Putin's nightmare is now the likely possibililty of a Mike Pence presidency.

Unian reported on the 4th June that,

"Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 58 times in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as killed in action (KIA) and five as wounded in action (WIA), according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters.
.....
The largest number of violations was recorded in the Mariupol sector, namely there were 36 militant attacks." (UNIAN : 4th June, 2017) (my emphasis)

This follows on from,

"Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 19 times on June 3, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as wounded in action (WIA), according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters." (ibid Unian)

This 'stealth' escalation by Putin of his war with Ukraine comes just after the,

"Deputy foreign ministers from Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia [met on Tuesday May 30th, 2017] in Berlin [...] to discuss the Ukraine crisis in the Normandy group format ..." (Thomas Escritt and Paul Carrel : Reuters: Mon May 29, 2017) (my emphasis)

The main item on their agenda was,

" ... to review the current situation on the ground with regard to the cease-fire and with regard to all other commitments under the Minsk agreements," German government spokesman Martin Schaefer told a regular news conference. (RFERL :  May 29, 2017) (my emphasis)

Which raises the interesting question.

Why "Deputy Foreign Ministers" and not the current Normandy group of Foreign ministers? 

(Klimkin [Ukraine] Le Drian [France]  Lavrov [Russia]  Hartmut [Germany])

Is this because 'the Trump elephant in the room' of ANY discussions about the full implementation of the Minsk2 proposals simply cannot be ignored, especially by Klimkin, Le Drian, or Hartmut, and that their efforts are now focussed on what is happening to Trump as his administration, and himself, begins to reach a stage of near total meltdown? 

Furthermore, is Putin's current 'stealth' escalation of his war with Ukraine yet another arrogant signal by Putin to Klimkin, Le Drian, and Hartmut that they can no longer depend on the US to support their diplomatic efforts to get him to honour his commitments under the Minsk agreements?

As Henry Farrell recently reported,

"Merkel on Sunday declared a new chapter in U.S.-European relations after contentious meetings with President Trump last week, saying that Europe “really must take our fate into our own hands.” (Washington Post : May 28) (my emphasis)

On 2 June I wrote in my blog entry that,

"Just as Putin has now publicly humiliated Trump, James Comey's appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee [this coming Thursday] will pull the rug out from under the feet of Trump.  

But Putin himself is now also panicking because the scarlet thread of Maidan is inexorably dragging Trump towards towards the dock of impeachment. 

For both Trump and Putin, speed is now of the essence to get the US sanctions unilaterally lifted." (blog: June 2, 2017)

I would expect that Merkel, Macron, Poroshenko, and Putin will be anxiously watching what former FBI director James Comey (left) has to say in front of the US Senate Intelligence Committee this coming Thursday.

Crucially, the questions that the members of the US Senate Intelligence Committee will ask Comey to answer under oath could determine the ultimate fate of the Trump administration.

Every word and syllable of Comey's testimony will especially be nervously anticipated by Trump and Putin.

Part 1

Part 2

(full MSNBC video)

Is Putin, by 'stealthily escalating' his war with Ukraine, hedging his bets against a possible negative outcome for himself and his 'siloviki' after James Comey's testimony in front of the US Senate Intelligence Committee this coming Thursday?

Will Comey's testimony put the final break on any lifting of US sanctions against Putin and his Kremlin clique, sanctions that were put in place because of Putin's illegal invasion and annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his war with Ukraine in the Donbas?

Critically, Vice President Mike Pence, at the Munich Security Conference in February of this year, vowed that,

".. the United States will “hold Russia accountable” even as President Trump searches for new common ground with Moscow at the start of his presidency.
......
Pence said the U.S. would demand that Russia honor a 2015 peace deal agreed upon in Minsk, Belarus, to end violence in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russia-backed separatists." (CBS News : Feb 18, 2017) (my emphasis)

Putin's nightmare is now the likely possibililty of a Mike Pence presidency.

(to be continued)

The largest number of violations was recorded in the Mariupol sector, namely there were 36 militant attacks.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/war/1957826-ukraine-reports-58-enemy-attacks-2-kias-5-wias-in-last-day.html

Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 58 times in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as killed in action (KIA) and five as wounded in action (WIA), according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters. The largest number of violations was recorded in the Mariupol sector, namely there were 36 militant attacks.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/war/1957826-ukraine-reports-58-enemy-attacks-2-kias-5-wias-in-last-day.html

Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 58 times in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as killed in action (KIA) and five as wounded in action (WIA), according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters. The largest number of violations was recorded in the Mariupol sector, namely there were 36 militant attacks.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/war/1957826-ukraine-reports-58-enemy-attacks-2-kias-5-wias-in-last-day.html

Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 58 times in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as killed in action (KIA) and five as wounded in action (WIA), according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters. The largest number of violations was recorded in the Mariupol sector, namely there were 36 militant attacks.

Read more on UNIAN: https://www.unian.info/war/1957826-ukraine-reports-58-enemy-attacks-2-kias-5-wias-in-last-day.html