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Anti-Sanctions? Putin Lifts "Limits" And China Agrees To Increase Investment In Russia

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/10/2014 15:28 -0400

As Putin warned earlier in the week, they do not see the effectiveness of sanctions; but it seems he had something else in mind. By rolling back informal limits on Chinese investment, Putin has opened the door for significant capital inflows from his new best friend... and China has already agree to increase investment. While Putin is careful to note that the Chinese will not be allowed to invest in gold or diamond mining, or hi-tech projects, Russia hopes to lure cash from the world’s second-biggest economy into industries from housing and infrastructure construction to natural resources. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Shanghai May 20/21 and Chinese officials have already confirmed bilateral cooperation in the areas of investment and finance has made major progress as local currency settlement in two-way trade increases. Forget sanctions, just remove the US from the world trade equation...
As Bloomberg reports, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to open the door to Chinese money as U.S. and European sanctions over Ukraine threaten to tip the economy into recession, according to two senior government officials.

The move would roll back informal limits on Chinese investment as Russia seeks to stimulate growth, said the officials, who have direct knowledge of talks and asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The government wants to lure cash from the world’s second-biggest economy into industries from housing and infrastructure construction to natural resources, they said.

The Chinese won’t be welcome in all areas: Russia plans to set “red lines” around significant gold, platinum-group metals, diamond mining and high-technology projects, the officials said.

...

Putin’s decision, coming as competition from U.S. and European financing slows, may offer China a good opportunity to gain access to Russia’s economy. Existing resource projects will probably be more appealing than starting from scratch, Moscow-based George Buzhenitsa, Deutsche Bank AG analyst said by phone on May 7.

...

“Given that China has a shortage of raw materials from iron ore to coal to copper, it may be extremely interested in gaining access to such projects in Russia,” Buzhenitsa said.

And China seems more than willing to step up...

China is ready to join with Russia to increase two-way investment, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said here Thursday.

...

Their talks were focused on bilateral investment and practical cooperation in the financial area, in preparation for the forthcoming meeting between the two heads of state.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet when Putin attends the Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), on May 20 and 21 in Shanghai.

Zhang said bilateral cooperation in the areas of investment and finance has made major progress. China has increased investment in Russia and become the country's fourth largest source of foreign direct investment.

He said financial cooperation between China and Russia is growing as local currency settlement in two-way trade increases and consultations on a package of currency swaps are on-going.

Zhang expressed the hope that the two sides increase mutual investment via the China-Russia investment fund and carry out the first batch of investment projects as planned.

He said the two sides should increase investment in the forms of greenfield investment, equity investment, bond issuance and mergers and acquisitions.

Zhang asked the Russian side to help Chinese enterprises to invest in special economic zones in the Far East region of Russia.

Who needs sanctions when China is your friend? And it would seem no matter what card the US tries to play, Putin has a trump (for now).

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

Donetsk Region May Shift To Rubles After 1.7 Million Vote In Referendum

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/10/2014 12:15 -0400

Despite denouncements from the West (how did that work out in Crimea?) and diplomatic calls for postponement from Putin, tomorrow appears to be setting up for the next crucial catalyst in the ever-escalating civil (and not so civil) war in Ukraine. As RIA reports, Referendum organizers printed about 1.7 million ballots and on the day of voting in the region there will be more than 1,600 polling stations. The referendum will ask voters to answer the simple question: "Do you support the act of state independence of the People's Republic of Luhansk." and will take place from 8am to 8pm local time. Organizers claim that "the willingness to vote is almost total," which makes the decision of the People's Mayor that "after the referendum... gradually, we will move to the Russian ruble," even more economically significant for the IMF-supported nation.

The referendum poll is happening:

Ballots in the referendum on the status of the Lugansk region delivered almost all polling stations in the region, told RIA Novosti spokesman Army southeast Vasily Nikitin.

