Donald Trump has given his State Of The Union (SOTU) address yesterday, following his announcement on Monday that,
"The Trump administration told Congress on Monday [29 Jan., 2018] that bipartisan
legislation passed last year authorizing new sanctions on Russia is
already "serving as a deterrent," and there's no need to actually
implement the penalties at this time.“By limiting the executive’s
flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike
good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and
North Korea much closer together,” Trump said in a statement at the time. (Olivia Beavers : The Hill : 29 Jan., 2018) (cf. also : Rob Crilly : The Telegraph : 30 Jan., 2018)
Putin is finally publicly receiving his 'payback' from Trump for helping him win the US presidency.
Throughout yesterday's SOTU address Trump was deafeningly silent about Putin's direct interference in the 2016 US presidential elections that got him elected to the White House.
Putin and his Kremlin 'siloviki' are no doubt sighing with relief now that Trump has stymied the sanctions bill against them that was overwhelmingly supported by BOTH the US Senate and the House of Congress .
I am speculating that both Putin and Trump now have their sights on removing the sanctions that were implemented following Putin's illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his ongoing war with Ukraine in the Donbas, notwithstanding the fact that in his recent meeting with that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet Foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State,
"On Ukraine, the Secretary [of State, Rex Tillerson] noted the upcoming meeting between U.S.
Special Representative Volker and Russian Representative Surkov and
emphasized the need for Russia to accelerate implementation of its
commitments under the Minsk Agreements and reverse the recent escalation
in the fighting in eastern Ukraine," Nauert said in a statement.(RFERL : 24 Jan., 2018) (my emphasis)
And whilst Tillerson is emphasizing the need for an acceleration of the implementation of Putin's Minsk2 protocols, Kurt Volker, Tillerson's US representative in Ukraine, stated that,
"During a press briefing set up via telephone from New York, Volker (right) said that the number of peacekeepers that may be deployed in Donbas had not been discussed during the latest talks, according to an UNIAN correspondent.
...
“We didn’t talk about that [the number of peacekeepers],” he said, adding that the sides are still trying to figure out and agree on the mission’s mandate, and he is yet to “hear back” from the Russians on the issue. (UNIAN : 29 Jan., 2018) (my emphasis)
To which the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin (left), yesterday responded that,
"Unfortunately, during the meeting [between Volker and Russia’s Vladislav Surkov] no result was achieved, but we will consistently press for the implementation of the [Minsk agreements implementation] road map logic, and I hope that the latest developments, including on the American side, will also, let's say, ‘help’ [Russia] understand that their [Russian] proposals regarding bodyguards for SMM make no sense. Instead, a real peacekeeping mission is needed," Klimkin said. (UNIAN : 30 Jan., 2018) (my emphasis)
These two developments viz.
(to be continued)
"The Trump administration told Congress on Monday [29 Jan., 2018] that bipartisan
legislation passed last year authorizing new sanctions on Russia is
already "serving as a deterrent," and there's no need to actually
implement the penalties at this time.“By limiting the executive’s
flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike
good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and
North Korea much closer together,” Trump said in a statement at the time. (Olivia Beavers : The Hill : 29 Jan., 2018) (cf. also : Rob Crilly : The Telegraph : 30 Jan., 2018)Putin is finally publicly receiving his 'payback' from Trump for helping him win the US presidency.
Throughout yesterday's SOTU address Trump was deafeningly silent about Putin's direct interference in the 2016 US presidential elections that got him elected to the White House.
Putin and his Kremlin 'siloviki' are no doubt sighing with relief now that Trump has stymied the sanctions bill against them that was overwhelmingly supported by BOTH the US Senate and the House of Congress .
I am speculating that both Putin and Trump now have their sights on removing the sanctions that were implemented following Putin's illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his ongoing war with Ukraine in the Donbas, notwithstanding the fact that in his recent meeting with that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet Foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State,
"On Ukraine, the Secretary [of State, Rex Tillerson] noted the upcoming meeting between U.S.
Special Representative Volker and Russian Representative Surkov and
emphasized the need for Russia to accelerate implementation of its
commitments under the Minsk Agreements and reverse the recent escalation
in the fighting in eastern Ukraine," Nauert said in a statement.(RFERL : 24 Jan., 2018) (my emphasis)And whilst Tillerson is emphasizing the need for an acceleration of the implementation of Putin's Minsk2 protocols, Kurt Volker, Tillerson's US representative in Ukraine, stated that,
"During a press briefing set up via telephone from New York, Volker (right) said that the number of peacekeepers that may be deployed in Donbas had not been discussed during the latest talks, according to an UNIAN correspondent. ...
“We didn’t talk about that [the number of peacekeepers],” he said, adding that the sides are still trying to figure out and agree on the mission’s mandate, and he is yet to “hear back” from the Russians on the issue. (UNIAN : 29 Jan., 2018) (my emphasis)
To which the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin (left), yesterday responded that,
"Unfortunately, during the meeting [between Volker and Russia’s Vladislav Surkov] no result was achieved, but we will consistently press for the implementation of the [Minsk agreements implementation] road map logic, and I hope that the latest developments, including on the American side, will also, let's say, ‘help’ [Russia] understand that their [Russian] proposals regarding bodyguards for SMM make no sense. Instead, a real peacekeeping mission is needed," Klimkin said. (UNIAN : 30 Jan., 2018) (my emphasis)These two developments viz.
- Trump refusing to implement the new sanctions against Putin and his Kremlin 'siloviki' clique, and
- Volker NOT discussing the peacekeeper issue with Putin acolyte Surkov
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