UKRAINE - Ukraine's US Ambassador intent on genocide of the East Ukrainians

More Russia Sanctions Are Needed, Ukraine Ambassador Says By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan Aug 20, 2014 2:00 PM ET Tougher U.S. and European sanctions on finance, military sales and energy are needed to stop Russia arming and supporting separatists and end the conflict in Ukraine, the country’s ambassador to the U.S. said. At a Bloomberg Government lunch yesterday in Washington, Olexander Motsyk ruled out a unilateral cease-fire by Ukrainian forces and questioned a purported humanitarian aid convoy from Russia. He said stronger sanctions are needed, even if that would restrict the energy exports on which Ukraine and other European countries depend. “Yes, there is some level of sacrifice, but it is sacrifice in the name of the peace and stability in Europe,” Motsyk said. While the sanctions already imposed on dozens of companies and scores of individuals linked to efforts to divide Ukraine send a message that “a state that violates international law has to be held accountable,” they have “not changed Russia’s actions yet,” he said. More sanctions on vital sectors are needed to force Russia to back down and return Crimea to Ukraine, he said. [Too bad this call comes from a regime that's shelling civilians with ballistic missiles.] U.S. non-lethal assistance such as body armor, bulletproof helmets, communications equipment and meals are bolstering the Ukrainian military, Motsyk said. Government forces have reversed their losses in the last several weeks, recapturing three-quarters of the territory that had been seized by pro-Russian fighters, he added. The U.S. and other NATO members are working with Ukraine, Motsyk said, though he declined to specify whether the assistance includes military training, intelligence or logistics. “Some things we already got, some things we hope to get as soon as possible,” he said. “Step by step, we’ve improved our logistics and chain of command.” Military Momentum The Ukrainian envoy said that his military’s momentum recapturing cities in the country’s east from pro-Russian militants brings with it the risks of urban warfare. Many of the militants, he said, are Russian citizens armed by the Russian military, an assertion backed by U.S. intelligence reports. “If Russia would close the border to heavy armaments, we would solve the problem,” he said. “The problem is that Russia continues to send across arms and assistance.” Motsyk said Ukraine is prepared as part of any resolution of the conflict to “provide a corridor” for pro-Russian militants to leave Ukraine for Russia. While he said Ukraine will “never, ever recognize the annexation of Crimea” by Russia, the government in Kiev is prepared to provide more autonomy and financial and taxation authority to local regions.  [So he wants the population of East Ukraine to just disappear over the border?  How convenient.  If not, his NAZI regime will continue their murder campaign.  And nobody in the west has a problem with this.] Asked about OAO Gazprom (GAZP), the Russian energy company that supplies about 30 percent of Europe’s gas imports, and which cut off supplies to Ukraine two months ago in a payment dispute, Motsyk said his government still hopes a resolution can be reached. Seeking Alternatives In the meantime, Ukraine is boosting its gas production; cutting consumption; seeking alternate sources such as coal, oil and nuclear power; and buying gas from Poland, Slovakia and other neighbors, he said. The showdown over Gazprom and possible cutoff of Russian gas during winter is not a “life-or-death” crisis, he insisted. “Yes, we’re dependent” on Russian gas, “but at the end of the day, we will find a way, maybe even to agree with Russia,” he said. “It’s in the interest of Russia to resume negotiations, as well.” Russian Gas Motsyk dismissed concerns that Russia might try to bar other customers from selling gas to Ukraine. “It’s a market: we can sell and we can buy,” and Russia has no right to tell other countries that they can’t resell Russian gas to Ukraine, he said. [It's in their contracts, from what I understand, so they *do* have that right.] Last week, Ukraine’s parliament approved a law allowing U.S. and EU investors to buy up to 49 percent of NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, which operates pipelines that are used to transport gas for domestic use and half of the Russian gas that Europe imports. Motsyk said U.S. and European companies have expressed interest in bidding for transportation, storage and operations. He cited Chevron Corp. (CVX) based in San Ramon, California, as among the U.S. companies most involved in Ukraine’s energy industry. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-20/more-russia-sanctions-are-needed-ukraine-ambassador-says.html

Ukraine's US ambassador plainly states that there will be no ceasefire - so the Ukraine fascist junta is intent on slaughter.

