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.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER
MORE MH17 STORIES
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-6.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-5.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-4.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-3.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-2.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-this.html
MH370 STORIES
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/06/day-95-mh370-777-200er-missing-plane.html
MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
EZEKIEL 36:4-5
5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire (NUCLEAR BOMBS) of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea,(ARAB-MUSLIMS) which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury,(OF MY ANGER) because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are (Round) about you,(ARAB-MUSLIMS) they shall bear their shame.(AND BE NUKED)
EZEKIEL 35:9-11
9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy (ARABS) cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
10 Because thou (ARABS) hast said, These two nations (ISRAEL & JUDAH) and these two countries (ISRAEL & JUDAH) shall be mine, and we (ARABS) will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy (GELIOUSY) which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them;(ISRAELIS) and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.(ARABS)
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-7
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
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
UPDATE JULY 23,14-9:00AM
THE REBELS IN UKRAINE HAS JUST SHOT DOWN 2 MORE MILTARY JETS.
Leaked paper: EU options on 'stage three' Russia sanctions-22.07.14 @ 20:42-euobserver-By Valentina Pop and Andrew Rettman
BRUSSELS - Even before the MH17 disaster, EU countries were discussing a potential ban on Russian oil and gas imports if worst comes to worst.A text, drafted by the European Commission in late April, outlines what the EU is calling its “stage three” sanctions.It is entitled: “Assessment of the potential impact of restrictive measures towards Russia on the economy of the EU and its member states”.A two-page segment of the paper, seen by EUobserver, describes three options.
Low-intensity
The first, a “low-intensity” scenario, contains seven steps.They include: “restrictions” on imports of Russian “luxury goods (diamonds, precious metals, furs, vodka and caviar) and of food products”; restrictions on “selected … intermediate and processed goods (fertilisers, chemicals, tyres, vessels” but not “steel or nuclear components”; restrictions on “imports and exports of arms”; and restrictions to “export financing” for the listed industries.They also include: blacklisting more Russian individuals and some companies; suspending EU grants for Russia projects; and stopping loans from the European Investment Bank.The latter three measures were agreed by EU countries last week before the MH17 crash, in what some diplomats at the time called “stage 2.9 sanctions”.The additional names on the blacklist are to be published by the end of the month.
Medium-intensity
The “medium-intensity” scenario designates eight more steps.They are: a ban on imports of all intermediate and processed goods; a ban on imports/exports of “all sensitive technologies and dual use and arms”; blacklisting still more Russian individuals; “restrictions” on “trade and investment and related financial services”; restrictions on “free movement of capital”; restrictions on “maritime and road transport (not air transport)”; “holding up Russian investment/acquisition in the energy sector”; an “import ban on coal (no ban on electricity)”; and “cancellation of all co-operation activities”.While France’s plan to deliver a “Mistral” warship to Russia in October has attracted attention, the ban on “dual use” items could hurt more.According to Igor Sutyagin, a Russia specialist at the Rusi think tank in London, France makes gun sights for Russia’s leading tank, the T90, while European firms Thales and Eads make components for Russian spy satellites. According to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, a British consulting firm, France also sells avionics for Russian MiG jets and “electro-optic infrared” technology, used in surveillance and targetting, for Russian tanks and helicopters.Also before MH17, the EU already hit Russian energy sector investments by forcing Bulgaria to halt construction of the South Stream gas pipeline.Following MH17, the EU on Tuesday (22 July) threatened to impose sanctions on “capital markets, defence, dual use goods and sensitive technology including in the energy sector” unless Russia stops destabilising Ukraine and lets international air crash investigators do their work.
