Does Putin have a "God-Complex"?

In my last blog entry I stated that,

"It is also about time that Merkel ends the rather suspicious 'special' relationship that she has with Putin. Those tete-a-tete's, those private conversations that she has with Putin, sometimes until 1.30am in the morning, rather belies her 'incredulity' about his 'open' invasion of eastern Ukraine and his behaviour on the international stage."

What is now emerging, as reported in RT (November 23, 2014) is that Germany's Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has stated in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine that,

• he is against Ukraine joining NATO
• he does not believe it is realistic for Ukraine to join the European Union in the foreseeable future, as the economic and political modernization of Ukraine is a “project for a few generations.”  (my emphasis)
• it is possible for NATO to have a partnership with Ukraine, but not membership

Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Steinmeier could NOT have made these statements WITHOUT the blessing of Merkel. Could this be what Merkel and Putin agreed upon when they had their private 4-hour tete a tete in Brisbane? (blog)

What Steinmeier, former chair (2009 - 2013)  of the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, has revealed is that Merkel is really pushing Putin's agenda about Ukraine. She has become Putin's mouthpiece in the EU. The ghost of the Stalin-Hitler pact (1939) is hovering over her.

It simply cannot be a co-incidence that Steinmeier and Putin-spokesman Dmitry Peskov are singing from the same hymn sheet.

"Peskov said that,"Russia needs a “100 percent guarantee that no one would think about Ukraine joining NATO”. (November 23, 2014) (my emphasis)

 Dmitri Peskov

But here comes the rub. Steinmeier, like Peskov, is totally against Ukraine joining NATO. And yet we are informed by the President of Ukraine, Poroshenko, that,

 

Ukraine [is] to hold Nato vote when membership criteria are met 

"At a joint news conference (24 Nov, 2014) with Lithuania's president, Mr Poroshenko said he had "worked out the criteria" [for NATO membership], but gave no further details." (BBC News Europe: 24 November 2014)

Lithuania's president (L) is the latest leader to offer military assistance to Petro Poroshenko

Where does this leave the triumvirate of Putin, Merkel, and Steinmeier? 

 

But perhaps most galling of all is that Merkel is, in fact, trampling over the dead bodies of Maidan where the call for Ukrainian EU membership was the rock upon which their protests stood. And now Steinmeier is calling for this door to be shut in the faces of those protestors, and of those who gave their lives to join with Europe and break the bonds of their servitude towards Russia. The question that really needs to be asked is, "Why did Germany accept 8 eastern European countries to rapidly join the EU on 1st May 2004"? And now, why not Ukraine? Because that is precisely what Putin wants!

Yet, only yesterday (Nov. 23, 2014) Elena Holodny reports that,
 

"Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his belief that Russia is the strongest nation, which will lead to — in his eyes — a positive end in Crimea, according to an interview with the state-owned TASS news agency.") "We're stronger," he said, "because we're right. When the Russian feels that he's right, he's unstoppable. I'm saying this sincerely, not just to pontificate," he added. (my emphasis)  

Mig-31 fighter

 As if to underscore Putin's words, the Russian military has sent an unknown number of Mig-31 fighter jets to the eastern Ukrainian border. (Alberto Riva: International Business Times: November 21, 2014) . This move, according to Alberto Riva, could just tip the balance, "of the Ukrainian conflict in favor of the Russian-backed separatists."  

The Mig-31 fighter jets would be able to survey airspace well inside Ukraine without actually flying over the country, and alert separatists on the ground of any movements by Ukrainian airplanes. (ibid Alberto Riva) (my emphasis)

Is this possibly why the US,

" ...military delivered three lightweight, counter-mortar radar systems yesterday to Ukrainian armed forces, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters today.

The radar systems are the first few of 20 that will be delivered during the next several weeks and U.S. military members will begin training Ukrainian armed forces in mid-December, Warren said." (Terri Moon Cronk :  Nov. 21, 2014: US Dept. of Defence)

Furthermore, is this fighter-jet build-up of Mig-31's  on Ukraine's border with Russia also causing Finland to feel even more vulnerable amidst recent Russian provocations, as reported by Griff Witte? (Nov. 23, 2014: Washington Post)

 

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin

Added to which,

" .... Britain is planning more large Cold War-style tank exercises in Poland next year in the wake of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the head of the Army [General Sir Nick Carter] has said." ( Ben Farmer: 21 Nov 2014: Daily Telegraph)

However, we should be reminded that, "Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his belief that Russia is the strongest nation" (in the world??)  TASS news agency. "We're stronger," he said, "because we're right. When the Russian feels that he's right, he's unstoppable. I'm saying this sincerely, not just to pontificate," he added. (my emphasis)

"Mikhail Gorbachev has said Vladimir Putin thinks of himself as "second only to God" after complaining the Kremlin leader never seeks his advice." (Sebastian Whale: Daily Telegraph: 21 Nov 2014) (my emphasis)

Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev Photo: AFP

As Gorbachev has intimated, is this possibly indicative of the "God-complex" that Putin may be suffering from? 

