Monday, 26 May 2014

'Undi pada titik bersenjata api,' sesiapa saja ? Amerika Syarikat kekal utk menghalalkan pilihan raya 'baik' di Ukraine . . .



SitiWanMahani - Sekumpulan ahli parlimen Amerika adalah di Ukraine untuk melihat pilihan raya presiden yang Washington telah memanggil satu peristiwa bersejarah dan memberi lebih daripada US $ 11.4 juta untuk menyokong undi walaupun keganasan yang sedang berlaku di timur Ukraine.

Beberapa senator Amerika Syarikat tiba di Ukraine ibu kota Kiev sebagai sebahagian daripada Pertubuhan bagi Keselamatan dan Kerjasama di Eropah (OSCE) misi peman-tauan, dilaporkan AP. Pasukan Amerika diketuai oleh bekas Setiausaha Negara, Madeleine Albright.

Hadapan pada mengundi Ahad ini, Maryland Demokratik Senator Benjamin Cardin mene-kankan sokongan Washington untuk undi.


"Sebab utama kami untuk mengambil bahagian adalah untuk menyatakan sokongan kami bagi rakyat Ukraine," Cardin pada sidang akhbar di Kiev. Wakil rakyat Amerika berkata mereka "terutamanya bimbang tentang kesan dari Rusia" dan akan "jelas menonton rapat apa yang berlaku esok."

Bercakap dengan MSNBC Saturday, Cardin juga mencadangkan bahawa "mereka akan melihat nombor rekod yang keluar untuk mengundi" .

Ohio Republikan Robert Portman memberitahu MSNBC dia berfikir pilihan raya itu akan menjadi "baik," mengakui walaupun yang keluar mengundi dalam 2 kawasan timur Ukraine mungkin tidak setinggi "diharapkan".

Orang-ramai membuang undi dalam peti undi olok-olok yang berbunyi " Sampah untuk Presiden" semasa perhimpunan anti-pilihan raya di bandar timur Donetsk 25 Mei 2014  (People cast votes in a mock ballot box that reads "Rubbish bin for the President" during an anti-election rally in the eastern city of Donetsk May 25, 2014. (Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev)

Amerika Syarikat telah menolak untuk pilihan raya di Ukraine - tidak kira apa, keganasan atau tiada keganasan di negara ini, RT ini Gayane Chichakyan diperhatikan.

Sebelum ini - di bawah keadaan yang berbeza - pegawai Amerika boleh mengatakan bagaimana mengundi tidak boleh diterima adalah bersenjata.

"Itu bukan sesuatu yang boleh dilakukan dengan laras diacukan senjata pada anda," kata Presiden Obama dan awal tahun ini, pada pertemuan dengan Perdana Menteri yang bertindak Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Kiev telah melepaskan tenteranya terhadap mereka di timur Ukraine yang tidak mahu berada di bawah kawalannya.

Bandar timur Ukraine Slavyansk, pada 25 Mei 2014 (The eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk, on May 25, 2014 (AFP Photo/Viktor Drachev)

Di tengah-tengah tembakan dari helikopter tentera Ukraine, dan orang awam yang tidak bersenjata ditembak mati kerana mereka cuba menghalang serangan tentera - Washing-ton membentangkan pilihan raya di Ukraine sebagai tidak ada masalah.

"Ukraine adalah bersedia untuk pilihan raya," Marie Harf, timbalan jurucakap di Jabatan Negara pada taklimat akhbar pada hari Jumaat .

"Di seluruh majoriti Ukraine, perkara-perkara yang tenang," Jen Psaki, jurucakap Jabatan Negara mendakwa lebih awal.

Ia adalah tenang di bandar pelabuhan Odessa pada 2 Mei, sebelum aktivis pro- Kiev dikejar lawan mereka ke dalam bangunan, Rumah Kesatuan Sekerja dan menetapkan ia pada kebakaran, membunuh lebih 40 orang dan mencederakan berpuluh-puluh lagi. Sehingga hari ini, tiada siapa telah bertanggungjawab.

