Will Henry Kissinger and Rex Tillerson bury Minsk2 for Putin?

" Even when he dominated US foreign policy at the height of the Cold War, the Harvard professor [Henry Kissinger (left)] with the distinctive German accent was also a media celebrity with a reputation as a ladies’ man. “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac,” he once noted, dryly."

So wrote Philip Sherwell about Henry Kissinger just before his 88th birthday. (The Telegraph : 21 May 2011) (my emphasis)

Now, in his 93rd year, Kissinger has been given another dose of 'political viagra' by none other than Donald Trump.

As Nahal Toosi and Isaac Arnsdorf report,

"Now, as Donald Trump signals that he wants a more cooperative relationship with Moscow, the 93-year-old Kissinger is positioning himself as a potential intermediary — meeting with the president-elect in private and flattering him in public. (Politico : Dec 24, 2016) (my emphasis)

What is of particular interest as Kissinger once again elbows himself towards the 'centre stage' on the geoplitical front is the fact that,

"He believes that rapprochement with Russia is the right move to position itself against the increasing militarization of China. A balance between America and Russia would strengthen global stability." (UT : Dec. 27, 2016) (my emphasis)

Kissinger further believes that,

"The core of the idea is that Russia guarantees the security of the eastern Ukraine, gradually withdrawing from there. The West, in return, does not interfere with the Crimean question.

The occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula [Crimea] is not officially recognized - but should not be an issue between Moscow and Washington, Kissinger recommends. (ibid UT) (my emphasis)

In effect, Kissinger is telling Trump to simply ignore the fact that Putin annexed Crimea, contrary to international law, and in so doing actually giving Putin a fig-leaf of international respectability for seizing some of the territory of an independent country.

But this was not always the case with Kissinger.

In 2014, when Putin invaded and annexed Crimea, and then rolled his troops into the Donbas, Kissinger stated that,

"The situation has gone very far, and Russia is using military pressures which we cannot accept.

And therefore it is appropriate for us to insist that the military pressures cease..... We cannot permit a country to be dismembered ..... (video below)

By April of 2015 Kissinger was giving a slanted historical justification (see video below) for Putin's annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, claiming that Ukrainian Crimea had ALWAYS been part of Russia, seemingly forgetting that Cathering the Great, the minor German princess who became ruler of Russia, also annexed Crimea in 1783 after wresting it from the Crimean Tatars.

It then also became a vassal of Russia. (cf Wikipedia [1], [2]

And now, in 2016, Kissinger, who has met Putin on many occasions, not only supports Trump's views about Putin, but also recommends,

".... recognizing the dominance of Russia in the former Soviet republics of Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan. This means: The US politically confers Russia's space between Poland / Baltics and Iran, Afghanistan and China as a sphere of influence." (ibid UT) (my emphasis)

Does Kissinger, together with Rex Tillerson, the prospective US Secretary of State appointed by Trump, spell the end of the Maidan revolution?

Does this duo of Kissinger and Tillerson also spell the end of US sanctions against Putin, even in the light of,

"The European Union has extended sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine for another six months.

The European Council formally approved the extension on December 19 after EU leaders agreed to the move at a summit last week.

"The council prolonged the economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until July 31, 2017," the council said in a statement"? (RFE/RL : December 19, 2016) (my emphasis)

Will the duo of Kissinger and Tillerson also hammer the final nail in the coffin of Minsk2 for Putin?

(to be continued)

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)