Russia to help fight Islamists in the Middle East

PARIS — The United States and Russia will share intelligence on Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq and work together to combat the threat of terrorism that hangs over the region, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Tuesday after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

After three hours of talks in Paris, Kerry said Russia has agreed to “explore” whether to provide more weapons to Iraqi security forces fighting Islamist extremists, as well as to train and advise them.
The two top diplomats also discussed how to keep Iran’s nuclear program from being converted to military use.

US warns Russia against sending troops into Ukraine

WASHINGTON: The United States warned Friday it would not accept any use of Russian troops in Ukraine as it confirmed that Moscow had redeployed "significant" military forces near the border.

"We are monitoring the situation carefully. We will not accept the use, under any pretext, of any Russian military forces in eastern Ukraine," said Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman.

"Reports from Moscow that the Russian defense ministry is considering creating military cordons in eastern Ukraine are also troubling.

"A Russian defense ministry source told RBK news agency this week that troops were prepared to enter Ukraine´s insurgent regions in order to "put up barriers between the civilian population and the Ukrainian army.

"Ukrainian officials have separately told EU and G7 teams in Kiev that they have evidence of 10 additional tanks and sealed trucks coming over the border close to Lugansk in the past 24 hours.

"We have our own information that Russia has redeployed military forces to its border with Ukraine," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

"This is the closest Russian troops have come to the Ukrainian territory since their invasion of Crimea.

"Moscow has annexed the southern Ukrainian peninsula, after invading the territory earlier this year.

Ukraine´s Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko meanwhile declared a weeklong unilateral ceasefire to give pro-Russian rebels a chance to disarm and released a sweeping peace plan for curbing the uprising.

The 14-point initiative came after two calls made by Poroshenko to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin to try to garner his support.

The US Treasury Department blacklisted seven Ukraine separatists, saying their activities threaten the peace and sovereignty of the country.

Topping the list was Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the rebel leader in the eastern separatist stronghold of Slavyansk whose group kidnapped observers from the European security body OSCE in May and continues to hold them.

The US is "confident" that Moscow sent tanks and rocket launchers last week from the deployment site in southwest Russia into eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists are fighting to break away Kiev, Psaki said.

Washington has information that "additional tanks have been prepared for departure" at the same site, she added, saying artillery had also been gathered at a deployment site.

Russia to challenge US sanctions at WTO

MOSCOW: Russia will contest US sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine at the World Trade Organisation, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday.

"The United States has introduced sanctions against Russia which will have negative consequences for external trade. We have decided to challenge them at the WTO," Medvedev said in televised comments.

Washington has slapped sanctions on high-ranking Russian officials and businesses belonging to close allies of President Vladimir Putin over Moscow´s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March and accusations the Kremlin is stirring up a separatist rebellion. Russia -- which joined the WTO in 2012 -- has already launched several challenges against similar punitive measures by the European Union but this is the first time it has taken on the US sanctions.

Medvedev said that challenging the US penalties would "not be simple as the United States is the authority at the WTO." The West has said it is ready to impose a fresh round of broader economic sanctions on Russia if it continues to destabilise the situation in eastern Ukraine. (AFP)

Russia adopts war-time rhetoric in showdown with Ukraine

MOSCOW: Russian official rhetoric has increasingly compared events in Ukraine to the darkest crimes of Nazi Germany, ahead of next week´s anniversary of Soviet victory in World War II.

Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, Russian television and officials have made frequent references to the "fascists" Moscow claims are now running Ukraine.

But the latest outbreak of deadly violence has seen the official Moscow propaganda reach new heights, analysts said.

The fire in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa that claimed at least 42 lives on Friday has been swiftly dubbed a new "reprisal raid" and even the "new Khatyn," a reference to the Belarussian village where 149 residents were burned alive by the Nazis in 1943.

The entire village was punished for the death of a Nazi officer and the Nazi battalion behind the massacre consisted of collaborators including nationalists from western Ukraine.

The Khatyn massacre went down in Russian history books as one of the Nazis´ most brutal "reprisal raids," a term the Kremlin has now adopted to describe the offensive Kiev authorities have launched against pro-Moscow rebels in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin´s spokesman on Saturday pointedly referred to the Odessa tragedy as a "reprisal raid," saying "extremists" burned people alive.

State television and officials went even further by overtly likening the Odessa blaze to a Nazi-style massacre.

"What has happened, especially in the Trade Unions House, brings to mind the crimes of the Nazis during World War II," pro-Kremlin lawmaker Leonid Slutsky told reporters in Moscow, referring to the Odessa fire.

"These are the new Khatyn and Auschwitz."A senior official in the pro-Kremlin government of Crimea, Ukraine´s peninsula taken over by Russia in March, chimed in.

"The last time people were burned alive in Ukraine was by the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War," Rustam Temirgaliyev said on Facebook, referring to the Russian name for World War II.

Russia assures US it won’t invade Ukraine

KOSTYANTYNIVKA: Moscow has assured Washington it will not invade Ukraine, the US Defense Department said after the United States and Europe imposed fresh sanctions on Russia over its role in the former Soviet republic.

As Western powers stepped up the pressure on Moscow over the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War, the White House on Monday slapped sanctions on seven Russian officials and 17 firms close to President Vladimir Putin.

