Neither Putin nor Trump can stop the unravelling of their political "bromance"

On Monday 24 April Joe Sheppard reported that,

"An American paramedic working with a security watchdog in eastern Ukraine has been killed after the vehicle he was in drove over a mine.

The US citizen, who has not been named, was part of a patrol involved in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Special Monitoring mission in the country.

Two other monitors, a German and a Czech, were injured in the blast, near Luhansk. It has led US officials to call for a 'full, transparent investigation'." (Mail Online : 24 April, 2017) (my emphasis)

Sergei Ryabkov, Lavrov's second-in-command at Putin's Foreign Ministry,

" ...said the incident would be discussed at a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday between Lamberto Zannier, the secretary general of the OSCE, and Sergei Lavrov (left), the Russian foreign minister.
.......
The Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday the circumstances pointed to likely provocation aimed at undermining the peace process. " (ibid Joe Sheppard) (my emphasis)

Is Lavrov implying that this OSCE patrol deliberately drove over over a mine so that they could be killed, thus undermining the implementation of the Minsk2 protocols?

 And what was US Secretay of State, Rex Tillerson's, response?

"Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accepted condolences from Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and said Moscow's actions in eastern Ukraine "remain an obstacle" to improved relations between the US and the Kremlin." (Sky News : Monday 24 April 2017) (my emphasis)

 In other words, Tillerson's prime concern seems to be re-invigorating the 'bromance' between Trump and Putin whilst paying lip-service to the full implementation of the Minsk2 protocols, as expressed by US State Department spokesman Mark Toner.

'This tragic incident makes clear the need for all sides - and particularly the Russian-led separatist forces - to implement their commitments under the Minsk agreements immediately,' Toner said." (ibid Joe Sheppard)

Now recall that, as reported by Nick Wadhams and John Follain,

" .. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson left European diplomats befuddled at a gathering in Italy.

“Why should U.S. taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” Tillerson asked foreign ministers discussing Russia’s intervention there at a Group of Seven gathering Tuesday in Lucca, Italy." (Bloomberg Politics : 11 April 2017) (my emphasis)

Anne Applebaum (below right) amongst many others, responded to Tillerson's question by stating that,

"Tillerson’s question, rhetorical or otherwise, therefore deserves a response. For the answer is yes: U.S. taxpayers should be interested in Ukraine. But not necessarily for reasons that would make sense to an oil company’s CEO.

• The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea in 2014 were an open attack on the principle of border security in Europe
• Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an aggressive, emboldened Russia increasingly threatens European security and prosperity, as well as Europe’s alliance with the United States. Russia supports anti-American, anti-NATO and indeed anti-democratic political candidates all across the continent
• Over the long term, these policies threaten U.S. business interests and U.S. political interests all across the continent and around the world. (Washington POst : 14 April, 2017) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Richard Haass)

Recall that in my blog entry (Thursday 20 April, 2017) I wrote that,

"The indelible links between the Kremlin and Trump and his associates, both during and after the US presidential elections, continues to emerge into the light of day.

We are therefore left with two possible intriguing questions.

• Is Donald Trump's recent bombing in Syria, and his current dangerous stand-off with North Korea's Kim Jong-un, his way of attempting to deflect the eyes of the American people away from the active involvement of Putin and his Kremlin 'siloviki' in helping him gain the White House?

• And is the current attempt by Exxon Mobil to obtain  a waiver from sanctions on Russia in an effort to restart its joint venture with state oil company PAO Rosneft a hint that Putin is now demanding 'payback' for getting Trump into the White House?"

It would now seem that Trump, his White House associates, Senate Republicans, and Congressional Republicans, are now trying to stymie the Senate and House Intelligence investigations into how Putin helped him gain the US presidency.

 24 April, 2017

More recently (25 April, 2017),

This stymieing by Republicans of the Senate and House Intelligence investigations into how Putin helped Donald Trump gain the US presidency dovetails with Tillerson's prime concern that the death of an American OSCE paramedic in the Donbas (ibid Joe Sheppard) is merely "an obstacle" to improved relations between the US and the Kremlin ".

That Tillerson is being guided by both Donald Trump and Putin to "improve relations between the US and Russia" is exemplified by both the fact that he regards the death of an American OSCE paramedic in the Donbas as merely an obstacle to be overcome, as well as by the fact that, as Elena Holodny and Natasha Bertrand (left) have recently informed us,

"Exxon Mobil Corp. applied to the Treasury Department for a waiver from sanctions on Russia in an effort to restart its joint venture with state oil company PAO Rosneft, according to the Wall Street Journal's Jay Solomon and Bradley Olson." (Business Insider UK : Apr. 19, 2017) (my emphasis)".

But, as Anne Applebaum states,

"U.S. taxpayers should be interested in Ukraine. But not necessarily for reasons that would make sense to an oil company’s CEO."

And the interest of US taxpayers in the war between Putin and Ukraine in the Donbas, and Putin's illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, will continue to increase as the political pressures to completely unravel just how Putin helped Trump gain the White House continues to build up.

(to be continued)