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the Ukraine's coup

Oleg Smirnov

3/9/2015 9:07:00 PM

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/0...

A European-American Divorce over Ukraine

Germans are finally realizing US is a force for chaos

This article originally appeared <http://is.gd/... at Moon of Alabama

The German government finally wakes up, a little bit at least, and recognizes
the obvious fact that U.S. neocons want to drag Europe into a war. It is now
openly blaming <http://is.gd/... certain circles within the U.S.
government and NATO of sabotaging the Minsk ceasefire agreement. Especially
offensive is the fantasy talk of U.S. and NATO commander General Breedlove::

For months, Breedlove has been commenting on Russian activities in eastern
Ukraine, speaking of troop advances on the border, the amassing of munitions
and alleged columns of Russian tanks. Over and over again, Breedlove's
numbers have been significantly higher than those in the possession of
America's NATO allies in Europe. As such, he is playing directly into the
hands of the hardliners in the US Congress and in NATO.

The German government is alarmed. Are the Americans trying to thwart
European efforts at mediation led by Chancellor Angela Merkel? Sources in
the Chancellery have referred to Breedlove's comments as "dangerous
propaganda." Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier even found it
necessary recently to bring up Breedlove's comments with NATO General
Secretary Jens Stoltenberg.

But Breedlove hasn't been the only source of friction. Europeans have also
begun to see others as hindrances in their search for a diplomatic solution
to the Ukraine conflict. First and foremost among them is Victoria Nuland,
head of European affairs at the US State Department. She and others would
like to see Washington deliver arms to Ukraine and are supported by
Congressional Republicans as well as many powerful Democrats.

Indeed, US President Barack Obama seems almost isolated. He has thrown his
support behind Merkel's diplomatic efforts for the time being, but he has
also done little to quiet those who would seek to increase tensions with
Russia and deliver weapons to Ukraine. Sources in Washington say that
Breedlove's bellicose comments are first cleared with the White House and
the Pentagon. The general, they say, has the role of the "super hawk,"
whose role is that of increasing the pressure on America's more reserved
trans-Atlantic partners.

The U.S., including Obama, wants to strengthen the U.S. run NATO and thereby
its influence in Europe. And Europe, by losing business with Russia and
risking war, is supposed to pay for it.

The German public, despite tons of transatlantic propaganda, has well
understood the game and the government can not escape that fact. It has to
come back to some decent course and if that means trouble with Washington so
be it. The foreign ministers of Germany, France and the U.S. are currently
meeting in Paris and Secretary of State Kerry will not like what he will hear:

In Berlin, top politicians have always considered a common position
vis-a-vis Russia as a necessary prerequisite for success in peace efforts.
For the time being, that common front is still holding, but the dispute is a
fundamental one -- and hinges on the question of whether diplomacy can be
successful without the threat of military action. Additionally, the
trans-Atlantic partners also have differing goals. Whereas the aim of the
Franco-German initiative is to stabilize the situation in Ukraine, it is
Russia that concerns hawks within the US administration. They want to drive
back Moscow's influence in the region and destabilize Putin's power. For
them, the dream outcome would be regime change in Moscow.

Europe has no interest in regime change in Russia. The result would likely be
a much worse government and leader then the largely liberal Putin.

The U.S., the empire of chaos, does not care what happens after a regime
change. In the view of U.S. politicians trouble and unrest in the "rest of the
world" can only better the (relative) position of the United States. If
production capabilities in Europe get destroyed through war the U.S. could
revive its export industries.

It seems that at least some European leaders now understand that they get
played by Washington and they are pushing back. A Eurasian economic sphere is
in Europe's interest <http://is.gd/.... Will Obama accept their view and
turn off the hawks or will he escalate and risk the alliance with Europe? A
first sign looks positive. The U.S. called off <http://is.gd/..., on short
notice, a plan to train Ukrainian National Guard (i.e. Nazi) forces:

[O]n Friday, a spokesman for US forces in Europe, confirmed the delay in a
statement and said: "The US government would like to see the Minsk agreement
fulfilled."

"The training mission is currently on hold but Army Europe is prepared to
carry out the mission if and when our government decides to move forward,"
the statement said.

Some Europeans, like the writers in the piece above, still see Obama as a
reluctant warrior pushed to war by the hawks in his own government and the
Republicans in Congress. But the surge in Afghanistan, the destruction of
Libya, the war on Syria and the trouble in Ukraine have all been run by the
same propaganda scheme: Obama does not want war, gets pushed and then
reluctantly agrees to it. It is a false view. The buck stops at his desk and
Nuland as well as General Breedlove and other official hawks concerned about
their precious bodily fluids <http://is.gd/... are under Obama's direct
command. He can make them shut up or get them fired with a simple 30 second
phone call. As he does not do so it is clear that he wants them to talk
exactly as they do talk. Obama is the one driving the neocon lane.a

The Europeans should finally get this and distance themselves from that
destructive path.
9 Answers

Jan Panteltje

3/10/2015 9:35:00 AM

0

On a sunny day (Mon, 9 Mar 2015 21:07:16 -0000) it happened "Oleg Smirnov"
<vezde@gde.ru> wrote in <mdl211$2ai$1@os.motzarella.org>:

><http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/0...
>
>A European-American Divorce over Ukraine

>
>Germans are finally realizing US is a force for chaos
>
>This article originally appeared <http://is.gd/... at Moon of Alabama
>
>The German government finally wakes up, a little bit at least, and recognizes
>the obvious fact that U.S. neocons want to drag Europe into a war. It is now
>openly blaming <http://is.gd/... certain circles within the U.S.
>government and NATO of sabotaging the Minsk ceasefire agreement. Especially
>offensive is the fantasy talk of U.S. and NATO commander General Breedlove::

I did read that Merkel is now pushing for an European army.
A good thing, I think,
and a bit of counter weight against the US.
Germany, France (nuclear), what will the UK (nuclear)do?

As to weapon sales, Poland seems to want to supply arms to Ukrain.
I think that is a dangerous sign.
Do they make those themselves, or is it US import?
Or is it European made?

Oleg Smirnov

3/10/2015 11:31:00 AM

0

Jan Panteltje, <news:mdmdrl$ju0$1@news.datemas.de>
> On a sunny day (Mon, 9 Mar 2015 21:07:16 -0000) it
> happened "Oleg Smirnov" <vezde@gde.ru> wrote in

>> <http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/0...
>>
>> A European-American Divorce over Ukraine
>
>> Germans are finally realizing US is a force for chaos
>>
>> This article originally appeared <http://is.gd/...
>> at Moon of Alabama
>>
>> The German government finally wakes up, a little bit at
>> least, and recognizes the obvious fact that U.S. neocons
>> want to drag Europe into a war. It is now openly blaming
>> <http://is.gd/... certain circles within the U.S.
>> government and NATO of sabotaging the Minsk ceasefire
>> agreement. Especially offensive is the fantasy talk of
>> U.S. and NATO commander General Breedlove::
>
> I did read that Merkel is now pushing for an European
> army. A good thing, I think, and a bit of counter weight
> against the US.
> Germany, France (nuclear), what will the UK (nuclear)do?

To-day it seems to be not quite clear about this European
army initiative. Some analysts in Moscow tend to see it
as yet one potential threat. In general, I think, the move
to more independence from the American patronage would be
in interest of Europe.

> As to weapon sales, Poland seems to want to supply arms
> to Ukrain.
> I think that is a dangerous sign.

Polish political class is historically jealous about the
Ukraine considering it sort of lost Polish colony, also the
Polish politicians played a key role among those EU's
figures that initially laid the foundation to the creation
of the current Ukraine crisis.

<http://www.eurasiareview.com/05022015-ukraines-outlook-bleak-ana...

"Unfortunately the EU had allowed a Russia-hating minority of its officials
(Sikorski and Bildt) to take control of the negotiations and to shape the
treaty so that it would seriously harm Russian - and with that indirectly
also Ukrainian - interests. Russia tried to get involved to correct that,
but its efforts were declined by the EU .."

> Do they make those themselves, or is it US import?
> Or is it European made?

Poland still uses military equipment produced in the Soviet ages and / or
compatible with those Warsaw pact standards, the Ukrainian military may be
interested to obtain this 'known' equipment from Poland (or Lithuania etc).

Oleg Smirnov

3/12/2015 10:04:00 AM

0

<http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/270...

... Lets Look at Ukraine Today

This is what happened after the manufactured crisis in Ukraine and the coup
against a democratically elected Government: And it only took 8 months for
Ukraine to be sent to the stone age!

98% of Ukraine's Gold is Missing <http://is.gd/.... Gone. The country has
no reserves.
17 million hectares of the Ukraine's and World's Most Fertile Land is now in
Possession of US and German Companies. The Dutch got a smaller piece and are
reportedly unhappy <http://is.gd/.... Their lease is for 50 years because
Foreign Corps by law are not allowed to own land in Ukraine, however the Law
is being changed in Kiev as we speak. German and US Comnpanies will defacto
Own half of Ukraine. Prior to the "crisis" China offered Ukraine billions to
lease Ukrainian land for 20 years. Now Ukraine has No Land, and No Money.

- The US installed its own Citizen and former State Department Employee
Natalie Jaresko to Govern Ukraine's Finances. Those Russians keep meddling.

- Joe Biden's Son was installed on the Board of Ukraine's largest gas company
Burisma. Again those Russians...

- 60% of Ukrainian business today are losing money.

- Ukrainian salaries went from 300 euros to 130 euros/month.

This is what happens with manufactured "revolutions" when puppets working for
foreign interests are installed in Government. ..

