Putin, Merkel, Hollande, and Renzi, and sanctions against Russia

In a speech to open the 50th Munich Security Conference  held on 31 January 2014, Federal President Joachim Gauck proclaimed that,


"I have to admit that while there are genuine pacifists in Germany, there are also people who use Germany’s guilt for its past as a shield for laziness or a desire to disengage from the world. In the words of the historian Heinrich August Winkler, this is an attitude that grants Germany a questionable "right to look the other way, which other Western democracies" cannot claim for themselves. Restraint can thus be taken too far if people start making special rules for themselves. Whenever that happens, I will criticise it." (Federal President Joachim Gauck) (my emphasis)

Federal President Joachim Gauck : 31st January, 2014

Guack was arguing that the 'Ostpolitik' instituted by the SPD member Willy Brandt when he was Chancellor of Germany during the 1970's, and that is still fervently clung to by Merkel and the SDP member Steinmeier, has now become defunct.

Willy Brandt

The world has changed, he argues, and Germany must,

" ..... not turn a blind eye, not run from threats, but instead stand firm, not forget, neglect or betray universal values, but instead uphold these values together with our friends and partners. Let us be seen to be living by them, let us defend them." (ibid  Federal President Joachim Gauck) (my emphasis)

Germany under Merkel’s stewardship is leading European efforts to mediate the conflict [in Ukraine]. Thus have the words of Joachim Gauck fallen on deaf ears. As he so eloquently states,

"Now, some people in my country consider "international responsibility" to be a euphemism, veiling what’s really at stake. Some think that in reality Germany would have to pay more. Others think that Germany would have to send in more soldiers. And they are all convinced that "more responsibility" primarily means more trouble. You will not be surprised to hear that I see things differently." (ibid  Federal President Joachim Gauck) (my emphasis)

Steinmeier                                                       Merkel

How prescient of Guack! Thus,

"Steinmeier said, “One of the problems is that many people aren’t having a dialogue [with Putin]. That’s not true of the Germans.”

Furthermore,

"Germany can’t declare Russia, its “rather large neighbor,” a friend or enemy, Steinmeier said. Officials in the 28-member EU who argue for ratcheting up sanctions because they’re working suffer from a “dangerous misunderstanding.” (Brian Parkin and Patrick Donahue : Bloomber : Nov. 27, 2014)

The duo of Merkel and Steinmeier simply cannot break away from Willy Brandt's 1970's 'Ostpolitik' mentality which, in face of what Putin is doing in Ukraine, is nothing more nor less than clinging to the OUTDATED belief that,

" ..... Germany’s [Ostpolik] foreign policy has long since found the right formula. That there is not much to adjust, never mind change. Why fix something if it isn’t broken?" (ibid  Federal President Joachim Gauck)

What is rather dangerous about Merkel and Steinmeier shielding behind the OUTDATED 'Ostpolitik' of Willy Brandt is that Italy and France, in particular, are doing exactly the same by shielding themselves behind Merkel and Steinmeier!

Franscoise Hollande                                           Matteo Renzi                     

And all of this, even in light of Putin's oligarch, Roman Popov, recently bankrolling Marine le Pen's 'Front Nationale' to the tune of  $11.3 million, besides Putin actively supporting other RIGHT-WING parties in the EU. (Nov. 27, 2014: UT)

It really beggars belief that Merkel, Hollande, and Renzi, three critical players in EU foreign policy towards Ukraine, can sit back whilst Putin and Popov bankrolls the right-wing 'fascist' parties in their countries.

So what, really, is behind German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stating that,

"Germany wants to avoid wrecking Russia’s economy with sanctions imposed in the conflict over Ukraine .." ? (ibid Brian Parkin and Patrick Donahue)

Rather cynically one could say that Steinmeier does not give a fig about what Putin is doing to Ukraine, as long as it does NOT affect all those German exports to Putin's Russia.

Why? Because

"Earlier this week, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said lower oil prices and Western financial sanctions will cost Russia around $130 billion-$140 billion a year, equivalent to around 7 percent of its economy." (Vladimir Soldatkin and Robin Emmott : Reuters : Sat Nov 29, 2014) (my emphasis) 

President Vladmir Putin (L) speaks with Finance Minister Anton Siluanov

This is why,

"Russia urged the European Union on Saturday (Nov. 29,2014) to lift sanctions against Moscow and promised to waive its food embargo, but a top EU official rejected such a move as the bloc imposed fresh measures on Ukrainian rebels." (ibid Soldatkin and Emmott)

In other words Putin is finally well aware that sanctions are bringing the Russian economy to its knees, just as Steinmeier knows that this is also having a devastating effect on the German economy as well.

