The crisis in Ukraine becomes more dangerous by the day. It is not clear whether Russia will bite off another large chunk of the country, as it did when Joe Biden was vice president in 2014. But two things are clear. The first is that Vladimir Putin’s Russia continues its aggressive offense, forcing other countries to step back or respond. The second is that the Russian president sees his U.S. counterpart as weak and current U.S. foreign policy as scattered and unprincipled.
Much of Eastern Europe is already under tremendous stress. Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine and is backed by Russia, is pushing thousands of Asian migrants to the Polish border. Poland and three NATO countries, including the U.K., have sent military engineers and troops to fortify the border. Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline will give Russia even more power to turn off the heat in Western Europe, as climate idealists in Berlin and Paris shut down their own nations’ nuclear and coal plants. Russia’s air force and navy routinely stray over international boundaries—and not by accident.
Putin’s rise to power came as Russia’s economy was in turmoil, as NATO had expanded to Russia’s borders (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), and as Russia’s global influence was on the wane. As Putin and his cronies began to rebuild the nation as an oligarchy, they felt routinely disrespected by the West. A notable example of this is that Putin believes President Barack Obama lied to him when choosing to topple Libya’s dictator.
Read more at:
Who will blink first? | WORLD
Showing posts with label Ukrain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ukrain. Show all posts
12/15/16
The Netherlands - Ukraine: E.U. Reaches Compromise With the Netherlands on Closer Ukraine Ties
 |
| Referendum:PM Rutte reaches nebulous EU compromise |
Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands said on Thursday that he now had the necessary guarantees to start pushing the agreement through his country’s Parliament and to overcome the objections of Dutch voters, who voted against the agreement in a referendum in April.
The Netherlands has been the lone holdout in ratifying the agreement within the European bloc’s 28 member nations.
“I am going to fight to get a majority” in Parliament, Mr. Rutte said. “We will have to see. It won’t be easy. We’ll have to work hard for it.”
If it is approved, the deal would allow the European Union to show a unified front against Russia, and to boost trade and cooperation with Ukraine, which has found it difficult to remain out of Moscow’s sphere of influence.
“The E.U. can now keep a united front against the destabilizing policies of Russia,” Mr. Rutte said.
The agreement between Ukraine and the European Union had looked like a done deal until earlier this year, when the Dutch government was forced into a nonbinding, or advisory, referendum. The rejection by voters had left the bloc in a conundrum because the agreement needed unanimous approval from member countries.
Under the compromise, Mr. Rutte obtained assurances the agreement was not a step toward European Union membership for Ukraine, and that it could not be used as one in the future. The deal does not provide a collective-security guarantee or extra money for Ukraine, and it also requires the Ukrainian government to do more to counter corruption.
The Dutch prime minister said enacting the deal was essential for national and geopolitical reasons, and pointed to Russia’s involvement in the Ukrainian conflict and its annexation of Crimea.
The Netherlands will hold national elections on March 15, and the move to sidestep the advisory referendum results with an updated agreement might not play well with an electorate that has been increasingly prone to snubbing the political elite.
In a post on Twitter, Geert Wilders, a lawmaker known for his opposition to Islam, immigration and the European Union, posted a photo of Mr. Rutte with the Dutch words for “Resign and go.”
Mr. Rutte also realized the challenge ahead.
“This is not an election-winning point,” he said. “It is not a vote winner. But my job is ultimately to make decisions in the interest of the Netherlands and our security.”
Note EU-Digest: Details of the compromise were not announced and the statement by PM Rutte of the Netherlands on this so-called compromise are still nebulous .
Read more: E.U. Reaches Compromise With the Netherlands on Closer Ukraine Ties - The New York Times
3/7/14
Armenia says it will continue relations with Ukraine ‘regardless of Ukrainians’ choice’
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh
Kocharyan declared at the weekend, commenting on Yerevan’s position on
the internal political events in Ukraine that, as it appears now, have
brought the eastern European nation to the brink of war with Russia that continued cooperation and relations in all spheres with Kiev meet the
interests of the Republic of Armenia,
.
“We deem that regardless of the choice of Ukraine our relations will be continued,” said Kocharyan in answer to a question by an RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent. The Armenian official, in particular, was referring to the preterm general elections that have been appointed in Ukraine after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych and the formation of an interim government consisting of opposition members and representatives of the Maidan – a pro-EU movement that launched street protests in late November in response to the Ukrainian leadership’s decision not to sign an Association Agreement with Brussels.
The situation in Ukraine, which is home to a sizable Armenian community unofficially numbering some 600,000, including both ethnic Armenian citizens of Ukraine and citizens of Armenia working and staying there, has been rapidly evolving over the weekend as separatist sentiments have been on the rise in more pro-Russian eastern parts of the country and especially in the Crimea, the southernmost peninsula that hosts the Russian Black Sea Navy and has a predominantly ethnic Russian population.
Since last Thursday the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has refused to report to Kiev as control over this strategic region fully passed to its pro-Russian leadership. The Russian military, meanwhile, was deployed in the Crimean region as legislators in Moscow also gave President Vladimir Putin wide powers for an armed invasion of Ukraine at any moment to back the country’s ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking population.
Read more: Armenia says will continue relations with Ukraine ‘regardless of Ukrainians’ choice’ - News | ArmeniaNow.com
.
“We deem that regardless of the choice of Ukraine our relations will be continued,” said Kocharyan in answer to a question by an RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent. The Armenian official, in particular, was referring to the preterm general elections that have been appointed in Ukraine after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych and the formation of an interim government consisting of opposition members and representatives of the Maidan – a pro-EU movement that launched street protests in late November in response to the Ukrainian leadership’s decision not to sign an Association Agreement with Brussels.
The situation in Ukraine, which is home to a sizable Armenian community unofficially numbering some 600,000, including both ethnic Armenian citizens of Ukraine and citizens of Armenia working and staying there, has been rapidly evolving over the weekend as separatist sentiments have been on the rise in more pro-Russian eastern parts of the country and especially in the Crimea, the southernmost peninsula that hosts the Russian Black Sea Navy and has a predominantly ethnic Russian population.
Since last Thursday the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has refused to report to Kiev as control over this strategic region fully passed to its pro-Russian leadership. The Russian military, meanwhile, was deployed in the Crimean region as legislators in Moscow also gave President Vladimir Putin wide powers for an armed invasion of Ukraine at any moment to back the country’s ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking population.
Read more: Armenia says will continue relations with Ukraine ‘regardless of Ukrainians’ choice’ - News | ArmeniaNow.com
3/4/14
Russia: Putin on foreign interventions - "West has double standards"
Russian President Vladimir Putin today accused the United States and
other Western nations of a double standard in criticizing his nation's
incursion into Crimea. He said the U.S. acted in Afghanistan, Iraq and
Libya without a U.N. resolution authorizing that action or by "twisting"
U.N. resolutions.
Putin also said Russia is not trying to make Crimea a part of Russia. Only people who live in Crimea can determine their future, he said.
EU-Digest
Putin also said Russia is not trying to make Crimea a part of Russia. Only people who live in Crimea can determine their future, he said.
EU-Digest
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)