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U.S and EU's puppet regime in Ukraine prepare military provocations to greet democratic decision of Crimeans

Chris Marsden
World Socialist Web Site
Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:15 UTC
Image

Ukrainian troops stepped up patrols on the Russian border in an attempt to pre-empt any further land grabs by the Kremlin in the country's east and south.
The Obama administration is utilising Moscow's incorporation of Crimea into the Russian Federation to escalate its campaign of threats and sanctions. To this end, the United States is lining up its puppet regime in Ukraine and its regional allies to prepare a series of military provocations.

Following a speech Tuesday to the Russian Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty annexing Crimea.

US Vice-President Joseph Biden responded by accusing Russia of a "blatant violation of international law" and making a "brazen military incursion." The US was considering deploying ground troops to the Baltic States on new military exercises, he threatened.

Hours later, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told his defence ministry that the conflict in Crimea had entered a military phase. Yatsenyuk accused Russian forces of killing a Ukrainian serviceman at a base near the Crimean regional capital, Simferopol, calling the incident "a war crime." Ukraine then authorised its troops to fire in "self-defence."

Provocations to legitimise war need not take place only within Crimea. They could be staged throughout eastern Ukraine.
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Coffee

G-7 a self-important talk shop: Asia will not 'isolate' Russia

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times Online
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 10:55 UTC
Obama and Xi Jin-ping
© Xinhua
Any (bureaucratic) doubts the New Cold War is on have been dispelled by the Group of Seven issuing a pompous, self-described Hague Declaration. Abandon all hope those who expected The Hague to become the seat of a tribunal judging the war crimes of the Cheney regime.

The G-7 also cancelled its upcoming summer summit in Sochi as a means of "punishing" Moscow over Crimea. As if this carried any practical value. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded with class; if you don't want us, we have better things to do. [1] Everyone knows the G-7 is an innocuous, self-important talk shop. It's in the G-20 - much more representative of the real world - where crucial geopolitical and geoeconomic issues gain traction.

The Hague Declaration comes complete with the kiss of death, as in, "The International Monetary Fund has a central role leading the international effort to support Ukrainian reform, lessening Ukraine's economic vulnerabilities, and better integrating the country as a market economy in the multilateral system." That's code for "wait till structural adjustment starts biting".

And then there will be "measures to enhance trade and strengthen energy security" - code for "we will destroy your industry" but "are not very keen on paying your humongous Gazprom bill".
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Snakes in Suits

Who is Herman van Rompuy?

ukipwebmaster
youtube.com
Mon, 24 Feb 2014 10:12 UTC
Image
© EPA
Herman Van Rompuy

Nigel Farage says EU president Herman van Rompuy has the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk.
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Chess

Armenian government recognizes Crimean referendum and accession of Autonomous Republic to Russian Federation


RT
Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:42 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti/Tigran Mekhrabyan
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
Armenia has backed Crimea's choice of joining Russia, supporting the right to self-determination for the peninsula's population. In response, Ukraine has recalled its ambassador to Armenia.

"Armenia's principled position on the right to self-determination remains unchanged and has been repeatedly expressed over the years," Armenia's deputy foreign minister, Shavarsh Kocharyan, told Ukrainian Ambassador Ivan Kukhta, as quoted by the Armenian Foreign Ministry's press service.

The meeting, which took place in Armenia's capital of Yerevan, was initiated by the Ukrainian side after Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan expressed support for the Crimean referendum, stating it was justified.
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Propaganda

War Propaganda: Russian troops on Ukraine's Eastern Border "very sizeable and very ready... very worrisome"

Luke Harding
The Guardian
Sun, 23 Mar 2014 05:11 UTC
Image
© Krasilnikov Stanislav/Itar-Tass Photo/Corbis
Philip Breedlove says large force on eastern border of Ukraine could easily move into Trans-Dniester if the decision was made

Nato's most senior military commander said on Sunday that Russia had amassed a large military force on Ukraine's eastern border, and warned that Moldova's separatist Trans-Dniester region could be the Kremlin's next target.

General Philip Breedlove, Nato's supreme allied commander, described the Russian force that began exercises 10 days ago as very, very sizeable and very, very ready.