 Unfortunately for Steinmeier,

"Jean-Claude Juncker, the new president of the European Commission, said Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in March left Europe with two options: go to war against Russia or impose economic sanctions.

"If you don't want a war the only possibility is sanctions ... You have to take sanctions that produce an effect," Juncker told RTL radio in Luxembourg, his home country." (ibid Soldatkin and Emmott)  (my emphasis)

Jean-Claude Juncker

(to be continued)

Putin's South Ossetia and Abkhazia ploy towards Ukraine

Why is the German Government of Angela Merkel almost pathologically,

" ... alarmed by President Petro Poroshenko’s plan to hold a referendum on Ukraine joining NATO, seeing it as a dead end that would only inflame tensions with Russia."? (Patrick Donahue, Arne Delfs and Ilya Arkhipov: Bloomberg News:26 Nov., 2014)

And not only the government of Angela Merkel. Even the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has recently said on France Inter radio (Nov. 25, 2014) that,

“In recent days there have been a number of statements from the Ukraine side that have not helped,”  (ibid Donahue, Delfs, and Arkhipov) Not helped what?

M. Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs

The article does not quite say why there are these 'alarms', but one can almost guess that underlying all these 'alarms' on the part of the Germans and the French is their fear about the almost totally unpredictable nature of Putin in this current critical situation between the armies of Russia and Ukraine.    

At the 20th NATO Summit in Bucharest (2008), 

NATO said [that] Russia will have no veto on membership for the two ex-Soviet allies, but many members are loathe to provoke a further row with Moscow on top of a dispute over US plans to place missile defence equipment in the Czech Republic and Poland. (Staff Writers: Berlin (AFP) March 10, 2008)

At this Summit,

"Merkel helped block a U.S. push to put Ukraine on a path to eventual NATO membership in 2008. Last week, [Nov. 17, 2014]  she said she hadn’t changed her mind because beckoning Ukraine into the military alliance [NATO] is “qualitatively different” from bringing the former Soviet republic closer to the European Union" (ibid Donahue, Delfs, and Arkhipov)

Merkel in 2008

Putin in 2008

"Russian President Putin was pleased [in 2008] about the alliance (Merkel?) deciding not to invite Georgia and Ukraine to the Membership Action Plan at least for the time being." (Wikipedia) This was just before Medvedev was elected president of Russia in March of 2008.

Then in August 2008, Russia under President Medvedev invades Georgia, ostensibly to protect the pro-Russian separatist entities of South Ossetia and Abkhazia who were claiming independence from Georgia. (Wikipedia)

    Dmitriy Medvedev                                           Georgian war

Is this past invasion of Georgia by Russia in 2008 now haunting the Germans and the French? They gave in to Putin in 2008, and now that he's back in the presidential 'saddle' 6 years later, their fears of him are practically bubbling over. Because what is now happening in eastern Ukraine, especially in light of  Poroshenko's current plan to hold a referendum on Ukraine joining NATO, is a total repetition of what Medvedev (or was the puppet-master Putin pulling his strings) did to Georgia in 2008. What is now happening in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Crimea, is a taste of things to come in the rebel-held territories of eastern Ukraine lest Putin is stopped.

Now Putin is expanding the Russian military presence in South Ossetia. As reported in the Daily Sabah ( Nov. 28, 2014),

"A new integration treaty is set to be signed between Russia and South Ossetia in order to develop bilateral relations, primarily extending Russian military assistance to the breakaway territory .....thus deepening ties between the separatist enclave and the Moscow government."

Putin in South Ossetia

In  Abkhazia things have moved much further down the line of absorbing it into Putin's Russia. 

