Putin continuing to put the 'squeeze' on Ukraine

AFP (Agence France Press) reports this morning that,

"The US House of Representatives approved the resolution in a broadly bipartisan 348-48 vote, heaping further pressure on the Obama administration to end its delays in providing weapons and other heavy military equipment to Kiev forces." (AFP : 24 March, 2015) (my emphasis)

 However, as Amy Nordrum reports,

"Last year, Congress unanimously passed a bill (Summary: S.2828 — 113th Congress (2013-2014))
that authorized the president to send [lethal] weapons to Ukraine -- a power he has so far declined to use." (International Business Times : Tuesday, March 24, 2015) (my emphasis)

All of this may seem rather strange to an outside observer. A Bill is passed in Congress but, for it to become law, President Obama has to sign it.

Without his signature it simply gathers dust. Even if the whole of Congress, or the Senate, pass resolution after resolution urging him to act in a specific way, all that he simply has to do is to ignore them. His signature is encapsulated in the saying, "The buck stops here."

President Obama signed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 into law. However, Section 6: (b) of this Act is a "get-out" clause for providing 'lethal' defensive weapons since it specifies that,

" ...Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit a report detailing the anticipated defense articles, defense services, and training to be provided pursuant to this section and a timeline for the provision of such defense articles, defense services, and training, to-- " (ibid Summary: S.2828) (my emphasis)

It is up to Obama to give details of what he will provide, rather than this bill specifying what he MUST provide. It is entirely up to him whether he provides 'lethal' defensive weaponry or not, and all that yesterday's vote in the House of Representatives (right) achieved was simply to increase the 'pressure' on him into 'including' lethal defensive weaponry into what he will provide to Ukraine.

But since he has given Angela Merkel his word that he WILL NOT provide Ukraine with 'lethal' defensive weaponry at this point in time, notwithstanding the calls coming from Ukraine, NATO generals, Congress, or even the Senate; no amount of 'shouting from the rafters' is going to make him suddenly change his mind on this issue.

Putin is well aware of the fact that Obama must sing from the same 'hymn-sheet' as Merkel regarding the non-provision of 'lethal' defensive weapons to Ukraine if he is not to be seen as deepening the rift between the EU and the US over how to help Ukraine militarily counter his proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine.

This 'bind' that Obama has placed himself in is emboldening both Putin and his 'siloviki' to not only stealthily trample over the 'ceasefire' agreements of Minsk2 but, more importantly, set the stage for a possible Spring assault on Mariupol.

          Fradkov             Shoigu                    Patruschev                   Kolokoltsev                Bortnikov

Added to which, as reported by Tomas Hirst,

"Ukraine could be set for yet another showdown with Russia over a $3 billion debt bill.
 .......
Back in January, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (right) announced that Ukraine had breached the terms on the loan, which required the government in Kiev to cap national debt at 60% of GDP. This theoretically allows Moscow to recall the loan whenever it wants, meaning that it is currently acting as a sword of Damocles over president Petro Poroshenko's administration." .......
... while Kiev was able to get rid of Yanukovych, getting rid of his financial legacy is looking to be a bigger task.(Business Insider UK : Mar. 23, 2015) (my emphasis)

Given the growing precariousness of Putin's economy, will Moscow recall this loan now?

And to add to the squeeze that Putin  is putting on Ukraine, Darya Korsunskaya informs us that,

"Russia accused Kiev on Monday of violating parts of the Minsk peace deal for east Ukraine and urged Germany and France, which helped negotiate it, to do more to ensure Kiev sticks to the agreements that were reached." (Reuters : Mon Mar 23, 2015) (my emphasis)

This, notwithstanding that, as Lesley Wroughton reports,

"Russian tanks and heavy military equipment have crossed the Ukrainian border in the last few days in breach of a European-brokered ceasefire agreed on Feb. 12, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday." (Reuters : Tue Mar 10, 2015) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile the citizens of Mariupol continue to prepare themselves for what they see as an imminent invasion by Putin's proxies and his Russian soldiers. 

"When the first blast of the air raid siren sounds in a nearby street, the children and teachers of Mariupol's school Number 20 (right) know exactly what to do.
Within minutes of the first alert, 213 children and their 22 teachers sit huddled in a vast basement below the school and the roll call begins.
Class captains as young as six line up to report to the headmistress in a drill that has been practised dozens of times since a rocket attack on Mariupol's eastern district killed 30 people in January." (Nicholas Lazaredes : ABC News : March 24, 2015)

(to be continued)