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China says carrier group exercising near Taiwan, drills will become regular

A Chinese carrier group is exercising near Taiwan and such drills will become regular, China's navy said late on Monday in a further escalation of tensions near the island that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory. Taiwan has complained of an increase in Chinese military activity near it...
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Philippines warns China to 'get out' as boats gather in disputed waters

The Philippines has accused China of planning to occupy more areas in the South China Sea, repeating its demands for Beijing to withdraw a fleet of ships that has been amassing since last month around the Whitsun Reef, near the disputed Spratly Islands. Manila maintains that the reef is located...
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Ukraine calls for path into NATO after Russia masses troops

KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on NATO on Tuesday to lay out a path for Ukraine to join the Western military alliance, after days in which Russia has massed troops near the conflict-hit Donbass region. Zelenskiy's comments drew an immediate rebuke from Moscow, which said...
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Ukraine says Russia massing troops on border, US warns Moscow

Ukraine has been locked in a conflict with Russian-backed separatists since 2014
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Is Venezuela Preparing For A Military Strike On Colombia?

As Venezuela’s economic crisis continues to worsen, President Nicolas Maduro looks to be preparing another extreme show of force to distract the country’s citizens
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Merkel tells Putin to pull back troops as Kremlin accuses Ukraine of provocations

BERLIN/MOSCOW (Reuters) -German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to pull back the Kremlin's military build-up near the border with Ukraine, while he in turn accused Kyiv of "provocative actions" in the conflict region. Ukraine has raised the alarm over...
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior Kremlin official said on Thursday Russia could under certain circumstance be forced to defend its citizens in eastern Ukraine and that major military hostilities could mark the beginning of the end of Ukraine as a country, TASS news agency reported.

Western nations have called for restraint after Ukraine raised the alarm over a buildup of Russian forces near the Ukrainian border with Russia. Violence has risen along the line of contact between government forces and separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region.

"...I support the assessment that ... the start of military action - this would be the beginning of the end of Ukraine," the deputy head of Russia's presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak, was quoted as saying.
 
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Russia calls U.S. an adversary, warns its warships to avoid Crimea

Russia on Tuesday called the United States an adversary and told U.S. warships to stay well away from Crimea "for their own good", calling their deployment in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russian nerves. Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and two U.S. warships are due to...
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday called the United States an adversary and told U.S. warships to stay well away from Crimea "for their own good", calling their deployment in the Black Sea a provocation designed to test Russian nerves.

Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and two U.S. warships are due to arrive in the Black Sea this week amid an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine, where government forces have battled Russian-backed separatists in a conflict Kyiv says has killed 14,000 people.

"The United States is our adversary and does everything it can to undermine Russia's position on the world stage," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was cited as saying by Russian news agencies.

"We do not see any other elements in their approach. Those are our conclusions," the agencies quoted him as saying.

The comment suggests that the veneer of diplomatic niceties that the former Cold War enemies have generally sought to observe in recent decades is wearing thin.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in March that he thought his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was a killer who would "pay a price" for alleged meddling in U.S. elections - an accusation that Moscow denies.

Ryabkov's remarks suggest Russia will in turn robustly push back against what it sees as unacceptable U.S. interference in its own backyard.

"We warn the United States that it will be better for them to stay far away from Crimea and our Black Sea coast. It will be for their own good," said Ryabkov.

The West is sounding the alarm over what it says is a large unexplained build-up of Russian forces close to Ukraine's eastern border and in Crimea, which NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday called on Moscow to unwind.

Russia has said it moves its forces around as it sees fit, including for defensive purposes, and has regularly accused NATO of destabilising Europe by moving its military infrastructure closer to Russia's borders.

Ryabkov was cited as shrugging off U.S. talk of consequences for any "aggressive" Russian actions and as saying that Moscow had studied U.S. tactics towards Russia and adapted accordingly.

U.S. military support to Kyiv was a serious challenge for Russia, he added, accusing Washington and NATO of turning Ukraine into a "powder keg" with increasing arms supplies.

Washington says Ukraine needs a strong army to defend itself from potential Russian aggression.

"Any threat to us merely confirms our belief that our course is the right one," Ryabkov was quoted as saying, warning U.S. warships in the Black Sea to keep their distance, given what he said was the high risk of unspecified incidents.

