Not Much Hope for Real G7 Support

With the deadline approaching on extending sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea, the former captive nations and the free world had hoped that the G7 leaders would resoundingly and unanimously endorse their extension because of Moscow’s obstinate belligerence against its neighbor.

President Poroshenko had personally provided the G7 leaders with evidence of a surge in Russia’s war in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and urged them to extend their sanctions against Russia following its repeated violations of the Minsk agreement. At a meeting with G7 ambassadors, Poroshenko showed that Russia increased the number of attacks against Ukrainian army positions.

“The G7 ambassadors were provided with comprehensive evidence of violations by Russia, the presence of Russian troops in the occupied areas of Donbas and continued dispatch of fighters and ammunition from Russia to the occupied territories,” his press service reported.

Leading up to the G7 Summit and during the deliberations, Polish and other x-captive nations’ leaders echoed Poroshenko’s appeals and expressed their expectations that the sanctions will certainly be prolonged because, after all, Russia has not lived up to its obligations: it had not withdrawn its armies and weapons from Ukraine, and it had not returned Crimea to Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel assumed a hard line against Russia, declaring the sanctions will definitely be extended and, furthermore, Russia will not be re-invited to join the super club of independent states until it changes its behavior.

“For me it’s too early to give the all clear,” Merkel told reporters in response to questions, adding that an earlier pro-sanction policy would remain in place. “There is no change of position to be expected from the G7,” she added.

The UK’s David Cameron opined “The G7 has agreed on the vital importance of sanctions rollover in June. Ukraine is the victim of Russian-backed aggression. We must never forget that fact.”

Ultimately, news media trumpeted that the G7 has indeed extended sanctions against criminal Russia. It was an understandable decision against an outlaw state and government.

Then, suddenly, even before the ink had dried on the summit’s final document, some of the members began to change their position. Prevarication set it. They were willing to provide Russia with wiggle room, an opportunity to delay or avoid reforming altogether.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier first publically advocated lifting economic sanctions on Russia, under certain conditions. Western countries needed to keep up the pressure on Moscow by enforcing what he called “intelligent” bans.

“Sanctions are not an end in themselves: that has always been my attitude,” Steinmeier told German weekly Der Spiegel in an interview after the summit concluded, adding that if Russia contributes to peace in eastern Ukraine, it should also see a positive effect. “If there is progress in implementing the Minsk agreement, we can also speak about relaxing the sanctions.”

His spokesman Martin Schäfer said it was “correct and important to keep up the pressure on Moscow but also to use the instrument of sanctions against Russia in an intelligent manner.”

Why clarify an already weak, perfunctory conclusion of the G7 leaders to extend sanctions with a wink?

The Kremlin, expectedly, warned against extending the sanctions, saying they will not have a positive impact on the global economy and on global affairs. “The Kremlin's position has not changed: we still believe that this is not an issue on our agenda,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Actually, the G7’s position on Ukraine and Russia is akin to a toothless paper tiger. Its views on Ukraine appeared on page 22 of a 32-page final document. This is what it said:

“We stand united in our conviction that the conflict in Ukraine can only be solved by diplomatic means and in full respect for international law, especially the legal obligation to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

“We reiterate our condemnation of the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula by Russia and reaffirm our policy of its non-recognition and sanctions against those involved.

“We are concerned by continued violence along the line of contact in violation of the ceasefire; we urge all sides to take concrete steps that will lead to the complete ceasefire required under the Minsk agreements.

“We also urge all sides to fulfill their commitments without delay with a view to holding local elections in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as soon as possible in accordance with the Minsk agreements.

“We emphasize our strongest support for full implementation of the Minsk agreements and the work of the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group.

“We expect Russia to live up to its commitments and use its influence over the separatists to meet their commitments in full.

“We stress the OSCE's key role in helping to deescalate the crisis, and we call upon all sides, particularly the separatists, to provide the organization’s monitors full and unfettered access throughout the conflict zone.

“We recall that the duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Sanctions can be rolled back when Russia meets these commitments.

“However, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require.

“We recognize the importance of maintaining dialogue with Russia in order to ensure it abides by the commitments it has made as well as international law and to reach a comprehensive, sustainable and peaceful solution to the crisis.

