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「戦争から復興を遂げた日本のことを、同じアジアの仲間として、アフガニスタンの人たちは好意的に見ています。戦後の日本は、武力でほかの国を攻撃することなく、カンボジアの和平などにも大きな役割を果たしてきました。日本こそが、平和的な手段でアフガニスタンの人たちの派閥争いを終わらせ、生活基盤の改善にも寄与することができる可能性を持っていると、私は考えています。将来、アフガニスタンの人々が自立した生活を送れるようになり、文化財の観光への活用や地域の活性化が進む。そこに文化への理解が生まれるのであれば、こんなにすばらしいことはないでしょう」。
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140303#1393843967
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140302#1393756716
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140226#1393410964
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140220#1392894216
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140219#1392807125
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混乱が続くウクライナからロシアに避難する人が急増している。ロシア連邦移民庁によると、１〜２月にロシアに入国したウクライナ人は計６７万５０００人。ウクライナに隣接するロシア南部のロストフ州とクルスク州では、２月のウクライナからの入国者数が前月比でそれぞれ５３％、７１％増加した。
また、ロシアへの亡命を申請するウクライナ人も増えており、２月後半の２週間で約１４万３０００人に上ったという。ウクライナの混乱が続けば、難民の数が急増するとみられ、ロストフ州などでは受け入れ施設の確保を進めている。
675,000 Ukrainians pour into Russia as ‘humanitarian crisis’ looms ― RT News
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ウクライナ海軍総司令官が投降、親ロシア派に忠誠 | Reuters
ロシアが軍事行動を拡大するウクライナ南部クリミア半島で２日、ウクライナ海軍のベレゾフスキー総司令官が親ロシア派に投降し、セバストポリにある海軍本部を明け渡した。総司令官は１日に暫定政権が任命したばかり。
ロシアのテレビは、ベレゾフスキー氏が親ロシア派のクリミア指導者に忠誠を誓う様子を放映した。これに対し、ウクライナ側は国家反逆罪に当たるとして捜査を始めた。
Crimea forms its own fleet as Ukraine Navy chief sides with region ― RT News
Ukrainian warships voluntarily leave Sevastopol: sources ― RT News
About 10 Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet ships have left the naval base in Sevastopol, with several vessels now heading to Odessa, administrative sources have said. The ships left the base voluntarily but some of them broke down and returned, they claimed.
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緊迫した状況が続くウクライナ情勢を巡っては、ロシア系住民が多い南部のクリミア自治共和国に駐留するロシア軍の部隊が駐留地の外での活動を活発化させるなど、現地を掌握する動きを強めています。
これに対して、Ｇ７＝先進７か国やＥＵ＝ヨーロッパ連合の首脳は２日、声明を発表しました。
この中で日本を含むＧ７首脳らは、ロシアがウクライナの主権や領土の保全を明確に侵害していると非難したうえで、当事者すべてに対し、最大限自制し、緊張を緩和するよう求めています。
そのうえで、ことし６月にロシアのソチで予定されているＧ８サミットに向けた準備作業への参加を当面中断することを決めたとしています。
さらにドイツのメルケル首相も２日、ロシアのプーチン大統領と電話で会談し、この中でメルケル首相は、駐留地の外でのロシア軍の活動をやめるよう重ねて要求したうえで、対話に向けて現地調査団の派遣などを提案しました。
これに対してプーチン大統領は、メルケル首相の提案を受け入れた一方、「ウクライナ国内のロシア系住民は、極端に過激なグループから重大な脅威にさらされている」と主張したうえで「ロシアが取っている対応は全く適切なものだ」と正当性を強調したということです。
