BALTIMORE, Maryland April 2, 2014 - One of the oldest newspapers in the world is La Figaro in Paris. It has been printing since 1828. Apparently, in Paris, there is nothing better than what the french refer to as an "imbroglio." The dictionary says an imbroglio is a complicated disagreement of a bitter nature.
Recall that on Sunday the French had "local" elections. Mayors of all the cities of any appreciable size were elected. In Paris, for the first time, a woman was elected. She was a socialist. But across France, most of the elections had a different kind of result than in Paris. The right wingers had a field day, and where they didn't win, center-right candidates did. Most of the City Halls in Paris are in new hands. On top of that, it was predicted that the election results would cause a shake up among cabinet ministers of the National Government. That has begun. There were two brand new ministers: Ségolène Royal and François Rebsamen. This is what touched off the imbroglio. La Figaro ran this time line as the new folk tried to move in:
Premier couac pour le gouvernement Valls. A peine le remaniement a-t-il été annoncé que les ministères des Affaires étrangères et de l'Économie se disputent déjà le portefeuille du Commerce extérieur, jusqu'alors détenu par Nicole Bricq. Retour sur une incroyable passe d'armes.
» 12h50 - L'entourage d'Arnaud Montebourg déclare à l'AFP que son nouveau ministère inclura l'Économie, le Redressement productif , le Numérique, et le Commerce extérieur.
» 13h31- Le Quai d'Orsay envoie un communiqué à l'AfP pour l'informer que c'est bien Laurent Fabius qui devra gérer le commerce extérieur dans le cadre de son ministère des Affaires étrangères élargi au «développement international».
» 14h24 - Une source anonyme au Quai D'Orsay confirme à nouveau à l'AFP que Laurent Fabius aura le Commerce extérieur, «en récompense de la diplomatie économique», chère à l'ancien premier ministre.
» 14h46 - Le ministère de l'Économie contre-attaque en annonçant à l'agence que la passation des attributions du ministère du Commerce extérieur se fera entre Nicole Bricq et Arnaud Montebourg, jeudi à 10h à Bercy.
» 15h32 - Une autre source anonyme du quai d'Orsay tente d'expliquer l'imbroglio: «Les décrets d'attribution des compétences des ministres sont en cours de rédaction et c'est très délicat car des pans de Bercy vont passer sous le contrôle du Quai d'Orsay». Bercy a donc encore du soucis à se faire...
» 17h07 - Nouveau retournement! Une dépêche annonce la nomination de Fleur Pellerin comme secrétaire d'État au Commerce extérieur, au Tourisme et probablement aux Affaires européennes. Une source gouvernementale affirme qu'elle sera bien rattachée au Quai d'Orsay.
Cette rocambolesque bataille par dépêches interposées semble donc tourner au camouflet pour Arnaud Montebourg qui voit lui échapper le portefeuille du Commerce extérieur.
Another Paris Newspaper. Le Monde, explained that the new government of Manuel Valls named only two new ministers; some 16 ministers under the previous government have been asked to stay. Some observers questioned whether the new government was really new. Valls says he wants to start getting work done immediately instead of waiting around for a list of new ministers to get acquainted with their agencies. He says France must cut its debt and under his government it will cut its debt. But he will insist that France "be France." He doesn't expect the people to live some kind of draconian life so that the debt can be dealt with. Le Monde says the two words that best sum up the new Valls government will be efficiency and continuity.
