Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Friday, 21 March 2014

The European Union Times


Posted: 20 Mar 2014 03:28 PM PDT

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has published a reciprocal sanctions list of US citizens, consisting of 10 names, including: House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Senator J. McCain; and advisers to President Obama D. Pfeiffer and C. Atkinson.
These officials, along with another five named by the Foreign Ministry, are banned from entering the country.
The move comes in response to US sanctions imposed against Russian officials after the March-16 referendum in Crimea, which Washington considered “illegitimate.”
“In response to sanctions imposed by the US Administration on 17 March against a number of Russian officials and deputies of the Federal Assembly as a “punishment” for support of the referendum in Crimea, the Russian foreign Ministry announces the introduction of reciprocal sanctions against a similar number of US officials and lawmakers,” reads the statement published on the Foreign Ministry’s website.
The Ministry reiterates that Russia has “repeatedly” stressed using sanctions is a “double-edged thing” and it will have a “boomerang” effect against the US itself.
“Treating our country in such way, as Washington could have already ascertained, is inappropriate and counterproductive,” the statement said.
“I’m proud to be sanctioned by Putin – I’ll never cease my efforts & dedication to freedom & independence of Ukraine, which includes Crimea, said Senator John McCain.
The statement continued: “Nevertheless, it looks like the American side continues to blindly believe in the effectiveness of such methods, taken from the arsenal of the past, and does not want to face the obvious: the people of Crimea, in a democratic way in full accordance with international law and UN regulations, voted to join Russia, which respects and accepts this choice. You may like this decision or not, but we are talking about a reality, which needs to be taken into consideration.”
On Thursday US President Barack Obama announced a new executive order imposing further on key sectors of the Russian economy and top Russian officials and businessmen. The measures will impact Russian energy, mining, defense and engineering sectors.
The Russian presidential administration has focused on analyzing new sanctions the US imposed against top officials, according to presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
He said that seeing certain names on the US sanction list “is puzzling.”
“But whatever the names are, the presence of any of the lists is unacceptable for us,” Peskov continued.
“In any case, it will not take long for Russia to react,” he added.
“Proud to be included on a list of those willing to stand against Putin’s aggression” said Speak John Boehner.
Earlier on Thursday, 443 of 446 Russian lower house MPs voted to ratify the acceptance of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as new parts of the Russian Federation.
However, just like the US, the EU does not recognize the results of the referendum, in which over 96 percent of citizens voted to join Russia.
The referendum was followed by EU sanctions against 21 Russian and Crimean officials. The sanctions are due to be expanded when EU leaders meet for a two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Also on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the EU will impose more sanctions on Russia and will suspend all G8 meetings until the political situation changes.
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Posted: 20 Mar 2014 03:17 PM PDT
Former intelligence officials say most of Snowden’s documents are related to US military capabilities.
Former US intelligence officials have warned that American whistleblower Edward Snowden might disclose US war plans to China and Russia, according to a report.
The Hill reported in an article on Wednesday that “US officials might not know for years whether former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden divulged war plans to China and Russia.”
Although Snowden has denied leaking US secrets, former intelligence officials believe that some tactical shifts might be apparent right away.
“We may see some things immediately that might indicate that they have things, but it will create a great deal of uncertainty for years,” former CIA assistant director of central intelligence for analysis and production Mark Lowenthal told The Hill.
Most of Snowden’s documents are related to US military capabilities and plans — documents of particular interest to Russia and China, according to former intelligence officials.
The documents could include everything from defense budget data to information about weapons capabilities to documents about covert actions.
“This includes anything that was being moved out over their communications systems, not just about the collection of intelligence,” former CIA official Gary Berntsen said.
“We have military forces positioned around the world, they push plans back and forth, assessments, deployment information — the whole thing,” he said.
Lowenthal said one clue that Russia or China is privy to the war plans could be adjustments to the way they exercise and train.
“If you notice changes in someone’s exercises, dramatic changes that seem different to you that’s not evolutionary, you would have to think, ‘Why are they doing this? Do they have their hands on war plans; have they read the plans?’ ”
Although Washington closely tracks how other nations exercise, it would take time for other countries to change their methods.
“It depends on how fast they can get their act together. Militaries don’t exactly turn on a dime,” Lowenthal said. “It’s not proof positive, but it would be a good indicator.”
According to Lowenthal, another clue would be changes in military purchases clearly aimed at thwarting US defenses and weapons.
That could take “years and years” to notice since militaries have to buy the equipment, build it, and test it, Lowenthal said.
Last month, member of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Pete King accused Snowden of revealing his documents to Russia and China.
“We have to assume… all of data he had is available to the Russians. I mean, they can break any type of code,” King said. “I think we have to assume the Chinese have it all, too.”
Snowden, who is currently staying in Russia after Moscow granted him political asylum, caused a major headache for the Obama administration when he revealed US spying programs around the world last year.
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Posted: 20 Mar 2014 03:06 PM PDT


