As today's 17th EU-Ukraine summit of EU leaders takes place in Kiev, EUbusiness informs us that,
" Ukraine pressed European leaders Monday to send peacekeepers to
stabilise the war-torn east, as monitors reported a surge in shelling
near [Mariupol,] a strategic government-held city...
.........
Observers with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) near the flashpoint town of Shyrokyne said they had witnessed "the most intense shelling" since fighting began there in mid-February, as well as movement of heavy weapons." (EUbusiness : 27 April 2015, 14:12 CET)
By simply trampling all over the Minsk2 'ceasefire' agreement, Putin is pulling out all the stops of 'intimidation' that he has at his disposal in his attempt to directly influence the outcome of this critical meeting between EU leaders and the President of Ukraine, Poroshenko.
"Many Ukrainians fear Mariupol could face a new offensive by separatists
after commemorations of Russia's victory in World War II on May 9 are
out of the way, or come under attack during public holidays in early
May." (ibid EUbusiness) (my emphasis)
For weeks now there have been ample warnings that have been given by many different sources about Putin's build-up of Russian soldiers and lethal military equipment in eastern Ukraine for his imminent onslaught against the strategic city of Mariupol. And so it has begun.
Yet notwithstanding this blatant "in-you-face" disregard of the Minsk2 'ceasefire' agreement by Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers, there are those at the 17th EU-Ukraine summit now taking place in Kiev,
"Germany and key European partners are pressing Ukraine to speed up implementing the Minsk ceasefire agreement — for fear of giving Russia excuses for renewed aggression." (Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk : Financial Times : April 26, 2015)
Furthermore that,
"The word among German diplomats is that Kiev needs to be “more co-operative”. Stefan Meister (right), of Berlin’s DGAP foreign policy think-tank, said: “German officials are talking to both sides, but especially to the Ukrainians because if they don’t do what’s necessary, the Russians will always have the possibility of renewing the conflict............
But Berlin is worried that Kiev is dragging its feet over other parts of the fragile deal, notably in trying to postpone political decentralisation until after local elections are staged in separatist-held territory. ” (ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk) (my emphasis)
In other words, Germany wants Putin to be 'appeased' by Ukraine handing over power to Putin's rebel proxies in eastern Ukraine. (ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk)
However,
"For Ukraine this is critical because it does not want to hand over power to separatist leaders in the Donbas region,
who are not recognised by the international community. EU diplomats
say, however, that while local elections are indeed envisaged under
Minsk, the accord does not insist that they take place before
decentralisation." (ibid ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk) (my emphasis)
And while EU leaders are trying to 'strongarm' Poroshenko into 'appeasing' Putin by giving him 'exactly what he wants',
"US troops in Europe request bigger guns amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine ....
One of the last American combat units stationed in Europe is asking the government for bigger guns amid rising tensions over Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict." (FoxNews :April 26, 2015) (my emphasis)
FoxNews further reported that,
"NATO's chief on Thursday reported a sizeable Russian military buildup on the border with Ukraine that he said would enable pro-Moscow separatists to launch a new offensive with little warning."(ibid FoxNews) (my emphasis)
And this is precisely what is happening right now, while the EU leaders are meeting with Poroshenko in Kiev.
Wolfgang Münchau (left) points to a rather interesting comparison which, more than anything else, indicates exactly the extent to which many of the leaders in the EU, who are supportive of (scared of?) Putin are, in fact, openly appeasing him.
"Ukraine will need more financial assistance from the EU — not only loans, but also grants because even a debt restructure will not get this war-torn country back on track. So far, the EU has dispensed €1.6bn in what it calls macro-financial assistance, and €250m in grants for fiscal stabilisation [to Ukraine]........
.............
By comparison, the total of the two Greek programmes has been €195bn so far — about 100 times as much [as received by Ukraine from the EU]. Greece is, of course, a member of the EU and the eurozone, but this is gap is still disproportionate. Of the two, Ukraine is the bigger country — in terms of population, land mass, and economic output." (Financial Times : April 26, 2015) (my emphasis)
Wolfgang Münchau also states that,
"Anders Aslund (right) of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington makes the point in a book that Ukraine would be a candidate for a Marshall Plan type package, of the kind Germany and other west European countries received after the second world war.
Ukraine has geostrategic importance to the EU, as Germany did to the US after 1945. And Ukraine has a government willing to undertake reforms." (my emphasis)
It would seem, however, that both Angela Merkel and Walter Steinmeiser have conveniently forgotten just how much Marshall Aid was poured into Germany after WWII and that has led to the Germany that we know today.
Instead, "The word among German diplomats is that Kiev needs to be “more co-operative”.
Alexander J. Motyl (left) writes that,
"A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin's regime "fascist." And they don't use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin's Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany." (Atlantic Council : April 23, 201) (my emphasis)
He goes on to argue that,
"But many Westerners fear the implications of calling a spade a spade.
If Putin's Russia is fascist, then it is comparable to Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy and, thus, certifiably evil.
And that means that calls for understanding Putin amount to calls for understanding evil.
So it's better to pretend that Russia isn't fascist. Hence the popularity of abstruse designations like managed democracy and sovereign democracy or terms—such as Putinism—that only state the obvious. ...." (ibid Alexander Motyl) (my emphasis)
(to be continued)
" Ukraine pressed European leaders Monday to send peacekeepers to
stabilise the war-torn east, as monitors reported a surge in shelling
near [Mariupol,] a strategic government-held city............
