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New
OSCE Report on Ukraine Says Ukrainian Forces Obstruct Monitors
Movement
OSCE's
Special Monitoring Mission said on Saturday it was denied access to
an east Ukrainian territory controlled by Ukrainian armed forces.
21
March, 2015
MOSCOW
(Sputnik) — The Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE)'s Special Monitoring Mission said on Saturday it was
denied access to an east Ukrainian territory controlled by Ukrainian
armed forces, according to OSCE's fresh situation report.
The
SMM said it was stopped Saturday at a government-controlled
checkpoint on the northwestern edge of Luhansk.
"After
15 minutes the SMM was told that the battalion commander did not
grant the SMM permission to proceed," the report said, adding
the mission contacted the Ukrainian chief of staff at the
government's Joint Center for Control and Coordination, who agreed to
investigate.
In
two separate instances, Ukrainian troops stopped OSCE monitors at the
entrance to the city of Mariupol and at a checkpoint near the town of
Pervomaiske. They were eventually allowed to proceed, although one
case required interference from the checkpoint commander.
The
mission complained it is "restrained in fulfilling its
monitoring functions by restrictions imposed by third parties and
security considerations."
It
also pointed at a "fluid" security situation in the entire
Donbas region, saying ceasefire does not hold everywhere. The truce
was agreed on in February at a meeting between Ukrainian, Russian and
European leaders in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
Under
the Minsk deal, the OSCE security body has been tasked with
supervising the pullout of heavy weapons from the line of contract in
southeastern Ukraine, as well as with monitoring the situation at
border crossings between Ukraine and Russia.
'There are no madmen in EU' to send peacekeepers to Ukraine – Lavrov
The
EU would not send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine unless the rebels
endorse such a mission, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said,
commenting on Kiev’s request for a foreign ‘police force.’
"I
believe there are no madmen in the EU. [Previously the EU deployed
peacekeepers] only in situations in which, as in the Balkans, all
sides of a conflict agreed to it. The EU would never go to any region
– be it southeastern Ukraine or anywhere else – unless the
conflicting sides agree to such a mission," Lavrov said in an
interview to Rossiya 1 channel's Sergey Brilev on Saturday.
Russia's
foreign minister added that Kiev should talk to the self-proclaimed
Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republic rather than Moscow to secure
their backing for peacekeepers and not ignore them as it is doing at
the moment.
The
S-400 Triumph air defense missile system division of the Russian
Northern Fleet took up combat duty in country's northwest Murmansk
region.
MOSCOW
(Sputnik) — The advanced S-400 Triumph air defense missile system
division of the Russian Northern Fleet took up combat duty in
country's northwest Murmansk region, the Russian Defense Ministry's
press service said on Saturday.
Russian
Northern Fleet air defense forces, equipped with S-300 and S-400 air
defense systems, are tasked with protecting Murmansk region'
strategic facilities such as industrial and energy objects, transport
communications, stationing bases of defense and fleet forces, the
press service said.
The
S-400 Triumph long- to medium-range surface-to-air missile system is
expected to form the cornerstone of Russian air and missile defense
by 2020. It can engage any aerial target, including aircraft,
unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise and ballistic missiles at a
distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) and an altitude of up to
30 kilometers (18.6 miles).
The
bolstering of Russia's Northern Fleet with S-400 systems comes amid
the country's strategy to boost its presence in the Arctic region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December, 2014 that Russia
is not planning to militarize the Arctic, but is taking necessary
measures to ensure a secure defense in the region.
The
Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that Kiev seriously violated the
Minsk agreements by keeping the heavy weaponry on the contact line at
Ukraine’s southeast.
MOSCOW
(Sputnik) — Kiev has once again seriously violated the Minsk
agreements as the claims by Ukrainian authorities that all the heavy
weapons have been withdrawn from the contact line in Donbass are
proving to be incorrect, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday.
"Reuters
agency journalists shot a video showing heavy weaponry of Ukrainian
army by the line of contact at Ukraine's southeast," the
ministry said in a statement.
The
ministry added that according to the Reuters video, the Azov
battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine employed howitzers banned
by the Minsk agreements in Schyrokyne, a village in Donetsk Region,
that should have been among the areas monitored most closely by the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
"The
Russian Foreign Ministry has to emphasize that we are speaking of
another serious violation of Minsk agreements that stipulate the
withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line… The claims of
Ukrainian authorities that all of its heavy weapons have been
withdrawn are once again proving to be bluff," the ministry
added.
The
Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated Moscow's call on Kiev authorities
to stick to fulfilling the Minsk Agreements and stop misleading the
international community.
The
withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line between the Kiev
forces and the independence supporters of Donbas was one of the key
points of the agreement signed between Kiev forces and independence
supporters in February in Minsk.
