The millstone of sanctions around Putin's neck is becoming unbearable.

In my blog entry of May 1, 2018, I wrote that,

"Unfortunately for Putin, as AT writes,

"On the Crimean bridge began to collapse support. The bridge can already be called emergency. According to safety rules, it is already necessary to demolish the problematic support and build a new one
...
But this concrete will create a huge load on the piles... 
...
If the bridge is opened and a stream of cars is allowed, it will cause even more load.
...
Many people will not even know that they are going to the emergency bridge, because the Russian propogandists were given a command that says nothing about it. (AT : YouTube : 24 Apr 2018) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Igor Korsakov)"

Fifteen days later,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has attended the opening of the Crimean bridge.
...
 Being at the wheel of a Kamaz truck, Putin led a column of trucks.
...
Motor traffic along the Crimean bridge will be opened at 05:30 on May 16" (UNIAN : 15 May, 2018) (my emphasis)

Putin, however, is also well aware of the serious problems that beset his Kerch Bridge, a bridge that may soon turn out to be a "white elephant".

A white elephant is a possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness.

The remarks of Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, rather neatly sums up this opening of Putin's bridge.

""The illegal construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge is more evidence of Kremlin neglect of international law
...
"Russia will be fully responsible, and the bridge will be necessary for the invaders when they leave our Crimea urgently," Poroshenko said. (Interfax-Ukraine: 15.05.2018) (my emphasis)

Hedging his bets in case his Kerch bridge proves to be the 'white elephant' that it is, Putin has begun to accelerate his attempt to secure a land-bridge connection between Russia and Ukraine.

As reported by UNIAN, 

• "Russian-led forces mounted 80 attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in the past day...In particular, the Russian occupation forces attacked the Ukrainian forces 22 times with the use of artillery systems and mortars, and there were two tank attacks ..." (7 May, 2018) (my emphasis)

• "Fierce fighting with Russian-led troops in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, continued on Saturday, May 12, as a result of which one Ukrainian soldier was killed in action, another four were wounded in action." (13 May, 2018)

• "The Russian-led forces in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, have started using the latest weapons against the Ukrainian army. A few days ago, the enemy launched the newest rockets to shell Ukrainian positions near the Ukrainian-controlled strategic port city of Mariupol" (13 May, 2018) (my emphasis)

• "Russian-led forces mounted 45 attacks on Ukrainian troops in Donbas in the past day, using heavy weapons 17 times. "Over the past 24 hours, the situation remained tense. The fighting intensified after 16:00 and continued in all sectors," (16 May, 2018) (my emphasis) 

As Kurt Volker is being given new powers as the US representative in Ukraine, UAWire reports that,

"Volker and Vladislav Surkov (right: Volker and Surkov) did not reach an agreement in the negotiations.
...
The stumbling point was  the law about the reintegration of the Donbas." (UAWire : Tuesday, May 15, 2018) (my emphasis)

And after [Kurt Volker's] visit to the Donbas, the first trip of the U.S. envoy to eastern Ukraine since the start of the JFO, the new military operation of the Ukrainian government in the conflict-hit region, Volker realised that,

"If Russia will veto the decision on peacekeepers, it means Kremlin wants to continue the war." (LiveUAmap: 15 May, 2018) (my emphasis) 

Putin's current escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia should also be viewed against the backdrop of the effects that the new US sanctions against Russia are having, especially among his kleptocratic "inner circle".

As Benjamin Bathke and Elena Barysheva Report,

"Russian lawmakers have drafted a bill that would make it a criminal offence punishable by up to four years in jail to observe sanctions imposed by the United States or other foreign countries, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday." (DW : 15.05.2018) (my emphasis)

To soften this blow on ordinary Russian citizens, Jamie Dettmer reports that,

"Initially, Russian lawmakers said they would impose restrictions on a wide range of specific goods and services from the United States, including medicine and agricultural products; but, in the draft legislation approved on May 15, language that targeted specific goods to soften the impact on Russian consumers and industries was removed." (VOA : 15 May, 2018) (my emphasis)

Russia is also starting to print money to assist Putin's billionaires who are now under US sanctions.

