"Yankees Go Home!"

SEVASTOPOL, September 2 (RIA Novosti) – The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas left Sevastopol after anti-NATO protests in Ukraine’s Crimean port. (U.S. Coastguard cutter Dallas enters Sevastopol Harbor – video)

The USGC Dallas, which recently delivered humanitarian aid to Georgia’s Black Sea port of Batumi, docked yesterday at the Crimean port, where Russia has a naval base, at the invitation of Kiev.

The ship’s arrival was met by thousands of anti-NATO protesters chanting “Yankees go home!” and waving banners with the slogan “NATO Stop!” Police cordoned off the area around the ship.

Ukrainian customs officers who boarded the ship and met the commander said they had been prepared to lay on buses for the U.S. crew to give them a tour of the city, but apart from a few officers, no one left the vessel.

Tensions between Russia and the West have been exacerbated by the build up in the Black Sea of U.S. and NATO naval vessels delivering humanitarian aid to Georgia. In an apparent response, Russia sent a group of warships last week, including the Moskva missile cruiser, to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia.

A Russian warship, the Smetlivy patroller, has meanwhile returned to Sevastopol after being involved in peacekeeping operations off the Abkhazian shore, a Russian Black Sea Fleet command source said.

“Smetlivy returned to its base this morning. Everyone on board is safe and sound. A group of ships has remained near the Abkhazian shore to ensure the republic’s maritime security,” the source said.

Most of Russia’s naval group have returned to the Black Sea bases of Novorossiisk and Sevastopol.

KIEV, Ukraine (Deutsche Welle) Sept. 16, 2008 – The Ukrainian governing coalition collapsed as differences over the recent Russia-Georgia war as well as ties to the West finally split the long-feuding leaders of the 2004 Orange Revolution.

“I officially announce the collapse of the coalition of democratic forces,” said parliamentary speaker Arseny Yatsenyuk after a deadline to resolve differences expired.

“Come with flowers, come with wreathes to the funeral of the democratic coalition,” Yatsenyuk had told journalists in Kyiv, Interfax news agency reported on Monday. “It must be understood that we have very little time to restore the old coalition or build a new one. Let’s not pretend that nothing is happening.”

Parties in parliament now have 30 days to form a new government, after which President Viktor Yushchenko can call new elections.

The Revolution’s agenda of modernizing Ukraine and engaging in closer ties to the European Union and United States stalled and ties with Russia have been strained. The fallout between the West and Russia over last month’s war in Georgia imploded, leaving Ukraine’s fragile ruling coalition deeply divided over its identity.

MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s budget spending on state defense orders will amount to 1.2 trillion rubles ($46.8 billion) in 2009, a first deputy prime minister said.

The spending figure is outlined in the Russian budget for 2009-2011 which is due to be considered by Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on September 19.

“The state defense order overall for next year is planned to hit a record sum of 1.2 trillion rubles,” Sergei Ivanov said.

The three-year budget envisaged additional spending of 170 billion rubles ($6.63 billion) in comparison to previous annual programs. Ivanov said the increase was caused by “the need to implement decrees made by the president and prime minister, and obviously inflation.”

He said earlier that the Russian budget allocation for 2007 stood at 700 billion rubles ($30 billion) for state defense orders, with the figure expected to total 1 trillion rubles ($43 billion) in 2008.

Military analysts said Russia, which sold $7 billion worth of arms last year making it the second-largest exporter of conventional weapons after the United States, had decided to increase military spending following the five-day conflict with Georgia last month.

In July, a month before Georgia attacked the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, which Moscow recognized as a sovereign state on August 26, Georgia increased its annual military budget by an additional $210 million, taking total spending for 2008 to $997 million.

According to the press reports, the U.S., which has strongly condemned Russia for its military operation in Georgia, has a defense budget of $696 billion for this year.