The similarities between Putin and Trump bodes ill for Ukraine

In September of 1999 Sharon LaFraniere reported on a case, the Mabatex Affair, that threatened to bring down the then Yeltsin presidency. As she reported,

"A Swiss investigation has uncovered evidence that a construction company that received major Kremlin contracts paid tens of thousands of dollars of bills charged to credit cards in the names of Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his two daughters, according to law enforcement authorities.(left: Yeltsin with his youger daughter, Tatyana Borisovna Yumasheva)

The company, a Swiss firm called Mabetex, also provided $1 million that was transferred several years ago to a Hungarian bank account intended for Yeltsin's benefit, the authorities said." (Washington Post : Wednesday, September 8, 1999) (my emphasis) 

She further reported that,

"Acting on information from a businessman angry with a former Mabetex executive, del Ponte went looking for bank accounts and credit cards allegedly provided by Mabetex to Russian government officials. Yuri Skuratov (right), then Russia's chief prosecutor, formally asked for del Ponte's help in November." (ibid  Sharon LaFraniere) (my emphasis)

Coming to the rescue of Yeltsin and his daughters was non other than Putin himself, then head of the FSB.

Putin used a sex-sting against Yuri Skuratov, that ultimately led to Skuratov being dismissed as Russia's Chief Prosecutor. 

 And so Yeltsin and his daughters, together with other corrupt officials in the then Kremlin, sighed with relief. And Putin's springboard into the presidency of Russia was set.

Fast forward to 2016, and we have another sex-sting that was committed in the summer of 2004 against the Democratic Governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey (right), and that ultimately led to his resignation as Govenor.

And at the very epicentre of this 2004 scandal was the father of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who is married to his daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Jared Kushner married Ivanka Trump whilst his father was still in prison for masterminding the sex sting that he committed against Governor Jim McGreevey.

And Jared Kushner is now one of Donald Trump's closest advisors.

Indeed, "Mr Trump has already replaced New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with Vice-President-elect Mike Pence as head of his transition team.

Media reports say Mr Trump's son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner was behind the change." (BBC News : 16/11/2016) (my emphasis)

The similarities between Putin's rise to the presidency of Russia, and Trump's vindictiveness in dealing with his enemies, bodes ill for the future of Ukraine. They are truly joined at the hip!

Let us now cast our minds back to the links that were forged between Turkey and Poroshenko following the shooting down by Turkey of a Russian fighter plane that invaded its air space.

As recently reported by Gunay Hasanova,

"Turkey and Ukraine seek to advance in talks on free trade agreement, the signing of which can give an impulse for deepening trade ties between the two countries.
...
Turkey is one of the most important trade partners of Ukraine, while the country ranked the 5th among Ukraine’s trade partners in the first half of 2016." (Azernews : Wednesday November 16 2016) (my emphasis)

At the same time, Sputnik News reports that,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discuss the most sensitive topics related to the situation in the region and bilateral relations; it indicates high level of mutual trust, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday." (Sputnik News : 22.10.2016) (my emphasis)

 Then we have Erdogan's first reaction to the Trump victory.

"Erdogan’s first reaction to Trump’s victory was welcoming. Addressing a business forum in Istanbul on Nov. 9, he said that a new era was opening with America’s choice, and he wanted to consider this an auspicious occasion." (Semih Idiz (left): Al-Monitor : November 15, 2016) (my emphasis)

Perhaps the auspiciousness that Erdogan was referring to lies in the fact that retired General Michael Flynn (right), Trump's military and intelligence advisor,  

".... was recently hired as a lobbyist by an obscure Dutch company with ties to Turkey’s government and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan." ( Michael Rubin : Newsweek : 16/11/2016) (my emphasis)

 
There is thus a great deal of uncertainty about how Donald Trump, and the current small band of advisors that he has already choosen to surround himself with, will deal with the war between Putin and Ukraine.

What we can be certain of is that Trump and Putin are kindred spirits.

Young Girl At Maidan 2014

(to be continued)

Will Putin now set in motion his final act of the total destabilization of Ukraine, before he has to confront president-elect Donald Trump?