"A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of complex or intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks, or may regard their personal opinions as unquestionably correct. The individual may disregard the rules of society and require special consideration or privileges."(Wikipedia) (my emphasis)

 (to be continued)

Merkel, the EU, and Putin. Selling out Ukraine!

"The EU mishandled much of the early strategy on Ukraine, sending mixed messages to Kiev and Moscow. Since the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner, the approach has become more consistent. Putin had assumed that the west, and particularly Germany and France (disproportionately dependent on trade with Russia) would buckle. (John Kampfner : Monday 17 November 2014) (my emphasis)

Putin still assumes that Angela Merkel and François Hollande will resist, and ultimately remove, the sanctions that are causing growing damage." (ibid John Kampfner)

Yet, as Ian Traynor ( Monday 17 November 2014) points out, Merkel is becoming more and more disheartened with Putin, even after

"..she spent four hours in private with Putin at the G20 summit in Brisbane. Without aides or translators present, the two leaders talked until 01.30 in the morning in Putin’s hotel, joined halfway through only by Jean-Claude Juncker, the new head of the European Commission." (ibid Ian Traynor) (my emphasis) 

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has criticised Vladmir Putin's foreign policy. Photograph: Pool/Reuters

“The Ukraine crisis is truly not a regional affair,” [Merkel] said, voicing incredulity that Putin’s campaign could take place 25 years after Europe’s division into two blocs ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall. “It affects us all … how can something like this happen in the middle of Europe? Old thinking about spheres of influence, trampling international law, must not succeed.” (ibid Ian Traynor)

Meanwhile, conservative commentators criticised [the 'fragrant] Mogherini for being too soft on Russia after she was appointed in August, and her first meeting with other European foreign ministers on Monday (17 Nov 2014) saw them agree to consider additional sanctions against separatist leaders but not Russian officials. (Alec Luhn in Moscow The Guardian, Tuesday 18 November 2014) (my emphasis)

The corrupt manner in which the inexperienced 'fragrant'  Mogherini was choosen as EU Foreign Secretary still rankles with many, especially with the leaders in the Baltic States. In a clear reference to Mogherini, Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaitė said that the EU must not pick someone who is “pro-Kremlin” [to be the foreign secretary of the EU], as reported by Thomas Wright. But Matteo Renzi, Italy's Prime Minister, was determined to get her appointed, contrary to EU appointing procedures. And so it was.

" Merkel [also] had concerns [about the appointment of Mogherini] but she [was] apparently willing to let it slide if it [meant] stopping Italy from diluting the EU’s budget rules."

 Not only is Mogherini soft on Putin. As Adrian Croft and Robin Emmot have pointed out, "...Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, have been openly scornful of sanctions...[against Russia] ".

Viktor Orban                                    Robert Fico

More significantly, as Gabriela Baczynska reports,

" ... Hungary - which relies heavily on Russia for natural gas supplies - is enjoying a rapprochement with the Kremlin.

"We share the attitude of the Hungarian leadership aimed at growing constructive dialogue, jointly carrying out planned very large investment projects," Putin told a Kremlin ceremony at which Hungary's new ambassador presented his credentials. (ibid Gabriela Baczynska) (Reuters: Wed Nov 19, 2014) (my emphasis)

The EU and the US are seriously worrying [that] Budapest .... is drifting into Russia's orbit.

Whilst the majority of the EU's foreign ministers agreed to CONSIDER (Only consider??) sanctions against the leaders of  Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine, the British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond

Philip Hammond Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

"... [announced] on Tuesday that the UK will donate communications equipment and 10 armoured vehicles worth £1.2m to the Ukraine special monitoring mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe , which is being expanded in the face of an increasingly unstable ceasefire in the east of the country." (ibid Alec Luhn)

 Furthermore, Thomas Grove and Richard Balmforth  have reported (Nov 20, 2014) that,

"Russia warned the United States on Thursday against supplying arms to Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, hours before U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden was due to arrive in Kiev." (my emphasis)

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) and his wife Jill
wave upon their arrival at Boryspil International
airport outside Kiev November 20, 2014.

So, whilst Putin is 'warning' the US, Hungary seems to be moving back into the orbit of Russia; the Baltic states, Poland, Finland, Great Britain, the US, Sweden, and NATO  are seriously worried about Putin's growing militaristic provocations; the 'fragrant' Mogherini and some European foreign ministers are considering sanctions against Putin's proxies in eastern Ukraine. 

