U.S. Troops in Poland for Exercises (re: Russia)

[summer]

I'm trying to pretend all of this isn't happening. 



BBC


The first contingent of US troops has landed in Poland for military exercises amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine.



An initial 150 soldiers are to be followed by a further 450 within days.



US President Barack Obama has warned Russia it faces new sanctions if it refuses to implement an agreement to reduce tensions in eastern Ukraine.



Reports are coming in of violent incidents overnight between pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian forces in Mariupol and Artemivsk.



Mr Obama accuses Russia of flouting last week's deal on Ukraine while Moscow has warned it will respond to any attack on its "interests" in Ukraine.



Speaking on Russian state TV channel RT on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov drew a parallel with the 2008 Georgian war, saying that if "the interests of Russians have been attacked directly.... I do not see any other way but to respond in full accordance with international law".



Mr Lavrov also accused the US of "running the show" in Ukraine, and that it was "quite telling" that Kiev had re-launched its "anti-terrorist" operation in the east on Tuesday during a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden.



US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki dismissed his comments as "ludicrous". "Our approach here is de-escalation. We don't think there's a military solution on the ground," she said.



'Security guarantee'

The 150 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived in the Polish town of Swidwin from their base in Vicenza, Italy.



Stephen Mull, the US ambassador to Poland, said the US had a "solemn obligation in the framework of Nato to reassure Poland of our security guarantee".





Sergei Lavrov: "You cannot avoid the impression they [US] are running the show"


President Obama told a news conference in Japan that Moscow had failed to halt actions by pro-Russian militants in Ukraine.



The US had further sanctions against Russia "teed up", he added.



The US troops are expected to be carrying out military exercises in Poland as well as in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia for the coming months.



There has been growing concern in those countries at the build-up of thousands of troops in Russia along its borders with Ukraine in recent weeks.



Elsewhere, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that Russian military aircraft had been identified approaching the north of Scotland, but they turned away shortly after fighter jets were scrambled to investigate.



Military officials in the Netherlands and Denmark confirmed they too had scrambled jets to escort the jets away from their airspace.



And in the seas around the UK, a Royal Navy warship is shadowing a Russian destroyer in what the MoD described as a "well established and standard response" as it sails past British territory.





The BBC visits Ukrainian soldiers on the border with Russia

But the focus of the tension remains eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have taken over administrative buildings in at least a dozen towns in a bid to seek closer ties to Moscow.



Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced on Thursday that the city hall in Mariupol, a port on the Sea of Azov, had been "liberated" overnight without any casualties.



"Civic activists" played a major part in the operation, he said.



However, local news website 0629 reported that the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk was still claiming control over the mayor's hall after a struggle with attackers.



Mr Avakov also reported that Ukrainian troops in Artemivsk had fended off an attempt by dozens of pro-Russian militants to seize weapons from a military unit. One soldier was wounded, he said.



Unverified footage of military helicopters, said to be flying over Artemivsk, was posted by a blogger on YouTube.



Unrest began in Ukraine last November over whether the country should look towards Moscow or the West.

[woodiedog]

Every time I hear news about Russia, my heart freezes.
I think about the possibility of a world war, Russia and China joining forces, the proliferation of communism, death and destruction, and the inhumane treatment of millions of people.

[Velar Fricative]

PUT DOWN THE MAKEUP AND PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!!!!

Shit's about to go down. Russia won't back down. Pro-Russian Ukrainians aren't going to back down. I'm not saying WWIII is about to begin but this crisis isn't going away.

[ringstrue]

Great.

[Michelle]

Apr 24, 2014 6:16:02 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

PUT DOWN THE MAKEUP AND PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!!!!

Shit's about to go down. Russia won't back down. Pro-Russian Ukrainians aren't going to back down. I'm not saying WWIII is about to begin but this crisis isn't going away.

I dunno. It looks really ripe for ww3

[IIOY]

H told me earlier that the news was reporting that Ukrainian commandoes attacked a separatist base. I haven't had a chance to verify this.

[oneslybookworm]

I lurk on here pretty regularly, and wanted to pop in. This shit is scary and it looks like it's about to hit the fan. I look forward to reading more of your (all of you) commentary on this...I trust you guys more than the news.

**hides under a desk in the meantime**

[lys]

150 troops will accomplish nothing.
This situation was lost a long time ago - Putin knew that Obama would not respond with anything that was a real deterrent.
Europe needs the oil provided by Russian pipe lines
No one will do anything substantial.

Obama is totally ineffective and not respected by our enemies and not trusted by our friends.

[cattledogkisses]

: rocks back and forth in a corner :

[anastasia517]

Should I be practicing Duck and Cover like they did in the Cold War?  This is looking more and more like war is coming.

ETA: As somebody from a friendly country, I can assure you that most people from left-wing countries would prefer to work with Obama than Romney.

[krisandgrace]

I don't see how this is going to end but what worries the most about Russia is they only seem to respond to a show of military not sanctions.
 
We have to step in, letting a large country take over a smaller one and turning a blind eye is how WWII started. And yes a lot of Europe depends on Russian oil but that goes both ways, the Russians need to sell their oil.

[Vespasia]

Apr 24, 2014 6:16:02 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

PUT DOWN THE MAKEUP AND PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!!!!

But I want to look pretty when the world ends! 

[IIOY]

I just heard a tiny snippet on NPR that the US is now sending heavy weaponry to Syrian rebels. I'm willing to bet this has nothing to so with a sudden genuine interest in helping the rebels and everything to do with fighting a Russian ally by proxy.

[IIOY]

Apr 24, 2014 7:53:36 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Apr 24, 2014 6:16:02 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

PUT DOWN THE MAKEUP AND PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!!!!!

But I want to look pretty when the world ends! 

Unlike John McCain, some of us can multitask.

[secretlyevil]

In the make up thread, we can pretend ugly reality doesn't exist. I know, I should probably turn in my CEP membership card.

Other than being a complete fuck head and channeling a few of history's most notorious dictators, I'm not sure I see Putin's end game. Obviously the US's internal combustion and the world's sluggish economy gave him the perfect opportunity to make his move. What is the purpose of the UN if not to stop this from happening. The middle east and now this has really shown how utterly useless the UN is. A war between countries with nukes just means the entire world loses.

[Vespasia]

A while ago H and I were laughing about how dated most 80s movies are since so often they focus on the evil USSR as the main antagonist. Clearly we laughed too soon!

And now I'm listening to Leningrad by Billy Joel. There's a line about kids being under their desk in an air raid drill and anastasia517's post put it in my head. 

[secretlyevil]

Also, does anyone think 600 troops is really scaring anyone? maybe if they were 600 of the super special elite of the elite. A couple extra zeros at the end of that number needs to be added.