Road to WW3 - UKRAINE WARSHIPS are being BLOCKED from LEAVING Port by RUSSIAN MARINES

Build up to WW3 - UKRAINE WARSHIPS are being BLOCKED from LEAVING Port by RUSSIAN MARINES

Russian soldiers are blockading Ukrainian navy command ship Slavutych at the Crimean port of Sevastopol

The crews of two Ukrainian naval ships at dock in the port city of Sevastopol in the Crimea region of the country armed themselves on Wednesday as tensions between Ukraine and Russia continued to grow.

The corvette Ternopil and the command ship Slavutych were being blocked by four Russian navy ships in Sevastopol's harbour, in a standoff which has lasted over a week.

A supposed Russian ultimatum on Tuesday for the two Ukrainian warships to surrender or be seized passed without action from either side.

The crews of the two ships had kept their arms locked away since being blocked in the port, but revised this stance when a group of security forces arrived on Wednesday morning.

The troops would not identify which country they represented, but they were widely believed to be Russian soldiers.

As well as taking up arms, crews of both ships fastened mattresses to the railings around the ships in order to prevent hooks and lines being used to board them.

A Kremlin aide was quoted on Tuesday as saying that if the United States were to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, Moscow might be forced to drop the dollar as a reserve currency and refuse to pay off any loans to US banks.

Image: U.S. Dollar (Wiki Commons).

Mr Sergei Glazyev, who is often used by the authorities to stake out a hardline stance but does not make policy, was cited by RIA news agency as saying Moscow could recommend that all holders of US treasuries sell them if Washington freezes the US accounts of Russian businesses and individuals.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee is preparing legislation to provide support to Ukraine and consulting the Obama administration on possible sanctions against individual Russians, the committee's chairman said on Monday.

The committee was also consulting with President Barack Obama's administration on possible sanctions against individuals ranging from visa bans and asset freezes to suspending military cooperation and sales, as well as economic sanctions.

The untold story behind the crisis is that this is an energy tug of war being fought between Russia and the west, with Ukraine caught in the middle.
Details of a leaked phone call between EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister Urmas Paet suggest that the US-backed opposition was responsible for hiring snipers who gunned down protesters in Kiev and not the deposed government of Viktor Yanukovich, as the media widely claimed.

Following the dust up in Ukraine the United States has announced it will send warplanes to Poland and expand NATO's air patrols over Baltic countries.

"This morning the Defense Department is pursuing measures to support our allies," Pentagon boss Chuck Hagel told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said it is "time for all of us to stand with Ukrainian people in support of their territorial integrity."

The U.S. has suspended military cooperation with Russia. All scheduled training exercises and other exchanges have been cancelled.

Currently there are four F-15 fighter jets on patrol. The Pentagon will send an additional six and also one KC-135 aerial refueling tanker.

The Defense Department collaborates with Poland on aviation training with F-16s and C-130 transport planes. Officials say they may add more aircraft and personnel to the mission.

Poland, a former Soviet satellite state, is closely aligned with the United States. It borders the Russian exclave Kaliningrad in the north and Ukraine to the southeast.