Putin to sue Ukraine, whilst Merkel and Steinmeier ride to his rescue as the deadline for Minsk2 approaches.

As a last ditch effory to scupper Ukraine receiving IMF funding, Putin's Finance Ministry will be filing a lawsuit against Ukraine over that $3 billion loan he gave to his 'buddy', Victor Yanukovich, who is now residing somewhere near Moscow under his, Putin's, protection.


As his Finance Ministry so succintly put it,

"... we have nothing to do but to file a lawsuit against Ukraine if the borrower fails to fulfil its liabilities in full on December 20, 2015, which will mean Ukraine’s sovereign default."

"Besides, now there exist risks that Ukraine will not get another tranche from the IMF as the country’s budget for the year 2016 has not been approved in compliance with the IMF parameters due to the lack of a drafted tax reform and other required structural measures," the Russian Finance Ministry said." (Tass : December 05, 2015) (my emphasis)

It is no coincidence that the day this statement was released by Putin's Finance Ministry, it is exactly 21 years since the signing of the Budapest Memorandum by Russia, the US, Ukraine, and Great Britain, which confirmed that,

"The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine;.." (CFR : December 5, 1994) (my emphasis)

And whilst Putin is readying himself to sue Ukraine,

"A Russian delegation at a meeting of the OSCE ministerial conference in Belgrade has blocked the adoption of a declaration on the activities of the special monitoring mission (SMM) in Ukraine, according to the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine". (KyivPost :  Dec. 05, 2015) (my emphasis)

At the same time, Robin Emmott informs us that,

"NATO's top commander warned on Wednesday there was little chance that Russia would meet a year-end deadline for a peace deal in eastern Ukraine, saying the calmer situation there did not mean the end of the conflict was near.

Spelling out what many Western officials believe, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Philip Breedlove  (left) said Russia continued to support separatists in the area and that the ebb and flow in violence was Russia's way of demonstrating its power." (Reuters : Wed Dec 2, 2015) (my emphasis)

It is thus highly unlikely that the end-of-year target for implementing the proposals of Minsk2 will be met. These targets included,

" .... restoration of Ukrainian control on its eastern border, removal of all non-Ukrainian state forces from the region and release of hostages." (ibid Robin Emmott) (my emphasis)

Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine Foreign Minister (right with Steinmeier), 

".... spoke about Russia’s failure to fulfill any of its obligations taken at the Normandy Format Summit in Paris early October: ceasefire, verified heavy weapons withdrawal, withdrawal of all foreign troops and mercenaries from Donbas, disarmament of all illegal armed formations and establishment of the security zone along the Ukrainian-Russian border with effective 24/7 monitoring by OSCE." (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine : 02 December,2015) (my emphasis)

This, however, seems not to have been heard by that Putinversteher, Walter Steinmeier who, as  Alex Barker, Stefan Wagstyl, and Roman Olearchyk report, is behind

"Germany ... piling pressure on the European Commission to cut a deal with Russia to avert a flare-up when an EU trade deal with Ukraine comes into force next month.
...
The suggestions are outlined in a November letter, seen by the Financial Times, from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister, to Cecilia Malmström, the EU’s trade chief." (The Financial Times : December 1, 2015) (my emphasis)

And whilst Steinmeier is trying to appease Putin, with the blessing of none other than Angela Merkel herself, 

"[US] Vice President Joe Biden (left) is scheduled to visit Ukraine early next week to reassure [Ukrainian] government leaders and reformers of the United States’ continued support “in face of continued Russian military intervention” in the country’s restive east, administration officials said." (Carol Guensburg : VOA : December 05, 2015) (my emphasis)

This visit of Biden comes shortly after,

"[John] Kerry (right), [U.S. Secretary of State] spoke Thursday at the annual ministerial council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a two-day session held in Belgrade, Serbia.

In his remarks Kerry said Russia should help with the removal of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and allow unfettered access to OSCE monitors in the war-torn region of Donbas. He said Ukraine needs to do its part to restore the cease-fire and begin rebuilding Ukraine's eastern regions. (VOA News : December 03, 2015) (my emphasis)

And, surpisingly,

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (left) indicated that Canada will provide more support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, after the countries’ leaders met on the sidelines of the global climate conference in Paris.

Trudeau and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held a closed-door bilateral meeting on Sunday, CBC News reported." (Michelle Mark: International Business Times : November 30 2015) (my emphasis) 

Why, therefore, is it that neither Walter Steinmeier nor Angela Merkel are willing to now publicly state that Putin's soldiers should get out of eastern Ukraine?

Especially now that the deadline for the FULL implementation of Minsk2, to which Merkel herself is a signatory, is only 25 days away? 


(to be continued)