'Post-Cold War West Poked Russian Bear with Stick until It Finally Swiped Back'

Crimea's secession has steered up a storm in the West, with flaming speeches being heard from politicians. However, there's little real action being taken - Why? What frightens the power players? We ask these questions to David Speedie from the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs.

Rumsfeld's Take: Karzai Snubs West, Backs Putin's Power Grab

Mar. 24, 2014 - 4:22 - Former defense secretary on Afghan President Karzai, joining Syria and Venezuela in backing Russia's annexation of Crimea

Mitt Romney Calls Barack Obama 'Naive' on Russia and Vladimir Putin

THE GUARDIAN: • Losing 2012 candidate slams president for 'faulty judgment'
• Senator Durbin accuses Republican of 'political amnesia'

Mitt Romney said on Sunday that President Barack Obama is naive when it comes to Russia, has shown "faulty judgment" about Moscow's intentions and could have done more to try to deter its annexation of Crimea.

The 2012 Republican presidential nominee said Obama had not had the foresight to anticipate Russia's moves and should have been working earlier with allies to make clear the penalties that Russia would face if it moved into Ukraine. Romney did acknowledge that such steps might not have been enough though to hold back Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

"Had we communicated those things, there's always the potential that we could have kept them from invading a country and annexing it into their own," Romney said in an appearance on Face the Nation, on CBS. » | Associated Press in Washington | Sunday, March 23, 2014


Putin urged to make Transdniestria his next conquest »

The Price of Failed American Leadership?

Mar. 22, 2014 - 6:38 - Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no signs of backing down from his Ukraine land grab

Putin Orders Fireworks over Moscow as He Laughs Off US Sanctions

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Russian president painted events in victorious colours, ordering fireworks in Moscow and Crimea to celebrate the official annexation of the peninsula

Fireworks have been let off over Moscow on President Vladimir Putin’s orders as Russia celebrated the formal annexation of Crimea, in a front to the West.

Mr Putin laughed off the US sanctions that targeted his inner circle, promising the Russian government would “have the back” of those on the list, and even opening a personal account at a sanctioned bank as an act of solidarity.

“Far as I’m aware, it’s an average bank,” Mr Putin said on Friday of Bank Rossiya, the only institution on the list of sanctions targets released by the US Treasury Department on Thursday. “I don’t have a personal account there, but I’ll open on on Monday.”

And in what appeared to be a move to de-escalate tensions, he even said he had no intention of imposing answering reactions. “We should refrain from retaliatory steps,” he said. » | Roland Oliphant in Simferopol and Yekaterina Kravtsova in Moscow | Friday, March 21, 2014

Tit for Tat: Mocking Sanctions

Mar. 20, 2014 - 3:13 - Sanctions in Russia-US tension over Crimea mean nothing as both sides laugh off measures

Crimea, Sevastopol Officially Join Russia as Putin Signs Final Decree

Russia has finalized the legal process of taking Crimea under its sovereignty, as President Putin signed a law amending the Russian constitution to reflect the transition

THE GUARDIAN: Putin laughs off sanctions as he signs bills to transfer Crimea to Russia: President promises to open account at blacklisted bank as west signals intent to maintain pressure over Ukraine crisis » | Alex Luhn in Moscow | Friday, March 21, 2014

Crimea Will Return to Ukrainian Jurisdiction, Says Minister

BBC: Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Leonid Polyakov has said that Crimea has not been lost to Russia, and insisted it was just a matter of time before it came back under Ukrainian jurisdiction.

He also told the BBC's Chris Morris that they are still deciding whether to withdraw Ukrainian troops and their families from Crimea. (+ BBC video) » | Thursday, March 20, 2014

Obama Imposes New Sanctions, Warns Russia Against Further Escalation

LOS ANGELES TIMES: WASHINGTON — President Obama on Thursday announced new economic sanctions against Russian government officials, influential individuals and a Russian bank, threatening to come back with tougher penalties if Moscow does not deescalate the crisis in Ukraine.

“Further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community,” Obama said in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House. The U.S. is concerned that "Russia has positioned its military" in a threatening way, he added.

The president said the new sanctions would target additional senior Russian government officials, other individuals with "substantial resources and influence," and a bank. He also signed an executive order that would allow him to slap broader sanctions on sectors of the Russian economy, a move that “is not our preferred outcome,” Obama said, acknowledging that such sanctions could be “disruptive” to the global economy. » | Kathleen Hennessey and Christi Parsons | Thursday, March 20, 2014

Angela Merkel: EU Prepared to Punish Russia with Sanctions over Ukraine

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, tells German MPs that members of G7 will take economic sanctions against Russia during the EU summit which starts on Thursday. Leaders will discuss imposing travel restrictions on Moscow as well as the future of its relationship with Europe

Ticking Timebomb: Moscow Moves to Destabilize Eastern Ukraine

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: It's not only in Crimea where Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing with fire, but also in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the people in the economically powerful region speak Russian and reject the new government in Kiev.

