Russia Suspended from G8

The BIG QUESTION: What will China do now? It seems that China has the "Veto" on this, doesn't it. And they aren't even a member.

"But Russia has shrugged off the suspension, saying the G8 was never anything more than an informal club.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, also speaking from the Hague, said no-one can be expelled from the G8:

“Its raison d’etre was for deliberations between western industrialised countries and Russia, but there are other fora for that now… so if our western partners say there is no future for that format, then so be it. We are not clinging to that format,” the Guardian quoted him as saying."

RELATED:
Russian standoff in ‘11th hour,’ says first post-Soviet Russian foreign minister

The standoff between Russia, Ukraine, and the West has reached the “eleventh hour,” Andrei Kozyrev, the first post-Soviet Russian foreign minister, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday.

“The [stakes are] still very, very high,” he said. “Let me just remind whoever concerned that Russia is still [a] nuclear superpower. So the [stakes] might be life and death. And maybe sooner than somebody is thinking.”

“It’s [the] eleventh hour for Russians, and for anybody else, to reconsider.”
http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/24/russian-standoff-in-11th-hour-says-first-post-soviet-russian-foreign-minister/

No cocktail party with the west? I’m sure they’re devastated.

Not sure what the Obama calculus is here...

What exactly has the G-8 or G-7 ever done....to be noted in history books?

Other than meeting, mingling, sipping whiskey sours and talking up politics....there’s just not much to brag about.

They’re still in good standing in BRICS - where they have a friendlier audience - that’s the group of emerging global economies - stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Russia is far from isolated.

The BRICS finally voted to fund the new world bank...stating that the current ones run by the UK/US are full of corruption. Why do the sheeple not hear about a new world bank? The answer seems pretty ominous.

None will be going to war over Crimea or Ukraine.....at this juncture....But Russia’s not about ready to let Obama up for air, so grand standing on the heels of the Summit is just that.

Ukraine and Russia have already begun dialog at this summit.....the First since this crisis began.....Europe and the US have already told Ukraine they basically have to work out their country’s affairs.....and they will not be sending them Nato troops. Help them ..yes,...heck Obama sent military rations....and the EU blankets....But take Ukraine and their 35 Billion debt under their belt...no way. And they sure as heck aren’t going to pay for a war.

Besides, even if Ukraine were to fight on their own they’d lose, the head of their Military has already said only 6,000 of their troops are battle ready.

Ukraine is the greatest loser in this as the Eu and the US will protect the Nato member nations, but Ukraine is not a Member of Nato....through the corruption of their leaders failing to do much of anything with their military for years....they have little to fight with overall....even with help.

I fear for them if it’s war.......Libya and Syria come to mind. Too many deaths...too much blood...and look at both countries today...a wreck...and still fighting but Nato and the US pulled out.

More bad news for Ukraine......

French bank ‘BNP Paribas’ said Monday it plans to cut 1,600 jobs at its Ukrainian unit ‘UkrSibBank’ by 2015 due to political uncertainty in the country.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20140325/ukraine-french-bank-to-cut-jobs1600-

I was looking to the charts and ruble is actually gaining against dollar at about .3% daily since Crimean takeover. As for today it might be about 1pm in Moscow and dollar has lost more than 1% since opening in the morning.

A little counterintuitive, but a lot of times a strengthening currency is bad news.
China intentionally weakens theirs, as kind of economic warfare.
Russia has massive trade surplus so strengthening currency is probably more bad news for them, at least for their exports.

The G8 is no big deal. The G20 is a little different. But still...it’s all about money and just like the UN, guess who always gets stuck with most of the bills.