Jan Panteltje

3/12/2015 12:13:00 PM

0

On a sunny day (Thu, 12 Mar 2015 10:03:56 -0000) it happened "Oleg Smirnov"
<vezde@gde.ru> wrote in <mdrobt$t8j$2@os.motzarella.org>:

><http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/270...
>
>.. Lets Look at Ukraine Today
>
>This is what happened after the manufactured crisis in Ukraine and the coup
>against a democratically elected Government: And it only took 8 months for
>Ukraine to be sent to the stone age!
>
>98% of Ukraine's Gold is Missing <http://is.gd/.... Gone. The country has
>no reserves.
>17 million hectares of the Ukraine's and World's Most Fertile Land is now in
>Possession of US and German Companies. The Dutch got a smaller piece and are
>reportedly unhappy <http://is.gd/.... Their lease is for 50 years because
>Foreign Corps by law are not allowed to own land in Ukraine, however the Law
>is being changed in Kiev as we speak. German and US Comnpanies will defacto
>Own half of Ukraine. Prior to the "crisis" China offered Ukraine billions to
>lease Ukrainian land for 20 years. Now Ukraine has No Land, and No Money.
>
>- The US installed its own Citizen and former State Department Employee
>Natalie Jaresko to Govern Ukraine's Finances. Those Russians keep meddling.
>
>- Joe Biden's Son was installed on the Board of Ukraine's largest gas company
>Burisma. Again those Russians...
>
>- 60% of Ukrainian business today are losing money.
>
>- Ukrainian salaries went from 300 euros to 130 euros/month.
>
>This is what happens with manufactured "revolutions" when puppets working for
>foreign interests are installed in Government. ..


I was reading on Dutch news today (not verified from other sources) that
Poland now wants US cruise missiles quote: "BECAUSE THEY ARE UNDER ATTACK IN THE MEDIA AND ON INTERNET".
That was the weirdest thing I have read in month.
Real freedummy of speech, people criticize you, you buy cruise missiles.

As to that land, they will probably try genetic manipulated crop there,
as it is not allowed in the EU.
That could cause damage to Russian crops (insects do not know about borders)..
So Russia should watch that!

Oleg Smirnov

3/12/2015 6:01:00 PM

0

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/1...

British Researcher: EU Policy in Ukraine Was 'Stupidity on a Grand Scale'

Richard Sakwa, the author of the recently published book 'Frontline Ukraine',
believes that the current crisis on the European continent is the result of
the stupid and careless policy of the Old World leaders who let the Americans
shape their foreign policy.

The article originally appeared <http://is.gd/... at German Economic News.
Translated for RI by Anita Zalaldinova

The researcher of Russia and political scientist Richard Sakwa from Britain
believes that the blame for the escalation in Ukraine is to be sought in
Washington and Brussels. Putin has no interest in war - that is the last thing
he needs. Sakwa calls the West for pressure on the government in Kiev as
Ukraine as a federal state must also represent the interests of people in
Donbass.

Jonathan Steele, a former correspondent of the Moscow newspaper, reviewed a
remarkable book (the review was published in The Guardian): in his book
'Frontline Ukraine' <http://is.gd/... Richard Sakwa explains a one-sided
view of the West on the conflict in Ukraine, and errors of the EU and the
United States are meticulously specified. He criticizes the lack of an
independent European foreign policy as well as the undifferentiated criticism
of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Steele notes that even at the darkest
times of the Cold War, Soviet politicians like Brezhnev, Andropov were not so
massively insulted by the Western public and its leaders like Putin is in the
current conflict.

German Economic News are talking with Richard Sakwa who is a professor of
Russian and European Studies at the University of Kent <http://is.gd/....
Sakwa is a Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Royal Institute of
International Affairs, Chatham House. Since September 2002 he has been a
member of the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences. In his
book, 'The Crisis of Russian Democracy ' <http://is.gd/..., he presented a
critical view on the transformation process in Russia.

German Economic News: In your book about Ukraine the current dilemma of the
country's history is explained. Russians, as Gorbachev has repeatedly
emphasized, abandoned their empire without war. They did that because they had
seen this development as a success for both sides. They expected a
partnership. Americans, however, considered the fall of the Soviet Union as a
one-sided victory. Is it because of this historical background that the Cold
War has returned to Europe?

Richard Sakwa: That's right. The watershed was conference in Malta in December
1989. There the new post-war system was immediately formed after the fall of
the Wall. US President George W. Bush realized indeed that the power of the
Soviet Union was on the wane but he failed to understand that Mikhail
Gorbachev was planning to establish a new kind of politics, in which there was
no winner or loser. Instead, the United States interpreted the events as a
victory of their own policies. Today, 25 years later, we understand the depth
of this strategic defeat. The bad thing about Malta Conference was that there
was no European politician, like Churchill in Yalta, who would represent the
interests of the West Europeans. Indeed, our fate on our side of the continent
was determined without our participation.

German Economic News: Can such a different view of history also lead to a new
Cold War now?

Richard Sakwa: It has already resulted in it, and I have warned about that for
years. We have lived in Europe like in paradise for 25 years but none of the
fundamental security issues have been resolved. Therefore, it was more of a
period of the Cold peace. Now there has been a breakdown in order, resulting
in a kind of Cold War.

German Economic News: NATO seems to be very careful to act. Is NATO's
existence in its present form in a modular world is part of the solution
rather part of the problem?

Richard Sakwa: One should have dissolved NATO since 1989 or must have included
Russia in a reformed organization. Instead, we have the worst of all possible
options - an expanded NATO, which now begins to encircle Russia from all sides
but at the same time excludes Russia. It does not take a strategic genius to
understand that Russia - a nuclear power - would sooner or later oppose this
development.