The pensioner Oxana Kremenyuk limps as she passes by the House of Culture in a small village in eastern Ukraine. As a young woman, she used to dance here. Today the stucco is crumbling and the windows are broken. "The people in Kiev are driving our country into civil war," she says. "These good-for-nothings should be slaving away the way we do here." Kremenyuk receives a pension of about €90 ($125) a month. In order to ensure there is food on the table, she keeps 10 chickens and a pig.

Kremenyuk's village of Maidan, with its three dozen homes, is a peaceful place in a gentle, hilly landscape. The village is 378 kilometers (235 miles) -- but also worlds apart -- from the Maidan in the capital city of Kiev, the Independence Square that has become known around the world since the start of the revolution. Most of the village's homes have fallen into a state of disrepair and young families moved away long ago. The people living here don't think much of the revolution taking place in the western part of the country. Read on and comment » | Uwe Klussmann and Matthias Schepp | Translated from the German by Daryl Lindsey | Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Whose Side Is This Codger On? 'US Thinks It's Superior, Rules Only Apply to Inferior Nations' – Ex-Australian PM

The US has been accused of double standards for supporting Kosovo's secession while calling Crimea's illegal. We talked to former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, to clarify the contradiction in the US/EU positions on secession.

America Is in Danger

Mar. 18, 2014 - 8:23 - Talking Points 3/18

US Power Failure: A Price of Obama's Failed Leadership?

Mar. 18, 2014 - 3:11 - Karl Rove on Mitt Romney's op-ed on the consequences of alleged Obama's missteps in handling of Putin and the Ukraine and other world crises

U.S. Warns Russia: More Sanctions Coming due to Ukraine Crisis

Read the CNN article here

Inside Story: Reclaiming Crimea: Is It Legal?

President Vladimir Putin signs a treaty making the Ukrainian region part of the Russian Federation.

David Cameron Sends Shivers Down Putin’s Spine: “There Will Be Consequences”

Putin Has Stuck Two Fingers Up to the West by Annexing Crimea, Says Sir Malcolm Rifkind

Sir Malcolm Rifkind

DAILY EXPRESS: VLADIMIR Putin has given the West “two fingers” by his annexing of Crimea and needs to be hit with punitive economic sanctions, former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind has argued.

The Conservative grandee, who is chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said Russia was now treating the West with contempt and warned the situation is “the most dangerous we have faced.”

Today Foreign Secretary William Hague announced in the Commons that the EU was was ready to pursue trade and economic sanctions against Russia.

Sanctions announced by the EU and US so far have just focused on the assets and travel movements of a handful of Russian and Ukrainian officials – but this goes much further.

Speaking exclusively to Express Online, Sir Malcolm – who served as Foreign Secretary from 1995 to 1997 – welcomed the move after earlier arguing that the international community had so far been “pathetic in its response.”

He said: “The measures that have been announced by both the US and the EU have been treated, understandably in my view, with contempt by Russia.

"What is needed is financial economic sanctions. » | Owen Bennett | Political Editor | Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Putin Approves Annexation of Crimea

Mar. 18, 2014 - 3:24 - Greg Palkot reports from Kiev, Ukraine

Putin Condemns Western Hypocrisy as He Confirms Annexation of Crimea

THE GUARDIAN: Russian president makes speech laced with bluster and anger at west, saying Russia has been 'cheated again and again'

Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Crimea on Tuesday in a searing speech to assembled political elites in Moscow shot through with angry rhetoric about western aggression and hypocrisy.

The Russian president summoned the federal assembly, which includes both houses of parliament and all key political leaders, for an extraordinary session in the Kremlin's St George Hall.

Putin delivered an hour-long speech laced with patriotic bluster and anger at the west, whose politicians he said "call something white today and black tomorrow".

He was frequently interrupted by applause and at the end of the speech signed documents together with the de facto leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov – who came to power after seizing the local parliament at gunpoint last month – to absorb the territory into Russia.

Putin recognised Crimea as an independent state late on Monday evening, making it easier to incorporate into the Russian Federation than if it were still Ukrainian territory. Kiev has said it will never give up its claim to Crimea, but is unable to respond to Russia militarily due to the huge disparity in their respective martial forces. » | Shaun Walker in Simferopol | Tuesday, March 16, 2014