Merkel tells Putin Crimea referendum illegal

[ProSense]

Merkel tells Putin Crimea referendum illegal

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a telephone conversation on Sunday a referendum planned for March 16 on Crimea joining Russia violated Ukraine's constitution and was against international law.

She also regretted that there had not been any progress on forming an "international contact group" which could find a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, the German government said in a written statement. "She pointed out the urgency of finally coming to a substantial result on this."

On Thursday, Merkel said if no international contact group was formed in the coming days and no progress was made in negotiations with Russia, it was possible the European Union would impose on Russia further sanctions like travel restrictions and freezing financial accounts.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/09/uk-ukraine-crisis-merkel-putin-idUKBREA280HY20140309

[hrmjustin]

1. Good!

[Thinkingabout]

2. Thanks for the post, this should be many countries working towards a solution

Rather than following GOP advice. This did not start overnight and will not be solved overnight. Allow Putin to be put in a timeout box before beating him up with bombs.

[BlueCaliDem]

3. Excellent! Putin might not give a good g**damn what the U.S. says, but the oligarchs in his country

won't take kindly to sanctions against them and their money. He will have to buckle or else.

[stevenleser]

10. That's the point I made on my radio show this week.

Putin may not give in, but if the oligarchs cannot fly around and spend all of their money in expensive resorts and cities all around Europe and the US in their regular pursuit of nuveau-riche bacchanalia, Putin will be gone in fairly short order.

[BlueCaliDem]

15. And you made a valid point. It always comes down to money.

Morals? Ethics? Doing the right thing for the people? Heck no. Moolah is all that matters in this world and in each and every country. The only people who care about doing the right thing for the masses are members of the masses. The oligarchs only care about themselves and their money. Period.

[Cha]

4. KICK!

[MoonRiver]

5. Excellent!

No reason why the U.S. should be the world's policeman. Let all nations step up to international outrages.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Crimean referendum 'legitimate', Putin tells Merkel

Vladimir Putin has told Angela Merkel an upcoming referendum in Crimea is in accordance with international law.

In a phone call between the two leaders, Putin said the actions of the Crimean parliament were aimed at protecting the legitimate interests of the population in the peninsula.

A statement from the Kremlin added that, while Putin and Merkel differed in their view on the situation in Ukraine, they were agreed that a de-escalation of tensions should be achieved as soon as possible.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-03-09/crimean-referendum-legitimate-putin-tells-merkel/



Best sort it out in a court of international law.

You'll find else where he said exactly the same to Cameron.

[ProSense]

8. Yeah,

"Crimean referendum 'legitimate', Putin tells Merkel"

...the arguments will be that the Ukraine Constitution is just a "piece of paper."

[sheshe2]

7. Excellent!

[Cha]

9. The Only Army in the World Who is Ashamed of..

Areta May @AretaMay
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Dishonorable soldiers #Russia #Ukraine #Crimea #Euromaidan
1:50 PM - 9 Mar 2014
5 Retweets 2 favorites
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TOD

[Pretzel_Warrior]

11. They are terrorists. Plain and simple.

[Cha]

12. Ukraine-22 Years Without War

Euromaidan PR @EuromaidanPR
Follow
The statistics tell you all pic.twitter.com/G0QoNiOOKW @EastOfBrussels |PR News #Russia #Ukraine #Putin #Crimea #georgia #chechnya #ossetia
7:16 AM - 9 Mar 2014
111 Retweets 33 favorites
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TOD

[roamer65]

13. We'll see what Ms. Merkel says when Russian natural gas gets shutoff.

The EU has no balls.

Note: I am definitely NOT a Russia lover, but I know the EU's usual wishy washy ways.

[mwooldri]

16. Not too worried about a gas shut off.

Russia doesn't have the stranglehold on the EU gas market that it used to have.

The USA will be exporting gas soon. Other supplies will come online. Energy sources will be more diversified. Plus right now the EU had a mild winter. Demand for Russian gas is low right now.

EU countries learned from the first gas cut that they cannot rely solely on Russian gas going through Ukraine. It's sad to say this but fracking in Europe will get more supplies, with potentially large quantities of shale gas in Poland and Ukraine. Also, Ukraine may be more receptive to fracking if it means energy independence from Russia.

If Russia carries on its present path, the EU will be working to get non-Russian gas sooner rather than later. Sure in the immediate future the EU will keep relations good enough with Russia for gas... but with the EU's wishy washy ways the idea of independence from Russian fuel will be pushed forward, with a wishy washy, cobbled together solution.

[Cha]

14. Who Does Putin Think he is?

[WatermelonRat]

17. What a bunch of hypocrites (and I'm just not talking about Bush and friends)

If you consider invading other countries to be wrong, then what does it matter that Bush did it? If Putin is equivalent to Bush, you should be speaking out against him just as vigorously as you did in the Iraq war, not deflecting and distracting from it. That you are so dismissive of this invasion indicates to me that you are apathetic as to the right and wrong of it.

On top of that, this article is about a statement from Merkel (aka, someone who had nothing to do with the Iraq fiasco), so who are you even directing that towards? Other DU commentators who opposed the Iraq War and, being intellectually honest, also oppose Putin's invasion of Crimea?

[Cha]

18. It's obvious from your post you know fuck all about what I believe.. so your little rant

is wasted.

[WatermelonRat]

19. Guilty as charged

I'll openly admit to being unable to comprehend a moral compass that would lead one to be dismissive of Putin's invasion of Crimea in the same breath that compares it to Bush's invasion of Iraq.

[Cha]

20. But, I didn't dismiss it. You got it wrong, kiddo.

[WatermelonRat]

21. What was the point of the image you posted then?

It's irrelevant to Merkel's criticism or the broader question of legality and morality of Putin's actions, so what does it contribute except to deflect and distract?