If, as stated at the beginning of this blog entry, "The EU mishandled much of the early strategy on Ukraine..", it would now seem that it simply has no strategy at all. The continuous mantra that is heard in the corridors of Brussels about Putin's Trojan Minsk Agreement seems to be all the strategy that the EU has.

It is also about time that Merkel ends the rather suspicious 'special' relationship that she has with Putin. Those tete-a-tete's, those private conversations that she has with Putin, sometimes until 1.30am in the morning, rather belies her 'incredulity' about his 'open' invasion of eastern Ukraine and his behaviour on the international stage.

 Whilst at the G20 summit in Brisbane they spoke for 4 hours, significantly in private! (ibid Ian Traynor)

Rather reminiscent of the Stalin-Hilter pact!

"On August 23, 1939–shortly before World War II (1939-45) broke out in Europe–enemies Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union surprised the world by signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, in which the two countries agreed to take no military action against each other for the next 10 years." (Wikipedia) The Rippentrop-Molotov pact! For "no military action" read " no economic sanctions" (2014)!

Stalin and Ribbentrop after the signature of the Soviet-Nazi German pact. August 23, 1939

Putin and Merkel

There is, truly, nothing new under the sun! 

Meanwhile, Russia’s last remotely independent radio station had been silenced. Ever since the country’s energy conglomerate Gazprom took a majority holding, Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) has battled against censorship.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused [Ekho Moskvy], a leading liberal radio station, of constantly disparaging him and serving foreign interests.

At a regular meeting with editors-in-chief of leading media, he told Moscow Echo radio's Alexei Venediktov: "You pour diarrhoea over me day and night." (my emphasis)

Mr Putin (gesturing) met editors of leading newspapers and broadcasters

Venediktov (left) also met Mr Putin at an awards ceremony earlier in January 2012

 

Orwell is turning in his grave! 

(to be continued)

Putin's Orwellian world

Shuttle diplomacy is defined as,

".... the action of an outside party in serving as an intermediary between (or among) principals in a dispute, without direct principal-to-principal contact. Originally and usually, the process entails successive travel ("shuttling") by the intermediary, from the working location of one principal, to that of another." (Wikipedia)

This rather neatly sums up the diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing of  Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Reuters: Nov 18, 2014), German Foreign Minister, between Berlin, Moscow, and Kiev to try and 'defuse' Putin's determination to militarily invade and absorb eastern Ukraine into Russia, as he did with Ukrainian Crimea.

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) shakes hands with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk during a press briefing in Kiev, November 18, 2014.

Unfortunately for Steinmeir, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov played down the likelihood of [his] trip having any real impact on Russian policy towards Ukraine.

"The visit is a working one. We have agreed of course to talk about Ukraine, about our bilateral relations (but) no-one is expecting any breakthrough," Lavrov told a news conference in Minsk. (ibid Reuters)

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov make a joint statement following the Moscow talks. (RIA Novosti/Maksim Blinov)

The futility of this shuttle-diplomacy is best summed up by Putin's latest outburst during a meeting with his supporters in Moscow that,

 

"They [the US ] don't want to humiliate us, they want to subjugate us, to solve their problems at our expense," he said. "They want to bring us under control." Mr Putin added: "Throughout history no one has ever succeeded in doing that to Russia and they never will." (Tom Parfitt reporting from Moscow:18 Nov 2014) (my emphasis)

President Vladimir Putin takes part in the plenary meeting of the United People's Front's Second Action Forum in Moscow

As Tom Parfitt reports,

"Before his speech on Tuesday, the Russian leader was shown a new military vehicle described as a cross between a car and an armoured personnel carrier.
Manufacturers had jokingly labelled the vehicles "polite armoured cars"

 

On seeing the machine, Mr Putin quipped: "You can get a lot more done with weapons and politeness than you can with politeness alone." (ibid Tom Parfitt)

"The phrase appeared to echo a saying attributed to Al Capone: "You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone." (ibid Tom Parfitt)

Al Capone                                                  Putin                  

Even more disconcerting, Putin said that,

".....events in Crimea and Ukraine – where pro-Moscow rebels have carved out a de facto independent territory in the Russo-phone east of the country – had united the Russian people." (ibid Tom Parfitt)

Why, then, is everyone still clinging to Putin's Trojan Minsk Agreement when the 3rd point states that,

"A decentralisation of power, including through the adoption of the law of Ukraine "about local government provisional arrangements in some areas of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts" (law on the special status). (my emphasis)"? (Wikipedia)

Putin is categorically stating that the rebel-held territories of eastern Ukraine are de facto independent territories whereas his Trojan Minsk Agreement defines them as part of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia has [now] called for "a 100% guarantee that no-one would think about Ukraine joining Nato", President Vladimir Putin's spokesman has told the BBC. (18 November 2014)

At the same time,

"Russia [continues to deny] NATO claims that its army has crossed into eastern Ukraine in the past few days, calling them groundless, the Defense Ministry said.
 

