In my last blog entry I wrote that,
" Let us also remind ourselves that,
"Throughout the [2016 US presidential] campaign, Trump has been dismissive of calls for
supporting the Ukraine government as it fights an ongoing Russian-led
intervention." () (my emphasis)
So Zelensky should be under no illusion that Trump, if re-elected as US president in November of this year, will have absolutely no qualms in reneging on any promises that Pompeo may offer him during their meeting today.
Zelensky should beware of the gifts that Pompeo will be offering to him." (blog entry 31/1/2020)
True to form, we now learn that,
"US President Donald Trump has dismissed two senior officials who testified against him at his impeachment trial.
The US envoy to the EU, Gordon Sondland, said he "was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately".
Just hours earlier, Lt Col Alexander Vindman, a top expert on Ukraine, was escorted from the White House." (BBC : 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
As also reported in an interview with Nick Schifrin, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, stated that,
"Ambassador William Taylor:
Alex Vindman did follow orders.
He's been a total professional the times I have had the opportunity to deal with Alex. He tried to stay nonpolitical, focused, professional. He knew Ukraine very well, obviously, cared about it, cared about the United States. So, this is disappointing that it ended this way." (PBS News Hour : 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
And prior to Trump exacting revenge on those who testified against him during his impeachment trial in the US Congress, we now also learn that,
"The Trump administration is currently withholding approval for at least six commercial orders for arms and ammunition from U.S. companies to Ukraine, together worth roughly $30 million, according to three current Ukrainian officials and a former senior U.S. official who have direct knowledge of the sales, straining an already fragile relationship between the two countries.
...
The officials said they haven't been able to get any answers from the Trump administration about why the deals, which typically take around two months to approve and must be licensed by the State Department, haven't received approval." (UNIAN : 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
Given the fact of Trump exacting his revenge on Vindman and Sondland so publicly, will he now also exact his revenge on Zelensky for NOT coming to his aid by publicly announcing that "there was no "quid-pro-quo" during their 25 July call last year?
Trump will have no qualms in reneging on ANY promises that Pompeo may have given Zelensky during their meeting at the end of last month.
As reported by Andrew Roth (right),
"The discussions [between Pompeo and Zelensky] are likely to cover bilateral relations and Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, gas politics and the US’s sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, possible investment opportunities and the progress of reforms in Ukraine. " (The Guardian : 30 January 2020) (my emphasis)
Zelensky would be wise to completely ignore any of Pompeo's promises in light of Trump's current public display of his vindictiveness.
Indeed, Zelensky should also be mindful of Putin's dismissive attitude towards any political movement towards bringing to an end his ongoing war with Ukraine.
This attitude of Putin is best exemplified by the current regurgitating of that initial justification for his invasion of the Donbas.
As reported by UNIAN,
"The protection of rights of the Russian and Russian-speaking population, the protection of our compatriots abroad is one of priority tasks of our foreign policy," [Russian Foreign Ministry's Commissioner for Human Rights and Democracy, Grigory Lukyantsev] told a briefing in Moscow, as reported by an UNIAN correspondent in Russia on February 7. (UNIAN; 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
It is therefore no wonder that,
"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire six times on February 7," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in a Facebook update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 8, 2020." (UNIAN: 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
Putin will now be further emboldened in his war with Ukraine following Trump's acquittal from impeachment by the Republican Senators in the US Senate last Wednesday (5 February 2020).
Which is why the 'suggestion' by Yuri Aristov of Zelensky's 'Servant of the People' party, who is also the Head of the Parliamentary Budget Committee, that,
" .... selling water to Crimea would help supplement Ukraine’s finances. “Israelis sell water effectively to a country at war with them and earn money. We had the idea, for example, to sell water to Russia (Halya Coynash (right): Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group: 5/2/2020) ”
is playing right into Putin's hands.
As stated by Refat Chubarov (left), Head of the Mejlis or representative assembly of the Crimean Tatar people,
“Supplying water to Crimea would mean giving up yet another position, with this still further distancing Crimea from Ukraine. It would force public opinion to conclude that Crimea is Russia, since the latter is very effectively governing it, including by agreeing with Ukraine on supplies of water”. (ibid Halya Coynash) (my emphasis)
Both Trump and Putin have Zelensky in their political gun sights.
So the question is, "What proposals will Zelensky submit at a possible Normandy Format summit between himself, Merkel, Macron, and Putin, that is scheduled to take place in April 2020?"
Will there be a a 'sidelines' meeting between these Normandy Format members at the 2020 Munich Security Conference that will be taking place on the 14 February until the 17 February?
Will the fear of Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko (right) that "he did not want the ministerial meeting [at the Munich Conference] to replace the four leaders' upcoming summit in April" (UNIAN: 6 February 2020) come to fruition, thus scuppering the proposed Normandy Four Summit in April?
We will see.
