The so-called Ukraine Freedom Support Act authorizing $350 million in military aid to Ukraine will create another Afghanistan in the center of Europe.
MOSCOW, December 17 (Sputnik) – In its relations with Russia, the Obama administration seems to have adopted “good cop – bad cop” tactics. Days after the US Senate passed the so-called Ukraine Freedom Support Act, authorizing $350 million in military aid to Ukraine, state secretary John Kerry came out with the most peaceful and reassuring statements since the start of the year 2014. In Kerry’s words, “the sole purpose of the anti-Russian sanctions was to restore international norms” and these sanctions could be "lifted depending on the choices that president Putin makes."
Almost in the same hour, the White House’s spokesman Josh Ernst said Obama would be ready to sign the resolution on Ukraine into law "before the end of the week." The only logic that can be seen here is the logic of pressure.
"The American side obviously expects Putin to be more pliable in a situation when ruble is under such pressure; they think that they won now," Yevgeny Minchenko, the head of the Moscow-based International Institute for Political Expertise, said. This kind of attitude may explain the self-assured tone of the State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki.
"Russia has a choice. There are specific steps they can make to implement the Minsk protocols… That's in their power, and if they do that, obviously that will have an impact on the actions we take," Psaki told reporters in Washington.
There are, however, two problems with this “good cop-bad cop” strategy of pressure. First, it is still not clear WHAT Russia has to do in Ukraine for the sanctions to be lifted. Second, the belligerent Ukraine Freedom Support Act, if implemented, will certainly endanger the Minsk agreements even more by pushing Ukraine towards a military solution and also unlawfully limits Russia’s foreign trade.
Complete story at - 'Ukraine Freedom Support Act' Advocates War, Not Freedom / Sputnik International
MOSCOW, December 17 (Sputnik) – In its relations with Russia, the Obama administration seems to have adopted “good cop – bad cop” tactics. Days after the US Senate passed the so-called Ukraine Freedom Support Act, authorizing $350 million in military aid to Ukraine, state secretary John Kerry came out with the most peaceful and reassuring statements since the start of the year 2014. In Kerry’s words, “the sole purpose of the anti-Russian sanctions was to restore international norms” and these sanctions could be "lifted depending on the choices that president Putin makes."
Almost in the same hour, the White House’s spokesman Josh Ernst said Obama would be ready to sign the resolution on Ukraine into law "before the end of the week." The only logic that can be seen here is the logic of pressure.
"The American side obviously expects Putin to be more pliable in a situation when ruble is under such pressure; they think that they won now," Yevgeny Minchenko, the head of the Moscow-based International Institute for Political Expertise, said. This kind of attitude may explain the self-assured tone of the State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki.
"Russia has a choice. There are specific steps they can make to implement the Minsk protocols… That's in their power, and if they do that, obviously that will have an impact on the actions we take," Psaki told reporters in Washington.
There are, however, two problems with this “good cop-bad cop” strategy of pressure. First, it is still not clear WHAT Russia has to do in Ukraine for the sanctions to be lifted. Second, the belligerent Ukraine Freedom Support Act, if implemented, will certainly endanger the Minsk agreements even more by pushing Ukraine towards a military solution and also unlawfully limits Russia’s foreign trade.
Complete story at - 'Ukraine Freedom Support Act' Advocates War, Not Freedom / Sputnik International
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