The war in Ukraine represents the greatest geopolitical challenge facing the European Union. Moscow attacked Kiev with explicitly imperialist aims, with a view to restoring what it considers its rightful ‘sphere of influence’ in the European neighbourhood, thus implicitly threatening other European countries (including EU members).
The aggression also entails a systemic element. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is promoting an autocratic-state model in the European neighbourhood, in contrast to the democratic polity towards which countries such as Ukraine and Georgia have been striving—the value system on which the EU is founded and which it seeks to project.
This has led the union to rethink radically its relations with Russia. The traditionally co-operative approach is giving way to a sort of containment strategy, which will last for the foreseeable future. Hence the reflection on how to end the energy and technological dependencies that bind Europe to Russia, the offer of substantial support to democracy in countries threatened by its expansionism and the defence of the resilience of our societies from Russian interference through disinformation and cyber assaults.
Most fundamentally, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has pushed the EU to exercise a proactive role at regional and global levels, thus testing its ability to implement the ‘strategic autonomy’ it has been advocating for a long time. And in its immediate reaction to the menace coming from east, the EU has shown a unity and resolve many—perhaps including Putin—did not expect.
Read more at:
Has the war in Ukraine made the EU a geopolitical actor? – Nicoletta Pirozzi
Showing posts with label Invasion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Invasion. Show all posts
5/2/22
Russia - Ukraine invasion: Putin Preparing Russians for War With NATO
Recent threats made by Russian officials about retaliation against countries interfering in Ukraine may serve a dual purpose of warning off Western powers while also building favor among Russian citizens should a full conflict with NATO break out, according to experts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a Wednesday address that any countries who "create a strategic threat to Russia" during its war in Ukraine can expect "retaliatory strikes" that would be "lightning-fast." Days before, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview that "NATO is essentially going to war with Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy."
Various experts who spoke with Newsweek recently said Russian officials have increased the amount of threatening rhetoric as a way of stoking fear in NATO allies. Some experts also feel it's an effort to win over the hearts and minds of the Russian public.
Read more at: Putin Preparing Russians for War With NATO
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a Wednesday address that any countries who "create a strategic threat to Russia" during its war in Ukraine can expect "retaliatory strikes" that would be "lightning-fast." Days before, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview that "NATO is essentially going to war with Russia through a proxy and arming that proxy."
Various experts who spoke with Newsweek recently said Russian officials have increased the amount of threatening rhetoric as a way of stoking fear in NATO allies. Some experts also feel it's an effort to win over the hearts and minds of the Russian public.
Read more at: Putin Preparing Russians for War With NATO
4/11/22
Russia Ukraine invasion: Inside Putin’s cabal of bloodthirsty top brass who bomb hospitals, gas kids, and run down protesters with tanks
As Putin's planned quick invasion of Ukraine appears to turn against him, the Russian army has resorted to more and more vicious measures.
Almost 90% of the southern city of Mariupol has been damaged or destroyed, while numerous atrocities have been reported, including the shelling of a theatre killing 300, or the bombing of a maternity hospital.
But these atrocities should sadly come as little surprise to those who have been following the actions
From the bloody civil war in Syria to the brutal annexation of Crimea, and even killing their own people, Putin's top generals have been accused of waging savagery across the world for decades.
Read more at Inside Putin’s cabal of bloodthirsty top brass who bomb hospitals, gas kids, and run down protesters with tanks
Almost 90% of the southern city of Mariupol has been damaged or destroyed, while numerous atrocities have been reported, including the shelling of a theatre killing 300, or the bombing of a maternity hospital.
But these atrocities should sadly come as little surprise to those who have been following the actions
From the bloody civil war in Syria to the brutal annexation of Crimea, and even killing their own people, Putin's top generals have been accused of waging savagery across the world for decades.
Read more at Inside Putin’s cabal of bloodthirsty top brass who bomb hospitals, gas kids, and run down protesters with tanks
3/19/22
Russian Invasion Ukraine: Russian - Anti War Protest: cosmonauts on International Space Station mission arrive wearing Ukraine yellow and blue
Three Russian cosmonauts on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) emerged from their Soyuz capsule on Friday wearing the colours of the Ukraine flag.
