Section: The Washington Free Beacon (USA)
U.S. Begins Training Ukrainian Guardsmen Despite Russia’s Concerns
By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Army paratroopers began military training for small units of the Ukrainian national guard on Monday despite Russian warnings that the action could destabilize the country’s tenuous cease-fire. Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said 300 members of the Army’s 173rd Airborne...
RESET: Russia Threatens NATO With ‘Nuclear Force’
The Obama administration’s decision to seek a “reset” of relations with Russia was, in the words of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a “brilliant stroke” that “worked.” And she’s obviously right. This explains why Russian is threatening to use “nuclear force” if NATO takes steps to prevent Russian aggression in the Baltic...
Putin Says Russia Was Ready for Nuclear Confrontation Over Crimea
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow was ready to put its nuclear forces on alert to ensure Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin said in a pre-recorded documentary aired on Sunday. Putin also said that Russia had saved the life of Ukraine’s former pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovich, who he said had...
Walker Comes Out in Support of Arming Ukraine
Gov. Scott Walker (R., Wis.) has joined most other potential Republican presidential candidates in 2016 by expressing his support for arming Ukrainian forces, the Weekly Standard reported. Walker is still developing foreign policy acumen after having spent most of his time as governor embroiled in domestic policy fights in Wisconsin. He told the...
U.S. to Send More Non-Lethal Aid to Ukraine
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is preparing to send additional non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including unarmed drones and Humvee vehicles, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said parts of the U.S. package, including 30 Humvees fortified with additional armor, could come within...
U.S. Slaps Sanctions on Ukrainian Rebels, Russian Bank
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Tuesday placed sanctions on eight Ukrainian separatists and a Russian bank, warning that recent attacks by rebels armed by Russia violated a European-brokered ceasefire in the war-torn country. The sanctions signal Washington is ratcheting up pressure on Moscow a day after accusing Russia of sending...
Russia Says Has Right to Deploy Nuclear Weapons in Crimea
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has the right to deploy nuclear arms in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year, a Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday, adding he knew of no plans to do so. “I don’t know if there are nuclear weapons there now. I don’t know about any plans, but in principle...
More Russian Tanks, Equipment Cross Ukraine Border
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russian tanks and heavy military equipment have crossed the Ukrainian border in the last few days in breach of a European-brokered ceasefire agreed on Feb. 12, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday. The comments by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Victoria Nuland, follow accusations by Ukraine...
Leading House Lawmakers Urge Obama to Arm Ukraine
A bipartisan group of leading House lawmakers led by Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) urged President Barack Obama on Thursday to send lethal aid to Ukraine’s beleaguered military. In a letter to Obama, the lawmakers called the Russian invasion of Ukraine “a grotesque violation of international law, a challenge to the West, and an assault on...
Dempsey: Obama Should Consider Arming Ukraine
The nation’s top military general said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama should consider sending weapons to Ukraine’s beleaguered military to aid its fight against Russian-backed separatists, becoming the latest of several U.S. officials to make such a recommendation. The Washington Post reported that Army Gen. Martin Dempsey,...
