Will Trump sign off on supplying Ukraine with anti-tank Javelin missiles?

"A week is a long time in politics". So said Harold Wilson, the late PM of Great Britain in the 1960's.

And so it is that after desperately trying to build up a coalition with some minor political parties, Angela Merkel has finally to concede that  ".. her efforts to form a three-way coalition government had failed, thrusting Germany into a political crisis and pushing Europe's largest economy closer to a possible new election." (CNBC (Reuters) : Sun, 19 Nov 2017) (my emphasis) 

Let us now also recall that in June of this year (2017), Constanze Stelzenmüller testified before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and stated that,

"...Germany remains a major power, and in some ways the fulcrum of power on the continent. For a Russia that is clearly bent on destabilizing Europe and the transatlantic alliance, Germany is the prize: Weaken Germany, and you diminish the EU and the European project and, conversely, because Germany has orchestrated the European consensus on sanctions against Russia, it [Germany] has become the main obstacle for Russia in pursuing its interests in Europe and, indeed, in Ukraine." (Brookings : Wednesday, June 28, 2017) (my emphasis)

To the delight of Putin, the turmoil in the German political scene has handcuffed Merkel in vigorously continuing to orchestrate the EU sanctions against Putin and his 'siloviki' now that Germany seems to be heading towards new elections.

But Putin is not having it all his own way.

As Tara Palmeri (right) reports,

"The National Security Council decided during a meeting on Tuesday [November 14] to greenlight the presentation of a $47 million grant package to the Ukrainian government to purchase American defense arms, including the powerful Javelin anti-tank missiles." (ABC News : Nov 17, 2017) (my emphasis)

(cf also The Hill)

Which may have precipitated, as reported by Oliver Carroll that,

"Russian business should be prepared to switch to production to military needs at any time, said Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. The Russian president was speaking at a conference of military leaders in Sochi.

“The ability of our economy to increase military production and services at a given time is one of the most important aspects of military security,” Mr Putin said. “To this end, all strategic, and simply large-scale enterprise should be ready, regardless of ownership.” (The Independent : 22 November, 2017) (my emphasis)

 

Trying to prevent Trump from signing off on this $47 million grant package, that includes the purchasing of those Javelin anti-tank missiles, Putin stressed to Trump during their recent telephone conversation on Tuesday, 21st November, that the situation in Ukraine can only be solved through the full implementation of the Minsk2 agreement.

As reported by Alexander Mercouris,

"Regarding the crisis in southeast Ukraine, the President of Russia pointed to the lack of a real alternative to unconditional compliance with the Minsk agreements of February 12, 2015." (The Duran : November 22, 2017) (my emphasis)

Interestingly, the White House released statement about this meeting focussed primarily on Syria, with Ukraine thrown in almost as an afterthought by Trump at the end .

 Which raises the $64 question ...

"Will Trump sign off on supplying Ukraine with anti-tank Javelin missiles?"

Perhaps the hint of an answer lies in the fact that,

"The European Union on Friday blamed Russia for the deaths of at least five troops in eastern Ukraine in what appears to be the worst outburst of violence in months.

"The death of five Ukrainian servicemen yesterday [23 November 2017] is the just the latest proof of the tragic consequences of Russia's aggression in Ukraine," said EU Council President Donald Tusk (right) after a summit with six eastern European nations, including Ukraine." (Raf Casert, Associated Press ABC News : Nov 24, 2017) (my emphasis)

In other words, Putin seems to be emboldened to continue his war against Ukraine by the facts that :-

• the German political scene has handcuffed Merkel in vigorously continuing to orchestrate the EU sanctions against Putin and his 'siloviki', and
• Trump has not yet signed off on supplying Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank missiles.

The 'bromance' between Trump and Putin seems to be growing stronger.  

(to be continued)

Is Trump preparing to throw Ukraine under the bus as payback to Putin?

