Putin's greatest fear is now bubbling to the surface

In November 2018, just over one year from now, US Congressional elections will take place in which,

"All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate will be contested." (Wikipedia)

Recall that Kissinger once remarked that,

“Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac”. (Philip Sherwell : The Telegraph : 21 May 2011)

It is therefore no co-incidence that Republican members on the House Intelligence Committee are now attempting to confuse and 'hamstring' the Congressional investigation into the Putin-Trump collusion during the 2016 US presidential elections so that they can stem the negative influence of the mounting evidence against Trump as they begin to mount their re-election to the US House of Congress.

As Max Kutner reports,

"[Republican members of the] House Intelligence Committee [have] issued subpoenas requesting that the FBI and Department of Justice provide documents related to an unverified [Steele] dossier about President Donald Trump. The latest subpoenas reportedly call on FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appear before the House panel." (Newsweek : 5 Sept. 2017) (my emphasis) (cf also: Rachel Maddow video interview with Congressman Adam Schiff below)

Now recall that in July,

"That Republicans in the House of Congress are holding up a vote to increase sanctions against Putin for his meddling in the US presidential elections of 2016 is due, primarily, to the dilemma that they face.

• If they support the Senate vote to increase sanctions against Putin, they will be admitting that Putin helped Trump gain the presidency.

• If they scupper the vote to increase sanctions against Putin, they will be supporting Putin's and Trump's argument that Putin did not orchestrate the Russian collussion with Trump's lieutenants during the 2016 US presidential elections.

In other words, Congressional Republicans are being faced with the question,

"To impeach or not to impeach ..." (blog entry July )

Not wishing to be viewed as 'supporters of Putin', the Republicans on the Congressional Intelligence Committee are now desperately trying to besmirch the character not only of Christopher Steele, but also those in the FBI who initially investigated the Steele dossier as well as, in particular, the Dept. of Justice Special Investigator Robert Mueller.

And whilst Republicans on the Congressional Intelligence Committee are attempting to confuse and 'hamstring' the Congressional investigation into the Putin-Trump collusion during the 2016 US presidential elections, Putin is throwing down the gauntlet by warning that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that any decision by the United States to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine would fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine and possibly prompt pro-Russian separatists to expand their campaign there." (Denis Pinchuk : Reuters : September 5, 2017) (my emphasis)

Which rather contradicts the reporting by Nataliya Vasilyeva that,

"Russia will ask the U.N. Security Council to send peacekeepers to patrol the front line in eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday, a development greeted by Germany as a new opportunity for detente." (The Washington Post : September 5, 2017) (my emphasis)

Of course, there was the Putin caveat that,

"But he insisted that the peacekeepers should be deployed only along the line separating the rebel-controlled territories and the area under government control where the clashes occur. Russia’s foreign ministry will file a formal request with the U.N. Security Council, Putin said." (ibid Nataliya Vasilyeva) (my emphasis)

In other words, Putin is openly stating that the border between Ukraine and Russia in the Donbas area, controlled by his Russian soldiers and rebel proxies, should NOT be patrolled by UN peacekeepers, so that he can continue to build up his forces and military hardware in the Donbas area that he controls.

Angela Merkel's Foreign Secretary, hailed these weasel words of Putin.

"German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel (left) said he found Putin's announcement "surprising" but said he was "very glad ... the Russian president said today he will continue to negotiate about demands that were rejected in the past by Russia." (Kirsten Grieshaber and David Rising : Mail Online (Associated Press Article) : 5 September 2017) (my emphasis)

And whilst Germany is hailing Putin's weasel words, Veronika Melkozerova (right) reports that,

"Without permission from Ukraine, Russia on Aug. 29 successfully erected the first 6,000 ton railroad arched section of the Crimean Bridge under construction.

When completed by 2019, the 19-kilometer, $3 billion span will cross the Kerch Straight and connect the Russian mainland with the illegally seized [Crimean] peninsula." (Kyivpost : Aug. 31, 2017) (my emphasis)

As the Trump presidency continues to implode, and  

• the subsequent Trump-payback-release of Putin from the US sanctions against him is now completely scuppered, 
•  the US Defence Secretary pronouncing that, "[Supplying Ukraine with] [d]efensive weapons are not provocative unless you are an aggressor and clearly Ukraine is not an aggressor since it is their own territory where the fighting is happening, (Idrees Ali and Pavel Polityuk : Reuters : August 24, 2017)

Putin can now only hope that many Republicans in the US Senate and the US House of Congress, as next year's Senate and Congressional elections loom ever closer, will manage to completely derail both the Senate and Congress Intelligence Committees investigation into just how he helped Donald Trump get elected to the White House.

 But his greatest fear is that Trump will be forced to give the green light to the US supplying Ukraine with weaponry of defence.

Is Putin's greatest fear now bubbling to the surface?

 

(to be continued)