*the Kiev government has been circulating photographs of armed men it claims are identified as Russian special forces. One of these "green men" sports a full beard and supposedly was also identified in Georgia during the 2008 Russian incursion. The White House has endorsed the photographs as evidence of Russian involvement in the separatist movement as part of the propaganda war against the Kremlin. No photographs of CIA personnel in Kiev have surfaced yet. US paratroops have arrived in Poland, and US naval forces are conducting firing exercises in the Black Sea, however. More US troops are scheduled to arrive in Baltic countries soon. The other factor that is clear thanks to reporting by JP Sottile of newsvandal.com is that the US has major business deals underway in Ukraine. Agriculture giant Cargill recently purchased a $200 million stake in UkrLand Farming, the worlds 8th largest cultivator, and is heavily invested in building a Black Sea grain port. Chevron has invested $10bn in Ukraine shale gas. The familiar unholy tag team of corporatist America and Washington's military-security establishment is at play in Ukraine through organizations like Freedom House and the US-Ukraine Business Council. Just ask 'Kinda Sleezy' Rice former member of the Chevron board and former national security advisor! The "breadbasket of Russia" is at risk, so it is no surprise Russia is not backing down under the threat of western economic sanctions, especially when they have the tactical military advantage on the ground.
Further: {17.04.14}The Current Occupant again hypocritically accused the Russians of fomenting insurrection in eastern Ukraine during a corporate media interview. Of course, in the propaganda war between East and West, he overlooked the $5bn US State Department and others have spent on influence peddling in that fragile country according to a former MI5 analyst. The US miscalculated again the depths of attachment hard-line, Russian-speaking Ukrainians feel for the Motherland. Fortunately for both sides and Ukraine which is caught in the middle of the ideological struggle agreed today to de-escalate the volatile situation tittering on civil war. Secretary Kerry and Minister Lavrov agreed in Geneva that all irregular military formations must be dissolved and that occupied government buildings must be evacuated. Amnesty will be given to anti-government protestors who lay down their arms. Mr. Lavrov said there must be long-term constitutional reforms in Ukraine, but that the current crisis "needs to be regulated by the Ukrainians themselves." Kiev seems to be willing to consider further de-centralization as a solution to unrest in its Russian-speaking eastern region. Undoubtably there will be further negotiations on what form these organic changes will take. In US Person's opinion a truly democratic Ukraine that fairly represents all of it's ethnicities has a future role as a bridge nation between the EU and Russia both economically and politically.
Latest: {10.4.14}Its déja vu again in eastern Ukraine as both sides accuse the other of inserting covert operatives into the standoff between pro-Russian protestors and Ukrainian authorities in the cities of Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk. Secretary of State Kerry testified before Congress Tuesday that Russian special forces are orchestrating an uprising in order to justify a Russian incursion. He called the attempts "as ham-handed as they are transparent". But hold on their comrade, the Russian foreign ministry claims the private mercenary firm of Greystone is working with Ukrainian troops to prepare to dislodge the protestors occupying official buildings. The State Department did not deny the allegation. Translation: company representatives are in the country and the company was once affliated with the infamous Blackwater (now named Xe Services) private security firm as stated by the Russians. (The company denies its presence in Ukraine.) As readers may recall that company's mercenaries were responsible for a 2007 slaughter of civilians at Baghdad's Nisour Square in the name of security. How the latest round of accusations will affect a summit between the US, Russia, EU, and Ukraine is not apparent yet. Foreign Minister Lavrov said he is prepared to talk about Ukraine but he needs to understand the format and agenda of the meeting first. No date for a meeting as been set.
More: {7.04.14}According to a leading intelligence analyst, Stratfor, the United States has told Russia it has no intention of expanding NATO into Ukraine especially since it would directly antagonize forces with nuclear capabilities. Russia has told the United States that it does not intend to invade eastern Ukraine. So what is the problem? The warnings and counter-warnings are part of the ongoing negotiation process over the future of Ukraine. Most of that process is taking place over the head of the Kiev usurpers. Add mutual distrust to the process and it is easier to understand the Cold War style tension the Ukrainian crisis is causing. The Russians think that once the fractious, socialist Ukrainians get a taste of capitalist "economic austerity' as a condition of financial aid there will be political backlash against the West which they can exploit to shape the new Ukrainian government. Just ask the Greeks or the Cypriots. The US obviously has fewer levers to pull in the region. That was demonstrated by its inability to halt the Crimean annexation other than to foam at the mouth over legalisms. The US has insufficient manpower and equipment in Europe to successfully oppose an all-out Russian invasion of Ukraine. A subsequent allied invasion of the motherland in retaliation is only a lunatic hallucination or a suicidal death wish.
Germany as well as the United States was involved in the political turmoil that led to the Ukrainian government's downfall. Berlin publicly supported a rival leader, former boxer Vitali Klitschko, but he has withdrawn from the campaign for presidency. Since the Russians used a show of force in Crimea, Germany has fallen silent on the subject of Ukraine's future. They cannot afford to antagonize Russia too much. The Germans buy 30% of the natural gas they consume from Russia. They also have their hands full keeping the EU from falling apart economically. Moreover, Germany does not speak authoritatively for the EU when it comes to power pollitics. So Russia and the US have to speak to each other calmly and work a solution acceptable to both sides. And US Person thinks that is how it should be in a world that has changed, but not all that much.
{7.04.14}Crimea is clearly a different case from Ukraine and probably explains why Russian troops will not invade eastern Ukraine with it large population of ethnic Russians despite the ardent wishes of rioting partisans. Almost certainly Russian forces massed on the Ukraine border would face a formidable insurrection by ethnic Ukrainians after defeating the armed forces. The United States realizes the bloodless Crimean take over is merely an opening move in the larger game. The latest Kerry-Lavrov communique does not even mention Crimea. President Putin wants a federal system established in Ukraine in which regions of different ethnic composition would have greater political independence. A weakened Kiev would be responsible for common defense and foreign policy, primarily. In such an arrangement, Moscow could exert the influence it wants over Ukraine's eastern provinces which speak Russian and are culturally Russian [chart below]. It will not, however, deal with the Kiev rump government that has the support of the West, but which it views is an illegitimate result of a coup d'état staged by fascist elements and supported by western intrigue. A referendum on the idea of a federal state should take place before any presidential election in Moscow's view.
source: BBC