Sanctions on Russia to have no effect

Possible sanctions against Russia are an insult but would hardly do any serious damage, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party has announced in the State Duma.

Western nations such as the United States and the EU countries are very limited in their ability to influence Russian politics through sanctions as they themselves depend on Russia in many ways, including aspects of international security, Vladimir Zhirinovsky told reporters on Wednesday before the start of the parliamentary session.

“Any sanctions should be imposed by international bodies after some terrible events. Trying to raise the issue of sanctions when we only try to protect the people – this is what only barbarians would do,” the ITAR TASS news agency quoted the politician as saying.

“The USA is ready to support anyone if this would help them spite Russia, this is still the remnants of the Cold War,” Zhirinovsky added.

“The same applies to economic sanctions, they cannot have any direct negative impact on us,” the LDPR leader said.“No sanctions are currently possible and the threats of their application should be perceived as an insult,” he concluded.

Earlier this month European Union leaders threatened Russia with visa bans, asset freezes and various economic restrictions for refusal to unconditionally recognize the coup-appointed government in Ukraine, and for steps to support the ethnic Russian residents of the eastern and south eastern regions of the country. Polish PM Donald Tusk told the press on Tuesday that the decision to impose sanctions had already been made and they would start as soon as Monday.

Last week US authorities announced they had imposed visa restrictions on Russian and Crimean officials and private citizens who they accused of “threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty and integrity.”

After this Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US State Secretary John Kerry and told him that any sanctions introduced by the US against Russia will have a “boomerang” effect and urged Washington to steer away from actions that could hurt relations between the countries.

A short time after this President Vladimir Putin talked to Barack Obama on the phone and told him that Russia could not ignore the pleas for help from the Ukrainian Russian-speaking population, and that all Russia’s actions were in full compliance with international law.

The Russian president emphasized that he regarded Russian-US relations as of paramount importance to guarantee stability and security in the world. “These relations should not be sacrificed to differences over individual – even though very important – international problems,” the press release says.

Russia welcomes crimea independence

"The Russian Foreign Ministry considers the decision of the parliament of Crimea absolutely lawful," the ministry said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
The statement came following an earlier vote by the local parliament in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which declared the region an independent state, as a precursor to a referendum scheduled for March 16 to ask Crimea residents if they preferred to split off from Ukraine and join neighboring Russia.
The declaration achieved 78 votes in favor out of 81 assembly members present in the 100-member parliament. 
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said Moscow will respect the results of the upcoming March 16 referendum on the region’s future.
It said the declaration will make Crimea an independent and sovereign state with a republican political system after it joins the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, will discuss legislation on March 21 on Crimea joining the Russian Federation.
The autonomous region of Crimea has become the flashpoint for tensions since Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted last month following three months of street protests and violent unrest in the capital Kiev and other cities. 
Ukraine has been gripped by a political crisis since November 2013, when Yanukovych refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.

Crimea Self defense forces

Volunteers from self-defense units are taking an oath of allegiance to the people of Crimea as the autonomous republic puts together its own military in order to respond to possible provocations from the coup-imposed government in Kiev.

Around 180 Crimean citizens have already joined the local army, as oaths were taken in the republic’s capital of Sevastopol on Monday and Saturday.

All of the recruits were “carefully checked because they will be handed weapons,” Aleksandr Bochkarev, head of the Crimean self-defense forces, told RIA-Novosti.

“They have already proven themselves in the people’s militia of Crimea. Each of them had previously served either in the military or in the law enforcement agencies. All of them are fit for military service and possess the necessary skills,” he said.

The ceremony took place in front of the eternal flame in a Simferopol park named after the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.

According to Bochkarev, similar oaths will take place in the Crimean peninsula on a regular basis.

“We’re shaping up our own armed forces now,” the commander stressed. “After the referendum (on Crimea’s fate as part of Ukraine) – if the affiliation with Russia begins – some of the guys will remain in service, but some will, possibly, want to quit or won’t fit on some criteria.”

The 1,500 Crimean citizens that currently make up the Crimean self-defense forces “isn’t much, but we don’t need more,” he said.

“New people call or come every time, asking to recruit them into the self-defense units, but for now we only gather contact information and send everybody home,” Bochkarev explained.

Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov, told Itar-Tass that all of the members of the self-defense forces will be sworn in, as it will be their duty to maintain order during the referendum on March 16.

In addition to the self-defense units, the majority of Ukrainian armed forces dispatched to Crimea have switched to the side of local authorities.

Rear Admiral Denis Berezovsky – head of the Ukrainian Navy and the first person to swear allegiance to the Crimean people – was followed by the local commanders of police, emergencies ministries, border guards, and other top security officials.

Meanwhile, coup-imposed Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has made a desperate attempt to win back the loyalty of the Ukrainian military in Crimea by promising a bonus of 125 million hryvnas (around US$13.6 million) to the servicemen “as soon as possible.”

But the announcement wasn’t welcomed by everybody in Yatsenyuk’s own Finance Ministry, which is currently experiencing a severe lack of funds.

“Due to the acute shortage of money in the treasury, we asked a question: Which expenditure item should we cut? However, no response followed,” an unnamed source in the Ukrainian Finance Ministry told Itar-Tass.

According to the source, social budget items like unemployment benefits, child allowances, and studentships are most likely to be the first to suffer if the soldiers are paid.

“But, in the current situation, these funds won’t be enough. So it’s possible that some money will be withdrawn from the Health ministry’s accounts. However, we haven’t yet been given such an order,” he added.

One of the members of the Ukrainian coup-imposed government pointed out to Itar-Tass that Yatsenyuk’s pledge to give the money to the military is rather “blurry,” as the exact dates for the move were never voiced.

He suggested that the announcement may well be aimed at diverting the attention of the military in Crimea from a more serious problem, as their allowances are the first to be frozen by Kiev.

The source also stated that according to his information, “the morale of the Ukrainian personnel in Crimea is in a depressed state. The protest moods among the servicemen are on the rise. The number of defectors is growing.”

“The military hasn’t been paid for over a month. There are also food shortages,” the unnamed minister stressed.

Russia,Ukraine and ....

   Russia,Ukraine And the West
From the middle east to Europe radical groups have set their activity at the doorstep of a superpower.Events could quickly spiral out of control if care isn't taken.How would this country or superpower react? ..Would Russia react with millitary might and strength thereby gaining recognition and giving the west a reason to think? Or would russia just sit back doing nothing,letting its influence decline in its region thereby giving the U.S a upperhand in the affairs of the region?......
If I had a say in the Russian government my impact on the world scene matters a lot,it seems just right to quell the violence before it spills into my territory and creates a problem which would prove difficult to contain and yes I would do it Anyway and give a reply to the west- "Don't underestimate Russia"

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