"We have stopped paying attention to the groundless accusations made by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US General Philip Breedlove, of the ‘observed’ Russian military columns allegedly invading Ukraine,” said Defense Ministry official representative, General-Major Igor Konashenkov on Wednesday."(RT: November 12, 2014) 

And yet,

"[Russian] families receive a soldier’s body for burial with information about the date of death, but nothing more — and the Russian government responds to questions by threatening to cut off death benefits or send family members to prison for national security violations." (Paul Huard: Nov 18, 2014) (my emphasis)

Above—the grave of a Russian soldier who died on Aug. 18 in Ukraine. He is buried in the Krestovsky Cemetery in Pskov. Photo via Gruz-200 Facebook page.

George Orwell's "1984" is alive and well, and living in Russia.

(to be continued)

Putin's Russia and Ukraine at the critical point of full-scale war

Yesterday (Nov 17,2014) Putin warned in an interiew in Germany that he won’t let Ukraine defeat the eastern rebels.

"You want the Ukrainian central authorities to annihilate everyone there, all of their political foes and opponents,” Putin said in an interview yesterday with Germany’s ARD television. “Is that what you want? We certainly don’t. And we won’t let it happen.” (Kateryna Choursina and James G. Neuger Nov 17, 2014) (my emphasis)

Putin interview in Germany (ARD Television) shortly after the G20 Summit

In his interview, Mr Putin [also] said that "anyone waging a fight that they believe fair will find weapons".

The Full Interview (English) (Germany's ARD Television)

Meanwhile, as Roland Oliphant reports (Dnepropetrovsk 17 Nov 2014), Angela Merkel is warning that,

" ...Russia could seek to destabilise vast areas of eastern Europe if it is not challenged in Ukraine ..

[Her] strongly worded statement came as Ukraine's president warned of a resumption of "total war" in the strife-torn country's east. "

 

Finally it would seem that Angela Merkel is waking up to the fact that Putin is really at war with the EU. And in the frontline of this war stands Ukraine. 

"Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko today (Nov 17, 2014) said he is ready for 'total war' against Russia as he claimed the crisis in eastern Europe is more serious than the threat from Islamic State. "   

Ukrainian President Poroshenko

But whilst Poroshenko is mobilizing for a possible all-out war against Russia, EU foreign ministers

" .....said they would add more separatist figures to the bloc's list of sanctioned individuals by the end of this month" (ibid Roland Oliphant)

Furthermore,

" ....EU ministers in Brussels shied away from imposing further sectoral sanctions against Russia." (BBC: Nov 17, 2014)

 

The 'fragrant' Mogherini explaining the feeble response of many EU foreign ministers to Putin's escalation of Russia's war against Ukraine 

What is even more galling is that the 'fragrant' Mogherini has stated that,

" ......sanctions would not work unless Ukraine reforms moved ahead." 

So while Ukraine may very soon be at war with Russia, the 'fragrant Mogherini wants Ukraine to start reforming its institutions to make sanctions work. 

Maybe those EU foreign ministers tacitly supporting Putin, including the 'fragrant Mogherini, need to watch a short review of the development and escalation of Putin's war with Ukraine. (Daily Telegraph)

(to be continued)

Has Putin's negative reception at the G20 summit increased his determination to crush Ukraine?

"Newspeak is the fictional language in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by George Orwell. It is a controlled language created by the totalitarian state as a tool to limit freedom of thought, and concepts that pose a threat to the regime such as freedom, self-expression, individuality, and peace. Any form of thought alternative to the party’s construct is classified as "thoughtcrime". (Wikipedia)

Orwell's press card portrait, 1943

This 'fictional language' is now the language employed by Putin and his acolytes, as well as his extensive and growing global propaganda machine, to try and convince the world that Russia is not sending, has never sent, and will not send, it's own troops and military equipment into the rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.

On Monday (Nov 10 2014)

"Russia ..... launched a state-of-the-art media organisation with hundreds of journalists abroad intended to wean the world off what it called aggressive Western propaganda - dubbing it, with echoes of the Cold War, Sputnik." (Timothy Heritage: Sydney Morning Herald)

"We are against the aggressive propaganda that is feeding the world," said Dmitry Kiselyov, (Putin's Chief Spin Doctor) a conservative television anchor who heads the Rossiya Segodnya media outlet created by Mr Putin last year to promote Russia's image abroad." (ibid Sydney Morning Herald)

As stated in an earlier post  'conspiracy theory' has become part of the Orwellian Newspeak of the Kremlin.

" ... the Kremlin is turning more and more to conspiracy theory as a "major tool" with which to manage its own people, as Vladimir Zhirinovsky has suggested it should do. ..."

