JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 9:50AM SUN MAR 23,14
RUSSIAS REALLY TRYING TO OVER TAKE THE UKRAINE NOW.THE WORLD WERE COWARDS AND WOULD NOT BRING ARMIES RIGHT IN AFTER PUTIN.NOW PUTIN GOT THE 3 WEEK UPPER AND.AND HE IS CONQUERING.UNTILL THE EUROPEAN UNION GETS THEIR OWN ARMY TROOPS IN THE REST OF UKRAINE PROTECTING IT.FROM RUSSIA.RUSSIA WILL CONTINUE TO GRADUALLY SQUASH ALL OF THE UKRAINE LIKE A POP CAN.AND THEN ON TO ALL THE NATO COUNTRIES AROUND IT.
AND WE SEE HITLARY CLINTON IS YAPPING ABOUT RUSSIA.I WONDER WILL HITLARY SAY AN ANTI RUSSIAN VIDEO CAUSED RUSSIA TO INVADE THE UKRAINE. LIKE SHE SAID ABOUT BENGHAZI.THAT THE ANTI-ISLAM FILM MADE ISLAM SLAUGHTER THOSE 4 INNOCENT PEOPLE IN THAT BUILDING
Russia to Europe: We can do whatever we want
22.03.14 @ 18:32-By Valentina Pop-EU OBSERVER
Brussels - Foreign policy debates are usually a polite affair. Ideas may clash, but the exchange rarely gets personal.This was not the case on Friday (21 March) during the "Brussels Forum", an annual gathering of European and American politicians and experts, including the Russian ambassadors to the EU and Nato.The Estonian President, Toomas Ilves, complained about the EU "sitting and watching" while Russia annexed Crimea and giving Moscow "a minor slap on the wrist" by blacklisting a few dozen people, a reaction which Russia "laughed at."The Italian foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, who was defending the EU decisions, snapped: "So let's bomb Russia? What is the solution?"Ilves retorted: “We should begin defending ourselves, because once you start going in this direction [annexation of territories], what possible intellectual reasoning could say 'this won't continue'?"The Russian ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, defended what he called the Russian "intervention" in Crimea, saying the crisis had started earlier, when Ukraine slipped into "deep political and economic problems" and risked turning into a "failed state."Ilves said Chizov was being "disingenous," because "you can't destabilise a country and then express concern that it's a failed state."Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia at the time of Russia’s last “intervention,” its 2008 invasion, said he had "no respect" for Chizov, who reminded him of a character from Dr Strangelove, a Cold War satire directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1964.On a separate panel, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen cornered the Russian ambassador to Nato, asking why Russia is not respecting the international principle it subscribed to in 1999 - that each country has a right to freely decide on its international alliances."This is true, but there is also the international law enshrining the principle of indivisibility of security. Nobody will improve their security at the expense of the security of others. Nato is free to take any decision. And Russia is free to take any decision to protect its legitimate security interest," the Russian ambassador, Alexander Grushko, said."From the beginning, we said that if Nato will go on with enlargement, it will continue producing new dividing lines, moving dividing lines towards the Russian borders. We also said that in some cases, these dividing lines will cross inside countries. It's up to you if you listen or not," he added.Rasmussen continued his grilling: "Would you accept Georgia's right to choose Nato membership if this is a Georgian deision and if Nato accepts that? Would you accept that?"Grushko replied: "We are against, we believe that this is a huge mistake. This is the position of my country."
The Russian ambassador also said that instead of focusing on "how to show its muscles" militarily, Europe should focus on the rights of Russians in the Baltic states, where hundreds of thousands are denied citizenship "just because they speak Russian.""I think it would be a better solution than to send US [missile defence] interceptors,” he noted.Meanwhile, senior figures who had dealt with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during their career warned of the consequences of letting him get away with the annexation of Crimea.With Putin knowing that Nato will not go to war over Ukraine or Georgia because they are not members of the alliance, Former Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Moldova may be next on Putin's list."Let's not forget Moldova, because the next stop might really be Transnistria," he said.The former ambassador of the US to Nato, Kurt Volker, warned that the dismemberment of Ukraine sets a terrible precedent after it unilterally gave up its nuclear arsenal."After Russia's incursion in Ukraine, no country will give up nuclear weapons in return for territorial guarantees," Volker said.In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, in 1991, the newly independent Ukraine had on its territory the world's third largest nuclear arsenal, larger than those of Britain, France, and China combined.Five years later, it handed over all its nuclear warheads to Russia for dismantling, after having signed a memorandum in Budapest with the UK, Russia, and the US pledging to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity.US President Barack Obama did tell Putin he is in violation of this Budapest memorandum. But both Washington and London are excluding the "military option" in reaction to Russia's actions in Ukraine.Contacts say the furthest they might go is arming the Ukrainian military, which according to its foreign minister, is preparing to defend itself in case of attacks beyond Crimea.
