Obama's "Kennedy moment" before he leaves the White House will fashion how Trump 'deals' with Putin's war with Ukraine.

In my very first blog entry "Putin andUkraine" (10/06/2014) I wrote that,

"As reported in the Russian press, during a session of the board of the FSB security service in Moscow on April 7, 2014, Putin urged that,

“We [the FSB] must clearly differentiate between legal opposition activity, as is in every democratic country, and extremism, which is built on hatred, inciting national and international discord, and defying the law and the constitution [of Russia]”.....(below: Putin addressing the FSB 2014) ,

These words ring hollow in international ears when currently applied to Ukraine because his Russian groups of provocateurs that have currently infiltrated Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv were actively inciting national discord, hatred, and defying the law and the constitution of Ukraine in an attempt to dismember Ukraine before the impending presidential elections of May 25th 2014. (first blog entry) (my emphasis)

I further remarked that,

"Unlike George Bush, who saw a sort of kindred soul when looking into Putin's eyes, Colin Powell was correct when he remarked that when he sees Putin he sees KGB."(ibid first blog entry)

More recently, Colin Powell once again stated that,

“I know Vladimir Putin well,” General Colin Powell said during a recent appearance at Harvard University. “He’s KGB through and through.” (Belfer Center : Fall/Winter 2015-2016) (my emphasis) (left: Colin Powell speaking at Belfer Center)

It should therefore come as no surprise that what Putin did to influence the Ukrainian presidential elections in 2014 he has now repeated in the US presidential elections of 2016, using 'cyber warfare' tactics instead of Kremlin-paid provocateurs.

RT has also been assiduously infiltrating the American public with 'conspiracy theory' T.V. to try and sow discord amongst the American public, discord that has found many eager ears and eyes as evidenced by such internet TV programs as the "Infowars" website run by Alex Jones, who regularly appeared on RT as an 'expert', and by whom Trump was rather sycophanticly interviewed in December of 2015 (Published on Youtube on 2 Dec 2015)

 

Trump is now the president-elect of the US. And throughout his election campaign he displayed an admiration for Putin, that even led him to call upon Putin to,

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Mr. Trump said during a news conference here in an apparent reference to Mrs. Clinton’s deleted emails. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.” (Ashley Parker and David E. Sanger : New York Time : July 27, 2016) (my emphasis)

Putin obliged Trump by hacking into the Democratic computers during the presidential elections, giving all their 'hacked' data to Julian Assange of Wikileaks to publish on the internet, and which is now backfiring on Trump.

Recall that Paul Manafort wrote the 'Ukraine election script' for Victor Yanukovich in his presidential election against Yulia Tymoshenko in 2010, and for which he was handsomely paid.

Then in April 2016, Trump terminated campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and promoted Manafort to the position. Manafort gained control of the daily operations of the campaign as well as an expanded $20 million budget, hiring decisions, advertising, and media strategy. (Wikipedia)

No doubt, Manafort brought some of his experience in the Ukrainian presidential elections to bear on the Trump campaign.

Manafort was, however, forced to resign as Trump's campaign manger when it was revealed that,

"Earlier this week the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau claimed a secret ledger showed Mr Manafort had been earmarked $12.7 million in off-the-books cash payments from the pro-Russian political party of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's former president." (Harriet Alexander : The Telegraph : 19 August 2016) (my emphasis)

It was also revealed by Peter Stone, David Smith, Ben Jacobs, Alec Luhn and Rupert Neate that,

"For his part, Paul Manafort has been closely tied to Ukraine over the past decade, making millions from consulting work. He worked for Rinat Akhmetov, Dmitry Firtash and Oleg Deripaska, three major pro-Russia oligarchs, as an adviser." (The Guardian : Saturday 30 July 2016) (my emphasis) ((top) Manafort and Deripaska (bottom) Akhmetov and Firtash)

And now, as reported by Gregory Krieg and Jamie Gangel, 

"Paul Manafort has reemerged as a player in the fight to shape the new [Trump] administration, senior Republicans with knowledge of the transition tell CNN on Thursday, after resigning under pressure as the chairman of Donald Trump's campaign this summer. (CNN : December 1, 2016)

If Putin's war with Ukraine was unwittingly embroiled in the US presidential election by Donald Trump through his  employment of Paul Manafort as his campaign manager, it now emerges that president-elect Donald Trump has now placed Putin's war with Ukraine, in the person of Paul Manafort, firmly at the centre of the shaping of his presidential administration.

For Trump, however, the storm clouds are gathering.

