Obama blasts Russia in tense call with Putin over Ukraine
_http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/14/us-ukraine-crisis-obama-idUSBREA3D1DH20140414
Mon Apr 14, 2014 - (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia's actions in Ukraine were not conducive to a diplomatic solution of the crisis in that country, and the White House warned that Moscow would suffer further costs for its behavior.
Obama spoke to Putin at the Russians' request, a senior administration official said, describing the call as "frank and direct," a diplomatic construction that usually means tense.
"The president made clear that the diplomatic path was open and our preferred way ahead, but that Russia's actions are neither consistent with or conducive to that," the official said.
Obama told Putin that Kiev had made "real offers" to address concerns about the decentralization of powers to local governments in the country.
"That is a matter for Ukrainians to decide," the official said. "We have always and will continue to support an inclusive process."
Earlier, U.S. officials stopped short of announcing a new set of sanctions against Russia but said they were in consultations with European partners about the prospect.
Earlier, U.S. officials stopped short of announcing a new set of sanctions against Russia but said they were in consultations with European partners about the prospect.
The European Union agreed on Monday to step up sanctions against Moscow by expanding a list of people subjected to asset freezes and visa bans.
The next round of U.S. sanctions, which would be the fourth imposed since the Ukraine crisis began, is likely to target Russians close to Putin as well as Russian entities, three sources familiar with the discussions said on Sunday.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki noted that the United States was prepared to impose sanctions on individuals and entities in the financial services, energy, metals, mining, engineering and defense sectors.
Carney also confirmed that the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan, had been in Kiev over the weekend and decried what he called "false claims" leveled at the CIA by Russian authorities.
According to media reports, Russia has urged Washington to explain what Brennan was doing in Ukraine.
Russia's Envoy to UN - Kiev must stop War on Ukrainans (Video)
_http://rt.com/news/security-council-ukraine-violence-312/
April 15, 2014 - The international community must demand that those who are in power in Kiev stop war on their own citizens in south-eastern Ukraine, Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin told the UN Security Council.
“The international community must demand the stooges of Maidan stop the war against their own people", Churkin said at an emergency Security Council session
Churkin stressed that “reckless actions” of the Kiev government are “threatening to rip apart the delicate garment of Ukrainian mosaic society.”
Kiev’s post-coup authorities “stubbornly,” Churkin says, refuse to listen to those who do not accept Kiev's “radicalized, chauvinistic, russophobic, anti-Semitic forces.”
Some, including those in this hall, constantly look for Moscow's hand in the events in the southeast , persistently without wishing to see the true reasons of the events in Ukraine. Quit doing it,” Churkin told the meeting.
“Quit spreading tales that we built up military armadas on the border with this country, ready at any moment, within a few hours to reach almost as far as La Manche, that we sent hordes of agents to coordinate actions of the protesting people of Ukraine.”
Russia-Crimea underwater Telecom Cable ready, as Ukraine crises intensifies
_http://rt.com/business/russia-crimea-rostelcom-telecom-372/
April 14, 2014 - The underwater telecommunication cables between the Crimean peninsula and Russia bypassing Ukraine are almost ready for use. The multi-million dollar project will provide for safer communication as tension between Russia and Ukraine intensifies.
State-owned Rostelecom South has nearly completed the 40 kilometers of fiber-optic cable from the Krasnadar region and the 6 kilometers through the Kerch Straight, Kommersant reports citing a source close to the company.
The underwater section that runs along the muddy seabed of the Kerch Straight is expected to cost between $11-25 million.
Medvedev said it was unacceptable for Crimea’s information and documents to be operated by two separate states, and that foreign operators shouldn’t be trusted to handle “confidential” exchanges.
The communications project is part of the $6.8 billion Russia plans to invest in Crimea in 2014.
A road and rail bridge have been given the green light by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The bridge will cost an estimated $78 million, according to Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov. A tunnel is also an option. The first 4.5 kilometer Kerch Straight Bridge was built in the summer of 1944 after the liberation of Crimea by the Red Army, but collapsed 6 months later.
A new gas pipeline to deliver natural gas from Russia to Crimea could cost between $200 million and $1 billion, depending on the complexity of and route of the pipeline.
Russia needs to break World Monopoly of Rating Agencies
_http://rt.com/business/russia-rating-agency-own-384/
April 14, 2014 - Russia desperately needs to create its own ratings agency, independent of the so-called western ‘Big three’ – Moody’s, S&P and Fitch, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said.
The system shouldn’t be monopolized. What happens now with the rating agencies is in practice a world monopoly, and any monopoly is bad,” the First Vice Premier added.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea has caused huge turbulence across the globe, with western countries refusing to acknowledge the move as legal. The reaction varied from a temporary halt of Visa and MasterCard operations with some of Russia’s sanctioned banks to downgrades by the rating agencies.
Most recently S&P downgraded Crimea to a default rating and withdrew its ratings altogether. Then Crimea’s Communications Minister Dmitry Polonsky said the move was part of a broader “information war” against Russia and the Black Sea peninsula, as western countries refuse to accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
In the Forbes interview Shuvalov also talked about some “extreme opinion that for example says that the rating agencies are influenced by western governments, and they in any case have already received certain signals to downgrade Russia’s rating,” but refused to elaborate on that.
Currently there are a few domestic rating agencies in Russia like RusRating, Expert RA, RIA rating and Moody’s Interfax Rating Agency - a joint venture between Moody’s Investors Service and Interfax – but so far none of these has a loud say in a global arena.
Talks expected on Moldova breakaway
_http://presstv.com/detail/2014/04/15/358629/talks-expected-on-moldova-breakaway/
April 15, 2014 - A new round of talks over Moldova’s breakaway Transdniester region is expected to take place in May, an official from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says.
Earlier last month, the mainly Russian-speaking region submitted a plea to the Russian parliament to draft a law that would incorporate the territory into the Russian Federation.
Mikhail Burla, the speaker of the Supreme Council of the Transdniester Moldovan Republic, forwarded the appeal to Duma, calling on Russian lawmakers to expand legislation on Crimea’s absorption to cover Moldova’s Transdniester region.
Transdniestr made its bid for secession from Moldova in 1990 as the Soviet Union demised, fearing domination by the Romanian-speaking population that makes up the majority in the country.