German Economic News: You argue that Europe failed to formulate its own
independent foreign policy at a historic moment. Has the EU initiated a new
crisis accidentally, or do you believe that there were deliberate
considerations that have led the escalation that far?

Richard Sakwa: The EU has a weak sense of strategy, and the consequences of
its own actions towards the existing power relations proved that when it moved
to Ukraine. That was stupidity on a grand scale driven by Poland and the
Baltic States. I am speaking about the new Atlantic Pact in which NATO, the US
and the EU are actually fused together. This does not mean that countries like
France and Germany could not take single, independent actions. But all they do
is closely linked to the transatlantic partnership. Germany has lost much of
its former global independence under Merkel. That was the price of the
Atlantic support to the fact that Germany has been a leader in the European
policy and economic policy. I believe that the EU's foreign policy under
Federica Mogherini has the potential to learn from the mistakes of history.
But Mogherini has already come under enormous pressure from the Atlanticists
who want her to adopt their views. The consequences are disastrous, as we can
see now.

German Economic News: What do you think of the position of Russian President
Vladimir Putin?

Richard Sakwa: Putin is a great figure, and he has warned since Munich
Security Conference in February 2007 that Russia is not happy with the current
strategic situation. But nobody has listened to him. You must bear in mind
that any Russian leader would not act much differently than Putin. It is not
the case that Putin lives in another reality, the problem is that no one in
the West has thought that Putin might get through the current situation in
exactly this manner.

German Economic News: Doesn't Putin take advantage of the conflict, presenting
his own citizens an image of the external enemy?

Richard Sakwa: No, I think this is a false argument. He does not need this
war. He has done everything to avoid it. The responsibility lies entirely on
Washington and Brussels. Putin already has fantastic approval rates. He has
successfully hosted the Olympic Games in Sochi. What is happening now is the
last thing he needs. He is not a revisionist leader, and therefore, the
Western assessment of his actions is usually completely wrong.

German Economic News: How do you explain that there is a very limited view on
the situation in the West, namely, that there is a Russian aggression,
although we have got significant evidence from the intercepted phone calls of
US diplomat Victoria Nuland ('Fuck the EU') that there must have been an
active involvement of Washington in the overthrow of the Yanukovych's
government?

Richard Sakwa: I think that the predominance of a completely unified Western
point of view on the things is the most disturbing aspect of the whole crisis.
It is frightening to see how the Western public and the elites have accepted
this wrong view. It is always easy to put all the blame on Russia. Russia is
certainly far from being perfect. But it is certainly not the evil power as it
is represented in the west now. It is also shocking to me to see how easily
Western business leaders have been misled by this false interpretation.

German Economic News: Can you explain what kind of state organization would be
best for Ukrainians?

Richard Sakwa: The best would be a federal and not centralized state. While
this is not very likely to be achieved in the short term but in the long run
it is the only way for Ukraine. Donbass will never be part of a nationalist
and centralist Ukrainian state again.

German Economic News: Does the West need to reassess its view on the
'territorial integrity' of existing states from the perspective of the
existence of ethnic minorities in most states in Eastern Europe?

Richard Sakwa: That will probably have to happen. We need a big new
conference, as in Yalta or Helsinki, to deal with all these issues. At the
moment these problems are more urgent. This also applies to Transnistria and
other regions, even Kosovo.

German Economic News: Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has stated
several times that those who want to be Russians must emigrate to Russia. Is
there the idea of ??a kind of ethnic cleansing in eastern Ukraine behind this
proposal?

Richard Sakwa: Yatsenyuk today is a dangerous man in Europe. I do not
understand how such a resolute nationalist can ever be treated with respect.

German Economic News: Is this conflict a war for resources? Is it true that
Americans want to gain a foothold of e.g. energy policy?

Richard Sakwa: That is certainly part of the problem. However, I believe that
Americans actually miss the strategic perspective. Basically the same thing
happens in Ukraine as in Libya or Syria or Iraq. 'Empire of Chaos' has brought
a new style of politics to Europe, and we have done nothing about it. What is
the point in the EU if it cannot even prevent war on its own continent?

German Economic News: What do you think of the presence of American citizens
in the Ukrainian government, such as the Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko?

Richard Sakwa: This is shocking. A proud nation like Ukraine does not need
such people. It has been a purely demagogic step of Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk.

German Economic News: How will this conflict end?

Richard Sakwa: We are walking a fine line between a full-scale war and a kind
of standstill agreement. The bold initiative of Merkel and Hollande in Minsk 2
could stabilize the situation. But we need to understand that this may be just
the beginning of a possible peace process. The Kiev government must be put
under pressure so they would design the country in such a way to create for
the citizens of Donbass an acceptable form of returning to Ukraine. However, I
believe that further division of Ukraine has become very likely. The current
government in Kiev makes the problems merely worse rather than solves them.

Oleg Smirnov

3/15/2015 4:08:00 PM

0

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/1...

