by Alexander Mercouris for Russia Insider
Increasingly frantic diplomatic efforts by European leaders show growing desperation to settle Ukrainian crisis before failure of sanctions policy becomes obvious.
As the political situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate – with the government paralysed as a result of the power struggle between Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk – the Europeans are becoming increasingly desperate.
They are also becoming increasingly frustrated with the Ukrainians whose intransigence is prolonging the crisis.
However the Europeans have no exit strategy and are staring at total failure.
The reason is the growing anger across Europe with the sanctions policy, and a growing sense that the diplomatic window for finding a face saving way to end the sanctions before European leverage completely runs out is closing fast.
The problem the Europeans have is that they have committed themselves to maintaining the sanctions against until the terms of Minsk II are carried out.
When they did this the Europeans however failed to take the basic precaution of linking the lifting of the sanctions not just to Russian adherence to Minsk II but to Ukrainian adherence as well.
Since the provisions of Minsk II actually require most of the action to be taken by the Ukrainians, this failure has not only denied the Europeans leverage over the Ukrainians. It has given the Ukrainians a perverse incentive to renege on their commitments to carry out Minsk II, since that way they can oblige the Europeans to continue the sanctions.
In the meantime opposition to the sanctions policy is growing, both in northern Europe and in southern Europe.
In northern Europe opposition to sanctions is concentrated in small but very powerful constituencies. In southern Europe it is however well nigh universal.
Southern Europe has never been much interested in Ukraine or in the conflict there and does not support or understand the geopolitical play there.
The political culture of southern Europe also makes southern Europeans largely immune to the self-interested moralising that the US and northern Europeans are given to and which has been used to mobilise support for the Maidan movement in Ukraine.
People of neocon views are nowhere near as influential in southern Europe as they are in northern Europe, and southern Europeans do not feel as obsessively hostile to Russia as many northern Europeans do.
Southern Europeans see themselves as having been dragooned into a sanctions policy they fundamentally don’t agree with, and which they consider counterproductive and irrational.
The most powerful southern European leader, Renzi of Italy, is barely bothering to hide his disagreement with the policy, and most other southern European leaders privately agree with him.
Southern Europe does not however by itself have the strength to change a policy agreed on by the most powerful European states – Germany and France.
The policy is however now also being increasingly questioned in Germany and France, in Germany by a large part of the German business community, and in France by the French farmers.
The latter are a powerful political lobby, which no French government can ignore, especially with elections pending.
With a Presidential election pending in France in 2017 the French government has been forced to reassure the farmers that it is “doing all it can” to get the Russian counter sanctions banning EU food exports to Russia lifted.
As the French government however knows that cannot happen unless the EU sanctions are lifted first.
That gives the French government a strong incentive to have the sanctions lifted, which in turn means that it has a strong incentive to achieve a settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.
Even more important than the steadily growing opposition to the sanctions policy is the feeling that the window for European diplomatic influence is closing fast.
It is difficult to know to what extent European leaders are informed about the state of the Russian economy. However even the most complacent amongst them must by now know that it is not going to collapse under the weight of the sanctions, and that Russian policy towards Ukraine is not going to change because of them.
Expectations that the sanctions would provoke Russia’s oligarchs to force Putin out unless he changed course – which is what the German intelligence service the BND apparently told Merkel would happen before the EU imposed the sanctions – have turned out to be completely wrong.
As for the popular revolution in Russia against Putin that some expected, with Putin’s popularity above 80% even the most delusional European leaders can no longer believe it will happen.
It is even possible that the better informed of the European leaders – including possibly German Foreign Minister Steinmeier – know the dreadful truth – that the Russian economy has not only survived the sanctions but that its recession will shortly end.
This points to the paradox of the sanctions. Whilst for the Russians their cost was front loaded and is now diminishing with each month that passes – with their overall effect proving actually beneficial – for the Europeans the hurt is growing – both economically and politically.
For the Europeans an economic recovery – or worse still a boom – in Russia whilst the sanctions are in place would be a humiliating disaster.
It would show that Russia is fundamentally immune to sanctions, exposing the total bankruptcy of the whole sanctions policy.
It would also expose European leaders like Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande to criticism for imposing a sanctions policy that had ended up hurting Europe and their own countries more than Russia.
German businesses and French farmers who had lost business because of the sanctions would be – rightly – furious.
It would also strip away remaining illusions about the Europeans and their power.
In diplomacy maintaining an appearance of power is at least as important as power itself. A state or group of states which lose the appearance of power risk no longer being taken seriously.
What that means in this case is that the Europeans have to be in a position where they can at least pretend that the sanctions still matter to Russia when they are lifted and that the Russians are giving something back in return.
Obviously the Europeans cannot credibly claim this if when they lift the sanctions if Russia is in the midst of a boom .
It is because the Europeans also need to show that the Russians are giving something in return for the sanctions being lifted that they have linked the lifting of the sanctions to Minsk II.
The successful implementation of Minsk II would enable the Europeans to pretend it was brought about through their efforts. They could then lift the sanctions and claim victory.
Since it was the Russians who drafted Minsk II this would have seemed like a low risk strategy. The Russians after all would be expected to want to implement an agreement whose terms they themselves drafted.
What the Europeans overlooked – or never considered – was that it might be their own Ukrainian proteges – not the Russians – who would fail to implement Minsk II. That however is precisely the position the Europeans are now in.
This is not because the Ukrainian government is being held hostage by right wing militias.
It is because Minsk II contradicts the whole ethos and purpose of the Maidan “revolution” whose overriding objective is to create a unitary, monolingual and monocultural Ukraine as distanced from Russia as possible.
I discussed all this in an article Russia Insider published in January 2015 on the eve of the battle of Debaltsevo. Here is what I said there:
“The basic truth about the crisis in Ukraine and why there is a war there – the one that many people especially in the West refuse to acknowledge – is that the faction that seized power in Ukraine through the February 2014 coup is structurally incapable of negotiation or compromise with those it considers its opponents.
…….Briefly, the whole purpose of the February coup was so that the faction in Ukraine that holds power now could achieve the unrestricted dominance of Ukrainian society which is its only way of making true its vision of a unitary, monolingual, monocultural Ukraine that is forever distanced from Russia.
Given the diversity of Ukrainian society, it cannot compromise with its opponents since were it to do so that would jeopardise the entire project that is the reason for its existence and the justification for its hold on power.
That is why it acted in February to eliminate from Ukrainian political life the faction that had held power in Ukraine before and why it remains committed to eliminating its opponents in the Donbass now.”
All this remains as true now as it was then.
It will continue to be true whichever Maidan leader holds power in Ukraine. It doesn’t matter whether that leader is Poroshenko, Tymosheko, Yatsenyuk, Kolomoisky, Tyagnibok, Paruby, Lyashko, Klitschko, Yarosh or someone else. No Ukrainian politician who owes allegiance to Maidan is capable of the sort of compromise that Minsk II requires, and it is a fundamental error to think that because Ukraine’s Maidan politicians engage in constant factional infighting with each other that some of them are more “moderate” on these questions than others.
Up to now the Europeans have closed their eyes to this reality. It is now hitting them square in the face.
This is why – confronted by total Ukrainian intransigence but wanting an end to the conflict before their leverage and credibility vanishes – German Foreign Minister Steinmeier and French Foreign Minister Ayrault are said to travel to Kiev “completement exacerbés.”
The Europeans have landed themselves in the same trap in which Yanukovych found himself during the Maidan protests.
