Putin protecting 'corruption' in Russia

Whilst on Tuesday the Russian Parliament debated reinstating Putin's right to send troops into Ukraine, (Anna Mostovych : Euromaidan Press : 2015/03/24) and the stealth manouvering of Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers during this 'ceasefire' continues in eastern Ukraine, attention has been focussed on the Ukrainian economy and the aid that it will require to prevent a disastrous collapse.

Recently, as reported by Oleg Varfolomeyev, Ukraine will be receiving a package of loans that will help to stabilise its economy.

This package includes:

" With the new loan from the IMF, a total assistance package for Ukraine is likely to reach $40 billion over four years, IMF head Christine Lagarde (left) said (Imf.org, February 12). The package is to include 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) from the European Union; $2 billion in loan guarantees from the United States; several billion dollars a year from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank; as well as hundreds of millions of dollars from the governments of Canada, Japan, Switzerland and possibly several other rich countries." (Jamestown Foundation : February 27, 2015) 

The IMF, US,  and the EU are demanding of the Ukrainian government that they implement stringent economic measures, including the call of Maidan that 'corruption' be rooted out from within the Ukrainian beaurocracy, government, and business.

Ukraine is beginning to tackle the difficult task of rooting out corruption, as illustrated by the public arrest on charges of  'high-level' corruption of,

"...the head of Ukraine's state emergencies service, Serhiy Bochkovsky, and his deputy Vasyl Stoyetsky." (BBC News : 25 March 2015)

Furthermore, the wings of Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky (right) has been cut. He is no longer governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, and has been replaced by Valentyn Reznichenko (below left).

As reported by the BBC,

"Mr Kolomoisky was reportedly unhappy after parliament passed legislation aimed at weakening his influence." (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov (right) also stated that,

"... he was also dismissing all regional heads of the state emergencies service, as they were suspected of involvement in a corrupt scheme that had diverted money offshore." (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

 And whilst Ukraine is getting to grips with its rampant corruption problem,

"Russia's President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill slashing fines for giving and receiving bribes, in a reduction of corruption penalties that a Kremlin envoy dismissed as rarely being honored anyway." (Moscow Times : Mar. 10 2015)

Secondly,

"An initiative by anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny (right) to battle graft among [Russian] government officials prompted strong objections from officials themselves Monday." (The Moscow Times : Feb. 09 2015) (my emphasis)

At a meeting, spearheaded by an intergovernmental working group of Russian government officials, Navalny's proposal that,

"[the Russian government] ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which would make "illegal enrichment" by government officials a criminal offense and leave officials who cannot account for the source of their wealth open to prosecution", (ibid The Moscow Times) (my emphasis)

was thrown out.

The reason for it being thrown out, as 'explained' by Mikhail Fedotov (left), head of the Kremlin's human rights council,

"The introduction of this legislation will put us on the path to a new 1937. Only it won't be about counterrevolutionary activities, but anti-corruption activities," (ibid The Moscow Times) (my emphasis)

Even more bizarrely,

"Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov (right) argued that all "color revolutions" — popular uprisings in ex-Soviet countries that the Kremlin has repeatedly claimed are funded and orchestrated by foreign governments — had begun with such fights against corruption, Vedomosti reported." (ibid The Moscow Times) (my emphasis)

Valentina Matviyenko rather says it all about Putin's protection of the rampant corruption in Russia.

"A senior Russian politician, Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko (left), spoke scathingly about Ukraine's "war of the oligarchs" on Wednesday.
"This situation shows that Ukraine has no statehood and is not a sovereign state", she said. (ibid BBC News) (my emphasis)

Indirectly the EU is, in fact, targetting Russian corruption.

"The EU has visa bans and asset freezes in place targeting 150 individuals, including high-ranking Russians, and 37 entities such as banks, companies and rebel groups." (Lorne Cook, The Associated Press (in Military Times) : March 19, 2015) (my emphasis)

To this we can add the sanctions-list of targetted Russian individuals by the US.