“We commend and support the steps Ukraine is taking to implement comprehensive structural, governance and economic reforms and encourage Ukraine to continue and accelerate the process.

We urge Ukraine to maintain and enhance the momentum in its fight against corruption and its judicial reform, including the Prosecutor General’s office.

“We are fully committed to providing long-term support to this end.

“We also commend the work of the Ukraine support group of G7 Ambassadors in Kyiv.

“We reaffirm our commitment to undertake joint efforts with Ukraine to convert the Chornobyl site into a stable and environmentally safe condition, 30 years after the catastrophe.”

This final statement shows that major world leaders persist in calling the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16 a conflict, which means that its solution could be negotiated as if between squabbling partners. They placed the onus of a solution of both the aggressor and victim. They insisted on maintaining a dialogue with Russia. They accentuated their commitment to rolling back sanctions against Russia if it meets its global commitments and obligations without any visible indication that Moscow is leaning in that direction.

The free world should not follow Russia’s script on how to deal with its criminality. Weighing Russian global or domestic crimes should not be undertaken through the prism of Russia’s nuclear weapons.

Russia refuses to recognize its commitments and withdraw from Ukraine. The longer Russian armies and terrorists remain in Ukraine, the greater the threat against the other former captive nations and the greater likelihood that murderous acts of Russian-inspired terrorism will spread across and beyond Ukraine.

While providing Ukraine with lethal weapons remains an impossible dream, the G7 could escalate the requirements for rolling back sanctions by instituting a firm deadline, increasing military and political pressure against Russia not merely focusing attention on economic ones, and begin referring to Russia as the Russian Nazi Republic.

Nothing else has worked so perhaps public shame will have an impact on the Kremlin.

Only Recourse for Russia: Sanctions & Isolation

Russia continues to intensify its undeclared war against Ukraine and trample its ceasefire commitments under the Minks Treaty without any sizable global condemnation. In everyday terms, Moscow is being treated as if it is committing misdemeanors rather than capital crimes. Despite spikes and lulls in the fighting, Russia continues to wage war against Ukraine and push its invasion, which military leaders fear will lead to an assault against other former captive nations.

Putin and his Kremlin junta, regardless of their excuses, are perpetrating war crimes against a neighboring state, crimes against their own people and civil society, and lies in athletics. Hardly the profile of a welcome global partner.

Several days ago, on the eve of the G7 Summit in Japan, Russian troops and mercenaries, in spite of their leader’s commitment to adhering to the Minsk Accords signed in February 2015, launched a widespread firefight against Ukrainian positions, in which seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded.

In a 24-hour period, Russian mercenaries attacked Ukrainian positions 31 times, reported Ukraine’s military press center. Officials said on Tuesday, May 24, that the killings were a result of a spike in attacks by pro-Russian rebels. Ukrainian commanders said the daily causalities were the highest since last August.

IHS Jane’s Country Risk Daily Report, among other sources, quoted Ukrainian military officials as saying that its positions in Donetsk and Luhansk regions had been shelled by Russian militants 30 times in the previous 24 hours.

The most intense fighting, as in previous weeks, was north of Donetsk, in the vicinity of Avdiyivka, an industrial center of 35,000 residents, which is located just 6 km north of Donetsk. According to the Ukrainian army, mercenaries regularly use machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade-launchers, and 82-mm and 120-mm mortars. While fighting is not limited to this area and also occurs west of Horlivka and east of Mariupol (both in the Donetsk region) and near Shchastya and Stanytsia Luhanska (in the Luhansk region), Avdiyivka has emerged as ground zero in recent weeks.

Oleksander Turchynov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, was quoted as saying that mercenaries backed by Russia had intensified attacks on Ukrainian troops using heavy weapons that were to have been withdrawn from the frontline under the Minsk treaty.

“I want to draw the attention of our strategic partners to the blatant and cynical discrediting by Russia of all the joint peace efforts,” Turchynov said in a statement.

According to the presidential administration spokesman for the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Oleksandr Motuzianyk, the casualties were reported in the town of Avdiyivka that suffered heavy shelling. The outskirts of Avdiyivka remain the hottest points of fighting along the front.

“After shelling our positions, the militants turned their weapons and fired in the direction of Donetsk,” the military press center said, adding the provocation was conducted to blame Ukraine’s army.

