UN Ambassador Haley hits Russia hard on Ukraine

CNN ^ | February 3, 2017 | Gaouette, Roth

[Berlin_Freeper]

The US ambassador to the United Nations offered a strong condemnation of Russia in her first appearance at the UN Security Council on Thursday, calling on Moscow to de-escalate violence in eastern Ukraine and saying that US sanctions against Moscow would remain in place until it withdraws from Crimea.

"The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea," said Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump's envoy to the world body. "Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine."

[dasboot]

Bm

[JoSixChip]

WOW! if that’s true. (it is cnn)

[P-Marlowe]

They are not leaving The Crimea.

Which UN member is willing to go to war with Russia to try and try to make them?

[Nextrush]

Well I hope John McCain, the senator who thinks he’s from Saudi Arabia, and his buds Graham and Rubio are happy.

Nikki Haley, representing Donald Trump, is talking their language.......

[JoSixChip]

You have it wrong. The un’s only valid purpose is it is a place to voice your opinion for all the world to see. I think Haley voiced the US position exactly right.

[RedWulf]

I guess the Neo-cons won. Even the Germans admit that the current fighting is a Ukrainian government attack spearheaded by neo-Nazis. I wonder if Trump traded getting his cabinet through congress to McCain in crew for a hard line against Russia?

[ETL]

Donald Trump: 'Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time'

Mar 13, 2014
Eun Kyung Kim: TODAY SHOW (NBC)

Donald Trump slammed President Obama Thursday on TODAY for failing to take a stronger line against President Vladimir Putin in dealing with Ukraine, saying he feared Obama would now make up for lost time with imprudent moves to "show his manhood."

The real estate mogul and reality-TV star, who has criticized Putin for sending military troops into Crimea, said Obama must now take fierce steps to prevent the situation from escalating further.

"We should definitely do sanctions and we have to show some strengths. I mean, Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time," Trump said. ..."

http://www.today.com/news/donald-trump-putin-has-eaten-obamas-lunch-ukraine-2D79372098
_______________________________________________

Here’s the interview w/ Matt Lauer on YouTube...

Donald Trump (2014): ‘Vladimir Putin Has Eaten Obama’s Lunch’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzURUENf1ns

[ETL]

Mike Pence, from the VP debate on Oct 5, 2016, on the subject of Putin and Russia:

“When Donald Trump and I observe that, as I’ve said, in Syria, in Iran, in Ukraine, that the small and bullying leader of Russia has been stronger on the world stage than this administration, that’s stating painful facts. That’s not an endorsement of Vladimir Putin — that’s an indictment of the weak and feckless leadership of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.”

______________________________

Also from the Oct 5, 2016 first VP debate...

QUIJANO (Moderator): I want to turn now to Syria. Two hundred fifty thousand people, 100,000 of them children, are under siege in Aleppo, Syria. Bunker buster bombs, cluster munitions, and incendiary weapons are being dropped on them by Russian and Syrian militaries. Does the U.S. have a responsibility to protect civilians and prevent mass casualties on this scale, Governor Pence?

PENCE: The United States of America needs to begin to exercise strong leadership to protect the vulnerable citizens and over 100,000 children in Aleppo. Hillary Clinton’s top priority when she became secretary of state was the Russian reset, the Russians reset. After the Russian reset, the Russians invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea.

And the small and bullying leader of Russia is now dictating terms to the United States to the point where all the United States of America — the greatest nation on Earth — just withdraws from talks about a cease-fire while Vladimir Putin puts a missile defense system in Syria while he marshals the forces and begins — look, we have got to begin to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered American leadership.

It begins by rebuilding our military. And the Russians and the Chinese have been making enormous investments in the military. We have the smallest Navy since 1916. We have the lowest number of troops since the end of the Second World War. We’ve got to work with Congress, and Donald Trump will, to rebuild our military and project American strength in the world.

But about Aleppo and about Syria, I truly do believe that what America ought to do right now is immediately establish safe zones, so that families and vulnerable families with children can move out of those areas, work with our Arab partners, real time, right now, to make that happen.

And secondly, I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. And if Russia chooses to be involved and continue, I should say, to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them from this humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Aleppo.