Russia does not qualify to be a member of Gn, with n a single digit:
Russian export in 2012 was $524,564,991,000.
Top ten breakdown:
Mineral fuels including oil: $375,423,947,000 (71.6% of total exports)
Iron and steel: $22,601,664,000 (4.3%)
Fertilizers: $11,176,846,000 (2.1%)
Inorganic chemicals: $7,835,699,000 (1.5%)
Machinery: $7,609,061,000 (1.5%)
Aluminum: $7,281,329,000 (1.4%)
Wood: $6,731,569,000 (1.3%)
Cereals: $6,246,547,000 (1.2%)
Copper: $5,787,339,000 (1.1%)
Organic chemicals: $4,516,890,000 (0.9%)

http://www.worldstopexports.com/russias-top-10-exports/2350

This is a typical third world export mix heavily dependent on raw materials.

Compare this to South Korea with a total export of $548.8 billion in 2012 (i.e. larger than Russia)
Top ten breakdown:
Electronic equipment: $119,084,386,000 (21.7% of total exports)
Vehicles: $70,074,094,000 (12.8%)
Machinery: $58,979,883,000 (10.8%)
Mineral fuels including oil: $57,492,603,000 (10.5%)
Ships, boats and other floating structures: $37,828,429,000 (6.9%)
Optical, technical and medical apparatus: $37,611,611,000 (6.9%)
Plastics: $28,381,150,000 (5.2%)
Iron and steel: $25,375,017,000 (4.6%)
Organic chemicals: $23,284,736,000 (4.3%)
Iron or steel products: $12,467,431,000 (2.3%)

http://www.worldstopexports.com/south-koreas-top-10-exports/2302

The Russians do not know(?) that their export, without the raw materials, is only in the order of $50 billion !

This will get out of hand and we will be unlikely to retain the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

When the dollar loses it’s status as reserve currency/petrodollar our economy is toast.

There is no law of nature that dictates that petroleum accounts must be settled in dollars.

We might wind up with little gold, scant US production of real goods... just lots of fiat dollars worth nearly nothing.

“but Ukraine is not a Member of Nato”

Although it is true that the Ukraine is not a full Member of NATO alliance, the Ukraine is a member of the NATO Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC):

[Quote]
NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO’s relations with Ukraine
The formal basis for NATO-Ukraine relations is the 1997 Charter on a Distinctive Partnership, which established the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC). Successive governments reinforced the political dialogue and practical cooperation between NATO and Ukraine. NATO supports a range of initiatives in Ukraine, while Ukraine contributes to NATO’s missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and in 2013 became the first partner country to contribute to the NATO-led counter-piracy operation Ocean Shield.

Following recent developments, on 27 February 2014, NATO Defence Ministers stated that “a sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine, firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law, is key to Euro-Atlantic security.” This echoes a key point made in the 1997 Charter. Defence Ministers added that “NATO Allies will continue to support Ukrainian sovereignty and independence, territorial integrity, democratic development, and the principle of inviolability of frontiers, as key factors of stability and security in Central and Eastern Europe and on the continent as a whole.”

At the Chicago Summit in May 2012, NATO leaders marked the 15th anniversary of the 1997 Charter and welcomed Ukraine’s commitment to enhancing political dialogue and interoperability with NATO, as well as its contributions to NATO-led operations. They also declared that NATO was ready to continue to develop its cooperation with Ukraine and assist with the implementation of reforms in the framework of the NATO-Ukraine Commission and the Annual National Programme. This continued support was reiterated by NATO Defence Ministers at their February 2014 gathering.

Dialogue and cooperation between NATO and Ukraine has become well-established in a wide range of areas. In particular, Ukraine has proved to be an important contributor to Euro-Atlantic security in the framework of NATO-led operations.

Another important aspect of relations is the support given by NATO and individual Allies for Ukraine’s ongoing reform efforts, particularly in the defence and security sectors. These reforms are vital for the country’s democratic development.

Framework for cooperation
The 1997 Charter on a Distinctive Partnership remains the basic foundation underpinning NATO-Ukraine relationsThe NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC) directs cooperative activities and provides a forum for consultation between the Allies and Ukraine on security issues of common concern.