In 1964, in the lead up to the British election, Harold Wilson (left) is supposed to have coined the famous phrase, ‘A week is a long time in politics.’

It is now a week since the election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the US, and the international reverberations of his election to the most powerful political office in the world has brought Harold Wilson's famous phrase vividly to life.

For Ukraine it spells possible disaster.

Already Trump's first official appointments are causing some consternation.

As reported by the BBC,

"Reince Priebus (bottom left), chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), will be his chief of staff.

In this role, he will set the tone for the new White House and act as a conduit to Congress and the government.

Stephen Bannon (top left), from the Breitbart News Network, will serve as Mr Trump's chief strategist." (BBC News : 14/11/2016)

Given that Stephen Bannon was Trump's campaign chief, we should all wonder at the recent revelation from Dmitry Peskov (right) that,

 "...Peskov said Russian experts were in contact with some members of Trump’s staff during the campaign, but he reiterated that the Russian government and security agencies had nothing to do with the cyberattacks. A Trump spokeswoman denied there were any contacts between the campaign and “any foreign entity.” (WTOP (Associated Press) : November 10, 2016) (my emphasis)

Even more disconcerting,

"Peskov said the two leaders are “very much alike … in their basic approaches toward international affairs.” He noted that Putin and Trump had used almost the same language in recent weeks to stress that their country came first but they were ready to have good relations with the rest of the world." (ibid WTOP) (my emphasis)

Which rather puts into perspective the fact that,

"Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko congratulated Donald Trump on his election win by inviting the newly minted U.S. president-elect to visit the war-torn, Eastern European country." (UT :
Nov. 11, 2016) (my emphasis)

With Stephen Bannon now esconced as Trump's chief strategist, who must have been aware that Russian experts were in contact with some of Trump's staff during the election campaign and who did NOTHING to stop these contacts, the very idea of Trump taking up Poroshenko up on his invitation about visiting Ukraine is vanishingly small.

Such optimism on the part of Poroshenko stems primarily from the fact that whilst Trump may have lauded Putin as a 'strong' leader, it is believed that Putin will not be able to confront Trump threateningly as he has done with Obama. 

For Putin, Trump is a 'wild card'.

And whilst the eyes of the world are focussed on Donald Trump,

"Russia has been preparing a large-scale action to destabilize the situation in Ukraine starting from November15, head of the national statehood protection department of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) Anatoliy Dublik told journalists in Kyiv on Friday." (UT : Nov. 11, 2016) (my emphasis)

Will Putin now set in motion his final act of the total destabilization of Ukraine, before he has to confront president-elect Donald Trump?

(to be continued)

Putin popping champange corks as Trump becomes US President.

In my blog entry of 2nd November I wrote that,

"As stated before, Putin is wishing for a Trump victory in the US presidential race. He stated so rather openly at his recent annual 3+ hour marathon session at Valdai.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump behaved extravagantly during his campaign because he represented ordinary voters and wanted to get his message across. 

  

"He has chosen a method to get through to voters' hearts," Putin told foreign policy experts in southern Russia.

  

"He (Trump) behaves extravagantly of course, we see this, but I think there's a reason for this."(Reuters : Thu Oct 27, 2016)

Trump , but a few moments ago, and against all predictions, has won the race to become the next president of the US. 

 And one can imagine that the champange corks are now popping in the Kremlin, thanks to Trump's victory, and thanks to his direct links to Putin and the Kremlin.

 

This Trump win will now enable Putin to unleash his forces against Ukraine without having to concern himself about an American response or, for that matter, any credible response from the EU. 

We can now also expect that the economic millstone of US sanctions around Putin's neck will very soon be removed. 

 

Trump's election success will also add to the clamour of Putin's supporters in the EU that EU sanctions against Putin be dropped.

This is best expressed by EU president Martin Schulz, who said that,

"The election of Donald Trump as the United States' 45th president will make work "harder" for the European Union" (Tara Cunningham : The Telegraph Business : 9 November 2016)

But perhaps the most disturbing and rather ominous threat to Ukraine comes from Nigel Farage (below with Trump), who has put himself forward to be Donald Trump’s envoy in Brussels if Trump takes the White House, stating that,

 “Well I am hoping [that Trump will] be in need of a proper Eurosceptic ambassador in Brussels to the European Union.