Just over a week ago I wrote that,

"Did Putin sanction this Bloomberg interview with Veselnitskaya, that potentially puts Trump Jnr. in the crosshairs of landing in prison, to add pressure on US President Trump to get the 'sanctions monkey' off his back?" (blog entry: 7 November, 2017)

We now learn from Andrew Higgins (right) that,

"Under a $2.8 million no-bid contract awarded by the Office of Acquisitions in Washington, security guards at the American Embassy in Moscow and at consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok will be provided by Elite Security Holdings, a company closely linked to the former top K.G.B. figure, Viktor G. Budanov, a retired general who rose through the ranks to become head of Soviet counterintelligence." (New York Times : Nov. 14, 2017) (my emphasis)

This contract was given the green light by none other than Rex Tillerson, current US Secretary of State, and recipient of 'Russia's Order of Friendship', by none other than Putin himself.

That news about this contract has emerged as Trump, during his Asian tour, has stated that Putin has been 'badly' lumbered with US sanctions against him, should not come as a surprise.

As the Mueller (right) investigation continues to add to the mountain of evidence that supports the charge of collusion in the 2016 US presidential elections between Putin and his 'siloviki', and Trump and his 'Russian-friendly' cohorts, Trump continues to try to find devious ways to get rid of those US sanctions to pay Putin back for getting him elected into the White House.

And covering Trump's back is none other than Rex Tillerson, US Secretary of State!

The same Rex Tillerson who has decimated the US State Department, and shut down the US State Department Sanctions Office.

There is an urgency on the part of BOTH Trump and Tillerson to get the sanctions against Putin and his 'siloviki' removed ASAP as the call for Trump's impeachment gains momentum.

Meanwhile, UNIAN reports that,

"Ukrainian Foreign Minister [of Ukraine] Pavlo Klimkin (right) in his exclusive comments to MailOnline has said the Russian Federation has sent in Donbas some 500 tanks, in addition to hundreds of other heavy weapons and thousands of Russian regular troops and mercenaries." (UNIAN : 16 November 2017) (my emphasis)

Which poses yet another $64 question viz.

"Is Trump preparing to throw Ukraine under the bus as payback to Putin for getting him elected into the White House?"

(to be continued)

The 'illusory' beliefs of Putin, Trump, and Zakharchenko.

"In 1929-1930, [Ukrainian] peasants were induced to transfer land and livestock to state-owned farms, in which they would work as day-labourers for payment in kind.
...
In the summer of 1930, [Stalin's] government instituted a program of food requisitioning, ostensibly to increase grain exports. Subsequently in 1932, food theft was made punishable by death or 10 years imprisonment.
...
By the end of 1933, millions of people had starved to death or had otherwise died unnaturally in Ukraine [the Ukrainian "Holodomor"] and the other Soviet republics. The total number of population losses (famine death and birth deficit) across the entire Soviet Union is estimated as 6–7 million." (Wikipedia) (my emphasis)

Today we learn that,

"The so-called head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic ("DPR"), Alexander Zakharchenko, (left) has reportedly ordered to seize all crops, namely vegetables, fruit, grapes, etc., grown by households on "unauthorized" plots of land, according to the "republic's" website....
...
The so-called "Revenue and Taxes Ministry" of the "DPR" has been granted unimpeded access to areas where these crops are harvested or stored, as well as given the right to seize yields.

"In the event of unauthorized disposal of the crops specified in paragraph 1 of the 'decree,' legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, and individuals are obliged to reimburse costs of the crops," reads the document." (UNIAN : 14.11.2017) (my emphasis)

And whilst Zakharchenko is trying to set up his 2017 version of a 'Holodomor' program in Ukraine's Donbas,

"Monitors of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine have reported over 770 explosions in Donetsk and Luhansk regions on the weekend. " (UNIAN : 14.11.2017)

As these explosions rang in the ears of Zakharchenko, this obscene 'decree' of his could not have been drawn up without the blessing of Putin's Kremlin aide, Vladislav Surkov. This is the same Vladislav Surkov who [met with] US Special Representative Kurt Volker (appointed by US Secretary of state, Rex Tillerson) (left) "on November 13 to explore deploying United Nations peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine." (RFERL: November 13, 2017) (my emphasis)

It beggars belief that neither Volker nor Tillerson have denounced this Stalin-like decree of seizing food from the Ukrainian people in the Donbas, and issued by Zakharchenko.

Did Volker even raise this issue with Vladislav Surkov when they met yesterday?