Ｇ７、ロシアによるウクライナへの主権侵害を非難 | Reuters
主要７カ国（Ｇ７）は２日、共同声明を発表し、ロシアによるウクライナへの主権侵害を非難し、６月にソチで開催予定のＧ８サミットの準備を中止することを決定した。
Ｇ７はロシアに対して、ウクライナと直接対話および国際機関による仲介を通じて、人権や安全保障に関する懸念を払しょくするよう求めた。
【ウクライナ情勢】独外相、露のＧ８除外には慎重姿勢「緊張緩和に寄与するのか」 - MSN産経ニュース
ドイツのシュタインマイヤー外相は２日、ウクライナ情勢をめぐり、ケリー米国務長官が言及したロシアの主要国（Ｇ８）からの除外の可能性について、「ウクライナの緊張緩和に寄与するのか、（事態を）深刻化させることはないのか考えてみるべきだ」と語り、慎重な姿勢を示した。ドイツ公共放送ＡＲＤのインタビューに語った。
外相はＧ８除外問題は「首脳間で協議するテーマだ」と断わった上で、「欧米とロシアが唯一直接話し合う枠組み」であるＧ８を「本当に犠牲にすべきか」と疑問を呈し、「さらなる緊張を回避することはまだ可能だ」と述べた。
【ウクライナ情勢】メルケル首相、深い懸念を表明 独露首脳会談 - MSN産経ニュース
独政府報道官によると、メルケル氏は事態沈静化のため、欧州安保協力機構（ＯＳＣＥ）などが主導する調査団のウクライナ派遣や連絡グループの設立などを提案し、プーチン氏も受け入れたという。
【ウクライナ情勢】軍投入は「完全に適切だ」とロ大統領 独首相と電話会談 - MSN産経ニュース
メルケル氏は主要国（Ｇ８）からロシアを除外する動きをみせる米、英などと距離を置いた形だ。
米国などＧ８主要４カ国がソチで６月に開催予定のＧ８首脳会議に向けた準備会合への参加を見合わせる方針を決定した。ドイツ、日本、イタリアは態度を明確にしていない。
【ウクライナ情勢】米国務長官「露、Ｇ８から除外も」 準備会合不参加で４カ国一致 - MSN産経ニュース
Ｇ８のうち米国とカナダ、フランス、英国の４カ国がロシア南部ソチで６月開催予定のＧ８首脳会議に向けた準備会合への参加について見合わせる方針を決定した。
米大統領が英独ポーランド首脳と会談、ロシアの行動に「深刻な懸念」 | Reuters
オバマ米大統領は、ウクライナへのロシアの対応をめぐり、英国、ドイツ、ポーランドの首脳と個別に電話会談を行った。各首脳はこの問題で「深刻な懸念」を表明。国際法違反で、国際社会の平和と安全保障に対する脅威との認識で一致した。
ホワイトハウスの声明によると、会談では国際社会が適宜仲介し、ウクライナとロシアが即時に対話を開始すべきだとの認識が示された。
４カ国の首脳は、ウクライナと、同国が５月実施する選挙に向けた取り組みを支援することを強調。経済の安定化に向け、対ウクライナ金融支援で協力することを約束した。
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ウクライナが戦闘準備態勢 ロシア軍はクリミア半島に展開 | Reuters
ウクライナの安全保障会議は、即座に警戒態勢に入るよう全軍に指示したが、ウクライナ軍は規模や装備の面でロシアに大きく劣るとみられている。
ウクライナ国防省は予備役の召集を実施する予定で、基本的に４０歳までの男性全員が徴兵される見通し。ただ、新たに招集される兵士向けの銃や制服の確保は難しいとみられる。
米国のケリー国務長官は、ロシアの動きを「信じがたい侵略行為」だと強く非難し、経済制裁を検討すると警告した。長官はＣＢＳの番組で「理由をでっち上げて他国を侵略する１９世紀のような行為を２１世紀にすべきでない」と述べた。
ケリー長官はまた、ロシア政府はまだ危機解消に向けた「正しい選択」をすることができると指摘。そうしない場合、主要８カ国（Ｇ８）やその他の国がロシアに経済制裁を科す用意があると述べた。長官は「これらの国はロシアを経済的に孤立させる用意がある。ルーブルはすでに下落している。ロシアは大きな経済的問題を抱えている」と述べ、貿易面での制裁のほか、査証（ビザ）発給禁止、資産凍結などの措置に言及した。
アナリストは、ロシアと貿易面でより深い関係を持ち、ロシア産のガスに依存する欧州の主要国による厳しい制裁を伴わなければ、米国による経済制裁がロシアに与える影響は小さいとみている。
ロシア政府の報道官は、ケリー米国務長官の発言に対するコメントを差し控えた。
ＮＡＴＯ大使は２日にブリュッセルで緊急会合を開き、ロシアに対し、軍隊を基地に帰還させ、ウクライナに軍事介入しないよう求めた。ただ、ＮＡＴＯはウクライナの状況に「重大な懸念」を示す一方で、ロシアに圧力をかけるための有効な措置について合意するには至らなかった。
ＮＡＴＯは「われわれは双方に対し、国際社会が仲介する二国間対話と、国連安保理あるいは欧州安全保障協力機構（ＯＳＣＥ）による国際監視団の派遣を通じ、平和的解決を模索するよう求める」とする声明を発表した。
米当局者は２日、ウクライナに対して米国が政治・経済面で支援する意向があることを伝えるため、ケリー国務長官が４日、ウクライナの首都キエフを訪問する、と明らかにした。
米国、ウクライナ問題で軍事介入視野に入れず＝米政府当局者 | Reuters
米国はロシアのウクライナへの介入阻止に向け、経済・政治・外交面での措置を検討しており、軍事介入は選択肢にない。米当局者が記者団に明らかにした。
