Nuland in Moscow: Cold Shower After Sunny Sochi

[jakeXT]

Days after John Kerry’s talks with President Putin at the Black Sea resort, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s visit to Moscow brought no signs of progress in strained bilateral relations.
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The visit wasn’t smiles and pep-talk, as Nuland appeared to even take a jab at Russia by speaking on the alleged ‘Russian military’ members captured in Ukraine. She also indicated that the US wanted to play a more active role in the Minsk Agreements. After Kerry’s ice-breaking visit, it now seems like the US is willing to at least pay lip-service by talking to Russia, although it’s not clear how serious it is in making any political concessions to gain its support.

Nonetheless, that may be what the US needs to do in order to resolve the Syrian and Ukrainian Crises. In a new sign ice may be breaking Nuland trip was followed by David Rubenstein, the US Special Envoy on Syria visit to Moscow, with both President Obama’s envoys pledging to meet more with their Russian counterparts.

http://sputniknews.com/radio_red_line/20150521/1022407001.html

[Jesus Malverde]

1. The collapse Russia strategy has itself collapsed.

Neocons running around looking for the next provocation.

F the EU?, No F the Neocons.

[Duckhunter935]

2. Well Sputnik is a propaganda

arm for the Kremlin so I expect lines like "alleged ‘Russian military’ members captured in Ukraine."

Just another set, remember the ones that were captured and were just "lost"and these two have admitted to be active Russian army deployed to Ukraine.

Sources in Moscow have admitted that a number of men captured inside Ukraine were indeed serving Russian soldiers, but said they crossed the border by mistake. The admission comes as President Vladimir Putin meets his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, for talks in Minsk. The pair shook hands ahead of the talks on Tuesday afternoon.

Videos were released by Ukrainian authorities of interrogations of the prisoners, who said they were serving Russian army officers. One said he had not been told exactly where they were going, but had an idea he was inside Ukraine. There was no immediate confirmation of the authenticity of the recordings, but the fact that Russian wire agencies ran a defence ministry admission that soldiers had indeed crossed into Ukraine suggested that the footage was genuine.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/26/russia-admits-soldiers-in-ukraine

The OSCE said it interviewed the two men in a military hospital on May 20, after they were wounded and taken prisoner by Ukrainian government forces last week near a part of the eastern province of Luhansk controlled by separatists.

The OSCE said in a report, "Both individuals claimed that they were members of a unit of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. They claimed that they were on a reconnaissance mission. They were armed but had no orders to attack."

"One of them said he had received orders from his military unit to go to Ukraine; he was to 'rotate' after three months. Both of them said they had been to Ukraine 'on missions' before," the OSCE added.

http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/72036-150521-fighters-captured-in-ukraine-admit-to-serving-in-russia-s-army-osce
How about the multi-million dallar Russian drone shot down and captured inside Ukraine, must have been part of the "humanitarian aid".

Press-Center of “DNIPRO-1″ Ukrainian Army Regiment has reported today that their soldiers managed to shoot down Russian UAV near Avdiivka in Donetsk Region. That was joint operation of their soldiers and the Center of Special Operations. “FORPOST” UAV is one of the most expensive. It’s price is 6 million USD.

Ironically, the photos of the same FORPOST (IAI Searcher Mk II) UAV were posted on November 11 2013 by Denis Fedutinov from the Russian factory where it was just manufactured. See original post here http://bmpd.livejournal.com/658798.html As you can see from the number 923 this is the same UAV.

http://lugansk-news.com/ukrainian-army-shot-down-russian-uav-forpost-that-costs-6-million-usd/

What would help is if Russia would stop it's "military exercise" that has been going on along Ukraine's eastern border for over a year so they could use that to supply weapons and troops.

Do you think that Russia should do this minor thing to appear less aggressive to Ukraine?

[jakeXT]

3. Maybe they'll get a deal on ISIS

http://www.judicialwatch.org/document-archive/pgs-287-293-291-jw-v-dod-and-state-14-812-2/

The West’s Islamists

The newly declassified DIA document from 2012 confirms that the main component of the anti-Assad rebel forces by this time comprised Islamist insurgents affiliated to groups that would lead to the emergence of ISIS. Despite this, these groups were to continue receiving support from Western militaries and their regional allies.

Noting that “the Salafist [sic], the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI [al-Qaeda in Iraq] are the major forces driving the insurgency in Syria,” the document states that “the West, Gulf countries, and Turkey support the opposition,” while Russia, China and Iran “support the [Assad] regime.”

The 7-page DIA document states that al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the precursor to the ‘Islamic State in Iraq,’ (ISI) which became the ‘Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,’ “supported the Syrian opposition from the beginning, both ideologically and through the media.”

The formerly secret Pentagon report notes that the “rise of the insurgency in Syria” has increasingly taken a “sectarian direction,” attracting diverse support from Sunni “religious and tribal powers” across the region.

In a section titled ‘The Future Assumptions of the Crisis,’ the DIA report predicts that while Assad’s regime will survive, retaining control over Syrian territory, the crisis will continue to escalate “into proxy war.”

The document also recommends the creation of “safe havens under international sheltering, similar to what transpired in Libya when Benghazi was chosen as the command centre for the temporary government.”

In Libya, anti-Gaddafi rebels, most of whom were al-Qaeda affiliated militias, were protected by NATO ‘safe havens’ (aka ‘no fly zones’).


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-23/secret-pentagon-report-reveals-us-created-isis-tool-overthrow-syrias-president-assad

Pentagon report predicted West’s support for Islamist rebels would create ISIS
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016123063

[Duckhunter935]

4. See you failed to answer my simple question again

And failed to refute anything I posted, nice deflection and even using the right wing Judicial Watch!

Must be hard to ignore the elephant in the room, maybe not so much for you though.

[jakeXT]

6. What I meant, we tone done our ambitions to carve up the ME

and Russia tones down their ambitions in Ukraine.

The question is if either side can or wants to do it.

[Duckhunter935]

7. Still failed to answer that simple question

Russia invaded Ukraine breaking international laws and ageements. Tell me what middle east countries we have invaded and annexed part of them for the USA?

Not even a close analogy.

Now care to answer my actual question I posed to you?

[polly7]

5. At least it's some progress.

Maybe the madness Nuland was a big part in starting will stop and a real plan for peace reached for Ukraine and its people.

Although I really don't know why anyone but the Ukrainian people is involved in this at all.