US and Russian officials are set to meet for talks on the ongoing Ukraine crisis. Russian officials are not expecting much out of the talks, and US officials are promising not to make any real commitments.
Any obvious deal on the tensions in the region would deal both with Ukraine and the large NATO buildup along the Russian frontier. US officials, however, are ruling this out already, and saying that there is no talk of a drawdown.
Not only that, but State Department Spokesman Ned Price is suggesting that as part of the US “sacred obligation” to NATO, the US is preparing to send yet more troops to eastern Europe if Russia “should further invade Ukraine.”
The “invasion” is a US narrative built around ethnic Russian factions in eastern Ukraine carving out an autonomous region. If it serves to pump even more troops to the Russian border, the US can easily manufacture more putative invasions.
The US build-up in Europe is almost entirely built on the myth of an imminent Russian war. Any diplomatic progress threatens this buildup, which is why the talks are particularly unlikely to accomplish anything.
For once, US will keep its promise. There will never be any real commitments by the US to limit its own reach and power.
So, Russia will do it for them.
It is important to note Russia did not ASK the US to do anything. Russia has simply informed the US it must remove NATO military assets from the Russian borders or Russia will remove it for them.
As Putin has stated, there is nothing to discuss. The US and NATO either withdraws from Russia’s border, or Russia will push them from the border with force.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of “gaslighting” and pushing a “false narrative” that it was under threat from Ukraine and NATO to justify the troop buildup.
“That’s like the fox saying it had to attack the hen house because its occupants somehow pose a threat. We’ve seen this gaslighting before,” Blinken said, citing Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea and backing of separatists in the Donbas region.
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-russia-crisis-us-refuses-to-draw-down-troops/a-60367806
Please, someone, inform Tony numbnuts about the coup and the war games. Gaslighting? The man absolutely has no conscience.
Poor boorish Blinken does not know about the Minsk agreement which is the one way the “ukraine issue” could be easily solved. He thinks Russia (not a party to it) has broken the agreement.
Since when psychopaths have conscience, Psychos have their own reality, the feality completely suited to their interests.
The problem with all psychopaths is — no grasp for real world and REAL reality. And for as long as the world begrudingly goes aling with their increaingly deranged behaviour — they lose whatever sense of danger they may have once had.
It will be interesting to see how far will they gl in their delusion.
So far, pretty far, Getting Ethiopia into turmoil just to keep a 5% Tigrey minority clan in power —is such an example. Shaking up Sudan, Myanmar, Kazakhstan. But attempts are failing. Failed in Belarus. Looks like a failed regime change in Ethiopia. Attempts to execute an internal, constitutional coup failed in Myanmar and Sudan. Both are the cases of military preventing “democratic” coups. Many failed iin Kyrgizstan. Regime change languishing in Venezuela. French abandoned Mali.
What we see is the effort by Western countties to maintain their neo-colonial advantages by keeping stringer countries under pressure and prevent their development. Fair competition is not allowed, Green agenda serves the same purpose — to slow down or retard development, trade and transit infrastructure that is independent from Wedtrrn control.
Many countries are using tactics of appeasing Western interests — in order to buy time and be spared harsh punishments until they solve internal divisions and consolidate politically to move forward economically, such is the case of India.
But hegemon is slipping, as the collusion among the weak grows, tripling hegemon occassionay in unpredictable ways.
Like nobody expected Turkey, Iran, Sudan and Eritrea to come to Ethiopiy’s aid, But it happened.
New year’s presents came swiftly, Ethiopia losing prefered trade status. Eritrea -/ sanctions slammed, Turkey – n-th attack on financial system, Sudan — ordered to not appoint government. Iran — well, who can count sanctions, they are used to it.
They prepared no plan because they have no intention to change and they HATE the idea of peace under any circumstances. They also have no possible excuse to keep those pathetic NATO forces next to Russia. If they really fear Russia as a terrible enemy, why not try an agreement???
I said the talks will go no where. Both Moon of Alabama and Scott Ritter agree with me in articles today.
Ritter in particular expects Russia to take out Ukraine – without occupation, as I’ve also said before – and then if NATO continues to expand or the US installs strategic weapons, Russia will take those assets out – and there is little NATO can do about it, short of the US going nuclear. Ritter pointed out that Russia can assemble a force of 100,000 in a few days, while it takes NATO weeks and months to assemble a force of 60,000.