Listen to Jeff Deist on “Butler on Business”
Jeff was on Alan Butler’s show earlier this week. To listen click here.
Ukraine’s overdue gas bill to Gazprom is now $2 billion
As Hurriyet reports, Turkish authorities have given permission to a U.S. Navy warship to pass through the Bosphorus within the next two days as fears grow that the standoff between Russia and Ukraine and the West over Crimea could soon become militarized.
Turkish sources, speaking with the Hürriyet Daily News on March 5, declined to elaborate on the name of the U.S. warship. The same officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, however, noted that it was not the USS George H.W. Bush nuclear aircraft carrier as suggested in some news reports, as it did not meet the standards specified by the 1936 Montreux Convention in terms of weight.
The U.S. Navy ship to pass through the straits will conform to the convention’s standards, the sources said.
According to the Montreux Convention, the total weight of military ships that non-littoral states to the Black Sea may deploy to the body of water cannot exceed 45,000 tons.
The CVN-77 fleet crossed the straits of Gibraltar last week and as of yesterday it was in Piraeus, Greece. It is also worth noting that while the Montreux Convention provides guidelines, it is not restrictive, which means that should the US really want to, it will have no problems getting its aircraft carrier into the Black Sea.
This fleet includes the George H Bush aircraft carrier and its support ships.
The frigate USS Taylor and another US ship is already in the Black Sea.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-06/crimea-parliament-accelerates-crisis-votes-join-russia
Check! Mr. Obama, Cameron, Ms. Merkel.
Germany and Italy against sanctions against Russia. Poland strongly for sanctions.
Rest of EU split.
Needs 100% agreement for sanctions to be made.
Russia threatens to stop using dollar.
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/russia-warns-could-reduce-to-zero-economic-dependency-on-us