China seems quite unimpressed with the turn of events in Ukraine. They're suing for a refund on their loan for the promised grain which hasn't materialised. Arms deals are in doubt too. Meanwhile they are sailing to the Caribbean and Venezuela to do war 'games' with Russia and discuss bases. And remember they now control thousands of acres of Ukrainian farm land.
Quote: China is seeking compensation of US$3 billion from Ukraine for the breach of a loans-for-grain contract signed in 2012, Russian media reported yesterday.
Under the deal, the Export-Import Bank of China provided the loan to Kiev in exchange for supplies of grain.
Citing a Ukrainian parliament official, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported that the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine has used part of the US$3 billion Chinese loan to instead provide crops for other countries and parties, including Ethiopia, Iran, Kenya and Syrian opposition groups.
So far, Chinese importers have only received US$153 million worth of Ukrainian grain, or 180,000 tonnes, the report said.
The report was carried by the Chinese-language service of The Voice of Russia radio. There has been no official comment from China Exim Bank on the report.
The Ukrainian parliamentary official said China has already lodged a case against Ukraine at the London Court of International Arbitration. The report did not mention the date or any further details on the case.
In March, the Worldwide News Ukraine news agency reported that the first half of the Chinese loan was delivered to Kiev, and Ukraine planned then to export four million tonnes of grain last year.
The loan contract stipulated the supply of Ukrainian grain over 15 years. The annual volume of grain exports would vary but would not exceed six million tonnes a year.
The Ukrainian parliament would provide state guarantees for the loan-for-grain contract, the report added.
China has stepped up agricultural co-operation with Ukraine in recent years. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps said last year it had reached an agreement with KSG Agro, a leading Ukraine agricultural company, on a 50-year programme to secure produce from three million hectares of Ukrainian farmland for Chinese consumers.
But KSG later denied it was "selling" any land to any Chinese companies, and that the agreement was a "letter of intent" concerning a transfer of irrigation technology from Xinjiang.
Quote: China's relationship with Ukraine faces an uncertain future with the naming of a pro-Western interim president, according to observers.
The appointment followed three months of protests over a Russian-EU tug-of-war that brought Kiev to a standstill.
At stake are Beijing's military and economic relations with Ukraine, which could face obstacles in the likelihood that Kiev's leaders will turn away from Russia's grip and move closer to the European Union. Watch: Mixed opinions over Yanukovych's downfall in his Ukraine home town
"This will have a negative impact on co-operation between China and Ukraine in the short run," said Cui Hongjian , director of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies.
Ukraine's political crisis took a dramatic twist on Sunday when parliamentary speaker Oleksandr Turchynov was named interim leader.
The protests erupted after former president Viktor Yanukovych - who is believed to have fled the country and is now facing criminal charges - ditched a key EU trade pact rather than upset Moscow, which offered Kiev billions in aid.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing on Monday that China had been closely following the situation in Ukraine and called for the crisis to be resolved through consultation.
The change of government … will create uncertainty about trade
YANG CHENG
"China does not interfere in Ukraine's internal affairs, respects the independent choice made by the Ukrainian people in keeping with Ukraine's national conditions and stands ready to foster strategic partnership with the Ukrainian side on an equal footing," she said.
The EU imposed an arms embargo on China in 1989 over Beijing's crackdown on dissidents, thus cutting it off from direct transfers of weapons and defence technologies.
But China's military modernisation has made it less dependent on foreign arms.
There is a strong push in Ukraine to join the EU, and if it does, it might have to drop its arms trade with China to conform with the EU embargo. Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning was built in Ukraine, one of many symbols of the two sides' defence ties. Photo: AP
Ukraine became the fourth-largest arms exporter in 2012, after the United States, Russia and China, according to global security expert Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Ukraine has played a key role in engine production, and the maintenance of China's fighter jets and other aircraft. In fact, China's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, was built in Ukraine.