“I would rather like that job.”

 He added, acknowledging the convention that ambassadors are representatives of their own country: "Being a foreigner will not disqualify me. As long as we can bring the EU down, it doesn't matter how we do it." (Cyrus Engineer : Express : Wed, Nov 9, 2016)

If this wish of Nigel Farage does, indeed, now come true, then the revolution of Maidan, and all that followed from it, will come to naught since the revolution was precipitated by the wish of the Ukrainian people to join the EU, the very EU that Farage wishes to destroy, thus fulfilling the wish of Putin himself.

The future of Ukraine now hangs by a very slender thread indeed.

(to be continued)

Putin, Ukraine, and the US presidential race.

The US presidential election is now reaching its final stages, and the world is watching closely. Yet it could never have been predicted that the 'humble' email could become such a critical, and possibly determining, factor in these elections.

And while Russian hackers were busy trying to completely derail the Clinton campaign,

"A group of Ukrainian hackers has released thousands of emails from an account used by a senior Kremlin official that appear to show close financial and political ties between Moscow and separatist rebels in Eastern Ukraine.

The cache published by the Ukrainian group CyberHunta reveals contacts between President Vladimir Putin's adviser Vladislav Surkov (left) and the pro-Russia rebels fighting Ukrainian forces."
....
The email cache includes messages sent to Surkov by separatist leader Denis Pushilin with rebel casualty lists and expenses for the operation of a press center in the rebel capital, Donetsk.
...
Another email from the office of Russian billionaire Konstantin Malofeev, who reportedly has ties to the rebels, contains a list of ministers in the separatist government prior to their official announcement. (The Telegraph : 27 October 2016) (my emphasis)

With the eyes of the world are focussed on the US presidential elections,

"During the last day of the Russia-backed forces launched 53 attacks and fire raids on Ukrainian army positions, Anti-Terrorist Operation HQ informs.

The tensest situation reported on Mariupol direction – 28 militant attacks took place here. The enemy used mortars of all kinds here and artillery of 122mm calibre." (UT : Oct. 30, 2016)

Also reported by UT,

"Russian proxies are attacking all over the frontline in Donetsk region, spokesman of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Col. Andriy Lysenko told at the today's briefing.

The most powerful enemy shelling from the Donetsk direction traditionally held in the town of Avdiyivka. It lasted 4 hours continuously, mortars and light weapons were used." (UT : Oct. 31, 2016) (my emphasis)

More menacingly,

"The missile bunkers that dot the verdant hills along Crimea’s southern coast are known locally as Object 100. Now the bunkers are coming back online.
...
After Russia took control of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, signs went up in the woods around the sites warning visitors against entering a “forbidden zone of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
...
The bunkers are just one small part of a new Russian programme to militarise the Crimean peninsula."

Britain’s Defence Minister Michael Fallon (left) said in September that London was concerned about military buildup in Crimea “and indeed the militarisation of the Black Sea region generally. Both Bulgaria and Romania feel very threatened.” (Reuters : Nov. 1, 2016) (my emphasis)

 And it is now reported by Patrick Knox that,

"Ukraine’s armed services are working round the clock to dig trenches, install tank traps, road blocks and to build bunkers to repel an invasion.

But its military chiefs now fear a knock-out onslaught from the sky after they detected a massive Russian carrying out dummy runs on key installations.

Defence Intelligence Vadym Skibytskiy said: “The Russian leadership does not give up its aggressive plans for Ukraine, continuing to prepare for a possible large-scale offensive against our country.

“On October 26, using the obligations of the Republic of Belarus as an allied state, Russian combat aircraft worked out possible massive air strikes on strategic targets on the territory of Ukraine in the airspace of Belarus.” (The Sun : 1st November 2016) (my emphasis)

Which brings us back to the US presidential elections.

