Free Republic

(Reuters) - Rebels in eastern Ukraine refused to allow monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to reach the encircled town of Debaltseve after a ceasefire took effect on Sunday, the head of the OSCE mission said. The rebels have said the ceasefire does not apply to Debaltseve, scene of the worst fighting in recent weeks.

The attempt was unsuccessful, the village under the control of the ATU. In the morning, militants attempted to enter the village of armored vehicles under Shirokino Mariupol, the press service of the regiment "Azov". "Taking advantage of the ceasefire and favorable weather conditions (in the Sea of ​​Azov today heavy fog) terrorists tried to enter the village Shirokino with armored vehicles," - said in a statement on VKontakte page shelf. Yesterday at Shirokino heavy fighting, which resulted in "Azovtsev" full control of the municipality. Terrorists have suffered losses in manpower and armor and retreated, told the regiment. However, Ukrainian soldiers...

OSCE is unable to get into Debaltseve where possible resumption of hostilities dialog.ua Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin said that representatives of illegal armed groups on Sunday do not allow a special monitoring observers of the OSCE mission in Debaltseve Donetsk region. "Unfortunately, despite all our efforts and the efforts of the Mission ... they were not allowed to Debaltseve, saying that they can not get there," - said the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry at a briefing in Kiev on Sunday. According to him, it is "a direct violation of the agreements Minsk." "I believe...

(Reuters) - Ukraine's rebels disavowed a new truce on Sunday hours after it took effect, saying it did not apply to the town where most fighting has taken place in recent weeks. Guns fell abruptly silent at midnight across much of eastern Ukraine in line with the ceasefire agreement, but the pro-Russian rebels announced that they would not observe the truce at Debaltseve, where Ukraine army forces have been encircled. "Of course we can open fire (on Debaltseve). It is our territory," Eduard Basurin, a senior rebel commander, told Reuters. "The territory is internal: ours. And internal is internal. But...

While the Ukraine conflict may not have erupted into World War 3 quite yet, the situation in the country’s bloody, 10-month long civil war grew even more alarming Saturday night, and into Sunday morning, as Russia appeared to ignore a cease-fire agreement that its own president, Vladimir Putin, signed earlier in the week. [....] On Friday, the United States said it had sent a fleet of 12 A-10 “Tankbuster” jets to the region, jets that were designed to destroy Soviet tanks during the Cold War.

Russian tanks descending on Warsaw and Berlin? Missiles lobbed at Washington and London? Such are the scenarios aired by a Russian national television program in response to suggestions that world leaders mark the defeat of Nazi Germany somewhere other than in Moscow. In a recent segment broadcast by the St. Petersburg-based Channel 5 station, presenter Nika Strizhak and a reporter suggest sending Russian tanks, fighter jets, and nuclear missiles to Western capitals should world leaders snub Russia's celebration of the 70th anniversary of Victory Day in May. "It's a very intriguing idea to move our Victory Day parade to London...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sparked derisive laughter and indignation among the audience at a security conference in Munich by defending Moscow's actions in the Ukraine conflict and accusing the West of fomenting unrest in the crisis. In a testy question-and-answer session following his February 7 speech at the conference, Lavrov elicited scattered howls from an audience that included Western officials by claiming that Ukraine's Crimea territory willingly joined Russia in line with the United Nations Charter. "I guess it's funny. I also found many things [said here] funny as well, but I controlled myself," Lavrov, who spoke in Russian...

Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Sergey Naryshkin entrusted the Committee for Foreign Affairs to study the proposal from Communist Party deputy Nikolai Ivanov. It goes about the possible adoption of the statement from the Russian parliament condemning "the annexation of the German Democratic Republic by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1989," IA REGNUM reports.

A stone's throw from the mounted T-34 Soviet tank in the centre of this Moldovan city is an emergency ambulance service set up by Romania, one of several soft power moves to steer its eastern neighbor away from Moscow's orbit. Wary of Russian intentions after Ukraine lost control of Crimea and much of its east to Russian-backed forces last year, Romania is trying to bring Moldova towards the European Union.

Russia's actions in 2014 were shocking both for their scale and abruptness. Tossing aside all concern for world rankings, economic considerations and the standards of international cooperation — all of that boring baggage of today's global system — the Kremlin set sail for unchartered waters. According to philosopher Mikhail Yampolsky, "Russia moved from the post-modern world to the modern" — that is, back to the first half of the 20th century. In 2015, Russia is facing consequences that nobody in the Kremlin could have imagined in their worst nightmares just two years ago. Russia was evicted from the G8, its...