As the Minsk2 'ceasefire' continues to be broken by Putin, it is expected that yet more 'corrupt' Russian officials will be targeted for sanctions by the US and the EU.

(to be continued)

Putin continuing to put the 'squeeze' on Ukraine

AFP (Agence France Press) reports this morning that,

"The US House of Representatives approved the resolution in a broadly bipartisan 348-48 vote, heaping further pressure on the Obama administration to end its delays in providing weapons and other heavy military equipment to Kiev forces." (AFP : 24 March, 2015) (my emphasis)

 However, as Amy Nordrum reports,

"Last year, Congress unanimously passed a bill (Summary: S.2828 — 113th Congress (2013-2014))
that authorized the president to send [lethal] weapons to Ukraine -- a power he has so far declined to use." (International Business Times : Tuesday, March 24, 2015) (my emphasis)

All of this may seem rather strange to an outside observer. A Bill is passed in Congress but, for it to become law, President Obama has to sign it.

Without his signature it simply gathers dust. Even if the whole of Congress, or the Senate, pass resolution after resolution urging him to act in a specific way, all that he simply has to do is to ignore them. His signature is encapsulated in the saying, "The buck stops here."

President Obama signed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 into law. However, Section 6: (b) of this Act is a "get-out" clause for providing 'lethal' defensive weapons since it specifies that,

" ...Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit a report detailing the anticipated defense articles, defense services, and training to be provided pursuant to this section and a timeline for the provision of such defense articles, defense services, and training, to-- " (ibid Summary: S.2828) (my emphasis)

It is up to Obama to give details of what he will provide, rather than this bill specifying what he MUST provide. It is entirely up to him whether he provides 'lethal' defensive weaponry or not, and all that yesterday's vote in the House of Representatives (right) achieved was simply to increase the 'pressure' on him into 'including' lethal defensive weaponry into what he will provide to Ukraine.

But since he has given Angela Merkel his word that he WILL NOT provide Ukraine with 'lethal' defensive weaponry at this point in time, notwithstanding the calls coming from Ukraine, NATO generals, Congress, or even the Senate; no amount of 'shouting from the rafters' is going to make him suddenly change his mind on this issue.

Putin is well aware of the fact that Obama must sing from the same 'hymn-sheet' as Merkel regarding the non-provision of 'lethal' defensive weapons to Ukraine if he is not to be seen as deepening the rift between the EU and the US over how to help Ukraine militarily counter his proxies and Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine.

This 'bind' that Obama has placed himself in is emboldening both Putin and his 'siloviki' to not only stealthily trample over the 'ceasefire' agreements of Minsk2 but, more importantly, set the stage for a possible Spring assault on Mariupol.

          Fradkov             Shoigu                    Patruschev                   Kolokoltsev                Bortnikov

Added to which, as reported by Tomas Hirst,

"Ukraine could be set for yet another showdown with Russia over a $3 billion debt bill.
 .......
Back in January, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (right) announced that Ukraine had breached the terms on the loan, which required the government in Kiev to cap national debt at 60% of GDP. This theoretically allows Moscow to recall the loan whenever it wants, meaning that it is currently acting as a sword of Damocles over president Petro Poroshenko's administration." .......
... while Kiev was able to get rid of Yanukovych, getting rid of his financial legacy is looking to be a bigger task.(Business Insider UK : Mar. 23, 2015) (my emphasis)

Given the growing precariousness of Putin's economy, will Moscow recall this loan now?

And to add to the squeeze that Putin  is putting on Ukraine, Darya Korsunskaya informs us that,

"Russia accused Kiev on Monday of violating parts of the Minsk peace deal for east Ukraine and urged Germany and France, which helped negotiate it, to do more to ensure Kiev sticks to the agreements that were reached." (Reuters : Mon Mar 23, 2015) (my emphasis)

This, notwithstanding that, as Lesley Wroughton reports,

"Russian tanks and heavy military equipment have crossed the Ukrainian border in the last few days in breach of a European-brokered ceasefire agreed on Feb. 12, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday." (Reuters : Tue Mar 10, 2015) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile the citizens of Mariupol continue to prepare themselves for what they see as an imminent invasion by Putin's proxies and his Russian soldiers. 