As reported by Roland Oliphant and Nick Allen, 

 

"The White House launched an extraordinary attack on Donald Trump, suggesting that it was “obvious” he knew about Russian interference in the US presidential election, which it said had been personally authorised by Vladimir Putin." (The Telegraph :15 December 2016) (my emphasis)

 

President Barack Obama has now called for a full investigation of the Russian hacking into the Democratic Party computers during the presidential elections, vowing to take appropriate action against Russia.

 (video aired on 15 Dec. 2016)

 

 

Obama is been given a another chance to confront Putin in the manner of the late President Kennedy's confrontation with Khrushchev over the missile crisis in Cuba in October 1962.

 

  

This is Obama's "Kennedy moment" before he leaves the White House. It will fashion how president-elect Trump will 'deal' with Putin's war with Ukraine.

(to be continued)

Putin and Trump, together, are teetering at the abyss of incalculable global consequences

There are very few, if any, 'coincidences' in politics.

As president-elect Trump continues to consolidate his cabinet, with most of his critical appointees having attitudes that are 'highly' favourable towards Putin, 

UT reports that Putin's 'dyed-in-the-wool' Soviet foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov,

" ... says it is ‘unreal' to make the guns in the conflict zone go completely silent for a month, as demanded by Ukraine." (UT : Dec. 9, 2016) (my emphasis)

Following Putin's current 'on the hoof ' Ukrainian political and military script, and confirming Lavrov's recent pronouncement about the 'unreality' of silencing the rebel guns in the Donbas,

"The Russian-backed separatist forces attacked the positions of Ukrainian soldiers 31 times in the past 24 hours, Kyiv reported on December 10.

Using high-caliber artillery and assault weapons, the militants shelled numerous areas both in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

They continued their attacks on the government-controlled Avdiivka, neighboring Donetsk, firing with grenade launchers and machine guns." (UT : Dec. 10, 2016) (my emphasis)

And now, 'hot off the press', so to speak, what but a few days ago was speculation has now come to pass.

David E. Sanger, Maggie Haberman and Clifford Krauss report that,

"Rex W. Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, whose extensive deal-making for the energy giant has plunged him into global politics from Yemen to Russia, is expected to be offered the secretary of state post this weekend by President-elect Donald J. Trump, according to two people close to Mr. Trump’s transition team." (New York Times : Dec. 10, 2016) (my emphasis) (right: Sechin, Putin, and Tillerson)

Co-incidence?

The longstanding links between Rex Tillerson and Putin spells the end of US sanctions against Putin's Russia. Tillerson is already on record as saying that,

"... the [US] sanctions [against Putin's Russia because of his annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his war with Ukraine in the Donbas,] are harmful for business after they halted an Exxon joint venture with Rosneft to drill for oil in the Kara Sea, in Russia’s sector of the Arctic Ocean." ( Andrew E. Kramer : New York Times : Dec. 7, 2016) (my emphasis)

If the looming prospect of  Rex Tillerson as US Secretary of State has dropped a bombshell into the lap of Poroshenko (left), then adding to Ukraine's woes is the fact that,

"In a letter sent to Martin Schulz, the panicked head of the European Council [Donald Tusk (right)] urged the legislature to compromise with national governments to unblock visa liberalisation – currently stopping the former Soviet states from gaining easy access to Europe.
.... Mr Tusk wrote: "At stake here are the legitimate hopes and aspirations of the nations who are our neighbours, as well as the reputation of the European Union, which has categorically and repeatedly committed itself to the issue. (Express : Wed, Dec 7, 2016) (my emphasis)

No-one could have predicted that Donald Trump, described by his "ghostwriter" of the "Art of The Deal" ,Tony Schwartz, as,

"... pathologically impulsive and self-centered...." (Jane Mayer : The New Yorker : July 25, 2016 Issue)

would be the president-elect of the US, and who also threatened his "ghostwriter" when he deigned to make public that he would not be voting for his past employer, Donald Trump. (cf: Jane Mayer)

Neither could anyone also have predicted that the Ukrainian revolution in Maidan in 2014 would play such a central and critical role in the unfolding of the prospective Trump presidency, as well as becoming an 'acid test' for the reputation of the EU.

If, before, I wrote that Putin's annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his current war with Ukraine in the Donbass, has led him to teetering on the abyss of setting off  incalculable global consequences,

"... it now seems that Putin and Trump, together holding hands, are now readying themselves to jump into the abyss of untold, and possibly cataclysmic, global consequences."

(to be continued)