Putin to apply more butter on his ass & to join Hermit kingdom and other outcasts

[Jar Jar Binks]

EU threatens Russia with new sanctions amid turmoil in Ukraine

Increased diplomatic pressure comes as pro-Russia mob seizes police building in eastern Ukraine

PUBLISHED : Monday, 14 April, 2014, 10:05pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 15 April, 2014, 1:32am

Agencies in Donetsk

Russia's ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin (left) listens to the speech of the US ambassador Samantha Power (right) at the United Nations Security Council emergency session on Ukraine. Photo: AFP

An officer stops rival protesters fighting in Kharkiv. Photo: AP

The European Union threatened Russia with more sanctions yesterday over its actions in eastern Ukraine, which Britain said was being destabilised by Moscow.

The increased diplomatic pressure on Moscow came as a pro-Russia mob seized a police building and gunmen took control of a military airport in Russian-leaning eastern Ukraine, defying government warnings that it was preparing to act against the separatists.

The escalating crisis dominated talks among EU foreign ministers after Kiev threatened military action against the pro-Russia forces occupying government buildings in the east.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was no doubt that Moscow was behind the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine.

"I don't think denials of Russian involvement have a shred of credibility," Hague told reporters, adding that the EU needed to discuss adding more people to a list of 33 Russian and Ukrainian officials targeted by EU asset freezes and travel bans over the Ukraine crisis.

The EU was prepared, if needed, to call a Ukraine crisis summit next week to toughen sanctions against Russia, France's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said.

Poland's foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said the EU must now agree how the list could be expanded.

Other governments were more cautious on sanctions, underscoring concerns in parts of Europe about antagonising a power with an energy stranglehold over the bloc. They put their faith in talks planned for Geneva on Thursday.

In addition to widening asset freezes and visa bans, the EU is discussing more far-reaching measures, such as restrictions on trade and finance with Russia, which Hague said should be prepared quickly.

Events in Ukraine added urgency to the talks. Dozens of angry men hurled rocks, smashed the windows and broke into a police station in the city of Horlivka, not far from the border with Russia, and flew the Russian flag from the building. Hundreds of onlookers outside chanted "Referendum!" and "Russia!"

One of the men directing the raid introduced himself as a lieutenant colonel of the Russian army to a line of policemen who had switched sides. He did not state his full name. The man, dressed in green camouflage uniform, instructed them to obey their new chief and to attach St George ribbons to their uniforms, the symbol of the pro-Russia protesters in eastern Ukraine.

The episode fed into accusations from the government in Kiev and Western officials that the protests were being instigated by the Kremlin and that some of the insurgents were Russian agents.

Later in the day, armed men in masks seized control of a military airport outside the city of Slovyansk, also in the Donetsk region.

The latest events echoed those in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia last month after key regional facilities were seized by Russian troops aided by local militiamen.

The diplomatic moves in Europe came a day after the UN Security Council held emergency talks on the situation in Ukraine.

Russia and the West locked horns over the escalating crisis in Ukraine, with Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin saying "there has already been bloodshed and a further escalation must be swiftly stopped".

US ambassador Samantha Power accused Russia of waging a propaganda war and bombarding Ukraine with incitement and violence.

"This is the saddest kind of instability. It is completely man-made. It was written and choreographed in and by Russia," Power told the 15-member council.

Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse

 

[EdenHazard]

Come on, come on, come on let's go space truckin'

 

[Jar Jar Binks]

US slaps new sanctions on Russian companies over Ukraine

PUBLISHED : Friday, 12 September, 2014, 10:19pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 13 September, 2014, 3:16am

Agencies in Kiev

Pro-Russia rebels defuse a shell on a railway in Ilovaisk. Photo: EPA

The US has expanded sanctions against Russia to include the country's largest bank, OAO Sberbank and energy companies as well as five state-owned defence and technology companies.