China has also co-operated with Ukraine over gas turbines in the Chinese Aegis destroyer, and the diesel engine for the Al-Khalid tank developed for Pakistan, according to Taiwan-based Want China Times.
Kiev and Beijing were brought closer earlier this year by a security agreement. The treaty signed by President Xi Jinping and Yanukovych in January says Beijing will guarantee Ukraine security if the nation is under threat of a nuclear invasion.
Economically, China has also been stepping up its trade with Ukraine. In December, Yanukovych said he had secured US$8 billion in Chinese investments for his ailing economy after talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
But Yang Cheng, the deputy director of the Centre for Russian Studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, said the situation in Ukraine would remain chaotic no matter which power - the EU or Russia - Kiev ended up choosing.
"The change of government in Ukraine will definitely create uncertainty on whether the momentum for trade co-operation between Kiev and Beijing will remain as strong as it has been", Yang said.
But he said Ukraine, no matter its political choices, would still welcome Chinese investment because economic co-operation with either the EU or Russia alone would not be enough to bail out its battered economy.
Zhang Shengjun, deputy dean of the Institute of Political Science and International Studies at Beijing Normal University, said China would rely less on Ukraine for military development but would continue pouring in investment to maintain its influence.
US military seize documents raided by Ukrainian radicals suspected looter
Ukrainian radical activists are conducting organized searches of residences of former government officials and handing over all documents to the US military, a man who says that he took part in some of these operations claims.
The allegations come from a Russian citizen who was detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) shortly after returning from Ukraine. The 21-year-old, who calls himself Vladislav, says he spent some three days among the ranks of the Right Sector group in Kiev after the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovich, and took part in the raids of his deposed officials.
"They load buses with the self-defense troops and go to MPs' dachas in the suburbs, to their apartments, and break down their doors. It's not looting, like in taking furniture and stuff. They take documents and hand them over to special people, who check them," he said in an interview with the Russia-24 news channel.
Vladislav says he saw a group of people, whom he calls American military, who copied or took some of the documents from the radicals.
"It was on the afternoon of February 26, when an American group came in two Mercedes cars. Then American troops came out wearing their uniforms," he recalled.
The man claims that Germans, too, collected intelligence with the help of the radical group, but at some point they curbed their activities.
Apart from the documents, the Right Sector activists took valuables from the raided residences, but the loot was not taken by the activists themselves. Instead it was handed over to intendants, to be sold. The money would then be used to buy weapons in the black market for the group, it was said.
But the "captains" of the radicals are not as strict with discipline in other areas, the man said.
"To keep men from raving about, the captains give them a bit of freedom in the city. Like telling them Go rob some shops or car dealerships,'" he explained. "It's not to allow serious violence at Maidan itself, so that the structure they built didn't collapse."
Vladislav says he arrived in Kiev on Feb. 25, days after the most violent clashes hit the capital. A trained security guard, he came to the Ukrainian capital partially for an adventure, partially with a hope of participating in looting, he said.
He brought with him from Russia a bulletproof vest, a handgun and a complete set of protective equipment. Actually this same attire brought him into trouble, when he returned to Russia, as police thought he looked suspicious.
He says he was treated with suspicion by Rights Sector activists on the account of his being Russian. He had to take a polygraph test to prove that he was not "a Russian sniper," a member of an alleged secret team of Russian special operation troops, whom some Maidan activists accuse of killing protesters, but whose existence was never proven. The hostility didn't pass after he passed the test, Vladislav said, so he decided to leave Ukraine.
He insists that he didn't get any money for his short tour to Kiev, but mentions "foreign mercenaries" in the interview. It's not clear who those people may actually be from a legal point of view, considering Vladislav's own dubious experience with the Right Sector. http://rt.com/news/us-military-ukraine-radicals-440/
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
"There is no question but that Russia is confronted with an existential threat. The integration of Ukraine into the expanding anti-Moscow alliance would render Russia more vulnerable to imperialist aggression and destabilization. Future operations will unfold not only on the periphery of Russia, but within its borders. The United States and the European imperialist powers will have no difficulty finding new "human rights" causes to encourage, finance and arm."