The European Union said it was adding 15 names to its own list while Canada added nine names and two banks.

Tensions on the ground in Ukraine spiked when a pro-Moscow mayor was shot and badly wounded and rebels seized another town.

The Pentagon said that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel had spoken by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and that "Shoigu reiterated his assurance that Russian forces would not invade Ukraine".

Defense Department spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby, in a statement, said the two men discussed a range of issues related to the situation in Ukraine, with Hagel requesting clarification of Russia´s intentions in eastern Ukraine.

Hagel urged an end to Russia´s "destabilising influence inside Ukraine and warned that continued aggression would further isolate Russia and result in more diplomatic and economic pressure," Kirby said.

The Pentagon chief also asked for Moscow´s help in securing the release of seven inspectors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe being held in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow said that, during the phone call with Hagel, Shoigu called on the United States to tone down its rhetoric on the Ukraine crisis.

The Kremlin vowed there would be a "painful" response for Washington to the sanctions imposed.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency that Moscow was "disgusted" by the US action, which he said showed Washington had "completely lost touch with reality".

 

Obama: Sectoral sanctions if Russia enters Ukraine

 

AP Barack Obama reacts to a reporter's question asking him if he would rescue Russian President Vladimir Putin if he was drowning during a news conference in Seoul on Friday.

The U.S. and Europe are laying the groundwork to sanction broad sections of Russia’s economy if Moscow mounts a military incursion in eastern Ukraine, President Barack Obama said on Friday, even as he acknowledged those sanctions may fail to deter Vladimir Putin.

“We’ll continue to keep some arrows in our quiver in the event we see further deterioration,” Mr. Obama said during a news conference in South Korea.

Seeking to convey strong unity among the U.S. and European nations, Mr. Obama said he was “deeply encouraged” by the consistent condemnation of Russia’s actions in Crimea that have emanated from capitals in Europe, North America and across the globe.

Still, Mr. Obama conceded that those statements of condemnation, as well as sanctions levied on Russia so far, have not persuaded Russia’s leaders to change course. But he insisted that Mr. Putin understands the economic hit Russia has already taken as a result of its actions, adding that the Russian President “is not stupid.”

The crisis in Ukraine has continually trailed Mr. Obama as he travels across Asia this week. As Mr. Obama opened a visit to South Korea on Friday, Russia’s Foreign Minister accused the West of plotting to control Ukraine. A day earlier, Russia announced new military exercises near its border with Ukraine in yet another sign that tensions have only increased.

Russia, West lock horns on Ukraine at UN crisis talks

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. Security Council met late Sunday in emergency session as violence escalated in eastern Ukraine, hours before a Monday morning deadline for pro-Russia protesters to lay down their arms or face Ukrainian troops.

Russia called the meeting shortly after Ukrainian special forces exchanged gunfire Sunday with a pro-Russia militia in an eastern city, and at least one security officer was killed and five others wounded.

Ukraine´s president accused its powerful neighbor of fomenting unrest, and announced that his government would deploy armed forces Monday to quash an increasingly bold pro-Russian insurgency.

"At this moment, Ukraine teeters on the brink," Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco told Security Council members.

Ethnic Russians in Ukraine´s east fear that the country´s new pro-Western government will oppress them, and are demanding to have referendums on autonomy and possible annexation by Russia.

Fernandez-Taranco said U.N. monitors in eastern Ukraine have described seeing pro-separatist protesters as being armed with machine guns and sniper rifles.

"The fact is that many of the armed units that we´ve seen were outfitted in bulletproof vests, camouflage uniforms with insignia removed," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said. "These armed units ... raised Russian and separatist flags over seized buildings and have called referendums and union with Russia. We know who is behind this.

"Russia has tens of thousands of troops massed along Ukraine´s eastern border, and there are fears that Moscow might use the violence in the mainly Russian-speaking region as a pretext for an invasion, in a repeat of events in Crimea weeks ago.

"This is not a war between Ukrainians, this was artificially created," said Ukraine´s U.N. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied Western and Ukrainian claims that Moscow was behind the violence, and told U.N. diplomats that Ukraine has been using radical neo-Nazi forces to destabilize its eastern region. "It is the West that will determine the opportunity to avoid civil war in Ukraine. Some people, including in this chamber, do not want to see the real reasons for what is happening in Ukraine and are constantly seeing the hand of Moscow in what is going on," Churkin said.

"Enough. That is enough."He said after the meeting that he hoped Western powers would pressure Ukraine to rethink its deadline for sending in troops. "Whether they are going to put an end to this provocation by Kiev, this is their responsibility to prevent further escalation of this crisis," Churkin said.

Russia, West lock horns on Ukraine at UN crisis talks

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. Security Council met late Sunday in emergency session as violence escalated in eastern Ukraine, hours before a Monday morning deadline for pro-Russia protesters to lay down their arms or face Ukrainian troops.

Russia called the meeting shortly after Ukrainian special forces exchanged gunfire Sunday with a pro-Russia militia in an eastern city, and at least one security officer was killed and five others wounded.

Ukraine´s president accused its powerful neighbor of fomenting unrest, and announced that his government would deploy armed forces Monday to quash an increasingly bold pro-Russian insurgency.