The invaders used heavy-caliber machine guns, grenade launchers and 82mm-calibre mortars. They used the same types of weapons to shell Ukrainian army positions near the town of Krasnohorivka. The terrorists also attacked Ukrainian positions near the villages of Shchastya and Sokolnyky using small arms and grenade launchers.

Some of more than 70 shells fired overnight to the positions of Ukrainian military, hit residential areas of the town and set some houses on fire. One local woman suffered shrapnel wounds.

Ukrainian military also reported spotting five Russian drones, two of them coming from the Russian territory.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has also been tabulating Russian violations of the Minsk Accords and attacks against Ukrainian troops:

In DPR (acronym for the renegade Donetsk Peoples Republic)-controlled Yasynuvata (16 km northeast of Donetsk), between 08:57 and 13:10 on May 23, the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) reported hearing 19 undetermined explosions and four single shots of small-arms fire 0.5-3 km west-southwest and northeast of its position. Between 13:21 and 16:22, the SMM heard 18 undetermined explosions, five bursts and 12 single shots of heavy machine gun and small-arms fire 2-5km west and west-north-west of its position. Positioned 2km south of government-controlled Avdiyivka (17km north of Donetsk), the SMM between 13:04 and 13:24 heard 11 explosions assessed as impacts of 82mm mortar 4km east of its position. Between 16:05 and 16:58, the SMM heard four explosions assessed as impacts of recoilless gun (SPG-9, 73mm), 11 undetermined explosions, seven explosions assessed as impacts of 82mm mortar, 22 bursts of heavy machine gun fire and three shots and six bursts of small-arms fire. Between 17:14 and 17:15, the SMM heard one explosion assessed as an outgoing 120mm mortar round and five bursts of heavy machine gun fire 3km southeast of its position.

As it maintains its bloody deceit, Russia is denying that it is providing its terrorists in Luhansk and Donetsk with arms and regular soldiers to escalate its war that has claimed some 10,000 lives. It denies in the face of proof to the contrary its involvement in the war against Ukraine. Moscow is also forcing its demand for local elections in the war zone, which is being treated seriously by France and Germany. Elections in eastern Ukraine should not take place until Russia withdraws from Ukraine and its surrogates are arrested and tried.

According to credible officials, such as Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, evidence collected by the organization indicates that Russian troops have been directly involved in the war in Ukraine since it first erupted in the spring of 2014.

Speaking at a press conference in Odessa, Hug said: “From the beginning, we wrote in our reports about different types of weapons. It includes, among other things, electronic equipment, which interfered with the work of our drones. We wrote in our reports that observers recorded the presence of armed men with visible insignias of Russian troops on their uniforms. We also talked to prisoners who said that they were the soldiers of the Russian army. Also, we saw traces – not the vehicles themselves, but the traces of their movement across the border (from Russia to Ukraine).”

At the G7 Summit, President Obama, perhaps frustrated by the duration of Russian war in Ukraine, made a strange remark about it. He openly complained to reporters that there was too much violence in Ukraine and urged his colleagues to resolve the situation in Ukraine.

Obama said: “We started to see some progress in negotiations, but we’re still seeing too much violence, and we need to get that resolved.”

It is difficult to respond to the American commander in chief who makes such a frivolous observation. Wars, undeclared wars, proxy wars, hybrid wars and other kinds of wars are wrought with violence, death and destruction in this case brought upon Ukraine by Russia. War is hell, Mr. President. The G7 cannot resolve the situation in Ukraine without Obama’s direction that the resolution must begin with Putin and his armies and mercenaries.

As these past seven days have shown, Russia still refuses to abide by entreaties and demands that it cease its war with Ukraine. The war continues to claim Ukrainian lives as world leaders exhibit greater signs of boredom and weariness, while turning their attention more and more to Kyiv’s domestic plague of corruption.

Moscow commits crimes on many levels with impunity, disparaging sanctions, treaty commitments and international law. In previous generations world leaders successfully turned to morality in determining their relations with countries near and far. They formed coalitions to defeat or at least subdue international lawbreakers. There is no justifiable, long-term reason to cower behind fear of Russian nuclear arsenal or its energy reserves.

The world is confronted with Shakespearean to be or not to be.