The manned mission to the ISS is the first since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
< The Soyuz spacecraft carrying Commander Oleg Artemyev and fellow cosmonauts flight engineers Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev - the first all-Russian crew in 22 years - docked with the ISS three hours after blasting off from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday evening.
Read more at: Russian cosmonauts on International Space Station mission arrive wearing Ukraine yellow and blue | Euronews
The manned mission to the ISS is the first since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
< The Soyuz spacecraft carrying Commander Oleg Artemyev and fellow cosmonauts flight engineers Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev - the first all-Russian crew in 22 years - docked with the ISS three hours after blasting off from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday evening.
Read more at: Russian cosmonauts on International Space Station mission arrive wearing Ukraine yellow and blue | Euronews
8/19/21
Middle East: Donald Trump: "The US Destroyed the Middle East," Trump Admits in New Interview
Former US President Donald Trump admitted on Tuesday that America destroyed the Middle East by invading Afghanistan almost 20 years ago.
In a clear swipe against former Republican President George W. Bush, Trump told Sean Hannity on his Fox News
Read More at: "The US Destroyed the Middle East," Trump Admits in New Interview
In a clear swipe against former Republican President George W. Bush, Trump told Sean Hannity on his Fox News
Read More at: "The US Destroyed the Middle East," Trump Admits in New Interview
3/1/20
Greece: Migrants invasion - Greece blocks 10,000 migrants at Turkey border
The influx has come since Turkey vowed to open its doors for migrants to travel the EU.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51695468
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51695468
10/9/19
Turkey invades Northern Syria and attacks US abandoned Kurdish allies: Civilians flee N.Syrian border towns attacked by Turkish warplanes, and artillery offensive
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, announcing the start of the action, said the aim was to eliminate what he called a “terror corridor” on Turkey’s southern border, but European countries immediately called on Ankara to halt the operation.
Thousands of people fled the Syrian town of Ras al Ain towards Hasaka province, held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The Turkish air strikes had killed two civilians and wounded two others, the SDF said.
Turkey’s lira slid 0.5%, breakingthrough what traders called a key support level of 5.85 against the dollar to its weakest level since August.
World powers fear the action could open a new chapter in Syria’s eight-year-old war and worsen regional turmoil. Ankara has said it intends to create a “safe zone” in order to return millions of refugees to Syrian soil.
"It is certainly going to be a bloody conflict," Kurdish political analyst Mutlu Civroglu said from Washington, D.C., noting that while the SDF is led by Syrian Kurds, it includes a wide range of ethnic groups. "The Arabs, the Syrian Christians, Yazidis, they are in no way going to accept a Turkish military presence in their region."
EU-Digest
3/18/19
The Netherlands - US Relations: Netherlands, U.S. agree on use of Curacao as possible aid hub for Venezuela
The Netherlands and the United States reached an agreement on Friday to
use facilities on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao for possible
distribution of aid to nearby Venezuela, Curacao’s prime minister said.
Theisland will only be used for civilian operations to deliver aid, such as food and medicines, to Venezuela if the Venezuelan government explicitly allows it, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said last month.
Note Almere Digest: A good idea, as long as the US does not use it as a "stepping stone" for a US "sponsored" military invasion of Venezuela.
Read more: Netherlands, U.S. agree on use of Curacao as possible aid hub for Venezuela | Reuters
Theisland will only be used for civilian operations to deliver aid, such as food and medicines, to Venezuela if the Venezuelan government explicitly allows it, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said last month.
Note Almere Digest: A good idea, as long as the US does not use it as a "stepping stone" for a US "sponsored" military invasion of Venezuela.
Read more: Netherlands, U.S. agree on use of Curacao as possible aid hub for Venezuela | Reuters
2/3/19
Venezuela: Why US sanctions will hurt.
BBC News - Venezuela crisis: Why US sanctions will hurt.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-47104508
1/28/19
VENEZUELA: Will the US target oil exports? by Daniel Galas
Will the US Target Venezuela Oil Exports or in vade Venezuela?
