The fourth Eastern Partnership summit in Riga (21-22 May 2015) has come and gone. In the Joint Declaration of all those countries in attendance very little that was said was new. The Partnership will continue, whilst re-affirming that,
"The participants of the Summit stress that the Eastern Partnership aims at building a common area of shared democracy, prosperity, stability and increased cooperation and is not directed against anyone." (Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit (Riga, 21-22 May 2015)
We now have, looming on the horizon, the fact that,
"[t]he EU measures [imposed upon Putin's Russia] end in July unless they are renewed by consensus. But EU leaders, at a summit in March, announced a “political agreement” to extend them until the end of the year." ( Andrew Rettman : Euobserver: 20. May, 2015) (my emphasis)
Meanwhile Putin, whose Russian sanctions against the EU expires on 7th August 2015,
" .... says [that] firms from Cyprus, Greece, and Hungary - the leading critics of EU sanctions - will be first in line to restart food exports if relations improve." (ibid Andrew Rettman) (my emphasis)
What this really tells us is that far from weathering the 'sanctions storm',
"Year-on-year food price inflation soared to a high of 24.7 percent in March, driven up by a steep devaluation of the ruble and Russia's bans on a range of food imports from the West last August in response to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis." (Moscow Times : Apr. 28 2015) (my emphasis)
Even chocolate is becoming something of a 'delicacy' in Putin's Russia.
"Overall year-on-year food price inflation soared to a high of 24.7 percent in March, according to state statistics service Rosstat."
"All of this leads to real, high-quality chocolate becoming a delicacy, which will not at all be affordable for everyone," the center's head Elizaveta Nikitina said in the statement." (Moscow Times : Apr. 21 2015)
And in the midst of ordinary Russian citizens having "slashed spending on food and other basic consumer items by almost one-quarter over the last three months", (Moscow Times : Apr. 23 2015),
"Following the capture by Ukraine army of 2 GRU special forces officers in Donbas May 17, Russia general staff ordered immediate evacuation of the 3rd Brigade troopers back to Togliatti from Bryanka, Luhansk oblast, UNIAN reports May 18, citing Novoe vremya." (Zik : Monday 18 may, 2015) (my emphasis)
"The evacuation was ordered immediately after the Ukraine army demonstrated irrefutable facts of the presence of paratroopers in Donbas." (ibid Zik) (my emphasis)
Even more interesting, Daisy Sindelar reports that,
"Novorossia has a flag, an anthem, and a news service. But it may no longer have a future, if it ever did....The project -- to combine breakaway regions of Ukraine into an independent, pro-Russian state known as New Russia, or Novorossia -- appeared to breathe its last this week with an announcement by a top separatist official." (RFERL : Tuesday, May 26, 2015) (my emphasis) (picture right: Novorossia demonstrators in St. Petersburg)
Then we have the recent assasination of the separatist leader, Alexei Mozgovoi (left), "including his press secretary and armed guards -- [who] were shot dead
Saturday while travelling in an area under his control in the renegade
eastern province of Lugansk." (Dmitry Zaks : AFP : May 24, 2015) (my emphasis)
Caution should, however, be exercised when considering the political implications of the evacuation of Russian paratroopers from the Lughansk oblast in eastern Ukraine, the death of the imperialist 'Novorissia' dreams of Putin, and the eruption of internal strife amongst Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine.
We should bear in mind that, as David Blair reports,
"President Petro Poroshenko (right) of Ukraine told the BBC that his country was in a “real war” against Russia and that he did not trust President Vladimir Putin. However, Mr Poroshenko said there was “no alternative” to a negotiated settlement. " (Daily Telegraph : 20 May 2015) (my emphasis)
Yet again should we be reminded of the build-up of Russian forces and sophisticated military equipment, not only in eastern Ukraine, but also in Ukrainian Crimea. It is no wonder that,
"Oleksandr Turchynov (left), a former president who now chairs the Ukrainian
National Security Council, said that Russia had deployed nuclear-capable
Iskander missiles in the occupied region of Crimea. (right)" (ibid David Blair) (my emphasis)
Turchynov is now suggesting that, "Ukraine is open to “consulting” on the deployment of US missile defences [against the nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in the occupied region of Crimea]
No doubt Putin is 'spitting nails' at this suggestion of Turchynov, especially in view of,
"Nato's two-week training exercise in the [Arctic] region - which began on the same day as Russia's tests - will be based in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland. It will involve 115 fighter planes and 3,600 troops from nine countries.