Furthermore, Putin's propaganda machine is being very consistent in claiming that there are NO Russian troops in Ukraine. When confronted with actual proof of Russian troops supporting the rebels in the east of Ukraine, Putin and his propaganda machine always refer to them as "off-duty" Russian soldiers "volunteering" to help the rebels in eastern Ukraine. This 'Orwellian Newspeak' of Putin's propaganda machine has, since the beginning of his invasion of eastern Ukraine, been thoroughly discredited by the actual facts, more so since the recent invasion of troops and hardware into the rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine. (Nov 12 2014: Melik Kaylan: Forbes)
 

Melik Kaylan

 Yet Putin is convinced that by throwing more and more money at his propaganda machines, and by extending its global reach, this will allow him to somehow 'discredit' the facts to fit in with his distortions thereof. Unfortunately for him, people in the west have access to the facts and, more importantly, can both privately and publicly, exercise critical thought over events irrespective of the avalanche of distortions directed towards them from Putin's propaganda machines. Putin's reception at the recent G20 Meeting in Australia rather clearly illustrates the incapacity of his  propaganda machines to control the thoughts and perceptions of people in the west.

Leaders at G20 Meeting

Heather Mcnab (for Dailymail Australia: 16 November 2014) rather accurately describes his reception at this summit, and which also illustrates just how ineffective his global propaganda machines are.

From Vlad to worse: He was snubbed at the airport, made to sit alone at dinner, shunted to the edge of the family photo and condemned by world leaders… it’s no wonder President Putin was Russian to leave the G20 summit

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has left Australia, cutting his attendance at Brisbane's G20 Summit short
• The weekend saw a series of diplomatic snubs from Western leaders who demanded accountability from the Russian President for the MH17 flight disaster
• Many expected outright confrontation as Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott had threatened to 'shirtfront' the Russian hardman and some had speculated whether he would be banned from the event entirely

• The weekend got off to a bad start when Mr Putin was greeted at Brisbane airport by minor political figures, only minutes before delegates from China and Germany were met by the cream of Australia's political crop
• The Russian president had an awkward encounter when he was greeted by Mr Abbott, giving an odd hand gesture
• Mr Putin was put in 'social Siberia' in the G20 leaders 'family photo' and ate dinner alone
• Canadian PM Stephen Harper allegedly told Mr Putin to 'get out of the Ukraine' while other leaders including US President Barack Obama publicly condemned Russia's involvement in the embattled nation
• Mr Putin announced he was leaving the Summit early after a 'tense' meeting with UK leader David Cameron
• The Russian President claimed he was leaving early due to long flight back to Russia and the need to sleep 

Mr Putin's visit to Australia was marred by a series of diplomatic snubs and frostiness from Western leaders, sparking an early exit for the Russian hardman who flew out of Australia on Sunday afternoon, cutting his intended stay short

No matter how much money Putin throws at his propaganda machines, he does seem to find it rather 'strange' that in the west people are not as receptive to his propaganda as is his audience in Russia.

It is thus no wonder that,

"David Cameron warned Vladimir Putin, face to face, that Russia’s whole post-Cold War relationship with the West is at a “fork in the road” over Ukraine. After a tense build-up to the meeting over the past week, when the Prime Minister has repeatedly compared Russia’s interventions in Ukraine with the actions of Nazi Germany, the pair gave no quarter in talks lasting nearly an hour." (Monday 17 November 2014) (my emphasis)

Demonstrators at G20 Meeting against Putin's invasion of Ukraine

However, if Andrew Critchlow is correct that Putin,

" ... [in] his glib response to these threats and warnings [at the G20 summit] was [simply] to complain about a lack of sleep, [and that his response is] suggesting that he is preparing to dig in over his support for pro-Russian separatists around Donetsk..."

then we should all be worried.

(to be continued)

Putin's insane nuclear gambit

Russian troops entering Ukraine nuclear-capable? 

This is the news that greets the world this morning, the 12th November 2014.

Obama has now to decide whether he is going to continually avert the eyes of the world away from Putin's insane and dangerously escalating war against Ukraine by continuing to focus the eyes of the world on ebola and ISIS. Putin has reached a point of no return. The rapid build-up of troops and equipment in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, coupled with the recent escalating encounters between NATO and Russian forces, signifies that Putin is throwing down the gauntlet to both the US and the EU. Yesterday, as reported by Steve Sherer, NATO Commander Philip Breedlove had this to say.

