Thread: What Is Happening In Ukraine Is Far More Important Than Most People Realize

Ron Paul: US Attempting Empire Building In Ukraine - Former congressman says "It's a mess".

http://www.infowars.com/ron-paul-us-...ng-in-ukraine/

Crimea May (Or May Not) Be Part Of Russia As Of This Moment

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/06/2014 08:49 -0500

Moments ago, Reuters blasted the following headline:

DECREE MAKING CRIMEA PART OF RUSSIA HAS COME INTO FORCE FROM MOMENT OF ADOPTION; RUSSIAN ARMED FORCES ARE ONLY LEGITIMATE FORCES IN REGION -DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF CRIMEA

On the surface, this would mean that the Russian annexation of the Crimea if complete (and East Ukraine is coming). Especially when one considers that earlier Crimea also said it could adopt the Russian rouble as its currency and "nationalise" state property as part of plans to join the Russian Federation, a regional official was quoted as saying on Thursday.

The only problem as we reported earlier is that Kiev opened a criminal investigation against Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Askyonov, who was appointed by the region's parliament last week. The Ukrainian government does not recognise his authority or that of the parliament. In other words, Kiev will not respect the Crimea's popular choice, even if it is fully supported by Putin, which means that a showdown, one in which Russia proclaims it is defending the democracy of the Crimea against the Kiev government, is now almost inevitable.

Meanwhile, RT has decided to already add the region to Russian territory:

Russia Today has already changed their map... pic.twitter.com/wNJ4rWuf7K
— Dave Keating (@DaveKeating) March 6, 2014


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...-russia-moment

CHILLING EXECUTIVE ORDER: Obama Bans Critics of Ukraine Coup From Entering U.S.

BY ADMIN · MARCH 6, 2014

Executive order suspends entry rights of anyone who “undermines” Ukrainian “democracy”

Obama “has signed an Executive Order that authorizes sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for activities undermining democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine.” Putin, however, was left off the list of those targeted.

You can read the Executive Order here.

Washington (CNN) – President Obama signed an Executive Order Thursday allowing the U.S. government to impose a host of sanctions on both individuals and entities deemed to be violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.


In a phone call with reporters, senior administration officials discussed the Executive Order and said it is intended to, “send a strong message that we intend to impose costs on Russia for this intervention.” And will give the U.S. government “powerful and flexible tools” to target those who are believed to be violating international law.

One official says the State Department is imposing visa restrictions on certain individuals. “The authority allows us to add people to the visa ban list, and we will be looking at additional names.” “We have this authority, are implementing it, and we will be restricting visas as well as pulling a number of visas where people already have them,” he said.

Another official confirmed to CNN that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not on the list, and added that, “It is an unusual and extraordinary circumstance to sanction a head of state, and we would not begin our designations by doing so.”

The order also allows the Treasury Department to impose financial sanctions on individuals and entities. Anyone “misappropriating state assets of Ukraine. And… those purporting to assert governmental authority over any part of Ukraine without authorization from the Ukrainian government in Kiev.” could face sanctions an administration official said.

Another senior administration official says the U.S. has also, “canceled military exercises and joint consultations with Russia… while providing additional assurance to our Eastern European allies about our commitment to their security.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney issued the following statement:

“As President Obama has made clear, the United States is pursuing and reviewing a wide range of options in response to Russia’s ongoing violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – actions that constitute a threat to peace and security and a breach of international law, including Russia’s obligations under the UN Charter and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine, and that are inconsistent with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the Helsinki Final Act.

“Pursuant to the President’s guidance, today the State Department is putting in place visa restrictions on a number of officials and individuals, reflecting a policy decision to deny visas to those responsible for or complicit in threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. This new step stands in addition to the policy already implemented to deny visas to those involved in human rights abuses related to political oppression in Ukraine.

“In addition, the President has signed an Executive Order that authorizes sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for activities undermining democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine; threatening the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine; contributing to the misappropriation of state assets of Ukraine; or purporting to assert governmental authority over any part of Ukraine without authorization from the Ukrainian government in Kyiv. This E.O. is a flexible tool that will allow us to sanction those who are most directly involved in destabilizing Ukraine, including the military intervention in Crimea, and does not preclude further steps should the situation deteriorate.