The Arctic Challenge Exercise will also involve troops and planes from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands - all Nato members - as well as neutral Switzerland." (BBC News : 26 May, 2015)
We now await Putin's next move.
(to be continued)
"The participants of the Summit stress that the Eastern Partnership aims at building a common area of shared democracy, prosperity, stability and increased cooperation and is not directed against anyone." (Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit (Riga, 21-22 May 2015) We now have, looming on the horizon, the fact that,
"[t]he EU measures [imposed upon Putin's Russia] end in July unless they are renewed by consensus. But EU leaders, at a summit in March, announced a “political agreement” to extend them until the end of the year." ( Andrew Rettman : Euobserver: 20. May, 2015) (my emphasis)
Meanwhile Putin, whose Russian sanctions against the EU expires on 7th August 2015, " .... says [that] firms from Cyprus, Greece, and Hungary - the leading critics of EU sanctions - will be first in line to restart food exports if relations improve." (ibid Andrew Rettman) (my emphasis)
What this really tells us is that far from weathering the 'sanctions storm', "Year-on-year food price inflation soared to a high of 24.7 percent in March, driven up by a steep devaluation of the ruble and Russia's bans on a range of food imports from the West last August in response to Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis." (Moscow Times : Apr. 28 2015) (my emphasis)
Even chocolate is becoming something of a 'delicacy' in Putin's Russia. "Overall year-on-year food price inflation soared to a high of 24.7 percent in March, according to state statistics service Rosstat."
"All of this leads to real, high-quality chocolate becoming a delicacy, which will not at all be affordable for everyone," the center's head Elizaveta Nikitina said in the statement." (Moscow Times : Apr. 21 2015)
And in the midst of ordinary Russian citizens having "slashed spending on food and other basic consumer items by almost one-quarter over the last three months", (Moscow Times : Apr. 23 2015),
"Following the capture by Ukraine army of 2 GRU special forces officers in Donbas May 17, Russia general staff ordered immediate evacuation of the 3rd Brigade troopers back to Togliatti from Bryanka, Luhansk oblast, UNIAN reports May 18, citing Novoe vremya." (Zik : Monday 18 may, 2015) (my emphasis)
"The evacuation was ordered immediately after the Ukraine army demonstrated irrefutable facts of the presence of paratroopers in Donbas." (ibid Zik) (my emphasis)
Even more interesting, Daisy Sindelar reports that,
"Novorossia has a flag, an anthem, and a news service. But it may no longer have a future, if it ever did....The project -- to combine breakaway regions of Ukraine into an independent, pro-Russian state known as New Russia, or Novorossia -- appeared to breathe its last this week with an announcement by a top separatist official." (RFERL : Tuesday, May 26, 2015) (my emphasis) (picture right: Novorossia demonstrators in St. Petersburg)
Caution should, however, be exercised when considering the political implications of the evacuation of Russian paratroopers from the Lughansk oblast in eastern Ukraine, the death of the imperialist 'Novorissia' dreams of Putin, and the eruption of internal strife amongst Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine.
We should bear in mind that, as David Blair reports,"President Petro Poroshenko (right) of Ukraine told the BBC that his country was in a “real war” against Russia and that he did not trust President Vladimir Putin. However, Mr Poroshenko said there was “no alternative” to a negotiated settlement. " (Daily Telegraph : 20 May 2015) (my emphasis)
Yet again should we be reminded of the build-up of Russian forces and sophisticated military equipment, not only in eastern Ukraine, but also in Ukrainian Crimea. It is no wonder that,
"Oleksandr Turchynov (left), a former president who now chairs the Ukrainian
National Security Council, said that Russia had deployed nuclear-capable
Iskander missiles in the occupied region of Crimea. (right)" (ibid David Blair) (my emphasis)Turchynov is now suggesting that, "Ukraine is open to “consulting” on the deployment of US missile defences [against the nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in the occupied region of Crimea]
No doubt Putin is 'spitting nails' at this suggestion of Turchynov, especially in view of,"Nato's two-week training exercise in the [Arctic] region - which began on the same day as Russia's tests - will be based in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland. It will involve 115 fighter planes and 3,600 troops from nine countries.
The Arctic Challenge Exercise will also involve troops and planes from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands - all Nato members - as well as neutral Switzerland." (BBC News : 26 May, 2015)
We now await Putin's next move.
(to be continued)
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