(to be continued)
" Let us also remind ourselves that,
"Throughout the [2016 US presidential] campaign, Trump has been dismissive of calls for
supporting the Ukraine government as it fights an ongoing Russian-led
intervention." () (my emphasis)So Zelensky should be under no illusion that Trump, if re-elected as US president in November of this year, will have absolutely no qualms in reneging on any promises that Pompeo may offer him during their meeting today.
Zelensky should beware of the gifts that Pompeo will be offering to him." (blog entry 31/1/2020)
True to form, we now learn that,
"US President Donald Trump has dismissed two senior officials who testified against him at his impeachment trial.The US envoy to the EU, Gordon Sondland, said he "was advised today that the president intends to recall me effective immediately".
Just hours earlier, Lt Col Alexander Vindman, a top expert on Ukraine, was escorted from the White House." (BBC : 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
As also reported in an interview with Nick Schifrin, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, stated that,
"Ambassador William Taylor:
Alex Vindman did follow orders.
He's been a total professional the times I have had the opportunity to deal with Alex. He tried to stay nonpolitical, focused, professional. He knew Ukraine very well, obviously, cared about it, cared about the United States. So, this is disappointing that it ended this way." (PBS News Hour : 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
And prior to Trump exacting revenge on those who testified against him during his impeachment trial in the US Congress, we now also learn that,
"The Trump administration is currently withholding approval for at least six commercial orders for arms and ammunition from U.S. companies to Ukraine, together worth roughly $30 million, according to three current Ukrainian officials and a former senior U.S. official who have direct knowledge of the sales, straining an already fragile relationship between the two countries. ...
The officials said they haven't been able to get any answers from the Trump administration about why the deals, which typically take around two months to approve and must be licensed by the State Department, haven't received approval." (UNIAN : 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
Given the fact of Trump exacting his revenge on Vindman and Sondland so publicly, will he now also exact his revenge on Zelensky for NOT coming to his aid by publicly announcing that "there was no "quid-pro-quo" during their 25 July call last year?
Trump will have no qualms in reneging on ANY promises that Pompeo may have given Zelensky during their meeting at the end of last month.
As reported by Andrew Roth (right),"The discussions [between Pompeo and Zelensky] are likely to cover bilateral relations and Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, gas politics and the US’s sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, possible investment opportunities and the progress of reforms in Ukraine. " (The Guardian : 30 January 2020) (my emphasis)
Zelensky would be wise to completely ignore any of Pompeo's promises in light of Trump's current public display of his vindictiveness.
Indeed, Zelensky should also be mindful of Putin's dismissive attitude towards any political movement towards bringing to an end his ongoing war with Ukraine.
This attitude of Putin is best exemplified by the current regurgitating of that initial justification for his invasion of the Donbas.
As reported by UNIAN,
"The protection of rights of the Russian and Russian-speaking population, the protection of our compatriots abroad is one of priority tasks of our foreign policy," [Russian Foreign Ministry's Commissioner for Human Rights and Democracy, Grigory Lukyantsev] told a briefing in Moscow, as reported by an UNIAN correspondent in Russia on February 7. (UNIAN; 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)It is therefore no wonder that,
"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire six times on February 7," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in a Facebook update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on February 8, 2020." (UNIAN: 7 February 2020) (my emphasis)
Putin will now be further emboldened in his war with Ukraine following Trump's acquittal from impeachment by the Republican Senators in the US Senate last Wednesday (5 February 2020).
Which is why the 'suggestion' by Yuri Aristov of Zelensky's 'Servant of the People' party, who is also the Head of the Parliamentary Budget Committee, that," .... selling water to Crimea would help supplement Ukraine’s finances. “Israelis sell water effectively to a country at war with them and earn money. We had the idea, for example, to sell water to Russia (Halya Coynash (right): Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group: 5/2/2020) ”
is playing right into Putin's hands.
As stated by Refat Chubarov (left), Head of the Mejlis or representative assembly of the Crimean Tatar people,“Supplying water to Crimea would mean giving up yet another position, with this still further distancing Crimea from Ukraine. It would force public opinion to conclude that Crimea is Russia, since the latter is very effectively governing it, including by agreeing with Ukraine on supplies of water”. (ibid Halya Coynash) (my emphasis)
Both Trump and Putin have Zelensky in their political gun sights.
So the question is, "What proposals will Zelensky submit at a possible Normandy Format summit between himself, Merkel, Macron, and Putin, that is scheduled to take place in April 2020?"
Will there be a a 'sidelines' meeting between these Normandy Format members at the 2020 Munich Security Conference that will be taking place on the 14 February until the 17 February?Will the fear of Ukraine's Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko (right) that "he did not want the ministerial meeting [at the Munich Conference] to replace the four leaders' upcoming summit in April" (UNIAN: 6 February 2020) come to fruition, thus scuppering the proposed Normandy Four Summit in April?
We will see.
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