British FM warns Russia of 'isolation and stagnation'
Today mar 23,14 @ 10:33-By EUOBSERVER
British FM William Hague in an op-ed in The Telegraph newspaper said nobody in Russia should celebrate the seizure of Crimea. "As things stand today, the arc of Russia’s path in world affairs risks once again bending towards isolation and stagnation," he noted, in reference to escalating Western sanctions.
Ashton frets over Ukraine's economic instability
Today mar 23,14 @ 10:31-By EUOBSERVER
EU foreign affairs chief Ashton told the Brussels Forum, a think tank event in Brussels, that fixing Ukraine's economy is her main priority. "We have to make sure that Ukraine, economically, does not fall over ... My biggest fear right now is the state of economy," she said, Reuters reports.
Obama's Europe ties get new test in Russia dispute
By JULIE PACE 18 hours ago-mar 22,14-YAHOONEWS
Putin Completes Annexation of Crimea
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's complex relationship with Europe faces new challenges during a weeklong trip as he tries to persuade allied leaders to hold firm in efforts to punish Russia for its incursion into Ukraine.The deepening dispute between East and West is expected to dominate his visit to Europe, which begins Monday in the Netherlands. The four-country trip was long-planned, but now provides the U.S. and Europe a well-timed chance to present a united front against Russian President Vladimir Putin.But behind the scenes, Obama will be gauging how far the still economically shaky European Union is willing to go in punishing Russia, one of its largest trading partners. He'll also be confronted with other European frustrations with the U.S. that are bubbling just below the surface.Some European officials, chief among them German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are still smarting over revelations of National Security Agency spying on the continent. There's also lingering resentment among EU leaders over what it sees as Obama's snubbing of the alliance."There's an anger there, there's a frustration there," said Heather Conley, a Europe expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She added that while the Ukraine crisis may "mute" some of Europe's irritation with Obama, "it doesn't solve it."In the Netherlands, Obama will join world leaders at the Nuclear Security Summit and head a hastily arranged meeting of the Group of Seven - the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.The latter meeting will focus on boosting financial support for Ukraine's fledgling government, while also serving as a symbol of the West's efforts to isolate Moscow. Russia often joins the G-7 nations for Group of Eight meetings, including a summit Putin is supposed to host this summer. Those plans are now in doubt.
Russia is participating in the nuclear summit, but Putin will not attend. He's sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to The Hague.Obama's focus on Ukraine will continue in Brussels, the headquarters for the EU and NATO. A later stop in Rome will feature a highly anticipated meeting with Pope Francis. Then it's on to Saudi Arabia for a fence-mending visit with the important Gulf ally.Initial punishments from the U.S. and EU did little stop Russia from annexing the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Western officials are now warily watching Russia build up its troop presence elsewhere along the former Soviet state's border.Russian officials say those troops are simply participating in military exercises. But Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, said that given Russia's "past practice and the gap between what they have said and what they have done, we are watching it with skepticism."The U.S. has warned that further Russian incursions could result in broader penalties targeting the Russian economy, including its robust energy sector. But administration officials acknowledge that American sanctions wouldn't have the same kind of bite as European penalties, given Europe's deeper economic ties with Russia.That puts Obama in the position of seeking cooperation from the sometimes unwieldy EU, the 28-country bloc that has often bristled at what its leaders see as snubs by the American president.The president has skipped over Brussels on all eight of his previous trips to Europe as president. He ended the practice of holding U.S-EU summits annually, preferring to hold meetings instead with individual European leaders. On the rare occasions when he has attended EU summits, the meetings have been brief and yielded little of consequence."They know the president can't stand sitting in these meetings," Conley said of EU leaders. "They got that message very clearly."The NSA spying disclosures have strained Obama's relations with Europe, particularly with Merkel, the leader with whom he had perhaps the closest relationship. Last year's explosive leaks from NSA contractor Edward Snowden included a revelation that