Or, like Trump, did he prefer simply to turn a 'blind eye' to the obscenity of this "Zakharchenko" decree, just as Trump continuously turns a 'blind eye' to the growing mountain of evidence about him and his cohorts colluding with Putin during the 2016 US presidential elections. (MSNBC video 1)

Trump may be turning a 'blind eye' to Putin's strategy of weaponizing information to achieve his purposes, but not so Theresa May, Prime Minister of Great Britain.

At her Mansion House speech last night she,

" ... launched her strongest attack on Russia yet, accusing Moscow of meddling in elections and carrying out cyber espionage." (BBC News : 14 November, 2017) (my emphasis)

Underscoring what Theresa May said yesterday, Julia Ioffe (left) reports that,

"The transparency organization (Wikileaks) asked the president’s son (Donald Trump Jnr.) for his cooperation—in sharing its work, in contesting the results of the election, and in arranging for Julian Assange to be Australia’s ambassador to the United States.
...
The messages exchanged with WikiLeaks add a second instance in which Trump Jr. appears eager to obtain damaging information about Hillary Clinton, despite its provenance." (The Atlantic: Nov 13, 2017) (my emphasis)

We now have these illusory beliefs of Putin, Trump, and Zakharchenko.

• Trump said on the international stage in Manila,"What I said there is that [Putin] believes [that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 US presidential elections to favour Trump] ... and that's very important for somebody to believe. " (cf video 1 above)
• Just as it is also important for Trump to believe that himself and his cohorts did not collude with Putin during the 2016 US presidential election.
• Just as it is important for Zakharchenko to believe that he is head of a mythical country called the "DPR", and that he can issue 'decrees', like some potentate from a fairy tale.

The scarlet thread of Maidan weaves a complex pattern that tightly binds together Putin, Trump, and Zakharchenko.

(to be continued)

Why is Volker, Merkel, and Macron ready to "de-link" Putin's war in the Donbas from his illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea?

Laurence Norman and Julian E. Barnes (left) report that,

"U.S. officials are preparing to test Moscow’s willingness to end the Ukraine conflict by seeking Russia’s approval for 20,000 peacekeepers across Ukraine’s embattled east, U.S. and Western officials said.
...
The U.S. is expected to raise the proposal with Russian officials in coming days, these people said. It is driven by hopes in some Western capitals, including Paris and Belin, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking a way out of Moscow's military support to Ukrainian separatists." (Wall Street Journal : Nov. 9, 2017) (my emphasis)

We also learn that,

"The [Canadian] Trudeau government is facing increasing pressure to take a leadership role in war-torn eastern Ukraine by spearheading a UN peacekeeping mission to help stabilize the conflict between Kyiv and Russian-backed belligerents" (Steven Chase (right): The Globe and Mail: 9 November 2017) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, Canadian Official Opposition Leader, Andrew Scheer (left) has also stated that,

"A UN peace support mission "would allow Ukraine to restore control over its eastern border with Russia, ensuring the Russian military stays within its own country, and out of Ukraine," Mr. Scheer says in remarks to be delivered Thursday.
...
[Scheer's Conservative Party] is calling for a peacekeeping mission that would be located at the Ukrainian-Russian border rather than at the front line itself in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine." (ibid Steven Chase) (my emphasis)

So whilst,

• US Special Representative to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, and Russia's Vladislav Surkov "...will meet later this month to explore deploying United Nations peacekeepers to the eastern part of the country in an effort to jump-start the stalled Minsk peace process." (Nick Wadhams: Bloomberg : 3 November 2017) (my emphasis), 
• and Macron and Merkel are, "driven by hopes ... that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking a way out of Moscow's military support to Ukrainian separatists" (ibid Norman and Barnes), 

Canadian politicians are more forthright that  ANY UN peacekeeping force in Ukraine MUST allow Ukraine to, " restore control over its eastern border with Russia, ensuring the Russian military stays within its own country, and out of Ukraine" (ibid Steven Chase)

Let us now recall that in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on September 11, Putin suggested to Merkel,

"...[a] Russian initiative to set up a UN mission to facilitate the guarding of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM)," the Kremlin said. [This UN mission would be] "... the deployment of lightly armed peacekeepers to protect OSCE observers monitoring the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
.....
But he indicated that the peacekeepers would operate only along the front line separating Ukrainian government forces and separatists."(RFE/RL: September 11, 2017) (my emphasis)

 Which raises the question :

"Why is there a "de-linking" between Putin's war with Ukraine in the Donbas, and Putin's illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea?" 

