Putin has publicly relegated the Minsk 'ceasefire' agreement to the dustbin of history

Yesterday the prime minister of Hungary, Victor Orban, met with Putin in Budapest, ostensibly to,

".... negotiate a new agreement for Russian gas supplies." (BBC News Europe : 17 February 2015)

Victor Orban is considered to be,

" ... among Mr Putin's closest allies in Europe." (ibid BBC) (my emphasis)
 
No doubt with the Hungarian uprising in 1956 in mind,

"Some 2,000 people have marched through the Hungarian capital, Budapest, ahead of talks between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin" (ibid BBC)

 
After their meeting, Putin gave a press conference about the continuing fighting in eastern Ukraine. There is something rather ominous about the 'smirk' on his face at the start of his press conference.

Putin legitimises the breaking of the ceasefire by his proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine, and actually suggests that the Ukrainian forces defending their country should lay down their arms and simply surrender to the forces that he controls. 

Yet it has been but a few days ago since the Minsk agreements about a 'full' ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, a ceasefire that Putin himself endorsed at a press conference.

And now, to add insult to injury, Vitaly Churkin, Russian ambassador to the UN, drafted a resolution concerning the situation in Ukraine that was unanimously approved by the Council.
 
"The UN Security Council on Tuesday (17 Feb. 2015) unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing measures for the implementation of the new truce on Ukraine crisis.
In the Russian-drafted resolution, the Council reaffirmed "its full respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine," and expressed "its grave concern at the tragic events and violence in eastern regions of Ukraine." (China Europe : Feb. 17 (Xinhua)) (my emphasis)

Ambassador Samantha Power

"US Ambassador Samantha Power welcomed the agreement but said that Russia had to prove its commitment to peace. ...

"Russia signs agreements then does everything within its power to undermine them. Russia champions the sovereignty of nations and then acts as if a neighbour's borders do not exist." (ibid BBC) (my emphasis)


It is blatantly obvious that Putin is not concerned at all about breaking agreements. 

Putin is being driven not only by the fact that his 'ardent' supporters in the EU (including the 'fragrant' Mogherini, practically all the right-wing and extreme right-wing MEP's, the Czech president, Victor Orban, Matteo Renzi and, more recently, Alexis Tsipras, the new Greek prime minister) will ensure that the EU will not be able to talk with one voice about how to help Ukraine, nor will the EU and the US see 'eye to eye' about what further actions against Russia should be put in place so that the costs to Russia of Putin's adventurism in eastern Ukraine is ratcheted up.

Putin is not simply 'cocking a snook' at the US and the EU, he is trying to elevate himself even above the UN itself, which he also treats with utter contempt.

That 'smirk' on his face at the start of his press conference in Hungary yesterday is very telling indeed. But what is even more disconcerting is that Putin is writing the 'hymn sheet' from which his kleptocratic clique at the Kremlin is singing in unison. From Lavrov to Churkin; as soon as a lie emanates from the mouth of Putin, that lie becomes their mantra.

The fear of himself that Putin is creating within the Kremlin mirrors that which Stalin created. Is there a silent  Khrushchev amongst his kleptocratic clique at the Kremlin?

(to be continued)