Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin has told troops to return to their permanent bases after calling a snap drill to check their battle-readiness last week.
“The commander-in-chief President Vladimir Putin gave the order to the troops and units taking part in military exercises to return to their permanent bases,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies this morning.
Putin last Wednesday ordered snap combat readiness drills involving thousands of troops, in what was ostensibly a routine exercise.
The drill involved army, navy and airforce troops based in the central and western military districts, a vast territory that includes regions bordering Ukraine but also extending to the Arctic.
The drill did not include any regions beyond Russia’s borders such as Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea region which has become a flashpoint in the standoff between Moscow and Ukraine’s new authorities after the ousting of president Viktor Yanukovych.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had said that the drill would include military exercises “on Russia’s borders with other countries, including Ukraine”.
The drill, which was initially announced to finish on Monday, came shortly before Russian security forces began operating covertly in Crimea and Putin gained permission from senators for military intervention.
Kerry visit
Meanwhile, the United States has suspended military cooperation with Russia due to its military intervention in the country, as Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to visit Kiev later today.
“We have, in light of recent events in Ukraine, put on hold all military-to-military engagements between the United States and Russia,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.
The suspension of the post-Cold War cooperation covers exercises, bilateral meetings, port visits and planning conferences, Kirby added.
The crisis now threatens to blow up into the biggest test for global diplomacy — and relations between Moscow and the West — since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Kirby stressed that the suspended system had been “developed over the past few years to increase transparency, build understanding, and reduce the risk of military miscalculation”.
Advertisement
US Secretary of State John Kerry [Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/Press Association Images]
Both Washington and the European Union said they were looking at a range of sanctions against Russia for its threat to use force against an ex-Soviet neighbour for the first time since a brief 2008 conflict with Georgia.
The West’s warnings to Moscow came shortly after Ukrainian defence officials on the flashpoint Crimean peninsula said Russia had given its forces an ultimatum to surrender or face an all-out assault.
“The ultimatum is to recognise the new Crimean authorities, lay down our weapons and leave, or be ready for an assault,” regional Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman Vladyslav Seleznyov told AFP in the Crimean capital Simferopol.
But a spokesman for the Russian Black Sea fleet based in Crimea told the Interfax news agency the claim was “complete nonsense”.
World markets plunged and oil prices spiked on fears of an all-out offensive that would pit nuclear-armed Russia against its Western-backed neighbour.
People listen to a political speech on a stage in Kiev’s Independence Square [AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti]
Kiev’s new Western-leaning leadership is due to receive a morale boost today when Kerry meets with the new Ukrainian leadership and parliament to “reaffirm the United States’ strong support for Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity”, the US State Department said.
The hastily arranged trip reveals growing alarm at the events in Ukraine.
NATO is also to hold an urgent meeting today at Poland’s request, after the neighbour of Ukraine raised concerns about its own security in light of the crisis.
The world’s richest nations have already threatened to strip Moscow of its coveted seat at the Group of Eight industrialised nations for menacing its ex-Soviet neighbour.
In Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said ahead of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Madrid that the 28-nation bloc would “consider targeted measures” against Moscow.
A special European summit has been called for Thursday.
Anyone remember the protests in Greece a couple of years ago..:.. Those protestors wanted their Gov ousted too but I remember Merkel telling them that they were democratically elected and the people would have to wait for an election… When it suits I suppose
Hopefully Putin has noticed that the international community has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukrainian Crimea and blinked. The rouble fell to a record low yesterday, the Moscow Stock Market fell by 11 per cent, 60 billion dollars was wiped off the value of Russian companies, interest rates in ceased by one and a half per cent and capital is flying out of Russia to the West. This has all happened before any sanctions are imposed by the EU, the US or others.The oligarchs who surround and finance Putin will have noticed this and so will ordinary Russians struggling to make a living in a poor economy.
Good point David, but I don’t think the poor ordinary guy really matters. Russia communist or otherwise has never been good to its ordinary man. Ukraine looked west towards the EU and is now getting slapped for it. Please God it won’t escalate any further!
@ Pokey 2013: Contrary to what you will read in the media, In the past ten years wages for the ordinary worker in Russia have increased by over 100%. Ordinary people are buying homes, cars ,TV’s, going on holidays to southern Europe etc. Pubs and restaurants are full, and doing very good business. I must always smile when I read German tabloids telling their readers how bad everything is in Russia, and how happy they should be. Yet it is one of Germany’s largest and most important markets. If there are any problems you will have mass unemployment in Germany. It is also is rapidly diversifying its economy and so becoming less dependent on Gas and oil exports. I have lived for the past seven years in Russia, and after having lived in Holland ,Germany, Vietnam and Turkey, this is probably the most interesting country I have lived in , witnessing so much rapid change. Also great people. In some sense ,like the Irish.
