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Lavrov accuses West of seeking ‘regime change’ in Russia | Reuters
Lavrov accuses West of seeking ‘regime change’ in Russia | Reuters.
(Reuters) – Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West on Saturday of trying to use sanctions imposed on Moscow in theUkraine crisis to seek “regime change” in Russia.
His comments stepped up Moscow’s war of words with the United States and the European Union in their worst diplomatic standoff since the Cold War ended.
“As for the concept behind to the use of coercive measures, the West is making clear it does not want to force Russia to change policy but wants to secure regime change,” Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as telling a meeting of the advisory Foreign and Defense Policy Council in Moscow.
He said that when international sanctions had been used against other countries such asIran and North Korea, they had been designed not to harm the national economy.
“Now public figures in Western countries say there is a need to impose sanctions that will destroy the economy and cause public protests,” Lavrov said.
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Are Europe and the World Slipping Back Into a 2nd Cold War? – The Epoch Times
Are Europe and the World Slipping Back Into a 2nd Cold War? – The Epoch Times.
Bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East against the backdrop of a breakdown in the dialogue between major powers is of enormous concern. The world is on the brink of a new Cold War, some are even saying that it has already begun. – Mikhail Gorbachev
Gorbachev may be right, but the “new Cold War” is very different to the old one. At the end of the Second World War in 1945, many within the Soviet and American governments had a genuine sense that their wartime alliance should continue. They hoped it would form the cornerstone of a peaceful and prosperous post-war world order divided into their respective spheres of influence.
The bankrupt Brits, in the throes of losing their empire, were less enthusiastic. So too were the Soviet and American hardliners whispering in the ears of Stalin and Truman.
By 1947, the goodwill had vanished. The hardliners were screaming as serious conflicts over Germany, Poland and Iran developed. By 1948, the Soviets and the West were in a standoff over Berlin. By the end of the decade, the Cold War had come to Asia, especially Korea, under the threat of mutually assured destruction by nuclear weapons.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Ukraine Bank Runs Begin As Poroshenko Plans To Sever Socio-Economic Ties With Separatist-Held Regions | Zero Hedge
In what the pro-Russian separatists call “an act of genocide,” Ukraine’s President Poroshenko signed a decree Friday that will explicitly withdraw state support for the regions within a month. While appearing to implicitly recognize the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as autonomous, the decree means that the central bank will no longer service bank accounts, prisoners will be transferred (inmates with minor offences will be released), and perhaps most troubling as the cold winter begins, the order covers all public services, including crucial ones, such as schools, hospitals, and emergency services; and local heating and power plants will be subject to new laws that could involve cutting energy supplies altogether to the plants that don’t pay. Luhansk’s leader exclaimed, “the total socio-economic blockade of Donbass is de facto an act on genocide and devastation of our people,” and as the images below show, bank runs have already begun across the region with long lines forming at ATMs.
Ukraine’s president has ordered the withdrawal of all state services, including funding for hospitals and schools, from rebel-held areas.
Petro Poroshenko issued a decree that also asks parliament to revoke a law granting self-rule to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
* * *
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US-China Relations Fraught With Difficulties, Experts Say – The Epoch Times
US-China Relations Fraught With Difficulties, Experts Say – The Epoch Times.
The talks between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese Communist Party head Xi Jinping during the just concluded APEC meetings in Beijing were a focus for both nations, with long-negotiated deals inked and a joint press conference to announce the results of their meeting. However, two U.S.-based China analysts believe such summitry with Chinese leaders cannot heal relations that are bound to remain shaky and divided.
Special columnist for Fox News and long-time China expert Gordon Chang said that the United States should forgo secret talks with the communist leadership. He recommends the application of pressure on the regime to work on fixing its violations of basic international standards in trade and human rights.
Xia Yeliang, a China analyst at the Cato Institute, a Washington DC-based think tank, stressed that because of the communist regime’s repeated lack of respect for internationally accepted regulations and values, China cannot be treated as an upstanding world power.
Northern Europe beefs up air patrols to oppose ‘Russian invasion’ — RT News
Northern Europe beefs up air patrols to oppose ‘Russian invasion’ — RT News.