High-intensity
The commission’s “high-intensity” option contains five steps.It calls for: “capital market restrictions”; “prohibition of new investment in Russia”; “strict application of EU regulatory rules to Russian assets in EU companies”; an “import ban on gas”; and “an import ban on oil”.Putting the oil and gas ban in perspective, according to US figures the EU buys 84 percent of Russian oil exports and 76 percent of its gas exports.A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates an EU ban would make a $300 billion hole in Russia’s $420 billion annual budget.With large EU countries, including Germany, Italy, and Poland, dependent on Russian gas for at least one third of their needs, it would also shock the European economy.The commission paper says EU officials carried out macro-economic impact assessments for each member state. The results were sent in a “country fiche” to each capital.Much is likely to have changed since the text was drafted in April.The paper notes that the sanctions proposals are being “tested” vis-a-vis member states’ feedback, so that the options text is, at any given time, a “work in progress”.There is also likely to be devil in the detail.When the US imposed economic sanctions on Russia last week, it put a trade ban and asset freeze on eight Russian arms firms.But it imposed a ban-lite on four Russian energy firms and banks, which prohibits only the issuing of long-term debt (90-day or longer bonds) to the companies concerned.An EU official told this website some Russia arms ban options target only new export licences, allowing France to deliver its Mistral.One sign the EU is getting serious came at last week’s summit, however.From bark to bite? In an aside, commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso told press his energy department is doing “stress-tests” on how EU states could cope without Russian gas, with results due in October.A US source who helped prepare the American sanctions told EUobserver that Washington is planning to go further."These [the US sanctions so far] seem more designed to quiet critics than inflict real damage. Even so, we're firmly on the pressure track and will see further escalation. August looms and Russia will be about the business of establishing facts on the ground [in Ukraine] before we take another whack", the contact said.Western bans on Russian financial and energy sectors, if imposed, would put Russia somewhere between North Korea and Iran in terms of pariah status.Russian leader Vladimir Putin is wooing non-aligned states to hedge his bets.But with dozens of MH17 victims coming from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, Asia might be less willing to roll out the red carpet.For its part, the Ukrainian embassy to the EU, in a letter sent to the EU foreign service on Monday and seen by this website, added ideas on how to increase the political pain.It said Italy should uninvite Putin to a summit of Asian and European countries in Milan in October.It said the EU should encourage Australia, which also lost people in the air crash, to uninvite him to a G20 summit in November.It noted that the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” - the Russia-controlled breakaway entities in east Ukraine - should be listed by the EU as “terrorist organisations”.It also recommended an EU “reconsideration of Russia’s right to hold the next Fifa world cup in 2018”.
EU leaders may meet again before 1 August-Today @ 10:44-july 22,14-By EUOBSERVER
Irish foreign minister Charles Flanagan on Tuesday suggested EU leaders might meet again in the coming days to decide on stage 3 - economic sanctions - on Russia. "I don't rule out this will be revisited in another forum [EU summit] before the holidays and 1 August," he said.
Further EU summit on Russia not excluded-Today @ 15:22-july 22,14-By EUOBSERVER
EU foreign ministers will ask the EU commission to draft defence sanctions on Russia following the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine, Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz said on his way out of the meeting. A further EU summit on adopting the wider sanctions is not excluded.
EU threatens Russian economy after MH17 disaster-22.07.14 @ 17:47-euobserver-By Valentina Pop
BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers on Tuesday (22 July) gave Russia a few days to stop arming Ukrainian rebels, believed responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, or face sanctions on its financial, high-tech, and defence industries.They also decided to add more names and companies to an existing blacklist by the end of July.The EU demands say Russia must: stop the flow of weapons to eastern Ukraine; withdraw its "additional troops" from the Ukrainian border; use its influence on pro-Russian separatists to grant international investigators full access to the crash site of flight MH17; and fully co-operate with the probe.According to the ministers’ conclusions, the EU "remains ready to introduce without delay a package of further significant restrictive measures, if full and and immediate co-operation on the above mentioned demands fails to materialise.""To this end, the foreign affairs council requests the EU commission and the European External Action Service to finalise the preparatory work on possible targeted measures and to present proposals for taking action including access to capital markets, defence, dual use goods and sensitive technology including in the energy sector”.The proposals are to be tabled at a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday.Speaking on his way out of Tuesday’s meeting, Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans said that "this [the new EU threat] is a logical consequence ... of the lack of progress that we have seen on the Russian side" since a previous ultimatum ran out at the end of June.The Netherlands has been hit the hardest by the crash, as 193 out of the 298 victims of flight MH17 were Dutch citizens. Timmermans said he was happy for the solidarity expressed by his colleagues and that the "decision was reached unanimously".
Diplomatic service paper
The EU diplomatic service (EEAS) is not starting from scratch on the stage three sanctions.In a confidential paper dating back to April, and seen by EUobserver, the EEAS outlined three scenarios: “low-intensity … medium-intensity [and] … high-intensity”.Under the third option, the paper lists "capital market restrictions", "restriction or prohibition of new investment in Russia", "strict application of EU regulatory rules to Russian assets in EU companies" and import bans on oil and gas.Member states provided their own assessment individually on what impact these scenarios would have on their economies.Financial services sanctions affects countries like Britain and Austria, a ban on weapons exports hits France (Paris is selling Russia €1.2 billion of warships), while gas is sensitive for eastern EU countries and for Germany.Speaking at an event with the Ukrainian foreign minister on Tuesday, Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake said "the question is do we continue to allow economic interests and a contract to deliver warships to go before anything else or take a strong stance for our values?"German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said a first round of economic sanctions could be adopted very quickly, "even this week" and without EU leaders requiring to meet again.His Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz, however, said it is not excluded that leaders will have to meet again, while the Irish foreign minister said it could happen before 1 August.
