Will Putin now be confronted with a UN Peacekeeping force?

Yesterday (April 08, 2015) Putin's propaganda machine, RT, informed us that,

"Moscow is urging the removal of all foreign military formations from Ukraine, including the instructors from the United States and NATO, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin (left) said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily." (RT : April 08, 2015)

“We know that hundreds of US and NATO servicemen are planning to come to Ukraine to train the National Guard. The training camps are being set up not only in western Ukraine, but also in other parts of the country. This is a dangerous process. We would push for all foreign and illegal military units to be removed from Ukraine,” Karasin said.(ibid RT) (my emphasis)

This is no doubt a response to Polish, Latvian, English, NATO, and American trainers who have been helping to build up the efficiency of the Ukrainian forces over the last weeks.

It is obviously also a response to,

"Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk (right) [who] has [recently] said that the Ukrainian government will sign an agreement on military and technical cooperation with NATO, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine will seek to meet NATO standards." (KyivPost : April 8, 2015) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile, Putin continues to build up his forces on the Russia-Ukrainian border, whilst flooding eastern Ukraine with sophisticated military equipment and Russian generals who are training Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine.

As Nataliya Vasilyeva (left) has informed us,

"On a recent spring morning, an important visitor watched Russian-backed rebels conduct infantry maneuvers in eastern Ukraine (right).

"The general is very pleased," rebel commander Ostap Cherny told his troops, referring to the figure in camouflage encircled by guards.

The man — almost certainly a Russian military officer — became alarmed when he saw two journalists approach. His entourage shielded him — forbidding photos — and the group sped off in a motorcade, the "general" safely inside a black Toyota SUV with no license plates." (AP [Associated Press] : Yahoo News : 3 April, 2015) (my emphasis)

Does Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin include those Russian generals training Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine amongst his, "foreign and illegal military units that should be removed from Ukraine?

And what about Putin's "illegal military units and sophisticated Russian weaponry" that are still flooding across the Russian border into eastern Ukraine?

As Tom Parfitt informed us but a week ago,

"Russian tanks and soldiers have been “decisive” in winning key battles against government troops in eastern Ukraine, the commander of a separatist “special forces” detachment has admitted.

The Kremlin denies sending men and military vehicles to fight in Ukraine, but Dmitry Sapozhnikov (right) told the BBC that regular army units sent from Russia and commanded by Russian officers were key in seizing the strategic town of Debaltseve in February." (The Telegraph : 31 Mar 2015) (my emphasis)

The recent escalation in Putin's Russian troop movements and military equipment into eastern Ukraine, as well as the call-up of his  rebel proxies in preparation for an imminent offensive against Mariupol, has been closely monitored by Ukraine over the last few days.

As recently as Mar. 27, 2015, Senator McCain was warning of an imminent attack on Mariupol by Putin's Russian soldiers and his proxies in eastern Ukraine.

Christopher Harress (left) now also informs us that,

"In the villages around the port city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, pro-Russian rebels and Ukraine troops continue to exchange fire, as both sides accuse the other of using heavy artillery and tanks. The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council has said that pro-Russian rebels are increasing their combat readiness in preparation for an attack on the port city of Mariupol. Should such an attack take place, the Minsk II agreement governing the current ceasefire would most likely collapse, leading the region back into a full-scale conflict. " (International Business Times : April 08 2015)

To try to defuse this military build-up by both the Ukrainian and Russian forces,

"Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin is now in Paris where he's engaged in preparations for a meeting of 'Normandy Four' foreign ministers with a [UN] peacekeeping mission in Donbas being on the top of the agenda." (Unian : 08.04.2015) (my emphasis)

                   L-R: Lavrov, Steinmeister, Klimkin, and Fabius

This meeting will be held in Berlin on April 13 but it can be assumed from the outset that Lavrov, that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet foreign minister, will be dead-set against any UN peacekeeping mission entering eastern Ukraine, let alone patrolling the porous border between eastern Ukraine and Russia.

France now seems to be closing ranks with Ukraine. Fabius has stated that,

"France's position remains unchanged – we insist on the full-scale implementation of all the clauses of the Minsk[2] agreement according to the schedule," he added." (ibid Unian) (my emphasis)

To cement this closing of ranks between France and Ukraine,

"Fabius also announced a visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, who are to arrive in Paris on April 22." (ibid Unian) (my emphasis)

It would now be interesting to see just how the budding 'cameraderie, between Putin and Alexis Tsipras (left), the Greek prime minister, has affected the 'Putinversteher' Walter Steinmeister.

"Mr Putin said the leaders had discussed 'various ways of co-operating, including major projects in energy' and said Russia 'could provide loans' for projects including a potential gas pipeline via Turkey, which was shelved last year amid deteriorating relations between Mr Putin and the EU." (Tamara Cohen : Mail Online : 9 April 2015) (my emphasis)

Will Steinmeister now also close ranks with Klimin and Fabius? Will these three now confront Lavrov with their agreeing on a UN peacekeeping mission?

(to be continued)