"When the first blast of the air raid siren sounds in a nearby street, the children and teachers of Mariupol's school Number 20 (right) know exactly what to do.
Within minutes of the first alert, 213 children and their 22 teachers sit huddled in a vast basement below the school and the roll call begins.
Class captains as young as six line up to report to the headmistress in a drill that has been practised dozens of times since a rocket attack on Mariupol's eastern district killed 30 people in January." (Nicholas Lazaredes : ABC News : March 24, 2015)

(to be continued)

Is the 'fragrant' Mogherini Putin's "Trojan Horse" in the EU?

Finally the 'fragrant' Mogherini (left, with the late Yasser Arafat) is publicly displaying exactly where her sympathies lay namely, with Putin.

As Josh Rogin reports,

"The European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, Federica Mogherini, refused to say whether she thought Russia was adhering to the Minsk pact. She said European leaders won’t make a judgment until July, when the next decision on EU sanctions is due, and that she was working to ease sanctions against Russia." (Bloomberg View : Mar 22, 2015) (my emphasis)

It is more than public knowledge that Putin is NOT adhering to the Minsk2 pact.

Protocol 10 of the Minsk2 agreement states that,

"10. Withdrawal of all foreign armed formations, military equipment, as well as mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine under monitoring of the OSCE. Disarmament of all illegal groups." (Financial Times : February 12, 2015)

Yet only yesterday,

"U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove (left) told an audience here at the German Marshall Fund Brussels Forum that Moscow continues to ramp up military and economic support to separatists in Eastern Ukraine. That conclusion was based on evidence gathered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's joint intelligence unit in the U.K." (ibid Josh Rogin) (my emphasis)

Is the 'fragrant' Mogherini questioning the intelligence gathered by NATO that Putin is continuing to pour sophisticated arms into eastern Ukraine? Does she truly believe that Putin is a truthful person even though he has recently exposed himself as being a 'liar' over the invasion of Ukrainian Crimea? 

 

Secondly, as Andrew Rettman reports,

"EU leaders (right) have decided to maintain economic sanctions on Russia until the end of the year.
They said in a joint statement on Thursday (19 March) in Brussels the “restrictive measures against the Russian Federation … should be clearly linked to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements, bearing in mind that this is only foreseen by 31 December 2015”. (EU Observer : 20. March, 2015) (my emphasis)

Is the 'fragrant' Mogherini working to ease sanctions against Russia, even in light of this latest decision taken by EU leaders?

Furthermore, prior to this EU decision, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukrainian Prime Minister argued that he,

"strongly reject[s] any debates on easing of sanctions. What we can talk about, we can talk about the rollover and the way how to scale up sanctions in case if Russia is not eager to implement the Minsk deal. Because, look, what is the success of President Putin? What is the formula of Russian stability? This is instability in the EU and if Putin splits the unity among EU member states and among the leaders of the EU member countries, this will be the biggest success story of President Putin and this will be the disaster for the free world." (Ukraine Today : Mar. 19, 2015) (my emphasis)

 And meanwhile,

"Russia threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Danish warships if Denmark joins NATO's missile defense system, in comments Copenhagen (left: Denmark's Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard) called unacceptable and NATO said would not contribute to peace." (Teis Jensen : Reuters :  Sun Mar 22, 2015) (my emphasis)

How will the 'fragrant' Mogherini cope with this threat of Putin, given that her brief includes not only being the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign Policy of the EU, but also includes her co-ordinating the Security Policy within the (EU).

The serious question, "Who controls the 'fragrant' Mogherini?" has now to be asked. Putin or her employers, the EU. Who, exactly, does she really represent?

(to be continued)

Putin fails to split the EU

Yesterday that dyed-in-the-wool Soviet foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov (left), apparently,

" ... appealed to Germany and France on Saturday to ensure Kiev does not try to incite violence in east Ukraine to encourage the United States to send Ukrainian forces lethal weapons. ........

