Trump's secret proposals to help lift sanctions off Putin's back.

It is now beginning to emerge that there is a  'behind-the-scenes' cabal emerging in the White House, secretly fronted by Paul Manafort, for the lifting of sanctions against Putin's Russia.

As reported by  Megan Twohey and Scott Shane (left: Scott and Twohey),

"A week before Michael T. Flynn resigned as national security adviser, a sealed proposal was hand-delivered to his office, outlining a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia.

[T]he proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document; Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia; and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort." (New York Times : Feb. 19, 2017) (my emphasis) (right: Manafort, Cohen, Sater)

Let us recall that Olena Zerkal, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine, stated 5 days after Trump was inaugurated as US President that,

" "Because we are talking about the future of our country, we don't want to be excluded from the negotiations [between Trump and Putin]," Deputy Foreign Minister Olena Zerkal (right) told Reuters. "We don't want to be a card (to be played). We want to be an actor."

"I don't believe in gentleman's agreements anymore," Zerkal said, noting Russia had violated an earlier deal - the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, under which Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan gave up nuclear weapons in exchange for assurances of territorial integrity - when it annexed Crimea. (Andrea Shalal, Sabine Siebold and Andreas Rinke : Reuters : Wed Jan 25, 2017)

The recent revelation about the Manafort and Co. so-called "peace proposals" that Trump and Putin could implement to end Putin's war with Ukraine, comes closely on the heels of US Vice-President Pence stating at the recent Security Conference held in Munich that,

" .. the U.S. is committed to Ukraine and does not recognize Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula." (Nikita Vladimirov : The Hill : 18 Feb. 2017) (my emphasis)

Whilst Pence also,

"... reiterated that the U.S. stands by the peace terms previously established by the Minsk agreements." (ibid Nikita Vladimirov)

he also ominously stated that,

""Know this: The United States will continue to hold Russia accountable [for the war in Ukraine], even as we search for new common ground, which as you know, President Trump believes can be found,"(ibid Nikita Vladimorov) (me emphasis)

Is this "common ground" a direct reference to the Manafort & Co. "peace proposals" that is now emerging, and that will bury the Minks2 proposals which Trump ostensibly supports?  

Let us recall that Trump suggested, immediately after taking office, that,

" .... he might do away with some sanctions if Russia helps in battling terrorists and achieving other goals important to Washington." (ibid Andrea Shalal, Sabine Siebold and Andreas Rinke) (my emphasis)

At the G20 Meeting of Foreign Ministers that was recently held in Germany, Tillerson stated that,

"The United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical co-operation that will benefit the American people ..." 

No doubt, lifting the current sanctions against Russia will, in Tilleron's mind, "benefit the American people" even if, in the process, the Ukrainian people are trampled upon.

As Elana Schor and Austin Wright wrote in December of last year,

"“Putin is not interested in a reset with the Trump administration that doesn't involve the lifting of sanctions, so I read the Tillerson nomination as a clear sign of intent that Trump is going to remove sanctions.” (Politico : 13/12/2016) (my emphasis)

What is of significance about the Lavrov-Tillerson meeting at the G20 summit is that,

"At the meeting, on the sidelines of a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bonn, reporters were present during Lavrov's opening remarks to Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp, but were quickly ushered out when Tillerson began to speak." (CNBC (Reuters report) :Thursday, 16 Feb 2017) (my emphasis)

 

 Tillerson seem to have the same antipathy towards reporters as does his boss, Donald Trump.

 Was the Manafort & Co. proposals discussed between them?

Yesterday the BBC reported that,

"President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia is temporarily recognising passports and other identity documents issued by the self-proclaimed rebel republics in eastern Ukraine." (BBC : 19 February 2017) (my emphasis) 

Furthermore that,

"Sergei Lavrov also announced that heavy military hardware would be withdrawn from the region, and said a ceasefire would come into force on Monday.

He is currently in Munich for a Nato conference." (ibid BBC) (my emphasis)

This recognising of passports issued by Putin's rebel proxies in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) mirrors exactly what then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's glove-puppet, did after Russia's war with Georgia in 2008.
 
"On 25 August 2008, the Russian parliament unanimously voted in favour of a motion urging President Medvedev to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. On 26 August, Medvedev signed decrees recognising the two states, saying that recognising the independence of the two entities "represents the only possibility to save human lives." (Wikipedia) (my emphasis)

By recognizing the passports and other identity documents prepared by the Kremlin for his rebel-held territories in eastern Ukraine (Donbas), Putin is setting up the same gambit that his glove-puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, used after his war with Georgia and, in so doing, Putin will treat his rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) as independent states that can station Russian forces on their territory, if they so wish.

This is precisely what has happened in the Georgian breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. 

This rather stale threat of Putin will simply not work.

Ukraine is NOT Georgia.

One can then only assume that this recognition of Kremlin-inspired documents for Putin's rebel-held teritories in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) is for the benefit of Donald Trump to use as an argument to justify the implementation of the Manafort & Co. proposals that have suddenly appeared, and the consequent removal of sanctions against Putin's Russia.

After all, did US Secretary of State Tillerson not recently say that,

"The United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical co-operation that will benefit the American people ..."

(to be continued)