Clemence Michallon reports that,

"A server at the Trump Organization may have communicated secretively with Russia, a group of computer scientists believe.
....
The communications, according to the experts, followed the pattern of human exchanges, as opposed to automated conversations. They occurred during office hours in New York and Moscow and showed a 'sustained relationship' between the server registered to Trump Organization and Alfa Bank, Slate reported.

'The parties were communicating in a secretive fashion. The operative word is secretive. This is more akin to what criminal syndicates do if they are putting together a project,' internet pioneer and DNS author Paul Vixie told Slate." (Mail Online : 1 November 2016) (cf : Franklin Foer : Slate article, and Colin Taylor : October 31, 2016)

Could it be this that has led Hillary Clinton to recently call for a FBI investigation into Donald Trump's links with Putin's Russia?

As stated before, Putin is wishing for a Trump victory in the US presidential race. He stated so rather openly at his recent annual 3+ hour marathon session at Valdai. 

"Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump behaved extravagantly during his campaign because he represented ordinary voters and wanted to get his message across. 

  

"He has chosen a method to get through to voters' hearts," Putin told foreign policy experts in southern Russia.

  

"He (Trump) behaves extravagantly of course, we see this, but I think there's a reason for this."(Reuters : Thu Oct 27, 2016)

Which puts into perspective the current uptick of attacks against Ukrainian forces by Putin's Russian soldiers and proxies in the Donbas, as well as his military buildup in Crimea.

A Trump win would enable him to unleash his forces against Ukraine without having to concern himself about an American response or, for that matter, any credible response from the EU.

On the other hand, a Clinton victory would caution him against such a reckless act, whilst at the same time presenting a President Clinton with a fait accompli regarding his military buildup in Crimea.

We will then see Putin throwing even more resources into getting the building of his land-bridge between Russia and Crimea speeded up.

(to be continued)

Putin cannot afford to lose in his war with Ukraine

In my blog entry of 17 October, I quoted Russian political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin (left) stating that,

"...  Putin has nothing to offer his people to gain their support and to consolidate public opinion except “militaristic rhetoric and short victorious wars.”  But the effect of those wars – and there have been three so far – quickly exhausts itself." (Paul Goble : 15 October, 2016)

And so it is that the Normandy Four meeting, with the participation of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, and which took place in Berlin on the night of 19-20 October, seems to indicate that for Putin, at least, his war with Ukraine in the Donbas has somewhat exhausted itself.

It no longer serves the initially prime purpose of propping up himself and his 'siloviki'.  It has now become counter-productive. 

As reported by UNIAN,

"We often repeat like a mantra these days that the notorious sanctions are having little impact. But they do have an impact. We feel this above all in restrictions on technology transfers," he said at the eighth Russia Calling! Investment Forum organized by VTB Capital on Wednesday, October 12." (UNIAN :12 October 2016) (my emphasis)

Some of the long-term effects of the current impact of sanctions on Putin's Russian economy is best described by Russia's Economic Ministry projecting by just how much the Russian economy will stagnate over the next twenty years.

"Coming out of the recession in 2017, the economy in the next 20 years will grow very slowly - an average of 2% per year (from 1.7 to a maximum of 2.6%). It is about 1.5 times below the world average rates: thus Russia will all be shifted closer to the poorest countries. Increase GDP in 20 years will only be 1.5 times. Real incomes will rise by an average of 1.4% per year and will be released at the level of 2013 only in 2021, in 2035 it exceeded by less than 30%. For comparison, the same amount they have grown in 2006-2007." (Vedomosti :20.10.2016) (Google Translated from Russian) (my emphasis)

Yet, emerging from the Berlin Normandy Four meeting on the night of 19-20 October we have a 'roadmap'.