“These actions build upon the previous actions the United States has taken, including suspending bilateral discussions with Russia on trade and investment; suspending other bilateral meetings on a case-by-case basis; putting on hold U.S.-Russia military-to-military engagement, including exercises, bilateral meetings, port visits, and planning conferences; and our agreement with G-7 nations to suspend for the time being our participation in activities associated with the preparation of the scheduled G-8 Summit in Sochi in June. Depending on how the situation develops, the United States is prepared to consider additional steps and sanctions as necessary.

“At the same time, as the President has said, we seek to work with all parties to achieve a diplomatic solution that de-escalates the situation and restores Ukraine’s sovereignty. We call on Russia to take the opportunity before it to resolve this crisis through direct and immediate dialogue with the Government of Ukraine, the immediate pull-back of Russia’s military forces to their bases, the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and support for the urgent deployment of international observers and human rights monitors who can assure that the rights of all Ukrainians are protected, including ethnic Russians, and who can support the Ukrainian government’s efforts to hold a free and fair election on May 25.

“As we follow developments in Ukraine closely, the United States reaffirms its unwavering commitment to our collective defense commitments under the North Atlantic Treaty. We will continue to pursue measures that reinforce those commitments, to include the provision of additional support to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission and our aviation detachment in Poland.”

CNN



http://asheepnomore.net/2014/03/06/c...-entering-u-s/

Crimea Parliament "Accelerates Crisis", Votes To Join Russia

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/06/2014 07:24 -0500

While the world is convinced that Putin's Tuesday press conference was an admission of blinking to the west, the reality is anything but that, and hours ago Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum within 10 days on the decision in what Reuters said is a "a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula." To be sure, the Crimea - which has an ethnic Russian majority - affiliation to Moscow as opposed to Kiev is well-known, yet still the sudden acceleration of moves to bring Crimea formally under Moscow's rule came as European Union leaders gathered for an emergency summit to seek ways to pressure Russia to back down and accept mediation. And now all Putin has to do is sit back and say the people have spoken and without spilling a drop of blood has effectively split the country in two parts, with the entire east of Ukraine, where pro-Russian sentiment also runs high - sure to follow Crimea. Just as we said from the very beginning.

From Reuters:

The Crimean parliament voted unanimously "to enter into the Russian Federation with the rights of a subject of the Russian Federation". The vice premier of Crimea, home to Russia's Black Sea military base in Sevastopol, said a referendum on the status would take place on March 16. The announcement, which diplomats said could not have been made without Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval, raised the stakes in the most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War.

Far from seeking a diplomatic way out, Putin appears to have chosen to create facts on the ground before the West can agree on more than token action against him.

EU leaders had been set to warn but not sanction Russia over its military intervention after Moscow rebuffed Western diplomatic efforts to persuade it to pull forces in Crimea, with a population of about 2 million, back to their bases. It was not immediately clear what impact the Crimean moves would have.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a Twitter message: "We stand by a united and inclusive #Ukraine."

French President Francois Hollande told reporters on arrival at the summit: "There will be the strongest possible pressure on Russia to begin lowering the tension and in the pressure there is, of course, eventual recourse to sanctions."

To be sure, the new Kiev government - which may or may not have killed its own citizens in order to rise to power while blaming the atrocities on Yanukovich as described yesterday - has responded in kind to how Putin views them, and declared the referendum illegal and opened a criminal investigation against Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Askyonov, who was appointed by the region's parliament last week. The Ukrainian government does not recognise his authority or that of the parliament. Still, it is by now far too late for Kiev to enforce its will in Crimea.
In the meantime, and confirming that Putin has all the cards, EU leaders had been set to warn but not sanction Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine after Moscow rebuffed Western diplomatic efforts to persuade it to pull forces in Crimea back to their bases. According to EU sources the leaders gathered in Brussels delayed the discussion on sanctions to Russia to a new meeting in two weeks. As we stated yesterday, due to stern German industrial lobby objection, Europe will never implement full blown sanctions and at best will stick to some optical wristslap which has no real adverse impact on Russia.
But back to the Crimea, where a parliament official said voters will be asked two questions: should Crimea be part of the Russian Federation and should Crimea return to an earlier constitution (1992) that gave the region more autonomy?
"If there weren't constant threats from the current illegal Ukrainian authorities, maybe we would have taken a different path," deputy parliament speaker Sergei Tsekov told reporters outside the parliament building in Crimea's main city of Simferopol.
"I think there was an annexation of Crimea by Ukraine, if we are going to call things by their name. Because of this mood and feeling we took the decision to join Russia. I think we will feel much more comfortable there."
All the while, Europe is engaged in idiotic meetings and summits, spearheaded by John Kerry, who was quick to point out how constructive the meeting has been. Perhaps it would have been more so if Russia had participated:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov refused to meet his new Ukrainian counterpart or to launch a "contact group" to seek a solution to the crisis at talks in Paris on Wednesday despite arm-twisting by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and European colleagues. The two men will meet again in Rome on Thursday.