US-Funded Propaganda Channel Admits Reign of Terror in Kiev-Controlled
Mariupol

Damir Marinovich TV Sat, Mar 14

In what it seems like a paradox, the government-funded Voice of America is
doing a better journalist job than "independent and free" russophobic media
like CNN, NBC and Fox News.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXTVc...

"My sister ran into here (apartment). She can see that our father face had
the bruise from this tool. His face had been beaten. It looked like they've
beaten his head on the table. The man took him away after beating him."

This is the chilling testimony of Mariupol resident Anna about her father
being kidnapped by "unknown men without identification". They've beaten her
father and threatened to shoot her. She has no idea where he is now. "No one
is protected and if you criticize the local administration you are considered
to be a separatist" concludes desperate and frightened Anna.

It is estimated that more than 3,000 Ukrainian citizens are either detained or
"mysteriously disappeared" when arrested by the Ukrainian secret service for
allegedly being separatist or spying against Ukrainian state.

In a surprisingly honest video report, State Department-funded Voice of
America sheds light on state terror imposed upon Mariupol residents who are
mostly pro-Russian.

Summary of this video <http://youtu.be/yPyR_... provided by VOA stated:

"Since the last month's cease fire went into effect, shelling around the
port city of Mariupol has decreased, but it is thought pro-Russian
separatists remain poised to attack."

It is worth noticing that Neo-Nazi Azov battalion has for several times
repeatedly and openly stating that they will not respect the Minsk 2 cease
fire and they will continue their fight against "Russian terrorists". This is
well documented with numerous footages of Azov paramilitary attacking position
of rebels in Shirokino 20 km outside of Mariupol
<http://youtu.be/nsG9I.... So it seems that the ones eager to continue
fighting around Mariupol are Kiev forces, not so much Donetsk ones.

VOA continues:

"For the cityâ??s authorities, a major challenge is gaining the trust of
residents, while at the same time rooting out informants who are passing
sensitive information to the rebels."

According to pro-Kiev city authorities, Mariupol remains a deeply divided and
the estimation is that just 30% supports the government. And this is said by
the government sources who are not to be trusted as we experienced in the
past.

Even US government-funded VOA can not ignore the fact that many Mariupol
residents consider Ukrainian forces, especially Azov battalion, as marauders,
invaders and occupiers. A similar sentiment is shared by Slavyansk residents
<http://youtu.be/92BiY....

Other media recently reported that there has been over one hundred arrests as
Kiev tries to root out "suspected spies" from Mariupol <http://is.gd/...:

According to the local mass media, over a hundred people were detained
within a few days. In social networks, there are messages that â??they catch
everyone who looks wrong or says something wrong: the â??ratsâ? are seen
walking at the markets and in the buses listening to what the passengers
say.

There are assumptions in the mass media that the detentions are connected
with the coming POWâ??s exchange between Ukraine and Novorossiya and the wish
of the Ukrainian side to give away, figuratively speaking, these â??babyâ??s
dummiesâ? â?? the people accidently caught in the city streets instead of the
â??political prisonersâ?.

It seems that any resident that is not supporting Kiev authorities is treated
as a potential suspect and "Russian spy".

In addition, most of the Mariupol residents believe that the rocket attack in
January that killed more than 30 people is a false flag operation executed by
Ukrainian forces in order to blame rebels. A local who is afraid to speak
openly gave his estimation:

"75% of people here are sure that this was provocation by the Ukrainian
government".

It is especially hypocritical that VOA, which is so dedicated to promoting
freedom and human rights, apologetically describes state terrorism as "rooting
out informants". It is obvious that arresting citizens that disappear without
trace and torturing them presents unconstitutional practice and flagrant
violation of human rights.

Complete lawless continues to dominate in Ukraine. Unfortunately, even the
human-rights-loving West turned a blind eye on Kiev blatant violation of basic
human rights and complete disregard of basic principle of any civilized modern
state - Rule of Law.

....

The Rule of Law was abandoned by the 'human-rights-loving West' from the very
beginning, - as soon as the violent anti-constitutional coup in Februrary 2014
had been shamelessly declared 'legal'.



> <http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/1...
>
> British Researcher: EU Policy in Ukraine Was 'Stupidity on a Grand Scale'

Oleg Smirnov

3/20/2015 7:24:00 AM

0

<https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/19/ukraines-poison-pill-for-peace-...

Ukraine's Poison Pill for Peace Talks

March 19, 2015
Exclusive: The Ukraine government's latest maneuver - undermining the Minsk-2
agreement with a requirement for a rebel surrender - is likely to drive the
country back into a full-scale civil war and push the U.S. and Russia closer to
a nuclear showdown, reports Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

By adding a poison pill to legislation implementing the latest Minsk agreement,
the Ukrainian government has effectively guaranteed a resumption of the civil
war, which U.S. hardliners and the mainstream U.S. media will no doubt blame on
ethnic Russian rebels and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. media has focused on the so-called Minsk-2 agreement's cease-fire
component, first claiming it was being sabotaged by the rebels and Russia but
now acknowledging that it is shaky but relatively successful. But the larger
point of Minsk-2 was that it would provide for a political settlement of the
civil war by arranging talks between Kiev and authorities in the east that
would lead to giving those areas extensive self-rule by the end of 2015.

