Are Putin and his kleptocratic oligarchs and 'siloviki' at the crossroads?

Recently Philip Hammond (left), UK Foreign Secretary, warned that:

"Britain may broadcast the financial secrets of Russia’s ruling elite as part of the information war against the Putin regime, the Foreign Secretary has indicated.

Philip Hammond said he was interested by the idea of publicising the wealth of the Russian president’s inner circle in order to embarrass them in front of their people, as part of the response to the ongoing incursion into eastern Ukraine." (Matthew Holehouse : The Telegraph : 10 Mar 2015)(my emphasis)

Furthermore, the US has extended its sanctions list to include a new list of 14 Russian and Ukrainian separatists. Significantly, this list includes Alexander Dukin (right), Putin's 'Rasputin' who wants him to militarily invade eastern Ukraine. But is this not what Putin has already done? 

Meanwhile, the 'fragrant' Mogherini (left) has been tasked by the EU with,

" [drawing] up a plan to counter Russian "disinformation campaigns" over the conflict in Ukraine, draft conclusions of an EU summit showed.
" ... to prepare by the June European Council an action plan on strategic communication in support of media freedom and EU values", the draft said. (Jan Strupczewski : Mail Online : 11 March 2015) (my emphasis)

How will the 'fragrant' Mogherini deal with the fact that the US is supplying,

"... [m]ore than $75 million worth of "non-lethal defensive" equipment [that will soon] be sent to Kiev, a senior administration official said....The package will include 30 armored and up to 200 unarmored Humvees, unarmed Raven drones, counter-mortar radars, night vision devices, first aid kits and military ambulances."? (Andrew Beatty : AFP (Yahoo News) : 12 March 2015)

Also with the fact that President Obama is finding himself besieged on both sides of Congress and the Senate by an increasing call to supply Ukraine with "lethal defensive weapons" in light of Putin currently flooding eastern Ukraine with Russian soldiers and modern Russian military equipment.

As reported by Peter Baker,

"Last week General Dempsey (left) told lawmakers that “I think we should absolutely consider providing lethal aid.” Madeleine K. Albright, a secretary of state under President Bill Clinton; Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter; and Michael A. McFaul, who was Mr. Obama’s ambassador to Moscow, have all said the same." (New York Times : March 10, 2015) (my emphasis)

More interesting, however,

 

"Representative Eliot L. Engel (right) of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week that he was so “disappointed” in the administration for not using tools in past legislation authorizing more sanctions against Russia and arms for Ukraine that he was introducing a new bill to “dial up the pressure on Vladimir Putin.” (ibid Peter Baker) (my emphasis)

And all that Merkel can do is to 'snub' Putin by not attending his annual Victory Day military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2,

whilst the erstwhile Walter Steinmeier, Merkel's Foreign Secretary, continues to sing the German mantra of the Minsk2 agreements that are daily been broken by Putin's proxies and his Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine.

Maybe Merkel and Steinmeier should take a glimpse at what is actually happening in annexed Ukrainian Crimea before singing the praises of the Minsk2 protocols that Putin has already simply torn up in his own mind.

(to be continued)