This 'roadmap', aimed at reviving the stalled peace process in eastern Ukraine must, according to Poroshenko,

".....  foresees consistency and guarantees. Implementing the security conditions, a ceasefire, withdrawing foreign troops, respect for the removal of military equipment, providing easy access for the OSCE, releasing hostages should go before the implementation of the political part." (Olena Makarenko (right) : Euromaidan Press : 20/10/2016) (my emphasis)

And herein lies the rub, rather succinctly expressed by Vitaliy Portnikov (left),

"And here the dialog stops because Hollande and Merkel clearly understand that without disarming criminals and a withdrawal of Russian troops, no elections are possible. But Putin understands just as clearly that after the disarmament of the criminals and withdrawal the Russian troops he does not need any elections. He will simply lose Donbas as a leverage of influence on Ukraine,” (ibid Olena Makarenko) (my emphasis)

More significantly,

"It is necessary to boost the efficiency of the OSCE monitoring mission and an armed police mission is needed there. Before the elections, we must have control over the border on the part of a permanent OSCE armed mission," [Poroshenko] said in an interview with the Ukraina television channel commenting on the results of the latest Normandy Four summit in Berlin." (Tass :  October 23, 2016) (my emphasis) (my emphasis)

It is therefore no wonder that Putin's Russian soldiers and rebel proxies continue to launch attacks against Ukrainian positions.

As reported by UT,

"Combined Russian-separatist forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine 35 times in the past day - 20 in the Mariupol sector, nine barrages in the Luhansk sector, and six in the Donetsk sector – including four artillery attacks." (UT : Oct. 24, 2016) (my emphasis)

Putin has nowhere else to go except to continue with his military action against Ukraine.

Furthermore, Putin has to,

"... stick to his “classical line” – Ukraine must implement the political package first, including changes to the Constitution, the law on amnesty, and “direct negotiations” with the Russian mercenaries." (Vitaliy Portnikov (ibid Olena Makarenko)) (my emphasis)

Like the narcissistic Donald Trump on the verge of losing the US presidential race to Hillary Clinton, Putin cannot afford to lose in his war with Ukraine, no matter what the cost to the Russian people.

(to be continued)

Putin has nothing to offer Poroshenko except “militaristic rhetoric"

Three days ago (14/10/2016) Putin's Russian press in both Russia and the occupied territory of the Donbass reported that,

"The Ukrainian combat helicopter shot down by the DPR forces landed in the area of Krasnogorovka occupied by the AFU. It was stated by Eduard Basurin, the DPR Operative Command Deputy Commander. " (Dninews: Saturday, October 15, 2016)

Similarly, TASS reported that,

"The militia command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has received information that the helicopter downed by the militia on Thursday, was carrying some instructors from NATO’s member states, the DPR Operations Command Spokesman Eduard Basurin told journalists on Friday." (TASS : October 14,2016) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile, as Putin's proxy soldiers in the Donbass are reporting that,

"The DPR Operative Command specified that the area of the combat helicopter’s fall was cordoned off at that moment. Moreover, mobile communication did not work there." (ibid Dninews) (my emphasis),

the Ukrainian Defense Ministry,

".....  has denied the shoot down of one of its helicopters in Donbass, says it does not use helicopters for military ops" (Liveuamap : 14 October, 2016) (my emphasis)

At the same time the OSCE, in its information received as of 19:30, 14 October 2016

from its Special Monitoring Mission in the Donbass, did not include the shooting down of a helicopter by Putin's rebel proxy forces.

Given that Putin's rebel proxies in the Donbass stated that this helicopter was "carrying some instructors from NATO’s member states", the absolute deart of an international outcry about this helicopter downing contrasts with the international outcry in the case of the shooting down of the airliner MH17 (right) by Putin's forces in the Donbass on 17 July 2014 that killed all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board, and questions the veracity of Putin's propaganda machine about this alleged "helicopter shooting down".

What we do know is that,

"The Mariupol sector has ... suffered 18 attacks for the past 24 hours. The cities of Maryinka, Shyrokyne and Krasnogorivka were hotspots for militant shelling. Mortars, armored fighting vehicles, grenade launchers and machine guns were used in that direction.

In the Donetsk sector, Ukrainian Armed Forces have been fired 6 times. Grenade launchers and small arms shelling into Ukrainian soldiers in Troitske and Avdiivka were noted." (UT : Oct. 16, 2016) (my emphasis)

What we also know is that Putin continues to pour his Russian soldiers and armaments into the Donbass.

And according to Pavel Felgenhauer (left), a Russian military analyst,

"Putin Likely to Expand Russian Invasion of Ukraine in January [2017].

