Do you want to know what the Ukrainians think about American policy? So would Defense Secretary Chuch Hagel. He's been trying to call the Ukrainian defense minister all week but no one is picking up the phone. Politico: "We haven't been able to connect with anyone at the defense ministry," Kirby told Pentagon reporters, who repeatedly pressed him on the issue. "How long do you let [the phone] ring," one quipped. "We've been trying pretty diligently all week," Kirby said, noting this is the first time, as far as he knows, that Hagel has been unable to reach to his counterpart in another country. "It's pretty unusual," Kirby said Hagel last talked to the Ukrainian defense ministry in December, Kirby said, but not since. Like the rest of the Obama administration, Hagel is "deeply troubled by the violence" in Ukraine, Kirby said. According to staff in the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, Ukrainian armed forces, so far, have not been involved in the violence against the protesters, but...(Read Full Post)