Like the Europeans Yanukovych tried to cut deals with the Maidan leaders as if they were reasonable people.
What Yanukovych discovered whenever he thought he had sealed a deal was that the Maidan leaders simply reneged on it, pocketing his concessions, continuing their protests, and coming back with more demands.
Ukraine’s Maidan leaders have behaved in exactly the same throughout the Ukrainian conflict.
In April 2014 they agreed to constitutional changes granting more autonomy to Ukraine’s regions.
They reneged on that agreement and over the course of the next few months they sought to crush opposition in Ukraine’s eastern regions by force.
Following their defeat in August 2014 they agreed to grant special status to the Donbass, with negotiations to follow to achieve a political settlement (Minsk I).
They failed to honour these commitments and in January 2015 they attacked the Donbass again.
In February 2015 – after they had been defeated once more – they again agreed to grant special status to the Donbass. They also agreed to negotiate directly with the Donbass leaders, to agree the terms of elections in the Donbass with them, and to agree with them changes to Ukraine’s constitution, which were to be followed by fresh elections held before the end of December 2015. (Minsk II).
They again failed to honour these commitments. In August 2015 they tried to attack Donbass again only to be warned off doing so by the Europeans.
In October 2015 at the summit in Paris they renewed their promise to carry out the provisions of Minsk II, this time in accordance with a new timetable drawn up by the French, which would have resulted in the Donbass being granted special status and holding elections this March.
They have again failed to carry out any one of these commitments. It is now March and not one of the commitments they made in October has been honoured. Instead reports from the Donbass speak of renewed fighting.
It is not surprising therefore if Steinmeier and Ayraut are “completement exacerbés.”
Confronted by Ukrainian intransigence, the Europeans have tried to achieve what they can pretend is “progress” by asking the Russians to water down the terms of Minsk II so as to at least allow elections to be held in the Donbass on Ukrainian terms in the first half of this year.
Juncker’s recent comment that Ukraine would not join NATO or the EU for 20-25 years (which in practice means never) should be seen in that context.
It was intended as a sop to the Russians, making public what had already been agreed privately in February 2015 in Moscow and Minsk, in order to get the Russians to soften their stance on Minsk II.
The Russians however are having none of it. As their public statements make clear on the subject of Minsk II they are implacable. They have rejected all attempts to water down Minsk II. They insist Ukraine carry out its terms to the letter.
It is impossible to avoid the feeling that through their blind support for the Maidan movement the Europeans have manoeuvred themselves into a trap.
An escalation of support for Ukraine is becoming politically impossible especially given Ukraine’s intransigence and its growing political crisis.
Retreat – which would involve finally taking a strong public stand against Kiev by demanding that it implement Minsk II in full with a threat of sanctions if it fails to do so – is however politically extremely difficult, and is probably impossible whilst Merkel remains Germany’s Chancellor given how much political capital she has invested in Ukraine.
The alternative however is total humiliation when whatever appearance of leverage still left is lost, which is the prospect that is now staring the Europeans in the face.
It is probably now only a question of months before economic recovery in Russia exposes the Europeans’ sanctions policy – and with it their whole Ukrainian policy – as a bluff which has been called.
That this is starting to be understood in Western capitals has been confirmed in the most unlikely of places – in the comments of US President Obama – the ultimate author of the sanctions policy – in the recent interviews he has given to The Atlantic magazine. Here is what he said:
“Ukraine is a core Russian interest but not an American one, so Russia will always be able to maintain escalatory dominance there.
“The fact is that Ukraine, which is a non-Nato country, is going to be vulnerable to military domination by Russia no matter what we do,” he said.
I asked Obama whether his position on Ukraine was realistic or fatalistic.
“It’s realistic,” he said. “But this is an example of where we have to be very clear about what our core interests are and what we are willing to go to war for.””
In other words Ukraine matters to the Russians but doesn’t to the West, and it is the Russians who hold there the high cards (“escalatory dominance”).
That is what Russia Insider has been saying all along.
It has taken two years, a civil war, thousands of deaths, an economic collapse, a government crisis, a now inevitable default, and the coming failure of the sanctions policy for Western leaders to start to see it.
That is far too late to avoid the humiliation which all too evidently is now coming.
Not one Australian politician and I think no Dutch politician created any waves about Ukraine blocking any international investigation into MH17 until EU agreed to bring in sanctions.
I hope this Ukraine-nazi experiment comes down on their heads like a ton of bricks
21st july 2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/russia-sanctions-mh17_n_5605162.html
The severity of future European Union sanctions could depend on the Netherlands, which suffered the greatest loss of life when the Malaysia Airlines flight was brought down.
U.S. President Barack Obama has piled pressure on Europe for a more forceful response and the three leading EU powers – Britain, France and Germany – said they should be ready to ratchet up sanctions.
30th july 2014
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/29/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/index.html
Russia became more isolated Tuesday than it has been at any time since the end of the Cold War after new, hard-hitting sanctions were announced by the European Union and the United States, U.S. officials said.
31st july 2014
https://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/news-en/the-mh17-tragedy-can-not-be-forgiven/
Julie Bishop also urged the Batkivshchyna faction to support the draft law on the ratification of the agreement between Ukraine and Australia on sending Australians to Ukraine in connection with the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 and the draft law on the ratification of the agreement between Ukraine and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on an international mission to provide security for the investigation that will provide the legal grounds for the international investigation into the catastrophe.
“The investigation must be independent and objective,” she said, adding that she will be in the Verkhovna Rada during the vote for this bill on Thursday, July 31.
31 JULY 2014, 12:30
http://iportal.rada.gov.ua/en/news/News/News/96536.html
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law “On ratification of Agreement between Ukraine and Australia on sending Australian personnel to Ukraine in connection with MH17 Malaysia Airlines plane crash”
( Information Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat )
Under the law, “the Agreement between Ukraine and Australia on sending Australian personnel to Ukraine in connection with MH17 Malaysia Airlines plane crash, signed on July 24, 2014 in Kyiv, comes into force as soon as Australia receives a diplomatic note stating that Ukraine has fulfilled its inter-state procedures.”
The Agreement stipulates that Australia can send its police, military and civilian personnel (hereinafter – Australian personnel) and related assets to Ukraine in connection with MH17 Malaysia Airlines plane crash.
The bill was registered under No. 0087.
The sad thing is that this will probably end with a war.. The Ukrainian elites have nothing to gain from carrying out the minsk agreement, the minsk agreement is a letter of capitulation,they agreed to it because their army was broken and defeated, but that is no longer true. So why would they carry out the minsk 2 agreement now?
If they do.
Ukraine will be unable to join NATO/EU.
The sanctions against Russia will be lifted.
And the Ukrainian government will be overthrown by nazi militas or popular unrest due to its unpopularity.
They agreed to the minsk because their army was routed and the alternatives was NAF troops walking on Kiev, but now when their army is rebuilt.. Why would they agree?
Even if EU and USA forced them into agreeing, I cant see how it would work.. Sure USA and EU might get Poroshenko and the rat to agree, but for the minsk 2 to be carried out, 300 out of 400 Rada members must agree as well, and I just cant see that happning, why would 300 rada members vote for surrender when their army is rebuilt?
So even if USA, which really is the one that pulls the strings in Ukraine, not EU, made an agreement with Russia to forfill the Minsk, say that Russia should leave Syria.. The agreement still could not be carried out.
The last thing I have been hearing is that if Ukraine does not forfill its part of the Minsk 2 before the deadline hits, then EU will declare that Ukraine failed and lift the sanctions on Russia.