There’s a broad range of other things that we ought to do, as well. We ought to deploy a missile defense shield to the Czech Republic and Poland which Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pulled back on out of not wanting to offend the Russians back in 2009.

QUIJANO: Governor, your two minutes are up.

PENCE: We’ve just got to have American strength on the world stage. When Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, the Russians and other countries in the world will know they’re dealing with a strong American president.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/us/politics/vice-president-transcript.html

______________________________

And...

PENCE: What we’re dealing with is the — you know, there’s an old proverb that says the Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates.

And the truth of the matter is, the weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has awakened an aggression in Russia that first appeared a few years ago with their move in Georgia, now their move into Crimea, now their move into the wider Middle East.

And all the while, all we do is fold our arms and say we’re not having talks anymore.

To answer your question, we just need American strength. We need to — we need to marshal the resources of our allies in the region, and in the immediate, we need to act and act now to get people out of harm’s way.

[ETL]

Senator Jeff Sessions on Putin...

March 26, 2015

Interview with Jeff Sessions: U.S. and Europe "Have to Unify" Against Russia

excerpt...

What do you expect next from Russia?

Sessions: Well, there's a danger that they may continue this overreach. They just solidified power in Georgia, in South Ossetia. That was I think in the last week. Pressure is still on Ukraine. We don't know whether the Minsk Agreement will hold, I don't think it's holding very well now.

We have the Estonians, the Lithuanians, the Romanians, they're very worried. This is reality, I wish it weren't, but I'm afraid it is. It needs to be clear that Russia knows that there will be a high price to pay if this behavior continues.

If Minsk breaks down, at what point does the president have to act and supply Ukraine with lethal weaponry? What is the breaking point? We know from what Victoria Nuland said that the administration hasn't decided yet.

Sessions: From what I understand from this conference, I think it's clear that Germany has said publicly that they will support harsher sanctions and more military support if the Minsk Agreement fails. And that will be key.

Merkel has worked very very hard to establish a relationship with Putin and Russia. It's been a good-faith effort. If it fails, I would hope that Europe and the United States would have to unify and push back more firmly against Russian overreach. ..."

http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2015/03/interview_with_jeff_sessions_us_and_europe_have_to_unify_against_russia_111076.html

or,

https://web.archive.org/web/20150709024356/http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2015/03/interview_with_jeff_sessions_us_and_europe_have_to_unify_against_russia_111076.html

--------------------------------------------------------------

"In a Montgomery speech in March 2014...he [Sen Jeff Sessions] called for international scorn toward Russia for its aggressive actions in Ukraine and, before then, Georgia.

"I believe a systematic effort should be undertaken so that Russia feels pain for this," Sessions said then. "Because if you don't act now to make some sanctions against Russia then why will they believe in the future that we're going to impose sanctions or do anything aggressive if they move forward to take all of Ukraine, all of Georgia?""

Sessions, not that long ago, was calling for more sanctions against an expansionist Russia that was rattling U.S. allies in Europe. And he regularly blamed the Obama administration for what he argued was an overly optimistic and weak foreign policy, including a decision to scale back planned missile defense sites in the Czech Republic and Poland.

“There’s no good solution now. The bottle of milk has shattered on the floor and you can’t put it back together,” the Alabama senator said about relations with Russia in the aftermath of the annexation of Crimea.

Sessions has also pointed to Russia’s record as justification for a robust missile defense system, which has deep roots in north Alabama.

“Russia’s recent actions in Georgia remind us that country, which we once hoped was on a path to greater integration into the global world community, might again be seeking to restore old Soviet ideas of dominance throughout their neighbors and in Eastern Europe, all of which should serve as a motivation to move ahead with the necessary capabilities to defend ourselves and our allies from missile attack, in particular,” Sessions said on the Senate floor in 2008.

Two years later, Sessions voted against the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, in part because he thought Obama conceded too much ground to the Russians.

“Just signing an agreement on a piece of paper does not create security,” Sessions said. “A consistent, principled, just approach to our legitimate national defense, advocated clearly and forthrightly without misunderstanding, is the best way to have security in this dangerous world.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/15/sen-jeff-sessions-backs-donald-trump-russia-policy/88796584/

or,

https://web.archive.org/web/20161115103421/http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/15/sen-jeff-sessions-backs-donald-trump-russia-policy/88796584/

[JoSixChip]

I wonder if Trump traded getting his cabinet through congress to McCain in crew for a hard line against Russia?

