US President Donald Trump expects Russia to ‘return Crimea' – White House

US President Donald Trump has been tough on Russia and expects

Moscow to “return” the Crimea peninsula to Ukraine, the White House spokesman told reporters.

Addressing the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn – hounded by the media over his contacts with Russian diplomats prior to Trump’s inauguration – Spicer pointed out that Russia “seized” Crimea under the Obama administration and that the Trump-appointed ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has “strongly denounced the Russian occupation.”

Trump has made it clear that he expects Russia to “de-escalate the situation” in Ukraine and “return Crimea,” Spicer said at the White House briefing on Tuesday.

“Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine,” Haley said at the UN Security Council meeting on February 2.

Source

BREAKING NEWS: Russia to publish its own list of sanctions against US officials

Russia to publish its own list of sanctions against US officials just as the Russian Parliament endorsed the drafted resolution for Crimea peninsula to become part of Russia federation.




Details later...

Crimea Crisis: Putin agrees to build ‘two Iran nuclear plants’

As tensions escalate between Ukraine and Russia over the Crimea peninsula, report by the Iran's official IRNA news agency on Wednesday says that Russia has signed a preliminary agreement to build at least two more nuclear power plants in the Iranian port city of Bushehr. The deal which was reached during a visit to Tehran on Tuesday by a senior official of Russia's state atomic energy agency Rosatom, IRNA said.

"Russia and Iran reached a preliminary agreement to build at least two new nuclear power plants," Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told the news agency. He said that the two new 1,000 megawatt plants will be built alongside the existing power station in Bushehr, which was also built by Russia.

Ukrine Crisis: Crimea Belongs to Russia, Putin Should Annex Eastern Ukraine Too - Fani-Kayode

           Support for Russians Gains More Momentum

 Claiming that the Crimea is not Russian is absurd and it betrays nothing but ignorance says the former Nigerian minister, Femi Fani- Kayode while reacting to the Ukrainian-Russian crisis in Crimea peninsula. 

According to Fani-Kayode; "it is rather like saying that the people of the city of Ilorin and it's environs in Kwara state and the people of Kabba, Yagba-West, Yagba-East, Mopa-Amuro, Ijumu and Kabba-Bunu local government areas in Kogi state respectively are not Yoruba and that those areas are not part of Yoruba land".

"Historically the Crimea has always been part of Russia and 70 per cent of it's population are not only ethnic Russians but they also speak nothing but the Russian language. There are also massive and substantial pockets of Russian populations in eastern Ukraine."

It is absolutely absurd for anyone to assume that the Russian Federation would sit by silently and allow the lives, the future and the fortunes of their kinsmen from those parts to be in any way threatened. I am therefore in total agreement with the actions of President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the Crimea. 

The former Minister said Russian Putin has done the proper thing in protecting the Russians' interests and that he need to go further to annex the Eastern Ukraine as well.

Why should Russia tolerate NATO at its borders - Vladimir Golstein

Russia is not a superpower. Its population is shrinking, and so is its military, political, and economic might. Yes, Russians have their oil money to organise Olympics or buy fancy flats in London, but Russia itself is a far cry from the big nasty "bear" that was invading Afghanistan, when I emigrated from this evil colossus in search of a political freedom so lacking at home. Yet, this cherished western freedom is being threatened by a stifling hypocrisy.

Crimea Latest: Russian Putin Says He And Obama Has No Common Gground On Ukraineian Crisis

Presidents fail to find common ground during second phone call in six days on escalating crisis

Russia and the US are still stuck in a stalemate on Ukraine but relations between the two countries should not be sacrificed because of their differences, Vladimir Putin has said after a phone call with Barack Obama.
President Putin's remarks were carried in a Kremlin statement issued on Friday, following the Thursday night telephone call with President Obama, the Reuters news agency reported.

"The discussion revealed the differences in the approaches and assessments of the crisis and current situation," the statement said.

During the one-hour call the US leader urged his Russian counterpart to engage with diplomatic efforts to defuse a crisis that began with anti-government protests in November and this week escalated with a threat of secession in the strategically-important peninsula of Crimea after armed men seized government buildings and military installations.

Crimea Updates: Crimea referendum would violate international law - Obama

[AFP] United State President Barack Obama has warned that a referendum in Crimea on joining Russia would violate Ukraine's constitution and international law.

Obama spoke hours after the United States imposed visa bans on certain senior Russian officials and moved towards wider sanctions against individuals and entities in Moscow, to punish the Kremlin's incursion into Ukraine.