In a treaty recently signed between Vladimir Putin and Abkhazian President Raul Khajimba,

"Russia is to fund a 3-year modernization of the Abkhazian army and establish a joint Russian-Abkhazian force. It will also erect defenses along Abkhazia’s border with Georgia to discourage aggression in the future."  (RT: November 25, 2014)

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets Abkhazian President Raul Khajimba on November 24, 2014

Furthermore,

"Abkhazia’s capital, Sukhum, will work to harmonize its local legislation with the norms of the Eurasian Economic Union, an early EU-like integration project that currently includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia. Kyrgyzstan is considering joining the union."(ibid RT)

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has claimed that the signed document brings the talks between Russia and Georgia to a deadlock. (Mushvig Mehdiyev: Azernews: 28 November 2014) 

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili

"The treaty, in fact, annexes Georgia's territory to Russia's military, political, social and economic space and turns Abkhazia into part of the Russia territory. That agreement grossly violates the international law," Margvelashvili said. (ibid Mushvig Mehdiyev)

Meanwhile, inside Crimea,

"MailOnline found the desperate region - formerly a bustling tourist resort - preparing for a winter of food shortages, soaring prices, and power cuts. But much more chillingly we found evidence of people being killed for speaking Ukrainian, hounded for being Muslim Tatars and fear even among the residents who support Putin." (Will Stewart And Tanya Sokolova In Crimea For Mailonline: 27 November 2014)

Hounded in the street: MailOnline witnessed firsthand the crackdown in Crimea as this woman was stopped and searched by police who are accused of harassing anyone who opposes Putin (ibid Will Stewart And Tanya Sokolova)

Even Gerard Depardieu, a famous ally of Vladimir Putin, who was asked to become deputy agriculture minister of Crimea, the invaded and annexed region of  Ukrainian , did not accept because of the problems there. (ibid Will Stewart And Tanya Sokolova)

Gerard Depardieu and Vladimir Putin,

As in the case of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Putin is also frantically militarizing Crimea.

“We are very concerned with the militarization of Crimea. We are concerned that the capabilities in Crimea that are being installed will bring an effect on almost the entire Black Sea” (Christof Lehmann  quoting Major Breedlove: NSNBC : Thu, Nov 27th, 2014)

U.S. General Philip Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander (Kyiv, Nov. 26, 2014)

Are all these militaristic actions of Putin in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Crimea, and the rebel-held territories of eastern Ukraine, part of his greater scheme of restoring Russia to its former Soviet Union status in the world? Or is it, as stated in a recent blog entry, that Putin is truly suffering from a 'god-complex', and that this is how it is expressing itself.

Putin addressing Religious Leaders

If so, then it should come as no surprise to anyone that,

"[he] is accused of stealing wine from Crimea's world famous Massandra wine cellars for the best vintages after his victorious occupation in February", and that he wanted the vintner, or wine-maker, Gerard Depardieu, to become deputy agriculture minister of the invaded and annexed region of  Ukrainian Crimea. (ibid Will Stewart And Tanya Sokolova)

Crimea's world famous Massandra wine cellars

Is it, therefore, as Ian Birrell suggests, that,

"The response of western leaders is to pose as tough guys on the public stage while preparing to impose a few minor sanctions on separatists and some Putin cronies. They hope that pressure on Russia’s economy will prevent further escalation, although this might make Putin even more unpredictable. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to ramp up military spending, just as it has done from the moment that Putin, this former KGB apparatchik with Tsarist ambitions, took office – while the Baltic states (members of Nato, remember) grow ever more anxious."? (The Guardian, Thursday 27 November 2014) (my emphasis)

Ian Birrell

One cannot but agree with Ian Birrell's rather succinct analysis of the behaviour of the likes of Merkel and the French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, towards Putin's dangerous escalating of the military confrontation between the Ukrainian and Russian armies in eastern Ukraine.

(to be continued)

Is Putin succeeding in sowing seeds of dissention in the EU and globally?

The rapid and speeding escalation with which events are unfolding over Putin's invasion of Ukraine is now forcing many EU politicians to publicly backtrack on their covert support of Putin. But is this really so?

Previously,

• Merkel has spoken to [Putin] by phone three dozen times. Her Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), traditionally a Russia-friendly party, has invested hundreds of hours trying to secure a negotiated solution to the conflict. ( Noah Barkin and Andreas Rinke: Reuters: Tue Nov 25, 2014) (my emphasis)
• M. Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, speaking about the Russian-French Mistral contract– "No. It’s a contract which was signed in 2011; it was another government, but it doesn’t much matter. There’s a rule which applies internationally as well as nationally: contracts which have been signed and, moreover, paid, must be honoured." (Embassy of  France in London: 22 July 2014) (my emphasis)

M. Laurent Fabius, French Minister of Foreign Affairs

•  Some EU politicians, such as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, have been openly scornful of sanctions and these countries are likely to push for an easing of sanctions next week. (Previous blog entry) (my emphasis)

Robert Fico, Slovak Prime Minister

These are but a few of the critical decisions that have previously been taken by EU governments in relation to the crisis in Ukraine. And of course there have been EU countries who have always supported the Ukrainian people in their struggle to cast off the yoke of their subservience to Putin's Russia, including the Baltic States, Poland, and especially Great Britain.

