EU weighs new approach towards Russia in wake of Ukraine crisis

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: Reuters

European Union foreign ministers tried to map out a new strategy towards Russia at talks in Athens on Saturday, pledging to keep a tough stance over its tensions with Ukraine, while steering clear of provoking Moscow into further conflict.

Since Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, the European Union has imposed sanctions against the closest allies of President Vladimir Putin, and Group of Seven governments have suspended top-level contacts with Russia.

Further sanctions are being prepared in case the conflict escalates. But in the near term, the EU's 28 governments will have to balance the need to preserve stability to east of the bloc, while strengthening ties with former Soviet republics, a process that has drawn ire from Moscow.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said it was not in the European Union's interest to fuel confrontation with Russia, already at its highest since the Cold War.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/05/us-ukraine-crisis-eu-russia-idUSBREA340FU20140405

---

Who knew neuland really meant it when she said "F the EU"

[Demeter]

1. The EU is doing to themselves

Or rather, the technocrats are screwing over Europe, with the help of the US.

Putin simply refused to let them screw his nation over. I like that in a leader.

[840high]

5. ...

[okaawhatever]

17. That's funny. I can't believe you actually believe that. nt

[bemildred]

2. Instead of prying the EU and Russia apart, we may just pry the EU apart. nt

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Here EU...

You need 45 million more poor people. Here EU you need to spend your treasure on NATO, here EU pay more for energy, here EU boycott your largest customer.

You can't make this shit up.

One needs to contrast the current hysteria with what happened under Bush and Georgia. It's over the top.

Love the "cold warriors" who are reliving their prime duck and cover years. They went right back to that script like a crack addict with a $20 dollar jumbo rock.

[bemildred]

4. +1 for "like a crack addict with a $20 dollar jumbo rock".

It really is pathetic the way they salivate at the chance of conflict.

[Jesus Malverde]

8. For most it was a lack of conflict that was the uncomfortable part

When you think how 50 years of cold war propaganda was thrown out the door overnight, people felt disconnected from the reality they grew up in.

Its like when I went on vacation in Vietnam and found the vietnamese to be some of the most friendly awesome people on the planet. Mind Blown. 50,000 dead Americans and a million dead vietnamese for NOTHING.

Some people can't handle that and easily revert to memes and tropes of their youth.

[bemildred]

10. I think the fact of the evil done for nothing is what is still being fended off.

As with Iraq and other places. When you have done that much harm, for nothing, as you put it, or for money, as it really was, it becomes a powerful barrier to seeing the truth. This is why truth-and-reconciliation investigations and tribunals are so important, not so much to put the fuckers in jail, that is not important. What is important is that the truth of what was done and by whom become public and undeniable.

[Jesus Malverde]

11. +1000000

[Igel]

6. That would make most of the RW groups happy.

They're virulently anti-EU. They don't like the immigration, the homogenization, the bureaucratization that comes with it. The more RW, the more anti-EU, the more go-it-alone, the more "we're special and let's accentuate what makes us special."

It's what makes the Ukr RWers a bit different. They assumed that since their biggest threat for assimilation was Russia, the EU could only be better.

[Demeter]

7. The Europeans were sold Snake Oil

They were told one thing, and delivered another.

The EU they were sold on had a common currency and passport system, enabling freedom to travel around the European continent as we do in the US, or did before passports were required for Canada and Mexico....

The EU that was delivered turned into a version of German imperialism with all other nations enslaved to Germany's will, cannibalized for German Banksters' profits. The Technocrats who are running things in the various nation-states were not elected by anybody: they were SELECTED by the banksters. The banksters have gutted all the EU nations, and will continue to do so until the populace rises in revolution.

The RW may be more active in speech and protest, but I assure you, the other factions aren't being well-served, either. they just aren't as vocal. Most of them vote with their feet...emigrating anywhere there's a better chance for life.

The Ukrainians, more willing to listen to the Technocrats' snake oil than to the testimonials of dissatisfied customers, are begging to join the Ponzi scheme that is the Eurozone. As one of the last, however, they will be ripped off the worst. They are willing to buy the sizzle, but they will never see any steak.

[bemildred]

9. Nobody else is going to save Ukraine, not Russia, not the EU, not anybody.

Any more than somebody is going to save the USA if we don't save ourselves.

If they accept debt-peonage, it will be surely given to them.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. Is the EU begging Russia for help...

