Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumU.S. Pushes Russia Towards War
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/margaret-kimberley/62811/u-s-pushes-russia-towards-warU.S. Pushes Russia Towards War
by Margaret Kimberley | June 25, 2015 - 10:42am
This columnist recently said that Russia Wins in its handling of Americas attempt to eviscerate its influence and its economy. At the time those words were written Secretary of State John Kerry met with Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia. The meeting appeared to be an admission that the imperial power grab was not working out as Washington hoped. Among other things, Kerry was concerned that the Ukrainian tail was starting to wag the American dog.
~snip~
In the battle to stay on top of the world and remain in control of it, Washington inevitably lurches back and forth in its policy decision making. Now they and their scribes in corporate media have settled back into comfortable territory, simultaneously vilifying the Russian government and endlessly repeating anti-Russian propaganda.
A recent New York Times editorial with the grandiose title, The Fantasy Mr. Putin is Selling, claimed that president Putin has a willingness to brandish nuclear weapons. There was no mention of Americas unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty in 2002. Not content to tell one lie the Times then criticized Putin for aggressive behavior, including pouring troops and weapons into Kaliningrad, a Russian city located between NATO members Lithuania and Poland. Of course, Russia has every right to arm its own territory. The Times also neglected to mention that the American military are positioning weapons and holding training exercises in Ukraine, Poland, Romania and the Baltic states that border Russia. It seems that those provocations are not deemed worthy of mention.
~snip~
The Obama administration is in the process of killing the Minsk accords which were shepherded by France and Germany. This is the only process which can defang the beast, and that is why it is being sabotaged. The United States has intervened in too many countries without paying a high enough price. It is like a serial criminal who remains at large and thus thinks of himself as invincible. This county is responsible for carnage in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria and that is the list of victims only since 2001.
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)Putin admitted that the secession of Crimea from Ukraine was really an engineered take-over to protect russian interests in the face of an unstable situation.
There is abundant evidence that russian soldiers operate on ukrainian soil and fight against the ulrainian army.
There are several incidents that reek of cover-ups for russian military operations.
Putin has claimed that he has the right to protect the citizens of Ukraine of russian origin.
Putin has claimed in a speech that Ukrainians and Russians are really the same people.
But the whole situation is tooootally the result of the Wests aggression. (As long as you conveniently overlook that Western and Eastern Ukraine were culturally two different countries.)
bemildred
(90,061 posts)The United States will send an additional 100 Humvees to Ukraine next month to help the Eastern European country's fighters stave off pro-Russia rebels in the ongoing conflict there. The extra aid was announced Wednesday after the first-ever meeting between Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Ukraine Defense Minister Colonel-General Stepan Poltorak. The two, speaking at the NATO Defense Ministerial in Brussels, discussed how to stop Russia's ongoing advances in Eastern Ukraine, according to a news release.
"Secretary Carter emphasized that the United States, together with our allies, remains committed to supporting Ukraine in its effort to define its own course as a sovereign, democratic nation," the Department of Defense said in a statement.
That support came in the form of nonlethal aid. The U.S. expanded its Ukraine military package earlier this year, with the Obama administration revealing it would send $75 million in "defensive security assistance" to the fighters. The package included about 30 armored Humvees, 200 standard Humvees, drones and radios, the Washington Post reported. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko received the first 10 Humvees in March.
In Wednesday's meeting, Carter reportedly recognized Poltorak for Ukraine's efforts to implement the Minsk agreements, which in February called for a full ceasefire in the fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as well as the withdrawal of heavy weapons. Russian President Putin has been accused of ignoring the peace deal and helping pro-Russia separatists -- a move for which Russia faces sanctions.
http://www.ibtimes.com/us-send-extra-100-humvees-ukraine-after-ash-carter-stepan-poltorak-meeting-1985404
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Ukraines president, Petro Poroshenko, has signed into law measures which would allow foreign troops to enter the country as a peacekeeping force in Kievs conflict with pro-Russia rebels.
The legislation could also, potentially, see Ukraine house weapons of mass destruction including nuclear devices.
Poroshenko signed the measures, which figure as amendments to existing laws, late on Thursday. The changes allow foreign troops to participate in an eventual peacekeeping force, so long as the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approve the admission.
Other amendments establish provisions for the potential deployment of nuclear devices and other types of weapons of mass destruction on the condition that Ukraine will monitor their stay on its territory.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/544848--ukraine-to-allow-foreign-troops-and-nukes-in-conflict
bemildred
(90,061 posts)U.S. President Barack Obama, during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, has demanded that Russia withdraws its military forces from Ukrainian territory, the White House has reported.
"President Obama reiterated the need for Russia to fulfill its commitments under the Minsk agreements, including the removal of all Russian troops and equipment from Ukrainian territory," reads the report.
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/274446.html