This is from Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, today:
-There is not going to be any Western-mediated meeting between any Official Russian and any Official Ukrainian. John Kerry tried to arrange that earlier in the week. I don't remember thinking that was a bad idea at the time. In retrospect, that sounds like an idea that would be insulting to the Russians and apparently it was.
-The EU (France, Germany, Poland), according to Peskov, lost credibility when it didn't stand behind the February 21 agreement between the old president of Ukraine and the opposition. The opposition didn't follow through and the three mediating countries didn't see that the terms of the agreement were implemented.
-The West shouldn't have made a rush to judgment in recognizing the new Ukrainian leaders. Peskov said the West should look "soberly" now at the new leaders, implying they are sewer rats or something.
-Russia and "our partners" in the West can still talk and there may be points to be agreed upon.
From the Russian Foreign Ministry:
-EU talk of sanctions "extremely un-constructive" and if imposed Russia will respond in kind.
-On the EU vote to stop talks with Russia on a new political and economic agreement: “If officials in Brussels believe that Russia needs the successful conclusion of this work more than the E.U., they are wrong.” That is the bird in the air pump on sanctioning an economic "partner." Everything that has been written on this subject says the same thing, economic sanctions would hurt the EU more than they would Russia. That is the bird in the air pump on free trade agreements and economic integration generally. They are supposed to bring "partners" closer, "You make money, we make money!" They are supposed to make crises more unlikely. Is that true? If it is true, why has it failed here, where, according to Roger Cohen we are back in the summer of 1914? Maybe money isn't everything. Maybe money doesn't make stronger partnerships than does blood. But in 1914, so many of the royal houses of Europe were literally interrelated. Blood ties did not prevent World War I. Maybe "partners" should have common values. Do the West and Russia share common values? They are both democratic and capitalist. History? Should "partners" have the same view of history? Doesn't history seem to have reared up here, all of the fears, the failed hopes, the grudges, resentments? Putin does not share the West's view of history when it comes to the demise of the Soviet Union. That was a "catastrophe" in Putin's view.Putin's popularity with the Russian people has gotten a significant boost from the crisis.
-There is not going to be any Western-mediated meeting between any Official Russian and any Official Ukrainian. John Kerry tried to arrange that earlier in the week. I don't remember thinking that was a bad idea at the time. In retrospect, that sounds like an idea that would be insulting to the Russians and apparently it was.
-The EU (France, Germany, Poland), according to Peskov, lost credibility when it didn't stand behind the February 21 agreement between the old president of Ukraine and the opposition. The opposition didn't follow through and the three mediating countries didn't see that the terms of the agreement were implemented.
-The West shouldn't have made a rush to judgment in recognizing the new Ukrainian leaders. Peskov said the West should look "soberly" now at the new leaders, implying they are sewer rats or something.
-Russia and "our partners" in the West can still talk and there may be points to be agreed upon.
From the Russian Foreign Ministry:
-EU talk of sanctions "extremely un-constructive" and if imposed Russia will respond in kind.
-On the EU vote to stop talks with Russia on a new political and economic agreement: “If officials in Brussels believe that Russia needs the successful conclusion of this work more than the E.U., they are wrong.” That is the bird in the air pump on sanctioning an economic "partner." Everything that has been written on this subject says the same thing, economic sanctions would hurt the EU more than they would Russia. That is the bird in the air pump on free trade agreements and economic integration generally. They are supposed to bring "partners" closer, "You make money, we make money!" They are supposed to make crises more unlikely. Is that true? If it is true, why has it failed here, where, according to Roger Cohen we are back in the summer of 1914? Maybe money isn't everything. Maybe money doesn't make stronger partnerships than does blood. But in 1914, so many of the royal houses of Europe were literally interrelated. Blood ties did not prevent World War I. Maybe "partners" should have common values. Do the West and Russia share common values? They are both democratic and capitalist. History? Should "partners" have the same view of history? Doesn't history seem to have reared up here, all of the fears, the failed hopes, the grudges, resentments? Putin does not share the West's view of history when it comes to the demise of the Soviet Union. That was a "catastrophe" in Putin's view.Putin's popularity with the Russian people has gotten a significant boost from the crisis.