Begitu juga, tidak ada yang bertanggungjawab bagi keganasan di jalan-jalan di Kiev pada bulan Februari yang mengakibatkan rampasan kuasa yang menggulingkan Presiden Viktor Yanukovich dan digerakkan untuk kuasa mereka yang Amerika Syarikat mahu lihat.

"Ia benar-benar penting bagi penubuhan politik di Amerika Syarikat untuk menghalalkan kerajaan yang telah disediakan oleh rampasan kuasa Maidan pada bulan Februari kerana maka mereka boleh berkata:

Oh , lihat! Orang-orang ini telah dipilih secara demokratik 'Kerana sehingga kini mereka tidak dipilih secara demokratik. Mereka berkuasa melalui kekerasan," Nebojsa Malic, kolumnis di antiwar.com memberitahu RT.

Beribu-ribu pemerhati antarabangsa telah dihantar ke Ukraine untuk memantau pilihan-raya.

OSCE dihantar monitor untuk sembilan wilayah "menurut pelan, " Richard Solash, seorang wakil misi memberitahu Itar -Tass . Walau bagaimanapun, tidak ada pemerhati hadir di Donetsk dan Lugansk - kawasan di timur Ukraine yang telah di pusat tunjuk perasaan anti Kiev.

Menjelang hari pengundian, 4 anggota pasukan OSCE melawat Donetsk untuk melihat keadaan tersebut seperti, berikut yang telah memutuskan untuk tidak memperuntukkan pemerhati ke rantau ini dan juga untuk jiran Lugansk.


Menteri Dalam Negeri Ukraine mengaku sebelum ini bahawa ia tidak mustahil untuk mengadakan pilihan raya di beberapa daerah di kedua-dua Lugansk dan wilayah Donetsk.

"Kami sedar . . . bahawa ia tidak lagi akan menjadi mustahil untuk memegang dalam pilihan raya cara biasa ke atas wilayah yang luas Donesk dan Lugansk kawasan lain," Arsen Avakov pada sidang media.

Itu tidak mengubah apa-apa untuk kerajaan rampasan kuasa yang dikenakan di Kiev yang dipinda bil pilihan raya untuk menghapuskan keperluan kehadiran minimum.

Sementara itu, konfrontasi ganas antara Kiev dan lawan terus pada hari pilihan raya, dengan menembak dilaporkan di rantau Lugansk itu. Seorang terbunuh dan satu lagi cedera dalam tembak-menembak di sesuatu tempat mengundi di bandar Novoaydar, menurut Timbalan Ketua Kementerian Dalam Negeri Ukraine.

Dilaporkan, lajur Ukraine Pengawal Kebangsaan kereta perisai berjaya menembusi pertahanan penunjuk perasaan 'dan menuju ke Lugansk. Kuasa-kuasa Kiev melepaskan tembakan ke arah orang awam di kafe di bandar, pihak berkuasa dari diri - mengisyti-harkan Republik Rakyat Lugansk memberitahu RIA Novosti.

"Seorang lelaki dan seorang wanita telah dibunuh," kata sumber itu, sambil menambah bahawa beberapa orang yang tercedera.

Tetapi Barat seolah-olah berasa ok dengan sebahagian daripada Ukraine berada di bawah titik pada bersenjata api.

'Vote at gunpoint,' anyone ? US keen to legitimize 'good' election in Ukraine . . .

A team of American lawmakers is in Ukraine to observe the presidential election which Washington has called a historic milestone and provided over US$ 11.4 million to support the vote despite ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine.

Several US senators arrived in Ukraine’s capital Kiev as a part of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission, reported AP. The American team is led by former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.

Ahead on Sunday’s voting, Maryland Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin emphasized Washington’s backing for the vote.


“Our main reason for participating is to express our support for the Ukrainian people,” Cardin told a news conference in Kiev. The American lawmaker added that they were “particularly concerned about the impact from Russia” and would “obviously be watching closely what happens tomorrow.”