As UAWire reports,

"The Russian government has already given assistance to sanctioned billionaire Viktor Vekselberg’s Renova Group, and is currently working on financial support measures for Oleg Deripaska’s companies, including Rusal and the GAZ group, as announced on Monday by Russia’s acting  Finance Minister Anton Siluanov." (UAWire : Tuesday, May 15, 2018) (my emphasis)

This printing of money by Putin already amounts to $ billions. (ibid UAWire)

So whilst Putin was driving his truck along the emergency bridge of his Kerch bridge, he drove with a troubled mind.

Bailing out his 'inner circle' from the sanctions imposed upon them by the US, by printing billions upon billions of Roubles, shows that Putin is a worried man.
 
The millstone of sanctions around his neck is already becoming unbearable. 

(to be continued)

Will Putin fall into the abyss of starting World War 3?

The scarlet thread of Maidan has once again bubbled to the surface of  US Special Prosecutor Mueller's investigation into the Trump-Putin collusion during the 2016 US Presidential elections.

As reported by Andrew E. Kramer (left),

" ... in Ukraine, where officials are wary of offending President Trump, four meandering cases that involve Mr. Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, have been effectively frozen by Ukraine’s chief prosecutor.

The cases are just too sensitive for a government deeply reliant on United States financial and military aid, and keenly aware of Mr. Trump’s distaste for the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, into possible collusion between Russia and his campaign, some lawmakers say.

The decision to halt the investigations by an anticorruption prosecutor was handed down at a delicate moment for Ukraine, as the Trump administration was finalizing plans to sell the country sophisticated anti-tank missiles, called Javelins." (New York Times : May 2, 2018) (my emphasis) (cf. also: UNIAN 3 May, 2018)

 

Jonathan Chait (right) also writes that,

"Donald Trump’s habitual dishonesty is a trait well understood by the entire mainstream news media, ...
The last few hours alone have brought news of fresh new forms of Trumpian dishonesty that have managed to shock even the people who were looking for it.

"Supporters of the [Trump] administration held up the sale [to Ukraine, of the US Javelin anti-tank missiles] as evidence that Trump could not have colluded with Russia — here he was, arming Russia’s enemy.
...
It is far more likely that somebody in the administration proposed a quid pro quo, and Ukraine quite rationally decided it would rather have weapons to defend itself against the next Russian aggression than participate in an investigation that the president of the United States regards as a mortal threat." (New York Magazine : May 2, 2018) (my emphasis)

And the next Russian aggression is not far off on the horizon.

On 16th March, 2018, UNIAN reported that,

"Russia has strengthened its military presence on the border with Ukraine as several mechanized divisions are fully prepared for intervention, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, speaking before the Ukrainian troops in Luhansk region Friday, referring to a report by the commander of the Anti-Terrorist Operation.
...
"In his latest report, General Zabrodsky (chief of the ATO forces and commander of the landing-attack troops of the AFU Gen. Mykhailo Zabrodsky] reported in detail on the strengthening of the military presence of the Russian Federation along our border and continued stay of Russia's regular troops in the occupied territories," the president said." (UNIAN : 16 March, 2018) (my emphasis)

Carly Read further reports that, 

"US and Ukrainian officials have blasted Russia for reportedly shepherding in hundreds of tanks and rockets into the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
...
Alexander Vershbow (right), former US state department official at the Atlantic Council said: “The provision of Javelins as well as the tightening of sanctions against Russia provides essential leverage to achieve a negotiated solution.” (Express : May 2, 2018) (my emphasis)

It has now also being reported by Natalia Zinets and Alessandra Prentice that,

"Ukraine has decided to expand sanctions on Russian companies and entities to mirror those of the United States, which has blacklisted tycoons and allies of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday.
...
Kiev has also extended existing sanctions it introduced against hundreds of Russian companies and entities in response to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Kremlin support for a pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine." (Reuters : May 2, 2018) (my emphasis)
 
Putin is now teetering on the edge of a full scale invasion of Ukraine.

But the Ukrainian Army is now more than a match for Putin's proxies and Russian soldiers in the Donbas, thanks in part to those Javelin missiles.

Will Putin fall into the abyss of starting World War 3?

(to be continued)

Will Trump's trade war with the EU cause the EU sanctions against Putin to crack?