As reported by Vladislav Gordeev,

Подробнее на РБК:
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.rbc.ru/politics/04/11/2017/59fd57789a7947e0065cca5a&usg=ALkJrhj9BuBy95TBjc9OBt9M6vDhlkl8ig

Vladislav Gordeev

Подробнее на РБК:
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=http://www.rbc.ru/politics/04/11/2017/59fd57789a7947e0065cca5a&usg=ALkJrhj9BuBy95TBjc9OBt9M6vDhlkl8ig

[Администрация США готова «забыть» о Крыме при переговорах по урегулированию в Донбассе, заявил спецпредставитель Курт Волкер. Он пояснил, что при этом Белый дом не собирается признавать присоединение Крыма к России]

"The US administration is ready to "forget" about the Crimea in the negotiations for a settlement in the Donbass, said special representative Kurt Volker (left). He explained that the White House is not going to recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia" (RBC : 04/11/2017) (my emphasis) 

This "de-linking" of Ukrainian Crimea from Putin's war with Ukraine in the Donbass may have something to do with the fact that Putin desperately needs US-EU sanctions to be lifted so that the growing poverty of most Russians that have resulted from Putin's illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his ongoing war with Ukraine in the Donbas, can be lifted.

As reported by Boris Vishnevsky (right), 

• In 2018, it is planned that Crimea will receive 130 billion rubles "free of charge, that is, for nothing". With own revenues of 38 billion rubles. "  [В 2018 году планируется, что Крыму «безвозмездно, то есть даром» пришлют 130 млрд. рублей. При собственных доходах в 38 млрд. рублей.] (echo.msk.ru/blog/boris_vis/2084924-echo/)

• "According to the figures of the Yabloko deputy in St. Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly , almost 2,000 rubles (32 US dollars) of each Russian’s taxes will go to occupied Crimea and an additional 700 rubles (11 US dollars) will go to cover the Chechnya of Ramzan Kadyrov." (Paul Goble : Window on Eurasia:Thursday, November 2, 2017) (my emphasis) 

As also reported by Tatyana Lomskaya (left),

"Low-income Russians have been unable to wait for an uptick in incomes and have turned to loans to meet their consumer needs. Experts, including the Central Bank, believe such borrowers are a danger to the economy." (The Russian Reader : 11 October, 2017) (my emphasis)

Putin's desperation to have that "sanctions monkey" off his back is becoming more apparent as the 2018 Russian presidential elections loom ever closer.

And whilst Volker is 'de-linking' Ukrainian Crimea from Putin's war with Ukraine in the Donbas,  Ken Dilanian reports that,

"After a business meeting before the Miss Universe Pageant in 2013, a Russian participant offered to "send five women" to Donald Trump's hotel room in Moscow, his longtime bodyguard told Congress this week, according to three sources who were present for the interview." (NBC News : Nov 9 2017) (my emphasis)

Yet again do we have more of the Steele dossier being exposed as, in all probability, factually correct.

After all, what happened in Trump's hotel room after his trusted bodyguard went to sleep in his own hotel room?

(to be continued)

Putin is now desperate to get the US 'sanctions monkey' off his back.

Yesterday I wrote that,

"As evidence of the collusion between Trump and his associates, and Putin and his 'siloviki', continues to mount, it cannot be coincidental that, during his Asia trip Trump will be meeting with Putin in Danang.

As reported by Steve Holland, Trump stated that,

"We may have a meeting with Putin [at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang]. And, again Putin is very important because they can help us with North Korea. They can help us with Syria. We have to talk about Ukraine." (CNBC : Fri, 3 Nov 2017) (my emphasis)" (blog entry 6/11/2017)

We now learn, as reported by Irina Reznik and Henry Meyer that,

"A Russian lawyer who met with President Donald Trump’s oldest son last year says he indicated that a law targeting Russia could be re-examined if his father won the election and asked her for written evidence that illegal proceeds went to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
...
The lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya (right), said in a two-and-a-half-hour interview in Moscow that she would tell these and other things to the Senate Judiciary Committee on condition that her answers be made public, something it hasn’t agreed to." (Bloomberg : 6 November 2017) (my emphasis)

What is rather interesting about this interview with Veselnitskaya is that it occurred BEFORE Trump and Putin are expected to meet in Da Nang.