In the Donetsk and Lugansk regions May 11 must pass a referendum on the status of the regions. In Lugansk region submitted to the vote the question "Do you support the act of state independence of the People's Republic of Luhansk." Voting will take place from 8.00 to 20.00 (9.00 - 21.00 MSK).

"Newsletters delivered to almost all areas, the willingness to vote almost wholly" - said Nikitin.

Referendum organizers printed about 1.7 million ballots. Nikitin said that on the day of voting in the region will work more than 1.6 thousand polling stations.

Which followed this...

In March in eastern Ukraine - Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk - started rallies federalization, dissatisfied with the actions of the Kiev authorities new. Later protests spread to a number of cities of Donetsk and Lugansk regions. From mid-April in Kiev authorities carried out a special operation against the protesters with military support. In Moscow, Kiev decision to use army against the population identified extremely dangerous developments.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged supporters federalization postpone the referendum to create the conditions for dialogue to de-escalate the situation in the country. However, the militia decided to hold a referendum on May 11, as originally planned.

And, as seems likely, independence is voted for, separatist leaders are already making plans...

"People's Mayor" Vyacheslav Ponomarev Sloviansk not exclude that the Donetsk region eventually move to settlements in Russian rubles. Tomorrow, May 11, in the region must pass a referendum on self-determination.

"After the referendum will go until ukrainian hryvnia, but gradually, I think we will move to the Russian ruble," - the words Ponomareva RIA Novosti .

"People's Mayor" explained that closer economic integration with the Russian Federation. "Economically we strongly tied with Russia. Our industry is almost entirely focused on Russia ", - said Ponomarev.

Of course, the West are denouncing and proclaiming the referendum illegal...

• *MERKEL SAYS SEPARATIST REFERENDUMS IN UKRAINE ILLEGAL
• Ukraine govt, EU and U.S. officials say referendums are illegal

But just as in Crimea, things tend to be beyond the control of the West's ire for now...

• Donetsk Separatists Say Vote to Be Valid at Any Turnout: RIA

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...ote-referendum

Why is the U.S. State Department Buying High Explosives?

13.May.2014 | SCG



Apparently the U.S. State Department needs blasting caps, detonating cords and a variety of high explosives. If you think that sounds weird, wait till you read the purchase order yourself.

The U.S. State Department's job is to implement the foreign policy of the United States and U.S. diplomacy efforts. It is essentially the equivalent of a foreign ministry in other countries. It's not a branch of the military, and it's not a demolition company, so why on earth did they put in an order for blasting caps, detonating cords, and a variety of high explosives on fbo.gov? I'm not making this up. Click here to go look at the page yourself. Just in case they take the page down I've uploaded a screenshot here.

Below is the list of items they are currently accepting bids for:
The Department of State requires the following items, Meet or Exceed, to the following:
LI 001: 1.1 Comp C-4 M112, 1.25 lb Block w/Taggant, 360, EA;
LI 002: Detonating Cord - 50 Grains / Foot, 18000, FT;
LI 003: Detonating Cord - 25 Grains / Foot, 45000, FT;
LI 004: Cast Booster - 230 gram - (1/2 pound), 18000, EA;
LI 005: Sheet Exp - PETN based - C2 Thickness, 180, LB;
LI 006: LINEAR Shaped Charge, Copper, RDX, 400 Gr/ft, 144, FT;
LI 007: LINEAR Shaped Charge, Copper, RDX, 600 Gr/ft, 144, FT;
LI 008: Blasting Cap - Fuse Type #8- High Strength, 1350, EA;
LI 009: Blasting Caps, Elec., 12 ft., 250 ms del., 1800, EA;
LI 010: Blasting Caps, Elec., 12 ft., 500 ms del., 1800, EA;
LI 011: Blasting Caps, Elec., 12 ft. 750 ms del., 1800, EA;
LI 012: Blasting Caps, Elec., 12 ft. 1000 ms del., 1800, EA;
LI 013: Blasting Caps, Elec., 12 ft. instant, 1800, EA;
LI 014: Safety Fuse, Green - Military M700 type, 18000, FT;
LI 015: Electric Igniter, 6 ft. MJG, 12600, EA;
LI 016: Fuse igniter, pull string type, 9000, EA;
LI 017: Conical Shaped Charge 11 gram RDX, 900, EA;
LI 018: HELIX, (Liq & Activator) 1-3/8" x 8" (ALUMINUM POWDER), 1296, EA;
LI 019: HELIX LIQUID (NITROMETHANE), 1296, EA;
LI 020: Fuse Lighter, M81, 4050, EA;
LI 021: Red Dot Smokeless Powder Double Base, 180, LB;