Along
with the pullout, the deal included establishing a ceasefire,
conducting an all-for-all prisoner exchange and introducing
amendments to Ukrainian constitution.
On
Tuesday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated that Kiev has
withdrawn its heavy artillery from the line of contact in eastern
Ukraine.
The
Donbas militias said they completed the pullout of their heavy
armament on March 1.
Ukrainian
Security Services “agents” have detained, blindfolded and
handcuffed an OSCE monitor in the Kiev-controlled city of Kramatorsk
in eastern Ukraine. Having found out his identity, the three men in
balaclavas released the monitor “with apologies.”
The
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in its daily report confirmed
that as soon as one of its members disembarked the train in
Kramatorsk on Thursday, he was immediately apprehended by men in
civilian clothes wearing sky-masks.
A
recent poll by a Ukrainian research group shows how unhappy the
country is with their politicians. Only eight percent say the country
is going in the right direction, while almost two-thirds assert they
don’t approve of the president’s actions.
The figures should make for worrying viewing for President Petro Poroshenko and his government as Ukraine is currently mired in economic turmoil and political instability. A poll carried out by the Kiev-based Research & Branding Group from March 6-16, shows just how fed-up Ukrainians are with the way their country is being run.
Poroshenko may have been in power for just over nine months, but it would appear his ‘honeymoon’ period has well and truly ended. Just a third of those asked believe he is doing a good job, while almost 60 percent say they aren’t happy with the way the billionaire is running the country. If elections were carried out today, just under 20 percent of Ukrainians would back Poroshenko, while 30 percent would either vote against every candidate or not bother going to the polls.
Several
Ukrainian oligarchs have gone toe-to-toe over the country’s oil
transportation operations company Ukrtransnafta; Dnipropetrovsk
Governor Ihor Kolomoisky broke into the company’s headquarters,
outraged with a change in management.
Ukrainian
oligarchs are fighting over the country’s oil transportation
operations company Ukrtransnafta.
On
Thursday, the company's supervisory board dismissed Oleksandr Lazorko
from his duties as Chairman of the Board of the company.
“The
Supervisory Board elected Yuri Miroshnik to act as a Chairman of the
Board of Ukrtransnafta from March 19, 2015 until August 10, 2015,”
the national oil and gas company Naftogaz stated.
Lazorko,
however, refused to leave his post, protesting the decision, and
barricaded himself in the office. However, shortly afterwards, some
plain-clothed people arrived at the site and escorted Miroshnik into
his office.
Soon
after the incident, Sergei Leshchenko, an MP from the Petro
Poroshenko Bloc posted in his account on Facebook that the governor
of the Dnepropetrovsk region and one of Ukraine’s richest
oligarchs, Ihor Kolomoisky, also arrived at the site accompanied by
armed men to stand up for his protégé Lazorko.
Leshchenko
explained why the oligarch was so quick to rush in: Lazorko had "paid
hundreds of millions of hryvnias to Kolomoisky for storing crude
poured from the pipelines."
After
six hours in the office, around midnight, Kolomoiskiy left. He called
the appointment of the new head of the company a raid, and promised
to clarify the issue with the administration of President Poroshnko.
Upon
leaving the building, Kolomoisky didn’t miss the chance to insult a
Radio Svoboda journalist who had arrived to the headquarters as the
story developed.
On
Friday, Leshchenko initiated a campaign against the rampant oligarch,
demanding his resignation.
"We
demand the provision of an assessment of the actions of the Governor
of the Dnipropetrovsk region and will demand his resignation because
of his behavior and because he insulted the journalist Andrushko. In
a country which lived through Maidan, such statements are
inexpedient. Therefore, we will raise the issue of his resignation,"
said Leshchenko.
The
US Senate Intelligence Committee approved a bill Thursday which
facilitates the sharing of information about cybersecurity threats
between private companies and US government intelligence agencies.
Critics fear it’s “a surveillance bill by another name.”
The
appeal was supported by Mustafa Masi Nayyem, a parliament member from
the same bloc.
“People
who allow such words towards journalists don’t have any right to
talk of their co-partnership with the Revolution of Dignity. This
person has no right to stay in power. We demand a parliamentary
investigation of the incident,” he said.
Experts
think that there is a real war going on between oligarchs in Kiev.
“The
scandals that have broken out signal the start of a large-scale war
between oligarchs. What is more, they are already fighting openly,
and feeling absolute impunity. The prosecutors will hardly get into
it,” Russia’s newspaper Izvestiya quotes Ukrainian political
analyst Alexands Dudchak as saying.
MOSCOW
(Sputnik) – Military exercises with approximately 1,000 Russian
servicemen employing Grad missile systems were held on Sakhalin
Island, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Eastern Military District
said Friday.