"The law about riding the tiger of deception states that, "The longer you stay on, the easier it is to fall off."

In October of 2014,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered government agencies responsible for major construction projects to build a bridge across the Kerch Strait connecting Crimea and Russia before the end of 2018.

The order was given on Wednesday at a session of the State Council, the country’s main consultative body, in Novosibirsk, Russian news agency TASS reported." (Global Construction Review : 9 October 2014) (my emphasis) 

Unfortunately for Putin, as AT writes,

"On the Crimean bridge began to collapse support. The bridge can already be called emergency. According to safety rules, it is already necessary to demolish the problematic support and build a new one
...
But this concrete will create a huge load on the piles... 
...
If the bridge is opened and a stream of cars is allowed, it will cause even more load.
...
Many people will not even know that they are going to the emergency bridge, because the Russian propogandists were given a command that says nothing about it. (AT : YouTube : 24 Apr 2018) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Igor Korsakov)

Adding to his problems with a critical part of his Kerch Bridge in danger of collapse, Putin now also has to contend with the fact that,

"Ukraine has received the first U.S. Javelin missiles and launch units, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday. (Pavel Polityuk : Reuters :30 April :2018) (my emphasis)

And whilst the Kerch bridge is collapsing, and the Ukrainian Army becomes even more of a powerful adversary against Putin's forces in the Donbas,

"The G7 Foreign Ministers have said sanctions against Russia will continue.
...
"Minister [Minister of International Trade of Canada Chrystia] Freeland and G7 Foreign Ministers reaffirmed our shared respect for rules-based international order, including on territorial sovereignty. Sanctions imposed on Russia following its unacceptable actions in Ukraine will continue," Canada's Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter on April 22, 2018." (UNIAN : 23 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

In response to these negative developments,

"Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) calls on the international community to put more pressure on Russia over recent escalation in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "Russia needs destabilization of Ukraine. 61 attacks, mortars used. 7 UA WIA [wounded in action]. Urge partners exert more pressure on Ru," MFA press secretary Mariana Betsa (left) wrote on Sunday, April 29." (UNIAN : 29 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

It is therefore no wonder that,

"A special order will be in effect with the decision of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on the start of the operation of joint forces in the area of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The resolution on the special order was handed to Interfax-Ukraine by the Command of the joint headquarters on Friday.

The resolution will take effect on Monday, April 30." (Kyiv Post : April 28, 2018) (my emphasis)

Giving Putin some cheer is the fact that Trump is not budging on his recently pronounced tariffs on  steel and aluminium from the EU.

His recent meeting with Angela Merkel was, to say the least, somewhat frosty.

As reported by Julie Hirschfeld Davis,

"President Trump and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany made no attempt on Friday to hide their disagreements over the future of the Iran nuclear deal and trade relations between the United States and Europe after a day of White House meetings that appeared to have produced no breakthroughs on major disputes. (New York Times : 27 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

Shawn Donnan and Jim Brunsden (left) also report that,
 
"The White House on Monday said the EU, Canada and Mexico had been given a “final” 30-day window to negotiate deals with the Trump administration to permanently avoid the import taxes. Mr Trump said he was imposing the duties in the name of “national security” and to combat global overcapacity in metals fed by soaring Chinese production over the past decade." (Financial Times : 1 May, 2018)
 
But, as  Daniel Boffey writes,

"The EU has warned that it will not “shoot from the hip” but is fully prepared for a trade war with the US amid heightened concerns that the bloc’s last minute crisis talks are doomed to fail." (The Guardian : 30 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

This is a trade war that Putin relishes since it will add pressure to the calls of German businessmen, in particular, to get rid of the EU sanctions imposed against Putin because of his illegal annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, and his ongoing war with Ukraine in the Donbas.  

As of yet we are not sure how the Danish parliament will react to the question of whether to grant Putin permission for his Nord Stream 2 pipeline to cross their territorial waters.

German businessmen are anxiously awaiting the decision of the Danes, as is Putin.

Whilst the EU may be ready for a Trade War with Donald Trump, the disagreements between Angela Merkel and Donald Trump may yet turn out to be the excuse that will be used to unravel the EU sanctions against Putin. 