Aren't these of things supposed to get routed through the CIA? Aren't they the ones in charge of covert mayhem and mischief?
Perhaps Victoria Nuland and company have gone off the reservation.

http://scgnews.com/why-is-the-us-sta...igh-explosives

CIA, FBI and Now Academi Mercenaries on the Ground in Ukraine

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
May 12, 2014

The German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported on Sunday 400 U.S. mercenaries are working with the junta government in Ukraine to suppress opposition to the coup in the eastern part of the country. The newspaper said the for-profit mercenaries are actively participating in the effort to eliminate anti-coup activists in Slavyansk and possibly other areas in the Donetsk region.



It is not known if Blackwater mercenaries were involved in gunning down voters in eastern Ukraine. On Thursday we covered a report stating the CIA and the FBI are involved in the effort to quell resistance to the junta. The CIA has been involved with nationalist and fascist Ukrainian groups since the late 1940s.
In March, we reported on the presence of Greystone mercenaries in Donetsk. The mercenaries were “soldiers of fortune proficient in combat operations,” a diplomatic source told Interfax, according to the Daily Mail. “Most of them had operated under private contracts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other states. Most of them come from the United States.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the mercenaries were contracted “to suppress civil protests and dissatisfaction.”
“Among the candidates for the role of gendarme is the Barbados-registered company Greystone Limited, which is integrated with the Academi corporation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “It is an analogue, and, probably and affiliated body of the Blackwater private army, whose employees have repeatedly been accused of committing grievous and systematic human rights abuses in different troubled regions.”
Academi was known as Blackwater and then Xe following its involvement in the murder of 17 Iraqis in Nisour Square, Baghdad, in 2007. Academi’s board of directors includes former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Bobby Ray Inman, the former director of the NSA, and the company’s CEO is a retired Brigadier General, Craig Nixon.
This article was posted: Monday, May 12, 2014 at 6:04 am


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• 400 Blackwater Mercs Deployed In Ukraine Against Separatists, German Press Reports

http://www.infowars.com/cia-fbi-and-...nd-in-ukraine/

Ukraine crisis: Donetsk region asks to join Russia

Request comes just two hours after referendum results show 90% voted for independence from Ukraine

Shaun Walker in Donetsk and Oksana Grytsenko in Luhansk

The Guardian, Monday 12 May 2014 13.05 EDT

Jump to comments (3457)


