Posted on 03/03/2014 9:51:21 AM PST by DaveMSmith
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have become “really annoyed” about Russian President Vladimir Putin and has questioned whether he “was still in touch with reality.”
The German mass circulation Bild newspaper wrote on Monday that during a telephone conversation she held with US President Barack Obama to discuss the growing crisis in Ukraine she complained that Mr Putin was “living in another world.”
“She appears to have become really annoyed,” Bild remarked. The paper said it had gained inside information on the telephone exchange between the US and German leaders from American sources.
The two leaders roundly criticised Mr Putin in their conversation and agreed that Russia’s military intervention in Crimea was in violation of international law. A German government spokesman said that both stressed that it was important for the international community to respond to the crisis in unison.
Both were said to be in favour of sending an immediate fact finding mission to Ukraine and backed the idea of setting up of a contact group, possibly overseen by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the aim of ending the crisis through political dialogue.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
For a good online source of Crimea and maps around the world, I don't think you can beat The University of Texas' "Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection"
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/
The leading maps on the first page:
Online Maps of Current Interest
Crimea Map (Ukraine-Travels)
Crimea - Russia Moves In (Daily Mail)
Ukraine Maps (PCL Map Collection)
Ukraine in Maps (New York Times)
Ukraine Crisis in Maps (BBC News)
Ukraine - A Divided Ukraine (CNN)
Ukraine - Post-Soviet Faultlines (Guardian)
Central African Republic Maps (PCL Map Collection)
India's Proposed New State - Telangana (Rediff)
Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands (BBC News)
Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands (Political Geography Now)
Syria Maps (PCL Map Collection)
Syria: Mapping the Conflict (BBC News)
U.S. Drought Map (U.S. Drought Monitor)
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I always talk up The University of Texas' "Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection" because 1) I graduated from The University of Texas at Austin ("The University"), 2) I still bleed burnt orange and 3) it is an awesome map collection!
Check it out!
While Angela Merkel said at the weekend that Putin was not in touch with reality, many Russians would disagree. The latest Levada poll conducted from 21-25 February found that most Russians regard the new government in Kiev negatively: 43% called the political upheaval in Ukraine a “violent coup” and 23% called it a civil war.
Moreover, 45% blamed western influence for bringing people on to the streets of Kiev, where the “Euromaidan” protests that were originally in favour of further European integration later turned into a general condemnation of the corrupt regime.
56% of Russians considered Crimea, which Russia seized from the Tatars in the 18th century, to be a part of Russia. The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave the territory to Ukraine in 1954, but ethnic Russians still make up 59% of Crimea’s population of 2 million, while 12% are Tatars, according to 2001 census data.
A leaked phone call between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet has revealed that the two discussed that the blame of the killing of civilian protesters in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, is on the radical militiamen rather than the government police forces.
Do you think that Snowden (sic?) is helping Putin out?
I have no idea.
No one knows what Snowden is doing there, but one thing is certain, if he came back home, he would be in jail.
Latest news:
Edward Snowden to speak at South by Southwest Festival from Russia, to discuss the impact of the National Security Agency’s spying efforts on the technology community and ways technology can fight mass surveillance.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/edward-snowden-speak-sxsw-russia-article-1.1710629
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"Its all good", NFHale....We are all Spartacus...I mean, we are all FReepers!
The more info the better, but we sure have to wade through the weeds what with historical considerations being in the mix, IMHO.
hummingbird
Russia is unlikely to pull back its military forces in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, analysts and former Obama administration officials say, forcing the United States and Europe into a more limited strategy of trying to prevent President Vladimir Putin from making advances elsewhere in the former Soviet republic.
It’s an unsettling scenario for President Barack Obama, who is under pressure to show he has leverage over Putin in a deepening conflict between East and West. The threat of economic sanctions, along with a series of modest measures that include canceling trade talks with Moscow and suspending plans to attend an international summit in Russia, have so far done little to persuade the Russian leader to pull his forces back from Crimea.
“I’m not optimistic they’re going to leave,” said Michael McFaul
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/analysts-russian-pull-back-crimea-22778882
Sit back and relax, guys. Russia has got back Crimea, without firing a shot.
Yeah, problem is that Ukraine is a sovereign nation and it is up to them if they wish to have their own revolution and change their government, not Russia’s.
What are the numbers next to the titles? TIA!
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Only South X Southwest Festival I've ever heard of is a film festival in Austin, Texas!
Russia has a SXS Festival, too?
Sorry....a contrite hummingbird going to read article now.
Putin might catch a big break here:
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum within 10 days on the decision in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.
Not really...everyone can see that that vote is under coercion of military domination...obviously.
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Back for more information re: Crimea
TIA, Marguerite! I appreciate your posts.
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Can Obama really afford to agitate Russia - they have the International Space Station. US is dependent on Russia for space exploration and presence in space programs.
Putin could just say to US "persona non grata" on ISS and US would be booted.
That would be a real black eye for Obama and US.
"Sit back and relax, guys. Russia has got back Crimea, without firing a shot."
Obama has managed to achieve his goals without firing a shot, too.
“It’s an unsettling scenario for President Barack Obama, who is under pressure to show he has leverage over Putin in a deepening conflict between East and West. The threat of economic sanctions, along with a series of modest measures that include canceling trade talks with Moscow and suspending plans to attend an international summit in Russia, have so far done little to persuade the Russian leader to pull his forces back from Crimea.”
Bill Clinton: “A few years ago, this guy(Obama)would be getting us coffee”
----------------------------------> My understanding is that Crimea is an autonomous region, a little bit Russian and a little bit Ukrainian.
Not an expert here - far from it. Maybe we can get clarity from other Freepers.
[The Obama/Medved full conversation would probably floor us (at the very least). ]
I wish we knew too. Did you notice when Obama put his hand on Medved’s arm? I put a little red arrow there as it was another indication of his ‘secretiveness’.
Thanks for the reply about the graphic, hummingbird.
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