"In the air those interactions [between NATO and Russian Forces] have multiplied, by some accounts, as many as three times ... We now see larger (Russian) forces participating, as opposed to one or two bombers in the past" (11 November 2014)

NATO Commander Philip Breedlove

In a speech Monday, [British PM] Cameron said Russia's actions are "destabilizing a sovereign state" and pose a "grave danger to the rest of Europe," 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. (VOA News: November 11, 2014)

David Cameron - British Prime Minister

Furthermore, that he "... promised to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin at the [upcoming] G20 meeting in Australia that if Russia continues its actions in Ukraine, then Britain and its allies will keep upping the pressure."

Meanwhile, "Germany's foreign minister [Frank-Walter Steinmeier] has said that the situation in Ukraine's insurgent-occupied eastern regions has become 'serious' and has urged all sides in the conflict to return to the terms of the Minsk peace deal signed in September", whilst the 'fragrant' Mogherini, the "EU's foreign policy chief  ..... says OSCE reports of heavy tanks and weapons in Donetsk are "a very worrying development." The EU has called on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine any troops and weapons under its control. (Ukraine Today: Nov. 11, 2014)

Yet again Russia's favoured nation, Germany, is pushing Putin's Trojan Minsk Deal, whilst the 'fragrant' Mogherini is "worried" about Putin's blatant invasion of Ukraine. Added to which, Angela Merkel said yesterday  (Nov 11 2014)

".. that there were no plans at present for further economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, but she was unhappy that a cease-fire agreement was being broken and that pro-Russian rebels had gone ahead with their elections." (my emphasis)

Contrast this with the response of David Cameron (British PM) wanting the pressure on Putin to be increased.

One cannot but help to be reminded of the words of Alexander Motyl that,

"In the final analysis, the willingness of France, Germany and all the other states making up the European Union to respond to Putin's evil doing will determine the moral fate of the EU. If they sacrifice morality to arms contracts or gas, the EU will have lost its raison d'etre. Worse, like Putin, it will be without a soul." (my emphasis)

Alexander Motyl

The rumblings within the EU about economic assistance to Ukraine over the enormous gas bill that Putin is presenting to them is further evidence that the moral fate of the EU is at stake.

As recently as Oct 31, 2014, ABC News reported that,

"The EU is not paying fresh money or additional money to help Ukraine pay its gas bills," said [EU spokeswoman Marlene Holzner]. "And the EU is not giving any guarantee to the Russian side in case Ukraine says we cannot order X amount of gas or we cannot pay."

Has the EU conveniently forgotted the billions of dollars that was stolen from Ukraine's coffers by Victor Yanukovich, now comfortably residing in Russia under the protection of Putin, and that would have allowed Ukraine to pay off all the monies it now owes to Russia? As reported by Reuters (Wed Apr 30, 2014),

"[Former acting Ukrainian Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky] said that Yanukovich and his people had spirited $32 billion dollars in cash across the border in trucks as his power crumbled early this year and that some of the money was now being used to fund separatists in eastern Ukraine. (my emphasis) This money is now in Putin's Russia. What is the guessing that Putin's Bank Rossiya now holds this money?

Oleh Makhnitsky

Even "FBI and U.S. Treasury agents have arrived in Kyiv to aid Ukraine’s interim leaders to uncover the financial crimes of the government of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in an effort to repatriate billions of dollars." (James Dettmer: March 10, 2014)

Why, therefore, is the EU so deafeningly silent over the stolen Ukrainian billions that they know is in Putin's Russia?

And now we have Putin's nuclear-capable troops entering Ukrainian Crimea, and truckloads of Russian soldiers and equipment entering eastern Ukraine.

What Putin is doing in Ukraine is also having repercussions in Kazakhstan, a member of Putin's Eurasian Economic Union.

As reported by Abdujalil Abdurasulov (BBC: 9 November 2014) from northern Kazakhstan,

"The crisis in Ukraine has prompted many [in Kazakhstan]  to ask who the Russian community in Kazakhstan would support if relations with Moscow turned sour.

"Events in Ukraine became a good lesson for Kazakhstan," says Dosym Satpayev, a political analyst.
He says that it helped people to realise that northern Kazakhstan is a very sensitive issue - and not simply because of large Russian communities living there.

Mr Satpayev argues that people in the region, like many others in Kazakhstan, are especially receptive to Russia's propaganda machine. (my emphasis)

"It means that if there is a conflict between our countries, some people in Kazakhstan will support Russian policy towards Kazakhstan," he says.

"And maybe some of these people will support the same scenario as we see in Ukraine."
Such concerns have led to some friction with Moscow.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has even talked of leaving President Putin's Eurasian Economic Union "if it threatens independence".

President Nazarbayev (right) is feeling the breath of Russia's President Vladimir Putin in more ways than one

It is truly ironic that the president of Kazakhstan is willing to stand up against Putin whilst so many EU politicians are afraid to.

 (to be continued)

Gorbachev and Ukraine

During the celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall (Nov 9 2014) , Gorbachev gave a speech at the German Allianz Forum which, amidst all its New World Order propaganda, seems to have been written by Putin himself.