"Russia's economic and diplomatic isolation will continue to grow as long as its actions do not live up to its words," US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said. "Russia's economy is already paying a heavy price for its unlawful behaviour."

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions that prohibit transactions in, provision of financing for, or other dealings in new debt of greater than 90 days maturity issued by OAO Gazprom Neft and OAO Transneft. For banks, the debt financing restriction now covers maturities greater than 30 days, instead of 90 days previously.

The US actions followed new sanctions announced by the European Union, which added 15 companies, including Gazprom Neft, Rosneft and Transneft, and 24 people to the list of those affected by its sanctions against Russia. The individuals - including rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine and "Russian decision-makers and oligarchs" - will now face EU travel bans and asset freezes.

"We are implementing these new measures in light of Russia's actions to further destabilise Ukraine over the last month," US President Barack Obama said yesterday, "including through the presence of heavily-armed Russian forces in eastern Ukraine."

The announcements came after Kiev and Nato said around 1,000 Russian troops remained in Ukraine.

Kiev also acknowledged that the insurgents had extended their control over territory on the eastern border to the Sea of Azov after a counteroffensive last month reportedly backed by elite Russian forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the new Western sanctions against Russia were intended to disrupt peace efforts in eastern Ukraine and that Moscow was considering retaliatory measures. Putin added the sanctions looked "a bit strange" in view of the peace drive including a ceasefire.

AFP, Reuters and Bloomberg

 

[Jar Jar Binks]

Putin wants to 'eliminate' my country, Ukraine's PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk says

Arseniy Yatsenyuk says the Russian leader can't be trusted as accusations fly over conflict

PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 September, 2014, 4:55am
UPDATED : Monday, 15 September, 2014, 6:29am

Agence France-Presse in Kiev

A Ukrainian paratrooper near Zhdanivka. Photo: Reuters

Tensions over Ukraine festered after Kiev accused the Kremlin of seeking to "eliminate" the pro-Western former Soviet nation while Moscow charged Washington with orchestrating the crisis.

The bitter exchange on Saturday in the wake of the toughest Western sanctions yet on Russia came with a fragile nine-day truce once again tested by an hours-long battle for control of an eastern Ukrainian airport.

Russia further stoked tensions by sending a 220-truck convoy into rebel-held territory which it said carried aid but was not checked by European monitors or Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on world leaders not to trust Russian President Vladimir Putin despite his decision to sign Moscow up to a truce aimed at ending a five-month war that has claimed more than 2,700 lives.

Yatsenyuk accused the increasingly isolated Kremlin chief of deliberately keeping Ukraine in a state of war to create a "frozen conflict" in Russia's backyard.

"His goal is to take the entire Ukraine ... He wants to eliminate Ukraine as an independent country," Yatsenyuk told a forum in Kiev. "He wants to restore the Soviet Union."

The European-mediated peace deal that Kiev signed with Moscow and two rebel leaders has helped calm fighting across the economically vital but devastated industrial rustbelt that hugs Russia's border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on world leaders not to trust Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Bloomberg

But both the United States and Europe remain deeply suspicious of Putin's intentions and are still waiting for him to pull back 1,000 paratroopers they claim have helped insurgents claw back territory in the days preceding the truce.

Moscow not only denies backing the fighters but also accuses Washington of fomenting the February protests that ousted a pro-Kremlin leader and brought in a new team that struck a historic EU alliance and is now seeking Nato membership.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took particular exception to measures that tighten US sanctions and for the first time target two private oil companies and gas giant Gazprom.

Lavrov accused Washington of "trying to use the crisis in Ukraine to break economic ties between the EU and Russia and force Europe to buy US gas at much higher prices".

Russia supplies about a third of Europe's natural gas - a reliance that forced Brussels to shield Gazprom from its other sanctions on state energy firms.

But the US added Gazprom to energy firms denied access to advanced exploration equipment.