Tension was high in Crimea after a senior United Nations envoy was surrounded by a pro-Russian crowd, threatened and forced to get back on his plane and leave the country on Wednesday.

The EU summit in Brussels seemed unlikely to adopt more than symbolic measures against Europe's biggest gas supplier, because neither industrial powerhouse Germany nor financial centre Britain is keen to start down that road.

The short, informal EU summit will mostly be dedicated to displaying support for Ukraine's new pro-Western government, represented by Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, who will attend even though Kiev is neither an EU member nor a recognised candidate for membership.

After meeting European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Yatseniuk appealed to Russia to respond to mediation efforts.

After a day of high-stakes diplomacy in Paris on Wednesday, Lavrov refused to talk to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchitsya, whose new government is not recognised by Moscow.

As he left the French Foreign Ministry, Lavrov was asked if he had met his Ukrainian counterpart. "Who is that?" the Russian minister asked.

He stuck to Putin's line - ridiculed by the West - that Moscow does not command the troops without national insignia which have taken control of Crimea, besieging Ukrainian forces, and hence cannot order them back to bases.

Kerry said afterwards he had never expected to get Lavrov and Deshchitsya into the same room right away, but diplomats said France and Germany had tried to achieve that.

Western diplomats said there was still hope that once Lavrov had reported back to Putin, Russia would accept the idea of a "contact group" involving both Moscow and Kiev as well as the United States and European powers to seek a solution.

Keep hoping. In the meantime, with each passing day, Putin consolidates his new territory even as the west dithers, Europe is unable to obtain the bailout loans it has promised Ukraine, and Kerry keeps talking.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...es-join-russia

"Behind The Kiev Snipers It Was Somebody From The New Coalition" - A Stunning New Leak Released

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/05/2014 22:49 -0500

The last time a leaked phone call out of Ukraine was released about a month ago ostensibly by the Russian NSA equivalent, one between US assistant sec state Victoria Nuland and the US envoy to the Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, it was revealed that the real puppet masters behind the Maidan movement, and the true instigators of the Ukraine "revolution" were none other than the "developed" world superpowers, lead by the US. Also revealed were tensions between the US and EU strategies on how to overthrow the current government, culminating with the infamous "**** the EU." Needless to say the US, which implicitly confirmed the recording, was angry at Russia and accused it of using dirty tricks.
That's ironic, because when it comes to "dirty tricks" what is about to be presented, blows the top off anything Russia may or has done to date.
Earlier today an even more shocking recording has been "leaked" this time one between the always concerned about human rights EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet, in which it is revealed on tape that all those photos of horrifying deaths of Ukrainians by snipers during the last days of the Median stand off, were in fact caused not by Snipers controlled by Yanukovich, but that the snipers shot at both protesters and police in Kiev were allegedly hired by Maidan leaders!



Here is the key exchange, just after 8 minutes into the conversation :
Paet: "All the evidence shows that people who were killed by snipers from both sides, policemen and people from the streets, that they were the same snipers killing people from both sides. ... Some photos that showed it is the same handwriting, the same type of bullets, and it is really disturbing that now the new coalition they don't want to investigate what exactly happened. So there is now stronger and stronger understanding that behind the snipers, it was not Yanukovych, but it was somebody from the new coalition."
Ashton: "I think we do want to investigate. I mean, I didn’t pick that up, that’s interesting. Gosh."
Paet: "It already discreditates (sic) this new coalition."
So first US orchestrates the Kiev overthrow, and now the new "leaders" of Ukraine are allegedly found to have fired against their own people - the same provocation they subsequently used to run Yanukovich out of the country and install a pro-Western puppet government. Of course, said pro-Western coalition has not been discreditated (sic) because Ms. Ashton has sternly refused to investigate, knowing quite well how horribly this would reflect on the new Ukraine "leadership" - a government which shot its own people to fabricate the pretext under which it rose to power.
Is it any wonder then that Russia has responded the way it has?
As for at least one of the affected parties, Estonia, it has just confirmed the authenticity of the recording, and the ministry of foreign affairs has organized a press conference to answer media questions today at 5 pm. From the Valisministeerium:

No. 84-E Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton uploaded to the Internet today, a phone call is authentic.

Paet and Ashton conversation took place on 26 February, following Estonia's Foreign Minister's visit to Ukraine, and immediately after the end of the street violence.

Foreign Minister Paet communicate what he had said about the meetings held in Kiev last day and expressed concern about the situation.

"It is extremely regrettable that such an interception is occurring at all""said Paet., Including its call for today's photos are not random," he added.

Yes, it is truly regrettable that the people know the truth.

Full leaked recording below:




http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...-reveals-truth

The Full List Of People Who Think Putin Is The New Hitler

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/05/2014 22:08 -0500

When Hillary Clinton compared Russia's incursion into Ukraine to the early days of Nazi Germany's expansion, she joined an illustrious band who have compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler since the 2008 Georgia crisis.

Via The Washington Post,

Rubio

McCain

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): "If you could go back in time, would you have allowed Adolf Hitler to host the Olympics in Germany? To have the propaganda coup of inviting the world into Nazi Germany and putting on a false front?"

Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezisnki (in 2008): Putin is "following a course that is horrifyingly similar to that taken by Stalin and Hitler in the 1930s."

And again today: Called Putin "a partially comical imitation of (former Italian Prime Minister Benito) Mussolini and a more menacing reminder of Hitler."

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird: "The Sudetenland had a majority of Germans. That gave Germany no right to do this in the late 1930s."

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper: "We haven't seen this kind of behavior since the Second World War."

Anti-Putin activist and former chess champion Garry Kasparov: "Intentionally or not, the Putin regime has followed the Berlin 1936 playbook quite closely for Sochi."

Russian historian Andrey Zubov: "This has all happened before. Austria. Early March, 1938. The Nazis want to build up their Reich at the expense of another state."

British actor and gay rights activist Stephen Fry: "He is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it."

International security expert Jonathan Eyal: "The Sudetenland option is not his first priority, but it is his fail safe priority."

Russian satirist Viktor Shenderovich: In reference to Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya, Shenderovich said he liked her "very much! But if you only knew how much Berliners in the summer of 1936 liked shot putter Hans Woelke ... a smiling, handsome young man who symbolized the youth of the new Germany!"

We are sure there are plenty more to come...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...tin-new-hitler

What The Russian (And Chinese) Papers Are Saying About Ukraine

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/05/2014 16:53 -0500

Submitted by Simon Black

“Putin: Unconstitutional coup is taking place in Ukraine. The U.S halted military cooperation and trade negotiations with Russia”

That’s the headline from a Beijing newspaper– and no surprise that it leans slightly to the Russian side.




The article goes on:

“Russian president Putin said on 4th March that unconstitutional coup is taking place in Ukraine and Russia will only use the army to Ukraine under “the most extreme situation”. This was the first time that Putin declared this publicly since the escalation of the situation in Ukraine.”

“U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry threatened on March 2nd that the U.S and allied countries will take a series of actions including visa ban, capital controls, economic and trade sanctions, etc.”

“The White House issued this in a joint statement signed by the Group of Seven member countries and accused Russia of violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The White House also declared temporarily not to participate in the preparation for the G8 summit scheduled for June in Sochi, Russia.”

– and of course :

“Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Liu Jieyi called for dialogue of all sides to resolve differences and maintain regional peace and stability. The united nations security council held an emergency meeting on the Ukrainian situation. Liu Jieyi said in the meeting that China is deeply concerned about Ukrainian situation and condemn the extreme violence in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Russian newspaper Itar Tass had this headline (loose translation):

“Putin: Those [foreign nations] who are talking about imposing sanctions on the Russian Federation should first consider the impact of those sanctions”



The article goes on:

“President Putin told reporters that the damage to all countries involved is mutual:

“We can cause damage to each other– mutual damage. And this needs to be thought about. . . We believe our actions are fully justified. And any threats to Russia are counterproductive and harmful.”