Joint working groups have been set up under the auspices of the NUC, to take work forward in specific areas. Of particular importance are the Political and Partnerships Committee in NUC format, which takes the leading role in developing annual national programmes and preparing high-level meetings of the NUC; and the Joint Working Group on Defence Reform, which facilitates consultation and practical cooperation in the priority area of defence and security sector reform.

Two NATO offices in Kyiv support cooperation on the ground in key areas. The NATO Information and Documentation Centre, established in 1997, supports efforts to inform the public about NATO’s activities and the benefits of NATO-Ukraine cooperation. The NATO Liaison Office, established in 1999, facilitates Ukraine’s participation in NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme and supports its reform efforts, by liaising with the Ministry of Defence and other Ukrainian agencies.

Annual National Programme (ANP)
The new ANP, established in 2009, has replaced the previous Annual Target Plans, which implemented the long-term objectives set out in the 2002 NATO-Ukraine Action Plan. It is composed of five chapters focusing on: political and economic issues; defence and military issues; resources; security issues; and legal issues.

The NUC assesses progress under the ANP annually.

The responsibility for implementation falls primarily on Ukraine, which is being urged to take the reform process forward vigorously in order to strengthen democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the market economy. Helping Ukraine achieve a far-reaching transformation of the defence and security sector is a key priority of NATO-Ukraine cooperation.

In 2010, Ukraine established a high-level Commission that would act as a coordination mechanism for cooperation with NATO. The commission includes National Coordinators for each of the five areas covered in the ANP.

Key areas of NATO-Ukraine cooperation
Consultations and cooperation between NATO and Ukraine cover a wide range of areas identified in the 1997 Charter and the 2002 Action Plan. These include peace-support operations, defence and security sector reform, military-to-military cooperation, armaments, civil emergency planning, science and environment, and public information.

Peace-support operations
Ukraine has a proven track record of actively contributing to Euro-Atlantic security by deploying troops to work together with peacekeepers from NATO and partner countries. Currently it is the only partner country contributing actively to all ongoing NATO-led operations and missions.

Deployments to the NATO-led operation in Kosovo have included a helicopter squadron, infantry companies, headquarters personnel and support staff. Currently, Ukraine contributes 130 personnel to the KFOR mission as part of the joint Polish-Ukrainian battalion, in the Multinational Task Force “East.”

The country is further contributing to international stability and the fight against terrorism by providing over-flight clearance for forces deployed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), or as part of the coalition forces under the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom. A transit agreement for the supply of ISAF was signed by Ukraine in April 2009. Ukrainian medical personnel have supported the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan since 2007, and the Polish PRT since 2010. Currently, Ukraine provides approximately two dozen military personnel to ISAF, including instructors to the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan (NTM-A). It has also indicated its willingness to participate in the post-2014 follow-on mission to train and assist Afghan security forces. From March 2005, Ukraine also contributed officers to the NATO Training Mission in Iraq, which terminated in December 2011.

Moreover, Ukraine supports Operation Active Endeavour, NATO’s maritime operation in the Mediterranean aimed at helping deter, disrupt and protect against terrorism. Ukraine has contributed naval assets to the operation six times since 2007, most recently in November 2010. End 2013, it also contributed a frigate to NATO’s Operation Ocean Shield, which fights piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Ukraine is also the first partner country to contribute to the NATO Response Force (NRF). In 2010, Ukraine contributed a platoon specialised in nuclear, biological and chemical threats to the NRF. In 2011, Ukraine provided strategic airlift capabilities with their Antonov aircraft.

Defence and security sector reform
Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO in the area of defence and security sector reform is crucial to the ongoing transformation of Ukraine’s security posture and remains an essential part of its democratic transition.