"At this moment, Ukraine teeters on the brink," Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco told Security Council members.

Ethnic Russians in Ukraine´s east fear that the country´s new pro-Western government will oppress them, and are demanding to have referendums on autonomy and possible annexation by Russia.

Fernandez-Taranco said U.N. monitors in eastern Ukraine have described seeing pro-separatist protesters as being armed with machine guns and sniper rifles.

"The fact is that many of the armed units that we´ve seen were outfitted in bulletproof vests, camouflage uniforms with insignia removed," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said. "These armed units ... raised Russian and separatist flags over seized buildings and have called referendums and union with Russia. We know who is behind this.

"Russia has tens of thousands of troops massed along Ukraine´s eastern border, and there are fears that Moscow might use the violence in the mainly Russian-speaking region as a pretext for an invasion, in a repeat of events in Crimea weeks ago.

"This is not a war between Ukrainians, this was artificially created," said Ukraine´s U.N. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied Western and Ukrainian claims that Moscow was behind the violence, and told U.N. diplomats that Ukraine has been using radical neo-Nazi forces to destabilize its eastern region. "It is the West that will determine the opportunity to avoid civil war in Ukraine. Some people, including in this chamber, do not want to see the real reasons for what is happening in Ukraine and are constantly seeing the hand of Moscow in what is going on," Churkin said.

"Enough. That is enough."He said after the meeting that he hoped Western powers would pressure Ukraine to rethink its deadline for sending in troops. "Whether they are going to put an end to this provocation by Kiev, this is their responsibility to prevent further escalation of this crisis," Churkin said.

Pakistan, Russia to improve ties

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia have decided to improve their multi-dimension ties and for the first time, Pakistan’s parliamentary delegation led by its speaker SardarAyaz Sadiq is proceeding to Moscow next Sunday on a bilateral visit.

The six-member delegation is undertaking the visit on the invitation of Chairperson of Federation Council Ms Valentina Matviyenkov, who is in order of precedence, comes after president and prime minister of her country. She is an experienced diplomat and of Ukrainian origin. Well placed sources told The News that the Foreign Office will provide special briefing to the members of the delegation before embarking for the trip.

Former federal minister Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, who is member of the National Assembly from Peshawar, will accompany the speaker as deputy leader of the delegation. Haji Bilour, belongs to the Awami National Party (ANP), that has the history of having close association with the Russian leaders. The parliamentary delegation will also have meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has expressed his keenness to improve relations with Pakistan.

Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq will convey message from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Russian leader, the sources said.The occasion will help strengthening relations between parliaments of the two countries. The delegation from Pakistan will also visit State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament. The delegation will be meeting the Chairman State Duma and will watch the proceedings of the two houses of the Parliament during its stay in the Russian capital.

The delegation from the Russian Parliament will also undertake return visit to Pakistan later and for the purpose an invitation would be extended by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. The delegation will stay in Moscow from 21st of this month till 23rd, and its members will also visit St Petersburg before returning home, the sources said.

Russia again blamed over Tsarnaev

AP A file photo of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased Chechen-origin suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing case.

FBI revives claim that Russian authorities did not share information on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased Chechen-origin suspect

The U.S. and Russia continued to trade blame between their investigative agencies on the Boston Marathon bombing case, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation this week reviving a prior claim that Russian authorities did not share information with it on Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased Chechen-origin suspect.

According to a report in the New York Times citing an Inspector General’s report, “The Russian government declined to provide the FBI with information about [Tamerlan] that would most likely have led to more extensive scrutiny of him at least two years before the attack.”

Quoting unnamed officials, the Times added that the Inspector General’s report found that “it was only after the bombing occurred last April that the Russians shared with the FBI the additional intelligence, including information from a telephone conversation the Russian authorities had intercepted between Mr. Tsarnaev and his mother in which they discussed Islamic jihad.”

However, not many media reports on this subject noted that the claims linked to the FBI were not new, fewer still the Boston bombing case was hobbled as much by blockages to information sharing domestically between U.S. investigative agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, as by limited information from Russia.

Lax cooperation

For example, last year The Hindu reported that even a decade after al-Qaeda’s devastating attack on the U.S. on September 11 2001, lax intelligence cooperation seems to dog law enforcement agencies, leading Senator Susan Collins, a top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, to say what “is troubling to me [is] that this many years after the attacks on our country in 2001, that we still seem to have stovepipes that prevent information from being shared effectively not only among agencies but also within the same agency in one case.”

The FBI at the time had put out a statement that it received a Russian alert in 2011 that Tamerlan “was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer, and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the U.S. for travel to the country’s region to join unspecified underground groups.” This statement was repeated in the Inspector General’s report, as quoted by the Times.

The FBI also said its subsequent interview with Tamerlan and a search for information did not yield evidence of terrorism activity. Since then the FBI also “requested but did not receive more specific or additional information,” from Russia, the agency added.

However, the fact that appeared to receive less public attention was that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had “multiple” contacts with the FBI and at least one was after October 2011, according to reported remarks of Senator Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican who is also on the Intelligence Committee. From the evidence available so far, it appears that information “was not shared with the original team who interviewed Tamerlan,” or with other DHS officials.