The US, the EU and NATO support this (and NATO even participates in aiding and abetting this) - for PROFIT.

This is one of the most disgusting news items I've ever come across.

While that pig slurps his soup in the US, he's intent on committing genocide for his imperialist hosts -- and the EU and NATO are just fine with this because there's profits to be had.

ASSANGE

Some of the stuff that passes itself off as news reports on the Assange latest has really pissed me off.

Lazy and malicious journalists just slagging him off and jeering, while side-stepping undeniable facts.

Those journalists should be outraged by the way Assange has been treated by their governments, and outraged that Sweden hasn't even interviewed him and has basically had him stuck in the Ecuadorian embassy -- for 2 years now -- without bothering to question him or charge him (contrary to their own laws) and in violation of international law.

Meanwhile, UK law designed to prevent this has by-passed JA because the law's not retrospective (by design).

It's disgusting.

This is a link to an article worth reading about his situation - here.

USA - hooks in gas pipelines for stanglehold on EU economy and Russia's revenues

August 18, 2014 Et Tu, Mullah? Did Iran Just Knife Putin in the Back? by MIKE WHITNEY On Thursday, Ukraine’s parliament passed a law that will allow foreign investors to lease up to 49 percent of Ukraine’s transit pipelines and underground gas storage facilities. The bill, which had failed to pass just weeks earlier, was approved by the slimmest of margins, 2 votes, suggesting that there might have been some arm twisting or bribery behind the scenes. The new law is a victory for the Obama administration and western elites who want to control the flow of gas from Russia to the EU, set prices, and make sure that transactions continue to be denominated in dollars. Here’s a little more background from an article in Reuters: “Ukraine’s parliament approved a law on Thursday to allow gas transit facilities to be leased on a joint venture basis with participation from firms in the European Union or United States….The government has said the joint venture will bring in investment and remove the need for the South Stream pipeline, which Russia’s Gazprom is building to take gas to southeastern Europe across the Black Sea, avoiding Ukraine. If South Stream is built, it threatens to deprive Ukraine’s badly strained budget of the transit fees that it currently receives from Russia for gas heading towards Europe. The EU imports 30 percent of its natural gas needs from Russia, and about half of that comes via Ukraine, with some already having been diverted through the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea.” (“Ukrainian parliament backs bill to open gas pipelines to EU, U.S. firms”, The Star) You can see that the bloody, fratricidal conflict in Ukraine has nothing to do with democracy, sovereignty or even “evil” Putin. It’s all about gas and pipelines. It’s all part of Washington’s grand plan to put a wedge between Russia and the EU, control the flow of vital resources, and establish NATO bases on Russia’s western flank. The fact that the article mentions South Stream is particularly revealing. The Obama administration is doing everything in its power to sabotage South Stream so that Russia will be unable to bypass troublemaking Ukraine and sell its gas directly to countries across Europe. (Here’s a map of South Stream.) Washington doesn’t want free trade between neighbors. Washington wants every drop of Russian gas to pass through its tollbooth so it can maintain a stranglehold on Europe’s economy and on Moscow’s revenues. Here’s more on South Stream from Bloomberg: “The $46 billion South Stream project, spearheaded by OAO Gazprom, is on hold and will probably remain in limbo for years as Russia continues to foment armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the EU retaliates with bans, Eurasia Group said. That means the war-torn country will remain a key transit point for about half of Gazprom’s shipments to Europe, according to the New York-based risk research group. The EU previously had mixed positions on South Stream. With Russian troops massing near the Ukraine border, the bloc now has little choice but to stand united in opposition. “There’s no way Europe is going to put South Stream negotiations back on the table now, given the larger geopolitical context of the Ukraine crisis,” Emily Stromquist, a Eurasia analyst in London, said in an interview. The proposed 2,446-kilometer (1,520-mile) pipeline would run under the Black Sea and enter the EU in Bulgaria. That would end Gazprom’s dependence on the Ukrainian gas-transit system.” (“Putin’s Pipeline Bypassing Ukraine Is at Risk Amid Conflict”, Bloomberg) So, you see, the US is using every trick in the book to prevent Russia from selling its gas to the EU. But, why? Because the US is left out, that’s why. Washington doesn’t want what’s best for the EU or Russia. Washington want what’s best for Washington. What they want is to pivot to Asia by pitting Moscow against Brussels, thus, creating the pretext for deploying cat’s-paw NATO to Ukraine so they can point their missiles at the Russian capital and bully everyone in the region. That’s the plan. [...] http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/18/did-iran-just-knife-putin-in-the-back/#.U_L3dVlD-Qw.twitter