And this might happen, but what would be the consquences of that?
1. Ukraine would be unable to join NATO/EU due to problems with territorial integrity.
2. The sanctions would be lifted, atleast partially.
3. The Ukrainian government would be overthrown either from militas angry at the government or popular unrest.
4. The conflict would go into deep freeze.
And this perhaps sounds “ok” but there is a problem with that.
If Kiev knows all this will happen if they do not forfill the minsk 2 agreement within a deadline.. And they know they have an army.. Why not give it one last try and try to conquer Donbass with force? I mean Kiev knows it has an army, it knows it will be overthrown if EU lifts the sanctions.. Why would they not decided to use the army in one last try? If they can get Russia to intervene militarly, they can say “Oh, look we were right, Russia invades tiny democracy” and NATO will switch on their propaganda machine and the sanctions will remain or even increase and the support for Ukraine will increase as well.
So the way I see, it, war is the only chance for the Ukrainian regime to survive.
“War is the only chance for the Ukrainian regime to survive.”—That is a nonsensical argument, unless the Ukrainian armed forces can start achieving some resounding victories in the field, even against regular Russian troops.—All other expectations that a Russian military incursion into Ukraine would be something somehow beneficial stand as speculative and totally absurd. Unless Ukrainian forces start really winning in the field, the Ukrainian regime will simply find itself chased off into exile. And the Ukrainian forces will hardly be winning in the field, because they are likely still fighting with weapons basically 30 years obsolete and without any air power to speak of, no cruise missiles, no nukes [unless they actually have them, though not “supposed to”].
Actually a victory might be very troubling for the regime, if it won it would have to start paying pensions and social welfare it would have to repair the infrastructure, it would be faced with a constnat insurgency and it would have proven itself without doubt as a violater of the Minsk 2 agreement.
If Russian troops invaded however, then Ukraine will claim it is a tiny democracy being invaded by aggressiv Russia,, support for Ukraine would increase, the NATO propaganda machine would start, sanctions on Russia would not only not be lifted but they would increase.
If the Ukronazis won they would ‘cleanse’ the Donbass. Then they would attack Crimea, and their loathsome machinations would definitely end.
Why do you claim that the Minsk II agreement constitutes a capitulation by Kiev? The only concession is that the Donbass oblasts be granted “special status” within the Ukraine state. If anything, it’s a capitulation by the DPR and LPR since they would need to renounce the idea of independence. Admittedly, I don’t know exactly what the “special status” constitutes or why it would be so unacceptable to Kiev. However, it is a compromise so may be unacceptable for that reason. In any case, I haven’t seen any indication that the Kiev government is motivated by rational calculation.
Special status mean that Donbass will be given maximal autonomy inside Ukraine, this means that Donbass will be able to veto decision at a national level, such as Ukraine wanting to join EU or NATO.
Minsk 2 means.
No NATO or EU for Ukraine.
Amnesty for all NAF soldiers and leaders
Donbass gets broad autonomy, meaning they will basically be their own country, execpt they will be able to control what Kiev does.
NAF will get to keep their armies.
Ukraine must rebuild Donbass.
And so on.
The Ukronazis are no doubt hoping for a Clinton victory in the US Presidential election. She is likely to give the ever fragrant Victoria Nudelman a leading role, and Ukronazi aggression, perhaps co-ordinated with Georgia, Chechyan Daash elements and Wahhabist ‘Crimean Tatars’ is definitely on the cards. Clinton is insane and insanely dangerous.
Europe, the future home of Islamofacism and Bandarite Neonazis, will prove to the entire world the “great things” that enlightened western civilization is capable of.
Everything Mercouris says makes sense to me. I don’t have the deep knowledge to have any basis to disagree or pick away. The Ukraine situation sounds like a perfect example of “Make My day” in connection with sanctions.
But something else here strikes me, and that is the intransigence of the Ukrainians Nazis when it comes to their racist/statelet/Ukrainian cultral goals.
This reminds me of nothing so much as the early Zionists’ intransigence: they would brook absolutely NO compromise with the Arab natives whom they had driven out and whose land teh Zionists had (mainly) stolen. Peter Mansfield’s The ARabs presents a litany of the milestones on the way to the creation and impositoin of the Zionist state that are marked by total intransigence at every step of the way.
I would be interested to know of any analyses of the roots of this intransigence by you would think weaker parties. Perhaps the Ukies are following some kind of Zionist playbook. Perhaps they are being advised by ‘zionist strategists on how to get their own way and destroy all other claims to participate in the governance of Ukraine via this total intransigence—just as the Zionists did.
Katherine
I think you are on to something. The gangster faction with the most intransigent chutzpah prevails. Seems to be endemic in both Zionist and Ukrainian political culture. And, of course, there is much overlap ( dual citizenry) and common heritage among the top gangsters in both places.
Right! Jewish forces have been behind all the pro-west changes in Ukraine as well as the organization of the orange revolutions.
Katherine, the Zionazi total intransigence was known as the Iron Wall, and it continues to today, in regard not just to the Palestinians, but the entire goy world.
A totally planned failure.
This is fine as far as it goes, but it is not necessarily at the highest level. There is a Grand Chessboard, after all. One that is more in the City of London, Wall Street, and wherever their chivalric orders hang out. So, instead of the question of how Merkel looks to the German public or business leaders, there is the question of damaging European relations with Russia. That was a success. There is the issue of harming Russia’s economy, which was a serious success. One reason being the destruction of Ukrainian industry, which was another goal and success for the planners of what happened in Kiev.
So “Europeans Staring at Total Failure” may be true, just as “Donetsk Residents Staring at Total Failure” may be true, but that isn’t really where the game matters. A much more important question is whether the Russian establishment is going to be able to reform and become strong enough to not look like prey, and the related question is the broader crisis in the West. It is an open question which of the three, Europe, the US, or Russia, will be able to navigate the mess they are in to calmer waters.
I disagree that Russian economy is “seriously harmed” in any meaningful way. Quite the opposite, as many comentators have agreed – it has pushed Russia into accelerating its’ own programs of achieving economic self-sufficiency.
All western economies include banking sector in their statistics, which with all the free money thrown at it since 2008 or even earlier, makes the numbers optimistic. If finance sector is excluded from statistics, all western economies are in serious decline for a number of years now.
It is obvious that finance sector with its’ stock market speculations (which is another term for “gambling”) does not contribute anything productive to the economy. If bakers, farmers, miners, even truck drivers don’t show up for work, the real economy suffers as there is a real shortage of goods and services. If bankers don’t show up for work, would anyone even notice?
Or simply look at any western government debt and compare it to Russia. When the dollar eventually collapses, who is facing ruin?
There is no question that the West is full of fraud and problems, but the idea that many pro-Russian blogs and commentators give seems overly optimistic. Interest rates for profitable businesses are what, 18%? What businesses can live without outside of the speculative financial ones that you see as being terrible for the West? Russia’s financial and economic systems are still dominated by a colonial and pro-Western structure. What push to economic independence? Ukrainian and Turkish business with Russia has collapsed, and the Ukrainian one in particular was quite important for Russia. What replacement is there or can there be? Buying Chinese products instead of German ones is not independence. There has been some progress in agriculture and tourism, because Russians are now too poor to go to Thailand as much.