アメリカのケリー国務長官は２日、ＡＢＣテレビの番組に出演し、ロシアの軍事的な動きについて、「国際法に違反する恥知らずな侵略行為だ」と強く非難しました。
さらに、「１９世紀のようなふるまいで、ロシアのＧ８＝主要８か国としての立場に疑問を呈するものだ」と述べ、ロシアがＧ８の地位を失うこともありうるという認識を示しました。
そのうえで、「ロシアが軍を撤収させないなら深刻な影響を招くだろう」と述べ、国際社会と連携して、ロシアに対して、資産の凍結やビザの発給停止などの経済制裁を検討していく考えを示しました。
また、ケリー長官は「オバマ大統領は、あらゆる選択肢をテーブルの上に置いている」と述べ、軍事的な措置も排除しない構えを示しましたが、「アメリカや世界中のすべての人々が軍事的な対立にエスカレートしないことを望んでいる」と述べ、外交的な解決を目指す姿勢を強調しました。
【ウクライナ情勢】ＮＡＴＯ介入は「実効不能」 米指導力の低下、顕著に - MSN産経ニュース
ＮＡＴＯによる軍事介入は、西欧諸国を主導する米国とロシアとの直接衝突につながりかねず、実行に移すのは極めて困難だ。
ウクライナは１９９０年代後半以降、ＮＡＴＯから軍近代化の支援を受けてきたほか、アフガニスタンでもＮＡＴＯ軍主体のＩＳＡＦ（国際治安支援部隊）に駐留部隊を派遣している。ウクライナが攻撃され、地域の混乱が広がれば、欧州の安全保障情勢にも重大な影響を及ぼすのは必至だ。
ただ、ウクライナはＮＡＴＯ加盟国でないため、ウクライナが攻撃されても、ＮＡＴＯがただちに集団的自衛権に基づく軍事行動を起こすことはない。緊急理事会は、同国支援の方策について協議し、ＮＡＴＯとしての結束を確認し、ロシアを牽制（けんせい）するとみられる。
ロシアがクリミア半島で実態の明らかでない隠密作戦を進めているとみられる現状で、ＮＡＴＯが具体的な措置をとるのは難しい。しかし今後、ロシアがクリミア半島だけでなく、ロシア系住民が多いウクライナ東部でも軍事作戦を展開する事態となれば、先に同国の「主権と領土の一体性を支持する」と表明したＮＡＴＯも、軍事介入の検討に踏み切るとみられる。
だが、ＮＡＴＯを実質的に束ねる米国では、米露の直接対決につながる米軍の軍事介入について、保守派の間でも「実行不能な選択肢」（ヘリテージ財団のスティーブン・ブッチ外交安全保障政策センター長）との見方が支配的だ。
それ以前に、米国内の長期的な厭戦（えんせん）気分と国防予算の削減を背景に、オバマ大統領は「世界の警察官」という役割を放棄している。
Ukraine crisis gives NATO, West no good options | Reuters
Any Western direct military action would risk a war between nuclear superpowers. Ukraine's relatively small and underequipped forces could take action but would risk inciting a much wider Russian invasion that could overrun the country.
Russian forces without official insignia have taken control of key facilities in Ukraine's Black Sea Crimean peninsula over the past three days and surrounded Ukrainian military units.
The best that can now be done, some current and former officials say, is to avoid a further escalation that sees Moscow take over industrialized eastern Ukraine - also mainly Russian-speaking and far larger and more economically significant.
Washington and other NATO powers must also find a way to reassure increasingly flustered Eastern European states - particularly the former Soviet Baltics - that their defense guarantees will be honored, without escalating tensions.
The risk of missteps is high. As well as conventional forces, Russia could cut off gas supplies to Europe, which run through Ukraine, and is believed to have sophisticated cyber attack capabilities it could turn on Ukraine or the West.
