The scarlet thread of Maidan continues to entangle Trump and Putin.

On Tuesday, 21 March 2017 I wrote that,

"Tillerson's scurrying off to the Kremlin next month, and foregoing his first meeting with all NATO members,  just as the Congressional and Senate investigations into Putin's direct intervention in the US presidential elections are set in motion, signals that both Putin and Trump are beginning to panic." (blog entry : Tuesday, 21 March 2017)

Since then, the Syrian crises caused by Bashar Al Assad 'gassing' his people, and North Korea,

" ...  threatening "tough counteraction" after a U.S. Navy strike group was routed toward the Korean Peninsula following the rogue nation's continued ballistic missile and nuclear testing" (NPR : April 11, 2017),

has only served to compound the disarray that now grips Trump's White House. 

And then, just as he is about to leave for Moscow, Rex Tillerson (right) sparks off consternation at the G7 gathering yesterday in Lucca, Italy by remarking that,

“Why should U.S. taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” Tillerson asked foreign ministers discussing Russia’s intervention there ... " (Nick Wadhams and John Follain : Bloomberg : 11 April 2017) (my emphasis)

To which Jean-Marc Ayrault (left), the French Foreign Minister, had responded that,

"... American taxpayers ought to want a European Union that’s “strong politically, strong from a security point of view, and strong economically." (ibid Wadhams & Follain) (my emphasis)

It should also be noted that Tillerson,

"...  flew to Russia immediately after the gathering and was not immediately available for comment." (Crispian Balmer (right): Business Insider UK (Reuters) : Apr. 11, 2017) (my emphasis) 

John McLaughlin, former CIA Deputy Director, in an interview with MSNBC's Lawrence O' Donnell, clearly explains the importance of Ukraine to the US as outlined to him by a Member of the Ukrainian Rada.

Now we should bear in mind that Tillerson himself only recently,

".. has argued that the U.S. and Europe should not lift its sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea.

“The reason the sanctions were put in place continue to exist,” Tillerson said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“There’s been no change of the status of the situation in Ukraine or Crimea. And those sanctions will remain in place until those issues are addressed.” (Olivia Beavers (left): The Hill :  11/04/17) (my emphasis)

It is true that the 'reason' the sanctions were put in place viz. the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea by Putin, and his continuing war with Ukraine in the Donbas, does, indeed, continue to exist.

As UNIAN reports,

"Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 45 times in the past 24 hours with five Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA), according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters" (UNIAN : 12 April 2017) (my emphasis)

What is rather disconcerting about Tillerson's remark “Why should U.S. taxpayers be interested in Ukraine?” is that it calls into question his earlier assertion that, "“There’s been no change of the status of the situation in Ukraine or Crimea. And those sanctions will remain in place until those issues are addressed.”.

The key phrase is, " ...  those sanctions will remain in place until those issues are addressed.”.

 Tillerson gives no hint whatsoever whether 'addressing those issues" refers to the full institution of the Minsk2 protocols, or to some 'other' form of addressing Putin's war with Ukraine and his illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea. 

Tillerson NEVER mentions the Minsk2 protocols!

Which, once again, brings us back to the mounting evidence of the possible collusion between Trump and his associates, and Putin, in getting Trump elected into the White House.

 

 Yesterday's (11 April, 2017) breaking news on this front continues to unveil the close links between Trump's election associates and Putin.

The US Congressional Intelligence Committee is once again on track in their investigations into the extent to which Putin assisted in the election of Trump into the White House.

As Bashar al Assad's use of chemical bombs against Syrian civilians begins to recede into the background, so are the direct links between Trump and Putin during the US presidential elections once again moving to the forefront.

Neither Trump nor Putin can escape from the scarlet thread of Maidan that continues to entangle them.

 

(to be continued)