Just an opinion, but I think we should take off the rose-colored glasses and see the strengths and the weaknesses of Russia and China. The Kremlin has done a good job of avoiding a civil war in the elite. Most of the oligarchs are still able to endure the problems caused by the West. The strategy of holding the Crimea and a part of the Donbass and stalling for time was affordable and even led to modernizing the military by having full use of the Crimea. The political and military intervention into Syria has also raised Russia’s standing with a fairly modest cost. But there are some weaknesses, with the financial and economic models being perhaps highest on the list. The issue of a dollar collapse is somewhat unknowable; perhaps the US will force Europe and Japan to bite the bullet and support the US at any cost – in which case, other areas will have a depression first.
Remember the numerous food and medical aid trucks? I believe the critical Ukrainian industry was shipped to Russia on the way back home. This successfully averted all attempts to get hands on Russia’s industrial secrets. A major side effect is the permanent and total loss of the most valuable business for Ukraine.
Concerning Russia “becoming” independent from U.S. dollars – that is a sheer fantasy, our wishful thinking. The reality is quite the opposite. Here is the very latest (Russian) news about it:
Russia has invested almost $100 billion in US government bonds
MOSCOW, 16 March 2016 – PRIME. In February Russia invested in US Treasury bonds an additional $4.8 billion. As a result, the value of American bonds owned by Russia has reached $96.9 billion. With this portfolio, the country occupies the 15th place among the creditors.
The largest holder of US bonds is China. According to the US Department of the Treasury, by the end of February China owned $1.237 trillion of US Treasury bonds.
The second place among the creditors of the US occupies the Bank of Japan, which in February increased its investment in U.S. bonds to $1.122 trillion.
In third place among the holders of U.S. debt is the block of Caribbean states. Theirs is the bonds package worth $351.6 billion.
Total value of US Treasury bonds owned by investors outside the US is 6.18 trillion dollars.
http://1prime.ru/News/20160316/824229566.html
Lemme figure this out… Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff’s presidency and the country’s economy are in a big trouble. India is massively buying Western armaments, opening ports and bases to US military. China has become the biggest world creditor of the US. Russia is rapidly buying US Treasury bonds. All the while “BRICS” is … an alternative to the Western hegemony… Right?…
The US has dropped a big turd in the middle of Europe and the Europeans have no idea how to clean up the mess. I think that sums up the level of sophistication of US foreign policy. Will the dimwits in Europe learn?
So Patrick Smith says it is the Nazis.
Alex Mercouris (using some of the same quotes) says it is not the nazis, but the whole Maidan philosophy.
I say there is no leadership in Ukraine, indeed there never was any in the Maidan – other than the Americans. It was an American plot, and American coup, and it is still American leadership.
If there is no Minsk accord it is the lack of American leadership – I doubt if they even care anymore, but it might be a career breaker to be the American who got Kiev to follow through on Minsk.
Alex – look at the polls – is there more than 5% still who give a damn about the aims of the Maidan? Just the opposite, surely 70% of polled Ukrainians (I’m generalising, not talking about specific polls) seem to want peace (which is essentially the same as Minsk2) asap. And I guess 100% of those not around to be polled.
In my opinion the entire US/EU operation was doomed to failure from the start. Simply replacing one herd of rapacious thugs with another herd of rapacious thugs was not, is not and will never be a solution to anything. The very fact that EU/US did this is an indication of not only their lack of basic common sense but also their lack of the slightest sense of morality.
Never forget, when the civilians were being, and are being, slaughtered daily in Novorossiya by indiscriminate bombardments of patently civilian living areas not a single word was heard from anyone besides those of us who live in Russia or who live in Novorossiya, not one single word of compassion, sympathy, horror, absolutely dead silence. I think my comrade Juan was correct in his scream of rage after the Lugansk horror in summer of ’14. We are considered untermenschen, subhumans deserving of nothing but subjugation.
One could almost feel the glee when EU/US first applied sanctions after the airliner shoot down, happily patting each other on the back and vowing to show those untermenschen exactly who was the master and who was the serf. I will never forget the screams of pain after VVP put sanctions right back on them, agricultural sanctions right in the middle of harvest time. Trucks loaded with tens of millions of euros worth of products were summarily halted at the Russian borders and refused entry. It was a master stroke of diplomacy that brought reality to the EU masses instead of them listening to the pap that passes for news and information which the lot of them were happily reading every morning. Reality is a b///h, ain’t it?
The problem is EU in particular does not and did not think their untermenschen would push back and/or fight back. They made the mistake, the huge mistake, of believing their own propaganda. As it turns out the subhumans did fight back and are continuing to do so in ways EU never thought of and now can neither think of a way to combat these subhumans nor get out of the trap that was so skillfully woven to ensnare them. In the end EU will go down in an every spiraling path of total economic and culture failure. That spiral is extant now and will only get worse in the not too distant future.
Do I feel compassion towards EU as they fall ever deeper in to their death spiral? For the ordinary people, yes, very much so. For the ‘upper crust’ of politicians and such? Not in the least. They are reaping what they have sown and the harvest is no where near as bitter as it will be. They sold their souls to The Dark Lord long ago and payment is due.
Auslander
Author, Never The Last One
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZGCY8KK
@ Auslander
Gosh! That’s rousing stuff! I’m west European and I’m 100% with you. However, the cabal running the EU don’t suffer for their failures and crimes; on the contrary, they have already been rewarded and will get extra kudos even in defeat. Look at Blair – a war criminal being paid millions for his war crimes. Where is justice?
“This is not because the Ukrainian government is being held hostage by right wing militias.”
-Indeed, one must remember that the Minsk agreemen is not in the interest of the Ukrainian elites, infact if they carried it out, what would likely happen is that the sanctions on Russia would be lifed, Ukraine would be unable to join NATO and EU and theiy would be overthrown either by nazi militas angry at them for carrying out the minsk or by the people, because the war propaganda is the only thing keeping their government in power.. So the Ukrainian elites have nothing to gain from the agreement at all..
So why did they agree to it? Well, obviously because their army was broken and they thought that they would be killed if they did not, there was nothing standing between them and the NAF soldiers.. But now time has past and they have rebuilt their army, perhaps stronger then before.. So why would they carry out the Minsk agreement? That makes no sense for Kiev.
Very true. Both Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 came at the very time when the Ukrainian army was being mauled in the cauldrons and Debaltsevo (sp?) respectively. And on both occasions Putin stepped in to prevent the utter annihilation of Kiev forces. Maybe he still has a soft spot for Ukraine.
The bankruptcy of Brussels, the deliberate refusal to speak for the millions of European Union members, was just illustrated in the Netherlands referendum voted in by committed Dutchmen determined violent, Nazi oriented Ukraine, never be given access to the E.U., by the Parliament’s decision to side-line Netherlands revulsion of the resumption of Nazi-ism by stating a new Brussels Agreement about Ukraine effected by Germany prior to the referendum date of April 2016. Mercouris repeats that agreement “20 to 25 years kept out of the EU”. Seeing US pressure from before the Russian end of WW11, when the US entered that war to prolong it,” 20 or 25″ does not mean, as Mercouris states, “forever”. Furthermore it is American, US Pentagon, Obama, foreign policy that the Minsk Agreement never be met, never, by any means whatsoever. Thanks Mercouris, for the fine analysis!