Top Russian banks and energy companies have also been barred from borrowing from both US and European capital markets for longer than a month.

"These sanctions will get Putin's attention," the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group said.

 

[Jar Jar Binks]

Russian hot money flows into Hong Kong after West slaps sanctions on Moscow

Western sanctions against Moscow over conflict in Ukraine sees firms turning to the city for their financing needs, but some banks are wary

PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 September, 2014, 4:40am
UPDATED : Monday, 15 September, 2014, 9:22am

Toh Han Shih [email protected]

There has been a net outflow of US$28 billion from Russia in the first seven months of this year.

Russian money is flowing into Hong Kong as investors look for a safe haven from Western sanctions – but investors are running into obstacles with banks, which are nervous about money laundering, analysts say.

In the first seven months of this year, there has been a net outflow of US$28 billion from Russia, in contrast to net inflows of US$36 billion for the whole of last year, according to CrossBorderCapital, a London firm that monitors global liquidity flows.

"A number of banks in Hong Kong have been unwilling to provide financing to certain Russian individuals and corporate entities over the last six months, who failed to pass the banks' anti-money-laundering procedures," said Hugo Williamson, managing director of IPSA International, a global risk consultancy.

This was because Russian depositors and Russians seeking loans faced significant scrutiny by banks in Hong Kong, as the banks sought to minimise the risk of money laundering, said Williamson.

"With this increased interest in Asian money markets comes the increased risk to Asia of possible money laundering by certain Russian criminal or corrupt interests."

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said that while it "monitors many aspects of the economic and financial environment", it did not have specific information on the inflows of funds broken down by origin.

"Russians are known as significant borrowers, but Western banks have over the last year been unwilling to loan money to Russian clients. It is estimated that Russian interests have close to US$150 billion in debt repayments this year, and thus Russians have looked to China, Hong Kong and Singapore for sources of finance," Williamson said.

It was more difficult for Russians to open a bank account in Hong Kong compared to other nationalities, said Ashley Galina Dudarenok, managing director of Alarice International, a Hong Kong consultancy that advises multinationals on their strategies for Hong Kong and China.

In the past few months, Russians had come to Hong Kong to establish companies and open bank accounts, said Dudarenok. "They do not mind going through all the trouble because they really want to have a presence here."

For example, Russian mobile operator Megafon has decided to convert 40 per cent of its cash, totalling US$1.3 billion on June 30, to Hong Kong dollars. Novatek, Russia's second-largest natural gas firm, is similarly converting US currency to Hong Kong dollars, say Russian media.

"Russian corporates operate in a US dollar-based economy," said Nikos Asimakopoulos, senior associate at Alaco, a risk consultancy in Britain. The transition to the Hong Kong currency is made seamless by the city's US dollar peg.

"This is clearly a move to keep the companies' cash flows outside American sanctions. Interestingly, the receiving banks in Hong Kong are not Western banks but Chinese financial institutions," Asimakopoulos said.

Hong Kong respected UN sanctions, but there was normally no obligation under city laws for financial institutions to comply with sanctions issued by other jurisdictions, said an HKMA spokeswoman.

 

[TIEPILOT]

5Pain That's what LVG did to Spain.

 

[Wedge]

Luxury yacht firms fear sanctions on Russia will spoil their party

Boat makers fear US and EU measures will mean some big customers miss Monaco show

PUBLISHED : Friday, 26 September, 2014, 11:12pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 27 September, 2014, 4:09am

Bloomberg in Monaco

The yearly yacht fair at Port Hercules in Monaco. Photo: AFP

The million-dollar question at this year's Monaco Yacht Show: are the Russians coming?

Economic sanctions against Russia in the past months by the US and Europe have left the super-yacht industry bracing for fewer orders. Russian billionaires have been a driving force in the market for the world's biggest yachts, as evidenced by the 162.5 metre Eclipse owned by oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Industry representatives in Monaco this week for the annual yachting trade fair are wondering if geopolitical pressures are putting the party on pause.

