Russian troops conduct exercises near Ukraine border

Fri., March 14, 2014

Mike Eckel Associated Press

Partisan fight stalls aid

WASHINGTON – Even areas of agreement in Congress get snarled in political gamesmanship.

That’s what’s happening to a $1 billion Ukraine loan package that has widespread support but is stalled by a partisan fight over other issues, including the Internal Revenue Service’s regulation of political activity.

As a result, Congress is now expected to recess for a week without approving the loan guarantees to the new government in Ukraine.

Trouble hit when both Democrats and Republicans used the popular aid package as a vehicle to push through more divisive items that otherwise would not have had much of a chance.

Democrats want to attach International Monetary Fund reforms sought by the White House that would allow additional loan-making capacity, which in turn could send further assistance to Ukraine. Republicans are not necessarily opposed to the IMF changes, but they see the issue as not directly related to the current crisis in the Ukraine.

And Republicans decided that if the White House is going to muscle through one of its priorities, they want something in return: a delay of pending IRS regulations that govern the political activity of tax-exempt social welfare groups. Stopping the IRS’ reach into the groups’ affairs has been a priority for Republicans.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Republicans were holding up aid so they could “protect the Koch brothers,” the billionaire industrialists affiliated with some of the leading social welfare groups that align with Republican interests.

Without a compromise, the aid package is not expected to be approved by Congress before lawmakers recess for the week. They’ll likely try again when they return at the end of the month.

McClatchy-Tribune

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine – Russia conducted new military maneuvers near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, and President Vladimir Putin said the world shouldn’t blame his country for what he called Ukraine’s “internal crisis.”

In Crimea, where the public will vote on Sunday whether to break away from Ukraine and become part of Russia, jittery residents lined up at their banks to withdraw cash from their accounts amid uncertainty over the future of the peninsula, which Russian troops now control. Violence engulfed the eastern Donetsk region, where violent clashes between pro-Russia demonstrators and supporters of the Ukrainian government left at least one person dead.

“These people are afraid their bank will collapse and no one wants to lose their money,” said resident Tatiana Sivukhina. “Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plan to meet in London today in a last-ditch bid to end the international standoff over the Crimean referendum, which Ukraine and the West have rejected as illegitimate.

On Wednesday, Moscow rejected the Ukrainian government’s claim that a massive Russian military buildup near the countries’ border was raising the threat of a possible invasion.

But on Thursday, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that thousands of Russian troops in the regions of Rostov, Belgorod, Kursk and Tambov bordering Ukraine are involved in the exercises, which will continue until the end of the month.

In the southern Rostov region, the maneuvers involved parachuting in 1,500 troops, the ministry said. The drills included the military conducting large artillery exercises involving 8,500 soldiers and artillery and rocket systems in the south.

During the Ukrainian crisis, the U.S. has sent additional fighter jets to Poland and Lithuania. Russian responded on Thursday by deploying six fighter jets to Belarus, its ally.

Ukraine’s parliament voted Thursday to create a 60,000-strong National Guard to help protect the country as its under-staffed and under-funded military was in disarray.

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