What is rather frightening is that Matteo Renzi, Italy's Prime Minister, has throughout this crisis been conspicuous by his TOTAL silence in condemning Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Let us not forget that Italy is one of the key economies of the Euro Zone, and that,

"Italy, now currently the Head of the Council of the EU, "has oodles of money invested in Russia, of which Putin is well aware. That is why Putin has said that he has “... high hopes that Italy will give a new impetus to the development of relations between Russia and the European Union”, as reported in Ria Novosti on the 17^th April 2014." (Previous blog entry)

To the current Italian Head of the Council of the EU we can now add the 'fragrant' soft-on-Russia Italian, Federica Mogherini, EU Foreign Secretary.

                         The 'fragrant' Federica Mogherini                                 Matteo Renzi                                            

Today, the 26th November, 2014, things seemed to have changed somewhat.

• The Czech Republic should not tell Ukraine what kind of future to choose, the former minister of foreign affairs, Lubomír Zaorálek, said on Tuesday, [25th November, 2014] hours after Czech President Milos Zeman said Ukraine should remain neutral and not join NATO. Speaking after a meeting in Prague with his Lithuanian counterpart, Linas Linkevičius, Mr. Zaorálek said Ukraine should itself decide in a sovereign manner on its future direction.
•  Noah Barkin and Andreas Rinke report that, "Merkel has hit a diplomatic dead-end with Putin" (Reuters: 25th Nov., 2014) She is willing to continue with sanctions even though it will hurt German industry. At the same time, "Matthias Platzeck, a former leader of the [SOFT ON RUSSIA] German SPD, broke ranks earlier this month and urged Germany to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea." (ibid Noah Barkin) 
•  
  
  

• France will not hand over the first of two state-of-the-art warships built for the Russians until Moscow halts its military action in Ukraine, the Elysée Palace has announced. (Kim Willsher: Tuesday 25 November 2014) (my emphasis) 
• Yevhen Perebyinis, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman, told journalists that a total of 85 vehicles had been detected in the five columns that entered at the Izvaryne border crossing point from Russia on Monday. "Up to six of these were heavy armored transporters. The rest were vehicles and buses carrying [Russian] fighters and ammunition," he said. (Reuters: Tue Nov 25, 2014)

The above bullet-points indicate that Putin's strategy to cause dissention amongst members of the EU seems to be working, that he has many influential supporters within the EU, and that his aim to particularly isolate Britain and the US from the EU stance since they are advocating that stronger action against him be taken to confront his growing militaristic adventurism against NATO, seems to also be working. Only the Baltic NATO members are siding with the US and Britain.

"Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius, as part of the delegation led by President Dalia Grybauskaitė, visited Kyiv on 24 November. During the visit, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin to discuss the situation in Ukraine, bilateral cooperation and partnership within international organisations." (November 24, 2014: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania)

Barkin (ibid) has [also] pointed out that, "German media have been complaining for months about their news sites being bombarded with pro-Russian comments. German security sources say they are part of an organized offensive steered from the Kremlin."

But the Putin propaganda strategy has a global dimension that is even more sinister.

Apart from pouring millions into his global propaganda machines, Putin is also cynically using the UN as a tool to infect the leaders of the world with his warped narrative of events in Ukraine.
 

UN Gereral Assembly

"The Resolution on Combating Glorification of Nazism and Other Contemporary Forms of Racism put forward by the Russian Federation was adopted by voting on 21 November 2014 at the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, 115 states voting for, 3 against, and 55 abstaining." (UN)
 
Even more disconcerting is Joanna Szostek's perceptive analysis of the Russian propaganda machine. 

Joanna Szostek

As she states,

"According to some commentators, the purpose of Russian propaganda is less to win outright support than to sow doubt, introduce ambiguity and thus weaken the resolve of those challenging the Kremlin. Even if this is so, Western countries will not become any safer by rejecting all Russian arguments as ‘psychological operations’ or heavy-handedly obstructing their diffusion in public discourse." (ibid Szostek) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, 

"[t]he problem [for the West] is that the Kremlin’s narrative has become far more than a tool for manipulating foreigners. It also structures how tens of millions of individuals at all levels of Russian society (not to mention some Ukrainians) think and perceive the world. Therefore, the more the Russian account of events is ignored, censored or condemned in the West as utterly illegitimate, the deeper public distrust of the West in Russia is likely to become – and this will hardly facilitate a reduction in current tensions.(ibid Szostek)

The next few days will determine whether Putin will begin to blink or whether he will "push the proverbial nuclear button" and cause the EU to tear itself apart.
 