Ukraine has sought NATO’s support in efforts to transform its Cold War legacy of massive conscript forces into smaller, professional and more mobile armed forces, able to meet the country’s security needs and to contribute actively to stability and security in the Euro-Atlantic area and beyond. Another overarching objective of NATO-Ukraine cooperation in this area is to strengthen democratic and civilian control of Ukraine’s armed forces and security institutions.

A Joint Working Group on Defence Reform (JWGDR), established in 1998, directs cooperation in the area of defence and security sector reform.

Ukraine’s drive to reform its defence and security sector also benefits from participation in the Partnership for Peace (PfP). In particular, the PfP Planning and Review Process enables joint goals to be developed for shaping force structures and capabilities to help develop Ukraine’s forces to be better able to work with NATO forces.

Capacity building and civil control
Of fundamental importance for Ukraine’s development as a democratic country is the strengthening of civil control over security and defence structures, including the intelligence sector, and improving the capacities of these structures.

As part of wider cooperation in this area, a number of specific initiatives have been taken in:
a professional development programme for civilians working in Ukraine’s defence and security institutions was launched in October 2005;
a NATO-Ukraine Working Group on Civil and Democratic Control of the Intelligence Sector was established in 2006;
a Partnership Network for Civil Society Expertise Development was launched in 2006 to promote the sharing of experience on the role of civil society in defence and security affairs among civil society groups and security practitioners in NATO member countries and Ukraine.

Retraining and resettling former military personnel
Various initiatives are underway to help Ukraine retrain and resettle former military personnel made redundant as a result of the progressive downsizing of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Expert help is being given to help Ukraine develop a comprehensive resettlement programme.

A NATO-funded retraining programme is providing linguistic and specialised professional courses for several hundred former military personnel per year. A project for the retraining and resettlement of redundant military personnel at a centre in Khmelnytskyi, western Ukraine, is being supported through a PfP Trust Fund. The Centre is the single largest provider of such assistance to retiring military personnel in Ukraine.

Destroying stockpiles of weapons and munitions
Individual Allies are also supporting the destruction of Ukraine’s stockpiles of anti-personnel mines, munitions and small arms and light weapons through PfP Trust Fund projects.

The first project involved the safe destruction of 400,000 landmines at a chemical plant in Donetsk, over a 15-month period in 2002-2003. It was the first step in destroying Ukraine’s stockpile of almost seven million anti-personnel mines.

A second project to destroy 133,000 tons of conventional munitions, 1.5 million small arms and 1000 man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) was launched in 2005. With projected costs of some €25 million, the project is to be carried out over an estimated twelve years. It is the largest demilitarization project of its kind ever to be undertaken, and will permanently increase Ukraine’s capacity to destroy surplus munitions.

Economic aspects of defence
Dialogue and exchanges of experience with experts also take place with Ukraine on the economic aspects of defence. Issues covered include security aspects of economic development and economic matters related to Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as topics specifically related to defence economics such as defence budgets, the management of defence resources and restructuring in the defence sector. Courses are also organised for Ukrainian staff, covering the whole budgetary process from financial planning to financial control.
Military-to-military cooperation
Helping Ukraine implement its defence reform objectives is also a key focus of military-to-military cooperation, complementing the work carried out under the JWGDR with military expertise.

Another important objective is to develop interoperability through a wide range of PfP activities and military exercises, sometimes hosted by Ukraine, which allow military personnel to train for peace-support operations and gain hands-on experience of working with forces from NATO countries and other partners.

Senior Ukrainian officers also regularly participate in courses at the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy, and the NATO School at Oberammergau, Germany. Contacts with these establishments have been instrumental in setting up a new multinational faculty at the Ukrainian Defence Academy.

