Crimea Peninsula News

When Russia attacked Ukraine, the nearest naval vessel of a major NATO ally was in the Mediterranean. The last such ship from a major naval member of the Western military alliance left the Black Sea – an area roughly the size of California bordering Russia, Ukraine and NATO members Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania – over a month ago.A French warship completed a tour in early January and no major NATO naval ally has patrolled its waters since, according to Turkish maritime website Turkishnavy.net, which tracks the movements of foreign warships.

More than 30 ships from the Russian Black Sea fleet have started training exercises near the Crimea peninsula as part of wider navy drills, RIA news agency reported on Saturday citing the fleet, as Western nations warned that a war in Ukraine could ignite at any moment.Russia's military moves are being closely scrutinized as its massing of troops near Ukraine and a volley of hawkish rhetoric have rattled the West and sparked concern it plans to invade Ukraine.

The Russian navy can detect any enemy and launch an "unpreventable strike" if needed, President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday, weeks after a UK warship angered Moscow by passing the Crimea peninsula."We are capable of detecting any underwater, above-water, airborne enemy and, if required, carry out an unpreventable strike against it," Putin said speaking at a navy day parade in St Petersburg.Putin's words follow an incident in the Black Sea in June when Russia said it had fired…

Russia warned Britain on Thursday that it would bomb British naval vessels in the Black Sea if there were any further provocative actions by the British navy off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea.Russia summoned the British ambassador in Moscow for a formal diplomatic scolding after the warship breached what the Kremlin says are its territorial waters but which Britain and most of the world say belong to Ukraine.Britain said Russia was giving an inaccurate account of the incident.

Russia said on Wednesday it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of a British warship to chase it out of waters Moscow claims in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimea peninsula.Britain rejected Russia’s account of the incident, saying it believed any shots fired were a pre-announced Russian “gunnery exercise”, and that no bombs had been dropped. But it confirmed that its destroyer, HMS Defender, had sailed through what it described as waters belonging to Ukraine.The…

Germany is betting the U.S. administration will take a pragmatic approach to the Nord Stream 2 project to ship Russian gas to Europe and is pushing for the pipeline’s completion in defiance of U.S. opposition, officials and diplomats said.To try to block the $11 billion project, led by Russia’s Gazprom, successive U.S. administrations have imposed sanctions on some entities and warned other companies involved in the project about the sanctions risk.President Joe Biden thinks the pipeline under the Baltic Sea to Germany is “a bad idea for Europe…

Britain will lead a multinational program to help train the Ukrainian navy, the Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday, seeking to bolster security in the region and improve Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia.Ukraine and Russia have been foes since 2014, when Moscow seized Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula and backed a rebellion in the east.

Some Russian ships have stopped transporting cargo to Ukraine, deeming it risky after a Russian tanker was detained in a Ukrainian port as Kiev made good on sanctions against Moscow, two sources at shipowners said.It is the latest fallout from Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula in 2014 and the emergence of a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine.The Mekhanik Pogodin oil tanker, under the Russian flag, has been moored in the port of Kherson since Aug. 10, Reuters ship tracking data shows.A spokeswoman for a regional unit of the Ukrainian state security service (SBU) said the tanker had been detained in the port and prevented from offloading because its owner is on a list of sanctions imposed by Kiev."We are just following the law…

NATO has ended its Indian Ocean counter-piracy mission after a sharp fall in attacks, the alliance said on Wednesday, as it shifts resources to deterring Russia in the Black Sea and people smugglers in the Mediterranean. All ships and patrol aircraft have now left the area off the Horn of Africa, where they patrolled since 2009, as part of a broader international effort to crack down on Somali-based pirates who had caused havoc with world shipping. NATO says its "Ocean Shield" operation…

Russia plans to supply Syria with 200,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per year via the Crimean port of Kerch, two trading sources told Reuters. The plans are a further sign of cooperation between the two countries despite hopes in the West that Russia might stop shielding President Bashar al-Assad from pressure to step aside. Moscow had been shipping significantly lower volumes of LPG to Syria via Kerch before Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014. The United States and the European Union, which say the seizure of Crimea violates international law, have imposed sanctions on individuals and business in Crimea, which include restrictions on use of the Kerch port. Russia is a staunch ally of Syria and an exporter of arms to Damascus.

A general prohibition has been introduced against services related to tourism activities in Crimea and Sevastopol, the Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) noted in a press release. The prohibition, which applies only to cruise ships associated with an EU Member State, including ships flying the flag of an EU Member State, ships owned and operated by an EU shipowner and ships under the overall responsibility of an EU operator,  means cruise ships must not call at or enter into Sevastopol, Kerch, Yalta, Theodosia, Evpatoria, Chernomorsk and Kamysh-Burun.

Russia and France are close to reaching an agreement for Paris to cancel a frozen contract on the sale of Mistral helicopter carriers and reimburse Moscow, a Russian source close to talks indicated on Friday. France suspended the delivery of the warships last year after the European Union decided to impose sanctions on Russia over the separatist conflict in neighbouring Ukraine. French President Francois Hollande, who was holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Friday, suggested on Wednesday that Paris could cancel the contract and reimburse Moscow. Putin had said the previous week that Moscow would not impose penalties on France over the 1.2 billion euro ($1.29 billion) deal if all costs incurred by Russia were reimbursed.

