Update:
– Russia Denies It Has Given Ukraine An Ultimatum, Calls It ‘Utter Nonsense’
– Russian Fleet Gives Ukrainian Crimea Forces Ultimatum To Surrender Or “Face Storm”, Ukraine Defense Minister Quoted (ZeroHedge, March 3, 2014):
Just out from Reuters:
- INTERFAX UKRAINIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY AS SAYING RUSSIAN FLEET HAS GIVEN UKRAINIAN FORCES IN CRIMEA UNTIL 0300 GMT TOSURRENDER OR FACE STORM
More from Reuters:
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has told Ukrainian forces in Crimea to surrender by 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) on Tuesday or face a military assault, Interfax news agency quoted a source in the Ukrainian Defence Ministry as saying.
The ultimatum, Interfax said, was issued by Alexander Vitko, the fleet’s commander.
The ministry did not immediately confirm the report and there was no immediate comment by the Black Sea Fleet, which has a base in Crimea, where Russian forces are in control.
“If they do not surrender before 5 a.m. tomorrow, a real assault will be started against units and divisions of the armed forces across Crimea,” the agency quoted the ministry source as saying.
It appears Putin is still unaware of the “costs” he is facing.
Meanwhile:
#Crimea The Russian deadline of 4 o’clock for Ukrainian troops to vacate Belbek base has passed. No sign of Russian military eviction force
— Elizabeth Palmer (@elizapalmer) March 3, 2014
Interpreter notes that Ukraine’s first president, Leonid Kravchuk, who served between 1991 and 1994, wrote in the Russian publication Snob.ru today that this crisis could spark World War III:
“I call on the Russian authorities to stop. Between our peoples should not be war. Does Russia not understand that this is the beginning of World War III?” he warned.
He vowed to defend the land of his forefathers despite his age.
“My great-grandfather and grandfather fought in World War I, along with Russia. I am 80 years old, but I’ll take a gun and I will defend their land. Every citizen will defend their territory as their home.
“We knelt and Russia sat us down. Czechoslovakia, Poland, Afghanistan, Hungary. Now Ukraine is on the line?” he continued.
If the Russian troops try to take these bases, and the soldiers inside resist, is it possible that Kravchuk’s warning could come true?
Nobody is going to stop Putin. An overwhelming majority of the Ukraine consider themselves part of Mother Russia…..
Beyond the noise from Clown Kerry, no other nations are going to do a thing against Putin……he is using nationalism…..and only the US is against it. The US is against anything that doesn’t further enrich the Greedy gut corporations that own the government…..
This is all sound and fury signifying nothing. The US will get zero support if they try to attack Russia. I wonder if the UK or Israel would even be that foolish, and they have no other allies.
The US cries “wolf” so often that nobody pays attention. The American people are disgusted with their leadership, and they would not be interested in another unwinnable fruitless foreign war.
Putin has the Russian people behind him. He is very intelligent, he put the nation first, any other desires are second. The US has none of that, all credibility is lost at home and abroad.
Credibility is a very important thing. Our founders understood it’s value, but the fools in power today don’t even know what it means.
Putin will rebuild the Russian empire again, and nothing the US might want to do will stop him.
They really ought to shut Clown Kerry up, he makes a bigger fool of the US every time he opens his mouth.