... an attack on Odessa more likely [as opposed to an attack on Mariupol] especially since “many in Russia consider [Odessa] a Russian city” and because its “’liberation’” would trigger a patriotic explosion much like the annexation of Crimea." (Joel Harding (right): To Inform Is To Influence : October 15, 2016) (my emphasis)

This would tie-in with the militaristic hysteria that Putin is foisting upon the Russian people as Russia continues to aimlessly meander in the quagmire of an economic depression.

However, according to Sergey Shelin (left),

"The militaristic hysteria the Kremlin has unleashed in order to frighten the West and win support at home “does not have real causes and looks like an improvisation by the leader and his advisors” tragically is “getting out of control” and could by itself lead to disaster ... " (Paul Goble : Window on Eurasia : Sunday, October 16, 2016) (my emphasis)

Shelin further argues that,

"As far as Ukraine is concerned. No one ever expected the Minsk accords to be fulfilled; and they aren’t being and won’t however much Moscow blusters." (ibid Paul Goble)

Which raises the important question viz.

"What will the invitation of Angela Merkel to Putin, Hollande, and Poroshenko to dinner in Berlin on October 19 really achieve when Poroshenko has not agreed to participate in a 'Normandy Four' summit until a roadmap envisaging compliance with the Minsk security provisions is coordinated?" (UT :

Is Merkel, yet again, providing Putin with a diplomatic platform to, in the words of Sergey Shelin, "bluster" about the Minsk2 protocols? 

As reported by the Jerusalem Post,

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the war in Syria, a government spokesman said on Friday." (Jerusalem Post (Reuters): 14/10/2016) (my emphasis), yet again underlining the Putinversteher German mentality

Shelin is correct when he states that, "No one ever expected the Minsk accords to be fulfilled; and they aren’t being and won’t .. " (cf also: UT : Oct. 12, 2016 :  "Red lines" of Minsk agreements for Ukraine: analysts' warning)

Yet many political analysts are now arguing that Putin's militaristic hysteria and his preparing the Russian people for war is merely a show to boost his support in Russia.

And they may be right.

According to Russian political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin (right),

"...  Putin has nothing to offer his people to gain their support and to consolidate public opinion except “militaristic rhetoric and short victorious wars.”  But the effect of those wars – and there have been three so far – quickly exhausts itself." (Paul Goble : 15 October, 2016) (my emphasis)

Valery Solovey (left) is even more forthright. According to him,

" ... “the powers that be in Russia are not very firm. They try to give the impression of a strong, self-confident and even brutal state. But this is an exaggeration, an attempt to frighten the external world and Russian society” (ibid Paul Goble : 15 Oct) (my emphasis)

Yet .....

"[t]here are some unsettling things Russia has done, however, to give the impression that war is looming. (UT : Oct. 15, 2016) (my emphasis)

Is this a prelude to attack Odessa, as  Pavel Felgenhauer predicts?

(to be continued) 

Putin's 'feverish' diplomatic flurry being aided and abetted by Merkel and Hollande

In March of 2015 Putin, for the first time, publicly admitted that,

"... the plan to annex Crimea was ordered weeks before the referendum on self-determination." (BBC News : 9 March 2015) (my emphasis)

We should therefore not be surprised that, as recently reported by Damien Sharkov,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his government was “forced to defend the Russian speakers” of eastern Ukraine, despite previously denying that Moscow plays any formal role in the conflict in the Donbas regions.
...
Putin had denied sending troops into Crimea, before annexing it in 2014, and issued similar denials regarding Donbas. However, he has issued statements seemingly admitting to armed Russian presence in both regions since." (Newsweek: 10/12/16) (my emphasis)

This public announcement by Putin comes on the heels of,

• "The Russian and Turkish leaders .. [agreeing] to intensify military and intelligence contacts after a meeting in Istanbul" (BBC News: 10 October 2016) (my emphasis), as well as,
•  Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met on Monday for the second time since August to finalize a deal for an undersea gas pipeline and demonstrate renewed bilateral ties ..... The pipeline would be hugely beneficial to Russia, allowing Moscow to bypass Ukraine entirely and giving it a direct opening into the European market. (Natasha Bertrand : Business Indsider : Oct. 12, 2016) (my emphasis)

