In November of last year, Tucker Higgins reported that,
"Senior Russian officials publicly chided (video below) U.S. President Donald Trump following his announcement on Thursday that he would no longer meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit of world leaders in Argentina.
Trump announced the cancellation via Twitter, citing Russia's seizure of two Ukrainian gunboats and a tugboat in the Kerch Strait, a shared zone which sits between Ukraine and Russia. He said his decision "would be best for all parties concerned." (CNBC : Fri, 30 Nov 2018) (my emphasis)
It now transpires that Trump did, indeed, have a very private tête-à-tête with Putin, with only Melania Trump (left) and a Russian translator present.
No American officials were present at this 15+ minute "private" chat between Trump and Putin, so why Melania ?
Is it just possible that Melania has a basic understanding of Russian, and that Trump wanted her "private translation" after this meeting?
As Rachel Maddow also states,
"What do you do , as a National Security matter, with the fact that the President, apparently, still insists on maintaining, effectively, a secret line of communication with the Kremlin?" (MSNBC : 29 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)
What is significant about this meeting is the fact that Trump publicly stated that the reason for him cancelling a meeting between himself and Putin at the G20 Summit was,
"...Russia's seizure of two Ukrainian gunboats and a tugboat in the Kerch Strait, a shared zone which sits between Ukraine and Russia." (cf. Tucker Higgins)
Yet again has the "Scarlet Thread of Maidan", that tightly binds Trump and Putin together, surfaced.
It has now also emerged that US Congress-woman Jackie Speer has revealed that US Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, had a financial relationship with Leonid Blavatnik, who also has a BIG STAKE in the Rusal Aluminium company of Oleg Deripaska (right), against which sanctions were recently lifted. (MSNBC : 29 Jan., 2019)
As Congress-woman Jackie Speer (left) states,
"... Leonid Blavatnik is a significant shareholder in Rusal, which is Deripaska's company. That company, once sanctions were imposed, dropped like a stone. Once the sanctions were lifted, it increased by some 24% in terms of the stock price." (MSNBC : 29 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)
So the popping of champagne corks by Deripaska, as US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin lifted the US sanctions on Rusal, may be rather short lived.
Given the closeness of the friendship between Putin and Deripaska, (and Putin and Trump), is it possible that the re-instatement of sanctions against Deripaska's companies, and the revealing of that "private conversation" between Trump and Putin at the G20 Summit, may push Putin over the edge to invade Ukraine?
Or is Putin now more determined that ever to emasculate the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine ,
"... Hoping to remove Petro Poroshenko from top office in Ukraine and aiming to bring to power a less anti-Russian parliament, the report says, Russia seeks to exploit such issues existing in Ukraine as unsustainable economy, widespread corruption, cyber vulnerabilities, and public discontent." (UNIAN : 29 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)
Putin continues to keep his war with Ukraine simmering, as evidenced by the fact that,
"Russian-led forces mounted eight attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the past 24 hours." (UNIAN : 30 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)
Since his methods of election-interference during the 2016 US presidential elections have being publicly exposed, Putin is well aware that the international public will be on the look-out for his interference in the upcoming elections in Ukraine.
This weapon, which he so successfully wielded in the 2016 US presidential elections, has been blunted.
So the question remains,
"Is war with Ukraine now Putin's only weapon against Ukraine that he has in his armoury?"
(to be continued)
"Senior Russian officials publicly chided (video below) U.S. President Donald Trump following his announcement on Thursday that he would no longer meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit of world leaders in Argentina.
Russians Chiding Trump for cancelling meeting with Putin (YouTube)
Trump announced the cancellation via Twitter, citing Russia's seizure of two Ukrainian gunboats and a tugboat in the Kerch Strait, a shared zone which sits between Ukraine and Russia. He said his decision "would be best for all parties concerned." (CNBC : Fri, 30 Nov 2018) (my emphasis)
It now transpires that Trump did, indeed, have a very private tête-à-tête with Putin, with only Melania Trump (left) and a Russian translator present.No American officials were present at this 15+ minute "private" chat between Trump and Putin, so why Melania ?
Is it just possible that Melania has a basic understanding of Russian, and that Trump wanted her "private translation" after this meeting?
As Rachel Maddow also states,
"What do you do , as a National Security matter, with the fact that the President, apparently, still insists on maintaining, effectively, a secret line of communication with the Kremlin?" (MSNBC : 29 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)
What is significant about this meeting is the fact that Trump publicly stated that the reason for him cancelling a meeting between himself and Putin at the G20 Summit was,
"...Russia's seizure of two Ukrainian gunboats and a tugboat in the Kerch Strait, a shared zone which sits between Ukraine and Russia." (cf. Tucker Higgins)
Yet again has the "Scarlet Thread of Maidan", that tightly binds Trump and Putin together, surfaced.
It has now also emerged that US Congress-woman Jackie Speer has revealed that US Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, had a financial relationship with Leonid Blavatnik, who also has a BIG STAKE in the Rusal Aluminium company of Oleg Deripaska (right), against which sanctions were recently lifted. (MSNBC : 29 Jan., 2019)
As Congress-woman Jackie Speer (left) states,"... Leonid Blavatnik is a significant shareholder in Rusal, which is Deripaska's company. That company, once sanctions were imposed, dropped like a stone. Once the sanctions were lifted, it increased by some 24% in terms of the stock price." (MSNBC : 29 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)
So the popping of champagne corks by Deripaska, as US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin lifted the US sanctions on Rusal, may be rather short lived.
Given the closeness of the friendship between Putin and Deripaska, (and Putin and Trump), is it possible that the re-instatement of sanctions against Deripaska's companies, and the revealing of that "private conversation" between Trump and Putin at the G20 Summit, may push Putin over the edge to invade Ukraine?Or is Putin now more determined that ever to emasculate the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine ,
"... Hoping to remove Petro Poroshenko from top office in Ukraine and aiming to bring to power a less anti-Russian parliament, the report says, Russia seeks to exploit such issues existing in Ukraine as unsustainable economy, widespread corruption, cyber vulnerabilities, and public discontent." (UNIAN : 29 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)Putin continues to keep his war with Ukraine simmering, as evidenced by the fact that,
"Russian-led forces mounted eight attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the past 24 hours." (UNIAN : 30 Jan., 2019) (my emphasis)
Since his methods of election-interference during the 2016 US presidential elections have being publicly exposed, Putin is well aware that the international public will be on the look-out for his interference in the upcoming elections in Ukraine.
This weapon, which he so successfully wielded in the 2016 US presidential elections, has been blunted.
So the question remains,
"Is war with Ukraine now Putin's only weapon against Ukraine that he has in his armoury?"
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