Thread: Trump Seems to Side With Russia in Comments on Ukraine

Trump Seems to Side With Russia in Comments on Ukraine

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
FEB. 6, 2017

WASHINGTON — President Trump cast doubt on whether Moscow is backing separatists engaged in the recent escalation of fighting in eastern Ukraine, appearing to side with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has long denied involvement in the conflict despite evidence to the contrary.

Mr. Trump said he did not take offense at the outbreak of a lethal bout of fighting in Ukraine that came within a day of a phone conversation he had with Mr. Putin, saying of the recent clashes, “we don’t really know exactly what that is.”
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“They’re pro-forces,” Mr. Trump said of the Ukrainian separatists in an interview that aired on Monday on “The O’Reilly Factor,” on Fox News. “We don’t know, are they uncontrollable? Are they uncontrolled? That happens also. We’re going to find out; I would be surprised, but we’ll see.”

Mr. Trump’s comments were the latest indication that his desire for warmer relations with Russia may be coloring his view of the conflict in Ukraine, which pits the country’s military — trained and equipped in part by the United States Army — against Russian-backed separatists. Moscow has denied involvement in the three-year conflict, despite evidence that it has provided equipment and fighters to support separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.

The president’s push for a friendlier relationship with Mr. Putin has alarmed Ukrainian officials, who fear that the pressure former President Barack Obama applied on Russia to withdraw its unacknowledged military forces from eastern Ukraine will wane.

A telephone call Mr. Trump held on Saturday with President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine raised further questions about his position on the conflict and his administration’s commitment to maintaining sanctions against Russia for the annexation of Crimea.

In an official account of the call, Mr. Trump had said he was willing to work with Kiev and Moscow to resolve the conflict. But the statement referred to helping to “restore peace along the border,” while the violence has been playing out inside eastern Ukraine.

Andrew E. Kramer contributed reporting from Moscow.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/06/u...oroshenko.html

Oh thank God. Trump is going to get to the bottom of this and reach the truth about Crimea, Ukraine and this whole scam Ukraine is pulling on the US about Russia.

McCain and Graham .... you've met your match here, ole boys. Trump is going to expose you both for the giant ignoramuses you are. You've both lied about Crimea, you've both lied about Russia, you've lied about Russia "invading Ukraine", you've lied about everything that's going on there. You've been played for punks to arm Ukraine by the Ukranian lobby.

Trump will get to the bottom of it, because he actually cares about everybody involved in this fiasco including the people of Crimea, Ukraine and Russia and then Trump will move to those little Baltic States and get to the bottom of that something that's really nothing, too.

Folks, for the first time perhaps in many of our lifetimes, we're going to have US a real life down to earth honest foreign policy that puts the USA First, eradicates these fabricated disputes, and develops good working relationships based on mutual respect and benefits.

I'm so hopeful.

Nobody is ust to someone who actually waits to get the truth before making stupid decisions. We have needed someone who looks at the whole picture for along time now.

IMO.....Russia annexed Crimea because Ukraine pulled a fast one and pulled away from Russia for EU entry, never paying back their $$$$ debt to Russia. Plus, it is inhabited by mainly Russian people AND it is a necessary port/entry into Russia. They have a right to their security. EU & USA were on board to close everything off they could to hurt Russia. Russia is a big gas producer and has pipelines running all thru the area and obama, hillary, kerry tried to have everyone nearby to frack their own gas. It is really sinister, the plotting and planning against Russia; hillary would have had us in a war with Russia by now. Totally unnecessary

It would seem the annexation was the simplest, most direct, cut and dry answer for Russia. When you have china as your neighbor, you do not play around with your movements, otherwise you are done.

US did nothing @ Tibet - the kindest most caring people to all God's creatures and china raped their populace, drug their religious leaders thru the streets, and we deal with them!

china was the cause of all the lives we lost in vietnam, plus agent orange cancers and deaths; vietnam now being a communist nation after all that. They brag @ how little vietnam defeated big USA and we deal with them too and their imports. I do not want to hear @ Russia being bad.

Russia admires USA and they look up to us in their quest to become a super power too. They are intensely competitive but they will stoop to drugging their athletes to win - at least you know what you are dealing with. Any discussions I've seen with Putin or their media seems to say they want to be friends and help the world's situations together.

