Russian Invasion Of Ukraine (Formerly: Democratic Malaise Draws Ukraine Eastwards)

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White House Statement on Readout of Obama Putin Conversation this Afternoon on Ukraine


by John Galt
March 1, 2014 17:45 ET


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From the WhiteHouse.gov website:

Readout of President Obama’s Call with President Putin

President Obama spoke for 90 minutes this afternoon with President Putin of Russia about the situation in Ukraine. President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law, including Russia’s obligations under the UN Charter, and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine, and which is inconsistent with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the Helsinki Final Act. The United States condemns Russia’s military intervention into Ukrainian territory.

The United States calls on Russia to de-escalate tensions by withdrawing its forces back to bases in Crimea and to refrain from any interference elsewhere in Ukraine. We have consistently said that we recognize Russia’s deep historic and cultural ties to Ukraine and the need to protect the rights of ethnic Russian and minority populations within Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has made clear its commitment to protect the rights of all Ukrainians and to abide by Ukraine’s international commitments, and we will continue to urge them to do so.

President Obama told President Putin that, if Russia has concerns about the treatment of ethnic Russian and minority populations in Ukraine, the appropriate way to address them is peacefully through direct engagement with the government of Ukraine and through the dispatch of international observers under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). As a member of both organizations, Russia would be able to participate. President Obama urged an immediate effort to initiate a dialogue between Russia and the Ukrainian government, with international facilitation, as appropriate. The United States is prepared to participate.

President Obama made clear that Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would negatively impact Russia’s standing in the international community. In the coming hours and days, the United States will urgently consult with allies and partners in the UN Security Council, the North Atlantic Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and with the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum. The United States will suspend upcoming participation in preparatory meetings for the G-8. Going forward, Russia’s continued violation of international law will lead to greater political and economic isolation.

The people of Ukraine have the right to determine their own future. President Obama has directed his Administration to continue working urgently with international partners to provide support for the Ukrainian government, including urgent technical and financial assistance. Going forward, we will continue consulting closely with allies and partners, the Ukrainian government and the International Monetary Fund, to provide the new government with significant assistance to secure financial stability, to support needed reforms, to allow Ukraine to conduct successful elections, and to support Ukraine as it pursues a democratic future.

In other words more empty rhetoric. Obama puts on a much more vibrant and threatening tone against the Tea Party than his old buds of the former Soviet Communist Party.

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Ukraine's Acting President Puts All Armed Forces On Full Combat Alert

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/01/2014 14:50 -0500

• Reuters
• Ukraine

In a stunning 24 hours, it now appears that Russia and the Ukraine are one formal announcement away from a state of war. From moments ago, as reported by Bloomberg:

• UKRAINE ACTING PRESIDENT PUTS ALL FORCES ON FULL COMBAT ALERT

And this, as reported by the NYT, virtually assures the escalation to a hot war, as some provocation, somewhere will certainly take place: "a Ukrainian military official in Crimea said Ukrainian soldiers had been told to “open fire” if they came under attack by Russia troops or others."
From Reuters:

Ukraine put its armed forces on full combat alert on Saturday and warned Russia that any military intervention in the country would lead to war.

After a more than three-hour meeting with security and defence chiefs, Acting President Oleksander Turchinov said there was no justification for what he called Russian aggression against his country.

Standing beside Turchinov, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said he had urged Russia to return its troops to base in the Crimea region during a phone call with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and called for talks.

"Military intervention would be the beginning of war and the end of any relations between Ukraine and Russia," Yatseniuk told reporters.

Finally, this:

• Ukraine protects all Ukrainians, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov says in Kiev briefing.
• Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk: “diverting funds for military”
• Turchynov: untrue that Russians are under threat
• Turchynov: no reason for Putin request
• Turchynov calls for national unity
• Yatsenyuk says to take all measures to ensure peace
• Yatsenyuk: no reason for Russia to intervene in Ukraine

Too late.

[American Patriot]

This would be, what us ancient "Cold Warriors" called "a key indicator" of a prelude to an attack on the United States.

Russia's Upper House To Demand Recall Of Moscow Ambassador To U.S.

March 1, 2014

Russia's upper house of parliament will ask President Vladimir Putin to recall Moscow's ambassador from the United States, the chamber's speaker said on Saturday.

Valentina Matviyenko, the head of the Federation Council, asked the Council's Committee on Foreign Affairs to draw up a proposal setting out the demands to Putin.

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US Sends Warships To Crimea, Hundreds Of NATO Troops Land In Ukraine!

http://www.americasfreedomfighters.c...nd-in-ukraine/

AMERICAS FREEDOM FIGHTERS!