"This is arguably the most dangerous situation in Europe since the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968," said one Western official on condition of anonymity. "With troops at high readiness on exercise in (Russia's) western military district they are in a strong position."
Last week, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe U.S. General Philip Breedlove told reporters the alliance had no military plans to support Ukraine if attacked.
In an article for Foreign Policy magazine on Saturday, Breedlove's predecessor said that should quickly change.
"The hope is that cooler heads will prevail," retired Admiral James Stavridis wrote. "However, hope is not a strategy, and therefore further action should be considered. Planning is vital to laying out options to decision makers, and NATO's military planners should have a busy weekend at least."
NATO ambassadors held emergency talks in Brussels on Sunday with European foreign ministers to meet on Monday.
Ukraine participates in various NATO operations and has formed a consultative commission with the alliance. Officials say the commission may meet in the coming days and could request that NATO headquarters begins some contingency planning.
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【ウクライナ情勢】新政権はや機能不全…東部でデモ頻発、第２野党は閣僚なし - MSN産経ニュース
２月２７日に暫定内閣が発足したウクライナの新体制が早くも機能不全の様相を呈している。ヤヌコビッチ前政権を崩壊させた旧野党勢力は足並みがそろわず、野党第２党「ウダル」は閣僚候補を出さなかった。
２５日付の米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズ（電子版）は、釈放されたティモシェンコ元首相率いる「祖国」や「ウダル」など、主要３党には政策面での共通点に乏しい上、前政権を崩壊に追い込んだキエフの独立広場に陣取るデモ隊といった新勢力の存在などにより、「厳しい交渉」を余儀なくされたと伝えていた。
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Twitter / SophieCo_RT: Due to breaking news on #Ukraine
Due to breaking news on #Ukraine interview with @rogerkver about #Bitcoin postponed. Will let everybody know when to watch out for that one.
Twitter / SophieCo_RT: Just spoke with Russian senator
Just spoke with Russian senator Klimov from Foreign Affairs Committee on the latest developments in #Crimea. On air tonight @RT_com
Twitter / SophieCo_RT: '#Russia is NOT after any
'#Russia is NOT after any territories, we're big enough' - Senator Klimov, Foreign Affairs Cmte #Crimea #Ukraine http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/west-ukraine-turmoil-crisis-500/
Ukraine is on a brink of humanitarian catastrophe. Ultranationalists are in the lead in Kiev after a coup d’etat saw the overthrow of the President. Crimea along with half of the country refuses to accept the new authorities. And now, Russian senators decided to give the President the right to move troops in the region to protect the Russian speakers threatened by the rise of Nazis. What will tomorrow hold for Ukraine? What role will Russia play in the drama? Will it be necessary to use force? To find out, Sophie is joined by Andrey Klimov, Russian senator, and member of the foreign affairs committee.
Sophie Shevardnadze: And our guest today is Andrey Klimov, Russian senator, member of the foreign affairs committee – it’s really great to have you with us. So we just going to start from the latest news: why did you guys approve the possibility of sending Russian troops?
Andrey Klimov: First of all, because according to our Constitution this is our right to do. Only the Council of Federation can, so to say, give permission to our president to send our troops out of our country, or to move our troops inside this or that foreign state. To give these rights to the president, he addressed us and it was our response to that address, so now we have everything according to our Constitution, according to the article 102 of the Constitution of the Russian federation.
SS: But do explain to our viewers why did you all decide to actually approve this bill?
AK: Our task is to protect our compatriots, out of Russia, and to protect our soldiers, our marines stationed in Crimea. This is according to another law, which is the Defense Law of Russian Federation, article 10. This is the very situation of this law, according to this article. And, certainly to protect them we have to have some flexibility to do that, and even if we cross a kind of red line somewhere in Crimea, it may be an outlaw case if we have no such kind of permission. Now we have such permission and we can protect our compatriots, our citizens of the Russian Federation and our military troops inside Crimea.
SS: But as of now we are talking about permission, and I want to emphasize the word “permission”…
AK: Absolutely.
SS: …Because the troops haven’t been deployed yet, and even the approval doesn’t mean that troops will be deployed at all…
AK: This is only a kind of demonstration of an instrument, how we can do it, and this is the official possibility to realize that, to implement that instrument. But it is not the order for our troops there, of course not.
SS: But what we are seeing from the Western media is an overblown reaction, saying that Russia is occupying Ukraine – why do you think there’s such an acute reaction to something that hasn’t even happened yet?