Russia's presence in Ukraine goes way back to the breakup to the USSR.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimea

Since 1997, after the Peace and Friendship Treaty signed by Russia and Ukraine, Crimea hosts the Russian Black Sea Fleet naval base in Sevastopol. The ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet and its facilities were divided between Russia's Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Naval Forces. The two navies shared some of the city's harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either country. Sevastopol remained the location of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with the Ukrainian Naval Forces Headquarters also based in the city. On April 27, 2010, Russia and Ukraine ratified the Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas treaty, extending the Russian Navy's lease of Crimean facilities for 25 years after 2017 (through 2042) with an option to prolong the lease in 5-year extensions.

In March 2014, following the ousting of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, armed Russian special forces backed by pro-Russian separatists invaded major Ukrainian government buildings, military bases and telecommunication facilities of the peninsula and forced local authorities to hold an illegal referendum[4] on "reunification with Russia". Most of the international community (except Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Syria, Nicaragua, Sudan, Belarus, Armenia, North Korea and Bolivia) do not recognize the annexation and consider Crimea to be Ukrainian territory. Russia currently administers the peninsula as two federal subjects: the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. Ukraine continues to assert its right over the peninsula.[5]

Australia-Ukraine agreement gets committee support

[COLOR=#888888 !important]07 February 2017[/COLOR]
An Australian parliamentary committee today recommended ratification of a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement that will permit the export of Australian uranium to Ukraine, subject to the development of a contingency plan for loss of regulatory control of the material.
The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties - also referred to as the Treaties Committee - is appointed by parliament to review and report on all treaty actions proposed by the Australian government before it takes any action which binds the country to the terms of the treaty. The committee's review of the cooperation agreement with Ukraine, signed in Washington DC in March last year, included a public hearing held in November, where it heard from government departments as well as environmentalists and the minerals industry.
Australia requires a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement to be in place before any of its nuclear materials can be used in another country. Such agreements contain guidance to prevent Australian nuclear materials being used for nuclear weapons or other military uses.
The committee found the agreement with Ukraine would have a number of benefits for Australia, including opening an important additional market for its uranium producers; reinforcing close bilateral relations with Ukraine; supporting efforts in nuclear non-proliferation by applying its safeguards and security standards to another uranium market; and consolidating its position as a reliable supplier of energy resources.

However, the committee received submissions raising concerns about potential limitations of the safeguards regime, the risk of war or civil unrest, and the ability to repatriate material should it become necessary. The agreement contains a clause standard to all Australian nuclear cooperation agreements should Ukraine breach its obligations. This gives Australia the right to suspend or cancel supplies, require Ukraine to take corrective steps, or require the return of nuclear material already supplied.
Committee chair Stuart Robert said today Ukraine is reliant on nuclear power for electricity generation, and the agreement is "an important contribution" Australia could make to Ukraine's energy security and stability. "Though the agreement incorporates provisions to ensure nuclear material is being used for peaceful purposes, the committee is concerned about the impact of recent instability in Ukraine and the risk that regulatory control of the material may be lost," he said.
While supporting the agreement, the committee's report recommends the government develops a "suitable contingency plan" for the removal of nuclear material if this is at risk of a loss of regulatory control, Robert said.
According to the committee's report, Australia has 24 nuclear cooperation agreements in place providing for the transfer of its nuclear material to 42 countries and Taiwan. This includes the countries covered by Australia's bilateral agreement with the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP...t-0702178.html

The Case For Arming Ukraine So It Can Stand Up To Russia

Russia's interest in Crimea was in response to the Crimeans who are Russian by history and genetics and wanted to leave Ukraine when Ukraine has its political revolt. Crimea revolted against Ukraine, Russia has troops there so used them to squelch the violence and establish order. After order was restored, the Crimeans wanted a referendum to vote to choose to become part of Russia again, their homeland.

Khrushchev back in the 1950's woke up one day and decided to "gift" Crimea to Ukraine. When the USSR was disbanded, this left Crimea stuck in Ukraine. What Khrushchev did was wrong at the time but because it was part of the USSR and the whole place including Ukraine was part of the USSR, not much fuss was made over it. But after the USSR was disbanded, as time progresses and especially when this new leader took over Ukraine, the Crimeans wanted no part of it and wanted to go home and be part of Russia again, because they are RUSSIANS who live there, not Ukrainians.

The Crimeans rebelled against Ukraine. The Crimeans voted to be part of Russia. Who are we to tell them they have to be part of Ukraine? That is not our place, we are supposed to support the will of the people, not the will of governments they were "gifted to".

Russia did the right thing with regards to Crimea, they really did, they supported the will of the people of Crimea, the Russian people of Crimea. Why would we mess in that? Trump will get to the bottom and truth of this. The Democrats have lied about it, some Republicans have lied about it, and the CORRUPT MEDIA has TOTALLY LIED ABOUT IT.

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