As can be judged by the exchange above, there is no complacency in Paris. The squabble reported by La Figaro shows how passionately the ministers feel about their work. And if those squabbles spill over into the public, so be it. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
A Dishonest Man, Up To Now, Testifies Today Before Congress
BALTIMORE, Maryland April 2, 2014 - Today, America will see, first hand, what happens when two people without strong moral character, without the slightest degree of inate honesty, not to mention integrity, but with overwhelming egos, gain seats of power in government, and when a third man allows himself to be morally bankrupted - if he wasn't already - by the first two. This third man is Michael Morrell, a former top CIA official who is in league with Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama, and who today testifies before Congress. He is the person most responsible for crafting the so-called talking points that former UN Ambassador Susan Wright used when she went on five Sunday morning TV shows and said that a video caused a riot in Benghazzi, and that riot spun out of control and led to deaths of four Americans, including out Ambassasor to Libya. As it turns out, there is not a shred of truth to the stories she told. The attack in Benghazzi was planned in advance by terrorists with either a direct tie to Al Qaeda, or perhaps a less direct tie to the anti-American Terrorist Group. For the purposes of establishing blame for the four deaths, that last point is not relevant. What is relevant is that Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama knew, well before the massacre in Benghazzi, that evil was afoot there. Christopher Stevens, our ambassador to Libya, and others, had pleaded with Ms. Clinton and others to increase and supplement security in Benghazzi because the American Consulate there was in dire danger. Both Clinton and Obama said no. It is clear why they said no, but more about that in a minute. The point is, that they said they were not going to increase security before the attack started. Then the attack started and numerous requests for help were made from Benghazzi by the few Americans that were there. The requests turned to desperate pleas. And still, Clinton said no. In the wake of the massacre there have been attempts to say there were no military assets available to help those under a fierce, terror-driven attack at the American embassy. Two of those killed were not American Embassy Guards, but were, instead, former Navy Seals in Benghazzi for other reasons, and hearing of the attack and realizing help was either not coming or hadn't arrived yet, responded to the scene to offer assistance. For their patriotic response, they were killed. Other Americans have stepped forward to explain that military assets were nearby and literally begging to be permitted to respond, but were ordered to stand down. Who gave that "stand down" order has not been explained. The attack lasted for nearly six hours before all four were killed. Military assets had six hours to arrive on-scene. But none were sent and Obama and Clinton say it is because there were none to be sent. That is patently untrue. There is no place on Earth that the United States couldn't place military assets within six hours. No place. Four are dead. No person has been arrested. No blame has been placed. Mrs. Clinton testified that the four are dead and how it happened really doesn't matter. "What difference does it make?" were her now famous words.
Michael Morrell sprung into action after the deaths. It was immediately clear to Clinton and Obama that there would be hell to pay for the massacre. The two of them spoke on the phone within hours of confirmation of the four deaths, and came up with the story about the stupid video. Instead of saying that the deaths were caused by a planned terrorist attack made on an under-defended American facility, and immediately taking personal blame for the incident, they did what people without strong moral character do in such situations, they tried to blame it on something or somebody else. The amount of energy and money they immediately employed in the cover-up is staggering.
When the bodies of the four dead Americans were recovered and flown back to Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C., Obama nad Clinton appeared, and, standing next to the four coffins, told the families of the dead that they would see to it that the person who made that heinous video was brought to justice. They said that. In plain English. And they said it when they knew it wasn't true. I often wonder what they tell themselves at night or when they look in the mirror, about what reason there is for them to escape responsibility for what happened. Do they actually think they are so special or sacresanct that they should not be blamed? Or do they have some sort of misguided god complex? After the charade at Andrews Air Force Base, they spent millions of American Taxpayer Dollars buying air time on television stations in Pakistan and elsewhere to say America was not to blame for the video. I honestly forget how many innocent people died in the subsequent rioting over the video that had nothing to do with anything. Nobody in the Middle East even knew about the video before the two of them brought attention to it. It had been on Youtube for months with less than 100 hits.
American intelligence officials, and State Department officials, immediately reported that the cause of the attacks in Benghazzi was a pre-planned terrorist operation. They made clear, when prompted, that there were no protests at the American Consulate in Benghazzi on the day of the attacks. When these officials heard Ms. Wrights bogus statements on five television shows, they were incredulous. Many were given direct instructions not to either testify or give statements about the incident. A CIA report on the incident came into Mr. Morrell's hands. It made clear that there was no connection whatsoever between the four American deaths and the video. It made clear there was no protest to spin out of control. Mr. Morrell doctored the report so that Ms. Wright could be given the explanation she took to the TV stations. He then told Congressional investigators that the FBI doctored the reports, not him. Other top CIA officials have either not been called to testify or have backed up Clinton and Obama's so-called talking points.
The reason for all of this was simple, really. Obama was running for re-election. He was pulling out all of the stops. The one "accomplishment" he had to crow about was allowing Navy Seals to execute Osama bin Laden, the mastermind leader of the 9/11 Massacres in America, where jets crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania Field, killing well over 3,000 Americans. It was Obama's campaign point that this act of killin bin Laden had literally beheaded Al Qaeda, making them impotent to attack America again. He did not want word to get out that Al Qaeda had anything to do with Benghazzi. He did not want word to get out that we needed to reinforce our consulate there for fear of an Al Qaeda attack. Because of that, almost desperate requests for increased security were turned down.