Israel believes agreement reached on Iran’s nuclear program presents an existential threat.
Despite what is characterized as substantive progress in talks between Iran, the United States, and the European Union on Iran’s nuclear program, the state of Israel has announced it is allocating in excess of 10 billion shekels for war preparations.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz cites three members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, who say between 10 and 12 billion shekels, or between $2.89 and $3.47 billion, has been set aside for the attack on Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon ordered the Israeli military to prepare for the attack, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Some members of the Knesset question whether the allocation has to do with progress between Iran and six Western nations and an agreement reached last November. The IDF said it had “received a clear directive from government officials from the political echelon – meaning Netanyahu and Ya’alon – to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between Iran and the West,” according to the three Knesset members.
Rhetoric from the Netanyahu government has escalated as talks on the Iranian program near a final accord. During the AIPAC conference in the United States earlier this month, Netanyahu said Israel is prepared to strike Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. “My friends, I believe that letting Iran enrich uranium would open up the floodgates,” he said. “That must not happen. And we will make sure it does not happen.”
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said during a speech recently that Israel reserves the right to strike Iran and may do so if an accord is reached.
“We think that the United States should be the one leading the campaign against Iran. But the U.S. has entered talks with them and unfortunately, in the haggling in the Persian bazaar, the Iranians were better,” Ya’alon said. “Therefore, on this matter, we have to behave as though we have nobody to look out for us but ourselves.”
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Posted: 20 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT

Russia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the treaty on rejoining the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation is legal.
Valery Zorkin, chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court, said on Wednesday the court had ruled in a unanimous vote that President Vladimir Putin acted legally by signing a treaty to make Crimea and Sevastopol parts of Russia.
The court also said the treaty is in line with the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
The ruling by the Constitutional Court enables Putin to hand over the treaty to the parliament for ratification.
The Russian house speaker Sergei Naryshkin said he expects lawmakers to pass the treaty which Putin himself had endorsed a day earlier.
The Russian president, Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov and Sevastopol mayor Aleksey Chaly signed the treaty on Tuesday of accession of the Black Sea peninsula and Sevastopol city to the Russian territory.
The signing came after Putin held a fiery address to parliament in which he defended Crimea’s referendum as democratic and legal, and said the region is the inseparable part of Russia.
In addition, Putin dismissed Western criticism of Crimea’s referendum as a manifestation of the West’s double standards.
On March 16, an overwhelmingly 96.8 percent of Crimeans voted to break away from Ukraine and rejoin the Russian Federation.
The move sparked angry reactions from Washington and the EU, both imposing punitive measures against a number of Russian officials as well as authorities in Crimea.
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Posted: 20 Mar 2014 02:26 PM PDT
From Left to Right: Aleksey Gromov, Sergey Ivanov, Sergey Naryshkin, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, Vladimir Yakunin, Gennady Timchenko.
US President Barack Obama has announced a new executive order imposing further sanctions on top Russian officials and businessmen. The order also allows for measures against Russian energy, mining, defense, and engineering sectors.
“We’re imposing sanctions on more senior officials of the Russian government. In addition, we are today sanctioning a number of other individuals with substantial resources and influence who provide material support to the Russian leadership, as well as a bank that provides material support to these individuals,” Obama said.
The new list of sanctioned officials includes 20 names, according to the list published by the US Department of Treasury.
Aleksey Gromov, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration; Sergey Ivanov, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office; and Sergey Naryshkin, Speaker of the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament, are among those mentioned.
Prominent businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg are also on the list – as well as the Russian Railways president, Vladimir Yakunin and businessman Gennady Timchenko, head of the Volga Group.
Yakunin reflected on the decision, saying he is surprised that “a country which calls itself democratic could punish for an honest position and sincere comments.”
Bank Rossiya identified by the Treasury Department as the sanctioned entity will be “frozen out of the dollar,” Reuters reports quoting US officials. Bank Rossiya, headquartered in St. Petersburg, has some $10 billion in assets. Several senior government officials are known to use the bank, and Kovalchuk, who is its head, has also been sanctioned individually.
While the US president didn’t specify the ‘key sectors of Russian economy’ authorized by the order, a senior administration official mentioned those which could be hit shortly afterwards. ‘Broader’ sanctions could restrict Russian financial services, energy, mining, defense and engineering sectors.
The measure was slammed by the Kremlin.
“We are puzzled to see any names on the list but even if there were none, lists like that are totally unacceptable to us,” presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. “In any case, it won’t take Russia long to react.”
Peskov added that Ivanov took the US decision with humor, since he used to be banned from entering various Western countries throughout his political career. “There’s nothing new for him (Ivanov) in that,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told his US counterpart Kerry that the decision to reunify Crimea and Russia must be respected and “is not subject to review,” according to Interfax. The US considers the reintegration of Crimea into the Russian Federation an illegal annexation on Russia’s behalf.
Washington’s new penalties mark the second round of economic sanctions the US has levied on Russia this week. Obama noted that the measures were being taken in the full knowledge that the move could be “disruptive to the global economy”.
The US president made the announcement just under two hours after the Russian Duma ratified the Treaty for the Accession of Crimea and city of Sevastopol to the Russian Federation.
Last Sunday, Crimea voted to join Russia, with some 95.7 percent of voters saying ‘yes’ to the reunion of the republic with Russia as a constituent unit of the Russian Federation. The overall voter turnout in the referendum on the status of Crimea was over 80 percent, according to the head of the Crimean parliament’s commission on the referendum, Mikhail Malyshev.
On Monday, the US introduced similar visa bans and asset freezes on 11 Russians and Ukrainians. The same day, some 21 Russian and Ukrainian officials fell under the impact of travel bans and asset freezes from the EU.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 18:28