A recent state poll asking Russians about their fears has laid bare a telling change in attitudes: more than double the number of respondents said they feared a nuclear war compared to two years ago. Russia's deteriorating relations with the West and the economic turmoil that followed sanctions imposed on Moscow for its meddling in Ukraine have had a significant impact on Russians' view on the likelihood of nuclear war or going hungry, the poll published Thursday by state-run VTsIOM pollster showed. The number of respondents who said they feared a nuclear war has doubled to 17 percent from only...

Moody's Say's Cheaper Oil WILL NOT Boost Global Growth... What have I been saying all along... Someone should tell the morons at CNBC... Lower oil prices will fail to give a "significant boost" to global growth in the next two years, Moody's has said. The ratings agency said any boost from cheaper oil would be offset by the eurozone's economic woes as well as slowdowns in China, Japan and Russia. As a result, Moody's said it would not be revising its growth forecasts for the G20 countries. "For the G20 economies, we expect GDP growth of just under 3% each...

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said that if Greece failed to get a new debt agreement with the euro zone, it could always look elsewhere for help. "What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal - hopefully (there will be) - and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to Plan B. Plan B is to get funding from another source," he told Greek television show that ran in to early Tuesday. "It could the United States at best, it could be Russia,...

A last ditch effort by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to try to negotiate a cease fire in civil war torn Ukraine has sent Senator John McCain into orbit. After he and his butt-buddy, South Carolina Senator and possible presidential candidate Lindsey Graham had practically sealed the deal for a massive transfer of U.S. military weaponry to Kiev, Frau Merkel has dared to throw a monkey wrench into things. The two European leaders traveled to Moscow to meet with the hated Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to try to prevent what could be the beginning...

‘I believe the Russians are mobilizing right now for a war that they think is going to happen in five or six years... with somebody within the next five or six years.” So says Lt. Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe... "American engagement is essential if the West is to deter a revanchist Russia that has set out to “redraw the boundaries of Europe,” Gen. Hodges says... Russian President Vladimir Putin “has done in Ukraine,” he says, “is a manifestation of a strategic view of the world... This level of assistance suggests Ukraine “is not a foray,...

URGENT: French President Hollande calls for broader autonomy for E.#Ukraine http://t.co/mTc6gAoI9J pic.twitter.com/bs4f105GjR — RT (@RT_com) February 7, 2015 Progress in solving Ukrainian crisis impossible to achieve through arms supplies - Merkel http://t.co/ULTe0it5p0 pic.twitter.com/6bgYJnGoRx — RT (@RT_com) February 7, 2015 French President Hollande calls for broader autonomy for E.Ukraine French President Francois Hollande called for “quite strong” autonomy for Ukraine’s eastern regions while speaking on France 2 TV. He also revealed part of the joint plan discussed in Moscow on the conflict’s solution. On Saturday, Hollande said that the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk need “rather strong” autonomy from...

Following yesterday's summary of the utter farce that the Minsk Summit/Ukraine "peace" deal talks have become, the various parties involved appear to be fracturing even faster today. The headlines are coming thick and fast but most prescient appears to be: Despite John Kerry's denial of any split between Germany and US over arms deliveries to Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier slammed Washington's strategy for being "not just risky but counterproductive." But perhaps most significantly is France's continued apparent pivot towards Russia. Following Francois Hollande's call for greater autonomy for Eastern Ukraine, former French Pres Nicolas Sarkozy has come out in...

Lavrov: US escalated Ukraine crisis at every stage & blamed Russia At every stage of the Ukrainian crisis Washington has been taking steps that “only promoted further aggravation of the situation,” Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said at the Munich Security Conference. The West connives to justify Kiev’s military operation in eastern Ukraine, which involves the use of internationally prohibited munitions, such as cluster weapons, the head of the Russian delegation in Munich pointed out. “We cannot understand why in Afghanistan, Yemen and Mali the West is calling on the governments to hold talks with the opposition, in some cases even...

With last summer's cease fire agreement a distant memory, and amid a growing division between the US and Europe on whether to supply the Kiev government with weapons, western leaders are meeting in Munich to desperately find a formula that would stop the escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine. The Ukraine government claims that Russian tanks and troops are assisting separatist rebels in their drive to defeat government forces and establish a separate country for the largely ethnic Russians who live there. The Ukraine government refuses to bargain away their territory and Russia appears just as determined to help the rebels...

Russia is skating on thin ice: Cheap oil, Western sanctions and years of mismanagement have sent its economy into a deep freeze. Now everyone is wondering when the ice will crack. As things stand, Russian GDP is expected to shrink by 5% (or more) this year, inflation has soared to 15%, the ruble is trading near record lows, consumer and business sentiment is on the slide, and its companies are shut out of financial markets in the U.S. and Europe. Escalating violence in Ukraine could lead to new international sanctions, and there's little sign of a significant rebound in world...