(to be continued)

Does Putin have a "God-Complex"?

In my last blog entry I stated that,

"It is also about time that Merkel ends the rather suspicious 'special' relationship that she has with Putin. Those tete-a-tete's, those private conversations that she has with Putin, sometimes until 1.30am in the morning, rather belies her 'incredulity' about his 'open' invasion of eastern Ukraine and his behaviour on the international stage."

What is now emerging, as reported in RT (November 23, 2014) is that Germany's Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has stated in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine that,

• he is against Ukraine joining NATO
• he does not believe it is realistic for Ukraine to join the European Union in the foreseeable future, as the economic and political modernization of Ukraine is a “project for a few generations.”  (my emphasis)
• it is possible for NATO to have a partnership with Ukraine, but not membership

Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Steinmeier could NOT have made these statements WITHOUT the blessing of Merkel. Could this be what Merkel and Putin agreed upon when they had their private 4-hour tete a tete in Brisbane? (blog)

What Steinmeier, former chair (2009 - 2013)  of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, has revealed is that Merkel is really pushing Putin's agenda about Ukraine. She has become Putin's mouthpiece in the EU. The ghost of the Stalin-Hitler pact (1939) is hovering over her.

It simply cannot be a co-incidence that Steinmeier and Putin-spokesman Dmitry Peskov are singing from the same hymn sheet.

"Peskov said that,"Russia needs a “100 percent guarantee that no one would think about Ukraine joining NATO”. (November 23, 2014) (my emphasis)

 Dmitri Peskov

But here comes the rub. Steinmeier, like Peskov, is totally against Ukraine joining NATO. And yet we are informed by the President of Ukraine, Poroshenko, that,

 

Ukraine [is] to hold Nato vote when membership criteria are met 

"At a joint news conference (24 Nov, 2014) with Lithuania's president, Mr Poroshenko said he had "worked out the criteria" [for NATO membership], but gave no further details." (BBC News Europe: 24 November 2014)

Lithuania's president (L) is the latest leader to offer military assistance to Petro Poroshenko

Where does this leave the triumvirate of Putin, Merkel, and Steinmeier? 

 

But perhaps most galling of all is that Merkel is, in fact, trampling over the dead bodies of Maidan where the call for Ukrainian EU membership was the rock upon which their protests stood. And now Steinmeier is calling for this door to be shut in the faces of those protestors, and of those who gave their lives to join with Europe and break the bonds of their servitude towards Russia. The question that really needs to be asked is, "Why did Germany accept 8 eastern European countries to rapidly join the EU on 1st May 2004"? And now, why not Ukraine? Because that is precisely what Putin wants!

Yet, only yesterday (Nov. 23, 2014) Elena Holodny reports that,
 

"Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his belief that Russia is the strongest nation, which will lead to — in his eyes — a positive end in Crimea, according to an interview with the state-owned TASS news agency.") "We're stronger," he said, "because we're right. When the Russian feels that he's right, he's unstoppable. I'm saying this sincerely, not just to pontificate," he added. (my emphasis)  

Mig-31 fighter

 As if to underscore Putin's words, the Russian military has sent an unknown number of Mig-31 fighter jets to the eastern Ukrainian border. (Alberto Riva: International Business Times: November 21, 2014) . This move, according to Alberto Riva, could just tip the balance, "of the Ukrainian conflict in favor of the Russian-backed separatists."  

The Mig-31 fighter jets would be able to survey airspace well inside Ukraine without actually flying over the country, and alert separatists on the ground of any movements by Ukrainian airplanes. (ibid Alberto Riva) (my emphasis)

Is this possibly why the US,

" ...military delivered three lightweight, counter-mortar radar systems yesterday to Ukrainian armed forces, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters today.