But the implementing law that emerged this week from the Ukrainian parliament
in Kiev inserted a clause requiring the rebels to first surrender to the
Ukrainian government and then letting Kiev organize elections before a
federalized structure is determined.

The Minsk-2 agreement had called for dialogue with the representatives of these
territories en route to elections and establishment of broad autonomy for the
region, but Kiev's curveball was to refuse any talks with rebel leaders and
insist on establishing control over these territories before the process can
move forward, in effect requiring a rebel capitulation.

Reflecting that view, Vadim Karasyov, director of the independent Institute of
Global Strategies in Kiev, said: "Ukraine isn't going to go along with any
legalization of those so-called people's republics. We need them to be
dismantled," according to the Christian Science Monitor <http://is.gd/....

The leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics" have protested this
bait-and-switch tactic, declaring in a statement that the change was
unacceptable: "We agreed to a special status for the Donbass within a renewed
Ukraine, although our people wanted total independence. We agreed to this to
avoid the spilling of fraternal blood."

Kiev's maneuver - reflecting the bellicose position of neocon Assistant
Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and other U.S. hardliners - puts pressure on
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to
either get Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko to return to the original
understanding of Minsk-2 or watch the fighting resume leading to a potential
showdown between nuclear-armed Russia and the United States on Russia's border.

The surrender-first-negotiate-later stipulation also raises questions about the
strength of Merkel and President Barack Obama to overcome resistance from
America's powerful neoconservatives who have exploited the Ukraine crisis to
isolate Russia and drive a wedge between Obama and Putin. The two leaders had
cooperated to reduce tensions with Syria and Iran in 2013 when the neocons were
hoping for more "regime change."

Following those Obama-Putin collaborations, Nuland and other neocons both
inside the Obama administration and in Congress took aim at Ukraine, egging on
public disruptions in Kiev to destabilize the elected government of President
Viktor Yanukovych during the winter of 2013-14. [See Consortiumnews.com's "The
Neocons - Masters of Chaos." <http://is.gd/...]

To a great extent, the Ukraine crisis became Nuland's baby as she rallied
Ukraine's business leaders and political activists to challenge Yanukovych and
discussed with U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt in early February 2014 how, in
his words, to "midwife this thing."

In that same conversation, Nuland expressed her disgust at the European Union's
less aggressive approach to the crisis with the pithy expression, "Fuck the
EU." She also handpicked new leaders, ruling out some politicians and
declaring that "Yats is the guy," a reference to Arseniy Yatsenyuk who became
the post-coup prime minister. (This past week, it was Yatsenyuk who oversaw the
insertion of the poison pill into the legislation for implementing the Minsk-2
agreement.)

Cue in the Neo-Nazis

The uprising in Kiev reached its peak on Feb. 22, 2014, when a violent coup -
spearheaded by neo-Nazi militias from western Ukraine - drove elected
Yanukovych from office, with the U.S. State Department immediately declaring
the new regime "legitimate." The coup government then sought to impose its
control over the ethnic Russian east and south, which had been Yanukovych's
base of support.

Protected by Russian troops who were already based in Crimea on a base-lease
agreement, the people of Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia,
an annexation that took place one year ago. Uprisings also occurred in the
eastern Donbass region with hastily arranged referenda also seeking
independence from Kiev.

The coup regime responded by declaring those resisting in the east to be
"terrorists" and mounting a punitive "anti-terrorist operation" that relied on
army artillery to bombard cities and neo-Nazi and other right-wing militias to
go in for the brutal street-to-street fighting.

Thousands of ethnic Russians were killed in these offensives as the rebels were
pushed back into their strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk. However, receiving
supplies and other assistance from Russia, the rebels turned the tide of the
conflict and began driving the Ukrainian military back, inflicting heavy
losses.

To stop the rout of government forces last September, the first Minsk ceasefire
established a tentative frontline around the rebel strongholds. But Kiev
continued to squeeze the rebel-held cities by cutting off access to banking and
other services while neo-Nazi and other militias undertook "death squad"
operations to kill rebel sympathizers in government-controlled zones.

When that first cease-fire broke down, the rebels made new gains against the
Ukrainian military, prompting Merkel and Hollande to broker a second ceasefire,
which included a structure for resolving the crisis with a political settlement
to grant eastern Ukraine substantial autonomy.

But Nuland and other U.S. hard-liners objected to the concessions and
trade-offs arranged by Merkel and Holland and accepted by Poroshenko and Putin.
The U.S. hard-liners began plotting how to reverse what they claimed was
"appeasement" of "Russian aggression."

The German press has reported on some of this U.S. strategy after the Bild
newspaper obtained details of conversations that Nuland and other U.S.
officials held behind closed doors last month at a security conference in
Munich. Nuland was overheard disparaging the German chancellor's initiative,
calling it "Merkel's Moscow thing," according to Bild, citing unnamed sources.

Another U.S. official went even further, the report said, calling it the
Europeans' "Moscow bullshit."