Speaking with MSNBC Saturday, Cardin also suggested that “they would see record numbers coming out to vote”.

Ohio’s Republican Robert Portman told MSNBC he thought the election would be “good,” admitting though that voter turnout in two eastern Ukrainian regions might not be as high as they “hoped for.”

The US was pushing for the elections in Ukraine – no matter what, violence or no violence in the country, RT’s Gayane Chichakyan noted.

Previously - under different circumstances - American officials could say how unacceptable voting at gunpoint is.

“That is not something that can be done with the barrel of a gun pointed at you,” President Obama and said earlier this year, at a meeting with Ukraine’s acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Kiev has unleashed the army against those in the east of Ukraine who don’t want to be under its control.


Amid fire from Ukrainian army helicopters, and unarmed civilians shot dead as they tried to stop the army assault – Washington presents the elections in Ukraine as no problem.

“Ukraine is ready for the election,” Marie Harf, deputy spokesperson at the State Department told a press briefing on Friday.

“Across the vast majority of Ukraine, things are calm,” Jen Psaki, the State Department’s spokesperson claimed earlier.

It was calm in the port city of Odessa on May 2, before pro-Kiev activists chased their opponents into a building, the Trade Unions House and set it on fire, killing over 40 people and injuring dozens more. To this day, no one has been held responsible.

Similarly, no one was held responsible for the violence on the streets of Kiev in February which resulted in a coup that ousted President Viktor Yanukovich and propelled to power those whom the US wanted to see.

“It was absolutely vital for the political establishment in the US to legitimize the government that was installed by the Maidan coup in February because then they can say ‘Oh, look! These people were democratically elected.’ Because until now they haven’t been democratically elected: they came to power through force,” Nebojsa Malic, a columnist at antiwar.com told RT.

Thousands of international observers have been sent to Ukraine to observe the elections.

The OSCE sent its monitors to nine regions “according to a plan,” Richard Solash, a representative of the mission told Itar-Tass. However, no observers were present in Donetsk and Lugansk – the regions in eastern Ukraine that have been in the epicenter of anti-Kiev protests. Ahead of the voting day, four members of the OSCE team visited Donetsk to see what the situation was like, following which it was decided not to allocate observers to the region as well as to neighboring Lugansk.


The Ukrainian Interior Minister had admitted earlier that it would not be possible to hold elections in a number of districts in both Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

“We are fully aware…that it will no longer be possible to hold in a normal way elections on the vast territory of Donesk and Lugansk regions,” Arsen Avakov told a media conference.

That does not change anything for the coup-imposed government in Kiev who amended the election bill to remove the minimum turnout requirement.

Meanwhile, violent confrontation between Kiev and its opponents continued on election day, with shooting being reported in the Lugansk region. One person was killed and another one wounded in a shootout at a polling station in the town of Novoaydar, according to the Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry.

Reportedly, a column of Ukrainian National Guard armored vehicles managed to break through the protesters’ defense and was heading to Lugansk. The Kiev forces opened fire at civilians in a café in the town, an authority from the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Lugansk told RIA Novosti. “A man and a woman were killed,” the source said, adding that several people were wounded.

But the West seems to feel ok with part of Ukraine being under gunpoint.


Friday, 23 May 2014

KEBANGKITAN RUM Timur AkhirZAMAN: RUSIA dan CHINA meterai PERJANJIAN Gas BERSEJARAH $ 400 billion . . .



SitiWanMahani - Selepas 10 tahun rundingan, Gazprom Rusia dan CNPC China akhirnya menandatangani perjanjian gas bersejarah yang menyediakan ekonomi yang paling pesat berkembang dengan gas semula jadi ia perlu seiring untuk 30 tahun akan datang.

Jumlah nilai kontrak adalah $ 400 bilion, kata Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Gazprom Aleksey Miller. Walau bagaimanapun, harga gas ditetapkan dalam dokumen itu kekal sebagai "rahsia perdagangan."