Firstly, he stated that the war in Ukraine is nothing more than a 'fratricidal' conflict in the family of Ukraine, NOT an invasion by Putin's army or his use of his criminal proxies in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Secondly like Merkel, Mogherini, and many members of the EU, he called for Putin's Trojan Minsk Agreement to be the pivot around which the war raging in eastern Ukraine should be resolved, as well as the lifting of the sanctions against Russia.

Thirdly, he glossed over Putin's ranting diatribe against the US and Ukraine in particular at his Valdai Conference, and actually stated that  Putin's speech outlined the basis for a new partnership (New World Order?) between the US, the EU, and Ukraine (minus, of course, the criminally annexed Crimea and the rebel-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine).

                                     

Perhaps most disturbing of all is Gorbachev's assertion that there can be NO SECURITY in Europe without a strong Russian-German partnership.

Here we should all be reminded of Putin's recent remarks regarding the pact between Hitler and Stalin.

 As Tom Parfitt  informed us from Moscow as recently as Nov 6 2014,

"Vladimir Putin says there was nothing wrong with [the] Soviet Union's pact with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany" (my emphasis)

Hitler                                                    Putin        

We might now say that Merkel could equally pronounce that,

"There is nothing wrong with Germany fully supporting Putin's Trojan Minsk Agreement so that the strong economic relations between a Putin-favoured Germany and Russia can be re-instated as soon as possible."

Putin with Angela Merkel and former German Chancellor Gehard Schroeder

Now if this relationship between Putin and Merkel was not enough,  Aljazeera reported on Nov. 8, 2014 that,

" ....Sergei Lavrov and John Kerry agree at talks in Beijing to exchange information about [the]  situation on Russia-Ukraine border."

Furthermore, that

"Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has welcomed US involvement in resolving the Ukraine crisis, saying it would be a "step in the right direction," in comments that appear to reflect a toning down in bilateral tension that has been at its worst since the end of the Cold War."

Kerry and Lavrov

Is Obama, through Secretary of State Kerry, trying to present the new Republican Senate and House of Representatives, specifically Senator McCain,  the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, with a fait accompli regarding his strategy towards Putin and the situation in Ukraine? 

Senator McCain

McCain has stated that,

“Burr and Corker and I will be working closely together on everything,” [he] said. “For example, arms for Ukraine’s [government], examination of our strategy in the Middle East, our assets with regard to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in the region, China’s continued encroachment in the South China Sea.” (Nov 5 2014 [my emphasis]) 

Was Putin's build-up of Russian troops and equipment in the rebel-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine a pre-emptive strike against the outcome of the recent American elections? And why was Gorbachev so deafeningly silent about this invasion of Ukraine by Putin's army?

Mikhail Gorbachev

Maybe it is, as David Blair (Nov 9 2014) so perceptively points out,

"When crowds surged through the Brandenburg Gate, presaging the birth of a new Europe, did America and its allies then bungle the moment and behave in a way that made today’s confrontation with Russia all but inevitable? Put bluntly, did they cheat and humiliate Russia at its moment of weakness, thereby sowing the seeds of President Vladimir Putin’s revanchism? That is certainly the view of Mikhail Gorbachev."

 

In other words, according to Gorbachev, the west is entirely to blame for Putin's war against Ukraine. It all hinges on the expansion of NATO i.e. enlarging its membership to include six previous members of the Warsaw Pact and three former Soviet republics.  Apparently, according to Gorbachev, a unified Germany joining NATO was okay, but all those 'other' former members of the Warsaw Pact should have been denied NATO membership.

NATO

As David Blair points out,

"Six nations broke away from the Warsaw Pact; the Soviet Union, meanwhile, dissolved into 15 successor states. The essence of the revolution in Moscow’s thinking that Mr Gorbachev presided over was his acceptance that each of these countries had every right to go its own way and choose its own path."

Furthermore,

"If Mr Gorbachev really thinks that after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia should have been granted a veto over Nato membership for its former satellite states then that is an example of the very Cold War mentality he was supposed to reject. Today, however, that is effectively what Mr Putin seeks. He will not tolerate Ukraine turning West and seeking eventual membership of the European Union, even if that is what most of its people want."

It would now seem that to Putin, Merkel, and Mogherini, we have to add Gorbachev, a member of the Club de Madrid. (Dear readers, may I suggest that if you click on this link you leave it so that you can see the moving scroll of who the ex-prime ministers and ex-president members are.)