For more go to:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47023002
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47023002
2/4/18
NATO: The U.S. and Turkey: Past the Point of No Return? - by Svantee Cornell
.US.-Turkish relations have deteriorated for some time. But until
recently, no one would have thought that the American and Turkish
militaries, closely allied since the 1950s, could end up confronting
each other directly. Yet in northern Syria today, that is no longer
unthinkable.
In mid-January, to forestall U.S. intentions to build a “Border Security Force” composed mainly of Syrian Kurdish fighters, Turkey launched a military operation in the Kurdish-controlled Afrin enclave in northwestern Syria. On January 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his determination to move beyond Afrin into other parts of northern Syria, mentioning specifically the town of Manbij, where U.S. forces are deployed alongside Kurdish YPG troops. Turkish officials warned the United States to sever its ties to the Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers a terrorist group. This led President Donald Trump to tell Erdoğan to “avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.”
The collision course Ankara and Washington are on is making any notion of a Turkish-American alliance increasingly hollow. If a point of no return is to be avoided, both sides will have to rethink their priorities, and begin to build trust. That process can begin with an honest appraisal of how we got to this point, with America and Turkey on the verge of coming to blows.
In the United States, much of the blame has naturally been laid at the feet of Erdoğan, the headstrong and authoritarian Turkish President. To American eyes, it is easy to see how Erdoğan’s growing intolerance of dissent goes hand in hand with an increasingly adventurist foreign policy that directly challenges American interests. Yet while Erdogan is part of the problem, its full scope goes far beyond a single individual. The real story of the past several years is how the Syrian and Kurdish issues have interacted with Turkish domestic politics to pull Ankara and Washington apart.
Read more: The U.S. and Turkey: Past the Point of No Return? - The American Interest
In mid-January, to forestall U.S. intentions to build a “Border Security Force” composed mainly of Syrian Kurdish fighters, Turkey launched a military operation in the Kurdish-controlled Afrin enclave in northwestern Syria. On January 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his determination to move beyond Afrin into other parts of northern Syria, mentioning specifically the town of Manbij, where U.S. forces are deployed alongside Kurdish YPG troops. Turkish officials warned the United States to sever its ties to the Kurdish forces, which Turkey considers a terrorist group. This led President Donald Trump to tell Erdoğan to “avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.”
The collision course Ankara and Washington are on is making any notion of a Turkish-American alliance increasingly hollow. If a point of no return is to be avoided, both sides will have to rethink their priorities, and begin to build trust. That process can begin with an honest appraisal of how we got to this point, with America and Turkey on the verge of coming to blows.
In the United States, much of the blame has naturally been laid at the feet of Erdoğan, the headstrong and authoritarian Turkish President. To American eyes, it is easy to see how Erdoğan’s growing intolerance of dissent goes hand in hand with an increasingly adventurist foreign policy that directly challenges American interests. Yet while Erdogan is part of the problem, its full scope goes far beyond a single individual. The real story of the past several years is how the Syrian and Kurdish issues have interacted with Turkish domestic politics to pull Ankara and Washington apart.
Read more: The U.S. and Turkey: Past the Point of No Return? - The American Interest
1/23/18
Syria - Turkish Invasion: Turkey and Russia run rings around Trump - by Jennifer Rubin
While the United States has been absorbed with a government shutdown
and a debate about President Trump’s mental stability, Turkey — a NATO
partner — has invaded Syria and is attacking our Kurdish allies, who
have assisted greatly in the war against the Islamic State.
The Associated Press reports: Turkey’s air and ground offensive against Kurds in northwestern Syria has distracted from international efforts to finish off the Islamic State group and has disrupted humanitarian relief work, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday.
Mattis raised the matter in an exchange with reporters after unrelated meetings in the Indonesia capital with senior government officials. He made clear that while the U.S. sympathizes with Turkey’s concerns about border security, Washington wants the Turks to minimize their military action inside Syria.
Read more: Turkey and Russia run rings around Trump - The Washington Post
The Associated Press reports: Turkey’s air and ground offensive against Kurds in northwestern Syria has distracted from international efforts to finish off the Islamic State group and has disrupted humanitarian relief work, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday.
Mattis raised the matter in an exchange with reporters after unrelated meetings in the Indonesia capital with senior government officials. He made clear that while the U.S. sympathizes with Turkey’s concerns about border security, Washington wants the Turks to minimize their military action inside Syria.