the U.S. was monitoring Merkel's cellphone.Former State Department official Jeremy Shapiro said that while anger over the NSA persists, Europe's leaders are unlikely to get let that matter bleed into discussions over Ukraine."Ukraine is too serious an issue for them." said Shapiro, now a fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Russia is too serious an issue for them. And the need to work with the United States is too serious an issue to complicate it with this type of thing."The crisis in Ukraine seems likely to overshadow what had been expected to be the most-attention grabbling stops of Obama's trip - meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in Riyadh.Obama has praised the new pontiff and sees a connection with Francis' recent statements on income inequality, an issue the president is pushing at home.Hot-button issues in the Middle East will dominate Obama's stop in Saudi Arabia, his second visit to the kingdom as president. During meetings with the king, Obama will seek to alleviate the Gulf nation's concerns over U.S. nuclear negotiations with Iran and the White House's tepid role in quelling the Syrian civil war.___Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
NATO commander warns of Russian threat to separatist Moldova region
By Adrian Croft 57 minutes ago-MAR 23,14-YAHOONEWS-By Adrian Croft
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's top military commander said on Sunday that Russia had a large force on Ukraine's eastern border and he was worried it could pose a threat to Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region.The warning comes a day after Russian troops, using armored vehicles, automatic weapons and stun grenades, seized the last military facilities under Ukrainian control in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsular that Russian President Vladimir Putin formally annexed on Friday."The (Russian) force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizeable and very, very ready," NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, told an event held by the German Marshall Fund think-tank.Russia's seizure of Crimea, which has a majority Russian population, after the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Russian president by mass protests has triggered the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.The United States and the European Union have targeted some of Putin's closest political and business allies with personal sanctions and have threatened broader economic sanctions if Putin's forces encroach on other eastern or southern parts of Ukraine with big Russian-speaking populations.Breedlove said NATO was very concerned about the threat to Transdniestria, which declared independence from Moldova in 1990 but has not been recognized by any United Nations member state. About 30 percent of its half million population is ethnic Russian, which is the mother tongue of an overall majority.Russia launched a new military exercise, involving 8,500 artillery men, near Ukraine's border 10 days ago."There is absolutely sufficient (Russian) force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that, and that is very worrisome," Breedlove said.The president of ex-Soviet Moldova warned Russia last Tuesday against considering any move to annex Transdniestria, which lies on Ukraine's western border, in the same way that it has taken control of Crimea.The speaker of Transdniestria's parliament had urged Russia earlier to incorporate the region.
"NO EXPANSIONIST VIEWS"
Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov was quoted by the state's Itar-Tass news agency on Sunday as saying that Russia was complying with international agreements limiting the number of troops near its border with Ukraine.Moscow's ambassador to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, also told Britain's BBC television on Sunday that Russia did not have any "expansionist views".Asked to give a commitment that Russian troops would not move into other Ukrainian territory outside the Crimea, Chizhov said: "There is no intention of the Russian Federation to do anything like that."U.S. Senator John McCain, a Republican foreign policy specialist, told the same BBC show that Putin's actions in Ukraine were akin to those of Adolf Hitler in 1930s Germany."I think he (Putin) is calculating how much he can get away with, just as Adolf Hitler calculated how much he could get away with in the 1930s," McCain said.McCain criticized the international response and said he supported sending military equipment to Ukraine. He also said he considered Moldova and the Baltic nations, all former Soviet states with sizeable Russian populations, to be under threat.U.S. President Barack Obama's national security adviser said on Friday that the world was reassessing its relationship with Russia and Washington was skeptical of Russian assurances that troop movements on the Ukraine border were no more than military exercises.
