Thread: WORLD BRACES FOR WAR: Canada send Jetfighters to Poland to Bolster NATO Forces

Isolated Russia Makes Friends: To Hold Military Drill With China; Strikes Multi-Billion Deals Qatar And Iran

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/29/2014 17:24 -0400

China
Crude
France
Germany
Iran
Ukraine
Uranium

The G-8 may be no more as the G-7 throws every possible case of harsh language known to man at the Kremlin, which obstinately refuses to back down, while re-escalating sanctions against a Russia which merely has done what the US does every single time its national interest abroad is threatened, but one thing is becoming ever clearer: while the west isolates Russia with ever stricter measures, Russia has decided to make some new friends.

Such as China:

China and Russia will hold a "maritime cooperation-2014" drill in East China Sea at end-May, Voice of Russia reports on its Chinese-language website yesterday.

China and Russia will conduct reconnaissance in the area within 3 days to prepare for the drill, the report says, citing an unidentified representative from Russian navy.

Earlier, the Russian military delegation of the Russian Navy, led by Viktor Karamazov Couchepi, arrived in Shanghai. Naval officials and representatives of the General Command of the Pacific Fleet met the Russian military delegation.

Such as Iran:

Iran and Russia are negotiating a power deal worth up to $10 billion in the face of increasing US financial alienation. The construction of new thermal and hydroelectric plants and a transmission network are in the works. Iran’s Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian met his Russian counterpart Aleksandr Novak in Tehran on Sunday in order to discuss the potential power deals, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

“[Expansion of] Iran-Russia relations are not only to the benefit of the two nations, but also are beneficial to entire region,” Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, stated in a meeting with Novak in Tehran on Sunday, reported Iran’s FARS news agency.

Plans include the construction of hydroelectric and thermal generating plants and a new transmission network. The possibility of Russia exporting 500 megawatts of electricity to Iran is also on the cards, said Mehr.

The strengthening of economic ties between the two countries is of heightened significance given both economic sanctions on Iran, imposed with the aim of encouraging Iran to cut its uranium stockpiles, and new economic sanctions on Russian officials imposed on Monday.

On Sunday, Chitchian reportedly stressed “the need for further expansion of economic ties between Tehran and Moscow, particularly in the energy and commerce spheres,” stated Mehr.

Moscow has additionally been discussing the trade of 500,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil for Russian goods with Tehran. The protracted deal, first reported at the beginning of April could be worth as much as $20 billion, and has rattled Washington because it could bring Iran's crude exports above one million barrels a day - the threshold agreed upon in the nuclear deal between the P5+1 powers - US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – and Iran.

And such as Bahrain:

The governments of Bahrain and Russia have signed a deal to cooperate on investments, at a time when U.S. and European governments are imposing economic sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.

Bahrain is a U.S. diplomatic ally in the Gulf, and its decision suggests Western sanctions may not deter other countries from continuing to expand business ties with Russia.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat to identify and work together on investment opportunities in their countries. Mumtalakat chief executive Mahmood al-Kooheji will join the RDIF's international advisory board, helping to formulate its strategic direction, the statement added.

The Bahraini fund is one of the smaller sovereign funds in the Gulf, with $7.1 billion of assets as of last September. The RDIF is a $10 billion fund created by Russia's government to make equity investments, mainly in the Russian economy.

If nothing else, at least it shows just how seriously the rest of the world (away from those G-7 members who are as insolvent as the US of course) is taking US sanctions and threats of retaliation. Meanwhile, back in the US, rigged stocks hit intraday highs on what we would otherwise call BTFWWWIIID... if only there was a D.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...billion-deals-

Time For More Costs? Pro-Russian Forces Storm Luhansk Police Buildings - Live Feed

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/29/2014 12:38 -0400

Activist Shareholder
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Ukraine

One of East Ukraine's largest cities, Luhansk, has seen its police headquarters over-run by pro-Russian activists (with machine guns and greande launchers evident):

• *GUNSHOTS HEARD AS POLICE BUILDING STORMED IN LUHANSK: IFX
• *PRO-RUSSIAN PROTESTERS STORM LUHANSK POLICE BUILDINGS: IFX

In the immediate aftermath, the police chief has resigned over the separatist demands but as France24 reports, Ukraine's president has slammed police 'inaction' and 'criminal treachery' as rebels stormed state buildings. The demonstrators chanted "Referendum Russia" and raised a Russian flag over the building after the takeover.