It also come on the heels of,


"Russian President Vladimir Putin [cancelling] a planned visit to France next week, the Kremlin said Tuesday, in an apparent snub to French President François Hollande, who suggested Moscow was guilty of war crimes in Syria." (Angela Dewan (left): CNN : October 11, 2016) (my emphasis)

And then, in a telephone conversation between Putin, Merkel, and Hollande (Oct 12, 2016),

"Despite growing diplomatic tensions over Syria, the leaders of Russia, France and Germany may meet "very soon" in Berlin to revive peace efforts for Ukraine.
....
The statement said they agreed that a Ukraine peace meeting would have to be "constructive and useful" toward ensuring a cease-fire and free elections. Prospects of a quick solution to Ukraine's conflict between the government and Russia-backed separatist rebels seem remote, however." (ABC News (Associated Press) : Oct 12, 2016) (my emphasis)

This "opportunistic diplomatic flurry" of Putin has been spurred on as the eyes of President Obama are averted towards what is turning into the 'strangest' of American presidential elections, and also with the possible election of Hilary Clinton into the Oval Office within the next 30 days.

Unlike President Obama, a Hilary Clinton presidency will not be as 'soft on Putin' as Obama has been.

In 2014 she stated that Putin's actions in Ukrainian Crimea,

".... were similar to what happened in the Nazi era in Czechoslovakia and Romania.
 
"Now if this sounds familiar, it’s what Hitler did back in the 30s,” Clinton said... “Hitler kept saying: ‘They’re not being treated right. I must go and protect my people.’ And that’s what’s gotten everybody so nervous.” (The Guardian (Associated Press) : Thursday 6 March 2014) (my emphasis)

As Putin himself recently said about sending his soldiers into the Donbas and into Ukrainian Crimea,

“Then when we were forced, and I want to underline this, forced to defend the Russian speaking population of Donbas, forced to respond to the struggle of the people living in Crimea to return to the Russian federation, [the U.S.] begins a wave of anti-Russian policies and introduces sanctions.” (ibid Damien Sharkov) (my emphasis)

And whilst Putin, Merkel, and Hollande, are once again shouting from the rafters that,

".. they agreed that a Ukraine peace meeting would have to be "constructive and useful" toward ensuring a cease-fire and free elections." (ibid Angela Dewan)
....
"The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has said that only "significant and measurable progress" by Russia towards implementation of previous resolutions of the Assembly can form the basis for restoration of a fully-fledged, mutually respectful dialogue" (UT : Oct. 12, 2016)

This is rather succinctly summed up in the words of Ukraine's Parliament First Deputy Chairwoman Iryna Gerashchenko (right) that,

"They recognized that if the OSCE cannot guarantee the security of the two speakers in the occupied territories, the OSCE cannot guarantee the security of the elections. Therefore, any elections in the occupied Donbas currently is out of the schedule. This is recorded in the PACE resolution, supported by 87 members of the Assembly. We have a powerful argument in our discussions with Western partners. It is difficult to overestimate." (ibid UT)

The obvious fact that the OSCE, currently chaired by that Putinversteher Walter Steinmeier (left), cannot guarantee the security of elections in the Donbas, Putin's desperation to have the sanctions against him and his siloviki lifted is now the main focus of his wanting this 'meeting' about Ukraine with Merkel and Hollande.
 
And notwithstanding the deepening military and economic collaboration between Putin and Erdogan, a potential President Clinton will want to INCREASE the sanctions against him and his siloviki clique, especially in light of what Putin is doing in Allepo, and Putin is well aware of this. 

Putin does not have time on his side.

And to now, suddenly, announce publicly that  he was “forced to defend the Russian speakers” of eastern Ukraine, thus admitting that thousands of Russian soldiers are operating in the Donbas, indicates his desperation to at least have 'his' framework for those 'elections' in the Donbas underwritten by Merkel and Hollande before the looming US presidential elections.

(to be continued)