Carl Gershman, a leading neocon and longtime president of the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy, took to the op-ed page of the neocon-flagship Washington Post to urge the U.S. government to push European "free trade" agreements on Ukraine and other former Soviet states and thus counter Moscow's efforts to maintain close relations with those countries.
The ultimate goal, according to Gershman, was isolating and possibly toppling Putin in Russia with Ukraine the key piece on this global chessboard. "Ukraine is the biggest prize," Gershman wrote. "Russians, too, face a choice, and Putin may find himself on the losing end not just in the near abroad but within Russia itself."
In furtherance of these goals, NED funded a staggering 65 projects in Ukraine, training activists, financing "journalists" and organizing business groups, according to NED's annual report.
After Yanukovych rejected the IMF's terms for European association as too drastic -- because they would hit the already hard-hit Ukrainian people even harder -- his removal from power became the State Department's goal, as Assistant of State Nuland urged on the demonstrators in the Maidan by passing out cookies and reminded Ukrainian business leaders that the United States had invested $5 billion in their "European aspirations."
Sen. John McCain, a leading neocon hawk, also showed up in Kiev to rally the protesters, speaking next to a Svoboda party banner honoring World War II Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera whose paramilitary force helped exterminate Jews and Poles. Bandera is a hero to the right-wing nationalists in western Ukraine, though despised by the ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.
In an intercepted phone call, Nuland was caught telling U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt that her preference to replace Yanukovych was Arseniy Yatsenyuk, whom she called "Yats." After the Feb. 22 coup, Yatsenyuk emerged as the new prime minister with the neo-Nazis gaining control of four ministries, including the office of national security headed by neo-Nazi Andriy Parubiy. [See Consortiumnews.com's "Ukraine, Through the US 'Looking Glass'."]
One of Yatsenyuk's first moves was to approve the IMF austerity plan, while Parubiy incorporated some of the neo-Nazi militias into the National Guard and dispatched them as storm troopers to confront the resistance to the coup regime in the east.
Amid all the political chaos and violations of the Ukrainian constitution (which was ignored in the abrupt impeachment of Yanukovych), Crimea arranged a hasty referendum which showed some 96 percent support for seceding from Ukraine and rejoining Russia, a request that Putin and the Russian government accepted.
Typically, the New York Times and other major outlets summarize the Crimean switch as a Russian "invasion" with Putin supposedly dispatching troops to seize control of the peninsula with the help of a "sham" referendum.
Almost never does the U.S. press note that the Russian troops were already in Crimea under an arrangement with Ukraine allowing Russians to maintain their historic naval base at Sevastapol. The vote also clearly reflected the popular will of the Crimean people given their historic ties to Russia and the chaos in Ukraine.
Medvedev's Comments
"We did not annex any part of Ukraine," Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Bloomberg News this past week...
"The population of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea held a referendum and voted for self-determination and for joining Russia in accordance with the existing procedure. And that's what they did."They started by proclaiming independence and after that, they asked to join Russia. We satisfied their request. The Russian Constitution was amended so that Crimea could join Russia as the result of a popular vote. Crimea is a special and unique story." That was a reference to Crimea being a longtime part of Russia.
Regarding any other parts of Ukraine, Medvedev added...
"Any conjectures about Russia wanting to annex some territories are mere propaganda. " It is essential to calm tensions in Ukraine. We all see what's happening there: the situation is nothing short of a civil war, as a matter of fact. This is what we should all be thinking about."
Pressed by Bloomberg's Ryan Chilcote on guaranteeing that Russia would not accede to requests from Ukrainian separatists in eastern Ukraine, Medvedev responded...
"...we (I'm referring to all those who sympathize with Ukraine -- European countries and as far as I understand, the United States and, of course, Russia, which is the closest to Ukraine) should do all we can to de-escalate tensions -- a measure that everyone is talking about now."In other words, we should do everything to stop the spread of civil war on Ukrainian territory. As for the positions of people in Lugansk, Donetsk and other [eastern] parts of Ukraine, our stance is simple -- their positions deserve respect. If they hold some referendums, we should understand what they want and why they express such views.
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