"The Crisis in Ukraine", International Committee of the Fourth International
"In the eastern part of Ukraine and Crimea in particular, we have seen the emergence of people from Kiev with a clear intention of repeating what has been happening in the Western part of Ukraine." (Coup plotters) "want to replace regional governments."
Vitaly Churkin, the Russian Federation's ambassador to the United Nations
Here's something you won't read in the mainstream media: Ukraine's fake revolution is over. It ended when Russian Intelligence agents uncovered a plan by coup plotters to destabilize the Crimea using the same strategy they'd used in Kiev, that is, seizing government buildings, inciting violence, and spreading terror. The discovery, which included "hacked" e mails, shaped events on the ground. Russian troops were deployed to beef up security at the airports and government buildings making it impossible for the putsch to succeed. In other words, the Kremlin implemented its own "preemption" scheme and it worked like a charm. The Washington-backed coup in the Crimea was foiled and order was maintained. Score one for Russia. Here's the scoop from blogger Moon of Alabama from a post titled "The Crimean Anti-Coup Move". Here's an excerpt:
"On February 27 Russian forces stationed in the Crimea and supported by allegedly local paramilitary took over security at two airports and of some government buildings in Crimean cities. A Turkish flight to Simferopol airport was called back and further Turkish fights to Crimea were canceled." ("The Crimean Anti-Coup Move" Moon of Alabama,)
So, what was Russian Intel reacting to, you ask?
Well, according to Voice of Russia, hacked emails pointed to a group of Tatar troublemakers, neo-Nazis and others who were allegedly getting assistance from Turkish Intelligence. There were also two incidents where masked men carried out paramilitary-type operations on government buildings in Simferopol in Crimea on February 27 and February 28 which suggested that something big was afoot. (Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin confirmed that the Crimean interior ministry was attacked on Saturday by armed men sent by Kiev in a statement he made before the UN Security Council.) The incidents were captured on tape and can be seen here:
Here's an excerpt from one of the hacked emails, also from the same post, allegedly between the coup plotters in Kiev and a Tatar leader:
"Everything is going according to the plan. We are ready to proceed with the second part of the play. As agreed earlier last week, my guys together with people from the "Karpatskaya Sech" and UNA-UNSO will arrive wherever is needed and with the necessary weapons. You only need to let us know the addresses of the warehouses in Simferopol, Sevastopol, Kerch, Feodosia and Yalta, and the time of the meeting…" (The Crimean Anti-Coup Move" Moon of Alabama)
Yep, "everything is going according to plan", all right…..Everything except for those Russian regulars that are guarding the buildings we're supposed to blow up. Where'd they come from?
Sounds like a Monty Python skit, doesn't it?
Of course, I have no way of verifying the information here, but it seems like a plausible scenario given what we already know about foreign involvement in these phony made-in-the-US revolutions.
Here's more from the same post:
Nice, eh? So, Turkey's spy agency is arming and training "jihadist Tatars" and then shipping them off to Ukraine to fight in Uncle Sam's NWO Sweepstakes? What a tangled web we weave. But, then, just about everyone knew that the so called Ukrainian "revolution" was a big, fat fraud engineered by foreign Intel agencies, subversive NGOs and voracious globalist oligarchs. Still, it makes it a lot easier when the main players leave their fingerprints on the murder weapon so you can figure out who's who. In this case, we know the State Department was at least tangentially involved because of Victoria Nuland's hacked phone call. At the very least, we know that the Obama braintrust was pulling strings behind the scenes to get rid of the democratically-elected president Viktor Yanukovych and replace him with a compliant US puppet. And they certainly succeeded in that regard, too. It's the rest of the plan that went south.
You may have noticed that the above post mentions a third group along with the Tatar jihadis and the Nazis. They also mention the UNA-UNSO. So who the heck are these guys anyway?
