in Biggest Monthly Gain Since 1990s

“There is growing recognition among market participants both outside and inside Russia that Russian authorities have strong preference for weaker ruble,” Deutsche Bank said in a note to investors Friday.

Moscow Times

1st March, 2015

The Russian ruble has recorded its biggest monthly gain since the early 1990s amid higher oil prices, an easing of the fighting in eastern Ukraine and a less intensive foreign debt repayment schedule as it claws back some of the losses it sustained during panic on currency markets last year.

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M.K.Bhadrakumar

Indian Punchline

26th February, 2015

The significance of the agreement signed in Moscow on Wednesday to let Russian navy ships to stop at ports in Cyprus may lend itself to exaggerated notions of a military pact between the two countries, which it certainly is not. On the other hand, the profound meaning of the agreement in political terms – and the visit of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades to Moscow – cannot be lost on Washington and the European capitals, especially Brussels where the European Union is headquartered.

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John Pilger

Asia Times

26th February, 2015

The recent 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was a reminder of the great crime of fascism, whose Nazis iconography is embedded in our consciousness.

Fascism is preserved as history, as flickering footage of goose-stepping blackshirts, their criminality terrible and clear. Yet in the same liberal societies whose war-making elites urge us never to forget, the accelerating danger of a modern kind of fascism is suppressed; for it is their fascism.

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M.K.Bhadrakumar

Indian Punchline

22nd February, 2015

The US Secretary of State John Kerry chose London as the venue on Saturday to reiterate that “there will be further consequences” for Russia if the Minsk ceasefire agreement fails to hold in eastern Ukraine. He disclosed, “In the next few days I anticipate that President Obama will evaluate the choices that are in front of him and will make his decision.” Kerry appeared confident that there would be more sanctions against Russia.

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Voltairenet

19th February, 2015

Initially it seemed surprising that on the first day of the negotiations marathon [1] in Minsk a bill to “provide lethal weapons to the Government of Ukraine in order to defend itself against Russian-backed rebel separatists in eastern Ukraine” would be introduced in the US Congress [2]. However, it soon became clear that its sponsor, Sen. James Inhofe, simply harbors no illusions [3] about his Ukrainian partners’ competence or ability to comply with their obligations. He understands that Kiev will inevitably violate the cease-fire and that Washington will soon have to explain why the militias in the devastated region of what is known as the “Debaltsevo cauldron” [4] are in possession of such a vast number of captured weapons originating from NATO countries.

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Sputnik News

20th February, 2015

There is no evidence of Russian military hardware presence in Ukraine, French President Francois Hollande said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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Hollande, Sarkozy, Fillon and Le Pen- the whole French political class is turning on the issue of Ukraine

RT

10th February

The leader of France’s rightwing Front National (FN), Marine Le Pen, has called Brussels “American lackeys” over the EU’s Ukraine policy. She further accused Washington of attempting to start a “war in Europe” and expand NATO towards Russia’s borders.

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Moscow Urges Croatia, Other Countries to Stop Mercenaries’ Involvement in Ukraine

Russia Insider

13th February, 2015

MOSCOW, February 12, (TASS) – Moscow wants to remind Croatia, whose citizens are fighting in the Ukrainian army, that a new peace agreement reached in Minsk calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday.

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