Europe issued fresh calls Saturday for dialogue with Russia over Ukraine, warning Moscow it faces having a failed state in its backyard just as it tightens the economic noose on Kiev.

Europe issued fresh calls Saturday for dialogue with Russia over Ukraine, warning Moscow it faces having a failed state in its backyard just as it tightens the economic noose on Kiev.

Russia needs to understand it is not in its interest "to have a collapsing state in its neighbourhood", German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the close of two-day talks with his 27 European Union counterparts.

But as a Ukraine-Russia gas price row intensifies, Steinmeier stressed that Europe needed to keep lines of communication open with Moscow to enlist Russian help for the new authorities in economically distressed Kiev.

"That's why we, even if there is conflict between us, have to talk with Russia."

http://news.yahoo.com/russia-cannot-afford-collapsing-state-backyard-164423647.html

Russia can't afford it? It seems like the EU is the one who can't afford it and is having buyers remorse.

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Fears of gas war as Ukraine refuses to pay increased prices set by Russian firm

The prospect of a new gas war between Russia and Ukraine drew closer at the weekend as the government in Kiev said it would refuse to pay for gas at a new, inflated price set by Gazprom last week. The dispute comes as tensions in eastern Ukraine remain high, with pro-Russian protesters in two cities storming government buildings on Sunday.

In Kiev, interim prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the cabinet over the weekend that the new price for gas was unfair and Ukraine would not pay it.

"Russia has not managed to grab Ukraine through military aggression, so now they are pursuing a plan to pressure and grab Ukraine through gas and economic aggression," said Yatsenyuk. He said that Ukraine would continue buying gas at the "acceptable market price" of $268 (£162) per 1,000 cubic metres.

Last week, Russia announced two successive price hikes in gas for Ukraine, taking it up to $485.50. It is unclear what Russia will do if Ukraine refuses to pay the new price, but in the past it has shut off the supply. Last week, Gazprom's CEO, Alexei Miller, gave televised comments explaining why Russia was raising the gas price, noting that part of the discount had come when Russia extended credit to Ukraine last December as part of a package that was given to the former president, Viktor Yanukovych, for turning his back on an association agreement with the European Union.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/06/fears-gas-war-ukraine-refuses-pay-increased-prices-russian

[Jesus Malverde]

14. Nato chief tells allies: spend more on defence to deter Russia

Britain and its Nato allies must respond to Russia’s “illegal aggression” against Ukraine by spending more on defence, the alliance’s secretary general has said.

Writing in The Telegraph, Anders Fogh Rasmussen appeals for Nato members to modernise their armed forces as Russia tries to “carve up” Europe.

“Every ally needs to invest the necessary resources in the right capabilities,” writes Mr Rasmussen. “That means modern equipment, intensive training for our forces, and closer cooperation among Nato allies and with our partners. I know how challenging this is in today’s economic climate, but the security climate makes it vital.”

Mr Rasmussen adds: “In the long run, a lack of security would be more costly than investing now and we owe it to our forces, and to broader society.”

The burden of defending Nato’s 28 members falls increasingly on just one: the United States. Last year, America accounted for 72 per cent of Nato defence spending, up from 59 per cent in 1995.

This reflects cuts in military budgets across Europe. Of the 25 European members of Nato, only Britain, Greece and Estonia met an unofficial target of spending at least 2 per cent of national income on defence last year. The average figure was only 1.3 per cent. America, by contrast, devoted 4.4 per cent of its national income to defense.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10748432/Nato-chief-tells-allies-spend-more-on-defence-to-deter-Russia.html

[Jesus Malverde]

15. EU struggles to revise approach to Russia

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said it was not in the European Union's interest to fuel confrontation with Russia, already at its highest since the Cold War.

Russia provides around one third of the EU's oil and gas and some 40 percent of the gas is shipped throughUkraine.

"You need strategies, but history is not doing you the favour of allowing you to follow those strategies," he told reporters. (German FM) "Of course we have to think about how our relationship with Russia should look like in the future. We should do that without any illusion. But we must also not talk ourselves into a deadlock from which you not get out."

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0405/EU-struggles-to-revise-approach-to-Russia

[bemildred]

16. Derp. Derp derp derp. Derp:

"You need strategies, but history is not doing you the favour of allowing you to follow those strategies," he told reporters. (German FM) "Of course we have to think about how our relationship with Russia should look like in the future. We should do that without any illusion. But we must also not talk ourselves into a deadlock from which you not get out."