Russian troops entering Ukraine nuclear-capable?
This is the news that greets the world this morning, the 12th November 2014.Obama has now to decide whether he is going to continually avert the eyes of the world away from Putin's insane and dangerously escalating war against Ukraine by continuing to focus the eyes of the world on ebola and ISIS. Putin has reached a point of no return. The rapid build-up of troops and equipment in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, coupled with the recent escalating encounters between NATO and Russian forces, signifies that Putin is throwing down the gauntlet to both the US and the EU. Yesterday, as reported by Steve Sherer, NATO Commander Philip Breedlove had this to say.
"In the air those interactions [between NATO and Russian Forces] have multiplied, by some accounts, as many as three times ... We now see larger (Russian) forces participating, as opposed to one or two bombers in the past" (
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| NATO Commander Philip Breedlove |
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| David Cameron - British Prime Minister |
Furthermore, that he "... promised to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin at the [upcoming] G20 meeting in
Australia that if Russia continues its actions in Ukraine, then Britain
and its allies will keep upping the pressure."
Meanwhile, "Germany's foreign minister [Frank-Walter Steinmeier] has said that the situation in Ukraine's
insurgent-occupied eastern regions has become 'serious' and has urged
all sides in the conflict to return to the terms of the Minsk peace deal
signed in September", whilst the 'fragrant' Mogherini, the "EU's foreign policy chief ..... says OSCE reports of
heavy tanks and weapons in Donetsk are "a very worrying development."
The EU has called on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine any troops and
weapons under its control. (Ukraine Today: Nov. 11, 2014)
Yet again Russia's favoured nation, Germany, is pushing Putin's Trojan Minsk Deal, whilst the 'fragrant' Mogherini is "worried" about Putin's blatant invasion of Ukraine. Added to which, Angela Merkel said yesterday (Nov 11 2014)
".. that there were no plans at present
for further economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, but she was
unhappy that a cease-fire agreement was being broken and that
pro-Russian rebels had gone ahead with their elections." (my emphasis)
One cannot but help to be reminded of the words of Alexander Motyl that,
"In the final analysis, the willingness of France, Germany and all the other states making up the European Union to respond to Putin's evil doing will determine the moral fate of the EU. If they sacrifice morality to arms contracts or gas, the EU will have lost its raison d'etre. Worse, like Putin, it will be without a soul." (my emphasis)
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| Alexander Motyl |
The rumblings within the EU about economic assistance to Ukraine over the enormous gas bill that Putin is presenting to them is further evidence that the moral fate of the EU is at stake.
As recently as Oct 31, 2014, ABC News reported that,
"The EU is not paying fresh money or additional money to help Ukraine pay its gas bills," said [EU spokeswoman Marlene Holzner]. "And the EU is not giving any guarantee to the Russian side in case Ukraine says we cannot order X amount of gas or we cannot pay."
Has the EU conveniently forgotted the billions of dollars that was stolen from Ukraine's coffers by Victor Yanukovich, now comfortably residing in Russia under the protection of Putin, and that would have allowed Ukraine to pay off all the monies it now owes to Russia? As reported by Reuters (
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FBI and U.S. Treasury agents have arrived in Kyiv to aid Ukraine’s
interim leaders to uncover the financial crimes of the government of
ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in an effort to repatriate billions
of dollars." (James Dettmer: March 10, 2014)
Why, therefore, is the EU so deafeningly silent over the stolen Ukrainian billions that they know is in Putin's Russia?
And now we have Putin's nuclear-capable troops entering Ukrainian Crimea, and truckloads of Russian soldiers and equipment entering eastern Ukraine.
What Putin is doing in Ukraine is also having repercussions in Kazakhstan, a member of Putin's Eurasian Economic Union.
As reported by Abdujalil Abdurasulov (BBC: 9 November 2014) from northern Kazakhstan,
"The crisis in Ukraine has prompted many [in Kazakhstan] to ask who the Russian community in Kazakhstan would support if relations with Moscow turned sour.
"Events in Ukraine became a good lesson for Kazakhstan," says Dosym Satpayev, a political analyst.
He says that it helped people to realise that northern Kazakhstan is a very sensitive issue - and not simply because of large Russian communities living there.
Mr Satpayev argues that people in the region, like many others in Kazakhstan, are especially receptive to Russia's propaganda machine. (my emphasis)
"It means that if there is a conflict between our countries, some people in Kazakhstan will support Russian policy towards Kazakhstan," he says.
"And maybe some of these people will support the same scenario as we see in Ukraine."
Such concerns have led to some friction with Moscow.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has even talked of leaving President Putin's Eurasian Economic Union "if it threatens independence".
(to be continued)
What Putin is doing in Ukraine is also having repercussions in Kazakhstan, a member of Putin's Eurasian Economic Union.
As reported by Abdujalil Abdurasulov (BBC: 9 November 2014) from northern Kazakhstan,
"The crisis in Ukraine has prompted many [in Kazakhstan] to ask who the Russian community in Kazakhstan would support if relations with Moscow turned sour.
"Events in Ukraine became a good lesson for Kazakhstan," says Dosym Satpayev, a political analyst.
He says that it helped people to realise that northern Kazakhstan is a very sensitive issue - and not simply because of large Russian communities living there.
Mr Satpayev argues that people in the region, like many others in Kazakhstan, are especially receptive to Russia's propaganda machine. (my emphasis)
"It means that if there is a conflict between our countries, some people in Kazakhstan will support Russian policy towards Kazakhstan," he says.
"And maybe some of these people will support the same scenario as we see in Ukraine."
Such concerns have led to some friction with Moscow.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has even talked of leaving President Putin's Eurasian Economic Union "if it threatens independence".
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| President Nazarbayev (right) is feeling the breath of Russia's President Vladimir Putin in more ways than one |
It is truly ironic that the president of Kazakhstan is willing to stand up against Putin whilst so many EU politicians are afraid to.
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