Michael Morrell has left the CIA in the wake of Benghazzi. He is said to be involved in some manner in the Clinton for President campaign. He is quoted as saying he in anxious to tell his side of the story, so I assume he has some kind of triangulated farse ready to go to exonerate himself and the people who he is helping. In reality, there are far to many evidentiary points to permit anything he says beyond a straight mea culpa to be believed. But the far left press that has enabled Obama and Clinton to skate forward will be hard at work to convince you that, in fact, none of them have anything to do with anything.
Michael Morrell sprung into action after the deaths. It was immediately clear to Clinton and Obama that there would be hell to pay for the massacre. The two of them spoke on the phone within hours of confirmation of the four deaths, and came up with the story about the stupid video. Instead of saying that the deaths were caused by a planned terrorist attack made on an under-defended American facility, and immediately taking personal blame for the incident, they did what people without strong moral character do in such situations, they tried to blame it on something or somebody else. The amount of energy and money they immediately employed in the cover-up is staggering.
When the bodies of the four dead Americans were recovered and flown back to Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C., Obama nad Clinton appeared, and, standing next to the four coffins, told the families of the dead that they would see to it that the person who made that heinous video was brought to justice. They said that. In plain English. And they said it when they knew it wasn't true. I often wonder what they tell themselves at night or when they look in the mirror, about what reason there is for them to escape responsibility for what happened. Do they actually think they are so special or sacresanct that they should not be blamed? Or do they have some sort of misguided god complex? After the charade at Andrews Air Force Base, they spent millions of American Taxpayer Dollars buying air time on television stations in Pakistan and elsewhere to say America was not to blame for the video. I honestly forget how many innocent people died in the subsequent rioting over the video that had nothing to do with anything. Nobody in the Middle East even knew about the video before the two of them brought attention to it. It had been on Youtube for months with less than 100 hits.
American intelligence officials, and State Department officials, immediately reported that the cause of the attacks in Benghazzi was a pre-planned terrorist operation. They made clear, when prompted, that there were no protests at the American Consulate in Benghazzi on the day of the attacks. When these officials heard Ms. Wrights bogus statements on five television shows, they were incredulous. Many were given direct instructions not to either testify or give statements about the incident. A CIA report on the incident came into Mr. Morrell's hands. It made clear that there was no connection whatsoever between the four American deaths and the video. It made clear there was no protest to spin out of control. Mr. Morrell doctored the report so that Ms. Wright could be given the explanation she took to the TV stations. He then told Congressional investigators that the FBI doctored the reports, not him. Other top CIA officials have either not been called to testify or have backed up Clinton and Obama's so-called talking points.
The reason for all of this was simple, really. Obama was running for re-election. He was pulling out all of the stops. The one "accomplishment" he had to crow about was allowing Navy Seals to execute Osama bin Laden, the mastermind leader of the 9/11 Massacres in America, where jets crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania Field, killing well over 3,000 Americans. It was Obama's campaign point that this act of killin bin Laden had literally beheaded Al Qaeda, making them impotent to attack America again. He did not want word to get out that Al Qaeda had anything to do with Benghazzi. He did not want word to get out that we needed to reinforce our consulate there for fear of an Al Qaeda attack. Because of that, almost desperate requests for increased security were turned down.
Michael Morrell has left the CIA in the wake of Benghazzi. He is said to be involved in some manner in the Clinton for President campaign. He is quoted as saying he in anxious to tell his side of the story, so I assume he has some kind of triangulated farse ready to go to exonerate himself and the people who he is helping. In reality, there are far to many evidentiary points to permit anything he says beyond a straight mea culpa to be believed. But the far left press that has enabled Obama and Clinton to skate forward will be hard at work to convince you that, in fact, none of them have anything to do with anything.
Georgian Soccer Star Saves Life of Dynamo Kiev Star in Sunday Match
BALTIMORE, Maryland April 2, 2014 - A Georgian soccer player, Jaba Kankava, used quick thinking and calm courage to save the life of the captain of the team he was playing against. The miraculous intervention Sunday stunned everybody who saw it, and a doctor said the fact that Oleg Gusev was able to stand up after the incident was equally stunning.
The incident took place during a match Sunday in the Ukrainian Premier League. Gusev, the Captain of the Dynamo Kiev Side, collapsed to the ground after sustaining an inadvertent blow to his head from the goal keeper of the Dnipro team, Denys Boyko. Gusev collapsed to the ground, unconscious, immediately after taking the blow.