The allegations in the report criticising Russian intelligence services come on the back of deteriorating relations between Washington and Moscow, especially in the wake of Russia annexing Crimea from Ukraine, and, last year, granting temporary asylum to Edward Snowden, the whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor who supplied media with confidential documents on the NSA’s surveillance activities.

Russia warns Ukraine

 

AP Pro-Russian activists set their flags over the entrance to the regional administration building in Donetsk, Ukraine on Tuesday.

Russia warned Ukraine’s authorities that the use of force to suppress protests in the Russian-speaking eastern regions could trigger civil war.

Moscow voiced particular concern over the deployment in the east of ‘about 150’ American mercenaries from the Greystone private army disguised as Ukrainian military personnel.

Kiev has reportedly sent army and national guard forces to eastern Ukraine to quell pro-Russian protests. On Monday protesters in Donetsk proclaimed the region’s independence from Ukraine and called for a referendum to join Russia.

“We are calling for the immediate cessation of any military preparations, which are fraught with unleashing civil war,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Late on Monday Ukrainian security forces evicted pro-Russian protesters from the local government headquarters in Kharkiv and the Ukrainian security service building in Donetsk which had been captured on Sunday, the government in Kiev announced. However, protesters continued to occupy the security services headquarters in Lugansk. They have armed themselves with firearms seized from the arsenal in the building.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Avakov said on Tuesday about 70 ‘separatists’ had been detained in Kharkiv.

“An anti-terrorist operation has been launched. The city centre is blocked along with metro stations. Do not worry. Once we finish, we will open them again,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to press the need for a ‘deep and transparent constitutional reform involving all political forces and regions’ that would make Ukraine a federative non-bloc state.

Mr. Lavrov said Moscow was ready to take part in four-party talks over the crisis with Ukraine, the European Union (EU) and the U.S. proposed by Mr. Kerry. However, he said protesters from Ukraine’s eastern regions should also take part in the talks and their agenda should include a constitutional reform in Ukraine.

“No multilateral talks will be effective if they ignore the legitimate interests of Ukraine’s south and east and their indignation over the way Kiev has been treating them,” Mr. Lavrov told a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday.

The Russian Minister angrily rejected U.S. claims that the protests in Ukraine’s eastern regions were ‘a carefully orchestrated campaign with Russian support.’

To say this means ‘laying their own blame at our door,’ Mr. Lavrov retorted, recalling that the U.S. had spent billions of dollars financing pro-Western protests in Kiev, which led to the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

After US, Japan imposes sanctions on Russia over Crimea

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida says that Japan does not recognise the outcome of Crimea's referendum

Japan on Tuesday imposed some modest sanctions on Russia for its recognition of Crimea as an independent state suspending talks on relaxing visa requirements between the two countries and talks on investment, space exploration and military cooperation.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said in a statement that Japan does not recognise the outcome of Crimea’s referendum to split from Ukraine, saying it violates the Ukrainian constitution. “It is regretful that Russia’s recognition of the independence of Crimea interferes with the integrity of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory,” Kishida told reporters.
“We cannot overlook Russia’s attempt to change the status quo by force.” The moves are seen as mild compared to sanctions by the US and European Union, which have frozen the assets of individuals linked to the unrest in Crimea or who support the region’s vote to secede from Ukraine.
But Japanese officials said that an investment seminar sponsored by private institute but also backed by both governments that is scheduled for tomorrow was still on. Ties between Russia and Japan have been strained for decades due to a dispute over a cluster of Russian-controlled islands off the northern island of Hokkaido called the southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
The dispute has kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty after World War II. But last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that negotiations toward forging a treaty were accelerating. Abe is also eager to unleash new trade and energy business with Russia that has been hung up by the dispute.
Kishida urged Russia to comply with international laws, withdraw the recognition of Crimea’s independence and not move further toward its annexation.

Crimea’s return to Russia leaves Tatars fearful of future

Demonstration against the Russian annexation of Ukraine in Moscow.

Among the voices drowned out by victory celebrations across Crimea as it voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia were those of the Tatars, a minority group for whom the prospect of a return to Moscow rule brings only fear and uncertainty.
The Sunni Muslims, who are of Turkic origin, consider Crimea their home, and their deportation to Central Asia by Soviet forces during World War Two and earlier suppression by Josef Stalin meant they were far more comfortable with Ukraine. Now they face being dragged into modern-day Russia against their will, despite their boycott of Sunday’s referendum in which 97 percent of voters in the Russian-majority region were said to have rejected Kiev.
Tatars account for 12 per cent of the Black Sea peninsula’s population of two million people and their protest was not enough to change the outcome of a vote that has brought East-West relations to their lowest ebb since the Cold War.
“Why do I not want to be a part of Russia?” asked Mustafa Asaba, a regional leader of Crimean Tatars. “Russia’s government is unpredictable, because at its head sits a dictator,” he said, referring to President Vladimir Putin who has masterminded the annexation of Crimea and alarmed Europe and the United States in the process. Asaba, wearing a traditional black wool hat, said he feared pro-Russian agitators in Crimea would resort to “provocation” to chip away at Tatars’ identity, by curtailing their language, culture and religion.
“We have always enjoyed freedom of expression … and I think that if they oppress us, we will resist,” he told Reuters at a friend’s home in the windswept town of Belogorsk, 50 km (30 miles) east of the Crimean capital Simferopol.
“There will be trials and prisons. Nothing good will come of it.”
The stocky 58-year-old was born in Uzbekistan, where his family was banished in the 1944 deportation – punishment for Tatars who joined special Nazi units and fought the Soviets. Many also served in the Red Army, but when Soviet troops retook the Black Sea peninsula, Stalin punished the entire Tatar population by loading them into railway cattle cars to spend a life in exile. Many died from disease or starvation, and Tatars were only allowed back to Crimea in the 1980s under Mikhail Gorbachev.
Hard Times
Crimean Tatars, who have not been afraid to express their views during the crisis, draw on the hardships of the past to steel themselves for what they expect will be hard times ahead.
“If the worst-case scenario comes about (joining Russia) – and we still hope it will not happen – I think our people have been through worse times, including deportation and living under curfew in Uzbekistan,” Asaba said. He believed only a small number of Tatars would leave Crimea now that it looks destined to become part of Russia –