As it turns out, political analyst, F. William Engdahl has done a bit of research on the group and gives a rundown in a recent article titled "The Rape of Ukraine; Phase Two Begins". Here's what he says:
"The question unanswered until now is who deployed the snipers? (who shot into the crowd in Maidan Square) According to veteran US intelligence sources, the snipers came from an ultra-right-wing military organization known as Ukrainian National Assembly Ukrainian People's Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO).
…
Ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 the crack-para-military UNA-UNSO members have been behind every revolt against Russian influence. The one connecting thread in their violent campaigns is always anti-Russia. The organization, according to veteran US intelligence sources, is part of a secret NATO "GLADIO" organization, and not a Ukraine nationalist group as portrayed in western media….
"These people are the dangerous mercenaries used all over the world to fight NATO's dirty war, and to frame Russia because this group pretends to be Russian special forces…..
If true that UNA-UNSO is not "Ukrainian" opposition, but rather a highly secret NATO force using Ukraine as base, it would suggest that the EU peace compromise with the moderates was likely sabotaged by the one major player excluded from the Kiev 21 February diplomatic talksVictoria Nuland's State Department." (F. William Engdahl, "The Rape of Ukraine; Phase Two Begins", Information Clearinghouse)
So, were there NATO-backed paramilitaries on the ground stirring up trouble prior to the coup? Did they instigate the coup by firing into the crowd on Maidan Square, killing innocent people and creating the panic that forced Yanukovych to flee the country? Did they execute this plan to avoid new elections which were agreed upon by the opposing parties? Did they execute the plan to take advantage of the fact that Putin was still bogged down at the Olympic games and unable to give the crisis his undivided attention?
These are just some of the questions that remain unanswered, but even without all the details, there's certainly enough to suggest that agents of foreign governments played a critical role in toppling Ukraine's president.
At present, the situation in the Crimea appears to be relatively calm due to stepped up security. The Russian military has secured the main government buildings, airports, military bases and harbors. Working people are still able to carry out their daily activities much as they had before the government was toppled. Putin has done what he had to do to defend Russian security and protect Russian-speaking people in the Crimea. Obama would have done the same thing had he been in a similar situation.
Naturally, the Obama team is hopping mad. Their plan failed, they have egg on their face, and they want revenge. That's why they dispatched the dreary John Kerry to make the rounds on the Sunday talk shows, so he could wave his finger threateningly at Putin while boring people to death with his monotone bloviating. The whole Obama team is having a giant hissyfit because they rolled the dice and came up snakeyes. That's unfortunate, but what do they plan to do about it; that's the question? After all, holding your breath and stomping your feet may be personally gratifying, but it doesn't translate into effective foreign policy. That takes insight, vision and a solid grasp of the facts, all of which are sadly lacking among the dismal members of the present administration. The problem is, there are no good options. Aside from launching a full-blown ground war, which nobody wants, Obama is just going to have to suck it up and move on, because, at the end of the day, Moscow's still going to control the Crimea and Obama and his EU collaborators are still going to be stuck with a broken, underwater province run by technocrats, kleptocrats, and neo-Nazi, clownshoes politicos. So, deal with it.
Here's how the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass, summed it up in an interview on CNN earlier in the week. He said, "This is not Syria, where the United States did have real options, and the president chose not to implement them. Here we really don't have very good options to introduce."
Indeed. There are "no good options" which is why we think that Moscow will shrug off the mudslinging and the saber rattling and go about its business much like before. In the words of an old Russian proverb, "Dogs bark, but the caravan passes on." [B]MIKE WHITNEY [/B]lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.
Website politikus.ru reported, on the night of 2-3, the flight landed at the airport Borispol and Zhuliany , Ukraine carrying many men in civilian clothes but carrying large bags (similar to type bag that the U.S. military used to store equipment).
All these people were identified as employees of private security companies Greystone Limited. It is a subsidiary of Vehicle Services Company LLC (which is a private security company Blackwater USA's notorious was renamed in 2009). Currently, the number of employees of this company in Ukraine is said to be up to 300 people.
