report that,"Under pressure from Republicans and Democrats, the Trump administration on Thursday turned over to Congress a list of Russia-connected entities it will use to determine new sanctions meant to rebuke Russia for actions in Eastern Europe, Syria and the 2016 United States presidential election." (New York Times : Oct. 26, 2017) (my emphasis) (list of entities)
This is a list, however, simply to 'mollify' those, like Senator McCain (right), who had threatened to," ... use his position as the chairman of the Armed Services Committee to try to force the Trump administration to comply [with the sanctions legislation that had been overwhelmingly passed by the US Congress in June, and had been signed by Trump in August]." (ibid Shear and Fandos) (my emphasis)
This list, however, simply signifies that it is,
"..... NOT an imposition of sanctions, but rather the government’s assessment of organizations or persons “that are part of, or operating for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors of the government of the Russian Federation.” (ibid Shear and Fandos) (my emphasis)
In other words, the imposition of sanctions against Russia passed by the Congress in June of this year has still NOT been implemented.
But the pressure on Trump continues to mount.
As reported by Denys Krasnikov,
"The United States is “actively
considering” supplying lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, according to
Kurt Volker (left), U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations.U.S. State Department envoy Volker says the debate over sending U.S. weapons to Ukraine should not be as controversial as it is, given that Ukraine is simply defending itself." (KyivPost : Oct. 29 2017) (my emphasis)
And according to UNIAN,
"Ukrainian lawmakers are optimistic that the White House will give
the green light for long-sought weapons, according to the U.S.-based
news publication Foreign Policy" (UNIAN: 27 October 2017) (my emphasis)
Meanwhile, the attempt by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto (left) to veto the NATO-Ukraine summit in December, has fallen flat on its face since,
"NATO says it had no plans to hold the Ukraine-NATO Commission meeting in December.
...
At the same time, the [NATO] alliance noted it is committed to [a] strong partnership relations with Ukraine," (UNIAN: 28 October 2017) (my emphasis)
Added to which,
"U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker
during a meeting with the Ukrainian lawmakers has said he is convinced
that Russians cannot participate in the peacekeeping mission in Donbas,
Ukrainian MP Mustafa Nayyem (right) wrote on Facebook." (UNIAN: 28 October 2017) (my emphasis)
Furthermore, according to Nayyem,
" ... it is critically important for Volker that the
peacekeeping mission is militarized, not just monitoring, and act along
the Russian-Ukrainian border that is now beyond Ukraine's control." (ibid UNIAN) (my emphasis)
These developments must be giving Putin serious cause for concern.
The payback that Putin expected from getting Trump into the White House has simply not materialised.
Compounding Putin's anxieties is the news that yet more substantial evidence about collusion between Putin and Trump during the 2016 US presidential elections is seeing the light of day.
If Putin's anxieties are now being compounded by by the increasing evidence about just how himself and the Trump 'siloviki' colluded during the 2016 US presidential elections, Trump and his 'siloviki' themselves are now at panic stations since,
....
Mueller's Special Counsel's Office will make public an indictment on Monday, a U.S. official with firsthand knowledge of the process confirmed to NBC News, without disclosing the name of the target or the nature of the charges" (
Which of Trump's 'siloviki' will be charged with a criminal offense to-morrow, Monday 30 Oct. 2017?
More significantly, what will the criminal charges be?
Will these charges serve to hasten Trump's impeachment, adding to Putin's anxieties?
STOP PRESS!!
(to be continued)
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