|
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Rips U.S. and U.N.
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
September 27, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly today,
64-year-old Russian Foreign Minister accused the U.S. and Europe of spreading
the Cold War, unable to change their “genetic code” when it comes to aggression
toward Russia. Lavrov continues
61-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin pernicious propaganda, making
Orwell proud but turning reality on its head.
Lavrov ignores completely Russia’s March 1 invasion of Ukraine,
considered an affront at the U.N. since becoming independent after the Soviet
Union collapsed in 1991. Like the
unending Israeli-Palestinian problem, Putin sees Ukraine as a part of Russia,
regardless of the rest of the world.
Palestinians see all of
Israel as part of Palestinian lands.
“When Lavrov talks of a “genetic code,” he’s really referring to Russia’s
claim on Ukrainian hereditary, implying it’s really the birthplace of Mother
Russia.
Lashing out at the West, Lavrov lacks the talking points to at least
explain Russia’s excuse for seizing Ukraine’s sovereign land. Lavrov made a special point of
rejecting any claim of “external uniqueness” or what conservatives commonly call
“American exceptionalism.” Lavrov
blamed the U.S. for fomenting the Feb. 22 coup that toppled the Kremlin-backed
government of Viktor Yanukovich.
Blaming the U.S. and European Union for upending Yanukovich while Putin hosted
the Sochi Winter Olympics. Only one
week after the Games ended, Putin seized Crimea, without any resistance from
NATO or the U.S. Black Sea command.
Whatever happened to 42-year-old Ukrainian former heavyweight boxing champion
Vitali Klitschko is anyone’s guess.
During the run-up to Kiev’s raging street demonstrations, Klitschko held the
bullhorn, urging pro-Western coup.
Yanukovich antagonized pro-Western Ukrainians Nov. 15, 2013 when he
rejected a European Union plan to bailout the stagnating economy. Yanukovich opted instead for a $16
billion Kremilin plan designed to lower Kiev’s debt-burden with discounted
long-term energy contracts. Why
protesters in Kiev rejected Yanukovich’s plan, opting instead for more violent
street demonstrations is anyone’s guess.
If Lavrov can show proof that that the Feb. 22 coup was sponsored by the
CIA, he’d have a stronger argument. Putin insists that the U.S. did everything
short of invade Ukraine to drive Kiev away from the Russian bloc, prompting
Russia’s move to annex Crimea.
Lavrov insisted that a local referendum in Crimea that authorized the Russian
takeover. He reminded the U.N
General Assembly that Crimea was part of Russia when Premier Nikita Khrushchev
handed Crimea to Ukraine in the 1950s.
U.S. and EU officials see Putin’s move in Crimea and continued
interference in Southeastern Ukraine as the Kremlin’s violation of Ukraine’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Several other former Soviet satellites, including Lithuania, Latvia and
Estonia, and other East European countries like Poland, feel threatened by
Putin’s unilateral actions.
Slapping economic and travel sanctions on Moscow, the U.S. and EU since annexing
Crimea March 1, Putin has whipped up the nationalistic fervor, blaming the West
for wrecking the Russian economy.
While the Kremlin has looked toward India and China to make up lost revenue from
the EU, a deepening gap between East and West reopened the Cold War. “Russia has, with its annexation of
Crimea, ultimately changed existing borders in Europe and thus broke
international law,” said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Seteinmeier.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken a tough stance on Putin,
despite Russian threats to cut off Germany’s petroleum and natural gas supplies. Germany relies heavily, about 30%,
on Russian energy supplies.
Steinmeir pointed out that NATO sees Russian meddling in Southeatern Ukraine,
ongoing threats about nuclear weapons and beefing up the Russian navy as
provocation. Seizing Crimea
reminded NATO that Russia’s well-armed and easily mobilized military makes NATO
defenses look weak by comparison.
When Putin rolled the Red Army into Georgia in 2008, annexing pro-Russian
enclaves in South Ossetia and Abkhaszia, NATO and the U.S. looked helpless. Without any response in 2008, it was
just a matter of time before Russia did it again. Russia’s move in Crimea highlighted
NATO’s paralysis to deal with a growing Russian geopolitical threat.
Whipping up the most nationalistic fervor since Adolf Hitler’s Third
Reich, Russia’s benighted public has only military victories to compensate for
otherwise dismal economic conditions.
Slapped with punitive economic and travel sanctions since seizing Crimea
March 1, Putin sells his persecution narrative to an otherwise captive Russian
audience. Rolling out more military
hardware, the Russian people give Putin high marks for seizing Crimaea and
threatening to take more Ukrainian territory.
While West grows more nervous about Putin’s future moves, NATO continues
to add more troops and military hardware into former Soviet satellites,
including Poland. NATO
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has warned about NATO’s under-funding
and lack of preparedness to deal with today’s Russian threat. Judging by Putin’s recent actions,
NATO better catch up quickly.
|