“On Tuesday, the Public Chamber of Russia held a hearing on the situation in Ukraine. The event was attended by well-known Russian, Ukrainian experts, government representatives. Bombshell information caused people’s deputy of Ukraine Oleg Tsarev. According to him, began to disembark in Lviv … NATO soldiers. “In March, planned exercise line” Ukraine-Atlantic alliance. ” Until the spring is still far, but hundreds of Western troops have already started landing in Lviv. They say you should prepare for the exercises. There is information that Ukraine moved to the shores of the U.S. Navy warships. The situation is critical … “
In addition, according to Tsarev Lviv began landing of American soldiers. “In March, must undergo exercises with NATO. Contingent of troops on the documents is limited – must arrive before 1000. They already fly on airplanes. Served all that you need time to prepare for the exercise. ” It is known that in the Black Sea water entered amerikaknskih two warships – missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG-61) and the flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet Mount Whitney. Aboard American ships are more than 600 U.S. “sea lions.” Motion vector of American ships suggests that they go to the Black Sea shores of Ukraine. “All this makes the situation in the country is extremely tense,” – noted Oleg Tsarev.” SOURCE
Part of this information an be verified by DEBKAfile:
“Along with US warnings to Moscow, a high alert was secretly declared Saturday by the US Mediterranean Sixth Fleet. Two US warships which had been deployed in the Black Sea to back up Russian security for the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi – the USS Taylor Frigate and the USS Mount Whitney Blue Ridge-class command ship – have moved over to the western side of the Black Sea opposite Crimea and facing the Russian navy base of Sevastopol.”
As for the reports of NATO putting troops on the ground in Western Ukraine I cannot verify this yet. And this is the only and original source of that information as far as I can tell. So when I know more, you will know more on that as well.



Russians strike Ukraine army post in Crimea. Kiev fears Ukraine army putsch. US warships on standby

http://www.debka.com/article/23720/R...ips-on-standby

As Moscow’s master plan for Ukraine continued to unfold, Russian forces Saturday, March 1, staged their first attack on a Ukraine military installation in Crimea, while completing their takeover of the region and its severance from Ukraine. Interfax reported from a Ukrainian source that 20 soldiers had entered an anti-aircraft missile command post in western Crimea and that negotiations rather than a clash were under way.

Earlier Saturday, Crimea's new pro-Moscow prime minister Serhiy Aksyonov asked President Vladimir Putin for help in “maintaining peace in the region,” saying he was in control of the region’s interior ministry, armed forces, fleet and border guards.

The invitation set the scene for Russian military intervention in Crimea at the request of its government. Moscow said the appeal would not go “unnoticed," while the Russian foreign ministry declared itself “extremely concerned” by developments in Crimea – cynically echoing US President Barack Obama’s expression Friday of “deep concern” about Russian military movements inside Ukraine and his warning of “costs.”

The Crimean premier, appointed Thursday by parliament in Simferopol, later announced that a referendum would be held on March 30 to determine the peninsula’s status. Meanwhile, he said, Russian Black Sea fleet servicemen were guarding important buildings.

In Kiev, interim defense minister Igor Tenyukh, addressing the first new cabinet’s first meeting, accused Russia of an armed invasion of Ukraine and pouring an additional 6,000 troops into the peninsula. Western correspondents reported that Crimea is now cut off from the rest of Ukraine after “unidentified troops” in combat fatigues, armed with automatic rifles, machine guns or RPGs, seized control of Crimea’s sea and air ports and its main road network in the last 24 hours.
Interim Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told the Kiev cabinet that Ukraine forces were on alert, but he would not be ”drawn into a military conflict by Russian provocations in the Crimea region.”

debkafile’s military sources report that this announcement was hollow.

The 160,000-strong Ukrainian army is no match for the Russian army’s operational capabilities and fire power, although it too is equipped with Russian weapons and trained in Russian military tactics.
But above all, it is far from certain that the new authorities in Kiev control the Ukraine army. No one knows where the loyalties of its officers lie, whether with the new pro-European regime or the absconding pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych.

This confronts the troubled country with a fresh peril, a possible army putsch to oust the interim regime set up by the Ukraine opposition in Kiev, and its replacement with a military government for containing continuing Russian expansion beyond the borders of Crimea. The former Independence Square protesters would have no answer to this.

Moscow, while insisting that its military actions were not an invasion but a legal bid to protect its interests, has also moved to offset any financial assistance the West may offer Kiev. Russia's energy giant Gazprom bluntly warned Kiev that it had accumulated a "huge" debt of $1.5 billion for natural gas that needed to be urgently paid if the supply is to continue.

This is the exact amount of the loan guarantees the US and EU propose to offer the stony-broke Kiev authorities.
Along with US warnings to Moscow, a high alert was secretly declared Saturday by the US Mediterranean Sixth Fleet. Two US warships which had been deployed in the Black Sea to back up Russian security for the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi - the USS Taylor Frigate and the USS Mount Whitney Blue Ridge-class command ship - have moved over to the western side of the Black Sea opposite Crimea and facing the Russian navy base of Sevastopol.

The Mount Whitney is outfitted with sophisticated intelligence-gathering systems. Its current location means that ongoing Russian military movements across central, southern and western Russia, around its borders with Ukraine and inside the Crimean peninsula, are being monitored and beamed to the White House and the Pentagon. Obama’s response is anyone’s guess. So far, the only hints thrown out are that Western leaders are planning a boycott of the G8 summit Putin plans to host in Sochi this summer, in protest against Russia’s takeover of Crimea.