The presence of the security personnel are specially trained in Ukraine this will enhance protection for the new administration in the area east and southeast, where the anti-government protests erupted powerful new .
The only question now is how many private security personnel of foreign countries in Ukraine real and who is paying them (the cost to hire a private company like that is very expensive and government Ukraine's new budget clearly not sufficient to cover these costs).
While the number 300 is not a large army and these employees do not carry heavy weapons, but with the highly trained and mastered many fighting skills, then this may be staff conduct minor damage as a sniper or cause explosions, … similar to what they used to do in Africa and elsewhere.
Some suggested that there was a collusion between the new government of Kiev and the U.S. Embassy in the use of private security companies in Ukraine. In the near future, they may become subject to destabilize the situation in the country.
Image Credit: GreyStone Limited
Quote: Recruitment offices in Ukraine are planning to use social networks to deal with the record low turnout of recruits in order to bring the troops in full combat readiness, RIA "Novosti" a senior source in the National Security and Defense Council. "Agenda with a demand to come in Sunday, March 2, the local draft boards have received only 10% of all persons liable for military service of the country. Moreover, follow this order, only a third of reservists citizens who agenda were still awarded," - he said. Earlier it was reported that the turnout in the Ukrainian military draft on the first day of general mobilization has not exceeded 1.5% of assigned staff, and phone calls to home phones for military service did not bring results. As previously reported, the Verkhovna Rada appointed Acting President of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov said that Ukrainian troops are on high alert. But in Ukraine poyavlyutsya foreign fighters privat armies - mercenaries, ready for the money to do whatever their superiors. Here is the latest news: "According to our Ukrainian friends from the night on March 2 and Juliani Borispol charter flights began arriving strong young men in ordinary civilian clothes - but each with several bulky bags field. In which the U.S. Army typically carry sets of equipment. Strange way all these people are employed by private military company "Greystone Limited" - daughter of the famous "Xe Services LLC" - former " Blackwater USA ". Just arrived already up to 300 people. Objectives of these strong - and well-trained guys - can be very different from the protection of the new government of hundreds of self-defense "Evromaydana" sweeps reluctant to cities in the East and South-East of Ukraine. The only question is how many of them eventually rally in Kiev - and who pays for this spectacular feast is not cheap. Certainly not the upstart "Ukrainian government, I believe," writes blogger stbcaptain. This means that the fight against the Russian Ukrainians do not want and will not! And this - the best proof that the people are united! But against the Russian and Ukrainians themselves against already thrown well trained mercenaries from different countries, mostly white people, to the citizens of Kiev could not immediately suspect them strangers. They are not capable of carrying out major battles, but perfectly prepared to sabotage (explosions, acts of terrorism, arson, snipers, etc., etc.). These "wild geese," as they were called in the period of their active work in Africa, now arrived on the Ukrainian land. 300 soldiers - not the army. But they are trained special operations. And everyone is able to act alone. When the direct and immediate self-proclaimed Ukrainian government connivance and direct and immediate intervention in this adventure of the U.S. Embassy, ​​headed by Ambassador personally - these saboteurs in the near future a threat key objects life of Ukraine. "He who has ears, let him hear, who have eyes, but see" that gets up the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine!
Blackwater in Donetsk
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
I get so befuddled and confused by all these private security contractors that work for the USG.
Sometimes I think they are the US government, albeit privately owned in order to siphon profits away from the US taxpayer and into the bulging pockets of highly questionable former US government military types who engage in highly deniable and questionable USG overseas operations.
Wasn't it Greystone that were discretely involved in the Gladio type Boston Bombing?
Oh no, not true. My mistake. My confusion.
That was another USG ABC "private" security company.
Website politikus.ru reported, on the night of 2-3, the flight landed at the airport Borispol and Zhuliany , Ukraine carrying many men in civilian clothes but carrying large bags (similar to type bag that the U.S. military used to store equipment).