Dengan andaian harga keseluruhan kontrak itu hanya kos bekalan gas Rusia , maka tanda harga $400 billion bermakna China akan membayar kira-kira $ 350 setiap 1,000 meter padu. Harga penghantaran bagi kontrak akan terikat dengan harga minyak pasaran, Putin berkata dari Shanghai pada Selasa.


Pelaburan infrastruktur dari kedua-dua pihak akan menjadi lebih daripada $ 70 bilion dan akan menjadi projek pembinaan yang terbesar di DUNIA, dengan Rusia menyediakan $55 billion di depan dan China $22 billion untuk saluran paip di wilayah masing-masing.

Ini adalah kontrak terbesar Gazprom setakat ini.

Rusia akan membekalkan China 38 bilion meter padu gas setahun melalui 'Kuasa Siberia' timur talian paip, yang melintasi Siberia dan sampai kawasan timur laut ramai penduduk China. Laluan berasingan yang boleh menyampaikan gas ke wilayah barat China dan memberikan kepelbagaian juga dalam kerja-kerja, menurut Putin.

Satu memorandum persefahaman telah ditandatangani di hadapan Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin dan Presiden China Xi Jinping pada hari kedua lawatan dua hari negeri Putin ke Shanghai.

Menurut Miller, perjanjian itu telah ditubuhkan melalui pada 4:00 petang waktu Shanghai apabila beliau memahami "semua isu-isu asas telah diselesaikan."

Pengeluar RT dimaklumkan daripada perjanjian tenaga mercu tanda sebelum perjanjian selepas perbualan dengan Miller.

Perjanjian itu datang sebagai sebahagian daripada skala yang lebih besar pangsi Rusia ke Asia dan terutamanya China sebagai negara Barat mengancam sekatan ke atas pergo-lakan di Ukraine.

Sekatan oleh Amerika Syarikat dan Kesatuan Eropah telah kebanyakannya terhad kepada pengharaman visa dan membeku aset di sesetengah pegawai tinggi Rusia, manakala seta-kat ini hanya mengancam pusingan ke-3 yang dipanggil sekatan ekonomi sebenar terha-dap perniagaan hidrokarbon Rusia.

Hanya menjelang lawatan Putin ke Shanghai, Perdana Menteri Rusia Dmitry Medvedev memberi jaminan bahawa harga yang dipersetujui akan berlaku adil.

"Satu bahagian sentiasa mahu untuk menjual dengan harga yang lebih tinggi, manakala yang lain mahu membeli dengan harga yang rendah," kata Medvedev. "Saya percaya baha-wa dalam jangka masa panjang, harga akan berlaku adil dan benar-benar setanding den-gan harga bekalan Eropah."

Satu kejayaan besar dalam rundingan datang pada hari Ahad sebagai ketua Gazprom Aleksey Miller duduk dengan rakan sejawatannya CNPC beliau, Zhou Jiping, di Beijing untuk membincangkan butiran akhir, termasuk formula harga.

Walaupun Eropah masih pasaran tenaga terbesar di Rusia - membeli lebih daripada 160 bilion meter padu gas asli Rusia pada 2013 - Moscow akan menggunakan setiap peluang untuk mempelbagaikan penghantaran gas dan meningkatkan kehadirannya di pasaran Asia.

"Saya tidak akan mencari politik di sebalik ini, tetapi saya tidak ragu-ragu yang membe-kalkan tenaga untuk Rantau Asia Pasifik memegang keluar janji yang besar pada masa depan," kata Medvedev.

Pada bulan Oktober 2009, Gazprom dan CNPC menandatangani perjanjian rangka kerja bagi projek Altai yang membayangkan membina saluran paip untuk membekalkan gas asli daripada bidang di Siberia melalui bahagian barat sempadan Rusia- China.

Pada bulan Mac 2013, Gazprom dan CNPC menandatangani memorandum persefahaman mengenai bekalan gas Rusia ke China bersama-sama 'Kuasa Siberia' timur yang dikenali sebagai laluan. Apabila kedua-dua saluran paip diaktifkan, Rusia boleh membekalkan Asia dengan 68 bilion meter padu gas setiap tahun.