The radar systems are the first few of 20 that will be delivered during the next several weeks and U.S. military members will begin training Ukrainian armed forces in mid-December, Warren said." (Terri Moon Cronk :  Nov. 21, 2014: US Dept. of Defence)

Furthermore, is this fighter-jet build-up of Mig-31's  on Ukraine's border with Russia also causing Finland to feel even more vulnerable amidst recent Russian provocations, as reported by Griff Witte? (Nov. 23, 2014: Washington Post)

 

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin

Added to which,

" .... Britain is planning more large Cold War-style tank exercises in Poland next year in the wake of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the head of the Army [General Sir Nick Carter] has said." ( Ben Farmer: 21 Nov 2014: Daily Telegraph)

However, we should be reminded that, "Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his belief that Russia is the strongest nation" (in the world??)  TASS news agency. "We're stronger," he said, "because we're right. When the Russian feels that he's right, he's unstoppable. I'm saying this sincerely, not just to pontificate," he added. (my emphasis)

"Mikhail Gorbachev has said Vladimir Putin thinks of himself as "second only to God" after complaining the Kremlin leader never seeks his advice." (Sebastian Whale: Daily Telegraph: 21 Nov 2014) (my emphasis)

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev Photo: AFP

As Gorbachev has intimated, is this possibly indicative of the "God-complex" that Putin may be suffering from? 

"A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of complex or intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks, or may regard their personal opinions as unquestionably correct. The individual may disregard the rules of society and require special consideration or privileges."(Wikipedia) (my emphasis)

 (to be continued)

Merkel, the EU, and Putin. Selling out Ukraine!

"The EU mishandled much of the early strategy on Ukraine, sending mixed messages to Kiev and Moscow. Since the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner, the approach has become more consistent. Putin had assumed that the west, and particularly Germany and France (disproportionately dependent on trade with Russia) would buckle. (John Kampfner : Monday 17 November 2014) (my emphasis)

Putin still assumes that Angela Merkel and François Hollande will resist, and ultimately remove, the sanctions that are causing growing damage." (ibid John Kampfner)

Yet, as Ian Traynor ( Monday 17 November 2014) points out, Merkel is becoming more and more disheartened with Putin, even after

"..she spent four hours in private with Putin at the G20 summit in Brisbane. Without aides or translators present, the two leaders talked until 01.30 in the morning in Putin’s hotel, joined halfway through only by Jean-Claude Juncker, the new head of the European Commission." (ibid Ian Traynor) (my emphasis) 

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has criticised Vladmir Putin's foreign policy. Photograph: Pool/Reuters

“The Ukraine crisis is truly not a regional affair,” [Merkel] said, voicing incredulity that Putin’s campaign could take place 25 years after Europe’s division into two blocs ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall. “It affects us all … how can something like this happen in the middle of Europe? Old thinking about spheres of influence, trampling international law, must not succeed.” (ibid Ian Traynor)

Meanwhile, conservative commentators criticised [the 'fragrant] Mogherini for being too soft on Russia after she was appointed in August, and her first meeting with other European foreign ministers on Monday (17 Nov 2014) saw them agree to consider additional sanctions against separatist leaders but not Russian officials. (Alec Luhn in Moscow The Guardian, Tuesday 18 November 2014) (my emphasis)

The corrupt manner in which the inexperienced 'fragrant'  Mogherini was choosen as EU Foreign Secretary still rankles with many, especially with the leaders in the Baltic States. In a clear reference to Mogherini, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė said that the EU must not pick someone who is “pro-Kremlin” [to be the foreign secretary of the EU], as reported by Thomas Wright. But Matteo Renzi, Italy's Prime Minister, was determined to get her appointed, contrary to EU appointing procedures. And so it was.

" Merkel [also] had concerns [about the appointment of Mogherini] but she [was] apparently willing to let it slide if it [meant] stopping Italy from diluting the EU’s budget rules."

 Not only is Mogherini soft on Putin. As Adrian Croft and Robin Emmot have pointed out, "...Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, have been openly scornful of sanctions...[against Russia] ".

Viktor Orban                                    Robert Fico

More significantly, as Gabriela Baczynska reports,

" ... Hungary - which relies heavily on Russia for natural gas supplies - is enjoying a rapprochement with the Kremlin.

"We share the attitude of the Hungarian leadership aimed at growing constructive dialogue, jointly carrying out planned very large investment projects," Putin told a Kremlin ceremony at which Hungary's new ambassador presented his credentials. (ibid Gabriela Baczynska) (Reuters: Wed Nov 19, 2014) (my emphasis)

The EU and the US are seriously worrying [that] Budapest .... is drifting into Russia's orbit.

