Kerry says U.S., Russia to exchange info on Ukraine crisis

[bemildred]

Source: Reuter's

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday that the United States and Russia had agreed to exchange information about the situation on the Russia-Ukraine border.

Ukraine's military accused Russia on Friday of sending a column of 32 tanks and truckloads of troops into the country's east to support pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces.

"Suffice it to say that we do have some disagreements about some of the facts on the ground with respect to Ukraine. We have agreed to exchange some information between us regarding that. We have also agreed this is a dialogue between us that will continue," Kerry told reporters in Beijing.

But he seemed to suggest new Western sanctions against Russia were not imminent.



Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/08/uk-usa-russia-ukraine-idUKKBN0IS06T20141108?rpc=401

[bemildred]

1. U.S. and Russia talk Ukraine, Iran

BEIJING – Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that the United States and Russia will keep talking about the deteriorating situation in eastern Ukraine, though he made clear that Washington does not accept Moscow’s denial of involvement arming pro-Russian rebels.

“Suffice it to say that we do have some disagreements about some of the facts on the ground with respect to Ukraine,” Kerry said following a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov. “We have agreed to exchange some information between us regarding that. We have also agreed this is a dialogue between us that will continue.”

Kerry met with Lavrov in Beijing the day after Ukraine charged that 32 Russian tanks and almost as many Russian military vehicles had entered eastern Ukraine’s Lunhansk region, ferrying ammunition and reinforcements to pro-Russian separatists opposed to the government in Kiev. The incursion, if true, raises questions about Russia’s support of a ceasefire.

Minutes before the two top diplomats sat down, while shaking hands before cameras, Lavrov sidestepped a question about whether Russia is sending troops and tanks into Ukraine.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-and-russia-talk-ukraine-iran/2014/11/08/ed2e748e-6531-11e4-ab86-46000e1d0035_story.html

[bemildred]

2. Russia: US welcome to mediate Ukraine crisis

Moscow - Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov said Saturday that US involvement in resolving the conflict in Ukraine would be a "step in the right direction", after meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry in Beijing.

Lavrov's remarks appeared to soften Russia's line on the crisis ahead of high-level meetings between President Vladimir Putin and world leaders at an APEC summit in China and a Group of 20 summit in Australia next week.

"Our positions on what is happening in Ukraine do not correspond with the United States, but if Washington is interested in contributing to the reconciliation of the situation and creating dialogue between Kiev and the rebel leadership... I think that would be a step in the right direction," the Russian foreign minister said in comments shown on state television.

The United States should discourage "hot heads" among Kiev's leadership from resuming a full-scale conflict with the pro-Russian separatists, Lavrov added.

http://www.news24.com/World/News/Russia-US-welcome-to-mediate-Ukraine-crisis-20141108

[bemildred]

4. Russia says US welcome to mediate Ukraine crisis

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov said Saturday that US involvement in resolving the conflict in Ukraine would be a "step in the right direction", after meeting with his US counterpart John Kerry in Beijing.

Lavrov's remarks appeared to soften Russia's line on the crisis ahead of high-level meetings between President Vladimir Putin and world leaders at an APEC summit in China and a Group of 20 summit in Australia next week.

"Our positions on what is happening in Ukraine do not correspond with the United States, but if Washington is interested in contributing to the reconciliation of the situation and creating dialogue between Kiev and the rebel leadership... I think that would be a step in the right direction," the Russian foreign minister said in comments shown on state television.

The United States should discourage "hot heads" among Kiev's leadership from resuming a full-scale conflict with the pro-Russian separatists, Lavrov added.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/25465688/

[bemildred]

3. Ukraine rebels seen moving large military convoys in hint of possible renewed hostilities

SNIZHNE, Ukraine (AP) — Associated Press reporters saw more than 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move Saturday in rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine, indicating that intensified hostilities may lie ahead.

Three separate columns were seen — one near the main separatist stronghold of Donetsk and two outside the town of Snizhne, 80 kilometers (50 miles) further east. The vehicles were mainly transportation trucks, some of them carrying small- and large-caliber artillery systems, and at least one armored personnel carrier. One truck outside Donetsk was seen to be carrying troops.

Ukrainian officials said this week that they believe rebel forces have received substantial consignments of weaponry and manpower from Russia. Moscow denies such claims.

It was not immediately possible to establish the provenance of the vehicles seen Saturday. Separatists have always insisted they are armed with equipment captured from Ukrainian forces, but the sheer scale and quality of their armaments have strained the credibility of that claim.

http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2014/11/08/ukraine-rebels-seen-moving-large-military-convoys

[Igel]

7. The OSCE is having a hard time there, too.

They put up UAVs. Some were shot down, even though not near the "border" with the ATO forces but over near the Russian border or elsewhere.

More recently they've been jammed. Radio interference has caused some to crash. A couple apparently have been closer to the jammers than to the OSCE controllers and control was assumed by the jammers. The OSCE has decided that they'll stop using UAVs. Instead, they'll do the usual OSCE thing: They say where they want to go, and then they're escorted there later that day or the next day with guides.

"Rebel" UAVs--not the kind that Ukraine has--have been seen near Mariupol, Schasttya, Debal'tseve, and other hot spots that would be the focus of "rebel" attention in the event of renewed aggression by the pro-Russian side.


In other news, 4 rail cars have been allocated, it was announced, for removing the wreckage of the Dutch airliner that was shot down during the summer and transferring it to the Dutch for analysis. Most had been piled in large heaps, but in the last couple of days they announced they'd found more human remains. The best and first analysis occurs at the site, on the ground, but that's rendered impossible by all the interference and contamination of the site, and even by having some of it hauled away for scrap. It'll be interesting if they have enough for the usual method, reconstructing the plane. Or if the scrap hauled away wasn't just the most valuable for recycling but the most valuable for analysis.

[7962]

5. In other words, "Russia tells US there's nothing to see here, move along" nt

[glinda]

6. +1

[Iliyah]

8. Propaganda corporate news won't tell ya that Russia's ecomony is crashing.

USSC and GOPs wants the same to happen here in America.

[bemildred]

9. Actually that gets reported regularly. nt

[newthinking]

10. Their currency is being manipulated and is inflating yes, economy is not crashing

They may yet go into a recession, but so is the west likely to in the next year: Europe is already on the edge.
Yes the sanctions are doing damage... to Russia's economy more than the west's, but it is damaging everyone's economies at a time when the entire worldwide system was weak. The only country that seems to be doing ok so far is China.

The thing is, Russia *expects* and was prepared for this. BRICS (what all this is REALLY about) is a challenge to the dollar/trade monopoly, all the economic powers that depend on a monopoly are/will fight it tooth and nail to weaken it. Russia has been at the forefront and is essentially taking all the heat.. But Russians are used to this kind of thing, they have learned to persevere in economic times that would have destroyed all social continuity in a place like the US.

[Purveyor]

11. ^^^this^^^ eom