AK: Either they do not know the real things or they lie – and that’s it.
SS: What needs to happen for the Russian troops actually to be deployed in Crimea, give me the scenario?
AK: I prefer not to speak about things which may be. I am a practical politician so my task is to make a decision when we have the reality.
SS: Yes, but you have approved and given the right to the Russian troops to be deployed, so you must have a scenario…
AK: No, no. Look, we have our commander in-chief, President Putin, who can send orders to our forces, directly. Parliamentarians – we have no such rights, so we know for sure that without our decision it is not possible to protect in a proper way our military people and our civilians there, and that’s it.
SS: I know you are being very diplomatic, because this is your job, but you must have a certain picture in your head, why you’ve approved it, in case of what, exactly.
AK: Well, if I am speaking from my personal point, of course, not like a senator or a member of foreign affairs committee…
SS: Yes, exactly.
AK: …my personal opinion is such: we know that it is a real civil war now on Ukrainian territory, we know well that there are a lot of people, thousands and thousands of people with weapons, whom we do not know and who are not the part of the official military forces of Ukraine, and to protect our – even missiles, what we have there in Crimea – our military ships, our military base, we have to be sure that we can really do that even in case if they open fire. I’d like to remind you one scenario which happened exactly 6 years ago in Caucasus. There, our people, our soldiers, were in Tskhinvali, and they tried to protect their small base without heavy weapons under killing fire and we do not want to repeat this kind of scenario. We prefer to prepare better for that very negative scenario, of course, but we have to be prepared to protect our people there.
SS: So the Russian Parliament’s approval to actually deploy military forces in Ukraine states that troops may stay there until the situation in Ukraine is completely stabilized. What exactly needs to happen for the situation in Ukraine to be considered stable?
AK: This will be decision of our President, because this is now his responsibility to say when it will finish, but I can say there are some points anyhow: first of all we have to understand well that we are speaking not with the provisional government, but with something more constant than it. We have to know who is the real president of Ukraine, but not the guy who is sitting now in the Parliament, because it is not according to their own Constitution, not the last one, not the previous one. Then we have to see their streets free from any military people, even if they are from Maidan, I don’t know, from what other armies they can have, but better to say, they have to go back to the declaration signed at 21st of February, more or less, on the same conditions, then we will understand that the situation is really under control of the people of this country, rather than under somebody’s else.
SS: Tell me please; does the decision to step in run contrary to the 1994 international agreement on the status of Ukraine when Russia, the UK and US have agreed to guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integrity?
AK: We still guarantee this territorial integrity; we are not speaking about something that is not under this agreement. We are speaking about the possibility of people in Ukraine to solve their problems themselves, without any pressure from abroad, without any pressure from the crowd of criminals, without any pressure from the streets – according to their Constitution, and that’s it. And if people prefer to have a Federation or Confederation – it is up to them. If they prefer to give more rights to the autonomy in Crimea, this is their right. We are not speaking about something else.
SS:So there is no talk about secession, would Russia not consider taking in Crimea as Russian territory?
AK: Of course not, it is not possible at all.
SS: Why not?
AK: We respect the state, as a state, as a part of the European society, as a member of Council of Europe, as a member of the UN, and we are speaking always about territorial integrity of this country. But, of course, the political structure of this country, the pision of this country, the administrative reforms of this country – everything is in hands of people, but not just a small group of politicians sitting somewhere in the square.
SS: Just a few days ago Russian parliament also simplified the procedure of other territories to join Russian Federation territories – what was that about?
AK: No, no. Look… I am one of the authors of the law, which was adopted about 12 years ago by the State Duma, and there are some procedures how it may be theoretically, not that we are speaking about Ukrainian people, not that we are speaking about Belorussia – we are generally speaking. There are a lot of procedures on how to do that, and I can say that we have no such conditions now, we are speaking about today, and maybe the day after or month after, but now I cannot say that this is really the case. Moreover, I can tell that the strategy of my country is not to have more territories, but to have integration in Eurasia, based on principles when we respect each other, when each country has its own voice, when we have our decision only when we have the balance of interests, and this is the idea of the new Eurasia economic union – so this is our dream, so to say, if you like, but not to take part of one country and to make our greatest, biggest country even bigger than it is. It is stupid idea, indeed.
SS: I want to get back to Crimea. Most of the people in Crimea speak Russian, so do people in other regions of Ukraine, but then we have the post-Yanukovich parliament, the new parliament, and the first decision that they took was to strip Russian language of regional status. Why do you think that happened, why this was the first decision?