US ready to impose sanctions on Russia, Obama warns Putin

In this March 6, 2014, photo, President Barack Obama talks about the situation in Ukraine, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington.

President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday the United States rejected the results of a secession referendum in Ukraine’s Crimea region and warned that Washington was ready to impose sanctions on Moscow over the crisis.
With Washington and its European allies expected to slap “targeted” punitive measures on Russian officials as early as Monday, the White House said Obama made clear to Putin that the dispute could still be resolved diplomatically but that Russia first must halt military incursions into Ukrainian territory.
Confirming what was considered a foregone conclusion in Sunday’s hastily called referendum in Crimea, a region with a Russian-speaking majority, regional authorities said that with over half the vote counted 95.5 percent had chosen the option of annexation of the strategic peninsula by Moscow.
The regional government in Crimea, now controlled by Russian forces, went ahead with the ballot despite fierce US and European opposition, underscoring the West’s limited leverage in the worst standoff of its kind since the end of the Cold War.
“He (Obama) emphasized that Russia’s actions were in violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and that, in coordination with our European partners, we are prepared to impose additional costs on Russia for its actions,” the White House said in a summary of Obama’s telephone call with Putin.
Obama suggested to Putin that the referendum was a sham carried out “under duress of Russian military intervention” and Washington and the international community would never accept the results, the White House said.
According to the Kremlin, Putin told Obama the referendum on union with Russia was legitimate the two leaders agreed on the need to cooperate to stabilize Ukraine. The readouts of the call from both capitals spoke of the need to deploy international monitors to Ukraine.
Amid accusations from Republican critics that Obama had not shown enough resolve against Putin, the US administration appeared intent on proving it was not bluffing over its threat of consequences for the seizure of Crimea.
US options to prevent Russian from formally absorbing the strategic region are few. But some officials in Washington are hopeful that instead of pressing ahead with such a provocative action, Putin may hold off for now, seeking to avoid further escalation of the crisis.
White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said the administration would step up pressure on Russia. “You can expect sanctions designations in the coming days,” Pfeiffer told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” as the administration prepared to identify Russians whom the United States will seek to punish with visa bans and asset freezes the president authorized earlier this month.