Mr. Putin added that Russia is still preparing for upcoming G8 meeting.

“If [the other countries] do not want to come, they don’t have to,” he told reporters .

The Russian President also expressed the opinion that the U.S. has historically created its own geopolitical goals, and then dragging along the rest of the world underneath them:

“Our partners, especially in the U.S.– they always clearly formulate their geopolitical interests and pursue them very aggressively. Guided by the well-known phrase, “you are either with us or against us,” they drag the rest of the world along, underneath them. And whoever doesn’t go along is beaten and usually killed,” the President told reporters.

He emphasized that Russia’s actions come from legitimate grounds.

So on one hand, the Chinese are essentially making the West out to be the belligerents, the Russians to be defending their interests, and the Chinese as the strong diplomats who are pushing for peace.

And on the other hand, the Russian papers are highlighting the utter hypocrisy of US foreign policy– it’s OK for America to invade whatever country it likes, but not for Russia to defend its own interests.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...-about-ukraine

Despite Claims That "Everything Is Under Control" Protesters Storm Donetsk Treasury Building

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/05/2014 11:29 -0500

Minutes ago, the chief of police of the Donetsk regional state administration (in Eastern Ukraine and the home region of Yanukovych) explained how the situation was "stable" and "everything is under control"... So perhaps he better look out the window:

• *RUSSIAN-FLAG WAVING CROWD SAID TO STORM DONETSK BUILDING: AP
• *PRO-RUSSIAN PROTESTERS BREAK INTO DONETSK GOVT BUILDING: TV5
• *PRO-RUSSIAN PROTESTERS ON WAY TO STORM DONETSK TREASURY: TV5

So, apart from the protesters storming buildings and breaking into the Treasury, things are "under control."



As NY Post reports,

Hundreds of demonstrators waving Russian flags have stormed a government building in Donetsk in the eastern Ukraine.

The region is the home area of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country after massive protests in Kiev.

An AP photographer, who was in Donetsk, said more than 2,000 people gathered in the square Wednesday afternoon outside the regional administrative building before groups of men broke through police ranks and smashed their way into the building.

Many of the protesters waved Russian and other flags. Many chanted “Russia! Russia!”

A large crowd of Russian flag-waving protesters is gathering...

Anis @TheBlogPirate
Follow
LIVE: Crowd waving Russian flags storms government HQ in #Ukraine city of #Donetsk
11:03 AM - 5 Mar 2014




The anti-Russians are not pleased:

bruce springnote @BSpringnote
Follow
Donetsk today telling Putin to take a hike #euromaidan
2:46 PM - 4 Mar 2014




And it appears the local police have woken up:

Kety Shapazian @KetyDC
Follow
Ukrainian police officers stormed a govt building in Donetsk to forcibly remove pro-Russian protesters. Photo: AFP
7:18 AM - 5 Mar 2014





http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...asury-building

Snipers Are Commonly Used as “False Flag” Terrorists

Submitted by George Washington on 03/06/2014 13:32 -0500

The powers-that-be often use agent provocateurs to disrupt protests and paint protesters as violent and unlikeable.

For example, violent provocateurs were deployed:

• At the North American leader’s summit in Quebec (and see this)

• At the G20 protests in London

• In the Palestinian village of Bil’in

• In Cairo

• At the Occupy protests

• In Burma

• And in many other places

There is a related type of false flag operation commonly used to create chaos and discredit regimes or protesters: snipers.

For example:

• Unknown snipers reportedly killed both Venezuelan government and opposition protesters in the attempted 2002 coup

• Unknown snipers fired during Thailand’s 2010 protests

• Unknown snipers allegedly have created bedlam in Syria

• A Russian general alleges that – during Yeltsin’s protest in front of the Russian parliament – sniper fire came from the roofof the American Embassy

• And the Estonian foreign minister claims that the new Ukranian coalition deployed snipers to discredit the former government of Ukraine

Brutal … but effective and cheap.