"Clearly there have been projects in the industry that haven't materialised because of the situation," said Peter Lurssen, managing partner of the family-owned Lurssen Werft shipyard based in Bremen, Germany, which specialises in building the longest luxury motor boats.

Lurssen was among yachting executives at the show in Port Hercules exhibiting hulking boats with swimming pools, spas, gyms, marble bathrooms and baby grand pianos. With helicopter landing pads and the finest crystal and china, the boats are toys for the super-rich.

"The Russians are a very important part of the customer base," said Theo Hooning, secretary general of the Superyacht Builders Association.

The proportion of yachts measuring more than 40 metres owned by Russians has more than doubled over the past five years to about 8 per cent of the global fleet. That's the fastest- growing segment of the market and puts the Russians just behind the 9 per cent of the fleet in Middle Eastern hands. Western Europe and the US represent by far the biggest portion.

Under successive waves of sanctions since Russia annexed Crimea in March, Europe and the US have blacklisted dozens of Russian political and business leaders.

The US Department of Homeland Security has begun a search for planes, yachts, mansions and other US belongings of Russians facing these restrictions. Agents were looking for "shiny toys" that wealthy Russians on the sanctions list might have hidden, said the agency's John Tobon.

"People could be struggling to take money out of Russia," Jonathan Beckett, CEO of yacht brokerage Burgess said. "It's all about timing and perception. Is it the right time to be seen enjoying yourself on a yacht?"

As one of the top super-yacht brokers, Burgess and its competitors have set up offices in Moscow along with other locations from Monaco to Miami. The industry works hard to maintain a cloak of secrecy over yacht transactions, so as not to draw attention to their owners. Still, the personalised interiors on some yachts on display in Monaco this week show an unmistakable Russian flavour - neon and glass glitter mixing with gilding and inlay giving them a Vegas-meets-Russian-Baroque feel.

"We are still in conversation with a number of Russian clients," said Mark Cavendish, sales and marketing director of Heesen Yachts. All ten of the shipyard's yachts made last year were for Russian clients, as are about three quarters of the dozen projects under way this year, he said.

"For the past five years, not just us but all the yachting industry has been heavily reliant on Russian clients," he said.

 

[condom_loong]

Putin and Xi Jin Ping allies and have absolute strength advantage over the weak poor coward stupid west. Clear result will prove winner vs loser. Loser is the outcast? This is undefined. Losers in wars are usually dead.

 

[Wedge]

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3l9AMbH2Dh8?showinfo=0" allowfullscreen="" height="315" width="560" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Russia’s Rouble sees new low

Published on Oct 6, 2014

Russia’s currency, the rouble, hit a NEW all-time low against the U.S. dollar earlier on Monday. For the first time ever, the rouble breached 40 against the greenback due to its standoff with Europe and the United States over tensions in Ukraine.

 

[steffychun]

Putin never invade Asian countries.

 

[rushifa666]

Putin should just cut gas for a week. Then you see Europe crawling there to beg. You never ever pick a fight with anyone that controls your pipeline

 

[obama.bin.laden]

TS is a fool. This world is about who can press a FIRE button and the rest lay DEAD.

Econmic sanction is about who is the major econonic STRENGTH. PRC is stronger than USA already.

The weak can not win fucking with yhe stronger.

Wake up and stop self deceptive dreams about a civilized orderly world where matters are controlled by the weak mouths.

Putin today exceeded Obama in control of planet earths most deadly and destructive strategic nuclear arms. NATO G7 are all weak bankrupts dreaming of imposing forceless ironical sanctions which hurt only themselves.

Cash rich and industrial giant China is ally with Putin. PRC and Russia kicks ass over UN and G7. Push and manupulate practically this world with physical strength and resources.

NATO dare not even face ISIS on war grounds.