Talking Themselves into a Frenzy

The tough talk behind the closed doors at a conference room in the luxurious
Bayerischer Hof hotel seemed to be contagious as the American officials, both
diplomats and members of Congress, kept escalating their rhetoric, according to
the Bild account.

Nuland suggested that Merkel and Hollande cared only about the practical impact
of the Ukraine war on Europe: "They're afraid of damage to their economy,
counter-sanctions from Russia."

Another U.S. politician was heard adding: "It's painful to see that our NATO
partners are getting cold feet" - with particular vitriol directed toward
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen as "defeatist" because she
supposedly no longer believed in a Kiev victory.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, got himself worked up into such a lather that he
started making comparisons to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain going
to Munich to "appease" Adolf Hitler, likening Merkel to Chamberlain and Putin
to Hitler: "History shows us that dictators always take more, whenever you let
them. They can't be brought back from their brutal behavior when you fly to
Moscow to them, just like someone once flew to this city."

According to the Bild story, Nuland laid out a strategy for countering Merkel's
diplomacy by using strident language to frame the Ukraine crisis in a way that
stops the Europeans from backing down. "We can fight against the Europeans, we
can fight with rhetoric against them," Nuland reportedly said.

NATO Commander Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove was quoted as saying that
sending more weapons would "raise the battlefield cost for Putin." Nuland
interjected to the U.S. politicians present that "I'd strongly urge you to use
the phrase 'defensive systems' that we would deliver to oppose Putin's
'offensive systems.'"

Yet, through all of the past year's scheming and maneuvering by Nuland and
other U.S. officials, the mainstream U.S. media has studiously ignored the coup
side of the story, insisting that there was no coup <http://is.gd/... and
adopting an "I-see-nothing" response to the presence of neo-Nazi militias
<http://is.gd/... leading the fight against the ethnic Russian east.

For the New York Times, the Washington Post and the rest of major U.S. press,
everything has been explained as "Russian aggression" with Putin supposedly
having plotted the entire series of events as a way to conquer much of Europe
as the new Hitler. Even though the evidence reveals that Putin was caught
off-guard by the coup next door, the U.S. media has insisted on simply passing
along Nuland's propaganda themes.

Thus, it is a safe bet that when the current ceasefire breaks down and the
killing resumes, all the American people will hear is that it was Putin's
fault, that he conspired to destroy the peace as part of his grand scheme of
"aggression." And, the Nuland-Yatsenyuk sabotage of Minsk-2 will be the next
part of this troubling story to disappear into the memory hole.


Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for
The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book,
America's Stolen Narrative, either in print here <http://is.gd/... or as
an e-book (from Amazon <http://is.gd/... and barnesandnoble.com
<http://is.gd/...). You also can order Robert Parry's trilogy on the Bush
Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The
trilogy includes America's Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click
here <http://is.gd/....




> <http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/1...
>
> British Researcher: EU Policy in Ukraine Was 'Stupidity on a Grand Scale'

Oleg Smirnov

3/21/2015 9:16:00 PM

0

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/2...

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Detained by the SBU, Beaten by Right Sector - The
Incredible Story of a French Businessman in Ukraine

In an exclusive interview, French entrepreneur and long-time resident of
Ukraine Thierry Laurent-Pellet describes his run-in with the SBU and Right
Sector â?? and explains why he has little faith in Poroshenko's post-Maidan
regime

A truly shocking, firsthand account of the corruption and terror that has
seized Ukraine

RI Staff

Thierry Laurent-Pellet knows Ukraine like "the bottom of his pocket." The
French entrepreneur spent nine years in the country, experiencing firsthand
the rampant corruption and political opportunism that still prevails in Kiev
to this day. Thanks to the "revolution of dignity," Thierry has also
experienced an SBU interrogation â?? and a Right Sector beating that has left
him with serious health problems. But first, some background.

In an interview with Russia Insider, Thierry described life under the
leadership of Merkel's favorite crook, Yulia Tymoshenko ("I visited an
orphanage in Odessa where children slept in cardboard boxes") as well as the
lead-up to Maidan, and the downfall of Viktor Yanukovych. In Thierry's own
words: <http://goo.gl/... (SoundCloud).

When Thierry returned to Dnipropetrovsk in February, five armed men detained
him on suspicion of "terrorism". Listen to him retell his bizarre
interrogation at the hands of the SBU, and how he was later tailed by
machete-wielding Right Sector goons as he traveled back to Kiev. Unfortunately
Thierry did not escape unscathed: <http://goo.gl/... (SoundCloud).

As a result of the attack, Thierry now suffers from a serious spine injury.
Forced to flee the country he loves, he doesn't expect the situation in
Ukraine will improve â?? especially now that the IMF is calling for sweeping
austerity in a country where many live on less than 200 Euros a month. Here is
his suggestion to the managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde:
<http://goo.gl/... (SoundCloud).

Could economic instability and political unrest lead to yet another Maidan?
Thierry thinks it's possible â?? and expects that any future uprising in Ukraine
would be "extremely violent": <http://goo.gl/... (SoundCloud).