Because it doesn’t cost much to hire one or a handful of snipers to access rooftops or bridge overpasses, create chaos, and then quietly disappear.


http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed...%9D-terrorists

Obama & Putin - Trapped In Macho Game Of “Chicken” Over Ukraine - Whole World Could Pay The Price

Michael Snyder 8 Hours Ago
2 Comments

The U.S. government and the Russian government have both been forced into positions where neither one of them can afford to back down. If Barack Obama backs down, he will be greatly criticized for being "weak" and for having been beaten by Vladimir Putin once again. If Putin backs down, he will be greatly criticized for being "weak" and for abandoning the Russians that live in Crimea. In essence, Obama and Putin find themselves trapped in a macho game of "chicken" and critics on both sides stand ready to pounce on the one who backs down. But this is not just an innocent game of "chicken" from a fifties movie. This is the real deal, and if nobody backs down the entire world will pay the price.
Leaving aside who is to blame for a moment, it is really frightening to think that we may be approaching the tensest moment in U.S.-Russian relations since the Cuban missile crisis.
There has been much talk about Obama's "red lines", but the truth is that Crimea (and in particular the naval base at Sevastopol) is a "red line" for Russia.
There is nothing that Obama could ever do that could force the Russians out of Sevastopol. They will never, ever willingly give up that naval base.
So what in the world does Obama expect to accomplish by imposing sanctions on Russia? By treaty, Russia is allowed to have 25,000 troops in Crimea and Russia has not sent troops into the rest of Ukraine.
Economic sanctions are not going to cause Putin to back down. Instead, they will just cause the Russians to retaliate.
In a letter that he sent to Congress this week, Obama claimed that the Ukrainian crisis is an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

Language like that is going to make it even more difficult for Obama to back down.
On Thursday, Obama announced "visa restrictions" on "those Russians and Ukrainians responsible for the Russian move into Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula", and a House panel passed a "symbolic resolution" that condemned Russia for its "occupation" of Crimea.
But those moves are fairly meaningless. Leaders from both political parties are now pushing for very strong economic sanctions against Russia, and there does not appear to be many members of Congress that intend to stand in the way.
If the U.S. does hit Russia with harsh economic sanctions, what is going to happen?
Is Russia going to back down?
No way.
So let's just play out the coming moves like a game of chess for a moment...
-The U.S. slaps economic sanctions on Russia.
-Russia seizes the assets of U.S. companies that are doing business in Russia.
-The U.S. seizes Russian assets.
-The Russians refuse to pay their debts to U.S. banks.
-The U.S. government hits Russia with even stronger sanctions.
-Russia starts dumping U.S. debt and encourages other nations to start doing the same.
-The U.S. gets Europe to also hit Russia with economic sanctions.
-Russia cuts off the natural gas to Europe. As I noted the other day, Russia supplies more than half the natural gas to a bunch of countries in Europe.
-The United States moves troops into western Ukraine.
-Russia starts selling oil for gold or for Russian rubles and encourages other nations to start abandoning the U.S. dollar in international trade.
Of course the order of many of these moves could ultimately turn out to be different, but I think that you can see the nightmare that this game of "chicken" could turn out to be.
And what would be the final result?
Nothing would be resolved, but the global economy would greatly suffer.
What makes all of this even more complicated is that about 60 percent of the people living in Crimea are actually ethnic Russians, and a majority of the population appears to want to leave Ukraine and be reunited with Russia. The following comes from a Reuters article...

Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum on the decision in 10 days' time in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.
The sudden acceleration of moves to bring Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian majority and has effectively been seized by Russian forces, formally under Moscow's rule came as European Union leaders held an emergency summit groping for ways to pressure Russia to back down and accept mediation.

The Obama administration is calling the upcoming referendum "illegal" and says that it will not respect the will of the Crimean people no matter how the vote turns out.
But the people of Crimea are very serious about this, and of course they never would be pushing for reunification with Russia if they had not gotten approval from Putin...

The decision, which diplomats said could not have been made without Putin's approval, raised the stakes in the most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War.
The vice premier of Crimea, home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, said a referendum on the status would take place on March 16. All state property would be "nationalized", the Russian ruble adopted and Ukrainian troops treated as occupiers and forced to surrender or leave, he said.

There is no way that the U.S. government is going to accept Crimea becoming part of Russia, and there is no way in the world that Russia is going to back down at this point. Just consider what geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group recently had to say...