Turkey owned merchant ship flying the flag of Tuvalu was arrested by Ukrainian authorities over a visit it made to a port in Crimea, reports Reuters. The ship's captain detained. Tuvalu-registered 5,095 deadweight ton ship Kanton was being held in the Ukrainian port of Kherson. They said the crew could go to jail for up to three years and the ship could be seized. Russian annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine last year, after Ukrainian protesters toppled a pro-Moscow president. Ukraine has said any visit to Crimean ports is illegal, and a ban came into effect in July last year. Shipowners Istanbul company Master Shipping Ltd said: "This arrest was unlawful. The Kanton called at Sevastopol in Crimea on July 24, 2014 to pick up a cargo of feed barley, he said.

Six NATO warships, including Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian vessels, have arrived to the Black Sea to start joint training exercises. NATO ships assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) arrived today in the Black Sea to operate and train with ships from the Bulgarian, Romanian and Turkish Navies, according to NATO Maritime Command (MARCOM) press release. Marine Group Two is comprised of six ships — Vicksburg, Fredericton, Turgutreis, Spessart, Aliseo, and Regina Maria, according to MARCOM. The joint training, led by US Rear Adm. Brad Williamson, will include simulated anti-air and anti-submarine warfare exercises, small boat attacks and ship-handling maneuvers, the press release stated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he believed many European leaders were eager to end the standoff over sanctions with Russia. "I think that many in Europe including the politicians, my colleagues, ... (want) to get out as soon as possible of a situation, which is damaging our cooperation," Putin said during a visit to the Crimea peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine earlier this year. He added that he had recently spoken to his French counterpart Francois Hollande and felt this also reflected the French president's mood.

Russia and Ukraine agreed on Monday to examine a payment plan to settle Kiev's multi-billion gas debts and fix a price for supplies until June 2015, offering the promise of averting an energy crisis over the crucial winter period. The argument over prices for natural gas has added to tensions as the two countries have squared off over Moscow's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and over a pro-Russian rebel uprising in eastern Ukraine. Russia's Gazprom had been threatening to cut off Ukraine's gas on Tuesday, with potential knock-on effects for the European Union because much of the gas it receives from Russia is pumped via Ukraine. But the immediate threat of a supply disruption was avoided after Kiev paid a first instalment, prompting Gazprom on Monday to grant it a week's grace.

The White House said on Wednesday that a dispute between China and Vietnam that erupted within days of President Barack Obama's visit to Asia to address regional tensions needs to be resolved with dialogue, not intimidation. While the United States was not a party to the dispute, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama had repeatedly stressed on his trip last month the need for peaceful dialogue on various disputes involving China and the South China Sea. The renewed tension between Vietnam and China underscores one of the biggest challenges in Asia facing Obama, who is under pressure by America's allies to accelerate a "pivot" of military assets to the region to counter China's rising influence. Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula - and perceptions of limited U.S.

Russia's oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said it was worried Ukraine may take control of its oil product pipeline to Hungary. A row over ownership of the pipeline has flared amid the deepest East-West rift since the end of the Cold War, over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula last month. Transneft said in a statement on its website Ukraine's courts have been considering a claim by the general prosecutor's office to transfer control over the pipeline, which shipped some 1.7 million tonnes (over 30,000 barrels per day) of oil products last year, to the state.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia should step up its presence in the Arctic and challenge other nations in exploring the world's largest untapped natural reserves, days after it started shipping its first oil from the region. Russia's ambitions in the Arctic have for some time been raising eyebrows among other states vying for a presence there, but the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula is likely to put its Arctic plans under greater scrutiny.

The European Union must create an energy union to secure its gas supply because the current dependence on Russian energy makes Europe weak, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote in an article in the Financial Times. Russia, which provides around one third of the EU's oil and gas, sent shockwaves through the international community with its military intervention and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March. The action prompted the United States and its European allies to begin imposing sanctions on President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and to threaten to penalise key sectors of Russia's economy if Russia escalates tensions with Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed NATO's selection of former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as its new head, saying on Saturday the pair had "very good relations" but that it was up to the West to improve ties. Relations between Russia and the NATO military alliance are at their worst since the Cold War following Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, a move Putin said on Thursday was partly influenced by NATO's expansion into eastern Europe. In an interview with the state-run Rossiya television station, to be broadcast later on Saturday, Putin indicated that the appointment of Stoltenberg, who takes over in October, could help ties. "We have very good relations, including personal relations.

emerged at a meeting of G20 finance chiefs this week that a deal in which Moscow eases its stance might be in the works. sidelines. for gas and said it awaits $2.2 billion in unpaid bills. Ukraine if payments don't start coming, but between the now-standard lines he signalled some room for maneuver. "We do not want to escalate tensions with Ukraine. journalists when asked about the gas dispute. "But it requires a decision of the Ukrainian authorities, support of the European Union colleagues. down and discuss this issue. States were bearing fruit. U.S. international efforts to ensure a free flow of energy and trade. territory. Their bosses, President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Angela Merkel, on Friday signalled a need for a common approach. supplies.

Reuters - A top Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday he is closely watching the unfolding crisis in Ukraine for potential effects on U.S. economic growth and volatility in commodity prices. "It's something I'm watching really carefully for potential implications for growth," Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker told the Council of Economic Education. "We obviously worry first about the disruptions of the commodity markets ... and volatile commodity prices." Russia's military intervention in Ukraine's Crimea peninsula has driven up oil markets. But prices eased on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin told reporters Russia would only use force as a "last resort."