Hollowly Absurdist Gestures
"We didn't come here with an expectation that we were going to define a specific path forward ... or have a major breakthrough. We came here specifically to have a very full and open dialogue."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Sochi, Russia
Well, then, mission accomplished. Major breakthroughs are overrated anyway, aren't they? Full and open dialogues are impressively functional. The weather is as good a topic as any. As long as issues of importance are studiously set aside and deliberately overlooked. And then all is smiles and chuckles, handshakes and self-congratulation. And John Kerry is really quite the gadabout; he seems to enjoy flitting hither and yon.
At the other hand, Vladimir Putin is jovially pleased to welcome such a distinguished guest at one of his palatial palaces. Each striding across a vast chamber with its polished marble floors, high-ceilinged marble walls and glassed frontage looking out on the magnificent Sochi natural setting a bonus in feel-good camaraderie.
U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry, left, is welcomed by Russian President
Vladimir Putin at the presidential residence of Bocharov Ruchey in
Sochi, Russia, Tuesday May 12, 2015. (Joshua Roberts/Pool Photo via AP) These really are high-level talks, however, make no mistake. The optics are invaluable for Vladimir Putin. See, here is John Kerry coming to placate Russia's president, impressed with the gathering of (third-) 'world leaders' in Moscow at the Victory Day commemorations where goose-stepping battlefield uniforms and mechanized war machines awed all present with their promise of uncompromising Russian steadfastness.
Eight hours of talks no less between Mr. Kerry and Foreign Minister Serge Lavrov, and Vladimir Putin. Eight hours of talking without once mentioning anything too controversial. But, according to Yuri Ushakov, foreign affairs adviser to the Russian president, the discussions were "useful and positive". Positively useful to Vladimir Putin was the fact that the U.S. Secretary of State appeared in Russia to "normalize" relations.
Normalizing relations with Russia equates with forgivingly overlooking the inconvenience of the appropriation by Moscow of the Ukrainian seaport of the Crimean peninsula. Diplomacy uber alles nice chats ensued, a jolly occasion of high-powered egos aware that the eyes of the world pivot upon their every moves. In the wake of the anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, each of them could relate how much the U.S. and Russia had in common in World War Two history.
Moscow granting of asylum to former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden? Nothing there worth discussing. And Edward Snowden must be thrilled no end to live in a country he can admire for its attention to human rights and its noble actions on the world stage, from support for citizen-butchering Syria to the debilitation of Ukraine and imposing trepidation on the Baltic States. Russia respects its citizens' privacy, not like the snoop-festing United States.
A pact of sorts was reached, with Messrs. Kerry and Lavrov agreeing to 'work harder' at convincing Ukraine's factions to respect the ceasefire that has been violated on a regular basis. And some idle speculation on the 2012 Russian-imposed and U.S.-accepted strategy on arranging for a transitional Syrian government. Oops! That's the one that got away, isn't it? Isn't that the compelling causative of desperate migrants crossing the Mediterranean with thousands drowning?
And then the newly-minted pals had some recommendations for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko; that he not attempt to "liberate" the Donetsk airport from rebel control. "We would strongly urge him to think twice not to engage in this kind of activity", said the imperial Kerry. An American diplomat warning a Ukrainian president not to hazard retaking Ukrainian territory; interesting.
Such an offensive, iterated Sergey Lavrov gravely, would serve to undermine peace efforts, placing the ceasefire in "serious jeopardy", and who wants that, after all? No word on Russian support for Ukrainian separatists, let alone supplying them with arms and manpower; never mind the unspoken reality of directing battlefield operations from the Kremlin.
According to a newly-released report by Russian opposition activists, leaning heavily on research done by Kremlin critic, the mysteriously assassinated Boris Nemstsov, up to 220 Russian soldiers had died in Ukraine in the past year, 'volunteering' in their time off from their Russian military duties, fighting alongside their Ukrainian ethnic-Russian counterparts. The cost to Russia in supplying the insurgents with weapons and armoured vehicles estimated in the hundreds of millions.
So 'normalization' and a most welcomed relaxation of sanctions would be just dandy, with a renewal of relations between America and Russia, allowing Moscow to recoup some of its unavoidable expenses in re-arranging the European landscape.
Labels: Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, United States, Vladimir Putin
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, May 14, 2015
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