If the free world’s resolve and will to defeat Russia or at least to expel Russian armies and terrorists from Ukraine dissipates, then there will be no hope for regional and global peace, security and stability. Business as usual with Russia sends the wrong message to Moscow and prolongs the trauma faced by the former captive nations.

2 Congressional Resolutions Seek to Help War-torn Ukraine

Two resolutions are making their rounds on Capitol Hill that are earmarked to help Ukraine in its war with Russia.

These aren’t the first resolutions on behalf of Ukraine to be discussed in the halls of Congress, but today, after 27 months of war, they are critical in helping Ukraine repel Russia and restore peace and stability to the region. The resolutions emphasize the defensive and security interconnectivity among the US, Ukraine and Europe as well as the necessity of rebuilding free world and transatlantic unity that has been destroyed by Russia.

The resolutions are also important reminders for the free world because it’s beginning to show signs of boredom with this war and is realigning its focus to Ukraine’s equally fatal domestic corruption. These congressional campaigns should point out that helping Ukraine expel Russia from its sovereign land should be the prime goal now, ahead of cleaning house.

One resolution is HR 5094: Stability and Democracy (STAND) for Ukraine. Introduced by Reps. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), the legislation aims to tighten sanctions against Russia and codifies US non-recognition of Russia’s occupation of Crimea.

In a statement late in late April, Engel said Russia’s aggression, driven by President Putin, has undermined Ukrainian sovereignty. Engle made a beneficial association between Moscow’s threat against Ukraine and simultaneously Europe by saying that Russia’s invasion has “threatened our own long-term investment in a Europe that is whole, free and at peace.”

Reiterating the free world’s widely-accepted position on occupied Crimea, Engle emphasized that it is illegal and the United States needs “to be clear about that in our policy, just as we were during the Soviets’ decades-long occupation of the Baltic states.” The allusion to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia’s unlawful captivity by Moscow, which the US refused to recognize, was justified in this reference but it should be pointed out that Ukraine was also subjugated for centuries until a quarter of a century ago.

“We need to build on our sanctions regime against troublemakers in the Kremlin, while working to preserve transatlantic unity. And we need to find ways of shoring up Ukraine and deterring Putin that go beyond just throwing more money at the problem,” said Engel. “The STAND for Ukraine Act brings a new approach to all these issues and makes clear that the United States will not just stand by as Putin bullies his neighbors, tests the resolve of NATO, and works to fracture Western unity.”

The congressmen’s quaint usage of “troublemakers,” “problem” and “bullies” attempts to make a point colloquially but Capitol Hill should understand that there’s nothing charming about the Kremlin. Russian leaders aren’t troublemakers – they’re global terrorists, it’s not a problem but a shooting war, and the Kremlin isn’t bullying its neighbors but threatening them with invasion, death and re-subjugation behind a new iron curtain.

Co-sponsor Kinzinger observed that the world is again witnessing Putin’s continuous “disrespect for global order, especially in regards to Ukraine.” He emphasized that the US must “stand up and reiterate that it will not tolerate Russia’s aggression.” But how will the US demonstrate its lack of tolerance?

He said “By reaffirming US support for Ukraine’s self-defense, emphasizing that we never have nor will recognize Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, and by holding Russia accountable for its continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, we will ‘Stand with Ukraine’ legislatively and most effectively.”

The congressmen’s comments appropriately point out that important Ukrainian national life-or-death issues are at stake in the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16.

STAND for Ukraine was also co-sponsored by the following lawmakers including the bipartisan leadership of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus: Sander Levin (D-MI), Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Ralph Abraham (R-LA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Randy Weber (R-TX), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Mike Pompeo (R-KS), David Cicilline (D-RI), John Shimkus (R-IL), Bill Keating (D-MA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Reid Ribble (R-WI).

The key points of STAND for Ukraine Act are:

*       Clarifies existing US policy toward Ukraine and explicitly acknowledges Ukraine’s right to self-defense while linking any sanctions relief for Russia to timely, complete and verifiable implementation of the Minsk framework.

*       Explicitly roots US Crimea policy in the non-recognition doctrine followed by the United States during the Soviet Union’s 50-year occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

*       Codifies existing Executive Order sanctions imposed on Russia for the forcible and illegal occupation of Crimea.

