Tag: Russia

Romania says could host 500,000 Ukraine refugees

Romania could take in half a million refugees from neighbouring Ukraine if the crisis with Russia worsens, Defense Minister Vasile Dancu said on Tuesday.

Dancu said he did not expect many people to flee to Romania, but the EU member was ready to host more than 500,000 refugees.

“This is the figure for which we are prepared,” Dancu told reporters.

Romania could set up reception centres, particularly in large towns along its 650-kilometre-long (400 miles) border with Ukraine, he said.

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On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two Ukraine breakaway regions as independent and ordered in his troops, drawing wide-spread condemnation and growing fears of an all-out invasion.

Biden to speak on Russia’s actions in Ukraine at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT): W.House

US President Joe Biden will address the nation Tuesday on Russia’s latest moves against Ukraine, the White House said.

The address at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) will provide “an update on Russia and Ukraine,” the White House said, bringing forward the scheduled time by one hour.

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The United States has said that Russia’s move into eastern Ukraine amounts to the “beginning of an invasion” and warned that “severe” sanctions would be announced shortly.

Putin asks upper house to send Russian army to back Ukraine separatists

Russian parliament’s upper house on Tuesday voted to allow President Vladimir Putin to use the Russian army outside the country to support separatists in Ukraine.

A total of 153 Russian senators backed the decision, with no one voting against or abstaining.

Putin earlier in the day asked the Federation Council to approve the army’s use outside the country to back separatists who have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.

“Negotiations have stalled. The Ukrainian leadership has taken the path of violence and bloodshed,” Deputy Defence Minister Nikolay Pankov said during a session of the Federation Council called at Putin’s request.

“They have not left us a choice,” Pankov said, addressing the chamber.

He alleged that there were “heavy armoured vehicles” on the border of east Ukraine’s separatist-controlled regions known as the DNR and LNR.

Pankov also said that NATO was “actively pumping Ukraine with modern weapons.”

“Russia will act for the protection of the sovereignty of other states and in order to prevent acts of aggression,” Pankov said.

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The Kremlin’s Strange Victory How Putin Exploits American Dysfunction and Fuels American Decline

Donald Trump wanted his July 2018 meeting in Helsinki with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to evoke memories of the momentous encounters that took place in the 1980s between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Those arms control summits had yielded the kind of iconic imagery that Trump loved: strong, serious men meeting in distant places to hash out the great issues of the day. What better way, in Trump’s view, to showcase his prowess at the art of the deal?

That was the kind of show Trump wanted to put on in Helsinki. What emerged instead was an altogether different sort of spectacle.

By the time of the meeting, I had spent just over a year serving in the Trump administration as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council. Like everyone else who worked in the White House, I had, by then, learned a great deal about Trump’s idiosyncrasies. We all knew, for instance, that Trump rarely read the detailed briefing materials his staff prepared for him and that in meetings or calls with other leaders, he could never stick to an agreed-on script or his cabinet members’ recommendations. This had proved to be a major liability during those conversations, since it often seemed to his foreign counterparts as though Trump was hearing about the issues on the agenda for the first time.

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THERE WILL BE BLOOD 

Putin warns hypersonic missiles are ready to launch & stockpiles blood ‘for war’ as Ukraine declares state of emergency

VLADIMIR Putin has warned “unparalleled” hypersonic missiles are ready for action and has been stockpiling blood, fuelling war fears.

Troops have also been on the move amid concern Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, could be next in his sights, as the country declares a state of emergency.

The world is waiting on Vladimir Putin’s next move
 
 
Satellite images showing a build up of medical supplies near the Ukraine borderCredit: AFP
 
 
Tanks were also spotted on roads as Russia beefed up its forces in rebel areasCredit: East2West
 
 
Massed Russian helicopters in BelarusCredit: East2West
 
With a huge 200,000 strong force encircling Ukraine, the world is on a knife edge waiting for Putin’s next move – which could see the bloodiest conflict in Europe since WW2.

Ukraine has now declared a state of emergency, allowing police to carry out random checks, and also announced all citizens will now be allowed to carry guns.

Putin has given a chilling warning that “weapons without parallel in the world have been put on combat duty”.

His threat was delivered on Defender of the Fatherland Day – three days after he watched two of the new missiles tested from a Bond villain style “situation room”.

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Europe, US Preparing To Impose Sanctions On Russia

Now that Putin has officially recognized the separatists regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent, sovereign states, warning that from this moment onward, Ukraine must halt all military actions against Donbas, or whatever happens next will be on them and the West, it was only a matter of time before Europe (and the West) retaliated with progressively escalating sanctions.

Sure enough, the ink wasn’t quite dry yet on Putin’s signature, when the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles tweeted that “the recognition of the two separatist territories in Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the Minsk agreements” adding that “The EU and its partners will react with unity, firmness and with determination in solidarity with Ukraine.”

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Israeli satellite images show rapid Russian military buildup in Crimea ImageSat International says some military vehicles can be seen near staging grounds in possible preparation for invasion of southern Ukraine

New satellite images published Saturday show Russia has massed troops in the annexed Crimean Peninsula in recent days.

Private Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International (ISI) said some of the military vehicles — including tanks, armored personnel carriers and rocket launchers — were seen outside of staging grounds, “possibly preparing for movement soon.”

The buildup in Crimea occurred within the past four days, according to ISI.

Imagery from February 15 shows the area near the town of Novoozerne completely empty.

ISI said the buildup of the forces in the area was to allow Russia to invade southern Ukraine.

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Putin has ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine, U.S. intelligence reveals: Secretary of State Antony Blinken insist Putin’s threat to Ukraine is ‘deadly serious’

U.S. intelligence reveals Russian President Vladimir Putin has already given his troops orders to proceed with an invasion into Ukraine, according to a new Sunday report.

‘The intelligence says that Russian troops have actually received orders now to proceed with the invasion,’ CBS News’ David Martin told Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.

‘So not only are they moving up closer and closer to the border and to these attack positions, but the commanders on the ground are making specific plans for how they would maneuver in their sector of the battlefield,’ he added.

‘They’re doing everything that American commanders would do once they got the order to proceed.’

Martin’s revelation comes after President Joe Biden said Friday that he is very certain that Putin has already made up his mind that he will attack Ukraine based on D.C’s ‘significant intelligence capability.’

Meanwhile, America’s top foreign affairs officials warned Sunday that Putin’s moves show that Russia is ‘dead serious’ about invading Ukraine, but insist there likely won’t be a threat to U.S. troops.

‘He’s assembled the kinds of things that you would need to conduct a successful invasion,’ Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told ABC’s Martha Raddatz of Putin in an interview tapped in Ukraine.

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Watch Live: President Biden Addresses The Russia/Ukraine Situation

Update (1700ET): The president is an hour late… and the delay just happens to coincide with the timing of breaking news from Ukraine of gas pipeline explosion in Luhansk?

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After an avalanche of escalating headlines – from exploding cars to mass graves and from shelling kindergartens to mass evacuations – President Biden stands ready to put the world straight on what narrative they should be paying attention to.

The White House’s official statement on the address is as follows:

President Biden gives an update on our continued efforts to pursue deterrence and diplomacy, and Russia’s buildup of military troops on the border of Ukraine.

The remarks will come after the president spoke with NATO leaders this afternoon as fears of an invasion are classified as “imminent” once again.

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