He was saved by another Dnipro player, Kankava, who is also the caption of Georgia’s National Football Team. Without hesitating at all, Kankava reached down Gusev's throat and pulled up his tongue, which Gusev had swallowed. Doing what he did undoubtedly saved Gusev's life. The Dynamo team physician said "He (Gusev) is lucky to have such light injuries." As it was, Gusev was said to have sustained a "medium" concussion, a bruised jaw and other bruises. Kankava was seen shaking his own hand after the incident, because Gusev had apparently bitten it inadvertantly the instant his airway was clear. Dnipro won the game, 2-0, to jump over Dynamo Kiev into second place, behind Shakhtar Donetsk.
There are stunning photographs of the both the injury and Kankava's quick actions in The Guardian at http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/31/dnipro-jaba-kankava-kiev-oleg-gusev-save-life-swallow-tongue. Wikipedia also has a brief account of the incident on it Jaba Kankava page. And, Youtube is said to have film of the incident.
The incident took place during a match Sunday in the Ukrainian Premier League. Gusev, the Captain of the Dynamo Kiev Side, collapsed to the ground after sustaining an inadvertent blow to his head from the goal keeper of the Dnipro team, Denys Boyko. Gusev collapsed to the ground, unconscious, immediately after taking the blow.
He was saved by another Dnipro player, Kankava, who is also the caption of Georgia’s National Football Team. Without hesitating at all, Kankava reached down Gusev's throat and pulled up his tongue, which Gusev had swallowed. Doing what he did undoubtedly saved Gusev's life. The Dynamo team physician said "He (Gusev) is lucky to have such light injuries." As it was, Gusev was said to have sustained a "medium" concussion, a bruised jaw and other bruises. Kankava was seen shaking his own hand after the incident, because Gusev had apparently bitten it inadvertantly the instant his airway was clear. Dnipro won the game, 2-0, to jump over Dynamo Kiev into second place, behind Shakhtar Donetsk.
There are stunning photographs of the both the injury and Kankava's quick actions in The Guardian at http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/31/dnipro-jaba-kankava-kiev-oleg-gusev-save-life-swallow-tongue. Wikipedia also has a brief account of the incident on it Jaba Kankava page. And, Youtube is said to have film of the incident.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
In Tbilisi: Most Georgians believe Russian Aggression Continues even as Obama Statement Angers Many Georgians; Late Cold Snap Damages Georgian Fruit Trees
BALTIMORE, Maryland April 1, 2014 - Most residents of Georgia are convinced that their nation will continue to feel the sting of Russian aggression, even as reports of a Russian military build-up in South Ossetia has alarmed the nations of NATO. The survey was taken at a time when many Georgians are still bitterly disappointed at a comment that USA President Obama made at the recent nuclear summit in Brussels. That comment, which linked Georgia and Ukraine as two countries that are not NATO members and are not on a course to become NATO members. Georgia has applied to NATO and at one time, during the Bush administration, looked like it would be invited into NATO, but those hopes have been dashed under the Obama adminstration in America because Obama believed accepting Georgia into NATO would unduly antagonize Russian Strong Man Vladimir Putin. Russia has invaded both nations during the last six years, and even now has recently annexed a Ukrainian province and started a troop and equipment buildup in the Georgian Province of South Ossetia.
The International Republican Institute in Tbilisi conducted the survey and study over recent weeks, and the results were quite convincing. The survey takers interviewed some 18,992 citizens, and of them, some 71% said that Russian aggression against Georgia continues today. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and continues to occupy parts of two Georgian provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhaz. Only 16% of the respondents believed that Russian aggression is over. The survey was conducted by IRI from February 19 to March 13 of 2014. The results have an error margin of 1.5 percent.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili assessed Obama’s recent statement as “adequate”. But even as his comment was made public, Facebook was, according to Georgia's media, "flooded" by Georgians who were outraged and disappointed by Obama's remarks. Georgians believe that their long term security would be best served if the country was admitted into NATO as a full member.
“We should not have any illusion on NATO membership,” Garibashvili commented. “What President Obama said is absolutely adequate and it is a reality that at this stage there are no plans for NATO expansion. Our mission is to give correct information to the society to avoid false expectations like we saw during the previous government,”
The Garibashvili government is involved in a high-stakes war of nerves with former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has left the country. The Garibashvili government wants him arrested and prosecuted, or, at least, to have him questioned about a number of allegations. The United States and the EU have always looked with favor on Mikheil Saakashvili and have discouraged the current efforts of the government.
According to Garibashvili, misinterpretation of Obama’s statement is the fault of the strategy followed by the previous government, as they were artificially raising expectations and then there was disappointment within society. “We offer people something different and we want them to know reality,” Garibashvili noted, adding the government should be consistent, and continue reforms towards development and progress.