*       Tightens existing US sanctions on Russia for its violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity by authorizing a strict sanctions-evasion framework and requiring a regular report on foreign financial institutions that are illicitly controlling Ukraine state-owned assets-namely Russian banks in Crimea.

*       Imposes an Arms Export Control Act “presumption of denial” standard on any NATO member that transfers certain defense articles or services containing US technology or components to Russia while Russia is forcibly occupying the territory of Ukraine or any NATO member.

*       Extends the Magnitsky Act to territories occupied or otherwise controlled by Russia such as Crimea, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria.

*       Directs the Administration to consult with the Government of Ukraine and seek to establish an international consortium to drive private investment in Ukraine by minimizing and pooling political risk to would-be private investors.

*       Directs the Secretary of State to develop and implement a strategy to respond to Russian disinformation and propaganda efforts toward Russian-speaking areas in countries bordering Russia.

The second resolution is S.2692, the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act. Sponsors Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) wrote a “Dear Colleague” that seeks the Senate’s support for the legislation.

S.2692 would establish a Center for Information Analysis and Response for the purpose of coordinating a US response to propaganda from foreign sources such as Russia, China and other countries. It is regarded as an essential piece of legislation that would strengthen US security interests by disseminating truthful information about worldwide issues, in particular, Russia’s disinformation and propaganda about Ukraine and the war in eastern Ukraine.

Indeed, Russian trolls are seen across the Internet defaming Ukraine, the US and NATO by painting them as the aggressors against Russia as well as chasing pro-Ukrainian bloggers and tweeters.

The three principle points of the act are:

Better coordinate US government efforts by establish the US Center for Information Analysis and Response;

Empower local communities to expose and counter foreign propaganda and manipulation through a local grant program;

Encourage the State Department to give special consideration in exchange programs to residents of countries vulnerable to foreign disinformation.

“The Counter Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act would ensure America’s national security infrastructure is structured to best counter the false narratives that harm our security—delivering truthful information and empowering credible voices outside government to directly counter false narratives and make the world a safer place for the United States and our allies,” wrote Portman and Murphy in their letter.

The adoption of these resolutions is important because they will bolster previously adopted acts and a relatively favorable US policy vis-à-vis Ukraine ahead of a change in the White House next January. They could have been stronger; they could have called for arming Ukraine; and they could have denounced Russia as an enemy of peace and the free world. However, realistically, the sense of HR 5094 and S.2692 is the best that could be expected from supportive legislators that fear aggravating an already unstable Russian leader.

The Ukrainian National Information Service in Washington, DC, is urging Ukrainian Americans, and by association Americans who trace their heritages to Eastern Europe and the x-captive nations, to ask their elected officials to support these resolutions. Additionally, the spirit of these resolutions should be included as planks in the platforms of the Republic and Democratic parties.

Since the US and free world are reluctant to offer Kyiv needed military aid to stop Russia’s onslaught against Ukraine like General Patton saved Europe by stopping Hitler’s Nazi war machine, then perhaps legislations such as these can bolster this goal in another way.

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister: ‘Just Get off Our Land’

It’s a simple challenge that any victim in history could demand of a criminal or invader. It brings to mind President Ronald Reagan’s famous exhortation to Mikhail Gorbachev: “Tear down this wall.”

The simplicity and forthrightness of powerful declarations such as these can alter history. The latter one did so with the destruction of the Soviet Russian empire while the former one is still awaiting its fulfillment.

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko, recapping the devastating consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago during a special session of the UN Security Council on Thursday, April 28, offered an unpretentious proposal about how to end the war. All Russia has to do, Prystaiko said, “Just get off our land in the Crimea and the East of Ukraine.”

For 27 months, Ukrainian soldiers have been fighting and dying in combat with Russian troops and mercenaries that invaded and occupied Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk. For more than two years the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and others have been urging Moscow to withdraw from Ukraine so the region and world can return to peace and stability. They’ve reinforced their insistence with hard-hitting economic sanctions that won’t be lifted until Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk are returned to sovereign Ukraine.

Nothing has worked as Moscow remains recalcitrant and stubborn in its lawless occupation of three Ukrainian regions.