"BAD PRECEDENT"
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, accepted on Sunday that Crimea was now "de facto" a part of Russia, but he criticized the annexation as a "bad precedent".Speaking to reporters in Minsk, Lukashenko said Ukraine, which shares a long land border with Belarus, should remain "a single, indivisible, integral, non-bloc state".Hopes that the limited sanctions measures in place might dissuade further incursions were dealt a blow on Sunday when Russia's SMP bank, whose main shareholders were targeted by U.S. sanctions, said Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc had resumed payment services for its clients.The bank said it was glad the two biggest international payments systems had listened to its arguments to reverse Friday's suspension of services as it was wrong to target the bank, which was not itself the target of any sanctions.Putin and Russian media had mocked the sanctions, which did not stop the Russian military completing its takeover of Ukraine's military bases in Crimea.Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that its flag was now flying over 189 Ukrainian military installations on the peninsula.A referendum held a week ago after Russian troops had seized control of Crimea overwhelmingly backed union with Russia but was denounced by Washington and the European Union as a sham.The EU emphasized its support for the new pro-Western government in Kiev, signing a political agreement with interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk last week.They also promised financial aid for the government - which Moscow says came to power by a coup to overthrow Russian ally Viktor Yanukovich - as soon as Kiev reaches a deal with the International Monetary Fund.The IMF is to report next Tuesday on advanced talks with Ukraine on a loan program that would be linked to far-reaching reforms of the shattered economy.Three months of protests were set off by Yanukovich's refusal to sign an association agreement with the EU, the political part of which was signed on Friday. (Additional reporting by Alexandar Vasovic in Simferopol, Alissa de Carbonnel and Oksana Kobzeva in Moscow; Writing by Will Waterman Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
OTHER RUSSIA-UKRAINE NEWS I DONE
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-plane-with-239-on.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-makes-it-final-crimea-is-russias.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/pentagon-not-ready-for-cold-war-with.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/empty-suit-obama-i-will-definately-not.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimean-forces-take-ukrainian-navy.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/putin-makes-treaty-crimea-officially.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/european-west-ready-to-sanction-russia.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimea-becomes-part-of-russia-today.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/2-killed-in-ukraine-crimea-as-one-day.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-ukraine-situation-fri-2-days.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-invasion-of-crimea-continues.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimea-russia-ukraine-situation-this-day.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/crimea-wants-independence-not-russian.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-blamed-for-deaths-in-ukraine.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russian-forces-tighten-grip-on-crimea.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-ukraine-situation-today.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-has-this-crimea-situation-well.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/eu-leads-diplomacy-on-ukraine-crimea.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/putin-pulls-back-from-brink-of-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russias-stock-market-fell-11-and-lost.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/watch-stock-markets-oil-today-from-this.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russian-troops-surround-ukraines-army.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/03/russia-unanamously-approves-troops-in.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/russia-troops-copters-in-crimea-and-kiev.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/watch-for-afghanistan-to-have-next-arab.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/02/is-this-ukraine-situation-beggining-of.html
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
THE RUSSIA - UKRAINE SITUATION AT 9:50AM SUN MAR 23,14
RUSSIAS REALLY TRYING TO OVER TAKE THE UKRAINE NOW.THE WORLD WERE COWARDS AND WOULD NOT BRING ARMIES RIGHT IN AFTER PUTIN.NOW PUTIN GOT THE 3 WEEK UPPER AND.AND HE IS CONQUERING.UNTILL THE EUROPEAN UNION GETS THEIR OWN ARMY TROOPS IN THE REST OF UKRAINE PROTECTING IT.FROM RUSSIA.RUSSIA WILL CONTINUE TO GRADUALLY SQUASH ALL OF THE UKRAINE LIKE A POP CAN.AND THEN ON TO ALL THE NATO COUNTRIES AROUND IT.