Omaba is hiding like a clown. His militaty machine is weak rotten outdated and dysfunctional his ass own by Beijing debtors.


Who is THE BOSS? NOT Obama for sure.

 

[Hypocrisy]

Russia's food import bans leave opening for Philippines crocodile

PUBLISHED : Monday, 13 October, 2014, 4:25am
UPDATED : Monday, 13 October, 2014, 4:25am

The Guardian in Moscow

Butchered crocodiles at a seafood market. Photo: AFP

Russian diners may no longer have access to the best European cheeses or juicy Australian lamb chops but prime Philippines crocodile is on the menu.

Russia's food standards authority announced last week that the largest crocodile farm in the Philippines had been granted a permit for exports to Russia.

The Kremlin banned imports of meat from the United States, the EU, Australia, Canada and Norway for a year in August, in retaliation at sanctions imposed by those countries on Russia over actions in Ukraine. Imports of fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables also have been banned.

Dairy has caused particular concern among wealthier Russians, accustomed to European cheeses and yoghurts in recent years. Prices have also gone up in some areas, as producers scramble to find imports from other countries.

Sometimes the solutions are creative, such as a beer factory in Siberia which says it plans to make mozzarella from goat's milk.

Russia's food standards watchdog has been responsible for bans on many imports in recent years due to "sanitary standards'' which appear suspiciously timed to coincide with geopolitical spats between Moscow and other nations.

At various times Georgian and Moldovan wines and Belarusian dairy products have been banned for failing to meet health standards.

 

[znxwrmc]

i eat them all the time yummy...

 

[Fellaini]

Ouch !!

Russia seeks more meat from China after Western sanctions

Xinhua
2014-10-21

Meat vendors at a traditional market, Taiyuan, Shanxi. (File photo/CNS)

Russia's recent restrictions on food imports from the West mean that its demand for meat from China will soar, a senior insider has predicted.

Meat processing enterprises in far eastern Russia alone need nearly 100,000 tonnes of meat as raw materials each year, which provides a huge market for their Chinese counterparts, said Kitaev Pavel, vice president of the Meat Processors Association of the Far East, at a purchasing fair in Suifenhe city in northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

The two countries will develop logistics, transportation and storage, he said during the four-day event, which closed on Monday.

In August, Russia banned fruit, vegetables, meat, milk and dairy imports from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway, after Western countries imposed a new round of economic sanctions on it.

Russia had a 13-year ban on pork imports from China over quality concerns. But on Oct. 12, a Chinese firm was allowed to export 800 tonnes of pork to Russia, seemingly opening the floodgates to such trade.

"This is a new opportunity for China and Russia to boost bilateral economic and trade relations," Pavel said. "As long as China can ensure the quality of meat products, we will see long-term cooperation."

 

[sochi2014]

Putin looks tough on the outside.

One gentle gay touch could easily made him suffer a panic attack!

 

[MirrorMan]

Sweden threatens force to bring suspected Russian sub to surface

Military chief says there have been fresh sightings of a suspected Russian mini-sub

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 22 October, 2014, 10:46pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 23 October, 2014, 5:19am

Agence France-Presse in Stockholm

The Swedish vessel Visby searches for the 'submarine'. Photo: AFP

Sweden's armed forces chief warned the military could force to the surface a suspected Russian mini-submarine its navy has been hunting for days, as two fresh sightings of the mystery vessel at the centre of the hunt were revealed.

The "observations" of the supposed "foreign" submarine were made on Monday, Rear Amiral Anders Grenstad said, after the country's top military commander declared the nation ready to use "armed force" to bring the vessel to the surface.

Battleships, minesweepers, helicopters and more than 200 troops have searched an area 30km to 60km from Stockholm since Friday following reports of a "man-made object" in the water.

Grenstad said the sightings were made by the public, but did not say why the navy was treating them as credible.

Supreme Commander General Sverker Goranson had earlier said there was "probable underwater activity" off the coast of the capital, and the navy was ready to act against the intruder.