The UN Security Council meeting was the first called by Ukraine on this issue since December 2015. Last month, the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations convened a similar gathering of member-states on the occasion of the second anniversary of the UN resolution supporting Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. (See my blog of March 21) Member-states, with the obvious exception of Russia, have been regularly expressing their support for Ukraine.

Prystaiko said Ukraine has been enduring this war with Russia for two years, referring to the aggressor as a “formerly called brotherly nation.” That’s a term that I’d like to see cut in stone.

He said some 10,000 have been killed and 21,000 wounded. “More than 1.7 million of Ukrainians had to leave their homes and become internally displaced persons,” Prystaiko detailed.

“Every day Ukrainian families lose a son, a father, a husband, a brother. Every day Ukrainian men and women get wounded often becoming physically and psychologically handicapped for the rest of their lives,” he continued. “Only on April 23, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and five wounded as a result of militants’ shelling. Tonight, we witness another tragic death of three civilians and seven more wounded probably caught in cross-fire. This incident has to be properly investigated. Ukraine has already invited OSCE monitors to the site.”

Prystaiko apparently didn’t want to dwell on body counts but he did offer one poignant example of the war’s cost. “On a personal note, I recently saw an 11-year-old kid from the Ukrainian town of Mariupol being treated now in Montreal and taken care of by the Ukrainian community of Canada. A boy was on a walk with his brother and friends but was silly enough to pick up something from the ground after the bombardment. This cost him three limbs. More to it, he is not aware yet that he has no younger brother anymore,” he recalled.

War is hell.

Russia’s war has brought to Donbas a 34,000-strong military force consisting of the regular Russian troops as well as of foreign and local militants, Prystaiko said. Russian generals and military officers provide direct command-and-control of this illegal armed force, impressively heavily armed, he continued. “In particular, today terrorists have at least 470 tanks, 870 armored combat vehicles, 450 tube artillery systems, 190 MLRS, operated by so-called ‘upset miners.’ This is more than most of NATO members have in their armed forces and allegedly was acquired in the local hardware stores,” the minister observed.

Turning his attention to occupied Crimea, Prystaiko said Moscow is spreading its reign of terror against the pro-Ukrainian indigenous Crimean population. He said more than 130 criminal cases against Crimean Tatars have been brought, 21 representatives of Crimean Tatars were kidnapped, nine are still missing, and three were lately found dead.

Prystaiko said he calls on the UN Security Council to demand that Russia restore the rights of Crimean Tatars and ensure “the joke of the Crimean courts and prosecutor office would cancel their decision of the Mejilis ban.”

But better than that, he continued, “In a more broader sense – just get off our land in Crimea and the East of Ukraine.”

Yes, get out; Kyiv can take care of its nation, country and citizens very well without Russian intrusion.

With many options on the table, Prystaiko cast Ukraine’s lot on the side of the Mink Accords and a political settlement, which, sadly, Russia violates every day. But on a realistic note, the Ukrainian official, fully cognizant that controversial international issues are occasionally left indefinitely unresolved, stated that “Ukraine does not want the Russian aggression against Ukraine to transform into yet another item on the Security Council’s agenda that is regularly debated but brings no tangible progress towards settlement of the conflict.”

Prystaiko ridiculed Russian efforts in the UN and other forums to deny its invasion, saying Moscow’s lies are “well formulated” but upon close examination the reader will understand “who came to whose land and who is pouring more weapons, mercenaries and regular soldiers on day to day basis.”

He concluded by urging his international colleagues to remember that there are 120 Ukrainian POWs in Russia “among them member of the Ukrainian Parliament, and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Nadiya Savchenko, Ukrainian film-director Oleh Sentsov, native Crimean as well as other citizens of Ukraine Oleksander Kolchenko, Mykola Karpyuk, Stanislav Klyk, Henadiy Afanasiev; Valentyn Vyhovskiy, Oleksiy Chyrniy, Yuriy Soloshenko, Serhiy Lytvynov, and Oleksander Kostenko.

Prystaiko reiterated that Ukrainians – especially its best sons and daughters who already paid the ultimate price defending their homeland – are only interested in a lasting peaceful solution, which is just and fair.