Link to video: Ukraine's Donetsk region declares independence The "People's Republic of Donetsk" declared itself an independent country on Monday and, within two hours of doing so, had asked to join Russia. The separatist leader Denis Pushilin told journalists that the self-proclaimed republic would ask Moscow to consider absorbing the region, which borders Russia.
But it remains extremely doubtful whether Moscow will carry out a Crimea-style annexation of the region, which held a controversial referendum on independence on Sunday, together with neighbouring Luhansk.
According to results announced by the de facto authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk – which also declared independence from Ukraine on Monday – about 90% on a turnout of 70% and 96% on a turnout of nearly 75% respectively voted for state sovereignty. The referendums – which Kiev has dismissed as illegitimate – were hastily organised and marked by numerous violations.
The results were roundly condemned in the west, but Russia said it respected the results. However, instead of previous statements saying it would protect people in the regions with troops if need be, the Kremlin called for dialogue between the government in Kiev and the south-east regions of the country.
"In Moscow, we respect the will of the people of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and are counting on practical implementation of the outcome of the referendum in a civilised manner, without any repeat of violence and through dialogue," the Kremlin said.
In a press conference in Moscow, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, read out the Kremlin statement and added that only Russian television channels were telling "the truth in real time" about the crisis, whereas western news outlets were hiding the real causes.
Lavrov made no mention of the controversy over the referendum, merely noting the "high voting activity" of the population despite attempts from Kiev to disrupt the vote. He said no new international talks were planned on Ukraine.
Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine's acting president, told the country's parliament: "The farce which terrorists call the referendum will have no legal consequences except the criminal responsibility for its organisers."
The Kremlin has called the new government in Kiev "neo-fascist" and Kiev has accused Russia of organising the separatist movement by providing weapons and tactical advice. Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, last week asked the separatists to delay their referendum, which appeared to be an attempt to distance Russia from the vote, but was ignored.
There were a number of irregularities with the count and procedure, and it seems unlikely that the figures announced are an accurate reflection of views in the region, with most of those who disagreed with the proposition staying at home.
Nevertheless, there has been an increasing mood of defiance, especially as a Ukrainian army operation against the armed separatists resulted in multiple casualties. It is hard to judge how many people support the armed takeover of government buildings and attempts to separate from Ukraine, but feelings are running high.
The referendum question was worded ambiguously, appearing to offer state sovereignty for the Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics". Roman Lyagin, head of the de facto central election committee in Donetsk, said before the vote that nothing would change in terms of state borders as a result of the vote.
He said that, in future, the region would be free to decide whether to stay within Ukraine, become independent or join Russia. In the end, it apparently took only two hours to make the decision, apparently making a mockery of what voters had been told in the runup.
In Luhansk, separatists announced that more than 96% of ballots had been cast in favour of the independence of the region from Ukraine.
"Congratulations on the birth of the Luhansk republic," said Vasily Nikitin, deputy head of the region's separatist movement. "We are now preparing an appeal to the UN and international community asking them to recognise us."
Nikitin said the constitution of the new "country" was almost ready, and added that its residents would not participate in Ukrainian presidential elections planned for 25 May. Donetsk's de facto authorities have also said they will not allow voting in the elections. A key demand of Moscow has been to postpone the elections.
In Luhansk, one resident, Anatoliy Sukharev, 80, approached Nikitin and asked whether there would be a second referendum on joining Russia.
"What is next? When are we going to have this referendum?" he asked. Nikitin said a second referendum would happen, but the republic needed to "organise as a country" first.
But for many Ukraine-oriented residents, recent events have been a tragedy.
"My father is a businessman, now he is trying to sell all his businesses here before moving away. Many people I know have already left," said Olesia, 20, who refused to give her last name fearing retribution.
"I can love Luhansk only if it is a Ukrainian Luhansk," she said.
The eastern regions are entering an uncertain situation, with tension and anger rising on both sides. Ukrainian army and affiliated paramilitary units killed unarmed civilians in Mariupol last week and in Krasnoarmeysk during the voting on Sunday. For their part, the rebels in Donetsk have taken hostages among pro-Ukraine activists and been accused of torture.
It is unclear whether either side is ready for talks. With a number of armed gangs in the region, there is every danger of conflict with Kiev forces and of events slipping into violent chaos.
A Kremlin-linked MP, Vyacheslav Nikonov, said the Ukrainian military operation in eastern Ukraine represented "genuine fascism" and said that the residents of Luhansk and Donetsk deserved no less support. "Indeed, they deserve much more support from us, than the residents of Crimea," he said.
However, he added that Moscow would have to weigh the "economic, political, and military risks" before deciding whether it should absorb the regions.
Gazprom, Russia's state energy company, also told Ukraine it had to settle a $3.5bn (£2bn) gas debt, and pay in advance for deliveries in June, or be cut off.
In Brussels, EU foreign ministers added 13 people and two firms to their visa ban and asset freeze list over Ukraine, according to two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the measure had yet to be officially announced. The EU has targeted a number of officials but the sanctions have been far narrower than US sanctions over Ukraine


http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...ks-join-russia

Drudge Report

Russia To Ban USA From Using Space Station...