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GrahamWPhillips ‏@BritinUkraine 33m
****Urgent****
I've just passed no fewer than 100 troop carriers
and tanks on the move in #Crimea I have photos - will post now. #Ukraine



GrahamWPhillips ‏@BritinUkraine 26m
***Urgent***
1st photo. Passed around 100 Russian troop carriers and tanks.
Please be aware, this is serious now. pic.twitter.com/OTOI0e1Xj1







GrahamWPhillips ‏@BritinUkraine 24m
***Urgent***
My video of #Russian military on move in #Crimea #Ukraine -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4T8k-Goirk …




GrahamWPhillips ‏@BritinUkraine 13m
Have some dashcam footage to put up of #Russian convoy in motion.
Troop carriers full of soldiers, calm, armed, looking ready. #Ukraine



GrahamWPhillips ‏@BritinUkraine 4m
Uploading dashcam footage.
Russian convoy here, stretching for miles, moving steadily at around 40mph.
#Crimea pic.twitter.com/P6IEiM7T27





GrahamWPhillips ‏@BritinUkraine 2m
Now time to leave #Crimea at once if this is not your home.
Those #Crimeans I spoke to today said they felt 'safer' now Russian soldiers here




GrahamWPhillips ‏@BritinUkraine 1m
Chopping dashcam then I need to go.
Journos/media following me, please remember, the Crimeans want these troops here. pic.twitter.com/wWLQGz8ufQ

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Obama Skips National Security Team Meeting on Russia, Ukraine

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/...ne_783659.html

A White House official emailed some reporters to say that President Obama's team met today to discuss the ongoing situation on Ukraine. It appears President Obama did not attend.

"The President's national security team met today to receive an update on the situation in Ukraine and discuss potential policy options. We will provide further updates later this afternoon," reads the full statement.

Full statement from WH official pic.twitter.com/xx13P8TsYd

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 1, 2014

According to Time magazine's Zeke Miller, Obama skipped the meeting. "Obama did not attend the meeting, but WH official says he has been briefed by Susan Rice and his national security team," says Miller.

Obama did not attend the meeting, but WH official says he has been briefed by Susan Rice and his national security team.

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 1, 2014

[American Patriot]

If there is a shooting incident, this will escalate rapidly.

You guys got your beans, bullets and bandages in place?????

Godspeed all.

[Ryan Ruck]

Mostly but I am waiting on shipments of Israeli bandages and Quikclot, as well as some more 7 day candles and a couple rolls of oil lantern/lamp wick I've ordered. Would be nice to have those things...

[Ryan Ruck]

Also, can someone PLEASE explain to me why the news captions (I'm looking at you FNC) are still saying, "Gunmen surround Ukrainian military base?"

Gunmen?!?! These are damn Russian soldiers/marines/special forces! Jesus! This is an invasion of one sovereign nation by another sovereign nation and they're sitting there calling them "gunmen" like it's a bank robbery.

[American Patriot]

I wish I knew Ryan.

I picked up a Baofeng UV-5R V2+ (Not sure how different from the ones you all got). I bought it for my wife so she has a radio next to her in addition to the cell phone in case the SHTF. She can call for help if she needs it, especially in her current condition.

I'm probably going to pick up some GMRS rigs and get them installed with my kids, since none of them will get a ham license.

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Putin Has Occupied Crimea, Is Ukraine & World War III Next?

March 2, 2014 - Featured, Main, War - Tagged: crimea, dave hodges, nato, obama, putin, the common sense show, ukraine, world war III - 17 comments

Dave Hodges
March 2, 2014
The Common Sense Show\





Obama is famous for drawing imaginary red lines in the sand and then not acting. He warned Russia about their involvement in the Syrian conflict in which hundreds of thousands have died. He warned Russia against assisting Iran with its nuclear program. Putin has ignored Obama at every turn and holds him in absolute contempt. The unfolding war in Ukraine is just another case in point. Obama does not have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to Putin. Or, is Obama playing for a much higher authority and Putin is supposed to win? I will address the “theatrical aspect” of what could be playing out behind the scenes in the Rothschild/Rockefeller bankster empire in a later article. This article is focusing on connecting the dots of the key events as they are occurring in near real time as it relates to a military standoff in Ukraine.

Putin Receives Approval to Invade Ukraine

On March 1, 2014 at 420pm (EST) Reuters reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted upon and has won the approval of the Russian parliament to invade the Ukraine. Conversely, the new Ukrainian government is warning of war and has subsequently put its troops on high alert and has appealed to NATO for military assistance.

Ukranian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya has met with European and US officials and sent a request to NATO to “examine all possibilities to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine”. Obama is already on the record stating that the US would defend the Ukraine.

Reuters is further reporting that troops wearing uniforms with no identifying insignias, but have been identified as Russian troops, riding in vehicles with Russian license plates, have captured and occupied Crimea.

As I reported on Friday, Crimea is an isolated peninsula in the Black Sea which contains the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The maintenance of the Black Sea Fleet is vital to the defense of Russia’s Southwestern underbelly.

Further, any hope that Russia maintains of defending Syria and Iran from an American invasion rests upon the preservation of the Black Sea Fleet Headquarters in the city of Sevastopol. Kiev’s new authorities have been powerless to stop them.
In a later development, Ukrainian acting Prime Minister, Arseny Yatseniuk, stated that “It is unacceptable when armored Russian military vehicles are out in the center of Ukrainian towns”. The statement was made on Saturday before a government meeting in the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev.

