Putin: Quo Vadis?
This report by CBS news correspondent Holly Williams (4.17.14) is worth a look. It’s not perfect, but as American media go, it’s tolerable, and the images are self-explanatory.
According to CBS This Morning, “Ukraine’s acting prime minister is offering amnesty to pro-Russian militias if they give up control of government buildings, but opposition forces in eastern Ukraine are not backing down. CBS News foreign correspondent Holly Williams reports.”
The situation in Ukraine remains chaotic and fluid. However, the recent accord between Russia and Washington, with the Kiev putschist regime as one of the equal partners at the table—or what is known about it— is something that has some people on the left duly concerned. Examine video and commentary below.
In a recent exchange, two of our editors filed the following opinions:
P. GREANVILLE (Replying to the post below)
Regarding the Ukraine situation, there’s ample room for bafflement. This recent Geneva accord is a victory—unwarranted—for the West. It was Russia that enjoyed the strategic upper hand. The only explanation we can advance is that Putin was forced to offer this deal as a result of his own oligarchs’ pressure or the possibility that the sanctions imposed by the NATO alliance might be causing more pain than anticipated. Let’s not forget that Russia is after all a capitalist state, and plenty corrupt, too. But that trait of being—or seeming—innocent of how Washington thinks and plays is something we also saw under Soviet rule. To this day it’s surprising that Putin has not even kicked out all those NGOs that sow discord in his own home front, as they did and do in Ukraine, Venezuela, etc., (the latter has apparently finally acted energetically on this). If we read the agreement right, should Putin have to intervene in Eastern Ukraine now, he has made it more difficult for everyone, and betrayed the spontaneous autonomous/pro-Russia separatist movement. That’s difficult to explain.
GAITHER STEWART (posted on FB page)