MORE MH17 STORIES
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-6.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-5.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-4.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-3.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-day-2.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/07/another-boeing-777-mh17-goes-down-this.html
MH370 STORIES
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/06/day-95-mh370-777-200er-missing-plane.html
MUSLIM NATIONS (SLAUGHTERED BY NUKES FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL)
EZEKIEL 36:4-5
5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire (NUCLEAR BOMBS) of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea,(ARAB-MUSLIMS) which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury,(OF MY ANGER) because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are (Round) about you,(ARAB-MUSLIMS) they shall bear their shame.(AND BE NUKED)
EZEKIEL 35:9-11
9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy (ARABS) cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
10 Because thou (ARABS) hast said, These two nations (ISRAEL & JUDAH) and these two countries (ISRAEL & JUDAH) shall be mine, and we (ARABS) will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy (GELIOUSY) which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them;(ISRAELIS) and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.(ARABS)
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
EZEKIEL 39:1-7
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
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
UPDATE JULY 23,14-9:00AM
THE REBELS IN UKRAINE HAS JUST SHOT DOWN 2 MORE MILTARY JETS.
Leaked paper: EU options on 'stage three' Russia sanctions-22.07.14 @ 20:42-euobserver-By Valentina Pop and Andrew Rettman
BRUSSELS - Even before the MH17 disaster, EU countries were discussing a potential ban on Russian oil and gas imports if worst comes to worst.A text, drafted by the European Commission in late April, outlines what the EU is calling its “stage three” sanctions.It is entitled: “Assessment of the potential impact of restrictive measures towards Russia on the economy of the EU and its member states”.A two-page segment of the paper, seen by EUobserver, describes three options.
Low-intensity
The first, a “low-intensity” scenario, contains seven steps.They include: “restrictions” on imports of Russian “luxury goods (diamonds, precious metals, furs, vodka and caviar) and of food products”; restrictions on “selected … intermediate and processed goods (fertilisers, chemicals, tyres, vessels” but not “steel or nuclear components”; restrictions on “imports and exports of arms”; and restrictions to “export financing” for the listed industries.They also include: blacklisting more Russian individuals and some companies; suspending EU grants for Russia projects; and stopping loans from the European Investment Bank.The latter three measures were agreed by EU countries last week before the MH17 crash, in what some diplomats at the time called “stage 2.9 sanctions”.The additional names on the blacklist are to be published by the end of the month.
Medium-intensity
The “medium-intensity” scenario designates eight more steps.They are: a ban on imports of all intermediate and processed goods; a ban on imports/exports of “all sensitive technologies and dual use and arms”; blacklisting still more Russian individuals; “restrictions” on “trade and investment and related financial services”; restrictions on “free movement of capital”; restrictions on “maritime and road transport (not air transport)”; “holding up Russian investment/acquisition in the energy sector”; an “import ban on coal (no ban on electricity)”; and “cancellation of all co-operation activities”.While France’s plan to deliver a “Mistral” warship to Russia in October has attracted attention, the ban on “dual use” items could hurt more.According to Igor Sutyagin, a Russia specialist at the Rusi think tank in London, France makes gun sights for Russia’s leading tank, the T90, while European firms Thales and Eads make components for Russian spy satellites. According to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, a British consulting firm, France also sells avionics for Russian MiG jets and “electro-optic infrared” technology, used in surveillance and targetting, for Russian tanks and helicopters.Also before MH17, the EU already hit Russian energy sector investments by forcing Bulgaria to halt construction of the South Stream gas pipeline.Following MH17, the EU on Tuesday (22 July) threatened to impose sanctions on “capital markets, defence, dual use goods and sensitive technology including in the energy sector” unless Russia stops destabilising Ukraine and lets international air crash investigators do their work.