AK: Maybe they opened their real face; these people opened their real face. In XXI century I cannot imagine any serious politicians in the world who would like to start with such kind of actions. It was not a mistake, it was really a demonstration of the main aims of the people sitting now in their parliament and who name themselves the Parliament of Ukraine. I cannot say that these people were ready to look through all possible scenarios which may happen after their decision, and that is why the next day or maybe about a week after, even in Lvov people prefer to speak Russian – usually they prefer to speak their own language there; but after this strange, very provocative decision they opened Pandora’s box and they pressed people from their houses to the streets not just in Crimea, but in all eastern parts of this country.
SS: Well, the members of the nationalist Svoboda party have threatened to obtain nuclear weapons if Russia doesn’t back down – do you take this threat seriously?
AK: They have a lot of crazy people there, so, it seems to me, if we’d like to comment on…
SS: But does the fact that they are crazy make this threat less serious?
AK: Well, unfortunately crazy people may really have some power, but I believe that when we are speaking about nuclear weapons, even our Western colleagues will be not so active as they were during the previous events on Maidan square.
SS: What exactly do you mean?
AK: I mean that the nuclear question is too serious and if anybody likes to play games with such kind of perspectives, if we are speaking about… well, first of all, let’s remind that they have no nuclear weapons, but they have nuclear power stations.
SS: Well, that’s what I am saying; there are 4 nuclear stations in Ukraine.
AK: I know what you are speaking about. I can tell you that not only these power stations are very dangerous, they have a lot of chemicals, they have a lot of dangerous plants, and we have to be sure that near our borders, in our neighbor state all of these dangerous places are protected in a proper way.
SS: Russia’s ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin has called on all sides to help curb the activity of radical forces operating in Ukraine. Why do you think that we are not seeing any response on this particular problem from the West?
AK: Well, I can tell you that we started in December with our proposals to open negotiations between the three sides, in triangle, between Moscow, Brussels and Kiev. Unfortunately, our partners in Europe prefer to do it in a wrong way, so to speak, with Kiev separately and with Moscow separately. Now we offer them this kind of negotiations, we’d like to have a round table, including western politicians, including western decision-makes – and this seems to me the only way out and the only peaceful way out.
SS: President Obama as of now has threatened unspecified costs if Russia enters Crimea – what might these costs be, what do you think?
AK: First of all it seems to me that Mr. Obama must look at himself and it seems to me that his colleagues in Washington and in the EU were too provocative during all the previous days, weeks and even months and it seems to me that with their support we received this crisis, so they have to pay these costs, and this is not just a computer game, you see. We are speaking about very serious things which happen not somewhere, I don’t know, 5 thousand miles from Washington, but we are speaking about things which are really near our house. We know well what’s happened there and we are ready to react, because these are not just our neighbor’s, these are our brothers, and certainly to help our brothers, if you like, to help our own people to go out of this very dangerous situation, we’d like to do everything in the best way, in a proper way. But, well, again, it seems to me that Mr. Obama – he and his colleagues – they are responsible for the hot state of this crisis.
SS: But the international community is calling on all sides to engage in dialog. Who should Russia speak to? The new Ukrainian government?
AK: I am not sure that this provisional government really has any power, any serious power now, but anyhow, we need somebody with whom we can speak there. So, we need some time, and maybe with the help of our European partners and our partners from Washington, on the platform of the UN just to find the real way out, because we must have this solution, we have must have it for the benefit of the peace of the world, the globe, and I hope that this too provocative activity of the western politicians will be over. This is the way out, we do not want to receive next step of this civil war. We would like to close this Pandora’s Box.
SS: The Ukrainian parliament is actually preparing to sign an association agreement with the EU one more time – you work closely with the EU, why do you think the EU needs right now a politically unstable, pided country that’s on the verge of bankruptcy?
AK: It seems to me that this is decision which is based not on the economical situation, but on some political ambitions of Western politicians, but its very serious remark – all of them, I mean, mr. Barroso, mr. Rompuy, the European Parliament will be out of their offices in few months; in May there will be elections to the new parliament and they have to have new leaders of this European Union, so we prefer to speak with the new politicians about some strategic things. But, anyhow, as my point, the EU – it has not enough money for that, it has not enough support even inside the EU from their member states to realize all this, so to say, programs which they promised to the Ukrainian side.
SS: Just really quickly, so you think that new people in the EU government will be against Ukraine’s accession in the EU?