Like the Kerch bridge, will Trump's trade war with the EU cause the EU sanctions against Putin to begin to crack.

(to be continued)

Putin, Merkel, and Nord Stream 2

Jack Stubbs and Polina Nikolskaya (left) reports that,

"An escalation in U.S. sanctions against Moscow risks derailing a fragile recovery in Russia’s economy, which had just begun to take hold after the Kremlin’s last confrontation with the West in 2014, analysts and investors said on Monday. 

...

Russia’s rouble suffered its biggest daily fall in over three years on Monday and stocks in major Russian companies also slid, as investors reacted to the new sanctions....[A]luminum giant Rusal (0486.HK) lost over half its value in Hong Kong after its main owner Oleg Deripaska was named on the sanctions list." (Reuters : April 9, 2018) (my emphasis)

By contrast,

"Recent revisions to GDP data revealed that the [Ukrainian] economy performed better last year than previously thought. Strong wage growth, higher government spending and robust investment drove growth in 2017, although soaring imports dampened the external sector’s performance. The available data for the first quarter of 2018 suggests that the recovery remains on track, albeit moderate given the severity of Ukraine’s recession." (Focus Economics : April 10, 2018) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Focus Economics March 29, 2018)

Added to which, as UNIAN reports,

"The EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee (PAC) states that Kyiv has prospects of becoming a member of the European Union provided it complies with certain principles." (UNIAN : 20 April,2018) (my emphasis)

This pronouncement by the PAC will further bolster the positive economic performance of the Ukrainian economy in the coming months.

Not only is Ukraine's economy growing whilst it is at war with Putin's Russia, we now learn that,

"The United State’s 22nd Permanent Representative to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison (left), has guaranteed Ukraine of the United States support for their induction into NATO. She expressed this confidently during a panel discussion at the eleventh Security Forum, which was set-up by the Open Ukraine Fund. She said, “We want Ukraine to become a NATO member, I can assure you.... (Kurt T : SOFREP : 16.04.2018) (my emphasis)

No doubt Putin is spitting nails at this US support for Ukraine joining NATO.

In response to these positive developments for Ukraine,

"Russian-led forces [launched a] savage Grad attack against defenders of Lebedynske in Donbas.
...
Since the beginning of the day, the Ukrainian military have recorded eight militant attacks, including with the use of banned Grad multiple rocket launchers." (UNIAN : 20 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

Putin's soldiers and proxies in Ukrainian Donbas are now also resorting to attacking Ukrainian civilians.

As UNIAN also reports,


"U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker (right) has commented on a recent attack on personnel of Voda Donbasa's Donetsk Water Filtration Plant by Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine, saying that targeting civilians is unacceptable. "Very worrisome. Targeting civilians is unacceptable: #NotATarget," he tweeted on Tuesday evening." (UNIAN : 17 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

Meanwhile,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday and discussed the situation around Syria and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Kremlin said" (Polina Devitt : Reuters : April 17, 2018) (my emphasis)

As a sop to those who are against Nord Stream 2,

"Merkel appeared to signal a decrease in support for the planned pipeline last week, saying on April 10 that there were "political considerations" to take into account.
...
She said that she had told Putin by phone that the project could not go ahead without clarity on Ukraine's role as a gas transit route." (RFE/RL : April 17, 2018) (my emphasis) 

In this I am somewhat reminded of that secret Treaty of Rapallo (1922) between Germany and the then Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in particular Article 5, which states that,

"Article 5: The two Governments shall co-operate in a spirit of mutual goodwill in meeting the economic needs of both countries. In the event of a fundamental settlement of the above question on an international basis, an exchange of opinions shall previously take place between the two Governments. The German Government, having lately been informed of the proposed agreements of private firms, declares its readiness to give all possible support to these arrangements and to facilitate their being carried into effect. (Wikipedia) (my emphasis) 

So what, exactly, did Putin and Merkel whisper into each other's ears during their recent phone conversation?

Is it also purely co-incidental that,

"Germany's Europe minister [Michael Roth (left), a member of the Social Democrat party (SPD)] called on Monday for a new policy of easing tensions with Russia, adding to a chorus of voices pressing Chancellor Angela Merkel to moderate her hardened stance towards the Kremlin." (The Hindu (Reuters) :  April 16, 2018) (my emphasis)

One can already hear the distant thud of German Business Jackboots trampling all over Ukraine towards Putin's Russia.