High-intensity
The commission’s “high-intensity” option contains five steps.It calls for: “capital market restrictions”; “prohibition of new investment in Russia”; “strict application of EU regulatory rules to Russian assets in EU companies”; an “import ban on gas”; and “an import ban on oil”.Putting the oil and gas ban in perspective, according to US figures the EU buys 84 percent of Russian oil exports and 76 percent of its gas exports.A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates an EU ban would make a $300 billion hole in Russia’s $420 billion annual budget.With large EU countries, including Germany, Italy, and Poland, dependent on Russian gas for at least one third of their needs, it would also shock the European economy.The commission paper says EU officials carried out macro-economic impact assessments for each member state. The results were sent in a “country fiche” to each capital.Much is likely to have changed since the text was drafted in April.The paper notes that the sanctions proposals are being “tested” vis-a-vis member states’ feedback, so that the options text is, at any given time, a “work in progress”.There is also likely to be devil in the detail.When the US imposed economic sanctions on Russia last week, it put a trade ban and asset freeze on eight Russian arms firms.But it imposed a ban-lite on four Russian energy firms and banks, which prohibits only the issuing of long-term debt (90-day or longer bonds) to the companies concerned.An EU official told this website some Russia arms ban options target only new export licences, allowing France to deliver its Mistral.One sign the EU is getting serious came at last week’s summit, however.From bark to bite? In an aside, commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso told press his energy department is doing “stress-tests” on how EU states could cope without Russian gas, with results due in October.A US source who helped prepare the American sanctions told EUobserver that Washington is planning to go further."These [the US sanctions so far] seem more designed to quiet critics than inflict real damage. Even so, we're firmly on the pressure track and will see further escalation. August looms and Russia will be about the business of establishing facts on the ground [in Ukraine] before we take another whack", the contact said.Western bans on Russian financial and energy sectors, if imposed, would put Russia somewhere between North Korea and Iran in terms of pariah status.Russian leader Vladimir Putin is wooing non-aligned states to hedge his bets.But with dozens of MH17 victims coming from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, Asia might be less willing to roll out the red carpet.For its part, the Ukrainian embassy to the EU, in a letter sent to the EU foreign service on Monday and seen by this website, added ideas on how to increase the political pain.It said Italy should uninvite Putin to a summit of Asian and European countries in Milan in October.It said the EU should encourage Australia, which also lost people in the air crash, to uninvite him to a G20 summit in November.It noted that the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” - the Russia-controlled breakaway entities in east Ukraine - should be listed by the EU as “terrorist organisations”.It also recommended an EU “reconsideration of Russia’s right to hold the next Fifa world cup in 2018”.
EU leaders may meet again before 1 August-Today @ 10:44-july 22,14-By EUOBSERVER
Irish foreign minister Charles Flanagan on Tuesday suggested EU leaders might meet again in the coming days to decide on stage 3 - economic sanctions - on Russia. "I don't rule out this will be revisited in another forum [EU summit] before the holidays and 1 August," he said.
Further EU summit on Russia not excluded-Today @ 15:22-july 22,14-By EUOBSERVER
EU foreign ministers will ask the EU commission to draft defence sanctions on Russia following the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine, Austrian foreign minister Sebastian Kurz said on his way out of the meeting. A further EU summit on adopting the wider sanctions is not excluded.
EU threatens Russian economy after MH17 disaster-22.07.14 @ 17:47-euobserver-By Valentina Pop
BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers on Tuesday (22 July) gave Russia a few days to stop arming Ukrainian rebels, believed responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, or face sanctions on its financial, high-tech, and defence industries.They also decided to add more names and companies to an existing blacklist by the end of July.The EU demands say Russia must: stop the flow of weapons to eastern Ukraine; withdraw its "additional troops" from the Ukrainian border; use its influence on pro-Russian separatists to grant international investigators full access to the crash site of flight MH17; and fully co-operate with the probe.According to the ministers’ conclusions, the EU "remains ready to introduce without delay a package of further significant restrictive measures, if full and and immediate co-operation on the above mentioned demands fails to materialise.""To this end, the foreign affairs council requests the EU commission and the European External Action Service to finalise the preparatory work on possible targeted measures and to present proposals for taking action including access to capital markets, defence, dual use goods and sensitive technology including in the energy sector”.The proposals are to be tabled at a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday.Speaking on his way out of Tuesday’s meeting, Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans said that "this [the new EU threat] is a logical consequence ... of the lack of progress that we have seen on the Russian side" since a previous ultimatum ran out at the end of June.The Netherlands has been hit the hardest by the crash, as 193 out of the 298 victims of flight MH17 were Dutch citizens. Timmermans said he was happy for the solidarity expressed by his colleagues and that the "decision was reached unanimously".
Diplomatic service paper
The EU diplomatic service (EEAS) is not starting from scratch on the stage three sanctions.In a confidential paper dating back to April, and seen by EUobserver, the EEAS outlined three scenarios: “low-intensity … medium-intensity [and] … high-intensity”.Under the third option, the paper lists "capital market restrictions", "restriction or prohibition of new investment in Russia", "strict application of EU regulatory rules to Russian assets in EU companies" and import bans on oil and gas.Member states provided their own assessment individually on what impact these scenarios would have on their economies.Financial services sanctions affects countries like Britain and Austria, a ban on weapons exports hits France (Paris is selling Russia €1.2 billion of warships), while gas is sensitive for eastern EU countries and for Germany.Speaking at an event with the Ukrainian foreign minister on Tuesday, Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake said "the question is do we continue to allow economic interests and a contract to deliver warships to go before anything else or take a strong stance for our values?"German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said a first round of economic sanctions could be adopted very quickly, "even this week" and without EU leaders requiring to meet again.His Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz, however, said it is not excluded that leaders will have to meet again, while the Irish foreign minister said it could happen before 1 August.
