"Deputy Foreign Secretary Sergei Ryabkov on Saturday blamed "anti-Russian moods" in Washington for the new bill authorizing lethal military aid to Kyiv and deeper sanctions against Russia."
"The bill, passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate, authorizes $350 million in military hardware and munitions to Ukraine, and new sanctions against high-profile Russian exporters. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives." (VOA News: December 13, 2014)
But this bill still needs the signature of President Obama, a signature that he says depends on the EU coming 'on board' if he is to sanction more sanctions against Putin and his kleptocratic 'siloviki'. But will the EU come on board?
Already, in Merkel's Germany,
"
At least 3,500 people took part in [a] protest, organized by the German Peace Movement in the capital Berlin on Saturday. Press TV reported.The demonstrators marched to the presidential Bellevue palace to
condemn the West’s confrontation with Russia over the conflict in
Ukraine." (Iran Daily : December 14, 2014)whilst Merkel herself continues to
"...[call] for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. She
said that the first steps had been taken with the Minsk Agreement in
September and they should be built on. (DW : 13.12.2014)She continues to "reassure Russia about closer European trade ties with Ukraine." (ibid DW)
Meanwhile, in an interview with Euronews, the leader of the French fascist 'Front Nationale', Marine Le Pen, continues to heap praise upon Putin. (14/12/2014)
"Forceful and plain-spoken, [Matteo] Salvini has emerged at the same time as
the 39-year-old [Italian] prime minister, Matteo Renzi, highlighting the
generational change shaking up Italian politics since the fall of Silvio
Berlusconi in 2011."Salvini has become Italy's second-most popular leader since taking over the party, founded in the early 1990s as a separatist, anti-immigrant movement in the prosperous north of Italy." (ibid EurActiv) (my emphasis)
What we have, therefore, is the triumvirate of Germany, France, and Italy, amongst other former Eastern European members of the EU such as Hungary, who can easily scupper any call for increased sanctions against Putin's Russia.
More importantly, both PUTIN and OBAMA know this!
It is against this backdrop that Russia's Deputy Foreign Minisister Ryabkov said on Saturday that,"We will not be able to leave that [i.e. new US sanctions against Putin's Russia] without an answer," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted [him] as saying. He did not say what form of counter-measure Moscow might take." (Enca : Saturday 13 December 2014)
Mikhail Yemelyanov of the Fair Russia party told reporters on Friday (12 December 2014) that,
“The decision of the US Senate is extremely dangerous. If it is supported by the [US] House of Representatives and signed by their president [Obama], Russia must reply with adequate measures,”
“It is quite possible that we should return to the decision by our Upper House and give the Russian president an opportunity to use military force on Ukrainian territory preemptively. We should not wait until Ukraine is armed and becomes really dangerous,” the lawmaker stated.(RT : December 12, 2014)
We are now beginning to enter the stage when the Cold War that Putin precipitated can become a Hot War.
As Stephen Szabo says,
"Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for the continuing insurgency in Eastern Ukraine mean that peace in Europe can no longer be taken for granted. For several reasons, the West's current confrontation with Russia is arguably more serious and dangerous than the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962." (Real Clear World : December 11, 2014)
(to be continued)
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