Eight northern European nations have agreed to step up military training and data sharing to oppose an alleged “invasion” of airspace by Russia. Moscow increased its air patrols after NATO beefed up its European presence in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
The agreement for closer cooperation between Nordic and Baltic countries and Britain came on Wednesday.
“NATO has recorded over 100 intercepts so far this year, three times as many as in 2013 and the year is not yet finished,” British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said during a news conference. “We will not allow Russia to continue to invade our airspace.”
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Russia To Dispatch Long-Range Bomber Patrols Over Gulf Of Mexico, Caribbean | Zero Hedge
Russia To Dispatch Long-Range Bomber Patrols Over Gulf Of Mexico, Caribbean | Zero Hedge.
While the west is seemingly eager to once again restart the military escalation, if only in rhetoric for now, surrounding the east-Ukraine conflict, leading to a report that the “European Union and the U.S. will weigh further sanctions against Russia’s economy and Ukrainian separatists, after the reported movement of tanks, artillery and combat troops into eastern Ukraine”, Russia has chosen to change track completely and give the US a dose of its own cooking, by bringing the military threat next to the borders of the US itself.
As cited by RIA and Bloomberg, yesterday Russian Defense Minister Shoigu said that “his country’s military will start conducting regular long-range bomber patrols along Russia’s borders and over the Arctic Ocean.” It gets better: while Russia has repeatedly denied it has moved its own troops into east Ukraine contrary to western press reports over the past week, it is making it quite clear it will soon move bombers just off the coast of the US: the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
Quote Shoigu:
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Armenia warns Azeris over helicopter shooting – Europe – Al Jazeera English
Armenia warns Azeris over helicopter shooting – Europe – Al Jazeera English.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry has threatend “grave consequences” after Azerbaijani forces shot down one of its military helicopters.
Wednesday’s development will fuel fears of a major escalation of the long-standing conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan controlled by ethnic Armenians.
The downing is the most serious military incident along the Karabakh frontier since the 1994 ceasefire that ended a bloody war that cost 30,000 lives over the disputed region.
Armenian media reported that the helicopter’s three crew members were all killed.
“A MI-24 combat helicopter attempted to attack positions of the Azerbaijani army near [Karabakh’s] Agdam district,” Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry said in a statement.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: What Have We Learned From 24 Years of War?
oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: What Have We Learned From 24 Years of War?.
The responsibility for starting and ending wars, the way wars are fought and the losses we suffer all rest with our elected civilian leadership.
What have we learned from 24 years of war? Since the First Gulf War in early 1991, the U.S. has had continuous combat operations in one theater or another. After the first war, combat air patrols enforced the No-Fly Zones over Iraq for years, until 9/11 triggered the first phase of the Afghanistan War and President Bush led the nation into the Second Iraqi War in March 2003.
Though this war officially ended with U.S. troop withdrawals in December 2011, the war continues to burn through lives and treasure in Iraq and it continues on in the memories, wounds and lives of veterans and their families.
What have we learned from 24 years of continual warfare? There may be two sets of answers: one set for policy-makers, those we have elected to make the consequential decisions of war and withdrawal, and another set for the citizenry who provide the volunteers who actually fight the wars and the treasure to pay for the wars and their long aftermath.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Obama urges China to be partner in ensuring world order | Reuters
Obama urges China to be partner in ensuring world order | Reuters.
(Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday a successful China was in the interests of the United States and the world but Beijing had to be a partner in underwriting international order, and not undermine it.
Speaking to growing concerns among U.S. and other companies about the Chinese business environment after arriving in Beijing, Obama also urged China to reject the use of cyber theft for commercial gain and create a more level playing field where policy is not used for the benefit of some firms over others.
Obama’s trip to China for an Asia-Pacific summit comes at a time of growing China-U.S. friction with Washington trying to expand American interests in Asia while Chinese President Xi Jinping demonstrates more willingness than his predecessors to demonstrate Beijing’s clout on regional issues.
The two countries have disagreed in recent months on a range of topics, including trade, maritime issues and cyber security, while the United States has lobbied against the setting up of a multilateral infrastructure investment bank sponsored by China.
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ClubOrlov: Putin to Western elites: Play-time is over
ClubOrlov: Putin to Western elites: Play-time is over.