Padraic, the undeniable increase in Russian living standards over the past decade is a direct result of a more open policy of increased international trade with Europe and others, something which Putin is now putting in jeopardy.
@ Padriac O’Dwyer : Exactly. I’ve been to Russia a number of times and it’s nothing like it’s made out to be.
@ Avina why is Putin ‘putting it in jeopardy’ its the fecking USA and the EU that are sticking their noses yet again where they shouldn’t. How would the USA feel is Mexico starting having some civil war and Americans are in Mexico and Russia decided to send troops over and threating to put sanctions on USA if they set foot in Mexico. Get away with it will ya.
Terroirise people is all Poo10 is fit for. His contribution to g9 is zero. Pretends to be an important little man. Where is Obama though. We could with Hilary right now
The US and the West is openly supporting neo nazis who are in prominent positions in the new government that has emerged in Ukraine. The democratically elected President of the Ukraine has asked Russia to intervene militarily and restore order. If talks fail, Russia might well indeed do this or they might just wait for the East of Ukraine to go autonomous.
Yes, democratically elected but also democratically impeached in accordance with the Ukrainan constitution by a majority of 318 to 0 of Ukraine’s democratically elected parliamentarians.
The President of Ireland is also democratically elected but can be removed from office under article 12.10 of our constitution, akin to what has happened in Ukraine.
Avina
Parliament didn’t try to remove him until they were under theat from armed mobs after weeks of violence. They had no choice. If we don’t like our elected government do we follow proper procedures or just burn the streets and attack the police?
The parliamentarians all jumped ship to save their own neck from the mob. Strange how he didn’t have 318 against him until the mob overran the parliament.
Fair point Ancient, but the somewhat drastic action of removing the president was unlikely to happen until the ongoing crisis came to a head with the massacre of mostly unarmed protesters.
Did you hear the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK say that the removal of Yanukovych represented the will of the Ukrainian people and was carried out lawfully by their democratically elected parliament?
This man is the pre-existing Ukrainian government’s own representative, not some stooge of the west, and if events had happened as portrayed by some on here do you not think he would have been screaming blue murder about the illegal takeover of his country instead of defending what happened?
That’s the end to any solution to the civil war in Syria because of the fallout between the EU, America and Russia. The Ukraine has definitely found itself caught between a rock and a hard place. Putin can flex his muscles as much as he wants with impunity because the West can really do nothing substantial, only enforced economic sanctions and cut of diplomatic ties.
simpitsors? You mean sympathisers yea? I sympathise with Russia on this one. They’ve got a neighbouring country that the EU and the USA seem so hell bent on gaining control of. If I was Putin I’d be getting the army out and telling the lot of them the fup off back to their own territories too. Tired of USA sticking it’s nose into every bloody bodies business and stirring up unrest so they can roll in and money grab all the oil while they’re at it.
John Kerry says the Rouble will tumble, unfortunately so is the Euro and the Dollar and the Pound. Germany and most Eastern European countires depend on Russian energy. Energy prices rose everywhere yesterday by up to 30% some bloody nose we are giving Putin. The British Govenerment Dossier on the BBC/Skynews this morning suggesting they NOT to do anything sanctions wise that upsets the London Stock Exchange really says it all. Then we have the new guy in Kiev last night announcing he is “delaying” the implimentation of the law downgrading the Russian language, which started the whole thing off. Russians should sit there until elections are held protecting these minoroities from the right-wing street gangs in Kiev. Then when Crimea says we want to secede just like Kosova from Serbia, there will be no moral dilema for the west at all, happy days.
The rouble has tumbled not because John Kerry says so but because it has. The Moscow Stock Exchange tumbled.Russian interest rates went up because capital is flying out of Russia. Europe is no longer as dependent on Russian gas than it was in the past because there are new sources of supply, large quantities of gas are held in storage, and demand is low because of the mild winter. But Russia depends on gas and oil sales for the vast majority of its export earnings. Russia cannot afford to cut off gas supplies to Western Europe.
@ Golden : If so , then also of Pol Pot. Maggie tried d her best to get them legitimized by the UN , until the Swedish government led a massive protest movement against her initiative . She was defeated needless to say.
Bes friend of Pinochet. Mass murderer and torturer. Great company to be in I must say.
I know but had to be said. The amount of people on here advocating war or saying Russia would be annihilated. It amazes me how little they know about how the political elite work. I just wanted to remind them of China. Russia and China might not be up to America’s army standard but they are pretty much debt free. That counts for a lot in a world now run by money and gold, not jets and missiles.
A freak of a man is Kerry, Skull and Bones ambassador, Son of Frankenstein, a psychopathic pr!ck, evil to the core, have to be to get into Skull and Bones when the initiation into the society is your mock sacrifice to god knows what.
This is 1920′s ireland all over again. An emerging nation has a province with an ethnic majority which wants to be part of a neighbouring superpower. The then ethnic British got their way resulting in a civil war and bloody campaigns that continue to this day. Is Ukraine, Armenia,Russia and the ethnic Russians, history repeating itself?
