Is Putin's foreign minister, Lavrov, loosing his mind?

Natalia Zinets reported on 24th January, 2015, that,

"Ukraine will not give its eastern regions greater autonomy until a lasting ceasefire with pro-Russian separatist rebels is in place, President Petro Poroshenko said on Sunday, in comments that could antagonize the rebels and the Kremlin." (Reuters : January 24, 2016) (my emphasis)

Yet, as repotrted recently on RU Expatica,

"Poroshenko accused "Russia and its proxies" of failing to observe the ceasefire, and of some 1,200 shellings in January alone.

Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are denied access to the border, he said, adding that "this is not surprising as Russia still supplies troops, heavy weapons and ammunition to Donbass over the border and does not want witnesses to these illicit activities."
(RU Expatica : 1 Feb. 2016) (my emphasis)

Even Angela Merkel, who apparently has a portrait on her desk of Russian empress Catherine the Great, the Prussian-born princess, is now openly 'bemoaning',

"...the lack of progress between Ukraine and Russia to implement the initial terms of their peaceful political agreement.

Fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the country’s eastern Donbas region has continued, despite political arrangements to implement a cease-fire and hold local elections in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, Ms. Merkel said before a closed-door meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Berlin on Monday." (Zeke Turner : Wall Street Journal : Feb. 1, 2016) (my emphasis)

Yet once again we have that 'dyed-in-the-wool-Soviet' foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, screaming from the rafters that,

"Ukraine is dragging its feet on implementation of the Minsk peace agreement because its wants to keep in place the Western sanctions imposed on Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday." (Reuters : Tue Jan 26, 2016)

 Now recall that on the 29 January, I posed the following question:


"Will Putin withdraw his Russian soldiers and military equipment from the rebel-held territory of eastern Ukraine if the Steinmeier Formula of granting autonomy to these rebel-held territories is implemented?"

This is precisely the question that Lavrov simply ignores. Indeed, one could go so far as to say that Lavrov seems to have developed something of a "blind spot" over this issue, very similar to the "blind spot" that he has developed of being a signatory to the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 that stipulated,

"According to the memorandum, Russia, the U.S., and the UK confirmed, in recognition of Ukraine becoming party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and in effect abandoning its nuclear arsenal to Russia, that they would:

1. Respect Ukrainian independence and sovereignty and the existing borders.
2. Refrain from the threat or use of force against Ukraine.
3. Refrain from using economic pressure on Ukraine in order to influence its politics.
4. Seek immediate United Nations Security Council action to provide assistance to Ukraine, "if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used".
5. Refrain from the use of nuclear arms against Ukraine.
6. Consult with one another if questions arise regarding these commitments. (Wikipedia) (my emphasis)

(LiveLeak)

Added to which,

 

 

"Two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the country's war-torn east where government forces are seeking to put down a pro-Russian insurgency, the first reported casualties in nearly three weeks, Ukraine's military said Sunday." (Yahoo News : January 31, 2016) (my emphasis)

 

It is not Poroshenko who is "dragging his feet in implementing Minsk2".

Rather, Sergey Lavrov should avert his eyes towards his boss, Vladimir Putin, before making such "foot-in-mouth" statements.

(to be continued)