Read more: Turkey and Russia run rings around Trump - The Washington Post
1/21/18
Turkey invades Syria to stop formation of a PKK supported Kurdish state on their borders - with ground forces entering Syria′s Kurdish-held Afrin district
At a news conference in Istanbul, he said Turkey's military aimed to create a security zone some 30 kilometers (18 miles) inside the war-ravaged country.
The state-run Anadolu news agency also reported the arrival of Turkish forces in the enclave as part of an operation codenamed Olive Branch, adding that airstrikes and artillery shelling that targeted the area, which began on Saturday, were continuing.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the offensive would be completed in "a very short time."
Read more: Turkey′s ground forces enter Syria′s Kurdish-held Afrin: State media | News | DW | 21.01.2018
7/8/16
Iraq Invasion: Why Did No One Raise An Eyebrow? - by Denis MacShane
The whole world agrees that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, in the words of Napoleon’s secret police chief, Fouchet, was worse than a crime – it was a mistake.
The oddest consequence was that, having seen the failure of Iraq, the British state went and made exactly the same blunder in Libya.
In the latter case, the UK government followed France’s lead. Nicolas Sarkozy is not George W. Bush, more a Napoleon III than the original.
Either way, twice in less than a decade, a British prime minister tucked in behind a dubious ally and joined in the destruction of a Middle East state, with disastrous consequences.
Both Iraq and Libya were led by evil dictators, but when you destroy a state, the gates to hell are opened.
You reap the fruits of what you have sown: No economy, no law, no army, no police, no judges, no frontiers, no local administration.
Plus, a war of all against all ensues, as every citizen either grabs the first Kalashnikov for self-defense or simply seeks to get out in the tsunami of refugees from or through the destroyed state.
But why didn’t a single FCO insider, other than a junior lawyer who to her eternal honor resigned in protest, raise any questions?
Unlike Suez in 1956 — when senior Foreign Office hands wore black ties in protest at Eden’s folly — there was no sense even in the months after the invasion that it was a disaster.
Every political generation wants to not repeat the errors of the team they succeed in office.
In the 1990s, the main foreign policy charge against the John Major government was that it was weak and failed to stand up to the human rights abuses associated with Milosevic in Sarajevo, Srebrenica and Kosovo.
In addition, British diplomats at the UN were accused of failing to stop a genocide in Rwanda or the mass murders in Somalia and Sudan.
The concept of the “Right to Intervene” or the “Responsibility to Protect” or the need for an International Criminal Court to deal with the Milosevics and Saddams of the world was developed by intellectuals like Michael Ignatieff or Bernard-Henri Levy.
Their ideas were promoted by human rights political activists like Bernard Kouchner and human rights lawyers like Geoffrey Robertson and Philippe Sands in London.
Read more: Iraq Invasion: Why Did No One Raise An Eyebrow? - The Globalis
The oddest consequence was that, having seen the failure of Iraq, the British state went and made exactly the same blunder in Libya.
In the latter case, the UK government followed France’s lead. Nicolas Sarkozy is not George W. Bush, more a Napoleon III than the original.
Either way, twice in less than a decade, a British prime minister tucked in behind a dubious ally and joined in the destruction of a Middle East state, with disastrous consequences.
Both Iraq and Libya were led by evil dictators, but when you destroy a state, the gates to hell are opened.
You reap the fruits of what you have sown: No economy, no law, no army, no police, no judges, no frontiers, no local administration.
Plus, a war of all against all ensues, as every citizen either grabs the first Kalashnikov for self-defense or simply seeks to get out in the tsunami of refugees from or through the destroyed state.
But why didn’t a single FCO insider, other than a junior lawyer who to her eternal honor resigned in protest, raise any questions?
Unlike Suez in 1956 — when senior Foreign Office hands wore black ties in protest at Eden’s folly — there was no sense even in the months after the invasion that it was a disaster.
Every political generation wants to not repeat the errors of the team they succeed in office.
In the 1990s, the main foreign policy charge against the John Major government was that it was weak and failed to stand up to the human rights abuses associated with Milosevic in Sarajevo, Srebrenica and Kosovo.
