A couple of brief remarks on today’s meeting in Kremlin between Russian President Vladimir Putin and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter:
1. The elaborated framework of the roadmap for de-escalation in Ukraine consists of four basic provisions: ceasefire, deescalation (withdrawal of troops and disarmament of illegal armed groups), initiation of national reconciliation dialogue and holding elections. The ball is obviously on Kiev’s side. Any further attempt to repress the protest in the South-East will definitely close this narrow window of opportunity.
2. Putin’s request to postpone referenda on independence in Donetsk and Lugansk is an act of good will. Being aware of the public mood in these regions it is very unlikely that the ballot will be held off. People there are counting days to have a legal foundation to get rid of Kiev’s dictate. By the way, such development would undermine traditional Western claims that Putin is manipulating the protests in the South-East of Ukraine.
3. The Russian President emphasized again that “the blame for the crisis… lies with those who organised the coup d’etat in Kiev and have not yet taken the trouble to disarm right-wing radical and nationalist groups.” That means that prior to such disarmament there would be no dialogue and no elections.
4. It was also stressed that the draft new constitution of Ukraine should be discussed during this national reconciliation dialogue and again, prior to the elections.
5. The situation on the ground suggests that this roadmap would take at least 6 months to be implemented and require a substantial participation of the legitimate Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovych.
This is the last (and rather unexpected) chance to retain a united federative Ukraine. Taking into account highly contradicting interests of the international centers of power which dominate over the current Kiev’s administration, it would be almost impossible to keep this narrow window open for this term. But apparently Hope will be the last victim of the ongoing Ukrainian crisis…
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What Burkhalter and Putin discussed and came up with as roadmap for Ukraine is government for the people of Ukraine. But that is not what the US wants. The US knows full well that on its own, Ukraine, most certainly eastern Ukraine, doesn’t want to join NATO and most certainly doesn’t want to house NATO bases and missile defense systems pointed at Russia in its territory. But that is the core around which the current civil war between the people of the Donbas and Kiev turns: the Kiev junta submits to US interests in return for money; in order to get that money they have to agree to NATO bases and therefore there cannot be federalization of Ukraine and without this “war on terrorism” i.e on the terrorists in eastern Ukraine, Kiev cannot impose NATO bases on the east. Which is why Brennan gave his instructions on a false flag attack in Odessa and on somewhat less bloody attacks in eastern Ukraine for a dual motive: either to get Russia to invade, giving the US a cause for war on Russia, or if that doesn’t work, to give “support for NATO bases” to Kiev.
Which is why the road map was decried by the US/EU as non-serious immediately, the same way that the referendum which meanwhile was decided for autonomy, was decried as invalid and illegal.
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