Russia Defiant Despite Swedish Sub Report, German MH17 Conclusion
That concludes our live blogging for Sunday, October 19. Follow all our coverage of Ukrainian events and news from around our region HERE.
Nice.
"For Mr. Putin, the helter-skelter blitz through Milan was only the latest demonstration of an unpredictable, often theatrical, diplomatic style that he has employed during the Ukraine crisis to throw his rivals off balance. This time he kept Ms. Merkel waiting late at night. Last month he upstaged President Obama on the eve of a NATO summit meeting focused on Russian aggression when he unexpectedly announced a seven-point peace plan for Ukraine — written on the back of a napkin as he flew for a state visit in Mongolia."
Targeted sanctions pinch the Chechen leader:
Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has let fly via Facebook over Putin media tsar Dmitry Kiselyov's comparison of the U.S. president with the head of the radical Islamic State group:
"I watched thousands of hours of Soviet television in my day and I do not remember such revolting statements like this one, comparing Obama to ISIL leader al Bagdadi (starts around minute 38) Disgusting and shameful. I am embarrassed for my friends in the Russian government and state-run media who have to be be associated with such nonsense."
Hmmmm, I wonder who the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies' Vladimir Kozin will blame for "Cold War 2.0" in his piece for the fiercely anti-Western "Russian Insider." Yep, turns out that all eight "real and objective...major features" that laid the groundwork for it were actions by the West.
And more specifically:
The Cold War 2.0 was intentionally initiated by President Barack Obama for obvious reasons: to undermine Russia’s military and economic potential, to increase NATO military expenditures, to create more pro-Western states along the perimeter with Russian territory.
His prescription "out from this impasse" lies, of course, in a total transatlantic abandonment of Western defense and other measures taken in response to Russia's forcible annexation of Crimea and support for separatism in eastern Ukraine:
First, the US and its NATO allies should stop any military build-up near Russia's border. US tactical nuclear weapons, with relevant infrastructure and BMD assets, must be removed from Europe. A qualitatively new CFE has to be negotiated and signed by all NATO member-states, especially by new entrants, and Russia. An international treaty banning arms deployment in outer space should be signed by all states. And de facto and de jure nuclear-weapon states have to assume commitments not to use nuclear weapons in a first strike. A new US-Russian START may be debated provided all previous agreements are reached.
Second, economic and financial sanctions against Russia should be lifted in full and for good.
Third, the people of Donbass will have the right to determine their own future. A peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis requires not merely a ceasefire but a complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian regular troops and irregular formations from the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Kiev authorities should sign a non-aggression pact with them. Ukraine will have to re-declare its pledge to retain its non-nuclear and non-aligned status.
Fourth, in general terms, the time has come to prohibit from international diplomacy the use of threats and pressure against one another.
Simple, right?
"Rossiiskaya gazeta" reports that Russia's human rights ombudsperson has sharply criticized the European Union for "ignoring human suffering" in eastern Ukraine.
Ella Pamfilova says in an interview published today that although Europe is "an icon in the style of human rights, democracy, and freedom of speech," it "openly prefers to disregard the situation in southeastern Ukraine." She adds that Europe's media "are simply fulfilling the order to brand and to accuse Russia of everything."
She admits that "there are things to criticize Russia for," but adds that "one must have a moral right to do so." She adds that she is disappointed that human rights have become "a bargaining chip in big politics."
Pamfilova served as social affairs minister under President Boris Yeltsin and as a liberal member of the State Duma between 1994 and 1999. She has headed President Vladimir Putin's commissioner for human rights since March.