The
exercises also included more than 300 pieces of military hardware,
including T-72B3 tanks, Su-24 (Fencer) attack bombers, and Mi-8 (Hip)
helicopters.
Drills
were conducted in the framework of command-staff exercises and held
concurrently with snap combat readiness drills by units of Russia’s
Northern Fleet and Airborne Forces.
The
snap inspection of combat readiness of Russia's Northern Fleet as
well as units of the Western, Southern and Eastern Military Districts
began on March 16 and is expected to last until March 21.
Earlier
in March, the Russian Navy had started battle drills in the Barents
Sea. Military drills had also started in the Black Sea, with Russia's
Black Sea Fleet conducting search for a simulated enemy's submarines
and carrying out minesweeping tasks.
In
December 2014, the Russian Defense Ministry announced its plans to
hold at least 4,000 military drills across the country in 2015.
Zero Hedge,
21 March, 2015
Last week we reported that as part of the latest "check kiting" bailout scheme, Greek pensioners (and now utility companies) are being raided by the Greek government so that it can repay its debts to the IMF, which in turn would go ahead and fund a part of the recently approved $17.5 billion bailout of Ukraine, which then would have the money to pay its debts to Russia... and the IMF. And, as we also noted, "The only question is how long will it take the current puppet government to syphon off enough funds into various illegal ventures and offshore accounts before the IMF has to step back in a la Greece with bailout #2."
Turns out the answer is about a week, because as Reuters reported earlier today, CCC-rated Ukraine is preparing to issue more debt, debt with a Aa+/AAA rating because it will come with the explicit guarantee of the United States of America.
From Reuters:
In other words, after raiding Greek pensions with the IMF's blessing, the Kiev puppet government is now going after the "full faith and credit" of the US... backed by its taxpayers.
In yet other words, the latest Ukraine "bailout" is courtesy of you, dear US taxpaying reader.
Despite
being quick to condemn Russian military manoeuvers, NATO is
conducting wide-scale war games in the Baltic states and creating a
“line of troops” across Eastern Europe. The US denies a double
standard, but records and transcripts suggest otherwise.
Thousands
of US troops and hundreds of tanks have poured into Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania in the past two months as part of an operation dubbed
“Atlantic Resolve.” In February, 140 NATO vehicles and 1400
troops swept through Narva, a mere 300 meters from the Russian
border.
NATO
Launches "Wide-Scale" War Games Near Russian Border,
Creates "Line Of Troops"
Zero
Hedge,
21 March, 2015
Washington looks to be throwing more than the full faith and credit of the US government behind Ukraine. On the heels of news that the US is set to guarantee a Ukrainian international bond issue (while Greek pensioners implicitly subsidize the country’s natural gas exports), NATO is in the midst of conducting large scale military maneuvers along the Russian border in a move Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says encourages “Kiev to pursue a military solution.” Over the course of 10 days, NATO will parade 120 combat vehicles across the region in an effort to prove how quickly the West can confront perceived Russian aggression. Here’s more from Military News:
And the US is particularly proud of the fact that it has created a wall of troops along the Russian border:
Meanwhile, US officials don’t understand why anyone would see this as hypocritical. As RT reports, the US State Department’s press official Jeff Rathe “would disagree” with the notion that the US is conductig precisely the types of exercises for which it has previsously condemned Russia:
In the meantime, Moscow isn’t particularly pleased with Denmark’s eight month old move to join NATO’s missile defense shield, as Russia’s Ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin subtly warned that joining the effort would subject Danish ships to strikes by Russian nuclear missiles and besides, the effort would ultimately be in vain as Moscow has nukes capable of infiltrating the West’s defenses. Here’s more from The Telegraph:
It would certainly appear from the above that geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe are now running at a fever pitch and with Washington prone to adopting an extra defensive position thanks to what appear to be shifting economic alliances among its staunchest allies, we wouldn’t expect the posturing to die down on either side in the foreseeable future.
21 March, 2015
Washington looks to be throwing more than the full faith and credit of the US government behind Ukraine. On the heels of news that the US is set to guarantee a Ukrainian international bond issue (while Greek pensioners implicitly subsidize the country’s natural gas exports), NATO is in the midst of conducting large scale military maneuvers along the Russian border in a move Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says encourages “Kiev to pursue a military solution.” Over the course of 10 days, NATO will parade 120 combat vehicles across the region in an effort to prove how quickly the West can confront perceived Russian aggression. Here’s more from Military News:
The [Russian] ministry warned that it hopes Europe "does see the risk of unconditionally following advice from U.S. generals and will not opt for approaches that will rule out the risk of a slide towards a military confrontation between Russia and NATO."