Great article worth checking out.

Bit brain dead myself ... only get the gist of it. The finer points escape me, as does the stuff about Iran.

Anyway, people are being killed in East Ukraine -- ultimately, because of US imperialism.

GERMANY - Military Industry Whining

Uncertain outlook for German arms industry German tanks, submarines and weapons are in high demand. They're exported to Israel despite the war in Gaza, and Kurdish fighters would also welcome a shipment. Yet the defense industry is worried about its future. [...] ...   In a letter sent to Gabriel in July, the unionists said that the minister's decisions were threatening the very existence of a number of corporations in the security and defense industry. Gabriel has been responsible for Germany's economic portfolio, and therefore Germany's arms exports, since December. It's a task he takes very seriously, and he has made no secret of his disapproval of the previous government's approval process when it came to weapons exports. According to a report on arms exports in 2013, Germany approved deals for so-called third countries - those outside NATO and the EU - in the amount of 3.6 billion euros ($4.8 billion). Three years ago, that figure was only 1.4 billion euros. [...] Arms supplies given top priority Germany's political principles governing the export of armaments and other military equipment, established in 2000, state that weapons are not to be supplied to crisis areas, with few exceptions. If a German company plans to sell arms to a third country, then it must first seek permission from the Ministry for Economic Affairs. But ever since Gabriel took office, permission has only been granted in exceptional cases. Every special request crosses his desk - and many seem to end up staying there for quite some time, with hundreds of unprocessed export applications apparently waiting for review. The defense industry is not happy with the delays, as it makes its money with deliveries to foreign defense contractors. If they fail to provide their components, the German companies risk being discredited. "Gabriel's current line means that Germany is no longer seen as a reliable partner, and that the German armaments industry is losing its core competence," said Joachim Pfeiffer, the Christian Democrats' (CDU) spokesman on economic policy. Unionists have said that 100,000 jobs may be at risk, though as it turns out the German defense industry plays a rather small part in the overall economy. Although Germany ranks as one of the world's top three arms exporters, the share of the military industry in the country's gross domestic product is just 1 percent. In 2011, around 98,000 people were directly employed by one of the 40 companies belonging to the Federation of German Security & Defense Industries. Added to that are the 220,000 jobs among suppliers and various service providers. [...] EXTRACTS ONLY - FULL @ SOURCE http://www.dw.de/uncertain-outlook-for-german-arms-industry/a-17861994

German's supervising third-party arms sales (ie those to non EU and NATO parties). 

Supposedly don't ship arms to conflict regions (but, hey, there's exceptions).

Defence industry reckons there's govt approval delays that put the industry at risk.

Finding it hard to see what their problem is.

The figures look good.

Anyway, the article goes on to send me to sleep.  Read it if interested.  It meant nothing to me.

What's interesting is that the military industry only makes up 1% of Germany's GDP, although it's 'one of the top three arms exporters'.

Diversification is a good thing, I'd say.

Anyway, that's my little find of the day.

Not much of interest happening.

Merkel's supposedly meeting up with Poroshenko in near future.

The Turkey got spied on by Germany story is currently doing the rounds.  That's part of the Germany spied on Hilary Clinton tack-on story.  Yawn. 