Russia to ban US from using Space Station over Ukraine sanctions - Telegraph
In retaliation for imposing sanctions, Russia will also bar its rocket engines from...
The Telegraph|By Reuters

Russia to ban US from using Space Station over Ukraine sanctions

In retaliation for imposing sanctions, Russia will also bar its rocket engines from launching US military satellites

From left: Steve Swanson from the US and Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev from Russia before the launch Photo: Camera Press/Ria Novosti

Reuters
7:56PM BST 13 May 2014

Russia is to deny the US future use of the International Space Station beyond 2020 and will also bar its rocket engines from launching US military satellites as it hits back at American sanctions imposed over Ukraine crisis.

Russia’s deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced a series of punitive measures on Tuesday against the US in response to sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea.

The two countries have long cooperated closely on space exploration despite their clashes in foreign policy.

The Space Station is manned by both American and Russian crew, but the only way to reach it is by using Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.

The US is keen to keep the $100 billion (£600) ISS flying until at least 2024, four years beyond its original target.

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Ukraine crisis: worlds apart on wish list for peace RBTH

At a time when Moscow is struggling to reform its accident-plagued space programme, Mr Rogozin said US plans to deny export licences for some high-technology items were a blow to Russian industry. “These sanctions are out of place and inappropriate,” Mr Rogozin said. “We have enough of our own problems.”
Moscow’s response would affect NK-33 and RD-180 engines which Russia supplies to the US, Mr Rogozin said. “We are ready to deliver these engines but on one condition that they will not be used to launch military satellites,” he said.
RD-180 engines are used to boost Atlas 5 rockets manufactured by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing that holds a virtual monopoly on launching U.S. military satellites.
Mr Rogozin said Moscow was planning "strategic changes" in its space industry after 2020 and aims to use money and "intellectual resources" that now go to the space station for a "a project with more prospects".
He suggested Russia could use the station without the United States, saying: "The Russian segment can exist independently from the American one. The U.S. one cannot."
The US space agency NASA is working with companies to develop space taxis with the goal of restoring US transport to the station by 2017, but the United States currently pays Russia more than $60 million per person to fly its astronauts up.
Mr Rogozin said Russia will suspend the operation of 11 GPS sites on its territory from June and seek talks with Washington on opening similar sites in the United States for Russia's own satellite navigation system, Glonass.
He threatened the permanent closure of the GPS sites in Russia if that is not agreed by September.
He said the suspension of the sites would not affect everyday operations of the GPS system in Russia, where it is used by millions of Russians for navigation on their smartphones and in their cars.
The upheaval in Ukraine - where the United States says Russia is backing separatists and the Kremlin accuses Washington of helping protesters to topple a Moscow-friendly president in February, has led to the worst East-West crisis since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
In addition to the hi-tech sector sanctions, the US has imposed visa bans and assets freezes on officials and lawmakers and targeted companies with links to President Vladimir Putin. The European Union has also imposed sanctions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier on Tuesday that the latest EU measures were an "exhausted, trite approach" that would only deepen discord and hamper efforts to defuse the crisis in Ukraine.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...sanctions.html

State Department: Russia Has Oligarchs, U.S. Private Citizens

Establishment pretends government officials do not benefit from close connections to financial elite

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
May 13, 2014

Asked today about Hunter Biden’s insider deal to run the legal department at Burisma Holdings, the largest gas producer in Ukraine, Obama spokesman Jay Carney and State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Biden is a private citizen and his appointment has nothing to do with the government.



