Is Putin readying his army for the final push? (3rd Feb. 2015)

Yesterday, Shaun Walker in Kiev, Alec Luhn in Moscow and Spencer Ackerman in Washington report that,

     Shaun Walker             Alec Luhn          Spencer Ackerman

"The high-stakes poker game over east Ukraine continued on Monday, with US officials floating the idea of sending lethal military assistance to the government in Kiev, while Russia-backed separatists announced a plan to mobilise a 100,000-strong army." (The Guardian : Monday 2 February 2015) (my emphasis)

Furthermore that,

Angela Merkel

"The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has taken a tougher line on Putin in recent months and has come out strongly in support of sanctions against Russia, but on Monday unequivocally ruled out military assistance.
“Germany will not support Ukraine with guns and weapons,” said Merkel, speaking in Budapest. “We are putting all our bets on sanctions and doing our best to find a diplomatic solution.” (ibid Walker, Luhn, Spencer) (my emphasis)

Sen. Menendez

What their article does not mention is that on the 16th September 2014, Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ] sponsored the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 that, inter alia, allowed but did not require the US to send military aid to Ukraine. This bill was signed into law by President Obama in December 2014.

However this Bill has, as yet, not been fully enacted.

Why? Because it contains the following viz.

President Obama

(i) Provisions for training, defense articles, anti-tank weapons, anti-armor weapons, crew weapons, ammunition, counter-artillery radar, fire control, range diner, tactical troop-operated surveillance drones, and other equipment pursuant to the provisions of the Arms Export Control Act – Total of $350,000,000 over three years

(ii) Legally mandates the President to submit a timeline how defensive aid will actually get to Ukraine (George Barros : Euromaidan Press : 17 Dec. 2014)

This Bill comes into FULL effect on the 16th February 2015, and this is what the current brouhaha about the US sending military aid to Ukraine is all about.  But Obama still has to give the green light for the provision of military aid to Ukraine.

Putin

Putin knew what could happen on the 16th February when the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, signed by Obama, comes into full effect, and pre-empted the possibility of military aid arriving into Ukraine from the US by recently escalating the war between Ukraine and Russia. The armaments and Russian soldiers that have practically swarmed into eastern Ukraine over the last few weeks is testimony to the fact that Putin and his military men are hell bent on taking Mariupol and Debaltseve so that Crimea can have its land-bridge into Russia, and eastern Ukraine can then fully be incorporated into Russia.

And it is with this aim in mind that Putin's puppet proxy in eastern Ukraine recently declared that he will be mobilising a 100,000 strong army allegedly from the current inhabitants of the areas in eastern Ukraine that they and the Russian army now control. This mobilisation from those still in eastern Ukraine, and currently under the control of Putin's army and proxies, is a TOTAL impossibility. Are they, like Hitler did during his last days, also going to mobilise children?

What this really means is that Putin is threatening to send 100,000 RUSSIAN SOLDIERS into eastern Ukraine if Obama sends military aid to Kiev.

And standing on the sidelines is Angela Merkel, practically giving Putin the green light to annex eastern Ukraine as he wishes, thus dismembering Ukraine.

   

   Pegida demonstration in Dresden

Her constant mantra about 'diplomatic' solutions (read: the scrapped Minsk protocols) and 'sanctions' being the ONLY way to defuse the current situation in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, a situation that Putin himself has created, is beginning to ring rather hollow. Her main current pre-occupation is in dealing with Greece, the Euro, and the rise of Pegida that directly threatens her political position.

Therefore what we now have is:

• Obama pacing up and down not knowing what to do on the 16th February when the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 comes into effect and he has to decide on sending military aid to Ukraine
• Merkel sitting on her hands over Ukraine whilst panicking about the potential demise of the Euro and the rise of Pegida
• and Putin, with Patriarch Kirill by his side, simply itching to give the order to his generals to send those 100,000 Russian soldiers into eastern Ukraine.

A YOUNG UKRAINIAN GIRL AT MAIDAN

(to be continued)