells across the border into Ukraine.

"At every step in this crisis, Russians have sabotaged peace, not built it, and it is particularly worrisome given Russia's purported annexation of Crimea... Peacekeepers are impartial, yet Russia fully supports Russia's armed separatists in this conflict," Power said.

On Tuesday, a UN official said that the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is getting worse on a daily basis as the war between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russians rages on.

John Ging, the director of UN humanitarian operations, said the humanitarian situation is deteriorating as fighting has caused significant damage to the region's infrastructure, and has impaired access to power and water supplies and basic services.

The UN refugee agency said that more than 700,000 people have left Ukraine for Russia during the country’s four months of conflict. In addition, 117,000 people were displaced inside Ukraine.

NATO plane arrives in Ukraine with $4.5 mn worth of military aid for Kiev troops
A massive Canadian transport plane has arrived in Kharkov carrying US$4.5 million worth of non-lethal military equipment to help Ukraine “protect its eastern border against Russian aggression.”

7 August, 2014

The equipment includes helmets, ballistic eyewear, protective vests, first aid kits, tents, and sleeping bags,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement on Thursday.

Canada said it received the request from the Ukrainian government. Ukraine has asked for this and once again we are delivering," Defence Minister Rob Nicholson Nicholson said at the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton.

The flight marks the first in a series, and all of the items will be delivered by the CC-130J Hercules plane. Canadian military personnel accompanied the equipment to Ukraine.
The technology provided will allow Ukrainian security and border authorities to better detect and track the movement of illicit goods and people,” according to Harper.

The news comes after Russia banned the imports of fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, and dairy products from the 28 countries of the EU, the US, Canada, Norway, and Australia for one year.
Russia’s ban is set to cost Canadian pork farmers more than $500 million. But the Canadian government is continuing its current stance on the matter. We will not be intimidated by these kinds of tactics,”Canadian Industry Minister James Moore said.

On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen pledged that NATO will work with Ukraine on defense planning, as well as on how to reform its armed forces and institutions.
He also announced that NATO is planning joint exercises with Ukraine.The comments were made during a press conference in Kiev.
Rasmussen also mentioned that Russia has amassed 20,000 troops near the border and could be planning a ground invasion of its neighbor, mentioning that Russia "should not use peace-keeping as an excuse for war-making."
In response, Moscow slammed NATO’s claims, calling them unsubstantiated.
"In Russia’s Ministry of Defense such statements only raise sympathy for the speakers of the Pentagon, the US State Department and NATO. It seems the people are serious, but they have to constantly improvise during their speeches to somehow add seriousness to their statements," Ministry of Defense spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.


Really all Putin needs to do now Rasmussen has announced termination of co-operation with Russia is to say "we presume you don't need to transit supplies and troops to Afghanistan through the territory of the Russian Federation".
--- Seemorerocks

NATO suspends cooperation with Russia — Rasmussen
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen arrived on Thursday on a visit to the Ukrainian capital city Kiev to discuss the entire spectrum of relations between Ukraine and NATO



ITAR-TASS,
7 August, 2014

KIEV, August 07./ITAR-TASS/. NATO terminates cooperation with Russia, set to strengthen collective defense of the military alliance’s member states and will expand its level of cooperation with Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Thursday.

"We suspend our practical cooperation with Russia in all areas," he declared.
Also, he remarked that NATO was working “more closely with Ukraine to reform its armed forces and defense institutions.”

NATO Secretary General said that if Russia conitnues to destabilise the situation in Ukraine, more sanctions will follow.
I have no doubt the international community will respond with tougher sanctions if Russia continues to intervene further,” Rasmussen told reporters in Ukraine’s capital Kiev.

He urged Russia "to engage in a sincere dialogue for a peaceful solution" of the Ukrainian crisis.

Earlier in the day, at a meeting with Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada speaker Oleksander Turchynov, Rasmussen said that NATO was suspending cooperation with Russia and enhancing the collective defence for the protection of all NATO members and made a decision to raise the level of support and cooperation with Ukraine, the parliamentary press-service said.

Also, the parliamentary press-service quoted Rasmussen as saying the Ukraine-NATO summit, due in Wales in September would allow for taking more concrete steps in establishing productive cooperation by the two parties.

Rasmussen believes that Ukraine needs comprehensive reforms, in particular, those in the military sphere, and the country’s parliament should play an important role for achieving this goal.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko decorated Rasmussen with the Order of Liberty - the country’s highest award for foreign nationals.

For many years you have been Ukraine’s friend,” he said and voiced the hope that Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO was a pre-requisite for Ukrainian reforms and the country’s territorial integrity.