It was insinuated by a reporter Hunter Biden is comparable to a Russian oligarch, a characterization summarily dismissed by Psaki.
Imagine, however, if Hunter Biden, who has ties to the financial elite thanks to his influential father and once managed a hedge fund, was targeted by travel restrictions and sanctions like the Russian oligarchs currently are. Let’s say Obama’s “inner circle” was targeted by Russia for drone attacks in Yemen and Pakistan. How big would the double standard be? How loud would the howls be at The New York Times and The Washington Post, the American equivalent to Russia Today and The Voice of Russia?
In the United States, the establishment likes to pretend government officials and their families do not benefit from close connections to the financial elite. In fact, government and banks and large transnational corporations have enjoyed a revolving door for some time. It is entirely fair to say they own the government lock, stock and barrel.
The corporate media excoriates Russia for regulating markets in favor of selected oligarchs and a continuation of Soviet era cronyism. However, the same situation exists in the United States and has for some time.
“Washington corruption — in the pattern of Vladimir Putin — is driving inequality and sinking family incomes. Higher taxes may catch your family doctor but politicians will find a way to exempt their supporters among the very wealthy,” writes Peter Morici.
Russia’s state-run media rarely takes the oligarchs to task. Likewise, in the United States, the state-run media, masquerading as a free press, while on occasion criticizing billionaires, rarely points out the fact bankers and transnational corporations own the government.

http://www.infowars.com/state-depart...vate-citizens/

Why Are Ukraine Troops Using UN Helicopters, Russia Foreign Minister Asks

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/14/2014 16:30 -0400

A clearly irritated Sergei Lavrov - Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs - appeared on Bloomberg TV this morning and warned that "Ukraine is as close to civil war as you can get." The minister further exclaimed that Russia "would like to understand how helicopters with a UN logo were used against protesters in the south-east," adding that "Russia has serious suspicions that mercenaries from the USA are acting in Ukraine’s south-east." Furthermore, Lavrov warned that "attempts to force Ukraine into NATO may have a strong negative impact on the whole system of European security." But apart from that... BTFWWIII

A UN-marked Helicopter being used by Ukraine forces against Donetsk regional militia



And the raw feed via LiveLeak:



Ironically - the UN also wants to know why...

The UN has voiced concerns over the apparent use of UN-marked helicopters by Kiev troops in their military operation against Donetsk regional militia. A video of a white-painted Mil Mi-24 strike helicopter with UN logo has emerged.

When inquired about the United Nations’ stance on the use of peacekeeper-marked military hardware in non-peacekeeper operations, the office for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson said such use would violate UN rules.

“It is the responsibility of Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) that provide Contingent Owned Equipment to peacekeeping missions to remove all logos and signage bearing the UN's name once such equipment has been repatriated to the home country or is no longer being used for official UN purposes,” the office told RT.

It added that UN-marked aircraft can be used for missions tasked by the UN and that UN’s Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support is in contact with the Ukrainian authorities to clarify the issue.

And - as Lavrov explains in the clip below - Russia seriously wants to know why...

As ITAR-TASS reports,

Russia strongly opposes attempts to force Ukraine into NATO, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov stated in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

“Attempts to force Ukraine into NATO may have a strong negative impact on the whole system of European security, and we would be strongly opposing it,” he stressed. The minister added that this issue concerns not only Ukraine and NATO, but Russia as well.

According to Lavrov, Moscow urges to investigate the alleged Kiev’s using of helicopters with UN marks in the military operation in the country’s south-east. “Ukraine is as close to civil war as you can get,” the Russian minister emphasized. “We would like to understand how helicopters with UN logo were used against protesters in the south-east,” the minister said.

“Russia has serious suspicions that mercenaries from the USA are acting in Ukraine’s south-east,” Lavrov pointed out.

Commenting on the news about the start of the ‘round table’ on ways of settling the crisis in Kiev, the Russian minister noted that for the success of the national dialogue, Ukraine needs an equal participation of all the country’s regions in this process.