Also in Georgia, government officials say that the unusually cold weather of recent days has done damage to the nation's fruit trees, some of which had already started to bloom.
The International Republican Institute in Tbilisi conducted the survey and study over recent weeks, and the results were quite convincing. The survey takers interviewed some 18,992 citizens, and of them, some 71% said that Russian aggression against Georgia continues today. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and continues to occupy parts of two Georgian provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhaz. Only 16% of the respondents believed that Russian aggression is over. The survey was conducted by IRI from February 19 to March 13 of 2014. The results have an error margin of 1.5 percent.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili assessed Obama’s recent statement as “adequate”. But even as his comment was made public, Facebook was, according to Georgia's media, "flooded" by Georgians who were outraged and disappointed by Obama's remarks. Georgians believe that their long term security would be best served if the country was admitted into NATO as a full member.
“We should not have any illusion on NATO membership,” Garibashvili commented. “What President Obama said is absolutely adequate and it is a reality that at this stage there are no plans for NATO expansion. Our mission is to give correct information to the society to avoid false expectations like we saw during the previous government,”
The Garibashvili government is involved in a high-stakes war of nerves with former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has left the country. The Garibashvili government wants him arrested and prosecuted, or, at least, to have him questioned about a number of allegations. The United States and the EU have always looked with favor on Mikheil Saakashvili and have discouraged the current efforts of the government.
According to Garibashvili, misinterpretation of Obama’s statement is the fault of the strategy followed by the previous government, as they were artificially raising expectations and then there was disappointment within society. “We offer people something different and we want them to know reality,” Garibashvili noted, adding the government should be consistent, and continue reforms towards development and progress.
Also in Georgia, government officials say that the unusually cold weather of recent days has done damage to the nation's fruit trees, some of which had already started to bloom.
Government Responds to Election Charges in Turkey: A Cat Did It
BALTIMORE, Maryland April 1, 2014 - This isn't an April Fools-themed report. Amidst all of the charges of fraud in Turkey's elections, including serious charges of power outages at voting venues and at the places where votes were being counted, the Government responded today, at least in part, and they want everybody to know they are quite serious. They blame a cat.
Don't blink. You read it right. They blame a cat. Turkey's Energy Minister, Taner Yildiz, told the newspaper "Today's Zaman," “I am not joking, dear friends. A cat went into a transformer. Things like this have happened before the elections. It is wrong to connect this to the elections.” He said those looking for deliberate actions behind the power cuts were making excuses for their defeat.
A cat that went into an electrical transformer was responsible for at least one of the power cuts in 22 provinces on Sunday night during vote counting, Yıldız has said. Today's Zaman said this about the situation: "Allegations of election fraud have been rampant following Sunday's local elections, with users documenting many discrepancies between the numbers recorded at polling stations and those finally entered into the Supreme Election Board (YSK) system. Power blockages that occurred in 22 provinces on Sunday evening during the hours when the votes were being counted were also found to be suspicious by many. In response to critics' doubts, Energy Minister Yıldız said on Tuesday the blackouts were short-lived, temporary and not at the level that would have an effect on the vote total. “There were 10 or 15-minute cuts in some provinces and districts. Let us not hide behind electric lampposts.”
The paper added that Yildiz' statement "quickly became a joke for online users, with many sharing pictures of cats making statements about their transformer escapades."
Don't blink. You read it right. They blame a cat. Turkey's Energy Minister, Taner Yildiz, told the newspaper "Today's Zaman," “I am not joking, dear friends. A cat went into a transformer. Things like this have happened before the elections. It is wrong to connect this to the elections.” He said those looking for deliberate actions behind the power cuts were making excuses for their defeat.
A cat that went into an electrical transformer was responsible for at least one of the power cuts in 22 provinces on Sunday night during vote counting, Yıldız has said. Today's Zaman said this about the situation: "Allegations of election fraud have been rampant following Sunday's local elections, with users documenting many discrepancies between the numbers recorded at polling stations and those finally entered into the Supreme Election Board (YSK) system. Power blockages that occurred in 22 provinces on Sunday evening during the hours when the votes were being counted were also found to be suspicious by many. In response to critics' doubts, Energy Minister Yıldız said on Tuesday the blackouts were short-lived, temporary and not at the level that would have an effect on the vote total. “There were 10 or 15-minute cuts in some provinces and districts. Let us not hide behind electric lampposts.”
