Insisting publicly that Russia doesn’t supply arms or weapons to Alexandr Zakharchenko’s pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukaine, Russian President Vladimir Putin exposed himself as a master propagandist. When Malaysian Flight 17 was downed by a Russian surface-to-air missile July 17, 2014 over Ukraine’s war-torn Southeastern Donbass region, Russian officials denied any involvement. Since seizing the Crimean peninsula only a week after the Sochi Winter Games March 1, 2014, Putin lashed out at what he branded a Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed coup in Kiev. Putin reacted harshly to what he regarded as CIA meddling in toppling the Kremlin-backed Ukrainian government of Viktor Yanukovich. Putin’s decision to seize Crimea was only the beginning of a Russian takeover of Ukraine’s industrialized Southeastern Donbass region, including cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Imposing harsh economic sanctions for violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions July 30, 2014, trying to force Putin to return Crimea and Southeastern Ukraine. Putin only blames the U.S. and EU for meddling in Ukraine, picking on Russia with unjustified economic sanctions. Putin sees no link between his seizure of Crimea and stationing troops and military hardware in Southeastern Ukraine before his March 24, 2014 eviction from the G8. Denying any military involvement in the Donbass region, Putin insists that any Russian involvement is strictly voluntary. “Russia is actively and massively fueling this conflict,” Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges told the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Hodges’s remarks today in Vienna directly contradict Putin’s denials of Russian military involvement in Ukraine.
Putin’s denials about Russian military involvement fly in the face of Malaysian Air Flight 17’s 298 passengers and crew vaporized by a Russian surface-to-air-missile are rejected. Instead of apologizing for inadvertent Russian involvement supplying sophisticated mobile rocket launchers to pro-Russian separatists in Southeastern Ukraine, Putin continues to blow smoke. Meeting in Vienna June 25 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, foreign minister of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany expect to discuss reports of more than 500 explosions in the Donbass region over the weekend. OSCE officials raise the failure of the Feb. 11, 2015 Minsk II Protocol calling on Russia and Kiev to deescalate hostilities in Southeastern Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeats the party line that Russian has no direct military involvement with pro-Russian separatists.
Putin’s decision to invade Crimean turned the Russian Federation into a rogue state, especially with the European Union. Showing no respect to former Soviet satellites that seek to affiliate with the U.S. or EU, Putn’s sees any turn toward the West as violation of Russian rights. He’s doesn’t see his role in driving former Soviet republics as far from Moscow as possible. Putin practically stood on his head to woo 41-year-old Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras into the new Eurasian Union, something Putin invented shortly after Russian was tossed from the G8. While Tsipras needs billions to pay back a $1.6 billion debt to Christine Lagarde’s International Monetary Fund, he wouldn’t dare abandon the EU. Joining Russia would kill Greeks fragile tourism trade, damaging the economy for generations. Putin would like nothing more to stick it to Washington and Brussels.
Since invading Georgia’s South Ossetia and Abkhazia Aug. 12, 2008, Putin continue to intimidate Eastern and Central Europeans, especially former client states like Poland, Romania, Belarus and Moldova and Baltic States, finally NATO has drawn a line in the sand. Stationing more heavy military equipment near the Russian border, Putin’s been warned that the U.S. and EU mean business. While no one in the States or EU committed to arming Ukrains yet, military backing of Petro Porshenko’s Kiev government is on its way. Calling Putin on the carpet, Hodges let the world know that the U.S. isn’t fooled by Putin’s propaganda. Denying that he’s supplied Zakharchenko hardware and troops, Putin’s no longer trusted in the EU, despite continuing to supply 30% of Europe’s energy. More aggressive moves in Ukraine or elsewhere could make Russia a pariah state.
Firing back with more propaganda, Putin continues his feeble denials about stealing Ukraine’s territory or supplying Russian troops to Zakharchenko. Getting Putin out of Crimea and the East’s Donbass region is needed before Russia can rejoin the international community. Hodges told the world today that Russia hasn’t lived up to Sept. 5, 2014 Minsk I and Feb. 11 Minsk II Protocols, requiring Russia to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty. “Russian soldiers are active parts of the fighting force,” Hodges told the OSCE in Vienna. “These are not volunteers or mercenaries, they are trained, equipped and uniformed active duty Russian soldiers,” putting Putin on notice that the U.S. and EU will not longer accept Russian lies. Dressing down Putin, while difficult, is the only way to get him to understand consequences to Russia’s Crimea invasion—getting Moscow to call back the dogs.
