Press Club Brussels - EU Ukraine Agricultural Dialogue
EU experts, civil society leaders, media and representatives of EU agri-business circles met at the Press Club Brussels to discuss and analyse the needs of the Ukraine agricultural sector.
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Ukraine War 2014 Deadly Thunder Exclusive close up footage of GRAD missile launcher in action
War in IRAQ amp;amp;amp; Syria 2014 / ISIS fight in Yemen The war in Iraq,air strikes,ISIS,Syria,Al Qaeda,Iraq,Terrorism, News from Iraq,A new war,The Third World War,President Obama said,Amer.
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Self-Responsibility.org TV Interview in Kiev, Ukraine -
Alberto Hernandez TV interview about Self-Responsibility workshops in Europe, October 2014.
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Self-Responsibility.org TV Interview in Kiev, Ukraine - - Video
Vladimir Putin has won in Ukraine. The only question now is what he wants next. Thats the sobering conclusion of some veteran Kremlin-watchers who say the Russian president has already achieved his goal of crippling Ukraine while consolidating his power in Moscow. Among those speaking out:
George Soros. The Hungarian-born billionaire investor says Putin has outmaneuvered Western governments in the conflict, taking advantage of their desire to avoid military confrontation with Russia. Putins Russia has proved to be in some ways superior to the European Unionmore flexible, and constantly springing surprises, Soros writes in a forthcoming article for the New York Review of Books. The U.S., Soros says, has offered Ukraine a faade of support with little substance behind it, as the country skids toward economic collapse.
Members of Washingtons diplomatic corps. Putin has won because we were not ready to die for Ukraine, Grard Araud, Frances ambassador to the U.S., told a Bloomberg Government breakfast on Oct. 22. Inremarks thatAraud said reflected his personal views, he likened Putin to a poker player who had bluffed and won. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has been reduced to kneeling in front of Putin with the cord around his neck and saying, You know, you have won, and Putin is still not backing down, Araud added.Other diplomats in Washington have made similar comments. Peter Wittig, Germanys ambassador to the U.S., told Bloomberg News recently that Putin had gotten the upper hand in this, because we could not read where he would go next.
Radek Sikorski, Polands foreign minister from 2007 until this year and now speaker of the countrys parliament: In an interview published Oct. 19 by Politico, Sikorski said Putin had used the conflict to consolidate his power at home. This was the moment that finally centralized everything into the hands of Vladimir Putin. The conflict has unleashed patriotic euphoria among Russians who overwhelmingly support Putin, Sikorski said, while creating a new ruling elite dominated by the military and security services.
Liam Halligan, a British journalist and economist specializing in Russia: The West will surrender in its new Cold War with Russia, Halligan predicts in an Oct. 18 article in the Spectator that says Putin has Europe over a barrel, economically speaking. Sanctions against Russia are inflicting severe pain on the German and French economies, he writes. And with winter approaching, Vladimir Putin still holds the cards when it comes to supplying gas to Europe.
The continued fighting in eastern Ukraine underscores the failure of sanctions to curb Russian interference there, according to these commentators and others. What could be Putins next move, and how might the West prepare for it?
Soros says that after Ukrainian parliamentary elections on Oct. 26, Putin may simply sit back and await the economic and financial collapse of Ukraine.He argues that the West must provide an immediate cash injection of at least $20 billion to Ukraine to help it stave off economic collapse, while committing additional billions to help Kiev enact fundamental economic reforms.
Halligan, though, contends that Putin will use Ukraines desperate financial situation as leverage against the West, because he knows the U.S. and EU lack the political will to pony up billions more in aid. A new rescue package will need both Chinese and (whisper it) Russian money, Halligan writes. Thats not going to happen until the West drops its sanctions or gives a very clear commitment to do so.
The likelihood is that Putin will continue to keep the West guessing. Said French Ambassador Araud: The question is there on the table: When is Putin going to stop?
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Has Putin Already Won in Ukraine? Sure Looks That Way
Negotiations over a natural gas deal between Ukraine and Russia have faltered since the spring, but the standoff has taken on a new urgency as winter approaches.
Following the overthrow of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in February, Russia altered the terms by which it sells natural gas to Ukraine. Along with Yanukovich, favorable pricing went away. In April, Russia nearlydoubled the sale priceof natural gas to Ukraine, from $268.50 per thousand cubic meters to $485.50.
This was a price that the Ukrainian government said it could not meet. Even worse, Russian gas company Gazprom demanded upfront payment for gas supplies, an issue that kept the two countries at odds for months. Gazpromcut off gas supplies to Ukraine in June, saying Ukraine had failed to pay its debt. (Related: Putin Threatens Gas Reduction To Europe)
A long-term solution has eluded Moscow and Kiev since, and talks have dragged on for months. Its not just Ukraines problem, though: around40 percentof Europes gas imports from Russia travel across Ukrainian territory. So to a large extent, the standoff over pricing is a three-way dispute between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union. The supply cut-off in June underscored the threat to the rest of Europe.
It will be difficult to postpone a resolution any further. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak hasdemanded full payment in advancefor gas deliveries in November and December. In addition, he says Gazprom must receive further debt payments from the Ukrainian government as a pre-condition to a deal.
Expectations were high that an agreement was imminent after some of the major stumbling blocks had been ironed out. Ukraine and Russia agreed on aninterim priceof $385 per thousand cubic meters through March 2015. Although the price is substantially lower than the price Russia originally demanded, it is still a victory for Moscow as it is above theaverage that other Gazprom customers pay-- around $350 per thousand cubic meters.
Nevertheless, no deal was cemented during talks inBrussels on Oct. 21because Ukraine is still short on funds. There is a cash gap for November and December and this cash gap requires financial resources,Novak said, suggesting that the European Union should provide Ukraine with the money.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has asked Brussels for 2 billion euros, but the EU Commission has thus far balked at the price tag.
But European officials are desperate to bridge the gap to avoid a confrontation over natural gas supplies, with colder weather beginning to set in. Gazprom has gone to great lengths to reassure its EU customers that gas supplies will not be affected by its decision to cut off Ukraine. But Russian President Vladimir Putin hasthreatened to reduce gas flowsif Ukraine diverts supplies for its own use. (Related: Caspian Sea Could Be Key To Russian Control Of Eurasian Energy Markets)
Even still, aCitigroup reportpublished in September found that the EU has stockpiled enough gas supplies to withstand a supply cut off from Russia, as long as the winter season was not abnormally cold.
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Ukraine gas talks fail again. Why that's a big deal.