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| Russian President Vladimir Putin |
There has been a buzz over Ukraine in the last few weeks. The media is reporting it as the
Crisis in Ukraine, emblematic to previous media declaration such as those in Syria (Syrian Crisis), Egypt (the Crisis in Egypt) e.t.c. What started as street protests by the people of Ukraine over the country's stance of being anti-European Union, soon escalated and saw the entrance of other forces. Efforts to pacify the opposition factions by the now ousted President Viktor Yanukovich were squashed. Yanukovich had made
serious concessions which the European Union rebuffed in contempt.
The
February-21 agreement was mediated by Russia, France, Germany and
Poland and aimed to end the bloodshed in Kiev by reducing presidential
powers and establishing a framework for a national unity government, in
addition to electoral reform, constitutional changes, and early
elections. These efforts failed and the opposition toppled Yanukovich.
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| John Kerry and Ukraine interim leaders |
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| British Foreign Secretary William Hague |
In a leaked telephone conversation between the US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and the US ambassador in Ukraine saw the use of 'undiplmatic' language (Fuck the EU). Russia was responsible for the telephone leak. The conversation between the two showed America's proclivity to meddling in foreign relations and determining the destinies of countries based on Washington's recourse. As soon as the 'crisis' took another dimension after the ouster of a legitimate government, Nuland's conversation and statements were quickly forgotten and the barrel shifted. The interim government, reminiscent of the Transitional National Council in Libya, received praise and admiration from the West. Kiev, the capital of Ukraine started to receive high profile visits from the British Secretary of State William Hague and his American counterpart John Kerry. It did not take John Kerry long to brand the actions by Russia on Ukranian autonomous region of Crimea as an 'incredible act of aggression'. Russia had sent its troops to Crimea, a region with a 59% Russian speakers.
"It's an incredible act of aggression. It is
really a stunning, willful choice by President (Vladimir) Putin to
invade another country. Russia is in violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia is in violation of its international obligations," Kerry said. It hard to imagine these words coming out of John Kerry, whose country has in the past in utter disregard of international law and norms invaded countries and violated their sovereign authority and integrity using various euphemistic pretexts such as 'humanitarians' 'democracy' etc. Before the ongoing Geneva Talks over Iran Nuclear, there was heightened rhetoric of a plausible invasion of Iran with America's ally Israel fueling the rhetoric. Western media camouflaged in 'humanitarian plea' demanded Obama to act on Syria's use of chemical weapons on its citizens. In 2011, the US invaded Libya on humanitarian grounds brutally killing Muammar Gaddafi. The US has also used the drones, sending them to Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan allegedly to do away with 'terrorists'. All these acts are tantamount to aggression, the same crime they accuse Russia of doing. This is an aberration to the foundations of democracy and rule of law which US prides itself on.
President Putin affirmed that Russia is not going to war with Ukraine and there are not trying to make Crimea apart of Russia. What is mind boggling is the$ 1 billion in US aid, loan guarantees pledged by US to help Ukraine economy. Your guess is as good as mine!