Russian aircraft carrying nearly 2,000 troops have landed at a military airbase near the regional capital of the restive Crimean peninsula, a top Ukrainian official has said, accusing Moscow of an “armed invasion”.

“Thirteen Russian aircraft landed at the airport of Gvardeyskoye [near the city of Simferopol] with 150 people in each one,” Sergiy Kunitsyn, the Ukrainian president’s special representative in Crimea. He also said that the airspace had been closed when the deployment happened. It strongly appears that a massive Russian troop buildup is underway in Crimea. Is invading Ukraine Putin’s next move?

CNN is reporting that airspace in the region reopened Saturday, only a day after Ukraine accused Russian Black Sea forces of trying to seize two important airports in Crimea. However, Ukrainian security forces had prevented them from taking control. It appears that Russia is not committed to physically engaging Ukrainian military forces at this time. Once the full Russian force is in place, that fact may change.

The Wall Street Journal is Reporting that pro-Russian Crimean militias are blocking key roads to the area in order to keep the military forces from Kiev entering the region and assuming governmental control. These events are clearly the precursor to a bloody civil war in which Russia will clearly interject themselves into the conflict.

Speaking on Friday, Obama, the US president, said he was “deeply concerned” at the reports of the troop movements of Russian Federation soldiers in Crimea. Obama said: “Any violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty would be deeply disturbing.”
Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksander Turchinov, is accusing Russia of committing an open invasion of Crimea, thus, this is an attack upon the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Turchinov compared Russians actions to what they did to Georgia, in 2008, in terms of invading Akhazia region which has a large ethnic Russian population.

Russia’s actions remind me of how Hitler’s Germany occupied Czechoslovakia without firing a shot in order to ostensibly protect German speaking residents. Crimea is a unique province within Ukraine in that most of the citizens are Russian and align themselves with Moscow. Putin has stated that Russian forces are in Crimea to protect the interest of pro-Russians in the area.

Obama and European leaders would consider skipping a G8 summit in Sochi, Russia, planned for this summer if Russia intervenes militarily in Ukraine, a senior US official said on Friday.

The senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US is consulting with its European partners on potential costs that might be imposed on Russia for any Ukraine intervention.The official said Washington’s response could also include withholding deeper trade and commerce ties that Moscow is seeking. These are impotent threats being made by Obama.

Stop Or I’ll Say Stop Again


Ukrainian people take part in a rally against Russia in front of the U.S. embassy in Kiev March 1, 2014.

Obama is all bark and no bite as he has called on Putin, the Russian president, to stop “provocations” in the semi-autonomous region of Crimea.

“Russia has sent forces into Crimea… they are working on scenarios which are fully analogous with Abkhazia, when having initiated a military conflict, they started to annex the territory,” he said in televised comments.

Two Crimean airports, the main international airport in Simferopol and a military airfield in the city of Sevastopol, have been taken over by what the Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov claimed to be members of the Russian Federation Fleet, in a statement posted on his Facebook account.

It is quite clear that we have multiple accounts which clearly state that Russia has occupied Crimea and the only opposition are a few Ukrainian military bases in the region. Again, Putin has outmaneuvered the West just as he did in Syria in the Fall of 2013.

The West does not appear to have the stomach to oppose Putin in Crimea. Putin has won. However, if Putin goes into Ukraine, that may be a different story.

The rubber will meet the road when the Russians decide what they are going to do with Ukrainian military bases located in Crimea. Clearly, if the Russians attack, or prevent resupply to these bases, the Ukraine will attack. There are already unconfirmed reports that there is a rapid deployment force of American NATO troops which have arrived in Ukraine. Everything points towards war if Putin continues on his present path.

It is clear that the Russians are not going to remove its military interests from Crimea. It is also clear that the Ukrainians are not going to remove their military bases from Crimea. Something has to give and the fate of Ukraine, and ultimately the world will depend on whether or not a field commander does not make a miscalculation resulting in a shot hear around the world.

This just in, the US Sixth Fleet is sailing towards Crimea. Wasn’t it nice that the powers that be could wait until the corporate sponsored Olympics concluded? This opens the real possibility that Obama and Putin are following a predetermined script.

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A must listen from Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - Economist, Co-Founder of Reaganomics & Acclaimed Author take on the Ukraine situation.

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'Russia is sick of being humiliated and pushed around by ignorant outsiders': MoS columnist PETER HITCHENS says Putin DOES have a right to intervene

By Peter Hitchens
PUBLISHED: 19:36 EST, 1 March 2014 | UPDATED: 22:34 EST, 1 March 2014
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President Vladimir Putin has predictably been infuriated by attempts to draw Ukraine into the EU orbit

We have been rubbing Russia up the wrong way for nearly 25 years.

It is hard to see why.

Moscow could have been our friend if we had wanted that.

We rightly viewed the old Soviet Union as a global menace to freedom.

But Russia is no such thing, just a major regional power sick of being humiliated and pushed around by ignorant outsiders.
I watched the old Soviet menace vanish on the streets of Moscow in August 1991 when a KGB putsch failed, the Communist Party was shattered in pieces, and the USSR collapsed in a cloud of rust.

