There is an old Hopi saying that "The truth will always float to the surface". And finally, on 31st July 2014, it is emerging that Putin and Merkel have been having secret talks that will concede Crimea to Russia in exchange for ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Now six days ago, (25th July 2014) Alexander J. Motyl posed the following question:
" Is Putin evil? His actions certainly are, if by evil we understand behavior that willfully, consciously and purposely destroys human life. Perhaps we can call his actions undeniably evil and Putin himself "evil enough." Evil enough for what? Evil enough for condemnation by people of good will."
He further goes on to point out that,
"Such countries as France and Germany, which have extensive economic relations with Russia, face a difficult moral choice. They must ask themselves whether Putin is evil or evil enough. If they decide his killing spree in eastern Ukraine is neither evil nor evil enough, they must explain -- to themselves and to the rest of the world -- just why they believe the destruction of Ukrainian, Russian, Malaysian, Dutch and other lives is not a form of evil behavior."
Furthermore,
".... the willingness of France, Germany and all the other states making up the European Union to respond to Putin's evil doing will determine the moral fate of the EU. If they sacrifice morality to arms contracts or gas, the EU will have lost its rasion d'etre. Worse, like Putin, it will be without a soul."
This really is the bottom line for the EU. No amount of diplomatic concealment of "secret agendas" hidden from public view can disguise or simply brush over this glaring moral choice facing the whole of the EU.
The current actions of Putin, especially since the implementation of the new round (August 2014) of EU and US sanctions against Russian companies and individuals, clearly exposes the contempt that Putin has for the Russian people. As Josh Lederman clearly points out,
" Russia's year long ban, announced Thursday, August 7th 2014, by a somber Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, covers meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and milk products from the U.S., the European Union and a handful of other Western nations ..... What the Russians have done here is limit the Russian people's access to food," David Cohen, the US Treasury under secretary told reporters. "We don't do that. Our law doesn't allow us to do that."
The ban exempts only baby food and will last one year unless "our partners demonstrate a constructive approach" with regard to sanctioning Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. File photo
Image by: RIA Novosti / REUTERS
Russia is introducing a “full embargo” on most food imports from EU, US, and other Western countries that have imposed sanctions against Moscow over its policy on Ukraine, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday. Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
What is really telling about this "ban" is that Vladimir Putin has prior experience about letting Russian people starve to satisfy his criminal megalomania. I refer, of course, to his actions against the starving people of St. Petersburg in 1992 viz.
the deal struck between Putin and the German banks and businessmen in 1992. This deal involved the export of $100m worth of raw materials in exchange for food for the citizens of St Petersburg. The materials were exported, but the food never arrived, as Marine Salye,
What even further exposes the perverse nature of Putin is that on 9th August he attempted an invasion of Ukraine under false pretenses. Disguised as peacekeepers and intent on provoking a significant military conflict, Russian troops were stopped from entering Ukraine following talks between both countries' foreign ministers, according to the Ukrainian government. The UK, US, and Germany denounced this invasion attempt by Putin.
The White House said that during a call on Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel "agreed that any Russian intervention in Ukraine, even under purported 'humanitarian' auspices, without the formal, express consent and authorization of the government of Ukraine is unacceptable, violates international law, and will provoke additional consequences."
Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron also discussed the crisis and said tougher sanctions should be imposed on Russia if it sends troops into Ukraine, according to a statement from Cameron's office.
(to be continued)