Whilst the majority of the EU's foreign ministers agreed to CONSIDER (Only consider??) sanctions against the leaders of  Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine, the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond

Philip Hammond Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

"... [announced] on Tuesday that the UK will donate communications equipment and 10 armoured vehicles worth £1.2m to the Ukraine special monitoring mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe , which is being expanded in the face of an increasingly unstable ceasefire in the east of the country." (ibid Alec Luhn)

 Furthermore, Thomas Grove and Richard Balmforth  have reported (Nov 20, 2014) that,

"Russia warned the United States on Thursday against supplying arms to Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, hours before U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden was due to arrive in Kiev." (my emphasis)

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) and his wife Jill
wave upon their arrival at Boryspil International
airport outside Kiev November 20, 2014.

So, whilst Putin is 'warning' the US, Hungary seems to be moving back into the orbit of Russia; the Baltic states, Poland, Finland, Great Britain, the US, Sweden, and NATO  are seriously worried about Putin's growing militaristic provocations; the 'fragrant' Mogherini and some European foreign ministers are considering sanctions against Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine. 

If, as stated at the beginning of this blog entry, "The EU mishandled much of the early strategy on Ukraine..", it would now seem that it simply has no strategy at all. The continuous mantra that is heard in the corridors of Brussels about Putin's Trojan Minsk Agreement seems to be all the strategy that the EU has.

It is also about time that Merkel ends the rather suspicious 'special' relationship that she has with Putin. Those tete-a-tete's, those private conversations that she has with Putin, sometimes until 1.30am in the morning, rather belies her 'incredulity' about his 'open' invasion of eastern Ukraine and his behaviour on the international stage.

 Whilst at the G20 summit in Brisbane they spoke for 4 hours, significantly in private! (ibid Ian Traynor)

Rather reminiscent of the Stalin-Hilter pact!

"On August 23, 1939–shortly before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe–enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years." (Wikipedia) The Rippentrop-Molotov pact! For "no military action" read " no economic sanctions" (2014)!

Stalin and Ribbentrop after the signature of the Soviet-Nazi German pact. August 23, 1939

Putin and Merkel

There is, truly, nothing new under the sun! 

Meanwhile, Russia’s last remotely independent radio station had been silenced. Ever since the country’s energy conglomerate Gazprom took a majority holding, Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) has battled against censorship.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused [Ekho Moskvy], a leading liberal radio station, of constantly disparaging him and serving foreign interests.

At a regular meeting with editors-in-chief of leading media, he told Moscow Echo radio's Alexei Venediktov: "You pour diarrhoea over me day and night." (my emphasis)

Mr Putin (gesturing) met editors of leading newspapers and broadcasters

Venediktov (left) also met Mr Putin at an awards ceremony earlier in January 2012

 

Orwell is turning in his grave! 

(to be continued)

Putin's Orwellian world

Shuttle diplomacy is defined as,

".... the action of an outside party in serving as an intermediary between (or among) principals in a dispute, without direct principal-to-principal contact. Originally and usually, the process entails successive travel ("shuttling") by the intermediary, from the working location of one principal, to that of another." (Wikipedia)

This rather neatly sums up the diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing of  Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Reuters: Nov 18, 2014), German Foreign Minister, between Berlin, Moscow, and Kiev to try and 'defuse' Putin's determination to militarily invade and absorb eastern Ukraine into Russia, as he did with Ukrainian Crimea.

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) shakes hands with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk during a press briefing in Kiev, November 18, 2014.

Unfortunately for Steinmeir, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov played down the likelihood of [his] trip having any real impact on Russian policy towards Ukraine.

"The visit is a working one. We have agreed of course to talk about Ukraine, about our bilateral relations (but) no-one is expecting any breakthrough," Lavrov told a news conference in Minsk. (ibid Reuters)

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov make a joint statement following the Moscow talks. (RIA Novosti/Maksim Blinov)

The futility of this shuttle-diplomacy is best summed up by Putin's latest outburst during a meeting with his supporters in Moscow that,

 

"They [the US ] don't want to humiliate us, they want to subjugate us, to solve their problems at our expense," he said. "They want to bring us under control." Mr Putin added: "Throughout history no one has ever succeeded in doing that to Russia and they never will." (Tom Parfitt reporting from Moscow:18 Nov 2014) (my emphasis)

President Vladimir Putin takes part in the plenary meeting of the United People's Front's Second Action Forum in Moscow

As Tom Parfitt reports,

"Before his speech on Tuesday, the Russian leader was shown a new military vehicle described as a cross between a car and an armoured personnel carrier.
Manufacturers had jokingly labelled the vehicles "polite armoured cars"