Russians always believed there was an unspoken agreement that, in return for this, they would be allowed their dignity. They now believe that agreement has been broken.

What was left after 1991 was Russia, a proud and courageous people living amid the wreckage left by 74 years of Marxism and hoping to revive their ravaged country. We could have helped them.

By indulging Boris Yeltsin’s debauched reign (during which he shelled his own parliament while the West looked on complacently), we made Russian voters see Vladimir Putin as an attractive alternative.

The Putin government is squalid, but nothing like as bad as that of China, with whom we are on good terms.

More...

• 'Military intervention would be the beginning of war', says Ukraine as its armed forces are put on full alert and Obama calls Kremlin hotline to condemn Putin for his actions
• Revealed: The forgotten treaty which could drag US and UK into WAR with Russia' if Putin's troops intervene in Ukraine

Rather than recognising that the Cold War was over, we re-started it for no good reason, encouraging Russia’s neighbours to join the EU or Nato as if the USSR still existed.

In recent months, the EU and the United States have been willing to wound but afraid to strike.

They have aggressively sought to detach Ukraine from Russia and draw her into the EU orbit, knowing very well that this would infuriate Moscow.



Rather than recognising that the Cold War was over, we re-started it for no good reason, encouraging Russia's neighbours to join the EU or Nato as if the USSR still existed



We have awakened the ancient passions of this cruel part of the world, who knows where it will lead?

Senior American, German and EU figures have gone to Kiev to egg on the anti-Russian crowds. Imagine how you would feel if Russia’s Foreign Minister turned up at SNP rallies in Edinburgh, backing Scottish independence.
Putin’s Crimean games are a sarcastic response.

The unspoken message is: ‘You like breakaway movements and meddling in other people’s business? Try this for size.’

And now, having raised hopes we cannot fulfil, we have awakened the ancient passions of this cruel part of the world and who knows where our vainglorious folly will now lead?

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Vladimir Putin's Admiral Yamamoto moment



March 1, 2014

Much like the Japanese admiral who planned the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the Russian president realizes he only has a certain amount of time to "run wild" until someone stands up to him, especially with the 2016 American presidential election literally right around the corner, as reported on by both The New York Sun and The Telegraph (of London, UK) on Mar. 1, 2014.

As cited, the de facto Russian invasion of the Ukraine is already underway with 2,000 troops already occupying key strategic points in the Ukraine's heavily Russian-ethnic populated Crimean Peninsula.

In the meantime, with Barack Obama's hot mic promise of future "flexibility" framing the re-set in US-Russo relations, the American government has effectively signaled to the Putin regime that other than verbal condemnation of their armed incursion into the Crimea, there would be no response of any real significance.

But at least one of the presumed GOP front runners is making it known to Vladimir Putin that the clock is ticking for his moves at resurrecting the Russian Empire.

Florida's Republican Senator Marco Rubio is demanding Obama initiate a political full court press against Putin.
Not holding back, the legislator from the Sunshine State added:

This is a critical moment in world history. The credibility of the alliances and security assurances that have preserved the international order is at stake.

If Putin's illegal actions are allowed to stand unpunished, it will usher in a dark and dangerous era in world affairs.

Everything old is new again ...

Putin's mad dash at empire building is eerily reminiscent of Japan's running riot through the Pacific in the opening days of the Second World War.

Fleet Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto warned his nation's leaders that prior to the December 1941-January 1942 initial attacks on American, British, Dutch and Australian Pacific territories, he and his Imperial Fleet would only have a certain amount of time to crush Japan's enemies, but after that period, no promises of further success could be made:

In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory.

But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success.

Georgia not on his mind ...

During the Russian invasion of the postage stamp-sized nation of Georgia during the closing months of the George W. Bush administration in 2008, scant reports surfaced to the American people that at least there were open discussions of the United States launching air strikes to defend the Georgians.

As the left-of-center leaning news portal Politico.com reported at the time, former Vice President Dick Cheney was quoted during one of the meetings as saying directly to President Bush, "We can’t let Georgia go down like this."

While no American military intervention ever came to being, there was an implicit threat Bush sent to the Russians: He opted not to use civilian aircraft to ship humanitarian supplies to Georgia. Instead Bush made a point of using clearly marked military aircraft to send a none-too subtle message along with supplies.

According to Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley:

We thought it was a useful signal to use military aircraft to transfer supplies and things into Georgia, and that was not lost on the Russians.

Soon thereafter, under the Obama Administration any American response of substance to the Russian invasion of Georgia was effectively abandoned.

[American Patriot]

Funny, America is sick of being pushed around by INSIDERS..... how ironic.

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'Weak' Obama is blasted for his 'laughable' response to Putin as both parties say President is letting Russia push him around

• Prominent politicians from both sides blasted President Barack Obama's 'weak' response to Russia military incursions into Ukraine
• Secretary of State John Kerry called for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities and withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine
  
• President Obama had a 90 minute phone call Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin
• Obama condemned the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine and pulled the US out of preparatory meetings for an upcoming G-8 summit in Sochi
• The UN Security Council held open hearings on the growing crisis where the revocation of trade deals was discussed

By Associated Press and Ryan Gorman
PUBLISHED: 16:27 EST, 1 March 2014 | UPDATED: 10:09 EST, 2 March 2014

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Senior US politicians from both parties criticized President Barack Obama's threats to Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for immediate sanctions if troops are not immediately withdrawn from Ukraine

Republican Senators John McCain (AZ), Marco Rubio (FL) and Bob Corker (TN) and others, as well as some Democrats, reached across the aisle to call for immediate sanctions against Russia and aid to Ukraine before Putin becomes even more emboldened.