While the U.S. Army acknowledges the convoy's movement is "a highly visible demonstration of U.S. commitment to its NATO allies," Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the commander of U.S. Army Europe, insists "the focus should be on what is the desired end state, and can we get there using diplomatic and economic pressure and support."So basically, the US is saying the following: “...although we’re intent on showing just how quickly we can deploy our forces in the event an armed confrontation becomes necessary, we hope you’ll see this for what it is which is our best effort demonstrate that we long for a peaceful solution.” We’ll let you judge for yourself how committed the West is to a peaceful resolution (note the US soldier teaching the small child how to fire a high caliber weapon):
And the US is particularly proud of the fact that it has created a wall of troops along the Russian border:
Meanwhile, US officials don’t understand why anyone would see this as hypocritical. As RT reports, the US State Department’s press official Jeff Rathe “would disagree” with the notion that the US is conductig precisely the types of exercises for which it has previsously condemned Russia:
When asked why the US was condemning Russian exercises inside Russia, State Department press official Jeff Rathke told RT no such statement had ever been made
While the US has not criticized every military drill conducted by the Kremlin, last August State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Russia’s aviation exercises are “provocative and only serve to escalate tensions.”
“Wouldn’t US and NATO maneuvers on Russian borders, at a time when the West and Russia are at odds over the crisis in Ukraine, also “raise tensions?” asked AP diplomatic correspondent Matt Lee.
“We would disagree with that,” replied Rathke.Indeed.
In the meantime, Moscow isn’t particularly pleased with Denmark’s eight month old move to join NATO’s missile defense shield, as Russia’s Ambassador to Denmark Mikhail Vanin subtly warned that joining the effort would subject Danish ships to strikes by Russian nuclear missiles and besides, the effort would ultimately be in vain as Moscow has nukes capable of infiltrating the West’s defenses. Here’s more from The Telegraph:
“I don’t think that Danes fully understand the consequence if Denmark joins the American-led missile defence shield. If they do, then Danish warships will be targets for Russian nuclear missiles,” said Mikhail Vanin, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, to the Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
“Denmark would be part of the threat against Russia. It would be less peaceful and relations with Russia will suffer. It is, of course, your own decision - I just want to remind you that your finances and security will suffer. At the same time Russia has missiles that certainly can penetrate the future global missile defence system,” Mr Vanin said.* * *
It would certainly appear from the above that geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe are now running at a fever pitch and with Washington prone to adopting an extra defensive position thanks to what appear to be shifting economic alliances among its staunchest allies, we wouldn’t expect the posturing to die down on either side in the foreseeable future.
US
Taxpayers To Fund Ukraine Bailout With Bond Guarantee
Zero Hedge,
21 March, 2015
Last week we reported that as part of the latest "check kiting" bailout scheme, Greek pensioners (and now utility companies) are being raided by the Greek government so that it can repay its debts to the IMF, which in turn would go ahead and fund a part of the recently approved $17.5 billion bailout of Ukraine, which then would have the money to pay its debts to Russia... and the IMF. And, as we also noted, "The only question is how long will it take the current puppet government to syphon off enough funds into various illegal ventures and offshore accounts before the IMF has to step back in a la Greece with bailout #2."
Turns out the answer is about a week, because as Reuters reported earlier today, CCC-rated Ukraine is preparing to issue more debt, debt with a Aa+/AAA rating because it will come with the explicit guarantee of the United States of America.
From Reuters:
The Republic of Ukraine has sent out a request for proposals (RFP) to banks for a new US government-guaranteed bond, according to three sources.
This is the second time the US government has thrown its financial backing behind a Ukrainian international bond issue.
In May 2014, the US guaranteed a US$1bn Ukrainian bond maturing in 2019 through the US Agency for International development.
That bond was given a credit rating in line with the US sovereign at Aaa by Moody's, AA+ by Standard & Poor's and AAA by Fitch. This is a far cry from Ukraine's credit rating, which stands at Caa3, CCC and CC with the same three agencies.
The RFP comes just over a week after Ukraine agreed a new four-year US$17.5bn bailout facility with the International Monetary Fund.
As part of the IMF agreement several institutions - including the European Union, World Bank and US - have agreed to provide around US$7.5bn between them, according to analyst estimates, to the war torn country.
It is not clear whether the US-backed bond forms part of the US contribution.One other place that also issued bonds with a US guarantee was Egypt. And everyone knows just how the US-inspired coup to put the Muslim Brotherhood in power turned out.
In other words, after raiding Greek pensions with the IMF's blessing, the Kiev puppet government is now going after the "full faith and credit" of the US... backed by its taxpayers.
In yet other words, the latest Ukraine "bailout" is courtesy of you, dear US taxpaying reader.
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