AND WE SEE HITLARY CLINTON IS YAPPING ABOUT RUSSIA.I WONDER WILL HITLARY SAY AN ANTI RUSSIAN VIDEO CAUSED RUSSIA TO INVADE THE UKRAINE. LIKE SHE SAID ABOUT BENGHAZI.THAT THE ANTI-ISLAM FILM MADE ISLAM SLAUGHTER THOSE 4 INNOCENT PEOPLE IN THAT BUILDING
Russia to Europe: We can do whatever we want
22.03.14 @ 18:32-By Valentina Pop-EU OBSERVER
Brussels - Foreign policy debates are usually a polite affair. Ideas may clash, but the exchange rarely gets personal.This was not the case on Friday (21 March) during the "Brussels Forum", an annual gathering of European and American politicians and experts, including the Russian ambassadors to the EU and Nato.The Estonian President, Toomas Ilves, complained about the EU "sitting and watching" while Russia annexed Crimea and giving Moscow "a minor slap on the wrist" by blacklisting a few dozen people, a reaction which Russia "laughed at."The Italian foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, who was defending the EU decisions, snapped: "So let's bomb Russia? What is the solution?"Ilves retorted: “We should begin defending ourselves, because once you start going in this direction [annexation of territories], what possible intellectual reasoning could say 'this won't continue'?"The Russian ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, defended what he called the Russian "intervention" in Crimea, saying the crisis had started earlier, when Ukraine slipped into "deep political and economic problems" and risked turning into a "failed state."Ilves said Chizov was being "disingenous," because "you can't destabilise a country and then express concern that it's a failed state."Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia at the time of Russia’s last “intervention,” its 2008 invasion, said he had "no respect" for Chizov, who reminded him of a character from Dr Strangelove, a Cold War satire directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1964.On a separate panel, Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen cornered the Russian ambassador to Nato, asking why Russia is not respecting the international principle it subscribed to in 1999 - that each country has a right to freely decide on its international alliances."This is true, but there is also the international law enshrining the principle of indivisibility of security. Nobody will improve their security at the expense of the security of others. Nato is free to take any decision. And Russia is free to take any decision to protect its legitimate security interest," the Russian ambassador, Alexander Grushko, said."From the beginning, we said that if Nato will go on with enlargement, it will continue producing new dividing lines, moving dividing lines towards the Russian borders. We also said that in some cases, these dividing lines will cross inside countries. It's up to you if you listen or not," he added.Rasmussen continued his grilling: "Would you accept Georgia's right to choose Nato membership if this is a Georgian deision and if Nato accepts that? Would you accept that?"Grushko replied: "We are against, we believe that this is a huge mistake. This is the position of my country."
The Russian ambassador also said that instead of focusing on "how to show its muscles" militarily, Europe should focus on the rights of Russians in the Baltic states, where hundreds of thousands are denied citizenship "just because they speak Russian.""I think it would be a better solution than to send US [missile defence] interceptors,” he noted.Meanwhile, senior figures who had dealt with Russian leader Vladimir Putin during their career warned of the consequences of letting him get away with the annexation of Crimea.With Putin knowing that Nato will not go to war over Ukraine or Georgia because they are not members of the alliance, Former Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Moldova may be next on Putin's list."Let's not forget Moldova, because the next stop might really be Transnistria," he said.The former ambassador of the US to Nato, Kurt Volker, warned that the dismemberment of Ukraine sets a terrible precedent after it unilterally gave up its nuclear arsenal."After Russia's incursion in Ukraine, no country will give up nuclear weapons in return for territorial guarantees," Volker said.In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, in 1991, the newly independent Ukraine had on its territory the world's third largest nuclear arsenal, larger than those of Britain, France, and China combined.Five years later, it handed over all its nuclear warheads to Russia for dismantling, after having signed a memorandum in Budapest with the UK, Russia, and the US pledging to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity.US President Barack Obama did tell Putin he is in violation of this Budapest memorandum. But both Washington and London are excluding the "military option" in reaction to Russia's actions in Ukraine.Contacts say the furthest they might go is arming the Ukrainian military, which according to its foreign minister, is preparing to defend itself in case of attacks beyond Crimea.
British FM warns Russia of 'isolation and stagnation'
Today mar 23,14 @ 10:33-By EUOBSERVER
British FM William Hague in an op-ed in The Telegraph newspaper said nobody in Russia should celebrate the seizure of Crimea. "As things stand today, the arc of Russia’s path in world affairs risks once again bending towards isolation and stagnation," he noted, in reference to escalating Western sanctions.
Ashton frets over Ukraine's economic instability
Today mar 23,14 @ 10:31-By EUOBSERVER
EU foreign affairs chief Ashton told the Brussels Forum, a think tank event in Brussels, that fixing Ukraine's economy is her main priority. "We have to make sure that Ukraine, economically, does not fall over ... My biggest fear right now is the state of economy," she said, Reuters reports.