Which raises the question :

"Did Putin sanction this Bloomberg interview with Veselnitskaya, that potentially puts Trump Jnr. in the crosshairs of landing in prison, to add pressure on US President Trump to get the 'sanctions monkey' off his back?"

And whilst Veselnitskaya was being interviewed in Moscow by Bloomberg reporters, UNIAN reports that,

"Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 13 times in the past 24 hours, according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters." (UNIAN : 7 November 2017) (my emphasis)

UNIAN further reports that,

"In the Mariupol sector, the occupiers used banned 120mm mortars twice to shell the Ukrainian fortified positions near the village of Vodiane, the ATO HQ said in an update on Facebook on Tuesday morning." (ibid UNIAN) (my emphasis)

UNIAN also reported that,

"... the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine reported its monitors had seen up to 50 tanks in occupied areas outside the city of Donetsk seized by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic ("DPR") in eastern Ukraine." (UNIAN : 3rd November, 2017) (my emphasis)

Is it these developments in the Donbas that Trump had in mind when he stated that Putin and himself, ".....have to talk about Ukraine " when they meet in Da Nang?

The obvious answer to this question is, "NO!".

Trump's presidency is imploding, and Putin is now desperate to get the 'payback' from Trump for getting him into the White House, and that he believes he so rightly deserves viz. getting the US 'sanctions monkey' off his back.

 

(to be continued)

What Putin has gained on the roundabout with German business he is about to loose on the swings of Trump's impeachment.

"The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $13 billion (approximately $132 billion in current dollar value as of October 2017) in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II (1948)." (Wikipedia) (my emphasis)

Of this, Germany received a total of $14.52 billion in today's current dollar value.

UNIAN now reports that,

"Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze (left) says the envoys from the United States, Canada, Japan and EU countries will hear the presentation of the so-called "Marshall Plan for Ukraine" in the Lithuanian Seimas on November 6" (UNIAN : 04 November 2017) (my emphasis)

This Marshall Plan for Ukraine, proposed by the Lithuanian parliament, envisages,

".. EUR 5 billion of annual support [to Ukraine] for reforms aimed at economic growth and development." (Interfax-Ukraine : 18.08.2017) (my emphasis)

As of 18th September 2017,

"Germany will consider its participation in the long term plan for support, the so-called Marshall Plan for Ukraine, as well as other initiatives aimed at support of reforms in Ukraine." (Censor Net : 18.09.17) (my emphasis)

And then Walter Steinmeier, Former Foreign Minister and now President of Germany, had a tête-à-tête with Putin on his visit to Moscow on the 25th October, at which he stated,

“It’s essential that we use this opportunity for us as presidents to continue our dialogue to try to improve our bilateral relations, the state of which we can’t be happy about,” Steinmeier told Putin at the start of talks. (Denis Pinchuk, Paul Carrel and Andrea Shalal : Reuters : October 25, 2017) (my emphasis)

Putin's response to his tête-à-tête with Steinmeier rather says it all.

"Putin said Moscow was ready to advance its relations with Berlin, adding that German businesses were looking to expand their presence in Russia.
.......
"Despite some certain political difficulties, Russian-German ties are not at a standstill," Putin said." (RFERL : October 25, 2017) (my emphasis)

As reported by TASS,

"The trade turnover in 2016 amounted to $40.7 bln, direct accumulated investments made by German companies in the Russian economy reached $18 bln," the Russian leader said at a meeting with German businessmen.
According to [Putin], "this year [2017], bilateral trade grew by 25% and investments in the first quarter alone amounted to $312 mln, while investments for the whole 2016 were $225 mln." (TASS : October 12, 2017) (my emphasis)

The $64 question is:

"Will the Putinversteher German businessmen jeopardise their growing trade with Putin by pushing Merkel to give the Lithuanian Marshall Plan for Ukraine her full support?"


