Putin and Merkel's 'private' meeting on 10 May, 2015

Hardly had Russia's nationalist euphoria of Putin's showcase of Russian military might on the 9th May died down when Angela Merkel and Putin, the following day, held their  private little tête-à-tête, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world.

On their agenda were two main unwritten items.

• pushing foreward the Minsk2 proposals that essentially favours Putin
• restoring the lost trade between Germany and Russia that has been caused by EU sanctions against Putin and the kleptocratic 'siloviki' that surrounds him

Merkel's 'figleaf' excuse for being the only leader of the EU, indeed of the west, for visiting Putin was, as reported by Dana Ford,

"I have come to Moscow during a difficult phase of the Russian-German relations because it was important to me, on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, to pay respects to those killed in that war," Merkel told reporters." (CNN : May 10, 2015)

As also reported by RFERL,

"Western leaders have made a show of not attending the event, as some did in past years. They remain locked in a bitter standoff with Russia over the Ukraine crisis." (RFERL : May 09, 2015)

What is disconcerting is that, 

"Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Germany's chancellor, Russia’s president defended the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which the USSR signed with Nazi Germany in 1939 to carve up Eastern Europe, in turn triggering the onset of World War II.

......

Putin reportedly demonstrated his diverging view over the current war in Ukraine and WWII history by saying there “was sense” to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

“Poland became a victim of its own policy,” he said, referring to its partition by the USSR and Nazi Germany in 1939, adding that Kremlin leaders back then signed the controversial agreements to “avoid direct confrontation.” (KyivPost : May 10, 2015) (my emphasis)

Merkel's tacit agreement with Putin's argument about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is summed up by the fact that, as reported by Putin's own propaganda machine, RT,

"Our countries cooperated even in much more challenging conditions, when there seemed to be insurmountable barriers,” said Putin.

Merkel then reassured him, saying “Germany is working with Russia, not against it.” (RT : May 10, 2015)

No doubt the Putinversteher Merkel had, at the back of her mind, the fact that Putin reminded her that,

"Putin tried to play down disagreements with Germany, reminding Merkel at the news conference that German companies had profited immensely over the years in the Russian market." (Anton Troianovski (right): MarketWatch : May 10, 2015)

Anton Troianovski also makes another rather interesting point viz.

"Merkel’s highly anticipated visit—the most high-profile trip by a Western leader to Russia since the Ukraine crisis began—shed light on the yawning gap that has emerged between Russia and the West since the start of last year. It also illustrated Merkel’s challenge as the West’s de facto negotiator-in-chief in the Ukraine crisis " (ibid Anton Troianovski) (my emphasis)

And whilst Merkel is selling out Ukraine, as reported by Simon Tomlinson, (July 2014)

"Germany and Russia are working on a secret peace deal to end the conflict in Ukraine that would see Moscow's controversial annexation of Crimea officially recognised in exchange for a $1billion compensation package, it was claimed today." (MailOnline : 31 July 2014),

Maria Tsvetkova (left) informs us that,

"Some Russian soldiers are quitting the army because of the conflict in Ukraine, several soldiers and human rights activists have told Reuters. Their accounts call into question the Kremlin's continued assertions that no Russian soldiers have been sent to Ukraine, and that any Russians fighting alongside rebels there are volunteers." (Reuters : 10 May, 2015) (my emphasis)

 Added to which, Tom Balmforth (right) informs us that the report that the late Boris Nemtsov (left) was working on, prior to him being murdered yards away from the Kremlin wall, 

"...has been finally completed by a group of opposition activists and journalists led by [Ilya] Yashin (below:right), who pieced together the trail that the slain former deputy prime minister left behind." (RFERL : May 10, 2015)

He further informs us that,

"Yashin  was adamant that the report will make a splash.

“Judging by how we are being hindered in even printing a small run, there is going to be a fair amount of resonance,” he said. “We realize that we are striking where it hurts.”

The goal of the report, he says, is to “disprove lies.”

“They say there aren’t Russian troops [in Ukraine],” Yashin said. “We say there are. For Putin, it’s very painful to be caught lying.” (ibid RFERL) (my emphasis)

These are the questions that now have to be asked about that Putin and Merkel meeting yesterday viz.

• Has Merkel become 'immune' to Putin's constant lying?
• Was she 'intimidated' by Putin's elliptical threat towards German 'profiteering' in Russia?
• Was Merkel 'pushed' by German businessmen into have this "private little tête-à-tête, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world"?
• Is she 'challenging' the West into becoming the de facto negotiator-in-chief in the Ukraine crisis?
• Did she try to 'bribe' Putin to 'reign in' his proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine in exchange for her pushing to have the EU sanctions against him and his cronies 'lifted' in July?

Perhaps most critical of all,

 

"What will she 'leave out' when reporting back to her western allies about what transpired during this little private tête-à-tête that she had with Putin"?

 

 (to be continued)