Russia floats own solution to Ukraine crisis

MOSCOW: Russia vowed on Monday to unveil its own solution to the Ukrainian crisis that would run counter to US efforts and would appear to leave room for Crimea to switch over to Kremlin rule.
The unexpected announcement came as Ukraine's new pro-European leaders raced to rally Western support in the face of the seizure by Kremlin-backed forces of the strategic Black Sea peninsula and plans to hold a Sunday referendum on switching Crimea's allegiance from Kiev to Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat to invade Ukraine after a wave of deadly protests toppled a pro-Kremlin regime last month has set off the most explosive crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War.
US President Barack Obama and his European allies are urging Russia to call its troops in Crimea back to their barracks and launch immediate negotiations with the new Ukrainian leadership, which Putin claims rose to power thanks to an "unconstitutional coup".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Putin in a televised meeting Monday that proposals he had received from US Secretary of State John Kerry on resolving the standoff "do not suit us very much" and were "framed as if there exists a conflict between Russia and Ukraine."
He said Russia had prepared a series of counter-proposals that would "take into account the interests of all Ukrainians".
Lavrov said Washington was basing its solution on a recognition of Kiev's new leaders while Russia still considered the ousted Viktor Yanukovych as the legitimate president of Ukraine.
But Lavrov gave no indication about when or where Russia's proposals would be made public.
Putin backs Crimea referendum:
Putin added new urgency to the standoff on Sunday by telling German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron that he fully backed the actions being taken by the self-declared rulers of Crimea -- in power since an end-of-February seizure of the government by pro-Kremlin gunmen.
The Kremlin said Putin stressed "the steps undertaken by the legitimate authorities of Crimea are based on the norms of international law" a comment strongly hinting that Moscow was ready to annex Crimea after handing the peninsula to Ukraine as a "gift" when it was a part of the Soviet empire in 1954.
Merkel whose cautious approach to imposing sanctions on Moscow has clashed with the more hawkish positions of eastern European nations and Washington bluntly responded that the Crimean referendum was "illegal."
US ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt told reporters in Kiev on Monday that Washington "is not prepared to recognise any result of the so-called referendum".
The public vote will ask the predominantly ethnic Russian population to choose between swearing allegiance to Moscow and declaring greater autonomy from Kiev while remaining a part of Ukraine.
Ukraine's interim Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya said that if Crimea's leaders "want more rights and authority, then we are ready to do this."
The country's interim Defence Minister Igor Tenyukh meanwhile said the nation's army already on full combat alert had launched training exercises aimed at evaluating how the heavily outnumbered force could resist an offensive from its nuclear-armed neighbour.
The diplomatic wrangling continued as Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk prepared to fly to the United States to meet Obama and address the UN Security Council.
His first meeting with the US leader on Wednesday should add credibility to Yatsenyuk's untested government and provide Ukraine with a chance to iron out the details of crucial economic relief for its struggling economy.
The White House said Obama will discuss an economic support package that has already seen Washington pledge a quick infusion of more than $1 billion and the European Union promise to issue 11 billion euros ($15 billion) over two years.
Kiev says it needs about 25 billion euros ($35 billion) through 2015 to keep the country running after Russia froze a $15-billion bailout it promised Yanukovych as his reward for rejecting an EU trade deal in November that initially sparked the protests.
Split between Russia and China:
The escalating crisis has seen Obama vow to impose travel bans and asset freezes on Russian officials held responsible for endangering the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
US officials have stressed that Putin himself is not on that list but have also warned that Washington could pull out of a G8 summit the Russian leader is hosting in Sochi in June.
The European Union for its part has halted visa talks and threatened to impose tough economic sanctions unless Putin quickly opens talks with Kiev.
The UN Security Council later on Monday will hold another meeting on Ukraine amid a rare but potentially significant split between allies China and Russia.
Beijing on Sunday affirmed its support for the "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Ukraine a stance that appears to signal that its own concerns about separatist movements in China outweigh the importance of preserving a united front with Russia on foreign affairs.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday warned against "provocative rhetoric and hasty actions" as he appealed for dialogue on Ukraine.
In a separate development, NATO announced it would deploy reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania to monitor the crisis in Ukraine.
Crimea's separatist government said on Monday it had invited the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor the referendum even while keeping the group's military observers from entering the region at gunpoint.
The European security body said it did not recognise the invitation as valid because it had not come from an OSCE members state but only an autonomous region of Ukraine.

Russia won’t switch off gas supply to Europe-Oettinger in magazine

BERLIN: European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger does not expect Russia to switch off gas supplies to Europe over the Ukraine crisis, he told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche in an interview published on Saturday.
"I don't believe it would be in Russia's interests," Oettinger was quoted as saying.
Russian gas export giant Gazprom issued a thinly veiled warning on Friday that it could stop shipping gas to Ukraine over unpaid bills.
Ukraine is a major gas transit nation for supplies from Russia to the European Union, which relies on Russia for about a quarter of its gas.
But Oettinger said a cut-off would not be beneficial for the company: "Gazprom has an interest in its daily sales revenues so that investment is worthwhile and turnover is generated."
Oettinger said if no more gas flowed through Ukraine, it would affect 14 percent of European gas consumption.
In early 2009 Gazprom cut off gas to Ukraine over unpaid bills, leading to reductions in European supplies during a cold winter.
But Oettinger said Europe was better placed to deal with such a scenario given that the winter had been mild, gas storage sites were fuller than a year ago and European Union countries were now obliged to ensure they had 30 days' worth of supplies.
"We're in a better position than we were five years ago," he said.

Ukraine expects gas price of $368.5 per 1,000 cubic metres from Russia

KIEV: Russia's Gazprom is likely to increase the price Ukraine pays for its gas supplies to $368.5 per 1,000 cubic metres in the second quarter of this year, Interfax news agency quoted the Ukrainian energy minister as saying on Sunday.
Russia agreed in December to cut gas prices for Ukraine to $268.50 per 1,000 cubic metres from around $400, as part of a bailout package following Kiev's decision to reject closer ties with the European Union and turn to Russia instead.
The overthrow of Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich as Ukraine's president and the new government's pro-Western policies have put that deal in doubt.
"From Russia we expect to pay about $368.5 in the second quarter," Fuel and Energy Minister Yuri Prodan was quoted as telling reporters.