If Germany did spy on Clinton or on Turkey, they probably heard nothing but a bunch of lies.

Julian Assange - My take on video interview

The Julian Assange interview wasn't easy to follow because the audio wasn't all that good.

What has happened is that Assange reiterated where it's at:

1.  Assange has not at any time been charged with any offence in Sweden or in the UK.

2.  The basis of the asylum that was granted by the Ecuadorian government is in relation to the ongoing US Dept. of Justice investigation (for the purpose of pursuing prosecution) of the founders and managers of WikiLeaks, that's now been ongoing for over 4.5 years.

3.  No women have accused Assange of rape.  This is a false assertion.  The Swedish women themselves explicitly denied that.  Parties to the Supreme Court submissions (in UK, I believe) agreed to that statement of facts, along with Swedish officials.

4.  The Swedish government resurrected the alleged 'sexual misconduct' matter, which had been dropped -- and it pursued the matter aggressively without charge against Assange in Sweden, who is merely sought for *interview* by the Swedish authorities.

5. However, the matter has been in limbo because the Swedish prosecutors have not made a move to interview Assange (and I recall reading somewhere they would not take his phone calls or accept service of legal documents).  Also looks like they didn't accept a free airline ticket to UK to interview him.  So what does that tell you?  That hardly comes across as genuinely interested in prosecuting.

6.  A number of legal and human rights groups have made submissions regarding human rights abuses by the Swedish government.  A number of human rights groups have also made a submission that it's time for the US Dept of Justice to drop the long, drawn out and aggressive investigation which involves dozens of agencies.

Note:  the investigation against those involved in WikiLeaks also puts other publishers and journalists at risk.

7.  The Swedish investigation is being used to OBSTRUCT Ecuador granting asylum to Assange and, as mentioned, no progress has been made in 4 years -- in contravention of the Swedish sides own laws, which stipulate that prosecution be executed with maximum speed and minimum cost.

8.  The UN requires that prisoners receive a minimum of 1hr per day of sunlight.  Assange doesn't even get that.  He's been shut up in the Ecuadorian embassy for 2 years with no access to sunlight, while Sweden's sat on the 'case' they supposedly have against him.

The US, Australia, UK and Sweden are all involved in harassing Assange, by the look of it, and while he's been granted asylum by Ecuador, he has been denied safe passage.  The denial of safe passage to Assange, under the circumstances, constitutes a violation of international law (as I understand).

Somewhere in there was a mention of the FBI and it's investigations in Sweden and elsewhere.  Proceedings had been brought against the FBI for bribery and other actions (as I understand).

That's the round up of what I got out of the video.

Must have missed the bit where JA is saying he's leaving the embassy 'soon'.

That's all over the news right now, so maybe he will step out on the basis that it will then be up to the other side to pursue some coarse of action against him?

Don't know.

VIDEO - JULIAN ASSANGE INTERVIEW - 18/08/2014

Ecuadorian Embassy Interview - JULIAN ASSANGE 18/08/2014

MEETING RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SERGEI LAVROV & UKRAINIAN, GERMAN & FRENCH COUNTERPARTS IN BERLIN

Russian Foreign Minister SERGEI LAVROV Met with his counterparts in Berlin, to discuss Ukraine crisis. Also in attendance: · UKRAINE - Pavlo Klimkin · FRANCE - Laurent Fabius · GERMANY - Frank-Walter Steinmeier VERBAL agreement was reached as to: · Humanitarian Aid · Border Control · Preparation for Ceasefire & Political Dialogue However, nothing is committed in writing at this point. During a press interview, Sergei Lavrov pointed out that: 1. Ukraine authorities do not have control over National Guard units such as those composed of the Right Sektor -- or the militias (eg Azov & Dneiper) set up by oligarchs -- which is a significant problem. 2. Ukraine seeking lethal military aid from NATO goes against all agreements regarding the need for ceasefire. Kiev seeks to secure its position with military victories over their own people.