@Alex Carroll, there are parallels between the Ukrainian situation now and the Irish situation. The Irish Government has supported the territorial integrity, unity and independence of the Ukraine. Is this position shared by all Irish political parties including Sinn Fein ?
Back to barracks in Russia after war games. They’re still strolling around Crimea dodging the mighty invisible American bullets and missiles. The damage these are doing is huge…
Yes the invisible bombs and missiles scared them. Strange though that they were only told to go back to barracks after war games in Russia. They’re still strolling around Crimea.
There remains the risk of an escalation with Crimea being used as a bridge-head to invade mainland Ukraine. There are 10 UKrainian bases surrounded in Crimea.
Will the EU give monetary assistance to the Ukraine like Russia, who was giving 16billion to help with their faltering economy? If the EU are serious about helping the Ukraine they should put their money where their mouth is. Words cost nothing!
The EU will probably match the US with a rescue package. The US promised 1 billion, if they arr lucky the EU will give 5 billion. The rest will be given by the IMF and the Ukraine will turn into a basket case.
Buying a country that sits on top of Russia’s oil lines. How convenient right?
Like I’m ‘sure’ it’s got everything to do with the compassion of the people of Ukraine and nothing to do with setting up military bases next to Russia and sitting on top of their oil lines.
They will be back in at lunchtime with a proper invasion force.
What they have been doing over the last couple of days is testing the water, and have seen that Ukraine hasn’t the strength to defend itself and that it will get no support, other than verbal, from the US, the UK or NATO.
The Chinese will take a different tack, calling in unpayable debt to force a reaction from the US, and then the party will start.
To give credit to John Kerry, his will be the first feet on the ground giving support to Ukraine, but many more will be needed to resist the Russian advance.
@Garry Coll, in fairness to William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, he was in Kiev on Sunday and Monday giving support to the Ukrainian Government. Other European ministers and EU officials have also been to Kiev in recent days.
Sorry David, missed that, too busy watching Donegal thump Monaghan.
But the point I made that real military support with battalions on the ground will be needed to turn Putin back is, I think, still valid.
Having servicemen present in their leased black sea naval bases is not the same as having armed units forcibly taking over Ukrainian airfields and other military facilities!
The purpose of these military exercises was to intimidate the Ukraine and its neighbours and to impress the Russian people with the power of the Russian armed forces.But the Ukrainian armed forces in the Ukraine have not surrendered and both sides are reluctant to fire at each other. Thank goodness !
Ex colonial powers like Russia do not have a moral or legal right to intervene miliarily to punish them for pursuing closer ties with the EU. Russian society is increasingly chauvinistic and nationalistic. Theee is absolutely no evidence Russians are being physically harmed by the new Ukrainian government.
Germany and the UK need to cop on to themselves after stories yesterday that they don’t want economic sanctions. Putin sees this as weakness and it only encourages him to demand more like HItler did after he was let take Austria and Czechoslovakia. I suggest they google “Appeasement”.
There are 200,000 UK citizens here. Imagine the UK invading to ‘protect’ them?
Eamon your post makes sense but for two glaring contradictions.. Western, including British and French, colonial powers have intervened as recently as last month in former colonies/possessions/zones of interest, so looking them to police another country for doing the same is contradictory and potentially hypocritical.
Also the allusion to Hitler, appeasement and Czechoslovakia is a little misapplied. The previous Ukrainian government was not some angelic and innocent regime, but the current government is fascist in nature and, as coming months will prove, also fascist in practice.
Trade unionists, socialists, liberal democrats, LGBTQ people as migrants have been under attack in the Western Ukraine throughout this whole carnival, as last week the senior Rabbi in Kiev advised Jewish residents of that city to leave asap. The support from the EU and the United States smacks of the ‘peace in our time’ appeasement of the ‘thirties.
Russian intervention may prove to be a total catastrophe or it may stymie a rising tide of very real fascism in Eastern Europe.
Neither I, nor others with a critical view of the whole affair are naive about Russia’s intentions or motives, but they appear to be a lot more straight-forward and honest than those of the EU, US and IMF.
Thailand strikes Cambodia after both sides trade blame for opening fire along border
3 hrs ago
13.2k
28
The Morning Lead
Weight loss injections become more attainable as they enter beauty clinics
10 hrs ago
11.5k
42
recall notice
One person dead after ‘extensive’ outbreak of listeriosis linked to ready-made meals
Updated
14 hrs ago
124k
19
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 210 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage . Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. The choices you make regarding the purposes and vendors listed in this notice are saved and stored locally on your device for a maximum duration of 1 year.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 148 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 191 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 154 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 117 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 117 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 50 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 47 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 173 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 77 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 108 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 113 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 49 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 64 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 36 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 119 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 123 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 92 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 65 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 113 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 100 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say