“Anything short of that would be unacceptable to the people of Ukraine,” he cautioned. “We are ready to make our part of the way but I am afraid that all keys to sustainable de-escalation and subsequent long-lasting settlement reside in Moscow and they have to produce these keys and open peaceful, better future with no death, hatred and sanctions.”

Ambassador Samantha Power, US permanent representative to the UN, also joined the chorus of support for Ukraine. Her regular denunciations of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine have become examples of classic official testimonies in defense of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and indivisibility.

While the world placed its hope in the implementation of the Minsk Accords, Power said sadly Russia has not fulfilled its promises. Rather the conflict has worsened, violence has increased, and the challenges to Minsk fulfillment have grown, she said.

The root cause of the war, death and destruction is Russia.

“What is happening today is the result of Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which began with its occupation of Crimea more than two years ago, and expanded with substantial military on the ground and weapons support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Every negative consequence of the conflict that we see today – every one – is traceable back to that original sin. We must not lose sight of that incontrovertible fact even as we focus on the issues and the human consequences in the present,” Power said.

Calling the Russian escalation “shocking,” Power said ensuring that a comprehensive and sustained ceasefire takes hold along the line of contact and that OSCE monitors have full and unrestricted access they need to help monitor that ceasefire is the essential condition for the political steps set out in the Minsk agreements.

She said Russian mercenaries have insisted that elections be held in their occupied oblasts but Power pointed out that democratic elections require basic security and freedom of movement and speech for voters and candidates. “Yet the climate created by the separatists in the parts of eastern Ukraine that they occupy is not a climate that looks anything like this.” Power said.

Though I do not favor regional elections demanded by foreign terrorists, Power was right to say that Russia must de-escalate the fighting and allow full access for international monitors throughout eastern Ukraine before elections are organized. She added that Russia must support “serious efforts” to propose election laws for Donbas, ensure security and release hostages. Most importantly, the US official believes that implementation of the Minsk agreement should lead to Russia’s withdrawal of all forces and equipment from Ukrainian territory and restoration of Ukrainian control over its land.

That’s the goal that should be sought by international pressure, sanctions, Minsk accords or military expulsion of Russia from Ukraine.

Power also addressed the dire situation faced by Crimean Tatars in their besieged Ukrainian peninsula. She said Crimea was invaded and occupied by Russian forces and ultimately annexed in a sham referendum.

“If you want a picture of the way Russian authorities govern on sovereign Ukrainian territory, just look at Crimea today. On Tuesday of this week, the Russian-controlled Supreme Court in Crimea declared the Mejlis – the self-governing body of the Crimean Tatars – an extremist organization. As a result, virtually all forms of Tatar political expression and organization have effectively been criminalized – no more speaking to the press – that’s a crime; no more convening meetings – a crime; no more holding elections – a crime,” she said.

Power related that the crackdown on dissent in Crimea continues to deepen, as the few remaining independent journalists and other critical voices have been methodically targeted. For example, she said, for reporting that Crimea is part of Ukraine – as all UN maps show it is, she noted – journalists are locked up. “How is that possible? In Crimea and in eastern Ukraine – as in so much of Russia – telling the truth is now an extremist activity. Go figure,” Power asked.

Without pulling any punches, Power placed the blame on this reign of terror squarely on the Kremlin.

“The root cause of this crisis – Russia’s occupation of Crimea, and Russia’s ongoing arming, training, and fighting alongside separatists in eastern Ukraine,” she said. “As has always been the case, the crisis manufactured by Russia can and must be ended by Russia – by stopping its arming, training, and fighting along separatists in eastern Ukraine – and by ending its illegal occupation of Crimea.”

The US ambassador and the Ukrainian deputy foreign minister insisted that the solution is in Moscow, which launched the war and controls its day-to-day escalation.

Power vowed that the United States will continue to press for the full implementation of the Minsk accords by all parties – “just as we will keep sanctions in place for as long as Russia continues to obstruct their implementation. And we will maintain our Crimea sanctions until Russia ends its occupation of the peninsula.”

Two years after invading and occupying Ukrainian territory, Russia’s aggression continues with impunity while the world deliberates. At the end of the day, after Russian Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin’s denials and lies, the echo of Vadym Prystaiko’s words continue to reverberate.

Which will it be?

“Just get off our land.”

“No tangible progress towards settlement of the conflict.”

