Trump is actively supporting Putin by opening up a rift between the US and its European allies.

In my last blog entry I posed the question,

"Trump, having set in motion this trade war with the EU, among others, we have to now ask ourselves the following question,

"Like Merkel, how far will Trump go to bail out Putin from his economic travails?"" (blog entry: 2-6-2018)

Trump has now answered that question.

As reported by Julian Borger and Anne Perkins ,

" Donald Trump has called for Russia to be readmitted to the G7 club of world leaders, opening up a new rift with US allies who swiftly contradicted him at a contentious summit in Quebec." (The Guardian : Fri 8 Jun 2018) (my emphasis) 

  

British Prime Minister, Teresa May, has responded to Trump's call for re-instating Putin into the G7.

"We should remind ourselves why the G8 became the G7, it was because Russia illegally annexed Crimea.
 
'We have seen malign activity from Russia in a whole variety of ways, of course including on the streets of Salisbury in the UK.

'So we need to say, I think, before any such conversations can take place Russia needs to change its approach." (Kate Ferguson and John Stevens : Mail Online : 8 June 2018) (my emphasis) (cf. also: CNN : Business Insider : The Hill)

 
Little did those at Maidan in 2014 realise just where their overthrow of Putin's puppet, the then president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich (right), would lead to. 

Putin and Trump cannot escape from this 'Thread of Maidan' that binds them together tightly.

It is this 'Thread of Maidan'  that not only has led to Putin being evicted from the G8 but, more significantly, has led to the crippling EU-US sanctions against Putin for his annexation of Ukrainian Crimea and his ongoing war with Ukraine, 

 Whilst Putin may now be riding the crest of a wave with Trump, it is reported that,

"The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned the "continuous violations of the cease-fire" in eastern Ukraine and called for an immediate withdrawal of heavy weapons." (RFERL : June 07, 2018) (my emphasis)

Notice in this "condemnation" that the primary perpetrators of these 'ceasefire violation' viz. Putin's Russian soldiers and his proxies in the Donbas, have NOT been condemned. 

It is for this reason that the Russian ambassador to the UN stated that,

"It's been a long time since the council adopted anything on Ukraine and we are very happy," Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya (right) said after the vote, calling the resolution's reaffirmation of the Minsk agreement "very constructive." (ibid RFERL) (my emphasis)

No doubt that at the back of Nebenzya's mind when agreeing to this UN Security Council statement is the fact that,

"The European Union in March extended its sanctions by another six months, but the coming to power of more pro-Russian governments in Italy, Austria, Hungary, and elsewhere has increased calls within the bloc for easing the sanctions." (ibid RFERL) (my emphasis)

And whilst this Security Council condemnation was being agreed upon by Putin's mouthpiece at the UN, the Moscow Times reports that,

"President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned Kiev of "very serious consequences for Ukrainian statehood" if it were to launch military action against pro-Russian rebels in the east during the football World Cup, which begins in Russia next week." (The Moscow Times : Jun 09, 2018) (my emphasis),

whilst at the same time, UNIAN reports that,

"The Russian occupation troops are carrying out terrain mining with the use of Russian-made anti-personnel mines, which are prohibited by international law." (UNIAN : 08 June, 2018) (my emphasis)

And ...... ,

"Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 37 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with four Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA)." (UNIAN : 08 June,2018) (my emphasis)

All of which rather calls into question the motivation of Putin's UN mouthpiece, Vasily Nebenzya, agreeing to the UN Security Council 'condemnation' of the ceasefire violations in the Donbas, without the Security Council identifying Putin's Russian soldiers and his proxies as being the prime instigators thereof.

Trump is emboldening Putin by opening up a new rift between the US and its European allies.

 
Will this Trumpian rift also embolden the pro-Russian governments in Italy, Austria, Hungary, and elsewhere to mount a concerted and vigorous attack against the current EU sanctions hanging around Putin's neck?

(to be continued)