I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
bluntly warned Russia Sunday that it risked losing its seat among the prestigious Group of Eight nations, as well as economic turmoil and sanctions, over the Ukraine crisis.
The top U.S. diplomat hit the Sunday talk shows to ratchet up pressure on Moscow, after he convened a crisis conference call with European and Canadian foreign ministers and President Barack Obama
My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it...
held a 90-minute phone call with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...Saturday.
Washington and its G8 allies were prepared to slap sanctions on Moscow, Kerry said Sunday, warning of damage to billions of dollars in trade and investment in Russia, as well as possible visa bans and moves by American businesses to quit the country.
Sending troops into Ukraine's southern Crimea region, which has historically had strong ties to Russia, was a "19th century act in the 21st century," Kerry told ABC's "This Week."
Kiev's interim leaders warned Sunday their country stood on the brink of disaster, and called up military reservists after the Russian parliament voted to allow Putin to send in troops to its western neighbor.
Putin "is not going have a Sochi G8, he may not even remain in the G8 if this continues. He may find himself with asset freezes on Russian business, American business may pull back, there may be a further tumble of the ruble," Kerry warned on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Britannia, and La Belle France have already pulled out of preparatory meetings for the G8, and, along with the U.S. and Canada, have threatened to boycott the June summit.
"Russia chose this brazen act of aggression and moved in its forces on a completely trumped up set of pretexts," Kerry told CBS's "Face the Nation."
"If Russia wants to be a G8 country, it needs to behave like a G8 country."