McCain was quick to criticize the president's threats in an interview with the Daily Beast, calling them 'laughable' and partly blaming former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for thinking she and Obama could 'reset' relations with Russia back in 2009.

'She believed that somehow there would be a reset with a guy who was a KGB colonel who always had ambitions to restore the Russian empire,' said McCain. 'That’s what this is all about.'



Stern warning: President Barack Obama threatened sanctions while talking Saturday on the phone from the Oval Office with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Ukraine

The Senator called for the Obama administration to more liberally enforce the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law and Accountability Act, which has allowed the US government to sanction Russian officials for human rights violations since being signed into law in 2009.

On Sunday morning, Secretary of State John Kerry called Russia's military incursion into Ukraine 'an incredible act of aggression' and said President Vladimir Putin has made 'a stunning, willful' choice to invade another country.

Kerry says Russia should respect the democratic process through which the Ukrainian people ousted their pro-Russian president and assembled a new government.

Kerry is raising the possibility of boycotting the June meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries in Sochi, Russia.

He's also discussing visa bans, asset freezes, and trade and investment penalties.

Kerry said he spoke with foreign ministers for G-8 and other nations on Saturday, and says everyone is prepared 'to go to the hilt' to isolate Russia.

Any Russian officials, Putin included, involved in sending troops to Ukraine should be sanctioned, McCain argued - such action would result in asset freezing, visa bans and a wagging of the collective international finger, Daily Beast noted.

'We must consider legislation to respond to this,' McCain continued. 'The Magnitsky bill can be expanded for holding people responsible for these acts of aggression.'

The longtime Senator also called for economic sanctions and other actions against Russia.

Corker also hammered away at the situation, calling Russia 'a nation still smarting from the breakup of the Soviet Union with a leader who is nothing but an autocrat' and called for immediate sanctions during a CNN interview.

'We need to do everything we can to isolate them,' Corker continued. 'We’ve got to work with [Europe] to do the necessary things… to mitigate conduct.’

He later said in a statement 'Vladimir Putin is seizing a neighboring territory — again — so President Obama must lead a meaningful, unified response.'



On the defensive: Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev speaks to the media Saturday following an U.N. Security Council meeting on his country's crisis

Rubio called for Obama to deploy Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to the Ukrainian capital, according to USA Today.

He also called for a prohibition of Russian officials traveling to the US, and to convene an emergency meeting of NATO to allow Georgia into the fold.

Kerry, in a statement, said the 'United States condemns the Russian Federation's invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory... we call for Russia to withdraw its forces back to bases [and] refrain from interference elsewhere in Ukraine.'

Unless immediate and concrete steps are taken by Russia to deescalate tensions, the effect on U.S.-Russian relations and on Russia’s international standing will be profound,' Kerry threatened.

The president also informed Putin that the US has pulled out of preparatory meetings for an upcoming G-8 summit in Sochi, as the UN mulled over possible sanctions and Ukraine warned that it's troops are 'at the ready,' a government official told CNN.
'The United States condemns Russia’s military intervention into Ukrainian territory,' a White House statement said.

New York Democratic Rep Eliot Engel called for a 'robust international economic assistance package' including loan guarantees for Ukraine in a statement released Saturday.

Arkansas Republican Rep Tom Cotton demanded the president recall the US Ambassador to Russia from Moscow and revoke visas and freeze the assets of Putin's cronies, provide military assistance to Ukraine and sack Russia from the G-8 group of nations, according to USA Today.

Russia has military bases in Crimea, but those personnel are in violation of international law by entering Ukraine despite Russia's Duma willfully granting Putin permission to deploy troops into Ukraine as the country grows further divided.

It appears further liberties were already being taken by Russian troops early Sunday morning, they took weapons from a Ukraine radar facility near Crimea and urged people there to side with 'legitimate leaders,' iTV reported, citing Interfax.
Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra told Newsmax only hours earlier that 'there's not a whole lot the United States can do' to bring Putin and Russia in line.



Condemnation: United States U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power speaks Saturday during an U.N. Security Council meeting on the Ukraine



On watch: Armed men take up positions Saturday around the regional parliament building in the Crimean city of Simferopol only 30 miles from the country's southern border with Ukraine



Inching closer: A man waves a Russian Navy flag Saturday as he stands among pro-Russian armed men blocking access to the Ukrainian frontier guard base in Balaklava, a small city not far from Sevastopol

Putin expressed his concern for the Russian citizens in Russia and said that the deployment of troops into the country was to protect them, according to a Kremlin statement.

'Vladimir Putin stressed that in case of any further spread of violence to Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, Russia retains the right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population of those areas,' the statement said.

Obama strongly urged Putin to immediately de-escalate and to use peaceful means to address concerns including through talks with the new Ukrainian government or through the US of international observers sent under the UN umbrella, the White House countered.