"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Trans-Dniester if the decision was made to do that. That is very worrisome," Breedlove said.

The White House also intimated that Russia may be readying for further action. Tony Blinken, Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser, described the troop build-up as deeply concerning. He told CNN the Moscow's evident goal was to intimidate the Ukrainians, and added: "It's possible that they're preparing to move in."

"I'm very worried the unlawful attempt to alter the recognised borders of our European neighbourhood, 25 years after the end of the Cold War, will open Pandora's box," The German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Welt am Sonntag. Steinmeier visited Donetsk on Saturday. He described the situation there as anything but stable.
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Gold Bar

South Korea opens spot market for physical gold


AAP
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:15 UTC
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South Korea has launched a gold trading exchange for the first time in a bid to help counter the country's burgeoning black market in the precious metal.

Smuggled gold is traded secretly through underground markets in South Korea and is used as an effective way to hide income and avoid tax.

"The gold spot market will help normalise the unregulated circulation of gold," Shin Je-Yoon, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said on Tuesday, vowing to step up a crackdown on black-market transactions.

Of the country's total gold trading volume -- estimated at more than 100 tonnes annually -- about 70 per cent is traded illegally, according to Shin's office.
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Stock Down

Top JPMorgan China exec leaves amid probes


AAP
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 10:29 UTC
Image
One of JPMorgan Chase's top Chinese executives will resign, according to a bank memo, as regulators investigate whether the financial giant violated anti-bribery laws in Asia.

Fang Fang, who served as chief executive of JPMorgan's China investment banking unit before being appointed to vice chairman of investment banking for all Asia in 2009, "has informed us of his desire to retire," said a memo from Therese Esperdy, co-head of Asia-Pacific banking at JPMorgan.

The memo did not elaborate on his reason for stepping down. Esperdy said Fang, who joined JPMorgan in 2001, should be credited with helping the bank achieve a leadership role in the region.
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Stock Up

Rouble becomes Crimea's official currency


AAP
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:00 UTC
Roubles
© Getty
A Crimean resident holds Ukrainian Hryvnia money next to a money exchange office as she prepares to buy western currency and Russian roubles, in Sevastopol, Crimea.
The rouble has become Crimea's official currency as Russia seizes complete control of the peninsula, but businesses are still dealing mainly in the Ukrainian hryvnia.

"From this day, we can officially make payments in roubles. The hryvnia remains in use until the first of January, 2016," Crimea's pro-Moscow prime minister Sergiy Aksyonov said on Twitter on Monday.

His deputy Rustam Temirgaliev, cited by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency, said pensions would be paid in roubles from Monday, and that 300 million roubles ($A9.1million) had been set aside for this.
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Clipboard

Formation of legitimate authorities should have taken place before signing of Ukraine-EU agreement


The Voice of Russia
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:58 UTC
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© Voice of Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei LAvrov
Before signing the political part of the Association Agreement with the EU, Kiev should have waited for the creation of a legitimate government, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

According to the minister, the signing of a document between Kiev and Brussels took place at a time when the new government in Ukraine has not yet been formed."
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Take 2

Iran's fake US ship for movie set sparks media hype


RT
Mon, 24 Mar 2014 20:18 UTC
Image

Iran's movie set 'aircraft carrier' that twisted the knickers of the warmongering US mainstream media
A mock US aircraft carrier built in Iran for a movie about an Iranian passenger plane downing sparked media frenzy in the US and Israel. Media outlets claimed the ship was meant to be blown up for "black propaganda" and labelled it a "symbol of mistrust."

Satellite images of what looked like a US Navy ship docked at a dockyard near the coast of Iran were obtained by The New York Times and CNN last week, puzzling media and military experts.

The latter concluded that the ship was not an actual aircraft carrier, but was "made to look like one," US Navy Fifth Fleet spokesman Jason Salata said, as quoted by Reuters.

The New York Times stated that the Nimitz-class carrier-shaped ship looked "more like a barge" with no nuclear propulsion system and was "only about two-thirds the length of a typical 1,100-foot-long Navy carrier."
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