Russia ignores western isolation efforts






With a view obviously to terrorizing Ukraine, NATO on April 10th unveiled photographs that showed Russian deployments of some 40,000 troops, along with tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and aircraft near the Ukrainian border. It said the pictures are latest and were taken between March 22 and April 2, suggesting a possible military strike on Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin secured permission for his parliament last month to send Russian armed forces into Ukraine to protect compatriots there if necessary, prompting Western concerns that Russia could invade the east after annexing the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine last month.

The West has accused Russia of placing 40,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and is worried that Moscow could send forces into the east of the country following its annexation of Crimea last month.

NATO and the United States have accused Russia of stirring separatist unrest in cities in eastern Ukraine where pro-Moscow protesters have taken over public administration buildings and demanded more autonomy from Kiev.

But the Russian military general staff has said that NATO satellite photographs purporting to show Russian forces concentrated near the Ukrainian border were taken in August 2013, RIA Novosti reported: "These photographs that were distributed by NATO depict units of Russian forces of the Southern Military District which conducted various exercises last summer, some of them near the border with Ukraine".

Russia's Southern Military District includes territory bordering southeastern Ukraine. Russia last month announced military exercises in the Southern Military District and areas bordering Ukraine further north, and has dismissed U.S. and European concerns about the troop numbers.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Kremlin does not want to take over more Ukrainian territory, but repeated a call for Kiev to grant more powers to regional authorities. "We cannot have such a desire. It contradicts the core interests of the Russian Federation. We want Ukraine to be whole within its current borders, but whole with full respect for the regions,"

Moscow seized Crimea after Ukraine's pro-Russian president was toppled by protesters seeking closer ties with Europe. Russia has denied any substantial build-up on the Ukrainian border but says it has the right to protect ethnic Russians and Russian speakers who are dominant in regions of eastern Ukraine.

Armed pro-Moscow protesters are still occupying Ukrainian government buildings in two cities in the largely Russian-speaking east after police earlier this week ended a third occupation. Ukraine's new pro-European government says the occupations are being encouraged by Moscow.

The EU and the US have responded to Russia's annexation of Crimea by imposing targeted visa bans and asset freezes against Russian and Ukrainian individuals.

President Vladimir Putin in a letter, sent to European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is the largest consumer of Russian gas in the 28-nation European Union, warned European leaders that Russia would cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine if it did not pay its bills and said this could lead to a reduction of onward deliveries to Europe. In a letter to the leaders of 18 countries, he demanded urgent talks with Europe on pulling Ukraine's economy out of crisis but made clear his patience was running out over Kiev's $2.2 billion gas debt to its former Soviet master.

Putin’s comments were Russia's most explicit threat to cut off gas to its neighbor, a move that could worsen a dispute over Moscow's annexation of Crimea that has resulted in the worst East-West crisis since the end of the Cold War in 1991.

State-controlled gas producer Gazprom stopped pumping gas to Ukraine during price disputes in the winters of 2005-06 and 2008-09, leading to reduced supplies in European countries that receive Russian gas via pipelines that cross Ukraine. Gazprom is compelled to switch over to advance payment for gas deliveries and in the event of further violation of the conditions of payment will completely or partially cease gas deliveries. Undoubtedly, this is an extreme measure and this increases the risk of  Ukraine siphoning off natural gas passing through Ukraine's territory and heading to European consumers.

Kiev failed to meet a deadline to pay for its March gas supplies. Putin discussed how to respond with his government on Wednesday but opted to hold talks with Europe before pressing ahead with any new punitive action.

Putin's warning to Ukraine came as Russia was suspended from the parliamentary assembly of European human rights watchdog the Council of Europe, in protest at Moscow's behaviour toward Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.

The 18 Russian parliamentarians who were suspended will not be able to vote in the 318-head assembly, have representation in its main committees or take part in its election observation missions.

European human rights watchdog body, whose members come from 47 European states, stopped short of withdrawing their rights for good, arguing that would not help efforts to resolve the biggest crisis between the West and Russia since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Council of Europe is known for drawing up the European Convention on Human Rights, which entered into force in 1953 and established the European Court of Human Rights. It presses Europe's governments to uphold human rights and democracy, something many Western leaders warn is under threat due to Russia's recent moves in Ukraine.

Russia meets 30 percent of Europe's natural gas demand and half of its gas transit to the EU goes through Ukraine. Many analysts doubt Europe's readiness to follow through on threats to pursue punitive economic measures given the dependence of some EU countries, particularly those in Eastern Europe, on Russian gas and trade.

Russia has nearly doubled the price it charges Ukraine for gas since the ouster in February of President Viktor Yanukovych, who had pleased Putin by spurning landmark trade and political deals with the EU in favor of closer Russia ties. Ukraine says the price increase is politically motivated.

Addressing the European leaders over gas supplies, Putin called for talks involving economy, finance and energy ministers on "concerted actions to stabilize Ukraine's economy" and ensure Russian gas deliveries. He said Ukraine's economic crisis was partly caused by unbalanced trade with the EU. "It goes without saying that Russia is prepared to participate in the effort to stabilize and restore Ukraine's economy. However, not in a unilateral way, but on equal conditions with our European partners," Putin wrote.

Americans are not keen to fight war with almost equally powerful Russia having got huge piles of nuclear and other weapons. The situation requires urgent solution. EU must lose no time in beginning to coordinate concrete steps.

When Washington had walked extra miles to diffuse the 1962 missile crisis which could have brought a direct war between the cold war foes it was established that  USA-Russia war- perhaps the last war on earth-  is not possible because that  could  destroy the globe..Also, since a war between Russia and Ukraine is not in the interest of either Kiev or Moscow, their most powerful weapon now is a credible dialogue

Meanwhile, the G-7 advanced western economies of the world led by USA has decided to  further harden sanction on Russia. Whole idea of these nation has been to weaken ruble and Kremlin.

 

 



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