Obama's Europe ties get new test in Russia dispute
By JULIE PACE 18 hours ago-mar 22,14-YAHOONEWS
Putin Completes Annexation of Crimea
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's complex relationship with Europe faces new challenges during a weeklong trip as he tries to persuade allied leaders to hold firm in efforts to punish Russia for its incursion into Ukraine.The deepening dispute between East and West is expected to dominate his visit to Europe, which begins Monday in the Netherlands. The four-country trip was long-planned, but now provides the U.S. and Europe a well-timed chance to present a united front against Russian President Vladimir Putin.But behind the scenes, Obama will be gauging how far the still economically shaky European Union is willing to go in punishing Russia, one of its largest trading partners. He'll also be confronted with other European frustrations with the U.S. that are bubbling just below the surface.Some European officials, chief among them German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are still smarting over revelations of National Security Agency spying on the continent. There's also lingering resentment among EU leaders over what it sees as Obama's snubbing of the alliance."There's an anger there, there's a frustration there," said Heather Conley, a Europe expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She added that while the Ukraine crisis may "mute" some of Europe's irritation with Obama, "it doesn't solve it."In the Netherlands, Obama will join world leaders at the Nuclear Security Summit and head a hastily arranged meeting of the Group of Seven - the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.The latter meeting will focus on boosting financial support for Ukraine's fledgling government, while also serving as a symbol of the West's efforts to isolate Moscow. Russia often joins the G-7 nations for Group of Eight meetings, including a summit Putin is supposed to host this summer. Those plans are now in doubt.
Russia is participating in the nuclear summit, but Putin will not attend. He's sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to The Hague.Obama's focus on Ukraine will continue in Brussels, the headquarters for the EU and NATO. A later stop in Rome will feature a highly anticipated meeting with Pope Francis. Then it's on to Saudi Arabia for a fence-mending visit with the important Gulf ally.Initial punishments from the U.S. and EU did little stop Russia from annexing the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Western officials are now warily watching Russia build up its troop presence elsewhere along the former Soviet state's border.Russian officials say those troops are simply participating in military exercises. But Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, said that given Russia's "past practice and the gap between what they have said and what they have done, we are watching it with skepticism."The U.S. has warned that further Russian incursions could result in broader penalties targeting the Russian economy, including its robust energy sector. But administration officials acknowledge that American sanctions wouldn't have the same kind of bite as European penalties, given Europe's deeper economic ties with Russia.That puts Obama in the position of seeking cooperation from the sometimes unwieldy EU, the 28-country bloc that has often bristled at what its leaders see as snubs by the American president.The president has skipped over Brussels on all eight of his previous trips to Europe as president. He ended the practice of holding U.S-EU summits annually, preferring to hold meetings instead with individual European leaders. On the rare occasions when he has attended EU summits, the meetings have been brief and yielded little of consequence."They know the president can't stand sitting in these meetings," Conley said of EU leaders. "They got that message very clearly."The NSA spying disclosures have strained Obama's relations with Europe, particularly with Merkel, the leader with whom he had perhaps the closest relationship. Last year's explosive leaks from NSA contractor Edward Snowden included a revelation that the U.S. was monitoring Merkel's cellphone.Former State Department official Jeremy Shapiro said that while anger over the NSA persists, Europe's leaders are unlikely to get let that matter bleed into discussions over Ukraine."Ukraine is too serious an issue for them." said Shapiro, now a fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Russia is too serious an issue for them. And the need to work with the United States is too serious an issue to complicate it with this type of thing."The crisis in Ukraine seems likely to overshadow what had been expected to be the most-attention grabbling stops of Obama's trip - meetings with Pope Francis at the Vatican and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in Riyadh.Obama has praised the new pontiff and sees a connection with Francis' recent statements on income inequality, an issue the president is pushing at home.Hot-button issues in the Middle East will dominate Obama's stop in Saudi Arabia, his second visit to the kingdom as president. During meetings with the king, Obama will seek to alleviate the Gulf nation's concerns over U.S. nuclear negotiations with Iran and the White House's tepid role in quelling the Syrian civil war.___Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
NATO commander warns of Russian threat to separatist Moldova region
By Adrian Croft 57 minutes ago-MAR 23,14-YAHOONEWS-By Adrian Croft