Russia reinforces military presence in Crimea

Ukrainian riot police stand at the entrance of the regional administrative building during a pro Russian rally in Donetsk, Ukraine. (AP)

Dozens of military trucks transporting heavily armed soldiers rumbled over Crimea’s rutted roads Saturday as Russia reinforced its armed presence on the disputed peninsula in the Black Sea. Moscow’s foreign minister ruled out any dialogue with Ukraine’s new authorities, whom he dismissed as the puppets of extremists.
The Russians have denied their armed forces are active in Crimea, but an Associated Press reporter trailed one military convoy Saturday afternoon from 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Feodosia to a military airfield at Gvardeiskoe north of Simferopol, over which a Russian flag flew.
Some of the army green vehicles had Russian license plates and numbers indicating that they were from the Moscow region. Some towed mobile kitchens and what appeared to be mobile medical equipment.
Vladislav Seleznyov, a Crimean-based spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces, told AP that witnesses had reported seeing amphibious military ships unloading around 200 military vehicles in eastern Crimea on Friday night after apparently having crossed the Straits of Kerch, which separates Crimea from Russian territory.
“Neither the equipment, nor the paratroopers have insignia that identify them as Russian, but we have no doubt as to their allegiance,” Seleznyov said.
The amphibious operation appeared to be one of the largest movements of Russian military forces since they appeared in Crimea a week ago.
Seleznyov also said a convoy of more than 60 military trucks was spotted Saturday heading from Feodosia toward Simferopol, the regional capital. An AP reporter caught up with the convoy and trailed it to Russian-controlled airfield. In the rear of the vehicles, heavily armed soldiers could be seen, though none appeared to have identifying badges or insignia. Soldiers spat at the reporters following them.
The regional parliament in Crimea has set a March 16 referendum on leaving Ukraine to join Russia, and senior lawmakers in Moscow said they would support the move, ignoring sanctions threats and warnings from President Barack Obama that the vote would violate international law.
The strategic peninsula in southern Ukraine has become the flashpoint in the battle for Ukraine, where three months of protests sent President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing to Russia. A majority of people in Crimea identify with Russia, and Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet is based in Sevastopol, as is Ukraine’s.
While the U.S. and the EU urged Russia to engage in dialogue with new Ukrainian authorities, the Kremlin has refused to do so, denouncing the change of power in Ukraine as an “unconstitutional coup.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow sees no sense in having a dialogue with Ukraine’s new authorities because, in his view, they kowtow to radical nationalists.
“The so-called interim government isn’t independent, it depends, to our great regret, on radical nationalists who have seized power with arms,” he said at a news conference. He said that nationalist groups use “intimidation and terror” to control Ukraine.
Despite that tough talk, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Grigory Karasin met Saturday with Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, the first such diplomatic contact since the crisis began. In a terse statement, the ministry said only that they discussed issues related to Russian-Ukrainian ties in a “sincere atmosphere.”
At a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine’s new foreign minister, Andrii Deshchytsi spoke hopefully about creation of a contact group made up of foreign ministers of various countries to mediate the crisis. Forming the group was an idea discussed during meetings between Ukraine’s prime minister and European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday.
Deshchytsi said that he learned from mediators that Russia hasn’t “categorically’ refused the idea of permitting a contact group to help broker an end to the dispute.
“The Russians are thinking,” Deshchytsi said, so there is “reason to hope.” He reiterated that the new Ukrainian government understands it is vital to need to establish good relations with all neighbors, including Russia.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow has no intention of annexing Crimea, but that its people have the right to determine the region’s status in a referendum.
The Crimean referendum has been denounced by Ukraine’s new government, and Obama has said it would violate international law. The U.S. moved Thursday to impose its first sanctions on Russians involved in the military occupation of Crimea.
Speaking on BBC on Saturday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that while there is no military response to the recent events of Crimea, the crisis was a reminder of threats to European security and stability.
“I do believe that politicians all over NATO will now rethink the whole thing about investment in security and defense,” he told the BBC. “Obviously, defense comes at a cost but insecurity is much more expensive.”
An international military mission composed of officers from the U.S. and 28 other nations tried again Saturday to enter Crimea, but it was turned back around the town of Armiansk by armed men.
An AP reporter traveling with the 54 observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that after the group had stopped, the armed men fired bursts of automatic weapons fire to halt other unidentified vehicles. No injuries were reported.
In Simferopol, meanwhile, a public ceremony was held for the swearing-in of the first unit in the pro-Russia “Military Forces of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.” About 30 men armed with AK-47s, and another 20 or so unarmed, turned out. They ranged in age from teenagers to a man who looked to be about 60. They were sworn in at a park in front of an eternal flame to those killed in World War II.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Crimean prime minister, came to the ceremony and was greeted by the soldiers with shouts of “Commander!”
He said their main role, at least until the referendum, would be to “keep the peace.” He said he didn’t foresee any fighting with the Ukrainian soldiers still at bases in Crimea.
“We are not enemies with those soldiers who pledged loyalty to the Ukrainian state. They are not our enemies,” Aksyonov said. He said they would be given the chance to go safely back to Ukraine if they want.
In the week since Russia seized control of Crimea, Russian troops have been neutralizing and disarming Ukrainian military bases here. Some Ukrainian units, however, have refused to give up. Aksyonov has said pro-Russian forces numbering more than 11,000 now control all access to the region and have blockaded all military bases that haven’t yet surrendered.
On Friday evening, pro-Russia soldiers tried to take over another Ukrainian base in Sevastopol, resulting in a tense standoff ensued that lasted for several hours.
Lt. Col. Vitaly Onishchenko, deputy commander of the base, said three dozen men wearing unmarked camouflage uniforms arrived late Friday. While one group climbed over a wall on one side of the base, another crashed a heavy military truck through the gates, Onishchenko said.
He said Saturday that they turned off power, cut telephone lines and demanded that about 100 Ukrainian troops, who barricaded themselves into one of the base buildings, surrender their weapons and swear allegiance to Russia. The invaders left around midnight.
No shots were fired in and no injuries were reported.
Russia has described the troops who wear green uniforms without insignia as local “self-defense forces.” But Onishchenko said the troops who tried to overrun his base were clearly Russian.
“These were Russian servicemen specially ordered,” he said. “Their watches were set to Moscow time. They spoke with Russian accents and they didn’t hide their allegiance to the Russian Federation.”