A second comment on the excellent Mercouris analysis. Little know for a long time, the “turning” of Angela Merkel to America’s plan to overcome and own Europe was key US CIA sratategy. It was far easier than they thought. Once she went to the Obama Whitehouse Rose Garden to be shown on CNN to the nation side by side with Obama, every became “a piece of cake”. It is she who gave Europe to the US, as their shrinks guessed she would, with both hands and in great fear. By so doing she shredded any power, once powerful Germany held. Her last refusal, yesterday, to stop her never shared support for war refugees, ended her political power but for the acclaim offered from US puppet media. US so accomplished the splitting of Northern European indigenous power
The US forced through building of the Frankfurt airport in order to become the main US owned European Vassal center entrance point, NL Schipol airport the entrance to the new celebratory center of American Northern Europe. The very reason thousands if not millions of Germans protested that building. Did Russia notice? Involved in it’s own alarums, London may not have noticed. They are set to go the same way. Britain is privitizing the crown jewels of it’s structure as a nation. British Austerity was accomplished by Goldman Sachs US derivative trade moving to London and removing all financial laws and norms.
The period covering August of this year through January of next year will be particularly perilous for both Ukraine and the Middle East. The US presidential campaign will have narrowed down to 2 candidates. President Obama will keep political considerations foremost in mind as he ponders what -if any- actions the U.S. should take. The situation is worst in the last 2 months, when the election results are known. US policy will be frozen during this period.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Ukraine will have plenty of opportunities to take military action in order to change the geopolitical landscape with virtually no interference by the United States.
” Europeans Staring at Total Failure in Ukraine ”
Ha ha. The same Zionists who used Bolshevism to destroy Russia and Naziism to destroy Germany used Ukrainian lowlife punks to destroy the Ukraine.
Where do you see a failure, Alexander Mercouris? Look again, it all proceeded perfectly from beginning to end.
@ zweistein
Exactly. There was no failure whatsoever (apart from the deftly Putin move on Crimea); the aim was always to bring the Ukraine into the group of failed states a la Middle East for future plunder, move Nato’s border to Russia for encirclement and drive a wedge between EU and Russia. Mostly accomplished.
Screw europe theyre getting what they deserve. If they werent in the anglo zionists pocket then things would be different.
On top of getting slapped with the spoils of a failed Ukraine, they also get slapped with a million or so refugees pouring in from the middle east.
Meanwhile in downtown US of A they get a few mexicans crossing the border. I bet the europeans would swap the latinos for the poor souls from mesopotamia anyday.
Merkel better think of an escape plan quickly because lynching might just come back into fashion.
@ Peter
Better still, storm the Bastille mark2 and sharpen the sloping blade. Aux barricades!
And they are making a stupid deal with Turkey which involves giving Turkey $6 billion euros and accepting a Syrian into the EU for every migrant Turkey takes back.
It sounds as if Turkey can just keep “recruiting” more and more non-Syrian migrants to shove at Greece and then it will have more Syrians resettled in the EU.
Kiev has announced a massive discount on the sale of state assets which have failed to find foreign buyers. Ukraine’s State Property Fund says all of the assets have been put up for sale more than 10 times and have found no takers.
Read more
© Valeriy MelnikovUkraine offers to sell its coal mines to Turkey
As a result, 22 of 34 state assets are now being put up for sale at a 60 percent discount, nine with a discount of 50 percent, and three are up for auction at a reduced asking price.
Among the companies offered for sale is a 9.6 percent stake in the Black Sea Shipyard, 37.6 percent in Lviv Coal Company and the Chernigov radio plant.
“Last week, the assets were offered for sale with discounts of 50 percent and 30 percent respectively, but the auctions were not held due to lack of buyers,” said the State Property Fund.
The State Property Fund is planning to privatize 450 state-owned firms, of which 20 are large enterprises, 50 medium-sized companies, and 380 are part of small privatizations, the Ukrainian news outlet Unian reports.
The Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Valeria Gontareva has said the sale of state-owned assets can bring Ukraine up to $1 billion. According to her, if Kiev is able to carry out the necessary reforms and privatize state property, Ukraine will have a stable level of reserves in three years.
At the moment, the country’s reserves stand at $13.5 billion.”
https://www.rt.com/business/335632-ukraine-state-assets-sale/
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Ukraine must take the steps to peace agreed a year ago in Minsk, or risk losing the support of the European Union, said Denmark’s foreign minister. Earlier this week other western powers criticized Kiev, following the resignation of a key minister.
“If Ukraine doesn’t come through with the reforms linked to the Minsk peace process, it will be very difficult for Europe to continue united in support for sanctions against Russia,” Kristian Jensen told Reuters at the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Amsterdam on Friday. “Ukraine has a deadline. They need to push those reforms now, they can’t wait.”
https://www.rt.com/news/331517-denmark-ukraine-minsk-agreement/
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Interviews with APU soldiers defected to the LC, in which he said that the Ukrainian army did not only does not comply with the agreement on the challenge of arms, but also is actively preparing for further military operations in the Donbass, pulling up to the line of contact of all new weapons and ammunition.”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54832
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Today, March 15, at the International Center for Peacemaking and Safety in Yavoriv met the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak and Minister of National Security underscored Canada Harjit Singh Seydzhan.
While at the site, the leaders of defense ministries discussed the implementation of existing programs of military cooperation between Ukraine and Canada, and identified promising areas of cooperation in the military sphere.
“We need help in the reform of Canada’s APU and bringing them to NATO standards, so our cooperation with Canada is continuing,” – said Stepan Poltorak.
At the landfill in Yavorov military familiarized with the education-training base of the center, visited the complex laser simulation fighting Miles and classes in several training areas with the participation of Canadian instructors. In particular, watching the tactical exercises with medicine and practical application of complex laser simulate fighting in the open the training ground and countering improvised explosive devices.
“Ukraine’s cooperation with Canada is unique. I watched today’s training and realized that the Ukrainian military show themselves very worthy. We promise to continue to assist Ukraine “, – said Hargitay Singh Seydzhan.
Working visit of Minister of Canada to Ukraine lasted two days, on March 14-15. In particular, yesterday he visited the Military Medical Hospital in Lviv.”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54857
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Tuesday, March 15, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered a draft resolution on the termination of diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. This was reported on the website of the Ukrainian parliament. The initiators of the bill were deputies BP Oksana Korchynska (Radical Party, Oleg Lyashko), Volodymyr Parasyuk (vnefraktsionnyh) Oleg Petrenko (fraction “Block Poroshenko”) and Yuriy Shukhevych-Bogdan (Radical Party, Oleg Lyashko).
Previously announced the creation of such a bill known Ukrainian nationalist-radical Dmitry Korchinskiy, whose wife – BP MP Oksana Korchynska already “famous” Adding to the Ukrainian parliament a bill on renaming Russia to Muscovy.
It will be recalled that a similar “breaking” the draft resolution in the Ukrainian parliament has already registered more than a year ago – 02.10.2015, under the N2095. It is called this way: “On temporary cessation of diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation.”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54856
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“They arrived in Kyiv from different regions of the country and the need to maintain the special regime of VAT to farmers and in general to support the agriculture of Ukraine. And apart from this – to remove from the prime minister’s office Arseniy Yatsenyuk. “No – the destruction of the village”, “No – tax farmers genocide”, “Vaughn – Prime Minister-corrupt,” “Do not make the poor peasants” – is written on the posters.
The villagers took the Constitution Square in front of the Parliament and of the roadway street Grushevskogo. Police blocked traffic on this section.
Main radical Ukraine, positioning himself as a defender of the village, Oleg Lyashko commented on the situation: “If you want to see what is a crisis, go to the village. The crisis in your head … This is a crisis of the genre … People have nothing to eat … ”
A tireless fighter for the premiership Yulia Tymoshenko explained the protest rally less emotionally and more precisely: “They came because they started sowing, but they have no money to treat the earth.”