As the old saying goes, "Pigs Will Fly!".


If German businessmen are more than eager to trade with Putin, we now learn that Wilbur Ross, the US Commerce Secretary appointed by Trump, was more than eager to invest in the shipping company Navigator, one of whom's biggest customers is the Russian company, 'Sibur'.

The owners of 'Sibur' include Putin's son-in-law Kirill Shamalov and Genady Timchenko, the latter on the US sanctions list.    

Wilbur Ross did not divest himself of his stake in Navigator when taking up his position as US Commerce Secretary, as now revealed in what is becoming known as the 'Paradise Papers', even though he claimed, during his Senate hearing, that he divested himself of ALL his business interests.

As evidence of the collusion between Trump and his associates, and Putin and his 'siloviki', continues to mount, it cannot be coincidental that, during his Asia trip Trump will be meeting with Putin in Danang.

As reported by Steve Holland, Trump stated that,

"We may have a meeting with Putin [at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Danang]. And, again Putin is very important because they can help us with North Korea. They can help us with Syria. We have to talk about Ukraine." (CNBC : Fri, 3 Nov 2017) (my emphasis)

Why this urgency on the part of Trump to "talk about Ukraine" with Putin?

Could it be that Trump is beginning to feel his imminent impeachment drawing ever closer?

And is it Trump's imminent impeachment that also panics Putin, since it will mean that the current additions to the US sanctions against himself and his 'siloviki', and which Trump has NOT YET signed into law, will immediately be signed into law by his successor, Mike Pence?

What Putin has gained on the roundabout with German business he is about to loose on the swings of Trump's impeachment.

Neither Trump nor Putin can disnetangle themselves from the scarlet thread of Maidan that tightly binds them together.

(to be continued)

Both the White House and the Kremlin are now "freaking out"

Putin's 'dyed-in-the-wool' Soviet foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, yesterday entered into the fray regarding Special Counsel Robert Mueller recent indictment of Paul Manafort on a number of serious charges , including money laundering, by mantaining that,

“ ...  there is no evidence of a Russian role in the cyberattacks and email leaks that dominated the news in the final weeks of the campaign. “Without any evidence, we have been blamed for interfering not only in elections in the U.S., but in European states too,” Lavrov said. “Fantasy has no limits”. (Joel Gehrke : Washington Examiner : 30 Oct. 2017) (my emphasis)

Unfortunately for Lavrov, as reported by Doina Chiacu, Mark Hosenball, Jonathan Landay and Karen Freifeld,

"George Papadopoulos (right), who joined the Trump presidential campaign in March 2016, lied in January about communicating with those individuals to arrange a meeting between then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Special Counsel Robert Mueller said in the documents.
.....
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty on Oct. 5 [to lying in January], according to a court statement by Mueller’s office. As part of a plea deal, Papadopoulos agreed to plead guilty to making a “materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement” to FBI agents. " (Reuters : October 30, 2017) (my emphasis)

Like Trump's White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who,

"..... played down Papadopoulos’ campaign role, saying it was “extremely limited” and that he was a volunteer." (cf Doina Chiacu et al), (my emphasis)

Putin's mouthpiece, Lavrov, is also desperately trying to protect Manafort in the face of mounting evidence detailing the collusion between Trump and Putin during the 2016 US presidential elections.

Let us also remind ourselves that in July of 2016, when Manafort was in charge of running Trump's presidential campaign, Josh Rogin (left) reported that,


"The Trump campaign worked behind the scenes last week to make sure the new Republican platform won’t call for giving weapons to Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces, contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders in Washington." (Washington Post : July 18, 2016) (my emphasis)

He further reported that,

"Trump’s view of Russia has always been friendlier than most Republicans. He’s said he would “get along very well” with Vladimir Putin and called it a “great honor” when Putin praised him. Trump has done a lot of business in Russia and has been traveling there since 1987. Last August, he said of Ukraine joining NATO, “I wouldn’t care.” He traveled there in September, and he told Ukrainians their war is “really a problem that affects Europe a lot more than it affects us.” (ibid Josh Rogan) (my emphasis) 

Neither Putin's mouthpiece Lavrov, nor Trump's mouthpiece Sarah Huckabee Sanders, can loosen Trump and Putin from the scarlet thread of Maidan that continues to bind them tightly together.