In addition, British diplomats at the UN were accused of failing to stop a genocide in Rwanda or the mass murders in Somalia and Sudan.
The concept of the “Right to Intervene” or the “Responsibility to Protect” or the need for an International Criminal Court to deal with the Milosevics and Saddams of the world was developed by intellectuals like Michael Ignatieff or Bernard-Henri Levy.
Their ideas were promoted by human rights political activists like Bernard Kouchner and human rights lawyers like Geoffrey Robertson and Philippe Sands in London.
Read more: Iraq Invasion: Why Did No One Raise An Eyebrow? - The Globalis
3/26/15
Middle East - Yemen: Saudi and Arab allies bomb Houthi positions in Yemen
Saudi Arabia and a coalition of regional allies have launched a
military operation in Yemen against the Houthi rebels, who deposed the
US-backed Yemeni president last month.
Adel al-Jubair, Saudi ambassador to the US, said on Wednesday that a coalition consisting of 10 countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), had begun airstrikes at 7pm Eastern time.
"The operation is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Houthi movement from taking over the country," Jubair told reporters in Washington.
The Houthi-run health ministry in Sanaa said that at least 18 civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded in the Saudi-led airstrikes on the capital.
Huge explosions were heard in Sanaa as strikes hit an airbase at Sanaa airport and other locations in the capital, an AFP correspondent reported.
Strikes were also reported on targets in the Malaheez and Hafr Sufyan regions of Saada province, a main Houthi stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia.
Read more: Saudi and Arab allies bomb Houthi positions in Yemen - Al Jazeera English
Adel al-Jubair, Saudi ambassador to the US, said on Wednesday that a coalition consisting of 10 countries, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), had begun airstrikes at 7pm Eastern time.
"The operation is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Houthi movement from taking over the country," Jubair told reporters in Washington.
The Houthi-run health ministry in Sanaa said that at least 18 civilians were killed and 24 others were wounded in the Saudi-led airstrikes on the capital.
Huge explosions were heard in Sanaa as strikes hit an airbase at Sanaa airport and other locations in the capital, an AFP correspondent reported.
Strikes were also reported on targets in the Malaheez and Hafr Sufyan regions of Saada province, a main Houthi stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia.
Read more: Saudi and Arab allies bomb Houthi positions in Yemen - Al Jazeera English
2/23/15
Middle East - Turkish military enters Syria to evacuate soldiers, relocate tomb
Turkey launched an overnight military operation into neighbouring
Syria to evacuate troops guarding an Ottoman tomb and to move the crypt
to a new location, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Sunday.
Davutoglu said nearly 600 troops and 100 tanks and armored personnel carriers were involved in the operation. One group crossed into Syrian territory to reach the tomb, just over the border near the town of Kobane, while a second group took control of an area near the Turkish border where authorities plan to move the tomb.
Read Middle East - Turkish military enters Syria to evacuate soldiers, relocate tomb - France 24
Davutoglu said nearly 600 troops and 100 tanks and armored personnel carriers were involved in the operation. One group crossed into Syrian territory to reach the tomb, just over the border near the town of Kobane, while a second group took control of an area near the Turkish border where authorities plan to move the tomb.
Read Middle East - Turkish military enters Syria to evacuate soldiers, relocate tomb - France 24
7/17/14
Israel says ground offensive under way in Gaza
Israel
announced the start of a Gaza ground campaign on Thursday after 10 days
of aerial and naval bombardments failed to stop persistent Palestinian
rocket attacks, but it signalled the invasion would be limited in scope.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had given orders to destroy tunnels that militants had dug to infiltrate Israel and carry out attacks.
An Israeli military spokesman said Israel was not out to try to topple the dominant Hamas Islamist group. Such a goal would likely entail a move into densely populated Gaza City, where urban warfare could prove costly to both sides.
Israel last mounted a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip during a three-week war in late 2008 and early 2009 that claimed 1,400 Palestinian and 13 Israeli lives.
No time frame was announced for the new operation, and the length and intensity of Israel's assaults could depend on the scale of civilian deaths - casualties likely to boost international pressure for a ceasefire.