All these people were identified as employees of private security companies Greystone Limited. It is a subsidiary of Vehicle Services Company LLC (which is a private security company Blackwater USA's notorious was renamed in 2009). Currently, the number of employees of this company in Ukraine is said to be up to 300 people.
The presence of the security personnel are specially trained in Ukraine this will enhance protection for the new administration in the area east and southeast, where the anti-government protests erupted powerful new .
The only question now is how many private security personnel of foreign countries in Ukraine real and who is paying them (the cost to hire a private company like that is very expensive and government Ukraine's new budget clearly not sufficient to cover these costs).
While the number 300 is not a large army and these employees do not carry heavy weapons, but with the highly trained and mastered many fighting skills, then this may be staff conduct minor damage as a sniper or cause explosions, … similar to what they used to do in Africa and elsewhere.
Some suggested that there was a collusion between the new government of Kiev and the U.S. Embassy in the use of private security companies in Ukraine. In the near future, they may become subject to destabilize the situation in the country.
Image Credit: GreyStone Limited
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Quote:The snipers who shot at protesters and police in Kiev were allegedly hired by Maidan leaders, according to a leaked phone conversation between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister, which has emerged online.
"There is now stronger and stronger understanding that behind the snipers, it was not Yanukovich, but it was somebody from the new coalition," Urmas Paet said during the conversation.
"I think we do want to investigate. I mean, I didn't pick that up, that's interesting. Gosh," Ashton answered.
The call took place after Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet visited Kiev on February 25 at the peak of clashes between the pro-EU protesters and security forces in the Ukrainian capital
Paet also recalled his conversation with a doctor who treated those shot by snipers in Kiev. She said that both protesters and police were shot at by the same people.
"And second, what was quite disturbing, this same Olga [Bogomolets] told as well that all the evidence shows that the people who were killed by snipers from both sides, among policemen and then people from the streets, that they were the same snipers killing people from both sides," the Estonian FM stressed.
Ashton reacted to the information by saying: "Well, yeah…that's, that's terrible."
"So that she then also showed me some photos she said that as a medical doctor she can say that it is the same handwriting, the same type of bullets, and it's really disturbing that now the new coalition, that they don't want to investigate what exactly happened," Paet said.
The Estonian FM has described the whole sniper issue as "disturbing" and added, "it already discredits from the very beginning" the new Ukrainian power.
His overall impressions of what he saw during his one-day trip to Kiev are "sad," Paet said during the conversation.
He stressed that the Ukrainian people don't trust the Maidan leaders, with all the opposition politicians slated to join the new government "having dirty past."
The file was reportedly uploaded to the web by officers of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) loyal to ousted President Viktor Yanukovich who hacked Paet's and Ashton's phones.
94 people were killed and another 900 injured during the standoff between police and protesters at Maidan Saquare in Kiev last month.
"There are three sorts of conspiracy: by the people who complain, by the people who write, by the people who take action. There is nothing to fear from the first group, the two others are more dangerous; but the police have to be part of all three,"
I have serious doubts though, as they're all busy propagandizing for the US NATO position about the new evil Russian empire. Gosh.
It's the same old same, so boring and tedious in its repetitiveness and lack of originality --- nether-the-less, it still seems to work on the well blinded public.
Surely one day people will wake up to the never ending bullshit?
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
David Guyatt Wrote:Surely one day people will wake up to the never ending bullshit?
Not a hope in hell, but I applaud the sentiment, all the same!
"There are three sorts of conspiracy: by the people who complain, by the people who write, by the people who take action. There is nothing to fear from the first group, the two others are more dangerous; but the police have to be part of all three,"
Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning was built in Ukraine, one of many symbols of the two sides' defence ties. Photo: AP
![[Image: sweden_military_spending_lon101.jpg?itok=ykCZ1a_E]](https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/2014/02/25/sweden_military_spending_lon101.jpg)
Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning was built in Ukraine, one of many symbols of the two sides' defence ties. Photo: AP
![[Image: serv_train-300x108.jpg]](http://www.phantomreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/serv_train.jpg)
