[The eventual fate of the national poll scheduled on May 25, which is looking extremely ncertain at this point of time, will be final clincher, as it seems.] I/III. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/ukraine-crisis-will-be-game-changer-for-nato/500342.html
Ukraine Crisis Will Be 'Game Changer' for NATO - Reuters - May. 18 2014 17:10 - Last edited 17:10 The US Army's 173rd Infantry Brigade carrying out a NATO-led exercise. Artillery and tank fire reverberate around a Baltic airstrip where U.S. paratroopers are fighting alongside Lithuanian soldiers. The battle is just an exercise and it only involves 150 U.S. soldiers -- but the symbolism is clear. With Eastern European states nervous about Russia after it annexed Ukraine's Crimea region and massed 40,000 troops on Ukraine's borders, the U.S. and NATO allies want to show Moscow that former Soviet republics on the Baltic are under the alliance's security umbrella. "We are ready if something were to happen, but we are not looking to start any problems," said Sergeant James Day, from the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade, during war games on the vast Gaiziunai training ground in western Lithuania. That chimes with NATO's current posture. In an initial response to Russia's intervention in Ukraine, the U.S. has sent 600 soldiers to the three Baltic countries -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania -- and Poland to take part in exercises to bolster NATO's presence in Eastern Europe. But the alliance has no inclination to intervene militarily in Ukraine. Longer term, the crisis will have a profound impact on NATO's relations with Russia, its strategy and how it deploys, trains and equips its forces, although Europe has no wish to return to a Cold War-style confrontation between huge armies. The crisis will compel the alliance to refocus on its core mission of defending its members after years in which its main effort has been far away in Afghanistan. The 28-nation military alliance accuses Russia of tearing up the diplomatic rule book with its annexation of Crimea. "For 20 years, the security of the Euro-Atlantic region has been based on the premise that we do not face an adversary to our east. This premise is now in doubt," NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said last month. The crisis, called a "game changer" by Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, will dominate the alliance's agenda as it prepares for a summit in Wales in September, which will mark the imminent end of the NATO-led combat mission in Afghanistan. The U.S., Britain, Denmark, France, Canada and Germany have sent or promised extra fighter aircraft to increase patrols and training over the Baltics, Poland or Romania. A fleet of nine minehunters from NATO countries has been dispatched to the Baltic and another task force of five ships to the eastern Mediterranean. In the longer term, NATO will consider permanently stationing forces in Eastern Europe, something it has refrained from doing in the 15 years since the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined the alliance after the fall of the Berlin Wall. NATO will also have to think about how it deals with the unorthodox tactics used by Russia in Crimea, including exploiting political divisions, using large-scale military exercises as cover for intervention, and denying Russian troops were operating in the peninsula. The crisis has already affected relations between NATO and Russia, which have cooperated uneasily in recent years in areas such as combating terrorism, piracy and Afghan drug-trafficking. NATO suspended cooperation with Russia last month over Crimea. The damage is not likely to be repaired as quickly as after Russia's 2008 war with Georgia, when a freeze in top-level contacts between NATO and Russia lasted barely six months. "As compared, say, with the reset after the Georgia war, this is going to be a much more prolonged and difficult period," said a senior NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity. President Vladimir Putin declared in March he had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian speakers there, causing alarm in NATO members Estonia and Latvia, which have large ethnic Russian minorities of their own. Officials at NATO are asking themselves if Putin would seriously consider challenging a NATO member, although if it tangled with a NATO member state, Russia would also be risking a confrontation with the U.S. "Just as NATO does not want a war with Russia, so too Russia does not want a war with NATO, because the risks on both sides are global and catastrophic," said Samuel Charap of the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. So far, NATO has reinforced eastern allies with short-term deployments that will continue until at least the end of the year. If tensions with Russia persist, NATO may look at longer term ways to beef up its presence. NATO's top military commander, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, said last week that NATO would have to consider permanently stationing troops in parts of Eastern Europe. II/III. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-country-nearing-point-of-no-return-warns-un-official-9391643.html Ukraine crisis: Country nearing 'point of no return', warns UN official Ivan Simonovic said there is a 'window of opportunity' that must be used if the crisis is to be resolved ANTONIA MOLLOY <http://www.independent.co.uk/biography/antonia-molloy> Sunday 18 May 2014 Ukraine is on the brink of chaos, a senior UN official has warned. UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic told the BBC<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27458871> that Ukraine is approaching "the point of no return", as there continues to be no resolution to the crisis. Mr Simonovic said that tensions between government forces and pro-separatists had worrying echoes of the 1990s war in Croatia, where he was born. Over the weekend the Russian foreign ministry issued a statement condemning what it described as a sharp escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian militants have declared "people's republics" in Donetsk and Luhansk, following an unofficial referendum in favour of independence. The separatists have refused to participate in EU-brokered talks being held in Kharkiv in a bid to resolve the crisis, saying they are willing to discuss only the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops and the recognition of the independence of the regions. On Saturday, a man named Alexander Borodai was appointed as prime minister for the so-called People's Republic of Donetsk, the BBC reported. Mr Simonovic told the broadcaster: "What I'm really afraid is that country is approaching to a point of no return if there is no adequate and urgent action taken." The UN says it has documented innumerable episodes of abduction, torture and murder in the south and east of the country. And Mr Simonovic said that although these incidents were committed by both sides in the conflict, the majority were by the separatists, An election for the new Ukrainian president is scheduled for 25 May, following the ousting of Russia-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February, after months of protests in Kiev. Mr Simonovic added that although he hoped the election would go ahead it would be "extremely difficult". "I firmly believe that there is a window of opportunity that should be used," he said. On Saturday lawmakers and officials from eastern Ukraine poured criticism on the fledging central government, accusing it of ignoring legitimate grievances of the regions which have been overrun by separatists. But acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on the eastern leaders to resist the armed men and support the government's efforts to devolve powers to the regions. No representatives of the separatists from Donetsk and Luhansk were present at the talks. Oleksandr Bandurka, a Communist party lawmaker and police general from central Ukraine, said that these negotiations make no sense because "we're not talking to those who oppose us. We cannot ignore them". Ukraine's first president, Leonid Kravchuk, who is chairing the talks, angrily reacted that "no one in the world talks to killers and terrorists. Putin doesn't talk to terrorists". Russia has pushed for the federalization of Ukraine, since that would allow Moscow to retain influence over areas in Ukraine dominated by Russian-speakers. Many in eastern Ukraine and in the capital favour closer ties to Europe and fear being pulled back into Moscow's orbit. Volodymyr Groisman, acting prime minister in charge of the reforms to decentralize the government, countered the claims of some eastern lawmakers that only federalization will bring peace to Ukraine. "You were saying the unitary system of government is no longer effective?" Groisman said. "An inefficient government and dirty politics -- this is what led to the fact that so many people in our country are poor." Attempting to end the talks on a conciliatory note, Yatsenyuk quoted Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko and told the leaders from eastern Ukraine: "We are ready to embrace you and hope that you are too." US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki rejected the "illegal actions" of pro-Russian militants. But she said the US supports the efforts by "elected and legitimate representatives" meeting in Kharkiv "to discuss constitutional and nonviolent approaches to resolving their differences". "Any decisions made about Ukraine must be taken by those with lawful authority, representing the citizens of Ukraine as a whole, and not under threat of foreign military intervention," she said. The next round of talks is expected to be held in the central city of Cherkasy on Wednesday. *Additional reporting by A**ssociated Press* III. http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/item/670360-senators-push-to-halt-pentagon-arms-deals-with-russia-over-ukraine-crisis Senators push to halt Pentagon arms deals with Russia over Ukraine crisis Media Sources<http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/user/230-mediasources> // Sunday, 18 May 2014 02:50 // - the International<http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/tag/the%20International> - ukraine <http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/tag/ukraine> - White House<http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/tag/White%20House> - Jay Carney <http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/tag/Jay%20Carney> - insurgents <http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/tag/insurgents> - the Pentagon<http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/tag/the%20Pentagon> - U S <http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/itemlist/tag/U%20S> - May 16, 2014 - An armed man of the Donbass Battalion, a non-affiliated militia group that has stated its intent to fight in support of Ukrainian unity, is on guard at a base near Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. The group says it has reclaimed Velyka Novosilka from pro-Russian separatists with the self-styled Donetsk Peoples Republic, an anti-government movement that has over the past few weeks been seizing government offices and declared its intent to merge the Donetsk region with Russia. AP A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation banning Pentagon contracts with Russian arms dealer Rosoboronexport amid the crisis in Ukraine. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