Protesters put forward the following demands: to return the tax system, which operated until January 1, 2016, to adopt a law on family farms, develop and adopt a law on the single tax on land, not sell millions of hectares of Ukrainian lands under the hammer as it wants the government to Yatsenyuk, as well as consider a strategy of agricultural development on the example of European countries.
Recall that the special regime of VAT taxation of agricultural enterprises operated since 1998 and allowed farmers not to pay this tax to the budget. Cancel this benefit sought International Monetary Fund, and Kiev did.”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54854
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http://novorossia.today/sitrep-of-the-donetsk-people-s-republic/
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Ukraine has to put an ultimatum to Moscow and to offer it to surrender, then the war in Donbass will end. It was announced on air of the channel 112 by Evgeny Marchuk, the head of the working group on security issues in the Minsk negotiations, reports The Politnavigator.
According to him, it is the easiest way out of the war.
‘For me, the easiest way is to go to Minsk and to have a prepared ultimatum. We should come there, announce an ultimatum, give them the text of surrender and say, ‘Sign it and this will all end’. Ukraine will go to the border and so forth,’ said Marchuk.
https://dninews.com/article/ukrainian-tv-moscow-will-soon-capitulate-donbass
but
“President of the United States Barack Obama said in his conversation with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that it was necessary for Donbass to observe earlier undertaken ceasefire commitments, according to a statement from the White House, reports TASS.
Commenting on the talks between the Russian and the US leaders, the Kremlin said in its statement that President Putin reiterated the necessity for Kiev authorities to stick to the implementation of the Minsk Accords.
Discussing the situation in Ukraine, the Russian president stressed that it was necessary for the Ukrainian authorities to implement all of its obligations undertaken under the Minsk Accords.”
Doah!
and
“The current Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalia Jaresko may take place of Arseny Yatsenyuk only by a rough pressure from Washington, writes the Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
The publication points out that ‘according to a “leak”, the direct US henchman Natalia Jaresko put Poroshenko and Co and unacceptable conditions, such as no redistribution of flows, a complete freedom in personnel policies, a guaranteed majority for their bills in the Parliament and others, which means the complete independence of the “technical prime minister” from the president and parliament’.
Obviously, for a year and a half in the “reformist government” she is extremely tired of realities of the Ukrainian politics. In this case, her appointment is possible only by a loud shout and a rough pressure from Washington, which will confirm the transition of Ukraine under the direct manual control from the overseas, which they are likely to try to avoid there. After all, the appointment of Jaresko in this way will be the recognition of the complete failure of the US policy in Ukraine, and they will have to admit it two years after the “victory of democracy”.
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Unlike the West, the Russian Federation has a strategy, the essence of which consists in the majesty of the state and the return of the territories.
It was stated by Igor Smeshko, an adviser to the president and the head of the Intelligence Committee under the President of Ukraine, who in previous years had headed the General Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine and Security Service, at the conference “The militarisation of the occupied Crimea as a threat to international security” held in Kiev, reports The Politnavigator.
‘The main consequence of the occupation and militarisation of the Crimea is that the civilised world, at least, its intellectual part, understands that the main consequence of this is a statement of fact that the Euro-Atlantic civilization has no method of its further expansion. The RF, with a deficit of resources of a strategic player, has a strategy. And all this comes at a time when in the global world there are being born other civilisations which will undoubtedly profit from it – the Chinese, Arabic. Indian ones. And, alas, at the strategic level this problem is still not fully realised.
The Western world is a powerful economic war machine, but with its decision-making system and vision, it was it that just provoked the Russian president to an act of strategy produced in Russia. This strategy is the greatness of the state at any cost, the return of its territories or full control over them … in Russia there is an authoritarian form of government which makes decisions quickly – the people vote for such a form so far. But it is a strategy. The West has never had any strategy towards Ukraine. As it has never had understanding that it is Ukraine that is a key element of the evolutionary progress of the Euro-Atlantic civilisation.
DONi News Agency
delusion from ukraine again……..
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http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/russia-ukraine-war-examining-evidence-russian-aggression/ri13270
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Ukrainian Truckers Unite With Russian Drivers Against Radicals (Video)
Apparently they never heard Poroshenko’s public statement last year that Russians and Ukrainians are no longer brothers.”
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/ukrainian-truckers-unite-russian-drivers-against-radicals-video/ri13288
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http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/condoleezza-people-ukraine-just-be-glad-you-arent-liberian/ri13333
she visited with words of advice
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http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/no-peace-ukraine-because-kiev-cant-reign-its-neo-nazis/ri13316
discussion
I have already written a comment or two on Alexander Mecouris’s article here, as always brilliant, impeccably written, and I need to segue into Roy Mc Govern’s work as an activist post the CIA analyst he was for the so respectably long series of years he did that! The last video of a two set You Tube series he did, he is asked a question by an audience member about 9/11, a governmentally set up monstrous tragedy that immediately changed the rest of my life. And others’ . Since 9/11 had been set up so many years in advance waiting the best time to “do” it, using the clandestine CIA to catch every breath of any conspiracies to piggy back a 9/11 on, Bush 1, before he became either the elected President (actually his second term in office) and probably before his first term as Reagan’s caretaker President, probably even before his drive-by one whole year as head of the by then infamous Central Intelligence Agency, Bush US-President-to-be knew how 9/11 could be done with great ease and sureness of success. You see, Connecticut Senator Bush, living in the lush Connecticut farmland of Fairfield, CT.USA, where the richest Wall Street investors bought and created estates, managed to enrage every one of them, and was quite proud of accomplishing this feat.
He had introduced him self to the Saudi “royal” family (British created) with such success Senator Bush representing the US Senate, became an adopted son of the reigning Saudi monarch at the time. He and the monarch decided the best thing to do was to introduce the American public the Saudi Islam, a complete negation of everything normal Islam stood for, which was fine with the Senator..A deal was struck that the only Islam to cover the vast plains and cities of the Unites State must only be the Wahhabi or Saudi, version of Islam. The Saudi’ism of European Islam is going in place, building Wahabbi mosques and Madrasses with the help of the EU Commission and the EU Parliament, both now US owned.
Bye the bye, Senator either as retired or in his own son, moved from lush Fairfield, CT., USA to wildly wealthy Texas. Bush pre-Bush 1. readied himself for the White house, first being Ronald Reagan’s Vice President, Ronnie becoming an alsheimer’s victim. A miss-fired assassin’s shot sidelined terrified Ronnie, his Bush Vice President banished him and Nancy (ninetyfour in 2016)to watch movies on their estate in California for the last 2 years of his second Presidential term, while Bush became care-taker President. Prepared his whole life to be the US President, it was a cake-walk to get him elected.His imperial tendency urged the Feds to set up impeachment proceedings so effective, a second term in Washington was impossible.
Today being Tuesday, March 15, 2016, almost 50% of the 9/11 conspiracy plans accomplished once that set-up had succeeded fourteen years ago, ready to move on ahead on cue, is being scrutinised as never before. You see it has already been solved in 2006 no less! In the mentioned second Ray Mc Govern video he never heard of the definitive report I received a copy of in 2009. This report has even been released across the EU in 2010 and later, until the US Google got ahold of all copies.
Someone with better credentials than I have, only a respected family business name known in 140 countries, should know what I know and run with it. 9/11 was to hoodwink everyone on earth. The Bush Senator’s reason for being, something he delighted in.First the US had to be hoodwinked, the dream of any professional con-man.
See the award winning movie “Elmer Gantry”, beloved US history
“See the award winning movie “Elmer Gantry”, beloved US history”
I saw that movie,a great film.