AK: Anyhow, I am very sure about that, it is not possible to see Ukraine inside the EU because this is out of the main interest of the member states of this Union. This is not because of the position of Moscow, they’ll never accept them as an equal member state inside the European Union.
SS: Thank you very much for this interview, this was Russian senator Andrey Klimov from the foreign affairs committee of the Russia’s Upper House of Parliament, we were talking about the situation in Crimea, what may happen, what’s going on right now. That’s it for this edition of Sophie&Co, stay with us for the next time.
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Karzai says Afghan war not fought in his country's interest: report | Reuters
Expressing "extreme anger" toward the U.S. government, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview with the Washington Post that the war in Afghanistan was not fought with his country's interests in mind.
"Afghans died in a war that's not ours,' Karzai said in the interview published on Sunday, just a month before an election to pick his successor.
He was quoted as saying he was certain the 12-year-old war, America's longest and launched after the attacks of September 11, 2001, was "for the U.S. security and for the Western interest."
US-led Afghan war for 'Western interests' - Karzai ― RT News
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Rule by oligarchs: Kiev appoints billionaires to govern east ― RT News
The self-proclaimed government in Kiev has appointed two of Ukraine’s richest men to govern large industrial regions in the defiant east. One of the reasons for the Maidan protest was the influence the rich have on politics in the country.
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140302#1393756689
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140302#1393756703
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/d1021/20140302#1393756712
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Hundreds arrested at Keystone XL White House sit-in protest ― RT USA
Several hundred people have been arrested during a peaceful protest in Washington DC after they strapped themselves to the White House fence and laid out their demands on Pennsylvania Avenue in protest against the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.
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米紙またまた安倍首相批判 「日米関係に深刻な脅威」 ＮＹタイムズ - MSN産経ニュース
米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズ（電子版）は２日、安倍晋三首相の姿勢を「ナショナリズム（国家主義）」と指摘し、日米関係の「ますます深刻な脅威になっている」と批判する社説を掲載した。同紙の社説は、これまで数回にわたり、安倍氏の「国家主義」が危険だと訴えている。
２日の社説は歴史問題に対する安倍首相の姿勢が日本周辺の「地域に対する危険な挑発」になっているとした。米国は日米安保条約に基づき日本を守ろうとしている一方、日中の紛争に引き込まれることは望んでおらず、安倍氏が米国の利益を忘れているとした。
安倍首相が第２次大戦の「歴史をごまかそうとしている」と批判。さらに「彼（安倍首相）と他の国家主義者たちは、いまだに南京大虐殺は全く起きなかったと主張している」との見解を示した。
Mr. Abe's Dangerous Revisionism - NYTimes.com
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s brand of nationalism is a becoming an ever more serious threat to Japan’s relations with the United States. His use of revisionist history is a dangerous provocation for the region, which is already struggling with China’s aggressive stance in territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas.
Mr. Abe, however, seems oblivious to this reality and to the interests of the United States, which is committed to defend Japan by treaty obligation and does not want to be dragged into a conflict between China and Japan.
Mr. Abe’s nationalism can be hard to decipher, because it is not directed against any country. It is directed instead against Japan’s own history since World War II, which he finds shameful. He wants to shed what he calls the self-effacing postwar regime and recreate a renewed patriotism.
But before he gets to Japan’s postwar culture, he also whitewashes the history of the war. He and other nationalists still claim that the Nanjing massacre by Japanese troops in 1937 never happened. His government on Friday said that it would re-examine and possible rescind an apology to Korean women who were forced into sexual servitude by Japanese troops. And he insists that visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead including convicted war criminals, merely shows respect for those who sacrificed their lives for their country. Despite clear signals from Washington to refrain from visiting the shrine, he went in December.
A confrontational relationship with China at this time could help him convince a deeply pacifist people of the need for heightened defense preparedness. It seems a peculiarity of Japan that those who advocate a greater military posture tend to overlap with historical revisionists. Mr. Abe’s nationalism aside, however, neither he nor other mainstream Japanese leaders are about to enhance Japan’s military capabilities without American consent because they are deeply committed to the U.S.-Japan security alliance.
