RUSSIAN DENVER / HORIZON 10 By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union failed to allay Russia’s concerns about Ukraine’s free-trade accord with the 28-nation bloc on Monday, leaving Kiev to face Russian retaliation through tighter bilateral trade rules from 2016. Closer ties between Ukraine and the EU, including the free trade deal, were at the heart of a battle for influence between Brussels and Moscow in Russia’s former satellite. When the then-Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, ditched the accord in early 2014 under pressure from Russia, Moscow (AFP) – Russia is not trying to bring back the USSR, President Vladimir Putin said in a documentary aired Sunday, but the problem is that “nobody wants to believe it”. Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, which saw pro- Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych ousted by pro-European demonstrators, Moscow has Washington (AFP) – US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump defended Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, saying it would be “despicable” if the leader actually did kill By Kevin D. Williamson Race makes people crazy, but often not in the way you’d expect. A nation watched wide-eyed as Melissa Harris-Perry of MSNBC complained that the Star Wars franchise was racist because the major villain is “black.” Darth Vader is black in the sense that Johnny Cash or Ben Roethlisberger or certain figures from Arthurian legend are “black”– white guys in black outfits– so people kept waiting for Harris- Perry, “America’s foremost public intellectual,” to crack and let us know that she was joking. But she wasn’t joking. One cannot imagine what she’d make of that Adolf Hitler/ Darth Vader episode of “Epic Rap Battles of History,” in which Russia, EU trade talks fail, Kiev set to face retaliation protests erupted on the street of Kiev leading to a crisis in which he fled power and a pro-Europe leadership took over. The European Union and Ukraine delayed implementation of their trade deal by a year out of deference to Moscow’s concerns that it could lead to a flood of European imports across its borders, damaging the competitiveness of Russian exports. But comments by EU and Russian officials on Monday indicated that numerous meetings between the two sides to try to narrow differences and assuage Moscow’s concerns had failed. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom raised doubts about the validity of the Russian concerns, saying some were “not real.” “We have been very open in listening to some of the concerns of Russia. Some of them we think are not real in economic terms. Some of them could potentially be real,” Malmstrom told a news conference following final talks in Brussels. Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev, speaking in Brussels, said there was no deal and Moscow would scrap trade preferences dating back to 2011 for Ukraine as of 2016, when the bilateral EU-Ukraine deal will be implemented. “An agreement has not been reached. We were left with our concerns on our own and we are forced to safeguard our economic interest unilaterally,” Ulyukayev told reporters. Such retaliatory action will mean that Ukrainian firms will pay duties to export to Russia, which says it needs to protect the competitiveness of its exports to Ukraine. Malmstrom blamed Russia for showing not enough flexibility, while Ulyukayev said the EU’s trade officials were not serious enough about the talks. Moscow has sought a legally binding agreement involving the three parties, something rejected by Kiev and Brussels which say no third party should be allowed to amend their bilateral deal. Putin: ‘We don’t want the USSR back but no one believes us’ accused the West of using “the politics of containment” in a Cold War throwback. “With Ukraine and other areas of the former USSR, I’m sure our Western partners aren’t working in the interests of Ukraine, they are working to prevent the recreation of the USSR,” he said in “World Order”, a documentary broadcast on the public Rossiya 1 channel. “But nobody wants to believe us, nobody wants to believe that we’re not trying to bring the Soviet Union back,” he said. The president also used the documentary to take a familiar swipe at Western intervention in Trump defends Putin on journo deaths, asks media to ‘prove it’ opposition journalists, as he has been accused of on US television. But Trump asked his TV interviewer to first “prove” any such allegations. Trump’s statements come just days after a separate talkshow host asked how he felt about Putin, who “kills journalists and political opponents and invades countries.” Trump quickly responded: “I think our country does plenty of killing, also.” Grilled about the matter Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” show, Trump defended Putin’s record regarding Russian journalists who have died. “I think it was despicable if that took place, but I haven’t seen any evidence that he killed anybody in terms of reporters,” Trump said. “When you say a man has killed reporters I’d like you to prove it. I have never seen any information or any proof that he killed reporters,” Trump told host George Stephanopoulos, who referenced suspicions that Putin was involved in the 2006 death of investigative Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. When asked to explain his statement that “our country does plenty of killing,” Trump took a jab at the leading Democratic presidential hopeful. “I think Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state, made some horrible, horrible decisions, and thousands and thousands and even hundreds of thousands of people have been killed,” Trump said. Pressed for specifics, Trump added: “Take a look at what we’re ‘It’s Because I’m Black, Isn’t It?’: Obama Misunderstands the Country, Not the Other Way Around the Nazi dismisses the Sith and his off-brand Stormtroopers: “You leading an army of white men? Disgraceful.” And, of course, in the latest installment, <strong>N48</strong>/<strong>829</strong> от 12.25.2015 e-mail: info@gorizont.com Simply the best The Force Awakens, one of those white men turns out to have the black face of English actor John Boyega. This isn’t the sort of thing that drives people nuts: If Ulyukayev said the three sides will go on discussing the situation should issues arise as the deal is implemented. Yanukovich fled to Russia in early 2014 after protesters were shot on the streets. When pro- Western leaders took over, Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and subsequently gave backing to a separatist rebellion in east Ukraine. The economic effect on Ukraine and Russia of any Russian trade retaliation is likely to be muted since their bilateral trade fell off considerably as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, which triggered sanctions on Russia from the West. North Africa and the Middle East. “You can’t just impose your version of democracy, of good and evil, onto people of other cultures, with other religions and traditions in this mechanic, automatic way,” he said. “Apparently (the West) think they’re infallible, but when the moment comes to take some responsibility, they disappear.” doing in the Middle East. We went into Iraq, we shouldn’t have.” Trump’s feelings about Putin came under the spotlight Thursday when the Russian president described the American billionaire as “a very outstanding man, unquestionably talented” at his annual press conference in Moscow. The next morning Trump returned the praise on the same talk show in which he accused the United States of killings. “I think that he’s a strong leader, he’s a powerful leader,” Trump said of Putin. “When people call you brilliant it’s always good, especially when the person heads up Russia,” he added. you’re breaking down the hidden racial significance of Darth Vader’s black armor, you’re already there. The American people, who are generally more tolerant, more sensible, and more wry than is appreciated, have learned to laugh at that sort of thing. A popular image among AR-15 enthusiasts shows the fearsomelooking rifle over the caption: “It’s because I’m black, isn’t it?” The same joke has been made about coal, certain cats that provoke a superstitious response, Anas rubripes, dark T-shirts, and one very mean-looking 1987 Buick Grand National. Barack Obama doesn’t get the joke. In a pre-vacation interview with NPR, the president argued that (as the New York Times decodes the message)”some of the scorn directed at him personally stems from the fact that he is the first African American to hold the White House.” I.e, “It’s because I’m black, isn’t it?” This is kind of clever, in a way. The president says that much of the unhappiness with his administration is “pretty specific to me, and who I am and my background,” which is slippery in that by saying it’s about him, he’s really saying it’s about his critics, and their bigotry and prejudice. “It’s not me, it’s you.” This is, needless to say, intellectual dishonesty, which is Barack Obama’s specialty.
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