(to be continued)

Denmark now has the power to stop Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline dead in its tracks.

In May of 2014, an article appeared in The Economist entitled, "Germany and Russia : How Very Understanding"

This article goes on to explain the attachment of the German word, "versteher " to Putin. Specifically it points out that,

"The label is now being attached to so-called Russlandversteher or Putinversteher: members of the [German] elite or intelligentsia who gush with empathy for Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, on talk shows, in journals and at dinner parties.

They include two former [German] Social Democratic chancellors. In the newspaper Die Zeit, Helmut Schmidt  (left: with Putin) said Mr Putin’s annexation of Crimea was not quite “legitimate” but certainly “understandable”. 

Like Putin, who in March of 2017 said that,

"...  the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was purely economic and not directed against other countries, as he met the head of German chemicals group BASF, a potential partner in the project" (Reuters: March 22, 2017),

we also have Angela Merkel, the Putinversteher, arguing that,

“We think this is an economic project. We are also for energy diversification. We also want Ukraine to continue to have transit gas traffic, but we believe Nord Stream poses no danger to diversification,” she said" (Joseph Nasr & Noah Barkin : Reuters : February 16, 2018) (my emphasis)

And so,

"Germany has approved the construction and operation of the Russia-built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, its operator and the German maritime authority said on Tuesday.
...
The Nord Stream 2 operator said it expected that other four countries along the route of the undersea gas pipeline – Russia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark – will issue permits in the coming months." (Reuters : March 27, 2018) (my emphasis)

 

Unfortunately, however, whilst Finland has recently given Putin permission "to use the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the construction of the pipeline", little Denmark finds itself in a real political quandary over whether it, too, should allow Putin's gas pipeline to cross through its territorial waters.

As reported by Stine Jacobsen and Alissa de Carbonnel (left),

"The Danish government is facing fierce lobbying by Russia, EU allies and the United States over the 9.5 billion euro ($11.7 billion) Nord Stream 2 project championed by President Vladimir Putin and financed by five Western firms.
 ...
A Danish veto, under new legislation allowing it to do so on security grounds, would force Russia, which supplies about one third of Europe’s gas needs, to find a new route for the pipeline.
...
“This is not about gas, it is one of the most important foreign policy decisions in Denmark since the Cold War,” said senior foreign policy researcher Hans Mouritzen at the Danish Institute for International Studies." (Reuters : March 26, 2018) (my emphasis)

And whilst Denmark is agonizing over whether it should grant Putin a permit to allow his Nord Stream 2 pipeline into their territorial waters, Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, continues in his efforts to get a UN mandate for UN peacekeepers in the Donbas.

"Answering a question [in an interview with Handelsblatt] on how Berlin and Brussels should act in this regard, the president said: "They should urgently ensure that we can get the mandate from the UN Security Council. Plus it's about ceasefire... After all, amid the ongoing hostilities, peacekeepers will not be able to deploy there. And our Western partners should further realize that sanctions are an extremely effective tool - only they can force Putin to sit down at the negotiating table. If the Russian aggression continues, sanctions will need to be strengthened." (UNIAN : 9 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

Adding to Poroshenko's call for UN peacekeepers to be deployed throughout the Donbas,

"Turkey is ready to participate in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Donbass, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's press service said Monday following a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
...
"President Petro Poroshenko informed the Turkish side on the situation in Donbass. … Turkey welcomed the deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the occupied area of Donbass and stated willingness to take part in this mission," the statement said." (Daily Sabah : 10 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

Against the backdrop of Poroshenko's efforts to bring peace to the Donbas,

" Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 35 times in the past 24 hours, with three Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA)." (UNIAN : 10 April, 2018) (my emphasis)

Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline is an integral part of his war with Ukraine and, as Darius McQuaid  reports,

"The [Nord Stream 2] pipeline will double the amount of Russian gas arriving in Germany and Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is behind the pipeline, already accounts for around one third of European gas supply.

Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko said the project is “political bribe money for [German] loyalty to Russia.”

