Sign of the times...instructions for guests in a Donetsk hotel
Inmiddels is de lobby dichtgespijkerd en zijn de ramen afgeplakt. Dit is de oorlogsinstructie van het hotel pic.twitter.com/kv5MeyRs1h
— Olaf Koens (@obk) September 2, 2014
HA HA @carlbildt educates the Russian Foreign Ministry @mfa_russia about the gender of #Australia FM @JulieBishopMP pic.twitter.com/KmSmBR1NM9
— Mark Sabah (@MarkSabah) September 2, 2014
And this is still the best comment on the #Ukraine-#Russia-Crisis. Thank you, @Sergey_Elkin! pic.twitter.com/Ds6sNUDj3s
— Benjamin Bidder (@BenjaminBidder) September 2, 2014
Here's is some more detail from RFE/RL's Luke Johnson in Washington on the news that Gazprombank has hired two former U.S. senators as lobbyists:
Gazprombank, the banking arm of Russia's state-controlled natural gas producer, has hired two former American Senators to lobby against U.S. sanctions.
According to a disclosure filed on August 29, John Breaux and Trent Lott were hired by the bank with the lobbying mega-firm Squire Patton Boggs.
Lott left the Senate in 2008 and Breaux in 2005.
The disclosure identified "banking laws and applicable sanctions" as its specific lobbying issues.
The hiring comes after Novatek, a sanctioned Russian natural-gas company, hired U.S. public relations firm Qorvis on August 11 to lobby against sanctions.
Russia's annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine have driven relations between Moscow and the West to post-Cold War lows and prompted exchanges of punitive sanctions.
U.S. sanctions against Gazprombank and Novatek prohibit them from getting financing from U.S. entities for longer than 90 days.
Music to Putin's ears. https://t.co/EqqSktJA06
— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) September 2, 2014
Former Senators Lott, Breaux hired to lobby for Gazprombank in Washington. #Russia #Ukraine http://t.co/lDdyG0z1GD via @PublicI
— Isaac Webb (@isaacdwebb) September 2, 2014
When Obama comes to Estonia, Putin goes to Mongolia: http://t.co/NasxIzwdf4
— Nikolaus von Twickel (@niktwick) September 2, 2014
Russia says it may release the 'Kiev in two weeks' transcript http://t.co/vieZTgnR4m
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) September 2, 2014
Extraordinary story of 80 dead Russian soldiers in Ukraine (now deleted, but preserved) (RUS) http://t.co/j0aucnrbHA h/t @olliecarroll
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) September 2, 2014
@bbcdaniels @russiaeye Relatives have been told not to speak out, according to Shlossberg. Or they will lose benefits.
— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) September 2, 2014
Here's an energy-related update from our news desk:
Ukraine has begun receiving natural gas from the European Union via Slovakia to help ease problems Kyiv has with its main supplier Russia.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and his Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico, attended a switching-on ceremony at a pipeline linking Slovakia's Vojany and the neighboring western Ukrainian town of Uzhhorod.
Yatsenyuk said that thanks to the reverse-flow gas and offer of supplies coming from the EU, Ukraine will be able to replace 40 percent of the gas it usually receives from Russia.
Fico said the Vojany-Uzhhorod pipeline "will improve Ukraine's energy security."
The deal for Ukraine to receive "reverse-flow" gas from Slovakia was brokered by Brussels to reduce Kyiv's dependence on Gazprom.
The Russian state-controlled gas giant announced huge price hikes for Ukraine after pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted early this year.
(AFP, Interfax)