"There is absolutely nothing for American ships to be doing near our shores, this is purely a provocative action. Provocative in the direct sense of the word: they are testing our strength, playing on our nerves. They will not succeed," Ryabkov said.

The Pentagon has declined to discuss the ships' deployment, saying only that the U.S. military routinely sends vessels to the region.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in Crimea and it has powerful missile and radar facilities on the peninsula.

Russia confirmed on Tuesday it was continuing to move 15 navy vessels to the Black Sea from the Caspian Sea to take part in drills.
 
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Top Kremlin Mouthpiece Warns of ‘Inevitable’ War With U.S. Over Another Ukraine Land Grab

ALEXEY NIKOLSKYAll-out cyberwarfare, nation-wide forced blackouts, and the targeted disruption of internet services—for one of the Kremlin’s top propagandists, all of those tactics are fair game in what she describes as a fated war-to-come against the U.S.“War [with the U.S.] is inevitable,”...
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All-out cyberwarfare, nation-wide forced blackouts, and the targeted disruption of internet services—for one of the Kremlin’s top propagandists, all of those tactics are fair game in what she describes as a fated war-to-come against the U.S.

“War [with the U.S.] is inevitable,” declared Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of the state-funded Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik, who believes the conflict will break out when, not if, Vladimir Putin moves to seize more territory from Ukraine.

As Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s doorstep mounts, Kremlin loyalists have been urging for even more overt aggression and bloodshed in the campaign to annex Ukraine’s Donbas region. The only thing standing in the way, they say, is U.S. support for their beleaguered neighbor.

NATO issued a statement on Wednesday demanding an end to Russia’s troop movements on the border with the disputed territory of Donbas in eastern Ukraine. It is the largest buildup of Russian troops since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The U.S. underlined the statement this week by deploying two warships to the Black Sea.

The escalation was foreshadowed on state television’s Sunday Evening With Vladimir Soloviev over the weekend. Simonyan explained that it was time for Russia to gear up for a showdown against the U.S., and prophesized a kind of war driven by hacking, the forced disruption of internet access, the shutting down of power supplies, and an all-out offensive on U.S. infrastructure.

“I do not believe that this will be a large-scale hot war, like World War II, and I do not believe that there will be a long Cold War. It will be a war of the third type: the cyberwar,” said Simonyan

She warned that—in this theoretical battle—the U.S. would plot to cut off the electricity of entire Russian cities. In turn, she speculated, Moscow would be able to force a blackout in Florida or New York’s Harlem at the flip of a switch.
=================

How much do you wanna bet that Russia & China will act together with Russia annexing Eastern Ukraine at the same time China invades Taiwan?
 
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Russia is massing troops near Ukraine border, sending shivers of unease through the West

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that "if Russia acts recklessly, or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences."
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NBC News

Russia is massing troops near Ukraine border, sending shivers of unease through the West​



Alexander Smith and Matthew Bodner and Abigail Williams and Mosheh Gains
Wed, April 14, 2021, 6:32 AM


Tens of thousands of Russian troops massing near the Ukrainian border, convoys of tanks, and a deadly escalation in the grinding trench war in eastern Ukraine.

These storm clouds on Europe's eastern flank are causing grave alarm in Washington and across the continent.

"We're now seeing the largest concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine's borders since 2014," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday after flying to NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. "That is a deep concern not only to Ukraine, but to the United States."

In a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day, President Joe Biden declared Washington's "unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and "called on Russia to de-escalate tensions," a White House readout said.

Western officials and experts are now trying to decipher what Moscow might be planning: Is Putin testing Biden's mettle — or is he actually trying to spark a fresh military conflict on the fringes of Europe?

"The optimistic assessment is that this is meant to intimidate Ukraine," said Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at CNA, a research group based in Virginia. "The pessimistic assessment, which I think is a lower probability but nonetheless very worth considering, is that Russia is actually spoiling for a fight and that they're looking to bait Ukraine into a miscalculation."
 
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wader said:
www.yahoo.com

Russia is massing troops near Ukraine border, sending shivers of unease through the West

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that "if Russia acts recklessly, or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences."
www.yahoo.com www.yahoo.com

NBC News

Russia is massing troops near Ukraine border, sending shivers of unease through the West​



Alexander Smith and Matthew Bodner and Abigail Williams and Mosheh Gains
Wed, April 14, 2021, 6:32 AM


Tens of thousands of Russian troops massing near the Ukrainian border, convoys of tanks, and a deadly escalation in the grinding trench war in eastern Ukraine.