He told German business paper Handelsblat the pipeline holds “no economic justification” but German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the pipeline by saying it is a purely “economic project”. (Express : April 9, 2018) (my emphasis)

And now we await the Danish decision on whether to grant Putin permission for his Nord Stream 2 pipeline to cross through their territorial waters, just as we await the decision of the UN whether to grant Ukraine's call for a UN peacekeeping forces to patrol throughout the Donbas.

Denmark now has the power to immediately stop Putin's Nord Stream 2 dead in its tracks. 

(to be continued)

Addendum: 11 April, 2018

In my blog entry of 22-4-2015, I wrote that,

"Former Polish President Lech Walesa (right) is more cautious, however. He argues that,

"..the West should confront Russian President Vladimir Putin with its own arsenal of nuclear weapons to curb what he called Russian aggression." (Dennis Lynch : International Business Times : April 08 2015) (my emphasis)

Let us remind ourselves that, as Julian Isherwood reported in March,

"Russia has gone on the offensive in the Baltic, warning Denmark that if it joins Nato’s missile defence shield, its navy will be a legitimate target for a Russian nuclear attack." (The Telegraph : 21 Mar 2015) (my emphasis)"  

 One can now only hope that the Danish Parliament's decision about permission for the Nord Stream Pipeline2 to pass through their territorial waters will not be clouded by Putin's 2015 threat about them becoming a legitimate target for a Russian nuclear attack.

Can Putin disentangle himself from the "Scarlet Thread of Maidan"?

In my blog entry of 19 July, 2016, I wrote that, 

"And at last week’s Republican National Security Committee platform meeting in Cleveland, Josh Rogin (left) reports 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)"

I further wrote that,

"Diana Denman (right), a platform committee member from Texas, had proposed at the [2016] Republican National Security Committee platform meeting in Cleveland,

".... a platform amendment that would call for maintaining or increasing sanctions against Russia, increasing aid for Ukraine and “providing lethal defensive weapons” to the Ukrainian military."

It is now emerging, as reported by Mark Hosenball (left), that,

"Investigators probing whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia have been questioning witnesses about events at the 2016 Republican National Convention, according to two sources familiar with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiries." (Reuters : March 29, 2018) (my emphasis)

Specifically, Mueller is investigating the 'watering down' of  Diana Denman's proposal calling for increasing aid for Ukraine and “providing lethal defensive weapons” to the Ukrainian military" at the 2016 Republican National Security Committee that were made by Manafort, and other Trump cohorts, in collusion with Putin's Russian operatives at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

Yet again is the 'Scarlet Thread Of Maidan', the thread that led to the millstone of sanctions around Putin's neck, once more bubbling to the surface of the Mueller investigation into the Putin-Trump collusion during the 2016 US Presidential elections, which led to Trump now occupying the White House.

At the same time, the current US Omnibus Spending Bill, which Trump recently signed into law, contains, as reported by Dan Merica (left),

" ... a direct message to President Donald Trump: Russia needs to be punished.
...
The so-called omnibus spending bill, which the Senate passed just after midnight early Friday morning, includes measures that bar a host of federal agencies from engaging with Russia and sanctions the country for a vast series of grievances.
...

One section bars money from funding a program that Russia participates in by stating money should "not be used for officials of the central government of Russia."

 ...

Another section punishes Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea by barring funds from going to support any countries that back the annexation, and directs Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to push Americans on certain financial boards to disallow funds from flowing to programs supportive of Russia's annexation." (CNN : March 23, 2018) (my emphasis)

The millstone of sanctions around Putin's neck has thus grown heavier.

And it is this millstone around his neck that is now forcing Putin to agree, together with Angela Merkel,  Petro Poroshenko, and Emmanuel Macron to,

" ..... examine ways to speed up progress on a peace plan for eastern Ukraine and end a conflict that triggered sanctions against Russia.

 ...
The four countries pledged to “search in the months ahead for possible solutions to accelerate the implementation” of the Minsk [2] accords, which laid out military and political steps to end the conflict between Ukraine’s government and pro-Russian separatists.to speeding up" (Gregory Viscusi: Bloomberg : March 29, 2018) (my emphasis) 

But can Putin disentangle himself from the "Scarlet Thread of Maidan"?

(to be continued)