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's top military commander said on Sunday that Russia had a large force on Ukraine's eastern border and he was worried it could pose a threat to Moldova's separatist Transdniestria region.The warning comes a day after Russian troops, using armored vehicles, automatic weapons and stun grenades, seized the last military facilities under Ukrainian control in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsular that Russian President Vladimir Putin formally annexed on Friday."The (Russian) force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizeable and very, very ready," NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, told an event held by the German Marshall Fund think-tank.Russia's seizure of Crimea, which has a majority Russian population, after the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Russian president by mass protests has triggered the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.The United States and the European Union have targeted some of Putin's closest political and business allies with personal sanctions and have threatened broader economic sanctions if Putin's forces encroach on other eastern or southern parts of Ukraine with big Russian-speaking populations.Breedlove said NATO was very concerned about the threat to Transdniestria, which declared independence from Moldova in 1990 but has not been recognized by any United Nations member state. About 30 percent of its half million population is ethnic Russian, which is the mother tongue of an overall majority.Russia launched a new military exercise, involving 8,500 artillery men, near Ukraine's border 10 days ago."There is absolutely sufficient (Russian) force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that, and that is very worrisome," Breedlove said.The president of ex-Soviet Moldova warned Russia last Tuesday against considering any move to annex Transdniestria, which lies on Ukraine's western border, in the same way that it has taken control of Crimea.The speaker of Transdniestria's parliament had urged Russia earlier to incorporate the region.
"NO EXPANSIONIST VIEWS"
Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov was quoted by the state's Itar-Tass news agency on Sunday as saying that Russia was complying with international agreements limiting the number of troops near its border with Ukraine.Moscow's ambassador to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, also told Britain's BBC television on Sunday that Russia did not have any "expansionist views".Asked to give a commitment that Russian troops would not move into other Ukrainian territory outside the Crimea, Chizhov said: "There is no intention of the Russian Federation to do anything like that."U.S. Senator John McCain, a Republican foreign policy specialist, told the same BBC show that Putin's actions in Ukraine were akin to those of Adolf Hitler in 1930s Germany."I think he (Putin) is calculating how much he can get away with, just as Adolf Hitler calculated how much he could get away with in the 1930s," McCain said.McCain criticized the international response and said he supported sending military equipment to Ukraine. He also said he considered Moldova and the Baltic nations, all former Soviet states with sizeable Russian populations, to be under threat.U.S. President Barack Obama's national security adviser said on Friday that the world was reassessing its relationship with Russia and Washington was skeptical of Russian assurances that troop movements on the Ukraine border were no more than military exercises.
"BAD PRECEDENT"
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, accepted on Sunday that Crimea was now "de facto" a part of Russia, but he criticized the annexation as a "bad precedent".Speaking to reporters in Minsk, Lukashenko said Ukraine, which shares a long land border with Belarus, should remain "a single, indivisible, integral, non-bloc state".Hopes that the limited sanctions measures in place might dissuade further incursions were dealt a blow on Sunday when Russia's SMP bank, whose main shareholders were targeted by U.S. sanctions, said Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc had resumed payment services for its clients.The bank said it was glad the two biggest international payments systems had listened to its arguments to reverse Friday's suspension of services as it was wrong to target the bank, which was not itself the target of any sanctions.Putin and Russian media had mocked the sanctions, which did not stop the Russian military completing its takeover of Ukraine's military bases in Crimea.Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that its flag was now flying over 189 Ukrainian military installations on the peninsula.A referendum held a week ago after Russian troops had seized control of Crimea overwhelmingly backed union with Russia but was denounced by Washington and the European Union as a sham.The EU emphasized its support for the new pro-Western government in Kiev, signing a political agreement with interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk last week.They also promised financial aid for the government - which Moscow says came to power by a coup to overthrow Russian ally Viktor Yanukovich - as soon as Kiev reaches a deal with the International Monetary Fund.The IMF is to report next Tuesday on advanced talks with Ukraine on a loan program that would be linked to far-reaching reforms of the shattered economy.Three months of protests were set off by Yanukovich's refusal to sign an association agreement with the EU, the political part of which was signed on Friday. (Additional reporting by Alexandar Vasovic in Simferopol, Alissa de Carbonnel and Oksana Kobzeva in Moscow; Writing by Will Waterman Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
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