Tahun lepas, China menggunakan kira-kira 170 bilion meter padu gas asli dan dijangka mengambil 420 billion meter padu setahun pada tahun 2020.

Russia and China seal historic $400bn gas deal

After 10 years of negotiations, Russia's Gazprom and China's CNPC have finally signed a historic gas deal which will provide the world's fastest growing economy with the natural gas it needs to keep pace for the next 30 years.

The total value of the contract is $400 billion, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said. However, the price of gas stipulated in the document remains a "commercial secret."

Assuming the overall price of the contract includes only the cost of supplies of Russian gas, then the $400 billion price tag means China will pay about $350 per 1,000 cubic meters. Delivery price for the contract will be tied to market oil prices, Putin said from Shanghai on Tuesday.

Infrastructure investment from both sides will be more than $70 billion and will be the world's largest construction project, with Russia providing $55 billion up front and China $22 billion for pipelines on their respective territories.

This is Gazprom's biggest contract to date.

Russia will supply China 38 billion cubic meters of gas per year via the eastern 'Power of Siberia' pipeline, which crosses Siberia and reaches China's populous northeast regions. A separate route that could deliver gas to China's western provinces and provide diversification is also in the works, according to Putin.

A memorandum of understanding was signed in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of China Xi Jinping on the second day of Putin’s two-day state visit to Shanghai.

According to Miller, the deal was set to go through at 4:00pm Shanghai time when he understood "all fundamental issues were resolved."

RT producers were informed of the landmark energy deal prior to its signing after a conversation with Miller.

The deal comes as a part of Russia’s larger-scale pivot to Asia and especially China as Western economies threaten sanctions over turmoil in Ukraine. Sanctions by the US and the EU have been mostly limited to visa bans and asset freezes on some of Russia’s top officials, while so far only threatening a so-called third round of real economic sanctions against Russian hydrocarbon businesses.

Just ahead of Putin's visit to Shanghai, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave reassurance that the agreed price would be fair.

“One side always wants to sell for a higher price, while the other wants to buy for a lower price,” Medvedev said. “I believe that in the long run, the price will be fair and totally comparable to the price of European supplies.”

A major breakthrough in negotiations came on Sunday as Gazprom chief Aleksey Miller sat down with his CNPC counterpart, Zhou Jiping, in Beijing to discuss final details, including price formulas.

Although Europe is still Russia's largest energy market – buying more than 160 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas in 2013 – Moscow will use every opportunity to diversify gas deliveries and boost its presence in Asian markets.

“I wouldn’t look for politics behind this, but I have no doubt that supplying energy to the Asia Pacific Region holds out a great promise in the future,” Medvedev said.

In October 2009, Gazprom and CNPC inked a framework agreement for the Altai project which envisions building a pipeline to supply natural gas from fields in Siberia via the western part of the Russia-China border.

In March 2013, Gazprom and CNPC signed a memorandum of understanding on Russian gas supplies to China along the so-called eastern 'Power of Siberia' route. When both pipelines are activated, Russia can supply Asia with 68 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

Last year, China consumed about 170 billion cubic meters of natural gas and is expected to consume 420 billion cubic meters per year by 2020.


BRICS tango (Venture Capital) . . .



SitiWanMahani - Argentina mahu menyertai Rusia, China, India, Brazil dan Afrika Selatan sebagai ahli kumpulan BRICS yang negara-negara membangun. Katie Pilbeam menyiasat jika ini akan mengukuhkan pakatan berbanding dolar Amerika Syarikat yang besar. Plus, Rusia mahu tunai di depan untuk gas untuk Ukraine, dan China mahu membina sebuah keretapi terus ke Amerika Syarikat.

BRICS tango (Venture Capital) . . .

Argentina wants to join Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa as a member of the BRICS group of developing nations. Katie Pilbeam investigates if this would strengthen the alliance against the mighty U.S. dollar. Plus, Russia wants cash up front for its gas to Ukraine, and China wants to build a direct railway to the U.S.

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