These storm clouds on Europe's eastern flank are causing grave alarm in Washington and across the continent.

"We're now seeing the largest concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine's borders since 2014," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday after flying to NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. "That is a deep concern not only to Ukraine, but to the United States."

In a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day, President Joe Biden declared Washington's "unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity" and "called on Russia to de-escalate tensions," a White House readout said.

Western officials and experts are now trying to decipher what Moscow might be planning: Is Putin testing Biden's mettle — or is he actually trying to spark a fresh military conflict on the fringes of Europe?

"The optimistic assessment is that this is meant to intimidate Ukraine," said Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at CNA, a research group based in Virginia. "The pessimistic assessment, which I think is a lower probability but nonetheless very worth considering, is that Russia is actually spoiling for a fight and that they're looking to bait Ukraine into a miscalculation."
Click to expand...
Someone better wake up joe.
 
jpd said:
This ain't good

nypost.com

Putin closes off access to Black Sea after Biden’s about-face on Ukraine

Putin will close the Kerch Strait beginning next week until October, blocking foreign warships that are conducting military exercises, including the US, the Ukraine foreign ministry said Thursday.
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"Putin’s action happened just hours after the Biden administration declared a national emergency on Thursday, slapping sanctions on more than three dozen people in Russia and expelling 10 diplomats."
============
WTF??!?!?

President Biden reversed course on the warships just before his announcement of the fresh sanctions and after Russia warned the US ships to “stay away for their own good.”

Biden on Tuesday had emphasized on a call with Russian President Vladmimr Putin “the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and “voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military build-up in Crimea and on Ukraine’s borders, calling on Russia to de-escalate tensions.”

As a result, the US, alarmed by the military buildup in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s moving warships and landing craft from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea, said it was sending the two warships to the Black Sea. But the ships were turned around on Wednesday night following the Russian warnings.

“We have no desire to be in an escalating war with Russia,” a senior administration official said Thursday on a briefing call with reporters, adding that it didn’t want the situation to spin “out of control,” Politico reported.
=======================

So in other words - Biden postured.
Putin called his bluff.
Biden blinked.

He closing off the Strait - which is considered International Waters - to all until this coming Fall? And the west is going to let that stand??

He think he's basically just thrown the Ukraine under the bus. What kind of example does this show. What about Taiwan? Is it "blinking time" there as well?
 
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Russia beefs up warship presence in Black Sea as Ukraine tensions simmer

Two Russian warships transited the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea on Saturday and 15 smaller vessels completed a transfer to the sea as Moscow beefs up its naval presence at a time of tense relations with the West and Ukraine. The reinforcement coincides with a huge build-up of Russian...
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Two Russian warships transited the Bosphorus en route to the Black Sea on Saturday and 15 smaller vessels completed a transfer to the sea as Moscow beefs up its naval presence at a time of tense relations with the West and Ukraine.

The reinforcement coincides with a huge build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine, something Moscow calls a temporary defensive exercise, and follows an escalation in fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces.

Russia's relations with Washington, which cancelled the deployment of two of its own warships to the Black Sea last week after fierce Russian protests, are at a post-Cold war low.

Moscow expelled 10 U.S. diplomats on Friday in retaliation for the expulsion of the same number of Russian diplomats from the United States over alleged malign activity.


Russia has also temporarily restricted the movement of foreign warships "and other state ships" near Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, a move condemned by both Kyiv and Washington.

Two Russian Ropucha-class landing ships from Russia's Northern Fleet, capable of carrying tanks and of delivering armour and troops during coastal assaults, transited the Bosphorus on Saturday, a Reuters reporter in Istanbul saw.

More Russian naval reinforcements in the form of two more landing ships, this time from Russia's Baltic Fleet, are expected to imminently transit the Bosphorus.

The RIA news agency on Saturday also reported that 15 smaller vessels from Russia's Caspian Flotilla have completed their transfer to the Black Sea as part of an exercise.

In a further sign of heightened tensions in the region, a ship carrying logistics trucks and equipment for NATO forces in Romania transited the Bosphorus on Friday evening, the same Reuters reporter saw.
 
Interesting times for sure...
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