BALTIMORE, Maryland March 23, 2014 - A top United States and NATO Military Official said today that the Russian Military is mobilized for war on Ukraine. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, the top NATO commander, termed the Russian buildup on Ukraine's eastern and southern borders "very very sizable and very very credible."
Russian Strong Man Vladimir Putin has promised not to move further on Ukraine, but few give that promise and weight. He said the same thing about Crimea and also made similar statements about Georgia, before invading both. Putin's actions indicate that he is attempting to reassemble the holdings of the former Soviet Union. But his military agressiveness has caught USA President Barack Obama by surprise. Obama blasted the GOP Candidate in the recent Presidential Elections for stating the Russia was still one of America's biggest threats. Now, as Putin masses forces, the USA and the EU arrange economic sanctions. And a top Russian banking official admits these sanctions are hurting Russia. The Government-Run VTB Capital Bank in Moscow said that Russia's economy, the world's ninth largest, will shrink for at least two quarters as it absorbs penalties for its military takeover of Crimea, a Ukrainian province. A spokesman said te sanctions will curb investments in Russia and raise the cost of borrowing. Further sanctions, which, as leaked to the Media, include much tougher economic measures that are also much broader in scope, will cause economic turmoil in an economy that never was that strong.
Obama and other leaders are at the Hague today for talks that will center on Ukraine. But Ukraine is not the only place Russia is on the move. The breakaway Republic of Trananiatria, which is part of Moldova, has asked Russia to annex it as it did Crimea. The government there broke with Moldova in the 1990's, and a war between it and Moldova in 1992 did not bring it back under Moldova's control. The Russian Military has a presence there already.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke over the weekend with Putin and warned him of the sanctions he will earn if he moves again against other parts of Ukraine. The Ukrainian government has said it is ready if Russian military moves into its nation. Western nations continue to say they will not intervene militarily, and so the only issue is whether Putin is ready to accept the economic slaps that another incursion will bring. The UN is powerless to prevent Putin from acting since Russia is a permanent member of the security council.
But the EU has now signed an association agreement with Ukraine. Russia has let it be known that it wants a government in Ukraine that declares neutrality and has a federal constitution that will enforce such a posture. But months of demonstrations resulted when the then-Ukranian President, Viktor Yanukovych, broke a promise to move toward the EU and instead announced an intention to join the Russian Customs Union. After the demonstrations turned violent, Yanukovych fled and an interim government with decided pro-West tendencies took its place. Russia reacted by invading Crimea.
Now, USA intelligence describes the Russian Military build-up along the Ukraine Border as poised and ready, with forces about double of what they were only a month ago when Putin ordered war games along the border. The forces have been reinforced with armor, attack airplanes and helicopters, and substantial logistical support that indicates they are ready for sustained action, Bloomberg reported today. Breedlove said last week in Brussels that "we have to be positioned differently and be more ready. We have continued to try to make a partner of Russia and now it's very clear that Russia is actin much more like an adversary than a partner."
Despite the huge military buildup, the Russian ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizov, said in an interview with BBC TV that “Nobody has anything to fear from Russia, nobody in this world.”
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