Ukraine: The brink of war March 3, 2014 ■ Cameron and Obama warn Russia to change course or face significant costs ■ Nato says Putin has broken the UN charter and threatens peace in Europe THE US Secretary of State John Kerry will fly to Kiev tomorrow, as Russia faces off against the West over its interests in Ukraine. David Cameron has vowed [...]
Will Britain be called on to defend the Ukraine? March 3, 2014 ACCORDING to a treaty signed in 1994 by the UK, America and Russia, Britain is legally bound to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Budapest Memorandum centred around unrest in Crimea, which was under Russian control until 1954, and formed part of a nuclear disarmament deal that saw Ukraine destroy all of its Soviet-era [...]
Russia’s Ukraine attack is end of Pax Americana March 3, 2014 THIS is the week Western foreign policy was finally exposed as a sham. Russia has started to invade Ukraine, an independent nation supposedly backed by the West, in what could be the most significant geopolitical crisis since 9/11, and what is anybody going to do about it? Nothing. Pax Americana had been on its death [...]
Crimea: Home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet March 3, 2014 PRESIDENT Putin has ordered Russian troops into the Crimea area of Ukraine, citing the need to protect his citizens living there. But Crimea is strategically important to Putin as a military base for the Black Sea Fleet, and concerns have been raised that the President could use troops on the ground to move into Ukraine [...]
UK energy fears rise after Russia warns it may end gas discounts March 3, 2014 CONCERNS about the security of the UK’s energy supply heightened over the weekend, as escalating political troubles in Ukraine cast uncertainty over gas shipments. Ukraine provides a key pipeline for transporting Russian gas into Europe, but a bitter dispute over the country’s ties has led Russia to issue several warnings that Ukraine may lose a [...]
Bottom Line: Kiev is the key to Putin’s power March 3, 2014 IT’S NOT just about the Crimea. Attention has naturally turned to Russia’s immediate strategic interest in Sevastopol. But the assumption that this marks the limit of Vladimir Putin’s ambition is a dangerous miscalculation. Putin’s trademark brand of Russian nationalism makes control of Kiev non-negotiable. Without it he is just another thug. But for deep cultural [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: Weather sways US economics March 2, 2014 AFTER months of sub par economic data that has been blamed at least partially on the brutal winter weather, investors may still struggle to discern the real picture of the economy next week. The closely watched monthly jobs report due on Friday is expected show that employers stepped up hiring a bit in February, but [...]
Crimea checkmate: Putin now has his Ukraine veto March 2, 2014 US SECRETARY of state John Kerry tends to reveal more than he ought to. In response to the Russian takeover of Crimea, he blustered, “you just don’t in the twenty-first century behave in a nineteenth-century fashion by invading another country,” as though the laws of human nature and geopolitics have been recently improved upon. In [...]
Ukrainian minister accuses Russia of “armed invasion”. Here’s what you need to know February 28, 2014 Armed, unidentified men are blockading Sevastopol’s military airport in Crimea, with interior minister Arsen Avakov accusing Russian naval forces of occupying the Russian-majority region. Writing on Facebook, he called the situation an “invasion and occupation”, adding that no conflict has yet taken place. The Russian navy has denied involvement. Ukraine border guards have said more [...]
Russia circles as tensions in Ukraine build February 27, 2014 ESCALATING tensions in Ukraine worsened yesterday, as separatist groups seized control of Crimea’s parliament building and troops gathered near the Ukraine-Russia border. The raid came as new Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk admitted the country was in dire financial straits, saying that loans worth $37bn (£22.17bn) were missing from the treasury. The Ukrainian hyrvnia has fallen [...]