Read more: Israel says ground offensive under way in Gaza | Reuters
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had given orders to destroy tunnels that militants had dug to infiltrate Israel and carry out attacks.
An Israeli military spokesman said Israel was not out to try to topple the dominant Hamas Islamist group. Such a goal would likely entail a move into densely populated Gaza City, where urban warfare could prove costly to both sides.
Israel last mounted a large-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip during a three-week war in late 2008 and early 2009 that claimed 1,400 Palestinian and 13 Israeli lives.
No time frame was announced for the new operation, and the length and intensity of Israel's assaults could depend on the scale of civilian deaths - casualties likely to boost international pressure for a ceasefire.
Read more: Israel says ground offensive under way in Gaza | Reuters
3/3/14
EU-Ukraine: EU tells Russia to withdraw but Europe's approach at odds with the United States.
 |
| Ukraine: EU Wants Diplomatic Sollution |
At talks on the Ukraine crisis in Brussels, they agreed no deadlines or details about any punitive measures that could be put in place against Russia, but leaders of the bloc's 28 nations will hold an emergency summit on Thursday and could take further decisions.
The EU discussions were convened abruptly after Russian President Vladimir Putin seized the Crimean peninsula and said he had the right to invade Ukraine.
"We need to see a return to barracks by those troops that have currently moved (from) where they have been staying," the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters after the foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.
"There are serious concerns about overflights, about reports of troops and armed personnel moving."
In Monday's talks, EU governments sought to strike a balance between pressuring Moscow and finding a way to calm the situation.
"We want the situation to de-escalate to the position the troops had before this began," Ashton said.
Europe's approach leaves it at slight odds with the United States, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry threatened visa bans, asset freezes and trade restrictions against Russia, which he accused of 19th century behavior in Ukraine.
Germany, France and Britain, the EU's most-powerful nations, were advocating mediation, possibly via the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), while not ruling out economic measures if Moscow does not cooperate.
"Crisis diplomacy is not a weakness but it will be more important than ever to not fall into the abyss of military escalation," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters as he arrived in Brussels.
EU-Digest
2/28/14
Ukraine: With Military Moves Seen in Ukraine, Obama Warns Russia - by D. M. Herzenhorn, M. Lander and A. Smale
Ukraine’s
fragile new government accused Russia of trying to provoke a military
conflict by invading the Crimea region on Friday, while in Washington
President Obama issued a stern warning to the Kremlin about respecting
Ukraine’s sovereignty, in an effort to preclude a full-scale military
escalation.
Read more: With Military Moves Seen in Ukraine, Obama Warns Russia - NYTimes.com
American
officials did not directly confirm a series of public statements by
senior Ukrainian officials, including the acting president, Oleksandr V.
Turchynov, that Russian troops were being deployed to Crimea, where
Russia has a major naval base, in violation of the two countries’
agreements there.
Mr.
Obama, however, cited “reports of military movements taken by the
Russian Federation inside of Ukraine,” and he said, “Any violation of
Ukrainian sovereignty would be deeply destabilizing.”
“There will be costs,” Mr. Obama said in a hastily arranged statement from the White House.
The pointed warning came after a day in which military analysts struggled to understand a series of unusual events in Crimea, including a mobilization of armored personnel carriers with Russian markings on the roads of the region’s capital, Simferopol, and a deployment of well-armed masked gunmen at Crimea’s two main airports.
Note EU-Digest: This situation should be a clear indication to all the member states of the European Union that they should be making haste in coming to an agreement on a European Energy Pact in order to strengthen the arsenal of potential economic sanctions they could muster against Russia in case they are needed.
The pointed warning came after a day in which military analysts struggled to understand a series of unusual events in Crimea, including a mobilization of armored personnel carriers with Russian markings on the roads of the region’s capital, Simferopol, and a deployment of well-armed masked gunmen at Crimea’s two main airports.
Note EU-Digest: This situation should be a clear indication to all the member states of the European Union that they should be making haste in coming to an agreement on a European Energy Pact in order to strengthen the arsenal of potential economic sanctions they could muster against Russia in case they are needed.
Read more: With Military Moves Seen in Ukraine, Obama Warns Russia - NYTimes.com
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