The paper added that Yildiz' statement "quickly became a joke for online users, with many sharing pictures of cats making statements about their transformer escapades."
Muslims Comprise Over Quarter of Those Imprisoned in London
BALTIMORE, Maryland April 1, 2014 - In London, Muslims make up but 12% of all residents. In London, the prison population is 27% Muslim. Muslim organizations are anything but happy about the report, carried in the Evening Standard in London and the web page known as World Bulletin. In all of the United KIngdom, Muslims comprise only 4.8 percent of the population, but in prisons throughout the Kingdom, Muslims comprise 14 percent of all inmates. And this figure - 14 percent of all United Kingdom inmates - is up 6 percent over the last decade. All of the figures are said to be from 2011. According to Sadiq Khan, a London attorney who took part in the survey, the figures raise questions of about whether there is some kind of bias on the part of prosecuters, judges and prison authorities.
“What’s really worrying is the rise, year after year, in the number of Muslims behind bars,” Khan told the Evening Standard. “We need to know why that’s the case if we’re to stop this rising further, reduce crime and prevent people needlessly becoming victims,”
Khan also accused the authorities of not doing enough to deal with the problem. “Four years on and ministers have ignored this call. The Government is utterly clueless about what to do about this growing problem.”
“What’s really worrying is the rise, year after year, in the number of Muslims behind bars,” Khan told the Evening Standard. “We need to know why that’s the case if we’re to stop this rising further, reduce crime and prevent people needlessly becoming victims,”
Khan also accused the authorities of not doing enough to deal with the problem. “Four years on and ministers have ignored this call. The Government is utterly clueless about what to do about this growing problem.”
USA Beefing Up Air Power in Romania; NATO Chief Says Alliance Hasn't Seen Evidence of Russia's Promised Pullout of Some Troops on Ukraine Border
BALTIMORE, Maryland April 1, 2014 - Vladimir Putin, Russia's Strong Man Leader, told the German Chancellor Monday that he is pulling some troops back from Ukraine's eastern border, but the chief of NATO said he and his organization do not see it happening. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO leader, said, simply "this is not what we're seeing on the ground." This exchange occurred even as the USA requested and received permission from Romanian leaders to send additional air power to a base in that Eastern European Nation which is now a member of NATO. Rasmussen and foreign ministers of the allinace's members met today for the first time since Russia invaded Crimea in early March. They are discussing the best ways to assist Ukraine and assure Ukraine's Baltic neighbors that they can stand strong against Russia with help from NATO and the EU. The NATO Countries also announced a bolstering of "air drills" to take place over the Baltic States. The United States has stated it will participate in these drills, and has already sent additional fighter jets to Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
According to the Web site World Bulletin, Rasmussen told the NATO group, "Through its actions, Russia has undermined the principles on which our partnership is built, and has breached its own international commitments. So we cannot go on doing business as usual."
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Germany's Angela Merkel in a phone call on Monday he had ordered a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the eastern Ukrainian border, the German chancellor's spokesman said.
Moscow is believed to have massed some 30,000 heavily armed troops on the eastern Ukraine border, reinforced by tanks, fighter jets, attack helicopters, heavy artillery and intense logistical support. And Russia is making life in Ukraine more difficult. It's state-owned energy firm "Gasprom" announced today that the price it charges Ukraine for natural gas is going up.
Gazprom's chief executive Alexei Miller said the price of Russian gas for Ukraine had gone up to $385.5 (£231) per 1,000 cubic metres in the second quarter of 2014 from the previous rate of $268.5.
Miller added that Ukraine's unpaid gas bills to Russia stood at $1.7bn
According to the Web site World Bulletin, Rasmussen told the NATO group, "Through its actions, Russia has undermined the principles on which our partnership is built, and has breached its own international commitments. So we cannot go on doing business as usual."
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Germany's Angela Merkel in a phone call on Monday he had ordered a partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the eastern Ukrainian border, the German chancellor's spokesman said.
Moscow is believed to have massed some 30,000 heavily armed troops on the eastern Ukraine border, reinforced by tanks, fighter jets, attack helicopters, heavy artillery and intense logistical support. And Russia is making life in Ukraine more difficult. It's state-owned energy firm "Gasprom" announced today that the price it charges Ukraine for natural gas is going up.
Gazprom's chief executive Alexei Miller said the price of Russian gas for Ukraine had gone up to $385.5 (£231) per 1,000 cubic metres in the second quarter of 2014 from the previous rate of $268.5.
Miller added that Ukraine's unpaid gas bills to Russia stood at $1.7bn
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