Observers with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) near the flashpoint town of Shyrokyne said they had witnessed "the most intense shelling" since fighting began there in mid-February, as well as movement of heavy weapons." (EUbusiness : 27 April 2015, 14:12 CET)
By simply trampling all over the Minsk2 'ceasefire' agreement, Putin is pulling out all the stops of 'intimidation' that he has at his disposal in his attempt to directly influence the outcome of this critical meeting between EU leaders and the President of Ukraine, Poroshenko.
"Many Ukrainians fear Mariupol could face a new offensive by separatists
after commemorations of Russia's victory in World War II on May 9 are
out of the way, or come under attack during public holidays in early
May." (ibid EUbusiness) (my emphasis)For weeks now there have been ample warnings that have been given by many different sources about Putin's build-up of Russian soldiers and lethal military equipment in eastern Ukraine for his imminent onslaught against the strategic city of Mariupol. And so it has begun.
Yet notwithstanding this blatant "in-you-face" disregard of the Minsk2 'ceasefire' agreement by Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers, there are those at the 17th EU-Ukraine summit now taking place in Kiev,
"Germany and key European partners are pressing Ukraine to speed up implementing the Minsk ceasefire agreement — for fear of giving Russia excuses for renewed aggression." (Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk : Financial Times : April 26, 2015)
Furthermore that,
"The word among German diplomats is that Kiev needs to be “more co-operative”. Stefan Meister (right), of Berlin’s DGAP foreign policy think-tank, said: “German officials are talking to both sides, but especially to the Ukrainians because if they don’t do what’s necessary, the Russians will always have the possibility of renewing the conflict............
But Berlin is worried that Kiev is dragging its feet over other parts of the fragile deal, notably in trying to postpone political decentralisation until after local elections are staged in separatist-held territory. ” (ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk) (my emphasis)
In other words, Germany wants Putin to be 'appeased' by Ukraine handing over power to Putin's rebel proxies in eastern Ukraine. (ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk)
However,
"For Ukraine this is critical because it does not want to hand over power to separatist leaders in the Donbas region,
who are not recognised by the international community. EU diplomats
say, however, that while local elections are indeed envisaged under
Minsk, the accord does not insist that they take place before
decentralisation." (ibid ibid Stefan Wagstyl and Roman Olearchyk) (my emphasis)And while EU leaders are trying to 'strongarm' Poroshenko into 'appeasing' Putin by giving him 'exactly what he wants',
"US troops in Europe request bigger guns amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine .... One of the last American combat units stationed in Europe is asking the government for bigger guns amid rising tensions over Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict." (FoxNews :April 26, 2015) (my emphasis)
FoxNews further reported that,
"NATO's chief on Thursday reported a sizeable Russian military buildup on the border with Ukraine that he said would enable pro-Moscow separatists to launch a new offensive with little warning."(ibid FoxNews) (my emphasis)
And this is precisely what is happening right now, while the EU leaders are meeting with Poroshenko in Kiev.
Wolfgang Münchau (left) points to a rather interesting comparison which, more than anything else, indicates exactly the extent to which many of the leaders in the EU, who are supportive of (scared of?) Putin are, in fact, openly appeasing him."Ukraine will need more financial assistance from the EU — not only loans, but also grants because even a debt restructure will not get this war-torn country back on track. So far, the EU has dispensed €1.6bn in what it calls macro-financial assistance, and €250m in grants for fiscal stabilisation [to Ukraine]........
.............
By comparison, the total of the two Greek programmes has been €195bn so far — about 100 times as much [as received by Ukraine from the EU]. Greece is, of course, a member of the EU and the eurozone, but this is gap is still disproportionate. Of the two, Ukraine is the bigger country — in terms of population, land mass, and economic output." (Financial Times : April 26, 2015) (my emphasis)
Wolfgang Münchau also states that,
"Anders Aslund (right) of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington makes the point in a book that Ukraine would be a candidate for a Marshall Plan type package, of the kind Germany and other west European countries received after the second world war.
Ukraine has geostrategic importance to the EU, as Germany did to the US after 1945. And Ukraine has a government willing to undertake reforms." (my emphasis)
It would seem, however, that both Angela Merkel and Walter Steinmeiser have conveniently forgotten just how much Marshall Aid was poured into Germany after WWII and that has led to the Germany that we know today.Instead, "The word among German diplomats is that Kiev needs to be “more co-operative”.
"A growing number of Russian analysts, in Russia and abroad, have taken to calling Vladimir Putin's regime "fascist." And they don't use the term casually or as a form of opprobrium. They mean that Putin's Russia genuinely resembles Mussolini's Italy or Hitler's Germany." (Atlantic Council : April 23, 201) (my emphasis)
He goes on to argue that,
"But many Westerners fear the implications of calling a spade a spade.
If Putin's Russia is fascist, then it is comparable to Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy and, thus, certifiably evil.
And that means that calls for understanding Putin amount to calls for understanding evil.
So it's better to pretend that Russia isn't fascist. Hence the popularity of abstruse designations like managed democracy and sovereign democracy or terms—such as Putinism—that only state the obvious. ...." (ibid Alexander Motyl) (my emphasis)
Some of Putin's supporters (appeasers?) in the EU
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| (Italy)'fragrant' Mogherini (Italy) Renzi (Greece) Tsipras (Germany) Steinmeiser |
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