Putin's mind-set is now what everything hinges upon.

A big lie (German: Große Lüge) is a propaganda technique. The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." (Wikipedia)

This propaganda technique was followed to the letter by Goebbels, his propaganda chief during WWII,  a war that Putin himself constantly refers to.

 
Putin has learnt a lot from Hitler. In the face of what is actually happening in eastern Ukraine, Putin and the whole of his Kremlin kleptocratic clique, continue to try to impose upon the world the BIG LIE that he is not flooding eastern Ukraine with Russian arms and soldiers, even in the face of physical proof that this is being done by him.

• "One [Russian] university professor was a bit more honest: “You don’t understand. We’re Russians, we will never admit guilt to outsiders, especially to Americans. Even if we know we’re guilty.” "(Mark Nuckols : New York Post : July 21, 2014) (my emphasis)
• "Mr Putin has become entangled in a web of his own lies, which any homespun moralist could have told him was bound to happen. When his hirelings concocted propaganda about fascists running Kiev and their crucifixion of a three-year-old boy, his approval ratings among Russian voters soared by almost 30 percentage points, to over 80%. Having roused his people with falsehoods, the tsar cannot suddenly wriggle free" (The Economist :Jul 26th 2014) (my emphasis)
• "For 15 years, Russia has been living a lie. Vladimir Putin’s ex-KGB regime has told the world, and the Russian people, that the country was modernising, diversifying away from oil and gas and becoming an economic powerhouse."(Edward Lucas : The Telegraph :17 Dec 2014)

And Today?

 

 

(1) "Russia's official position is still that it's not involved in the conflict. The Russian foreign ministry has demanded copies of the passports Poroshenko showed in Munich, saying they "could easily be bought." Yet there has been plenty of proof of Russian soldiers' participation in the fighting. Russia's remaining independent media outlets have provided evidence of servicemen dying in eastern Ukraine." ( Leonid Bershidsky: Bloomberg : Feb 9, 2015)

 (2) "Russia, however, has adamantly denied that it has supplied either troops or manpower to the assist in the fighting. When the personal belongings of Russia soldiers were produced, including passports and military ID cards found on soldiers captured or killed in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s response has been to claim that the men were adventurers “on vacation” in Ukraine." (Rob Garver :The Fiscal Times : February 13, 2015)  

(3) "Sometime late on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, as talks meant to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine were being finalized in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, Ukrainian army officials reported observing the movement of heavy weapons across the country’s border with Russia. They said they had identified some 50 tanks, 40 missile batteries, and numerous armored personnel carriers." (Rob Garver :The Fiscal Times : February 13, 2015) (my emphasis)

The West simply no longer believes in Putin's promises. Putin's agreement to the latest Minsk proposals is being taken with a very large pinch of salt.

Poroshenko at Brussels meeting of EU leaders (Thursday 12 Feb., 2015)

(Ian Traynor : The Guardian : Friday 13 February 2015)

To this end,

"Former British military Saxon armoured vehicles has been delivered to Ukraine by a private firm. The Ministry of Defence confirmed these were out-of-service unarmed vehicles and not lethal equipment. The vehicles were transferred under a 2013 deal that pre-dated the current conflict.

A Ukrainian news agency has reported that 20 British Saxon armoured cars have been delivered to Ukraine, with another 55 expected to arrive soon." (BBC News UK : 13 February 2015) (my emphasis)

 Similarly,

"Canada is preparing to supply the Ukrainian military with satellite imagery that  would give Kiev’s forces new high-resolution battle intelligence in their long-running conflict with Moscow-backed separatists, sources say." (Stephen Chase : The Globe and Mail : February 12, 2015) (my emphasis)

Furthermore,

"The European Union has not ruled out further sanctions on Russia if the new truce fails, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned during the bloc’s summit in Brussels on Thursday.

“If it works well we would be very happy to go with the agreement. If there are difficulties we wouldn’t rule out other sanctions,” she added.

French President Francois Hollande also echoed similar warnings, saying if the ceasefire deal was not respected, “we would return to a process… of sanctions that would be in addition to those already in place.” (Press TV : Fri Feb 13, 2015) (my emphasis)

The reader is reminded that for,

"President Obama ... the deadline nears for the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 to come into FULL effect on the 16th February 2015. This Act mandates Obama into making a decision on sending military hardware to Ukraine since the Act includes the following:

(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)

The 'eleventh hour' for the beginning of the new ceasefire is a few hours away. Either, as Poroshenko has said, "The war in eatsern Ukraine could spiral out of control ..." or a 'ceasefire' will descend upon the war between Ukraine and Russia that is raging in eastern Ukraine. As Angela Merkel recently said, "There is a glimmer of hope ..."

Putin's mind-set, however, is now what everything hinges upon.

(to be continued)