US officials say they will not accept any referendum in breakaway Eastern Ukraine about accepting an offer of autonomy as part of Ukraine. They say no vote would be legitimate unless the rebels surrender first, and the vote is held under the auspices of central government rule.
The referendum is being pushed by Russia as a solution to the Eastern Ukraine war, which has been in a state of on-again, off-again ceasefire for years. Russia generally supports the rebels, while the US has been backing the government.
Underscoring that the US is backing a solution that doesn’t involve a free, internationally supervised election, the Pentagon announced Friday that they are adding another $200 million to military aid to the Ukraine. They say this is intended to improve Ukraine’s military capabilities.
The Minsk Agreement ceasefire was not backed by the US, and repeated influxes of US weapons to Ukraine’s military are seen as reflecting general US support for crushing the rebels militarily.
Russia argues the referendum is necessary because the Ukraine government hasn’t fulfilled commitments under the Minsk deal. That was intended to lead to free elections for local positions in the rebel regions, which the central government rejected. As with the US, the Ukraine government claimed the elections can’t be allowed unless the rebels totally surrender first.
Trust the USA to do whatever is the very worst thing for the people involved.Surrender first-that is the American way. No wonder the poor Palestinians are in their desperate plight.
Our government will not accept a referendum in another sovereign state unless our conditions are met? Nothing seems to have changed.
The peace pres sure does like selling weapons.
Cash is king with the GOP and Trump’s cronies. Now they are attempting to gut the Endangered Species Act for cash donations.
AmeriCON the ugly.
And, he’s not adverse to bankrolling Nazies and Zionists. Oh, did I repeat myself?
So much for that little pep talk in Helsinki. Better luck next time, Vlad.
$200 mil? Well, ok then. It will go to the same place as the previous $1 bil-into the oligarch pockets/off shore a/c’s.
But it all is building democracy.
Grandma, you will have to wait for hot water and heat.
If the US is involved, submission is the only acceptable option. Unfortunately, the US option means depression and misery,
stupid fools with screwed up priorities. give them all war video games to play all day to satisfy their blood thirst or better yet send them to war.
$2oo million would feed an awful lot of people in Yemen right now
I mean, now $400 million in total.
that’s quite a few boat loads of supplies for poor Yemen