The attack on one of the World Trade Towers in 1993, by Pakistani Ramzi Yousef, was supposedly supposed to have it topple onto its twin. When that didn’t work, the “shadow” government went back to the drawing board for something even more spectacular, is my theory.
Also in the first it is stated that the FBI was watching and tracking Ramzi Yousef and knew he had live/working explosives in the van but they did nothing to stop it – just observed him and what happened.
For the 2001 attack, it seems that they had demolition explosions packed/built into it. Some people working there mentioned construction going on in it in the weeks and months before the horror happened.
Furthermore, a survivor of the second building, said that after the first building was hit, but just before his building was struck, there was a public announcement which kept telling people to stay in their office and not leave, and after their building was struck the message kept up. But he left anyways, and thanks to that he survived because his building, though he second, fell first. I think it was all set up that way.
That is the way I’m always thought it went down too. They like to “piggy-back” their operations. Either discover real plots,or encourage them. Then enhance them to fit what they want to get out of them. I figure they knew everything possible about the planned attack. And either helped (secretly) to plan it. Or made sure they was nothing to stop it (probably both). And enhanced the destructive power in the buildings so they would collapse like they did. Then they would have the best false flag ever to work with.And could claim it was solely the “evil Arabs” that did it. Paving the way for them to make war on,and take over the total control of, the MENA region. I also believe they worked in pardnership with Israel on that plot. The Israelis had much more, and better intelligence in the ME. They would have heard of the plot. And if not in on it. Would have exposed it before hand. But it helped “cement” the Israeli-US alliance even more for something like 9/11 to take place.So I don’t doubt they were fully involved with it.
For most of the world (including USA) Ukraine ceased to be a news long time back. With recession looming for most world, they have no time, no patience and no sympathy to offer.
Alexander, I think your article is fundamentally flawed – and fatally so: again, nowhere do you mention biden, why not??? Or the neocons? Since you have not factored into account this very important, central and relevant fact, whatever you argue fails without it.
You stated: ‘the whole purpose of the February coup was so that the faction in Ukraine that holds power now could achieve the unrestricted dominance of Ukrainian society’ – this logic is akin to a small dog/bitch on a leash controlling its much bigger and powerful master, and is also wrong. The Americans want that dominance and control, hence biden’s involvement to such an unhealthy degree, with nuland his attack dog or rather bitch, or maybe she thinks she is butch enough to be classified as a dog, as in barking, rabid mad.
The purposes of the Feb coup were to get USUkraine out of Russia’s influence and on the Western side, this was revealed by nuland’s admittance of the USG spending – at least – of $5 billion on Ukraine, with the 25 year US plan for Eastern Europe. Allied to this was as a thorn in the flesh of Russia, to weaken it in line with the neocon jewish wolfowitz and his original doctrine and PNAC, the containment of Russia to prevent it challenging US dominance and supremacy in the 21st century, so that the USG could remain the sole superpower. Also, of course, was to the benefit of primarily US companies, i.e. monsanto, cargill, deere, chevron etc.
To claim that the Europeans, even collectively, have any power regarding USUkraine without USG agreement beggars belief, and so it has been proven: dogs with bark but no bite, as in muzzled at best.
Obama’s comments to you have been downplayed in high places, in Europe. I read them with interest and thank you for the time you have taken to present this. As for the “rebuilt” ukie army, rebuilt with US mercenaries and matos, well Obama took the neoCon stuffing out of that, didn’t he?
Basically it’s a big fail for Hollande-Ayrault/Steinmeyer. But what are Foreign ministers for, if you can’t ditch them along with bad policies?
Interesting times.
Best
“the coming failure of the sanctions policy”
One wouldn’t say it is a failure. It apparently succeeded in restricting Novorussia to its present meager and insecure boundaries – and now it forced Putin out of Syria.
Unless, of course, you maintain that these two calamities are entirely Putin’s failures, in which case you might have a point. It is either one, or the other – or both – but certainly not neither. So: which one is it?
It was obvious to many people that the Ukrainian circus would end that way. A glance back at the history of Ukraine would have shown that the creation of Ukraine by the German High Command in 1918 lead to the demise of Germany at the very end of the year. The illusion that Ukraine would feed the starving Central Powers proved to be exactly that, an illusion. In order to ensure delivery of food and coal, to keep in check a restless population and to prevent a resumption of hostilities by Russia Germany had to maintain in Ukraine more troops than calculated, which lacked on the Western Front in the moments when the Germans sought the decision. Moreover, the return of German prisoners thoroughly Bolshevized in the Russian camps spread the revolutionary propaganda in the ranks of the Army and speeded up the Revolution which brought down the Kaiser. That was the “Stab in the back”, self-inflicted!
An informative article which cuts through the usual msm crap. Thank you!
Europe needs to get out from under the American thumb.
Let the USA fight it’s own bloody wars (which it almost never does) – we have no argument with Russia.
Ukraine is now a real mess – a bit like Libya, or anywhere else that has had US interference.
even Nuland getting****** off?
“US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will give Ukraine loans only after it overcome the corruption and total dependence of the economy from the oligarchs.
This Nuland said, speaking at a hearing in the US . Congress,
“We continue to believe that 2016 can and should be the year when Ukraine will be freed from the unholy alliance of dirty money and dirty politics, which is robbing the Ukrainians too long”, -. she told
assistant Secretary of State noted that the support of Ukraine on the part of the United States and the IMF will depend entirely on the reformatting of the central government, depriving a significant influence of the oligarchs in Ukraine, as well as of anti-corruption reforms, primarily in the prosecutor’s office and the judicial system as a whole.
According to her, in the current political instability, neither the US nor the IMF, can not continue financial assistance to Ukraine, he stressed the representative of the US State Department.
”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54897
so even McCain getting nervous now over Ukr cos Rus has shown in Syria what it does to an “opposition’, or he is scaremongering to encourage Kiev to act quickly?
“Senator John McCain scares Ukraine, so that after the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria turn their resources and attention to the Ukraine, where a bloody spring will come again. Such a statement by the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee released by his press office.
McCain assured that the Russian bombing in Syria destroyed enough of the opposition to ensure the preservation of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
“The administration consoled herself mantra that” war is no solution “instead of to look at the reality that there is a clear military dimension of any political solution in Syria, “- said McCain, and that is what, according to him, showed Russia and its allies. They changed the military facts on the ground, creating more favorable to their own interests the conditions for a political settlement.
“The likely result of this will be further corruption conflict LIH will continue to grow, the refugees will continue to arrive. And if Russia will turn their resources and attention to any other place, I fear that the bloody spring again closer to Ukraine “, – said McCain.”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54894
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Nuland complaining about need to get rid of corruption in ukr should look to her own country?
“The film “Black House”, revealing the corruption schemes the US State Department and the Obama personally, was banned at least in the United States. However, the picture nevertheless became available to a mass audience. According originally published it Dmitry Puchkov, the film should look both abroad and in Russia”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54877
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BTW OSCE monitoring has discovered quite a few Ukr tanks are not safely locked away but gone walkabouts……..somewhere near Donbass
OSCE observers of the Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine once again visited the permanent storage of arms APU, which recorded no 11 tanks.