Sweden released a hazy photograph of what might be a mini-sub on Sunday.

"The most important value of the operation, regardless of whether we find something, is to send a very clear signal that Sweden and its armed forces are acting and are ready to act when we think this kind of activity is violating our borders," the general said.

"Our aim now is to force whatever it is up to the surface ... with armed force, if necessary."

Despite widespread speculation that the "activity" is a Russian vessel, due to unconfirmed reports of intercepted transmissions to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad on the other side of the Baltic Sea, and the presence of a near-stationary Russian oil tanker off Swedish waters since the operation began, authorities in Sweden have not singled out Russia in comments.

Russia has denied having any submarine in the area, and accused the Netherlands, which laughed off the claim, saying its submarine already had docked in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, after taking part in exercises with the Swedish navy.

"We consider that the reports ... confirm something is happening. There is probable underwater activity," Goranson said.

It was "extremely difficult" to locate submarines, he said. "We never succeeded in the past, and no one else has either."

Still, he said the operation, focused on the island of Ingaroe 30km from Stockholm, would continue for as long as necessary.

Early on Tuesday afternoon, at least five naval ships were stationed for more than two hours in an area east of Ingaroe, the closest reported point to the mainland since the operation began.

 

[MirrorMan]

Nato jets intercept Russian aircraft over Baltic amid Sweden sub hunt

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 22 October, 2014, 10:51pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 23 October, 2014, 5:20am

Associated Press in Helskinki

Two Canadian F-18 Hornet jets (same type as above) were scrambled from the Siauliai base in Lithuania on Monday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin-20 surveillance aircraft, which they shadowed for 15 minutes. Photo: AFP

Nato scrambled fighter jets twice in two days to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, it said on Tuesday as Russian military activity in the region was reported to be increasing.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Gericke said the Russian aircraft were flying in international airspace and had not violated the territory of alliance members.

Two Canadian F-18 Hornet jets were scrambled from the Siauliai base in Lithuania on Monday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin-20 surveillance aircraft, which they shadowed for 15 minutes, Nato said.

Earlier, the Latvian military reported that Nato F-16 jets were dispatched on Tuesday to intercept a Russian Ilyushin-20 over the Baltic Sea. Gericke confirmed that Nato jets had also intercepted a Russian aircraft that day, but could not provide more details.

Nato, which has 16 fighter jets monitoring Baltic airspace, said it regularly launched jets to identify "unknown or potentially hostile aircraft" in the proximity of national airspace.

There were two similar incidents in the region on October 7 and September 11, but on neither occasion did the Russian aircraft constitute a threat to Nato forces, the alliance said.

Since Friday, the Swedish navy has been searching the Stockholm archipelago for signs of a foreign submarine that officials suspect entered its territorial waters illegally. It hasn't officially linked Russia to the suspected intrusion. The Finnish military says Russian military aircraft have violated its airspace five times this year.

 

[flickr]

​

 

[Annihilation]

CNN to suspend Russia broadcasting over new law tightening media curbs

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 November, 2014, 8:58pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 12 November, 2014, 4:01am

Agence France-Presse in Washington

CNN will suspend broadcasting in Russia. Photo: EPA

CNN will suspend broadcasting in Russia "in light of recent changes in Russian media legislation" which aim to tighten media controls.

A statement issued on Monday by CNN International parent Turner International, which is part of the Time Warner conglomerate, offered no specific timetable, but the Tass news agency reported earlier that broadcasts would cease from December 31.

A new law limits foreign ownership of media to 20 per cent, threatening some of the country's most respected independent media outlets.

"We hope to re-enter the market in due course, and will notify our partners of any update about resuming these services," the statement said. CNN is seen through cable and satellite firms in Russia.

The statement noted that the CNN Moscow bureau operation, which covers Russia for the cable news operation, was "unaffected".