Viktor Kovalenko @MrKovalenko
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#Photo: Pro-Kremlin armed separatists have fun on the roof of captured admin building in #Luhansk, Eastern #Ukraine

12:37 PM - 29 Apr 2014 Ukraine, Ukraine

As The BBC reports,

Pro-Russia activists have stormed several official buildings in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk.

They seized the regional government's headquarters and the prosecutor's office. Armed men later attacked the main police station.

Interim President Olexander Turchynov criticised local police for their "inaction" and "criminal treachery".

Jack Stubbs @jc_stubbs
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Exquisitely decorated weapon of choice. RTRS - Pro-Rus activist #Luhansk, eastern #Ukraine, April 29, 2014:
10:41 AM - 29 Apr 2014

Live Feed 1:



Live Feed 2: Live streaming video by Ustream

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...ings-live-feed

China Slams US Over Russian Sanctions; Warns "Will Escalate Tensions"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/29/2014 12:08 -0400

BRICs
China
Ukraine
Vladimir Putin

Having previously called Russia a "good neighbor, good partner, and good friend," it seems increasingly clear that the West faces not just Russia but China too as it brings more sanctions to bear. As The BRICS Post reports, Beijing announced its support for a beleaguered Moscow, calling on all parties to resolve the crisis, and warning that they "believe that sanctions are inconducive to the solution of problems. On the contrary, they will escalate tensions."

As The BRICS Post reports,

Beijing announced its support for a beleaguered Moscow after the US and Canada announced fresh sanctions against Russia for it’s alleged “inaction” in easing tensions in Ukraine.

In a public signal of increasing Sino-Russian cooperation, China called on all parties to resolve the Ukrainian crisis through dialogue rather than sanctions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Monday.

“We believe that sanctions are inconducive to the solution of problems. On the contrary, they will escalate tensions,” he said.

It is not in line with any side’s interests to impose sanctions, he added. “We call on all parties concerned to continue dialogue and negotiations so to resolve the crisis in a political way.”

Qin told a daily press briefing that China has been in touch with all relevant nations, including G7 nations, since the Ukrainian crisis erupted, and made clear the nation’s stance on the issue.

Hardly reassuring for all those 'believers' that US businesses will remain unaffected as sanctions are ratcheted up

Beijing’s support for its ally comes ahead of a strategic visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Shanghai next month where he will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...alate-tensions

No Deescalation: Separatists Storm Another Ukraine Administration Building; NATO Says No Troop Withdrawal

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/29/2014 08:23 -0400

Japan
Reuters
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Twitter
Ukraine

One of the suggested catalysts for yesterday's late day rebound, was yet another iteration of diplomatic de-escalation in Ukraine, when not only did Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu advise Chuck Hagel that Russia has no plan of bringing its troops to Ukraine - something Russia has said since the conflict started, even as it has repeatedly affirmed it would waste no time to protect ethnic Russians in east Ukraine - but when Interfax reported that Russian troops are returning from military drills by the Ukraine border to their respective bases. This alone was enough to send the S&P roundtripping from nearly red for the year, to up half a percent for the day. There are a few problems with this latest de-escalation gambit however.

First of all, as Reuters reported earlier, "NATO has seen no sign that tens of thousands of Russian troops are withdrawing from close to the Ukraine border, a NATO official said today, despite a Russian statement that the troops had returned to their permanent positions." But... the algos said that all is well again? Guess not.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told U.S. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel in a phone call on Monday that Russian forces, which started drills near the border last week, had returned to their permanent positions, according to the Russian government.

"We currently have no information that indicates a withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian border. We continue to urge Russia to abide by the Geneva agreement and to pull back all its troops along the Ukrainian border in favour of diplomacy and dialogue," a NATO official told Reuters, asked about Shoigu's assertion.

Not only that, but as can be expected, following the latest round of sanctions against Russia by the West, a Russian retaliation was inevitable. Sure enough, Interfax reported that Russia is preparing retaliatory measures after latest round of U.S., EU sanctions, citing Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Federation Council, upper house of parliament.

