Sevastopol, Crimea (CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Crimea on Friday to take part in Victory Day celebrations in Sevastopol, in what is his first visit to the disputed territory since Russia annexed it from Ukraine.

The President arrived in the port of Sevastopol by sea, in an event televised by Russian state TV, and watched while flanked by senior officers as Russian warships took part in a naval display in the Black Sea.

The military parades, held each year to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany, come amid soaring tensions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are planning a weekend referendum on autonomy.  (continue reading)

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia that the “window to change course is closing” in what appeared to be a final warning to Moscow that the U.S. was readying severe economic sanctions over the situation in Ukraine.
“Let me be clear,” Kerry said. “If Russia continues in this direction, it will not just be a grave mistake, it will be an expensive mistake.”
Speaking at the State Department one week after foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, the U.S. and European Union penned an agreement designed to de-escalate the crisis there, Kerry accused the Kremlin of “a full-throated effort to actively sabotage the democratic effort” in Ukraine. (more…)

Yes Alice, I’ll be right along !

Can you believe that our international diplomacy efforts are now being reduced to Twitter Hashtags ?

The world stands #UnitedforUkraine. Let’s hope that the #Kremlin & @mfa_russia will live by the promise of hashtag

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) April 24, 2014

 
 

VP Biden leaves tonight for Ukraine and a day of talks in Kiev Tuesday with government leaders and non-govt activists.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 21, 2014

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UKRAINE – A  flyer ordering Jews in eastern Ukraine to register with pro-Russian forces or face deportation has been branded a fake by religious leaders, including the area’s rabbi.

Pamphlets circulating in Donetsk demanded ‘citizens of Jewish nationality’ over the age of 16 pay $50 to register and be issued special passports ‘marking the confession of faith’. But the flyer, described as ‘grotesque’ by US Secretary of State John Kerry, has now been classed by the leader of the city’s Jewish community as a hoax, aimed at stirring up trouble.
The handouts, a chilling echo of Nazi persecution, were given to Jews leaving a local synagogue by three men in ski masks holding the flag of the Russian Federation, Israeli media reports. (more…)

Earlier in the day today the State Department was questioned about sending U.S. support to Ukraine.    In response State Dept. Spokewoman said:  “we are not going to get into a proxy war with Russia” [ergo we are not going to send arms or weaponry to the Ukraine government]  Yet Russia is acting specifically and intentionally with a proxy war mentality toward us.
When CBS’s Major Garrett questions President Obama about the rising tensions yet again Obama reflects a limp-wristed and disconnected response:

Nothing the Obama administration has done in his entire presidency reflects an actual accomplishment, ever.
As an example -and to give you context for what Putin references- here’s just a brief un-updated rundown of prior Obama statements on Iran. You decide for yourself: (more…)

A very similar historical pattern is evolving.   First, Vladimir Putin used the concern for Russian nationalists in Ukraine as justification for military incursion into Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.   This is the same justification Adolf Hitler used to move troops into Poland.

Now, just like before, Jews in Eastern Ukraine are told they need to register their personage or their property will be confiscated.  “Register or be Deported”.

UKRAINE – A leaflet distributed in Donetsk, Ukraine calling for all Jews over 16 years old to register as Jews marred the Jewish community’s Passover festivities Monday (Passover eve), replacing them with feelings of concern.

The leaflet demanded the city’s Jews supply a detailed list of all the property they own, or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated.
Donetsk, a Ukraine province with 4.3 million people – 10 percent of Ukraine’s population – and 17,000 Jews, is home to much of the country’s heavy industry, and is thus the biggest prize of the eastern regions where pro-Russian separatists have captured government buildings in the past week.
The leaflet, signed by Chairman of Donetsk’s temporary government Denis Pushilin, was distrbiuted to Jews near the Donetsk synagogue and later in other areas of the city where pro-Russians activists have declared Donetsk as an independent “people’s republic”, defying an ultimatum from Kiev to surrender. (more…)

*tap*tap*tap,… *ahem*… Not to be all Captain Obvious, but what was the CIA Benghazi mission about again ?

The dots are all brutally obvious.   Team Putin (Iran/Russia) squishing Team Bam-Bam in EU and Syria.   In retort, Team Bam-Bam (Saudi Arabia/USA) poke eye of Assad.   Bam-Bam’s BFF Erdogan (Turkey) openly planning false flag operation against Assad.  …. and Who was Ambassador Stephens meeting with on 9/11/12 ?   Uh huh. 

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — (<– Huffington Post ) The Obama administration is considering allowing shipments of new air defense systems to Syrian rebels, a U.S. official said Friday.
President Barack Obama’s possible shift would likely be welcomed by Saudi Arabia, which has been pressing the White House to allow the man-portable air-defense systems, known as “manpads,” into Syria. Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening for meetings with King Abdullah.
Allowing manpads to be delivered to Syrian rebels would mark a shift in strategy for the U.S., which until this point has limited its lethal assistance to small weapons and ammunition, as well as humanitarian aid. The U.S. has been grappling for ways to boost the rebels, who have lost ground in recent months, allowing Syrian President Bashar Assad to regain a tighter grip on the war-torn nation. (more…)

The countries who voted to support Russia were: Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. Everyone else supported Ukraine.
(Reuters) Russia threatened several Eastern European and Central Asian states with retaliation if they voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution this week declaring invalid Crimea’s referendum on seceding from Ukraine, U.N. diplomats said.

The disclosures about Russian threats came after Moscow accused Western countries of using “shameless pressure, up to the point of political blackmail and economic threats,” in an attempt to coerce the United Nations’ 193 member states to join it in supporting the non-binding resolution on the Ukraine crisis.
According to interviews with U.N. diplomats, most of whom preferred to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of angering Moscow, the targets of Russian threats included Moldova, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as well as a number of African countries.
(more…)

Sometimes it helps to pause and reflect, then evaluate for yourself:

IRAN – In 2009, from the now infamous Cairo Speech, an uprising of the student led “Green Movement” striving for a voice amid the heavy hand of hard-line Islamist governance began.   President Obama chose to reach out to Iran’s leadership and ignored the calls for assistance from the young reformers.   The Green Party was killed.  The Mullahs reigned supreme.  Through inaction Obama sided with the Islamists.

TUNISIA – (Where the West claimed the “Arab Spring” began)  Tunis caught the global political elites off guard.  It should not have come as a surprise.  We were outlining the growing immigration powder keg for years.   Tunis exploded as a consequence of Ben Ali and Quadaffi taking billions from the EU to shut the immigration gates.
Simultaneously, in the WEST, the more willing to engage ‘New Media’ began to report the speeches from UK, France and Germany that Multi-culturalism had failed.   However, few connected the dots to Tunis and how the shutting of the North African gates created a bottleneck within Tunisia and Libya.   It was simply a matter of time before economic anxiety exploded within the cultural petri-dish.  It did, in a big way.
(more…)