U.S. and Germany Debate Sanctions While Putin Says He Will Not Annex Crimea Top News: Speaking at a news conference today, Russian President Vladimir Putin threw his support behind ousted Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia last week. Yanukovych, Putin said, had been pushed out of office in an unconstitutional coup. Putin stressed that he did not have plans to annex Crimea and that did not see a need to use military force in the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian troops seized and occupied this weekend. Putins comments come despite the fact that Russian occupation forces have temporarily jammed and sabotaged Ukrainian Internet and telecommunication networks in Crimea. Russias large-scale military exercises ended today and troops that were performing maneuvers in western Russia have returned to their bases. The United States is debating how to respond to the crisis. President Obama is pressing for a set of economic sanctions to admonish and pressure the Russian government, but contrary the administrations confidence that these measures will garner international support, Germany is leading a push for diplomatic measures that leave out sanctions. After falling 10 percent on Monday, the Moscow stock market rebounded somewhat but could not make back Mondays losses. Gas prices have also spiked over concerns about Russias gas exports transiting Ukrainian pipelines.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 08:28:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015