"Such unfriendly attacks, imposed unilaterally against Russia without reason, can’t be left without a response, and I believe there certainly will be a response,” Matviyenko is cited as saying.

Furthermore, as AFP reported separately, Moscow on Tuesday vowed to hit back at Japan over its decision to deny visas to 23 Russian nationals as part of additional sanctions linked to the crisis in Ukraine.

The Russian foreign ministry said that Tokyo's decision was "met with disappointment in Moscow, and of course will not be left without a response".

And finally, perhaps the best example of what is really going on, we read this:

• PROTESTERS STORMING REGIONAL BUILDING IN LUHANSK: INTERFAX
• PRO-RUSSIA SEPARATISTS CONTROL ADMIN. BUILDING IN LUHANSK: RIA

Bloomberg reports further that protesters in the east Ukrainian city took control of administrative building, are disarming police, Russian state news service RIA Novosti reports.

Protesters broke windows to enter building, Interfax reports; Russian state television shows smoke coming from upper windows of building, people waving flags including Russian flag from top of building



Arseniy Svynarenko @svynarenko
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pro-#Russia crowd shouting "Rossija!" near seized #Lugansk regional administration. Police blocked inside!

8:20 AM - 29 Apr 2014

Interfax adds that some of protesters are carrying sticks, batons, and probably other pain-creating objects. Oh well, the "de-escalation" was fun while it lasted. Back to the same old daily grind again.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...uilding-nato-s

Van Rompuy: Unelected EU Will Control Europe and Flank Russia

EU apparatchiks and U.S. may start war despite widespread opposition

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
May 1, 2014

President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said that even if there is little public support for expanding the globalist union to the border of Russia, “we do it anyway.” Photo: European People’s Party via Wikimedia Commons

The unelected president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, says the globalist union will eventually control every country on Russia’s western border.
Von Rompuy’s dream, according to a Breitbart story citing the Flemish daily De Standaard, is to have all of the former Soviet states in the Balkans and “the whole of European territory outside Russia” linked to the European Union.
Reflecting the true character of an appointed high level globalist apparatchik, Van Rompuy said that even if there is little public support for such an effort, “we do it anyway.”
The remarks arrive as the EU and the United States impose a new round of economic sanctions on Russia as the political crisis in Ukraine unfolds.
On Wednesday, The New York Times praised the declaration of economic warfare against the Russian people and lauded the country’s “slide to recession” after Ukraine rejected the “accession treaty offered by the European Union that touched off the current crisis.”
The description offered by the Times ignores the role played by the State Department in touching off the crisis and stage managing the installation of a coup regime including a number of ultra-nationalists and fascists violently opposed to Ukraine’s historical relationship with Russia and its people.
Moreover, the Times, echoing the stance of Van Rompuy and the EU globalists, admits the situation will undoubtedly, in the words of the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, facilitate “the worst crisis since the end of the Cold War.”
“That crisis will only get worse unless the West is prepared to unite behind serious economic sanctions that hurt Russia’s financial, energy and military sectors,” and, left unsaid by the editorial board of The New York Times, the Russian people.
Predictably, and faithfully, the Times mirrors the consensus of the financial and global elite. As Ron Paul noted in March, the American people are overwhelmingly opposed to United States involvement in the Ukraine crisis. Of course, this is of little concern to the ruling elite and its propaganda media.
Disregarding popular consensus, the United States will forge ahead with the European Union and continue instigating a wider conflict in Ukraine and along Russia’s western border.
Herman Van Rompuy and the leadership of the United States, including many members of Congress, are in agreement. The difference is Van Rompuy, as an unelected EU bureaucrat, will not face the wrath of Europeans, many whom, like their American counterparts, oppose and fear an escalation of the conflict and a possible war with Russia.
This article was posted: Thursday, May 1, 2014 at 12:18 pm
Related Articles

• Bilderberg Van Rompuy the New EU President
• Herman Van Rompuy Seeks to Consolidate Economic Power
• Van Rompuy: ‘Almost a lie’ to say EU not democratic
• Amid “gas war” talk, Russia reassures Europe on supply
• Van Rompuy to be re-appointed EU chief and given new eurozone role

http://www.infowars.com/van-rompuy-u...-flank-russia/

Share the message of this brave US citizen. Share it to the world to stop other brothers & sisters being a victim in wars for greedy Leaders. Soldiers are just puppets for the Governments. We don't need ANY war. With the yearly global money invested in military, we could stop the hunger in this world forever. Instead "some" governments decide to bring death and even more poverty to this world.