(to be continued)

Lifting the veil behind Putin (Part 2)

On 28 June 1991, Putin was appointed head of the Committee for External Relations (the KVS) of the Saint Petersburg Mayor's Office, with responsibility for promoting international relations and foreign investments. As Karen Dawisha points out, from this time,

"..Putin occupied one position after another [in St. Petersburg] that regulated and controlled the privatization process, becoming indispensible in legalizing what otherwise would have been illicit activities. He relied not only on friends and coworkers in the former KGB, but also on those who shared his desire to develop capitalism in Russia, including both economists and businessmen who were willing to take the extraordinary risks required to build something from nothing in post-Soviet Russia. For this they needed and initially relied on criminal elements from the Russian underworld." (Putin's Kleptocracy (PK). Who owns Russia p39) (my emphasis) Let it particularly be noted that Dmitri Medvedev was Putin's legal advisor at the time. (PK p. 65)
 

Part of Putins members of the Ozera Dacha 
                                                          Consumer Co-operative. Some members of           his 'pakhan' regime.

During this time, also,Putin set up the Ozera Dacha Consumer Co-operative. More than anything else, this dacha complex cemented the relationships between Putin and his choosen 'pakhan'.

A Russian ' pakhan' is similar to a Mafia 'capo'. A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high-ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization.

One could translate this into Putin's criminal group as,

" A 'pakhan' is a high-ranking made member of Putin's crime family who heads a "crew" of FSB 'soldiers' and has major political status and influence in Russia."

Unlike the Italian Mafia, however, Putin's 'caporegime' is fully trained and experienced in KGB  tactics (except Dmitri Medvedev) and bound by Checkism i.e. loyalty to the idea of an unbroken chain of security services, from Lenin's Cheka through the KGB to Russia's new FSB, (PK p.29).

As an indication of the continuing close links between Putin and Russia's criminal mobsters since his time in St. Petersburg; Sergei Mikhailov, widely believed to be a leader of the powerful Solntsevo organized crime group ....is claiming that the Russian leader recently honored him with a presidential wristwatch. [He is claiming] on his website that Putin awarded him the prestigious timepiece on May 14.[2014]

Sergei Mikhailov and the presidential wristwatch

A Kirkus review quoting from Karen Dawisha's book sums up Putin rather neatly.

"In his first 100 days, Putin clamped down on the media, surrounded himself with loyalists, (read 'pakhan') shoved out opponents, changed the symbolism of the country (returning to prominence a version of the old Soviet national anthem), embraced international organized crime, enriched those who supported him, impoverished and even imprisoned those who didn’t, avoided prosecutions on earlier corruption charges, and forced the media to portray him as “the undisputed Leader of his People.” He continues to misinform and deceive the public about international events." (my emphasis)

Western governments are fully knowledgeable about Putin's past and current criminality. Why, then, do so many members of the EU establishment choose to ignore the fact that Putin is a dyed-in-the-wool criminal ? How can they not be aware of Putin's current and past criminal activity with all that information at their fingertips? Karen Dawisha's exceptionally detailed book outlines the origin, nature, and continuing criminal exercise of the power of Putin's kleptocracy over the Russian people in particular, and its current attempt to extend their power over the Ukrainian people by waging war against them. Yet Karen Dawisha cannot tell the whole story because of the secrecy surrounding the added information that Western governments have and rather conveniently define as "secret".

On July 25, 2014, rather presciently,  Alexander Motyl  posed the question,

"Is Putin evil? His actions certainly are, if by evil we understand behavior that willfully, consciously and purposely destroys human life. Perhaps we can call his actions undeniably evil and Putin himself "evil enough." Evil enough for what? Evil enough for condemnation by people of good will."

Alexander Motyl

He further stated that,

"Ultimately, France and Germany, as well as all countries that aid and abet Russia's destructive capabilities, have to decide whether they care more about values or about money. Dictatorships can answer that question easily: Their leaders [like Putin] are indifferent to values."

Yet yesterday Gorbachev gave a press  interview in Germany, arguing in part that ALL sanctions against Russia should be dropped.Why? So that we can all step back from the brink of a nuclear war. Has he not heard Putin threatening nuclear war? Did he not say (Aug 31 2014) that,

"“I want to remind you that Russia is one of the most powerful nuclear nations,” he said. “This is a reality, not just words.” Russia, he told listeners, is “strengthening our nuclear deterrence forces.” (my emphasis)

Who, therefore, is pushing the world towards the brink of nuclear war?

 Added to which, fear and despair is mounting amongst the people of Ukraine as Putin accellerates his invasion of eastern Ukraine by sending in dozens of tanks. ( Greg Botelho CNN Nov 7 2014)

Today, the 9th of November 2014, whilst Gorbachev is being given pride of place during the celebratory festivities in Germany about the fall of the Berlin wall, Britain is today commemorating 'Armistice Day', a day of remeberance of the fallen in WW1, WW2, the Korean War, and more recently the war in Afghanistan.

(to be continued)