Laurent-Pellet is planning to return to Ukraine in hopes of securing the
release of Spartakus Golovachev, an athlete and political prisoner currently
on huger strike <http://goo.gl/.... Below is an appeal Thierry sent to the
Ukrainian government on his behalf:

Mr Yaroslav YUDIN

Deputy Delegation Secretary, Chief Consultant - Secretariat of the Committee
on Foreign Affairs

Verkhovna Rada

Gospodin Yudin,

I am French entrepreneur, I lived in Ukraine nine years and participate 2
times to IDCEE conference as speaker. I advised several French deputies at
French Parliament including deputy Thierry Mariani (in charge of french
citizen living abroad), former minister of transportation and colleague of
Christine Lagarde chairman of IFM (Former minister of economy in President
Sarkozy). I use to be an athlete as I was ten years member of the national
speed skiing team and use to be ranked in the twenty faster skiers in the
world reaching the speed of 234 km/h (I was interviewed on TV for an
advertisement of Bukovel resort). I competed taking enormous risks but never
been taking more risks than coming back to Kiev two weeks ago, getting
arrested by SBY, putted into 6h custody, harassed in bus by praviy sektor
members, getting assaulted in a Maidan restaurant and got seriously injured
on spine (and this necessitate very serious injection treatment that left me
in pain with no release). I am astonished to see the way Ukraine is turning
today. You decided to turn it in the direction of European Union but did you
really understand the values it represents?

When I came in Ukraine in Feb 2005 I immediately loved your country and
decided to leave USA and France to establish my business, today dead because
of Maidan event which destabilized completely my operations, leaving a
decade of efforts on the ground. The events occurring along the year
2014-15, not only shocked me but turned out to infuriate me over the dozen
of people that got killed because it could have been a sister, a daughter, a
mother or a friend... I follow up very tightly what is happening in a
country I was considering as mine. I am wondering why nobody is getting
prosecuted over all those murders. But I am worrying a lot about the
constitutional and legal right of citizens of Ukraine whoever they are,
whatever they think, because in a democratic system people HAVE the right to
think what they WANT. Your president Poroshenko was in Paris for the
memorial of our journalists killed for their freedom of speech, did he
realize what it meant at that moment, when in his own country citizens are
persecuted for what they are or think?

I have been hearing about the desperate situation of Spartakus Golovachev,
who use to represent your nation as diver. He opposed strongly the movement
that led to the death of innocent Ukrainian citizens in Korsun, Odessa...
Today he is jailed in the Kharkiv prison in the unit IR-100 dying of
starvation, his human and constitutional right are not being respected. I
feel terrible for this man and his family, I don't really know but feel
close to. I am asking you kindly to consider welcoming me in your office to
discuss this unacceptable situation and to find out a way out of this terror
instigated in Ukraine that will scare any entrepreneurs or investors as I am
and use to be.

Looking forward to hear from you.

Best regards, T.Laurent-Pellet

Thierry is still waiting for a reply.

....

<http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/03/19/the-victory-of-national-democracy-in-uk...

Oleg Smirnov

3/26/2015 11:22:00 PM

0

<http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/2...

Wrong Strategy: Sanctions Hit EU Harder than Russia

The Russians are increasingly buying domestic products because of the import
ban. The EU countries, however, are experiencing a significant downturn in
exports

The article originally appeared <http://is.gd/... at German Economic News.
Translated for RI by Anita Zalaldinova

The sanctions and counter-sanctions have obviously done more harm to the EU
than Russia. The Polish EU Council President Donald Tusk admitted in an
interview with Polish media representatives after the EU summit that it was
difficult to unify position of the EU countries against Russia: more than half
of the EU members demanded an easing of sanctions, said Tusk, who belongs to
the hardliners himself, according to Moscow Times. However, Spain, Italy,
Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia have already announced publicly
that they no longer think too much of the sanctions because the economic
problems are significant.

France has so far kept silence. But if, as expected, the Front National
emerges as the winner of the local elections on Sunday and the ruling
Socialists will have to take a clear defeat note, President Francois Hollande
could change sides to the camp of the sanctions opponents.

American news agency Bloomberg <http://is.gd/... finds much more friendly
words for Russia. In the analysis by the former Bloomberg chief editor Matthew
Winkler the author states that international investors continue to invest in
Russian companies. Many companies report that they have recorded higher sales
than in the previous year 2014. According to Bloomberg holders of Russian
government bonds have won by 7 percent with Russia Local Sovereign Bond Index
this year, while government bonds in other emerging countries have lost 1.1
percent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index has shown that Russian companies are
more profitable than companies in comparable economies.

Winkler comes to the conclusion that the sanctions caused the recovery: the
Russians were forced to buy local products, and as a result companies have
benefited. The Russian economy has proved remarkably resilient, despite the
rouble crash.

However, there are problems in the Russian banking sector: German Gref, CEO of
Sberbank, said, as Moscow Times reports, that the banks have not yet seen the
worst. He expects a shrink in the economy of Russia in the coming year. The
Russian banks have problems with financing as they are excluded from
international funding opportunities because of the sanctions.



> <http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/1...
>
> British Researcher: EU Policy in Ukraine Was 'Stupidity on a Grand Scale'