Will the shooting down of two Ukrainian helicopters cause all out war with Russia?



hardenpost.com

Is Last Hope for Piece in Ukraine shot down!

May 2, 2014 11:20 am
0 comments
Views: 1201

Two Ukrainian military helicopters were shot down during a fire fight with ”highly skilled foreign military men” in the town of Slovyansk. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said the Ukrainian offensive “effectively destroyed the last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreements.” The Geneva talks took place before Easter in and were intended to defuse the crisis.

“A Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman told Fox News that two Ukrainian helicopters were shot down and two of their crewmembers were killed. Several Ukrainian soldiers were injured in the fighting around the southeastern city of Slovyansk. The Security Service said one helicopter was shot down with a surface-to-air missile, which they said countered Russia’s claims that the city is under control of civilians who took up arms.”

(Source: FoxNews.com)
Tags: Breaking News, Politics, Ukraine

http://www.hardenpost.com/2014/05/la...ine-shot-down/

Ukraine Begins Army Offensive To Regain Slavyansk; Separatists Fight Back, Shoot Down Helicopters

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/02/2014 06:41 -0400

After a few days of extended verbal foreplay, it was only a matter of time before Ukraine finally snapped and resumed a military operation to regain the lost cities in the east, especially once the warmongering IMF made it explicitly clear that should Ukraine lose control of pro-Russian controlled cities the $17 billion bailout package would be lost too. Sure enough, early this morning Kiev launched a military operation to regain control of the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Slovyansk, overrunning numerous roadblocks and surrounding the city, officials said, but meeting stiff resistance from militants who managed to shoot down at least one helicopter.
Ukraine chopper taken down:



Pro-Russian soldier with a grenade launcher manning a checkpoint



Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a Ukrainian checkpoint near the eastern town of Slaviansk May 2, 2014.

Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner



A pro-Russian separatist stands guard on top of an armoured personnel carrier in the town of Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine May 2, 2014.

Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner



Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at a Ukrainian checkpoint near the eastern town of Slaviansk May 2, 2014.

Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner


A Ukrainian military helicopter flies near a Ukrainian checkpoint near the town of Slaviansk in eastern Ukraine May 2, 2014.

Credit: REUTERS/Baz Ratner



According to WSJ reporters, Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said militant fighters fought back against the advancing Ukrainian units with heavy weaponry, including grenade launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. There was no immediate sign that Ukraine's forces were moving further into the city.

Separatist leaders claimed to have shot down four Ukrainian helicopters in the clash, Russian state media reported, but Ukraine's defense ministry said two helicopters had been shot down and that two soldiers were killed and several more wounded. Ukraine's state security service confirmed only one Mi-24 chopper was taken down, with one pilot killed and the other taken captive. A spokeswoman for the separatists said one person was killed and another wounded on their side.



Video clip of Ukraine army helicopters shot down in Slavyansk

Reuters adds that a third helicopter, an Mi-8 transport aircraft, was also hit and a serviceman wounded, the Defence Ministry said. The SBU security service said this helicopter was carrying medics.

Yet even this appears merely a preview of the event to come, which on request of western powers, may wait until after the market is closed on Friday afternoon.

Eight hours after Reuters journalists in Slaviansk heard shooting break out and saw one helicopter opening fire, the city of 130,000 was quiet, with shops shut and armed separatists in control of the streets while Ukrainian forces in armored vehicles had taken up positions on the outskirts of town.

Ukrainian officials said troops overran rebel checkpoints around the city in an operation launched before dawn and it was now "tightly encircled". They pointed to the heavy fire that hit the helicopters as proof of the presence of Russian forces, despite repeated denials from Moscow that it has troops on the ground or is controlling the uprising.

And then the Russian warnings started:

Putin's spokesman heaped blame on the Ukrainian government, which took power two months ago after pro-Western protests forced the Kremlin-backed elected president to flee to Russia. Noting that Putin had warned before that any "punitive operation" would be a "criminal act", Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that this was what had now happened at Slaviansk, where separatists seeking independence or annexation by Moscow are holding seven foreign European military observers.