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米著名投資家バフェット氏が大型買収検討、13年は過去最高益 | Reuters
同氏は株主向け書簡で「米国にとり最良の日々が待ち受けている」とし「米国の繁栄が継続するとの前提に立つ賭けでは、ほぼ確実に勝てるとこれまで常に考えていた」と述べ、「海外への投資も行っているが、チャンスの鉱脈は米国にある」と指摘した。
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ウクライナ、ロシア産ガスの対欧州輸送を通常通り実施 | Reuters
ウクライナの天然ガス独占企業、ウクルトランスガスは３日、ロシア産天然ガスの対欧州輸送を通常通り実施していると明らかにした。
ウクライナがロシア産ガスの輸入拡大、値上げに備え | Reuters
同社の広報担当は「ロシアからの輸入を大幅に増やしている。３月１日の輸入量は４５００万立方メートル。前年同日は２０００万立方メートルだった」と述べた。輸入を増やしている理由は明らかにしなかった。
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ロシア領内に装甲車が集結＝ウクライナ国境警備隊 | Reuters
ウクライナ国境警備隊は３日、クリミア半島の対岸に位置するロシア領に装甲車が集結していると表明した。
装甲車が集結しているのは、クリミア半島にあるウクライナの都市ケルチの対岸のロシアのフェリー港付近。
また国境警備隊によると、クリミア半島にあるウクライナの都市セヴァストポリ付近でも、ロシアの艦船に動きがみられる。セヴァストポリにはロシアの海軍基地がある。
ロシア軍は一部地域の携帯電話通信も遮断しているという。
Putin builds up armor near Crimea, Russian assets plummet | Reuters
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Russian option to send troops is only to protect human rights - Lavrov ― RT News
Russia’s decision to allow troops to be sent to Ukraine is meant to deter radicals from using violence in the country and to facilitate reconciliation, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
He dismissed the interpretation of the move by Western powers as an act of aggression on the part of Moscow and called on the West to stop using human rights as a pretext for pursuing geopolitical goals.
“I reiterate, we are talking here about protection of our citizens and compatriots, about protection of the most fundamental of the human rights – the right to live, and nothing more,” Lavrov told on Tuesday the UN Council on Human Rights in Geneva.
“Those who try to interpret the situation as an act of aggression, threaten us with sanctions and boycotts, are the same partners who have been consistently and vigorously encouraging the political powers close to them to declare ultimatums and renounce dialogue, to ignore the concerns of the south and east of Ukraine and consequently to the polarization of the Ukrainian society,” the minister charged.
Lavrov said Russia’s position on the Ukrainian debacle is that the self-proclaimed government in Kiev must comply with its obligations under an agreement, signed on February 21 by President Yanukovich, opposition leaders and foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland. Yanukovich held his end of the bargain, but the opposition didn’t, the FM stressed.
“The opposition did nothing. The illegal arms have not been relinquished, the government buildings and streets of Kiev have not been completely freed, radicals maintain control of cities. Instead of a promised national unity government a ‘government of the victors’ has been created,” he said.
Lavrov called on Kiev to return to the February 21 agreement and conduct a constitutional reform, which would include participants from all regions of Ukraine. The reform should be approved in a nationwide referendum, he said.
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ウクライナ南部のクリミア半島は、黒海に面した戦略上重要な拠点として何世紀にもわたって係争が続いてきた地域です。
１８世紀にオスマン帝国からロシア帝国に併合されたあと、１８５０年代には列強の勢力争いを背景に、ロシアとイギリスやフランスなどとの間で行われた戦場となりました。
この「クリミア戦争」は、ナイチンゲールが献身的な看護を行ったことでも知られています。
ロシア帝国の崩壊後は、ソビエトに引き継がれ、温暖な気候で保養地としても人気が高い南部ヤルタでは、第２次世界大戦の戦後処理について話し合う連合国の会談も行われました。
１９５４年にソビエトの当時の指導者、フルシチョフがロシア共和国からウクライナ共和国にクリミア半島の帰属を移しましたが、１９９１年にソビエトが崩壊し、ウクライナが独立すると、ロシアとウクライナの間で帰属を巡る対立が始まりました。
現在、住民のおよそ６割をロシア系が占め、親ロシア色が強い地域となっていて、ロシアは協定に基づき、半島内の軍港、セバストポリに黒海艦隊を駐留させています。
クリミア半島での黒海艦隊の駐留を巡っては、最近でも、親欧米、反ロシアの立場をとっていたユーシェンコ政権が、協定の期限が２０１７年に切れしだい、港から出て行くべきだと主張していましたが、その後就任した親ロシア派のヤヌコービッチ氏が協定の延長をさらに２５年間認めるなど、駆け引きが続いてきました。