“I don’t know which the exact list of participants of the widely advertised ‘round table’ in Kiev is. We are convinced that for the success of the national dialogue, an equal participation of all Ukraine’s regions is needed, and not only of the south and east, but of the west as well,” Sergei Lavrov said.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...-minister-asks

6 Ukraine Soldiers Killed, 8 Injured Ahead Of Tomorrow's "Leave Or Face War" Deadline

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/13/2014 11:05 -0400

With another day left until the 48-hour "leave or face war" deadline imposed by the newly-independent regions of Ukraine, Interfax is reporting:

• *SIX UKRAINE SOLDIERS KILLED, 8 INJURED AFTER CONVOY ATTACK: IFX
• *ATTACK ON UKRAINIAN ARMY CONVOY NEAR SEPARATIST-HELD SLOVYANSK

This follows earlier concerns from Germany's Schaeuble who said he "can imagine" a worsening of the Ukraine crisis. As AP reports,

Ukraine's defense ministry says 6 servicemen ambushed, killed in the restive east.

And from the Ukraine defense ministry:

Today, May 13 , about 13.00 on the outskirts of the village Oktyabrske ,Slavic district, 20 km from Kramatorska, while driving a convoy of military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was cynical and insidious fired from an ambush . Terrorists attacked the Ukrainian paratroopers with grenade launchers, were busy aimed fire with small arms.

Over 30 attackers arrived early and were located along the river in the bushes. The first shot from a grenade launcher terrorists hit the engine of the other BTRiv who approached the bridge. There was an explosion. Other BTR tried to push the damaged fighting machine that caught fire , away from the village. The soldiers took the fight .

After the first volley of heavy weapons from terrorists killed two soldiers, 3 more were wounded. Overall, as a result of prolonged clashes killed 6 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine . 8 injured varying degrees of severity.

All the wounded and dead were evacuated.

if this is any indication what to expect tomorrow when yesterday's 48 hour ultimatum expires, the S&P should easily hit 2000 when the Ukraine civil war bursts out of the gate.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...e-war-deadline

Russia Retaliates: Blocks GPS, Bans US Use Of Its Rocket Engines

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/13/2014 10:11 -0400

Just as Russia had promised, sanctions were not effective and so they went straight to targeted bans. On the heels of The Pentagon admitting that they had "no solution" to replacing Russian rocket engines in the launch systems for US military satellites (as we have covered extensively), Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin this morning announced:

• *ROGOZIN: RUSSIA TO HALT U.S. GPS BASES IN RUSSIA ON JUNE 1:IFX
• *RUSSIAN BAN ON ROCKET USE FOR US MILITARY SATELLITE LAUNCHES: IFX

He further added that Russia will not extend its partnership in the International Space Station beyond 2020 (which suggests Russia does not expect a quick resolution to the current tensions).

As RT reports,

Moscow is banning Washington from using Russian-made rocket engines, which the US has used to deliver its military satellites into orbit, said Russia’s Deputy PM, Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of space and defense industries.

According to Rogozin, Russia is also halting the operation of all American GPS stations on its territory from June 1.

Russia currently hosts 11 ground-based GPS stations, the Deputy PM said.

The move comes after the US refused to place a signal correction station for Russia’s own space-based satellite navigation system, GLONASS, on American territory, he explained.

This is a major problem for the US military because (as Bloomberg reports),

The Pentagon has no “great solution” to reduce its dependence on a Russian-made engine that powers the rocket used to launch U.S. military satellites, the Defense Department’s top weapons buyer said.

“We don’t have a great solution,” Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, said yesterday after testifying before a Senate committee. “We haven’t made any decisions yet.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Air Force to review its reliance on the rocket engine after tensions over Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region prompted questions from lawmakers about that long-time supply connection.

United Launch Alliance LLC, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co., uses the Russian-made RD-180 engine on Atlas V rockets.

As Putin warned - apparently correctly...

“The US is certainly one of the world’s leaders. At some point it seemed that it was the only leader and a uni-polar system was in place. Today it appears that is not the case. Everything in the world is interdependent and once you try to punish someone, in the end you will cut off your nose to spite your face,” he said.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...rocket-engines