Wow! talk about cynical. Maybe Trump is exactly what he has proven himself to be.

[flaglady47]

This is bad. Who is whispering in Trump’s ear? The Ukrainians have started this last attack and breaking of the cease-fire, mark my words, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if McCain isn’t somehow behind this renewal of hostilities between the Ukrainians and Russians in their border town. Russia had nothing to gain by renewing hostilities at this moment in time, when Putin is trying to improve relations between Russia and the Trump Admin. Something stinks here, and I hope Trump doesn’t fall for this.

[Viennacon]

Haley’s just off script. Don’t sweat it. Tillerson will cut a deal to decrease tensions in Ukraine. Remember, Haley HATES Trump.

surprising you still have neocon freepers worrying about russia while ANTIFA THUGS are PEPPER SPRAYING trump voters and brutally beating people with shovels at Berkely

[Viennacon]

Haley’s just off script. Don’t sweat it. Tillerson will cut a deal to decrease tensions in Ukraine. Remember, Haley HATES Trump.

surprising you still have neocon freepers worrying about russia while ANTIFA THUGS are PEPPER SPRAYING trump voters and brutally beating people with shovels at Berkely

[RedWulf]

>I wonder if Trump traded getting his cabinet through congress to McCain in crew for a hard line against Russia?

>>Wow! talk about cynical. Maybe Trump is exactly what he has proven himself to be.

Trump has much bigger problems in America than the Ukraine. No mater how much we arm the Uki-Nazis they can’t beat Russia. If winning at home requires us to placate war-mongers like McCain with small trinkets I’m all for it.

Lots of people know me as the guy who defends Russia around here, but let me clear about one thing: I trust Trump. If Trump sees the need to give into the Neo-Cons, I’ll support him 100%. Not because I agree, not because I think it’s right, but because he’s our leader in our fight against our real enemy: The American Left. If we don’t beat them then all is lost and the left is utterly without mercy or compassion.

[wardaddy]

Man you remember the Bush love here

Open borders and PC on race too

Those days are hace mucho

thankfully......

[flaglady47]

“Haley’s just off script. Don’t sweat it. Tillerson will cut a deal to decrease tensions in Ukraine. Remember, Haley HATES Trump.”

I’m less concerned about the recent hostilities in the Ukraine than by the Haley statement that sanctions would remain in place as long as Russia remained in Crimea. Russia will never leave Crimea, originally part of Mother Russia, up until Kruschev, who was half Ukrainian, gave it away to Ukraine in the 60’s. It was always part of Russia before that.

Plus, the U.S. was intimately involved in the coup against the Russian oriented leader of the Ukraine, that lead to the hostilities in Ukraine in the first place. What right did the Obama Admin have to stir up trouble in a country that borders Russia? The Ukraine is not in our backyard, it is in Russia’s backyard, and they were upset with reason.

Crimea is Russia’s warm water port where they keep many of their ships. After the coup, they took over Crimea to protect their ports from the western leaning newly installed Ukrainian gov’t via a western instigated coup. I might add that the Ukraine is a thugocracy with Nazi-like propensities. We should never have been mucking around in Russia’s traditional backyard; the West opened up a Pandora’s box.

[wiseprince]

Are you kidding me. She sounds like McCain. Good thing Trump is bound by nothing she says

[Pinkbell]

CNN seemed gleeful tonight about these “shifts” (as does the NYT) with respect to Russia, the Ukraine, and Israel’s settlements.

The pick of Nikki Haley will be baffling to me. She was a #NeverTrump card carrying member. Supposedly the WH agreed with her statement, but it sounded like something McCain and Graham would say.

By the way, if we are outraged at Russia interfering in our elections, then why aren’t we outraged at Ukraine? Is it because they did it to help Hillary?

[Pinkbell]

My understanding is the White House supports her statement and knew she would make it. That said, why would he put her in that role if she was going to undermine him? The U.S. would look ridiculous if our U.N. ambassador isn’t agreeing with the President.