 

On seeing the machine, Mr Putin quipped: "You can get a lot more done with weapons and politeness than you can with politeness alone." (ibid Tom Parfitt)

"The phrase appeared to echo a saying attributed to Al Capone: "You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone." (ibid Tom Parfitt)

Al Capone                                                  Putin                  

Even more disconcerting, Putin said that,

".....events in Crimea and Ukraine – where pro-Moscow rebels have carved out a de facto independent territory in the Russo-phone east of the country – had united the Russian people." (ibid Tom Parfitt)

Why, then, is everyone still clinging to Putin's Trojan Minsk Agreement when the 3rd point states that,

"A decentralisation of power, including through the adoption of the law of Ukraine "about local government provisional arrangements in some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts" (law on the special status). (my emphasis)"? (Wikipedia)

Putin is categorically stating that the rebel-held territories of eastern Ukraine are de facto independent territories whereas his Trojan Minsk Agreement defines them as part of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia has [now] called for "a 100% guarantee that no-one would think about Ukraine joining Nato", President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has told the BBC. (18 November 2014)

At the same time,

"Russia [continues to deny] NATO claims that its army has crossed into eastern Ukraine in the past few days, calling them groundless, the Defense Ministry said.
 

"We have stopped paying attention to the groundless accusations made by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US General Philip Breedlove, of the ‘observed’ Russian military columns allegedly invading Ukraine,” said Defense Ministry official representative, General-Major Igor Konashenkov on Wednesday."(RT: November 12, 2014) 

And yet,

"[Russian] families receive a soldier’s body for burial with information about the date of death, but nothing more — and the Russian government responds to questions by threatening to cut off death benefits or send family members to prison for national security violations." (Paul Huard: Nov 18, 2014) (my emphasis)

Above—the grave of a Russian soldier who died on Aug. 18 in Ukraine. He is buried in the Krestovsky Cemetery in Pskov. Photo via Gruz-200 Facebook page.

George Orwell's "1984" is alive and well, and living in Russia.

(to be continued)

Putin's Russia and Ukraine at the critical point of full-scale war

Yesterday (Nov 17,2014) Putin warned in an interiew in Germany that he won’t let Ukraine defeat the eastern rebels.

"You want the Ukrainian central authorities to annihilate everyone there, all of their political foes and opponents,” Putin said in an interview yesterday with Germany’s ARD television. “Is that what you want? We certainly don’t. And we won’t let it happen.” (Kateryna Choursina and James G. Neuger Nov 17, 2014) (my emphasis)

Putin interview in Germany (ARD Television) shortly after the G20 Summit

In his interview, Mr Putin [also] said that "anyone waging a fight that they believe fair will find weapons".

The Full Interview (English) (Germany's ARD Television)

Meanwhile, as Roland Oliphant reports (Dnepropetrovsk 17 Nov 2014), Angela Merkel is warning that,

" ...Russia could seek to destabilise vast areas of eastern Europe if it is not challenged in Ukraine ..

[Her] strongly worded statement came as Ukraine's president warned of a resumption of "total war" in the strife-torn country's east. "

 

Finally it would seem that Angela Merkel is waking up to the fact that Putin is really at war with the EU. And in the frontline of this war stands Ukraine. 

"Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko today (Nov 17, 2014) said he is ready for 'total war' against Russia as he claimed the crisis in eastern Europe is more serious than the threat from Islamic State. "   

Ukrainian President Poroshenko

But whilst Poroshenko is mobilizing for a possible all-out war against Russia, EU foreign ministers

" .....said they would add more separatist figures to the bloc's list of sanctioned individuals by the end of this month" (ibid Roland Oliphant)

Furthermore,

" ....EU ministers in Brussels shied away from imposing further sectoral sanctions against Russia." (BBC: Nov 17, 2014)

 

The 'fragrant' Mogherini explaining the feeble response of many EU foreign ministers to Putin's escalation of Russia's war against Ukraine 

What is even more galling is that the 'fragrant' Mogherini has stated that,

" ......sanctions would not work unless Ukraine reforms moved ahead." 

So while Ukraine may very soon be at war with Russia, the 'fragrant Mogherini wants Ukraine to start reforming its institutions to make sanctions work. 

Maybe those EU foreign ministers tacitly supporting Putin, including the 'fragrant Mogherini, need to watch a short review of the development and escalation of Putin's war with Ukraine. (Daily Telegraph)

(to be continued)