The president also offered to broker talks between Russian and the Ukraine to prevent the countries from war as the former Soviet bloc country's new government warned it is being 'provoked' by Russia's actions.

A Ukraine government spokesperson told CNN there are an estimated 15,000 troops in Crimea, a small country separating mainland Ukraine from Sevastopol.
'The troops are already there, and their number is increasing every hour,' the spokesperson explained.




Calls for peace: President Obama urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate immediately



Where this is all happening: The above map shows the precarious position both Crimea, where thousands of Russian troops are ready to be deployed, and Sevastopol - the Ukrainian city where both Russia and Ukraine have naval bases

Russia has also maintained a naval base in Sevastopol per a 1997 treaty signed shortly after Ukraine gained independence.

The Ukrainian city sits on a small peninsula that is not connected to the rest country, making it particularly vulnerable to the kind of military action undertaken by Russia.

Putin further blamed ultra-nationalists in the Ukraine for Russia's further encroachment into Ukrainian sovereign territory, according to the Kremlin.

Eastern Ukraine leans more heavily towards Russia than the western part of the country, whee the capital Kiev is located. Many international observers fear the country will plunge into a civil war that might break it up into two or more countries if conditions further deteriorate.

The dramatic eleventh-hour call came as the United Nations Security Council met in an emergency session less than a week after the Sochi Olympics to mull over possible economic sanctions to enact against the rogue permanet Security Council member.



Locked and loaded: Armed servicemen wait Saturday in Russian army vehicles outside a Ukranian border guard post in the Crimean town of Balaclava

After meeting behind closed doors, the council agreed to hold the open, televised meeting despite objections from permanent member Russia. Ukraine has accused Russia of 'a military invasion and occupation' of strategic points in the Crimean peninsula.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin scoffed at the notion, saying the US and other European nations are overreacting and that his country cannot agree to end all military actions.

Some reports have suggested Russia may even recall its ambassador to the US in protest of western involvement in the crisis.

Ukraine has asked the other four permanent council members — the U.S., Britain, France and China — for help in stopping Russia's 'aggression.'

More...

• President Obama warns Putin 'there will be costs' for military intervention in the Ukraine as he confirms that Russian troops in Crimea
• Ukraine's fury as Russia sends troops into Crimea: Gunmen take over airports and surround border post
• 'Military intervention would be the beginning of war', says Ukraine as its armed forces are put on full alert and Obama calls Kremlin hotline to condemn Putin for his actions

Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Yuriy Sergeyev said Russia has rejected Ukraine's proposal to hold immediate bilateral consultations, and vowed his country would not be drawn into military conflict.

'Ukraine will not be provoked, we will not use force, we demand that the government of the Russian Federation immediately withdraw its troops and return to their home bases,' he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier Saturday that he is 'gravely concerned about the deterioration of the situation' in Ukraine. He spoke later by telephone with Putin.

'I am gravely concerned by some of the recent events in particular those that could in any way compromise the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the [Ukraine],' Ban said in a statement about the call.

'It is crucial to restore calm and proceed to an immediate de-escalation of the situation,' Ban continued. 'Cool heads must prevail and dialogue must be the only tool in ending this crisis.'



In control: Unidentified gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms block the road toward the military airport at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol



Shocking sight: A crowd gathers Saturday as unidentified men in military fatigues block a base of the Ukrainian frontier guard unit in Balaklava

A Ban spokesman delivered the statement Saturday afternoon as members of the Security Council met in an emergency closed-door session for the second straight day on the rapidly developing events in Ukraine's Crimea region.

Obama later spoke with President Francois Hollande and Australian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the White House announced.

All three 'leaders agreed that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected, and expressed their grave concern over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine,' said a separate White House statement.

'The leaders affirmed the importance of unity within the international community in support of international law, and the future of Ukraine and its democracy.'

The Security Council decided to hold the open meeting after struggling behind closed doors to reach agreement on how to meet. Some members wanted open, or public consultations, on Ukraine, which Russia initially opposed.



No one in, no one out: Unidentified armed individuals with armoured vehicles block the base of the Ukrainian border guard service Saturday in Sevastopol



Scorched: The House of Trade Unions, in Kiev, shows it's blackened walls Saturday after burning during the protests

Ban's statement called for 'full respect for and preservation of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine' and demanded the 'immediate restoration of calm and direct dialogue between all concerned.'

British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the meeting is to determine 'what justification Russia claims to have' for its de facto military takeover of the strategic Crimea region.

As a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia has veto power and can block the U.N.'s most powerful body from adopting any resolution criticizing or sanctioning Moscow.

Outside the council chamber, Ukraine's U.N. ambassador called on countries to do everything possible to stop Russia's "aggression."

'The Russian Federation brutally violated the basic principles of the Charter of the United Nations,' Sergeyev told reporters.

During a break, an exasperated Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, 'We are ready for serious discussions.'

Ban was flying to Geneva on Saturday where he planned to meet the following day with his special envoy Robert Serry, the Netherlands' first ambassador to Ukraine.

After Friday's closed-door Security Council consultations, Ban asked Serry to go to Crimea as part of a fact-finding mission.