"Russia is not going to back down from Crimea, irrespective of U.S. pressure. Which means if the U.S. wants to find any resolution here, they’re going to have to find a way to come to terms with that. Now that the Crimean parliament has voted — clearly with Russian assent — we’ll have a referendum … and then further militarization of the peninsula by the Russians."

What we need is someone with extraordinary diplomatic skills to defuse this situation before it spirals out of control.
Unfortunately, we have Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett and John Kerry running things.
What a mess.
So why is Ukraine such a big deal anyway?
In a recent article, Peter Farmer explained succinctly why Ukraine is so incredibly important...

The Ukraine is strategically-important for a number of reasons. It sits astride enormous petroleum and natural gas deposits found in the Black Sea region. The nation is also home to an extensive network of liquid natural gas pipelines which crisscross it; control the Ukraine and you control its pipelines - and thus the flow of energy into the hugely-lucrative European market. Western energy firms such as Exxon-Mobil, BP-Amoco and Chevron are locked in competition with the Russian energy giant Gazprom - for control/exploitation of as-yet-undeveloped petroleum deposits not only in the Ukraine, but in neighboring Poland and Romania. Fracking technologies and other new extraction methods have only added urgency to the competition. Income from fossil fuels development is the lifeblood of the new Russian economy. Threats to the regional hegemony of Gazprom are likely to be treated by Putin and Russia with the utmost urgency and seriousness.
The Crimean Peninsula is also home to the Black Sea fleet of the Russian navy, which leases its base at Sevastopol from the Ukrainian government. Since the Black Sea - via the Dardanelles - provides the only warm-water base with access to the Mediterranean Sea - it is of enormous importance to Russia. Its loss would be a crippling blow to the Russian fleet.
Finally, the Ukraine - once known as the "bread basket of Europe" - is home to arguably the finest temperate agricultural region in the world. Its topsoil is widely-acknowledged by agronomists to be among the world's best. Control the Ukraine and you control the grainery of Europe - and can exert tremendous leverage upon worldwide grain agricultural commodities prices.

If the U.S. insists on playing a game of brinksmanship over Ukraine, the consequences could be disastrous.
For one thing, as I mentioned above, the status of the petrodollar could be greatly threatened. The following is how Jim Willie is analyzing the situation...

If the Kremlin demands Gold bullion (or even Russian Rubles) for oil payments, then the interventions to subvert the Ruble currency by the London and Wall Street houses will backfire and blow up in the bankster faces. Expect any surplus Rubles would be converted quickly to Gold bullion. If the Chinese demand that they are permitted to pay for oil shipments in Yuan currency, then the entire Petro-Dollar platform will be subjected to sledge hammers and wrecking balls. The new Petro-Yuan defacto standard will have been launched from the Shanghai outpost. If the Saudis curry favor to the Russians and Chinese by accepting non-USDollar payments for oil shipments, then the Petro-Dollar is dead and buried.

In addition, if Russia starts dumping U.S. debt and gets other nations (such as China) to start doing the same, that could create a nightmare scenario for the U.S. financial system very rapidly.
So let us hope and pray that cooler heads prevail.
In my recent article entitled "The Top 12 Signs That The U.S. Economy Is Heading Toward Another Recession", I discussed how the U.S. economy appears to be hurtling toward another major downturn.
And on Thursday, we learned that office supplies giant Staples has just announced that it is going to close 225 stores.
Even without this major international crisis, the U.S. economy would still be deeply troubled.
But if the United States and Russia do declare "economic war" on each other, all hell could start breaking loose.
Unfortunately, there does not appear to be much hope of anyone backing down at this point. In an editorial for the Washington Post, Henry Kissinger stated that it "is incompatible with the rules of the existing world order for Russia to annex Crimea."
Very interesting word choice.
So this is the situation we are facing...
-The U.S. government seems absolutely determined to "punish" Russia until it leaves Crimea.
-Russia is never going to leave Crimea, and has promised to "respond" harshly to any sanctions.
Most Americans are not paying much attention to what is going on in Ukraine, but this is a very, very big deal.
In the end, it could potentially affect the lives of virtually every man, woman and child on the planet.
Get a look at the future of America: The Beginning of the End.

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