Russia's reaction

The Federation Council (upper house of Russia’s parliament) sees no big damage from NATO’s decision to suspend cooperation with Moscow.
The USA, EU, Canada and Australia have introduced sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. Infographics by ITAR-TASS

"Cooperation between Russia and NATO was more noticeable on paper. And, speaking of cooperation with Russia, NATO was just building its good image,” Viktor Ozerov, head of the Federation Council Security Committee, said.

Under the Rome Declaration, it was intended that Russia and NATO would jointly assess the situation, make decisions, act together and share responsibility for these actions. But this never happened,” he said.

Ozerov compared cooperation between Russia and NATO with a bad marriage whereby the spouses maintain only a formal relationship. “This institute did not work even once after the Libyan or South Ossetian crisis,” he said.

Going back to my comparison with the marriage, there is no property to divide,” he added.





More than 117,000 people are now displaced inside Ukraine, according to the latest United Nations agency for refugees (UNHCR) study, while about 730,000 Ukrainians have fled to Russia amid growing violence since the beginning of this year.

"In the past seven days more than 6,200 people have been forced from their homes," said Vincent Cochetel, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Human Right Watch representatives are urging Kiev leadership to provide protection to thousands of displaced Ukrainians. "In early July the Human Rights Watch researcher visited eight temporary living facilities for displaced people, both privately-owned and state-owned, in Kiev, Vinnytsya, Lviv, and Kharkiv regions," stated the official letter by HRW to Petro Poroshenko on July, 21, 2014, "All displaced people said they received little to no help from the government when they were fleeing from armed conflict areas or when they have sought to secure housing, food, clothing, and other essential items, as well as access to social services."


In East Ukraine the number of displaced has grown tremendously in the last two months, rising from 2,600 to 102,600 refugees. Unfortunately, these civilians have not received any assistance from the Ukrainian government. Fleeing from the regions shelled intensively by Ukrainian military forces, eastern Ukrainian refugees constitute up to 87 per cent of the total displaced population in Ukraine, according to UNHCR.



They are suspected of using prohibited means of warfare and shelling the Russian territory

The Krasnosulinsky district court in Russia’s southern Rostov region arrested five Ukrainian officers on Friday. They are suspected of using prohibited means of warfare and shelling the Russian territory, the court said.

The officers including battalion commander of Ukraine’s 72 mechanized brigades Ivan Voitenko, his deputy Vitaly Dubinyak, tank battalion commander Alexander Polyakov, battalion chief of staff Alexander Okhrimenko and company commander Dmitry Ustilko crossed the Russian border together with more than 400 Ukrainian servicemen on August 3.

All of them, according to investigators, admit the fact of using various weapons but they have denied using it against peaceful civilians



Brazil poultry exporters ready to replace US on Russian market

The Brazilian capacities allow supplying additional 150,000 tonnes of chicken to Russia to fully make up for the U.S. Quota


Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Friday he was deeply concerned about the European Union’s security following Russia's ban on imports from the West.

There is no doubt that the situation is extremely worrying,” Bildt told Radio Sweden. “This is the most worrying situation in European security policy I have ever had to face for quite a long period of time - 25 years.”

On Thursday, Russia announced suspension of food imports from Norway, Canada, Australia, the United States and the 28-nation European Union worth billions of dollars in retaliation for sanctions imposed by those nations in recent weeks over events in Ukraine.

The ban, targeting cheese, fish, beef, pork, fruit, vegetables and dairy products over the next 12 months, is expected to seriously affect Western economies.

Combined with other import bans imposed earlier this year, the new trade measures cover Western imports worth $9.1 billion in 2013, according to Russian customs data. Exports of sanctioned products from Europe to Russia were worth $6.5 billion last year.
.



Coca-Cola HBC, the world's No. 2 bottler of Coca-Cola drinks, warned volumes would fall for the rest of the year, citing a "sudden deterioration" in Russia, its biggest market.

The bottler, which buys syrup concentrate from Coca-Cola and then bottles and distributes the U.S. group's drinks in 28 countries in Europe and Nigeria, posted a 6 percent rise in second-quarter profit to 135 million euros ($181 million) from 127 million euros in the same period a year earlier.

But the company warned difficult economic and trading conditions had forced it to review its outlook for volumes, and it expected the trend of declining volumes to continue for the rest of the year. Volumes fell 3 percent in the first half.


The scary-looking clown named Ronald McDonald and his minions are going to court.

Russia, which has already denounced genetically modified food earlier this year, is now taking McDonald's to court. A Moscow court recently announced that the fast food chain has violated Russia's nutrition and safety codes for many of its burger and ice cream products.

The case is set to be heard at Tverskoi District Court. Russian health officials are already threatening to place a temporary ban on McDonald's ice cream, milkshakes, cheeseburgers, and Filet-O-Fish and chicken sandwiches. A hearing is scheduled for August 13


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