Everyone now, in Trump's White House is, in the words of MSNBC's Lawrence O' Donnell, "freaking out".

If Putin's Lavrov is now forced to try to denigrate the growing mountain of evidence of the Putin-Trump collusion during the 2016 US presidential elections as, "Fantasy", one can only assume that Putin and his 'siloviki' cohorts in the Kremlin are also "freaking out".

(to be continued)

Both Putin and Trump are now at 'panic stations'

Michael D. Shear and Nicholas Fandos (left) report that,

"Under pressure from Republicans and Democrats, the Trump administration on Thursday turned over to Congress a list of Russia-connected entities it will use to determine new sanctions meant to rebuke Russia for actions in Eastern Europe, Syria and the 2016 United States presidential election." (New York Times : Oct. 26, 2017) (my emphasis) (list of entities)

This is a list, however, simply to 'mollify' those, like Senator McCain (right), who had threatened to,

"  ... use his position as the chairman of the Armed Services Committee to try to force the Trump administration to comply [with the sanctions legislation that had been overwhelmingly passed by the US Congress in June, and had been signed by Trump in August]." (ibid Shear and Fandos) (my emphasis)

This list, however, simply signifies that it is,

"..... NOT an imposition of sanctions, but rather the government’s assessment of organizations or persons “that are part of, or operating for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors of the government of the Russian Federation.” (ibid Shear and Fandos) (my emphasis)

In other words, the imposition of sanctions against Russia passed by the Congress in June of this year has still NOT been implemented.

But the pressure on Trump continues to mount.

As reported by Denys Krasnikov,

"The United States is “actively considering” supplying lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, according to Kurt Volker (left), U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations.

U.S. State Department envoy Volker says the debate over sending U.S. weapons to Ukraine should not be as controversial as it is, given that Ukraine is simply defending itself." (KyivPost : Oct. 29 2017) (my emphasis)

 And according to UNIAN,

"Ukrainian lawmakers are optimistic that the White House will give the green light for long-sought weapons, according to the U.S.-based news publication Foreign Policy" (UNIAN: 27 October 2017) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile, the attempt by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto (left) to veto the NATO-Ukraine summit in December, has fallen flat on its face since,

"NATO says it had no plans to hold the Ukraine-NATO Commission meeting in December.

...

At the same time, the [NATO]  alliance noted it is committed to [a] strong partnership relations with Ukraine," (UNIAN: 28 October 2017) (my emphasis)

Added to which,

"U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker during a meeting with the Ukrainian lawmakers has said he is convinced that Russians cannot participate in the peacekeeping mission in Donbas, Ukrainian MP Mustafa Nayyem (right) wrote on Facebook." (UNIAN: 28 October 2017) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, according to Nayyem,

" ... it is critically important for Volker that the peacekeeping mission is militarized, not just monitoring, and act along the Russian-Ukrainian border that is now beyond Ukraine's control." (ibid UNIAN) (my emphasis)

These developments must be giving Putin serious cause for concern. 

The payback that Putin expected from getting Trump into the White House has simply not materialised. 

Compounding Putin's anxieties is the news that yet more substantial evidence about collusion between Putin and Trump during the 2016 US presidential elections is seeing the light of day.

If Putin's anxieties are now being compounded by by the increasing evidence about just how himself and the Trump 'siloviki' colluded during the 2016 US presidential elections, Trump and his 'siloviki' themselves are now at panic stations since,

"A federal grand jury in Washington has approved the first criminal charges in the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election interference ...
....
Mueller's Special Counsel's Office will make public an indictment on Monday, a U.S. official with firsthand knowledge of the process confirmed to NBC News, without disclosing the name of the target or the nature of the charges" (Ken Dilanian, Phil Helsel and Phil McCausland : NBC News :
Oct 28 2017) (my emphasis)

Which of Trump's 'siloviki' will be charged with a criminal offense to-morrow, Monday 30 Oct. 2017?

More significantly, what will the criminal charges be?

Will these charges serve to hasten Trump's impeachment, adding to Putin's anxieties?

STOP PRESS!!

(to be continued)