......
In an interview with Russian television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he was concerned Kiev might stage "provocations" to try to persuade the United States that it should aid Kiev by sending it lethal weapons." (Katya Golubkova : Reuters : Sat Mar 21, 2015)
  
Since the beginning of Putin's invasion of eastern Ukraine, sophisticated lethal weapons from Russia have flowed like an unstoppable torrent into the hands of Putin's proxies, and have been operated by the flood of Russian soldiers that accompanied those weapons across the Ukrainian-Russian border. 

This TV interview of Lavrov, beamed into all the households in Russia, had  two central purposes viz.

The first is to  " .... to set the stage for 'legitimising in the minds of the Russian public in particular' the impending Russian invasion of Mariupol that is stealthily been set up by Putin's proxies and his Russian soldiers".

Already, as admitted by the OSCE observers trying to monitor the removal of heavy weaponry from the 'conflict' boundary between Ukraine and Russia, 

"International observers trying to monitor the ceasefire in the Ukraine are being led on an impossible game of 'hide and seek' that could shatter the peace deal.......Both pro-Russian rebels and government troops have been accused of concealing weapons from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) which could threaten the treaty." (Sam Mathew : MailOnline : 21 March 2015) 
 

The second, and possibly more important purpose, of Lavrov's TV interview for the Russian people is to somehow deflect their gaze from increasing unemployment, increasing inflation, and steadily emptying shelves in their supermarkets of the goods to which they have become accustomed.  

"Russia reels under depleting reserves, rising unemployment, and plummeting retail sales

Data released by the Central Bank of Russia and the Federal State Statistics Service on March 19 indicate that the country’s foreign exchange and gold reserves have depleted further. Retail sales have plummeted as consumer confidence is shaken by the sliding ruble and inflation runs rampant. 

........

The unemployment rate also increased to 5.8% in February from January’s 5.5%, adding to Russian households’ misery." (Stephanie Johnson : CNBC (Yahoo Finance) : Sun, Mar 22, 2015) (my emphasis)

Things have reached such a stage in Russia that even Putin is now urging,

".... Russian business leaders to bring money held abroad back to Russia sooner rather than later, warning that international sanctions could see foreign assets frozen.
"I would like to repeat that the situation is such that alarming information is coming from some countries and we are getting the impression that attempts may be made to prevent the return of capital to Russia," Putin told the business community at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs congress in Moscow on Thursday, ... " (Holly Ellyatt : CNBC : Friday, 20 Mar 2015) (my emphasis)

Underlying this rather desperate call of Putin for money, 'stolen from the Russian people in the first place', to be brought back to Russia, is yet again a constant reinforcing of the extreme nationalist sentiments emanating from Putin's Russian TV propaganda machine that the Russian people are constantly being subjected to. 

The question is, "For how long can Putin's propaganda machine pull the wool over the eyes of the Russian people as the economic situation in Russia continues to deteriorate and more severly affects the living standards of the Russian people"?

Adding to Putin's woes is the fact that the EU leaders on Friday have decided that their sanctions against Russia will continue until the 'ceasefire' conditions outlined in Minsk2 have been fulfilled. This INCLUDES Ukraine regaining control over its border with Russia by the end of this year.

"The sanctions, imposed because of Russia's alleged military intervention in Ukraine, are now linked to "complete implementation" of a ceasefire deal." (BBC News : 20 March 2015) (my emphasis)

So, intstead of Putin being relieved of these sanctions in July, they will continue until the end of this year.

And looming on the horizon is the prospect of even more sanctions being imposed by the US administration against Putin and his kleptocratic cronies and 'siloviki'.

If this were not enough, as his proxies and Russian soldiers continue to try and conceal their heavy weaponry manouvres from the eyes of the OSCE, Obama will be finding himself more and more unable not to send lethal weapons of defence to Ukraine.

 

(to be continued)