Lavrov Blasts Ukraine's Putschist Leader

by Stephen Lendman

Ukrainian-installed president Petro Poroshenko is Washington's man in Kiev, heading its coup d'etat regime - illegitimate by any standard.

He's waging war on his own people, blaming them for his high crimes, supported by Washington under Obama. It's unclear where Trump stands, despite his UN envoy Nikki Haley irresponsibly accusing Russia of "aggression" in Ukraine and falsely claiming it annexed Crimea.

According to Sergey Lavrov, re-escalating war on Donbass "benefit(s) the Poroshenko regime, seeking to distract attention from its inability to implement its obligations and to make the (Trump) administration believe that it is Russia who is to blame."

"If someone hopes that all Ukraine's problems will be solved as soon as Kiev regains full control of Donbass, they are wrong for it is impossible." 

"It is clear for everybody in Europe, including Paris, Berlin and Brussels, as well as in the US. Even the previous US administration came to understand it in the end. This is why Kiev cannot avoid fulfilling its obligations under the Minsk agreements."

Nearly three years of war continue. According to its news agency, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) prepared a plan to ease tensions along the contact line, separating both sides of the conflict.

It calls for full ceasefire and disengagement along the entire line of contact. It requires all weapons banned by the Minsk agreement withdrawn to designated areas.

Both sides must grant full and unimpeded access to OSCE observers. According to the news agency, "(a)ll proposals were documented and handed over to the Ukrainian command, but it completely ignored the republic's initiatives." 

"At the same time, first OSCE SMM deputy chief Alexander Hug refused to act as an intermediary in the negotiation process and left the region's territory."

Where the Trump administration stands on this is unclear so far - other than a statement, saying it'll work with both sides toward conflict resolution.

Shelling by Ukrainian forces continues daily. According to Deputy Defense Minister Eduard Basurin, DPR conditions continue deteriorating. Shelling targets over a dozen Donetsk communities, including areas around its airport.

Homes are destroyed. Civilians are killed or wounded. "Our intelligence continues to record the amassing of the enemy's forces and plans for provocation near the contact line," Basurin explained, adding:

"The savages of the Ukrainian junta (intend) bomb(ing) the controlled city of Mariupol and blame the Republic Army of Donetsk," according to intelligence reports.

"Third Reich style propaganda" is used - "foreign journalists paid" to report misinformation about what's going on. Ukrainian television is like America's, featuring all fake news all the time, suppressing hard truths about ongoing conflict conditions.

Basurin expressed concern about "junta military" preparations for an offensive on Donbass. So far Kiev aggression is limited to shelling from a distance.

At an emergency meeting days earlier, Basurin said "(f)ollowing the talk between Poroshenko and Trump, Ukraine will in the near future cease to receive financial and military support for its terrorist operation in the land of Donbass." 

"In connection with this, the Ukrainian president has fallen into complete despair and is ready to desperately commit to the most reckless action of unleashing a full-scale and bloody war in Eastern Europe."

"All of this is needed in order to blame their crimes on the unrecognized republics and the Russian Federation and defraud the West of new funds in order to develop their business built on the blood of the ordinary Ukrainian people."

"The military-political command of Ukraine has refused to implement the Minsk Agreement on withdrawing heavy artillery from the contact line. On the contrary, it has carried out a build up of troop groupings."

"Our intelligence has confirmed the enemy's activeness. In particular, we have recorded the concentration of enemy forces and means on the frontline for the purpose of creating a strike group."

"This information allows us to conclude that the UAF command, on the order of the military-political leadership of Ukraine, is preparing offensive combat operations across the entire contact line as well as sabotage against civil infrastructure, imitating the Nazis in 1941."

"In turn, our troops are ready to give the enemy a dignified rebuff and rout Kiev's terrorist troops as before." 

So far, Trump and Secretary of State Tillerson are largely silent on Kiev's escalated aggression.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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