Embattled Putin

If there is anything to confirm the "hand in glove" relationship between German business and Putin's kleptocratic circle, then it is the sale by German RWE, one of Europe’s five leading electricity and gas companies, of its stake in oil and gas fields in the North Sea to one of Putin's oligarchs,  Mikhail Fridman (right).

As reported by Reuters,

"RWE on Monday finalized the sale of its oil and gas production unit DEA UK to Fridman's investment vehicle LetterOne, ending months of uncertainty over whether the 5.1 billion euro ($5.7 billion) deal would go ahead." (published in the Moscow Times : Mar. 05 2015)

The British Government, however,

" .... told Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman he had seven days to explain why he should be allowed to retain ownership of newly acquired oil and gas fields in the North Sea or face being forced to sell them." (Andrew Osborn and William James : Reuters : Wed Mar 4, 2015) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile, Angela Merkel (right),

" .... is warning Russia to live up to the Ukraine peace agreement it backed in Minsk last month or face tougher European Union sanctions .... ...

Merkel said that “if Minsk doesn’t work, then the member states and the European Commission are quite prepared to take tougher sanctions.” (Associated Press : March 4 : as reported inWashington Post) (my emphasis)

And whilst Merkel is threatening Putin with more sanctions, Matteo Renzi, Italian PM, is cosying up to Putin in Moscow.

As reported by Vladimir Isachenkov (Associated Press),

"Italy's prime minister visited Moscow on Thursday in a bid to repair ties that have been hurt by Russia-West tensions over Ukraine.
Most Western leaders have shunned Moscow as relations have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's (left) trip reflects his desire to improve bilateral economic ties, which have suffered because of the EU sanctions against Russia and Moscow's retaliatory moves." (Seattle Pi : Thursday, March 5, 2015) (my emphasis)

 Putin's beaming smile may, however, be rather short-lived.

 Gulgiz Dadashova, writes that,

“As part of a revitalized European energy and climate diplomacy, the EU will use all its foreign policy instruments to establish strategic energy partnerships with increasingly important producing and transit countries or regions such as Algeria and Turkey; Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan; the Middle East; Africa and other potential suppliers, ” new Union Energy Package said." (Eurasia Review : March 5, 2015) (my emphasis)

And as demand for Russian gas from the EU begins to drop now that winter is over, and as the Russian economy is teetering on the edge of a disastrous downward spiral if new sanctions against it are put into place; 

the Russian military informs us that,

" ...... 2,000 servicemen are taking part in "large-scale" air-defense exercises in southern Russia, Crimea, and the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. .....

In a statement, it said drills were taking place at 12 training grounds in Russia's Southern, North Caucasus, and Crimean federal districts, as well as at bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia." (RFERL : Friday, March 06, 2015) (my emphasis)

To consolidate monitoring of the Minsk2 ceasefire, the US and Britain proposed, at a closed door meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) (Sat Feb 28, 2015) on the situation in eastern Ukraine, that the OSCE,

" ...  extend its monitoring to include the entire Russia-Ukraine border and was asked what resources they needed for effective work." (PressTV : Sat Feb 28, 2015)

At which Putin's mouthpiece at the UN, Vitaly Churkin, (right) started spitting nails, arguing that,

“There are Minsk agreements in place, where the question of borders is explained. Why would this question be brought up at the UNSC? ” (RT : February 28, 2015)

The central reason for Churkin's apopletic rage lies in the fact that,


"Russia had deployed "thousands and thousands" of troops to neighboring Ukraine" and that, ""since December, Russia has transferred hundreds of pieces of military equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, rocket systems, heavy artillery,", according to Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. (Yahoo News (Agence France Presse) : March 4, 2015)
Furthermore,

"Alexander Vershbow (right), Nato's deputy secretary general, told a conference in Latvia: "Russian leaders are less and less able to conceal the fact that Russian soldiers are fighting - and dying - in large numbers in eastern Ukraine." (BBC News : 5 March 2015) (my emphasis)

Is this why Churkin spat nails at the US-UK proposal at the UN Security Council on the 28th Feb., that the Russian-Ukrainian border be monitored by the OSCE?

Our attention should again be drawn to the strategic town of Mariupol as,

"Rebels battled government troops in the village of Shyrokyne, east of Mariupol, in the early hours (5 March 2015), Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak said. But he added that there had been no other serious fighting in the area." (ibid BBC News)

Putin, being the single-minded and driven person that he is, will simply not accept that his Alexander Dukin inspired dreams of "Novorossiya" are on the verge of beginning to evaporate.

• With an economy that is collapsing,
• assasinations taking place within spitting distance of the Kremlin, 
• the body-bag count of Russian soldiers from Ukraine increasing, 
• the US now openly advocating sending lethal arms to Ukraine, 
• and yet more sanctions against Russia hanging like a sword of Damocles over his head; 

is it any wonder that he is trying to intimidate the world by holding, ".... large-scale" air-defense exercises in southern Russia, Crimea, and the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. ..?"

(to be continued)