“SMM once again visited the permanent storage of arms of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the location of which meet the requirements of discharge lines, and noted the absence of 11 tanks, including two T-72 and nine T-64, as well as the fact that one of the storage sites has not been used “, – said the report of the OSCE’s press service.
during the 12 and 13 March, being between controlled city government Avdeevka and DNI Yasinovataya controlled city, the mission documented numerous violations of the ceasefire. In particular, 370 explosions produced by different types of weapons, including the banned Minsk agreements.”
http://www.anna-news.info/node/54926
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sitrep
https://dninews.com/article/donetsk-defense-situation-report-16032016
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Nemesis knocking at Europe’s door: after all the hubris, a decent humiliation is the well deserved result.
The BRICS are under attack, they should do something about it or they’re going to die.
an assessment of Turkey=ukraine
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/turkey-and-ukraine-are-alliance-misfits/ri13418
extract from a reasonable realistic article at the Guradian
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/why-ukraine-needs-russia-more-ever/ri13287
“Reckless government borrowing has exacerbated the problem. The government was able to write off 20% of its Eurobond debt last October, allowing it to negotiate for the next IMF loan tranche which was expected in December but still not been received.
But the draconian terms imposed for this small beer are often overlooked.Ukraine will be repaying this debt until 2041, with future generations giving western creditors as much as half of the country’s GDP growth, should it ever reach 4% a year……….The destruction of Ukraine’s industrial base, which is heavily concentrated in the east, shifts the balance of economic and political power to the western regions, permanently marginalising opposing political voices. The advantages are clear. Fostering a sense of perpetual crisis allows the current government to argue that it must remain in power, to see its policies through. The only uncertainty is whether such a strategy can bear fruit before the country’s economy collapses.VThis is not a policy that the west can endorse. Regardless of political sympathies, no western government should tolerate the deliberate impoverishment of the population for political gain. The risks of Ukraine becoming a failed state, and adding millions more to Europe’s burgeoning refugee crisis, are simply too high.
The best way to avoid such an outcome is to recognise that Ukraine’s economic survival depends not on western bailouts but on the renewal of Russian investment there. Western policymakers should insist that economic rationality take precedence over economic nationalism, and make that a condition of assistance.
Until that happens, it is hard to imagine anyone investing in Ukraine’s future, including its own people.”etc
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MH17 Robert Parry latest
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/mh-17-us-still-hiding-key-evidence-could-solve-case/ri13405
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http://www.anna-news.info/node/54963
Donbass summary for yesterday
https://dninews.com/article/donetsk-defense-situation-report-17032016
Edward Basurin
“The Donetsk People’s Republic follows all the articles of the Minsk agreements and supports the efforts of the international diplomats and observers. Once again we draw attention of the OSCE Monitoring Mission and other human rights organisations to the facts of outrageous treatment of the civilian population of Donbass. ”
Lots info here.
Minsk is finally buried???
Elections in ”certain areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions” in Donbass cannot be held in the coming two years, the deputy head of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission, Andrei Magera, said on Thursday.
I don’t believe that it is possible to hold elections not only in June 2016, I doubt that in June 2017 they can be held, told Magera.
Director general of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine Alexei Koshel also said holding the elections in Donbass in the near future was impossible. In the best case scenario, the elections in Donbass could take place no earlier than in five years, Koshel said. In the worst case scenario, this could happen in ten or more years, he added.
DONi News Agency
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Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of Donetsk Natalia Nikonorova, when she commented on the discussion in the Verkhovna Rada of the bill on the break of diplomatic relations.
‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of Donetsk reminds the Ukrainian government that the severance of diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation will not relieve Kiev from the responsibility for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, but will only undermine the international community’s efforts to de-escalate the conflict,’ commented the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Nikonorova pointed out that the recent attacks on the Russian diplomatic missions in Ukraine are not only evidence of the destabilisation of the situation in the country, but ‘violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, under which public authorities are obliged to take all appropriate steps to protect the consular premises against any intrusion or damage’.’
https://dninews.com/article/dpr-fm-break-diplomatic-relations-russia-not-save-kiev-obligation-fulfil-minsk-agreements
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Thursday, March 17, 2016 – 12:49
Time is working against Ukraine, and soon the country could finally lose the support of the European Union if it did not perform painful for it Minsk agreements.
Such a forecast was presented by Sergey Belashko, he director of the Agency of Social Communications, at a press conference in Kiev, reports The Politnavigator.
‘The main strategic error made by the Ukrainian regime in recent months is that, I do not know why, but they thought that time was on their side. However, time is working against them. In fact, it has already worked, and they have run out of it. Now, within just a few weeks, we will obviously see a fundamental change in the disposition. Either Ukraine will start the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and take painful and unpopular decisions, or it will lose the support of the West. At least, the support of the European Union, as the US support is of a different nature. Ukraine is just a small fragment of a mosaic map of the American politics,’ pointed out the political scientist.
DONi News Agency
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Thursday, March 17, 2016 – 11:23
Lawmakers may consider the issue of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s resignation at an extraordinary session of the parliament next week, said a source in the presidential administration, reports TASS.
-Thursday, March 17, 2016 – 08:53
The deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin expressed hope that the authorities of Ukraine would not resort to this scenario.
Russia does not rule out that the Ukrainian authorities are developing a scenario of returning Donbass to the country by force. This was stated by the State Secretary, the deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin.
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The President of Ukraine Poroshenko has implemented the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine of January 27 on the Cybersecurity Strategy of Ukraine.
This is stated on Poroshenko’s official website, reports The Politnavigator.
The main danger in Ukraine is recognised as possible ‘aggressive actions’ by Russia, which can be taken ‘to exhaust the Ukrainian economics and undermine its social and political stability in order to destroy Ukraine and seize its territory’.
‘Economic, scientific and technical, information sphere, the sphere of public administration, defense, industrial and transportation systems, infrastructure, electronic communications, security and defense sector of Ukraine ‘become Increasingly vulnerable’ for the intelligence and subversive activities of foreign special services in the cyberspace. This is contributed by a broad (sometimes dominant) presence in the information infrastructure of Ukraine of organisations, groups and individuals who are directly or indirectly linked to Russia,’ says the document.
Another challenge for the country is recognised as ‘the possible use of the territory of Ukraine for combat operations’ in the event of a military conflict between Russia and NATO member states.
DONi News Agency
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About the time Russia’s economy goes positive, Europe will be in chaos from the effects of the mass immigration of unwanted refugees. The ongoing rape and crime problem will go crazy as summer approaches. By then, the thousands of ISIS terrorists that have sneaked in will have organized enough to start systematic attacks, including many more Paris-like in size. As northern Europe is attacked by the people they welcomed in, their own people will likely attack their own suicidal govts. Kiev will continue to ignore Minsk2 and the EU will be forced to discontinue the sanctions on Russia and wash their hands of the Fascists in Kiev, their hands full from the chaos in their own countries. Poroshenko will likely be forced out and the Right sector will attack Donetsk, seeing that as the only way to survive. Since both sides have rearmed exponentially, the loss of life will be horrific compared to the earlier battles. The EU, fed up with the Kiev Fascists, and in a death struggle in their own countries, will do nothing when Putin steps in and destroys what’s left of Maidan and claims the ruin of what was once a prosperous country.
The worlds economies will panic as the whole of Europe is in chaos. All thanks to Nazi Nuland’s brilliant idea of spending 5billion dollars to over throw the legally elected govt of the Ukraine.
Rainman…..
Humiliation is precisely whats in store for the Europeans. The EU is like a great big vanity project fostered by the US. No one is really responsible or democratically accountable in Europe.
The US will twist the arms of a few European leaders to sign the TTIP treaty and European citizens will find themselves second class subjects of the United NATO States governed by Washington and the Wall St. banksters.