Most people in the English-speaking parts of the world missed Putin’s speech at the Valdai conference in Sochi a few days ago, and, chances are, those of you who have heard of the speech didn’t get a chance to read it, and missed its importance. (For your convenience, I am pasting in the full transcript of his speech below.) Western media did their best to ignore it or to twist its meaning. Regardless of what you think or don’t think of Putin (like the sun and the moon, he does not exist for you to cultivate an opinion) this is probably the most important political speech since Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech of March 5, 1946.
In this speech, Putin abruptly changed the rules of the game. Previously, the game of international politics was played as follows: politicians made public pronouncements, for the sake of maintaining a pleasant fiction of national sovereignty, but they were strictly for show and had nothing to do with the substance of international politics; in the meantime, they engaged in secret back-room negotiations, in which the actual deals were hammered out. Previously, Putin tried to play this game, expecting only that Russia be treated as an equal. But these hopes have been dashed, and at this conference he declared the game to be over, explicitly violating Western taboo by speaking directly to the people over the heads of elite clans and political leaders.
The Russian blogger chipstone summarized the most salient points from Putin speech as follows:
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George Soros Slams Putin, Warns Of “Existential Threat” From Russia, Demands $20 Billion From IMF In “Russia War Effort” | Zero Hedge
If even George Soros is getting concerned and writing Op-Eds, then Putin must be truly winning.
Here are the highlights from what the Open Society founder has to say about the “existential” Russian threat in a just released Op-Ed:
Europe is facing a challenge from Russia to its very existence. Neither the European leaders nor their citizens are fully aware of this challenge or know how best to deal with it. I attribute this mainly to the fact that the European Union in general and the eurozone in particular lost their way after the financial crisis of 2008.
Getting warmer:
[Europe] fails to recognize that the Russian attack on Ukraine is indirectly an attack on the European Union and its principles of governance. It ought to be evident that it is inappropriate for a country, or association of countries, at war to pursue a policy of fiscal austerity as the European Union continues to do.
Even warmer:
All available resources ought to be put to work in the war effort even if that involves running up budget deficits
And hot, hot, hot:
[IMF] should provide an immediate cash injection of at least $20 billion, with a promise of more when needed. Ukraine’s partners should provide additional financing conditional on implementation of the IMF-supported program, at their own risk, in line with standard practice.
And there it is: the Russian “existential” war threat is, to Soros, nothing but an excuse to end the whole (f)austerity experiment (just don’t show Soros Europe’s latest record high debt load), and to return to its drunken sailor spending ways.
…click on the link above to read the rest of the article…
ClubOrlov: How to start a war and lose an empire
ClubOrlov: How to start a war and lose an empire.
A year and a half I wrote an essay on how the US chooses to view Russia, titled The Image of the Enemy. I was living in Russia at the time, and, after observing the American anti-Russian rhetoric and the Russian reaction to it, I made some observations that seemed important at the time. It turns out that I managed to spot an important trend, but given the quick pace of developments since then, these observations are now woefully out of date, and so here is an update.
At that time the stakes weren’t very high yet. There was much noise around a fellow named Magnitsky, a corporate lawyer-crook who got caught and died in pretrial custody. He had been holding items for some bigger Western crooks, who were, of course, never apprehended. The Americans chose to treat this as a human rights violation and responded with the so-called “Magnitsky Act” which sanctioned certain Russian individuals who were labeled as human rights violators. Russian legislators responded with the “Dima Yakovlev Bill,” named after a Russian orphan adopted by Americans who killed him by leaving him in a locked car for nine hours. This bill banned American orphan-killing fiends from adopting any more Russian orphans. It all amounted to a silly bit of melodrama.
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Resource Insights: Oil decline: Price makes the story
Resource Insights: Oil decline: Price makes the story.
When the world’s business editors sent their reporters canvassing to find out what is behind the recent plunge in the world oil price, they were doing what they do almost every day for every type of market: stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities and real estate.
In financial journalism more often it’s the price that makes the story rather than the story that makes the price. If a story is about something very surprising which almost no one can know in advance–a real scoop–say, an unexpected outcome in a major court case affecting a company’s most profitable patent, then the story will move the price of the company’s stock.
But much more often prices move, and then business editors send their reporters to find out why. Usually, a number of financial and industry professionals are asked: Why do you think prices went up/down? Then, the story is written and published.
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