Saying Putin had sent an envoy, Vladimir Lukin, to southeast Ukraine to negotiate their release, Peskov said that Lukin had not been heard from since the Ukrainian operation began.

"While Russia is making efforts to de-escalate and settle the conflict, the Kiev regime has turned to firing on civilian towns with military aircraft and has begun a punitive operation, effectively destroying the last hope of survival for the Geneva accord," he said, referring to a deal on April 17 signed by Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the European Union.

Reuters is also reporting that Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Friday that Kiev would be held responsible "first of all by its people" for its decision to launch a "punitive operation" in south-east Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, speaking on Rossiya 24 television, called on Europe and the United States to give their assessment of the situation in the area, where "aviation is being used against the population" and urged Kiev to think again about its actions, according to the report.

About as clear a warning as one can get that Russia is about to cross the border in a "peacekeeping" mission and get involved as well: hardly the de-escalation the priced to global pax Americana, and climatic perfection rigged and manipulated markets desire.

For now, however, the eye of the military hurricane may be passing over Slavyansk:

Reuters journalists in the city heard shooting from shortly after 4 a.m. (9 p.m. EDT Thursday) and saw a military helicopter open fire. Towards midday, the city was quiet, shops were shut but rebel gunmen appeared to be still in tight control of the streets. Ukrainian troops were at a halt in the suburbs.

The SBU said the deadly use by the separatists of shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles was evidence that "trained, highly qualified foreign military specialists" were operating in the area "and not local civilians, as the Russian government says, armed only with guns taken from hunting stores".

Armed groups seeking union with Russia have seized a number of government buildings in towns in eastern Ukraine. The action in Slaviansk appeared to mark the heaviest military response by Kiev since it tightened a cordon around the city a week ago.

"They wanted to carry out some small-scale tactical operations just to scare the people," said a militant manning a checkpoint leading to the army-held airfield. "But so far things have not worked out the way they wanted."

The irony of course is that East Ukraine is for all intents and purposes lost to Kiev, and with the IMF ultimatum hanging over the acting government's head, a civil was is now all but inevitable, a war which will most certainly end up involving both Russia and NATO eventually:

"Shells came into my garden," said one local man, Gennady. "They say that they have come to defend us. But who from?" he said of the Ukrainian forces. "Civilians must stop them." On the town's southern outskirts, eight Ukrainian armored personnel carriers cut off the road but faced a cordon two deep of local residents shouting at them to go home.

So while we await the final escalation, here is some media coverage of what really happened.

Amateur footage from a resident in Slavansk shows a plume of smoke rising from the city on Friday morning.



Pictures have emerged in social media of a wounded helicopter pilot being helped into an ambulance by self-defense forces.



Новороссия-LIVE @NovorossiyaLive
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Раненого пилота вертолета пытаются спасти.Приехала скорая, увезла его в больницу.@sashakots #Славянск.#Свежее #фото.
12:48 AM - 2 May 2014





Kate Parkinson @katecctvnews
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helicopter just landed, dispatched another 20 troops and left againm Just outsdie slavyansk
1:55 AM - 2 May 2014




Kate Parkinson @katecctvnews
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Former anti govt militia checkpoint outside Slavyansk taken over by Ukr militiary
2:46 AM - 2 May 2014

Ukrainian armored vehicles presses people in Yasnogorka



Continued Below

Helicopters above Slavyansk:







Ukrainian Updates @Ukroblogger
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#Slovyansk: 4 #Russian MPADS bargain shoppers held over 2 downed #Ukrainian helos. #Ukraine #Sloviansk #Slavyansk
6:35 AM - 2 May 2014


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...hoot-down-heli

Pentagon Admits "No Solution" To Replace Russian Rockets To Launch US Military Satellites

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/01/2014 21:43 -0400

Boeing


While the US is quick to demand the rest of the world turn its economic back on Russia - especially the Europeans, it appears they are discovering - just as Putin warned, the world is considerably more inter-dependent than they thought. Following Chuck Hagel's orders to review the Air Force reliance on Russian rocket engines used to launch US military satellites, Bloomberg reports the Pentagon admits it "has no great solution" to reduce its dependence on the Russian-made engine.

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...ary-satellites