Europe tells Russia to reverse course or face consequences

BRUSSELS: Europe's leaders on Thursday sharply condemned Russia's stand on Ukraine and warned it was readying targeted sanctions within days if Moscow failed to back off and join peace efforts.
Winding up six hours of tough talks to decide a joint response, the European Union's 28 leaders agreed a three-step series of sanctions beginning with the immediate halt of talks on easing visas for Russians as well as discussions over a new economic accord.
A statement demanded that Russia begin negotiations with Ukraine in the next few days, which must "produce results within a limited timeframe," it said.
"In the absence of such results the European Union will decide on additional measures, such as travel bans, asset freezes and the cancellation of the EU-Russia summit" in June.
In a third stage, any steps by Russia "to destabilise the situation in Ukraine would lead to severe and far-reaching consequences for relations... which will include a broad range of economic areas."
"We have got to make sure we get Russia and Ukraine talking to each other," said British Prime Minister David Cameron.
"The Russians will be able to see very clearly the consequences," said Cameron, adding that Britain for its part would look at reviewing its arms sales to Russia.
"I would urge others to do the same," he added. "No area should be off the table"
Ukraine's interim premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk was present at the talks to discuss what EU president Herman Van Rompuy dubbed "perhaps the most serious challenge to security on our continent since the Balkans wars" in the 1990s.
Europe's leaders praised Yatsenyuk and his government for their "measured response" to Moscow's military threat and pledged to unlock a huge aid package of 11 billion euros as rapidly as possible
They also pledged to sign an association accord with Ukraine before the ex-Soviet state holds early elections at the end of May, despite earlier reservations on striking any deals with the interim authorities.
It was the sudden rejection of this pact, years in the making, by ousted president Viktor Yanukovych that triggered pro-EU protests that eventually swept him from power last month.
- Crimea seals EU divisions -
EU nations have been divided on how to respond to Russia's stand on Ukraine, with members from eastern Europe once in the Soviet sphere far tougher than France and Germany, mindful of economic ties with Russia.
When Europe's G8 members, Britain, France, Germany and Italy agreed to suspend preparations for a June summit to be hosted by Putin in Sochi, Berlin and Rome had to be prodded to go along.
"We can't do business as usual," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on arrival.
"There has to be a return to international law, and that means securing the territorial integrity of every country."
Agreeing with Ukraine's interim Prime Minister, the leaders also dubbed as "illegitimate" a request Thursday by the local parliament in Crimea to become part of Russia.
"We urge the Russian government not to support those who advocate separatism," Yatsenyuk had said.
Pro-Moscow lawmakers in Crimea made the request to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said they would put the question to a referendum on March 16.
Putin has been building up "a new wall of intimidation, of military aggression," Yatsenyuk said, calling on the Russian president instead to pull that wall down and to build a "new relationship".
French President Francois Hollande said the developments in Crimea had created "a climate that justified us beefing up our level of response."
Leaders of the EU's four G8 nations first met alone with Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland, who has been a strong proponent of a harsher response.
Alongside Poland is Lithuania, whose head of state Dalia Grybauskaite warned that a "dangerous" Russia is trying to redraw Europe's borders.
"Russia today is dangerous. Russia today is unpredictable."
Warning of a domino effect, Grybauskaite said Russia's muscular approach in Ukraine now posed a direct threat to former Soviet states and others.

Trade issues with Russia to be resolved on priority: Dar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that the political leadership has expressed its resolve to overcome trade issues with Russia and take forward bilateral trade relations.

He was chairing a meeting of the Committee, formed by the Prime Minister to resolve longstanding trade issues between Pakistan and Russia here at the Finance Ministry.

The Finance Minister expressed his desire for expeditious removal of the impasse which is hampering trade relations between the two countries.

He said that there are positive vibes from Russian side for investment in railways and steel manufacturing industry.

He emphasized that "we need to move on fast track for resolution of this outstanding financial dispute, enabling Russian investors to bring in their capital to Pakistan and explore the areas in which they can help."

Secretary Commerce, Qasim Niaz briefed the Committee that there is a lot of potential in enhancing trade relations between the two countries.

He said that as directed by the Prime Minister, the Commerce Ministry is trying its level best for resolving the 15 years old trade related financial disputes.

He said "we are engaged with all the stakeholders including Russian Government and trade community of Pakistan to facilitate the process of resolution of outstanding issue".

He informed the Committee that the parties to the dispute have expressed their inclination for early settlement of the dispute.

The Finance Minister directed Secretary Commerce, Chairman BOI, SA to PM to hold meeting with the stakeholders and present final report before the Committee within a week.

The meeting was also participated by Minister for Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatmi, Dr. Waqar Masood, Finance Secretary, Advisor to Finance Ministry, Rana Assad Amin and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.