However, after consulting with authorities in the autonomous region, Serry decided that a visit to Crimea was not possible and headed to Geneva.

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RT @L0gg0l: USS Mount Whitney now rumored to be conducting SIGINT ops less than 100 NM off the Russian Black Fleet in Sevastopol

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Obama Gets Heckled About Potential Nuclear War With Russia

March 1, 2014

Source: Lee Rogers, Daily Slave/BLN

Watch this video of Obama getting heckled over a potential nuclear conflict with Russia. Obama jokes it off even though the heckler asked a very serious question. The United States government spent billions of dollars financing the recent coup in Ukraine. This ulterior agenda has created all sorts of chaos. It has allowed the rise of anti-Russian and ultra nationalist groups which are rapidly expanding their political influence in Kiev. These political forces now represent a direct security threat to Russia and has greatly increased the possibility of war breaking out.

All of this has been the result of Washington's insane decision to interfere in the internal affairs of Ukraine. What's even scarier is how the crowd reacted to Obama's response. Everybody thought it was funny. It just shows that Obama's base consists of clueless and willfully ignorant fools.

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IN EARLY 2008 OBAMA REVEALED HE WOULD CUT AMERICA'S MILITARY DEFENSE SYSTEMS SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF OUR COMBAT SYSTEMS AND NEGOTIATE DIRECTLY WITH RUSSIA TO ACHIEVE DEEP CUTS IN DISMANTLING OUR NUCLEAR ARSENALS

Uploaded on Feb 16, 2008

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Maxim Eristavi ‏@MaximEristavi 12m
.@zbig on CNN compares 2014 Crimea w/ 1938 Munich accords,
says the world needs to push back against Putin pic.twitter.com/f3KOkewgd4



bruce springnote ‏@BSpringnote 12m
Spot on foto. Always Russia, always #euromaidan #crimea
pic.twitter.com/LvZQjss0mJ



bruce springnote ‏@BSpringnote 3m
Meet the press political "experts" really banging Obama for being abused by Putin.
Needs to step up and really do something big 4 #Ukraine



max seddon ‏@maxseddon 3m
Kerry: "You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion
by invading another country on a completely trumped up pre-text."


James Novogrod ‏@JamieNBCNews 3m
"The two sides agreed not to point their weapons at each other..."
RT @maxseddon: My latest from Crimea:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/russian-troops-swarm-crimea …




Terry Moran ‏@TerryMoran 2m
At a Ukrainian military base now surrounded by Russian troops.
Wife of a besieged soldier tells me, "He took an oath. He will do his duty."
^^^POWERFUL Words!



KyivPost ‏@KyivPost 4m
Russia's takeover of Crimea puts neighbors periously close to war
#euromaidan #kyiv #kiev #Ukraine #kyivpost #crimea
http://www.kyivpost.com/multimedia/photo/situation-in-crimea-338109.html




Kevin Bishop ‏@bishopk 4m
Ukrainian Navy's Admiral Yuri Ilyn, tells BBC's @ForeignCorresp
that his officers are "hostages of the situation".
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26407409




bruce springnote ‏@BSpringnote 4m
Kommersant reports Lugansk oblast administration
does not accept Kiev's legitimacy #euromaidan




bruce springnote ‏@BSpringnote 2m
John Kerry - We're going to continue to engage diplomatically.
It's the time for diplomacy.
Nobody wants this to spiral in a worst direction







East of Brussels ‏@EastOfBrussels 48m
Remember his face:
#Ukraine's Black Sea Fleet Commander in Chief has just defected to #Russia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt9efnLV4UY
#putin #kyiv #war




louise dickson ‏@louisecdickson 1h
Tomorrow will be busy day for Moscow-based investment banks
- floods of calls from London, NYC - "
we. want. our. money. out. now." #Ukraine #MICEX


Peter Spiegel ‏@SpiegelPeter 45m
Also hearing that G7 is preparing a statement on #Ukraine
that will go out in an hour or two.



laura delsere ‏@lauradels 18m
#Russian soldiers are apparently digging trenches
on the strip of land joining #Crimea to mainland #Ukraine
RT@BBCNews pic.twitter.com/7NNmKH2AiH





Andrew S. Weiss ‏@andrewsweiss 23m
Big menu of sanctions from John Kerry: visa bans, asset freezes, trade isolation,
investment changes #ukraine #crimea
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA210DG20140302?irpc=932



Bruce Cameron ‏@roitweets 21m
US, Canada, France, UK suspend involvement in G8 summit
to be hosted in Sochi Russia over #Ukraine incursion. G7 is re-born.

Time in GMT,

17:38: Nato's North Atlantic Council met in a closed-door session earlier on Sunday. The Brussels bureau chief for the Financial Times, Peter Spiegel, tweets: "Have been told there was NO discussion of military planning or deployments at @NATO council meeting. #Ukraine"

17:45: BBC Monitoring The Ukrainian navy's flagship, the Hetman Sahaydachny, remains loyal to Ukraine and is "proudly flying the Ukrainian flag", Rear-Adm Andriy Tarasov says in a statement published on the Defence Ministry's website. The Hetman Sahaydachny frigate is currently docked at a naval base on Crete, Greece, on the way back to Ukraine from an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, the statement says.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26405082