The military side has also taken the lead in developing a legal framework to enable NATO and Ukraine to further develop operational cooperation:

a PfP Status of Forces Agreement facilitates participation in PfP military exercises by exempting participants from passport and visa regulations and immigration inspection on entering or leaving the territory of the country hosting the event (entered into force in May 2000);
a Host Nation Support agreement addresses issues related to the provision of civil and military assistance to Allied forces located on, or in transit through, Ukrainian territory in peacetime, crisis or war (ratified in March 2004);
a Strategic Airlift agreement enables Ukraine to make a substantial contribution to NATO’s capability to move outsized cargo by leasing Antonov aircraft to Allied armed forces – an arrangement which also brings economic benefits to Ukraine (ratified in October 2006).
Armaments
Technical cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in the field of armaments focuses on enhancing interoperability between defence systems to facilitate Ukrainian contributions to joint peace support operations.

Cooperation in this area started when Ukraine joined the PfP programme and began participating in an increasing number of the armaments groups which meet under the auspices of the Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) – a NATO senior body which identifies opportunities for cooperation between nations in defence equipment procurement processes, focusing in particular on technical standards.

A Joint Working Group on Armaments, which met for the first time in March 2004, is working towardincreased cooperation in this area.

Civil emergency planning
NATO and Ukraine have developed practical cooperation on civil emergency planning and disaster-preparedness, since the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 1997.

Ukraine’s western regions are prone to heavy flooding and NATO countries and other partners have provided assistance after severe floods in 1995, 1998 and 2001. A key focus of cooperation has therefore been to help Ukraine to prepare better for such emergencies and to manage their consequences more effectively.

PfP exercises also help develop plans and effective disaster-response capabilities to deal with other natural emergencies such as avalanches and earthquakes, or man-made accidents or terrorist attacks involving toxic spills or chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear agents – Ukraine hosted one such exercise in 2005. In 2010, Ukraine also sent a mobile rescue centre to Poland as part of an aid effort following flooding in the country.

Science and environment
Ukraine’s participation in NATO science programmes began in 1991 and intensified following an exchange of letters on cooperation in the area of science and the environment in 1999. Over the years, Ukraine has been second only to Russia in terms of NATO grants for scientific collaboration.

In addition to applying science to defence against terrorism and new threats, Ukraine’s priority areas for cooperation include information technologies, cell biology and biotechnology, new materials, the rational use of natural resources and cooperation focused on defence-related environmental problems.

NATO has also sponsored several projects to provide basic infrastructure for computer networking among Ukrainian research communities and to facilitate their access to the internet. Although the focus of past collaboration has been in the area of physical sciences, project proposals are now also being considered which deal with security issues from a social science perspective. For example, a new Trust Fund is being considered that will help remove and decontaminate military sites with stored radioactive waste.

A Joint Working Group on Scientific and Environmental Cooperation is supporting the further development of cooperation in this area.

Public information
It is important for the Ukrainian administration to inform the Ukrainian people about NATO-Ukraine relations and the benefits of cooperation in terms of Ukraine’s own reform programme. Many people in Ukraine still lack information regarding the role, activities and goals of the Alliance, and outdated Cold War stereotypes remain strong in the minds of some.

The Allies have offered to cooperate with the Ukrainian authorities in raising awareness about what NATO is today, and in better explaining the NATO-Ukraine relationship.

The NATO Information and Documentation Centre, based in Kyiv, is NATO’s principal public information facility, offering seminars and talks, as well as coordinating visits by NATO officials to Ukraine and representatives of Ukrainian civil society to NATO Headquarters in order to better illustrate the mechanisms behind the partnership.

Well the G7 nations are all debtor nations and the Gas Station Russian economy is perking along. Looks like the G7 is content to print funny money wile Russia reaps the real thing.

Russia has a third world economy of about 2 Trillion, which is dwarfed by Western countries.

It’s all about Capital and the Capital is just beginning to flow out.

Russia has flexed its muscle and has choked itself. But hey, insert the muscled pictures of Vladimir here LOL.

Kewel site...

Seems like they disarmed themselves and that’s, that...

One less free posh hotel, do nothing political payback junket that Putin can hand out to his friends / cronies.

I’m sure that will get him to remove troops from Ukraine.