ABN at 70 – Global Coalition Needed to Defend X-Captive Nations

World War Two was fast becoming a horrible memory by 1946. Nazi Germany was defeated and the fighting was over in Western Europe, as well as in North Africa and the Pacific. However, unbeknown to many in the West, the fighting and killing still raged in Eastern Europe, where Soviet Russia replaced Nazi Germany as the aggressor. Moscow was hard at work invading and occupying former independent countries and establishing its notorious prison of nations behind the infamous iron curtain.

However, spearheaded by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, under the leadership of Stepan Bandera and Jaroslav Stetsko, a secret meeting of the anti-Russian combatant nations was convened on November 21, 1943, near Zhytomyr, Ukraine. This conference paved the way for the establishment of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, which began its work on April 16, 1946, in what was then called West Germany.

The founders of the ABN confirmed that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of any single nation cannot be guaranteed without the same, comprehensive status for Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Caucasus and farther east. The ABN illustrated classic regional, multinational unity and commitment, and they provided a platform for the fight against Russian imperialism and communism through combined ideological, political and military strategies. The participants’ shared goal was to defend jointly their independence and contribute to the dismemberment of the USSR as the only practical means of ensuring regional and global security, stability and peace. Their motto was: Freedom for nations; Freedom for individuals.

The following organizations were members of the ABN since its inception or for varying periods of time: ‘Free Armenia’ Committee, Bulgarian National Front, Belorussian Central Council, Cossack National Liberation Movement, Croatian National Liberation Movement, Czech Movement for Freedom (Za Svobodu), Czech National Committee, Estonian Liberation Movement, Union of the Estonian Fighters for Freedom, Georgian National Organization, Hungarian Liberation Movement, Hungarian Mindszenty Movement, Latvian Association for the Struggle against Communism, Lithuanian Rebirth Movement, Slovak Liberation Committee, National Turkestanian Unity Committee, United Hetman Organization, and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (Bandera faction).

Seven decades after the end of World War II and the establishment of the ABN, Europe – and the free world – are still facing the real threat of Russian aggression. Some 26 months ago Russian soldiers and mercenaries invaded and occupied Ukrainian Crimea and then two eastern oblasts in Moscow’s latest attempt not only to keep Ukraine from fulfilling its historical mission of formally joining the European Union but also to resurrect its empire, the prison of nations.

What has transpired since February 2014 has evolved into a major escalation of Moscow’s saber rattling against the free world, Ukraine and the x-captive nations. Thousands of regular Russian soldiers and thousands of pro-Russian terrorists along with hundreds of pieces of armored equipment, missiles and tanks have crossed Ukraine’s border in an obvious attempt by Russia to re-conquer Ukraine. Russia even established outlaw, renegade republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.

While the free world, led by the United States, have been paralyzed by the launch of the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16, Russia’s belligerent message did not fall on deaf Eastern European ears. Individually and collectively they have rightly begun making plans for a unified defense against a potential Russian attack. The free world and NATO have offered tepid support by dispatching merely brigade strength military units and a few instructors but stopping short of providing enough personnel and hardware to send a clear message to Moscow that any encroachment against the former captive nations would be an act of war against the free world. Their excuses have been based on their fear of angering Moscow and disbelief that Russia, a full-fledged participant of global events, intends to re-subjugate the former captive nations.

At numerous global meetings including last September’s UN General Assembly debates, presidents of Ukraine and the x-captive nations denounced Russia’s invasion and warned the free world that its security and stability are also threatened by Moscow’s belligerence.

The free world did not recognize the plight of the captive nations during World War II and since then it has demonstrated mild interest in their pain and suffering. The West never comprehended their captivity as well as their desire to distance themselves as far as possible from Moscow. Free countries refused to hear the former captive nations. The free world remained dumbfounded, long on superficial political platitudes but short on comprehension and action.

East Europeans and the Baltic states have never given any credence to western theories that Vladimir Putin has abandoned his Mein Kampf of subjugating Ukraine. The x-captive nations expressed grave concerns about regional Russian aggression and pragmatically have initiated their own defense preparations. There are numerous examples of their arrangements in current news reports.

Reuters, The Baltic Times and other news media reported that leaders of nine Central and Eastern European and Baltic states said in a joint statement on November 4, 2014, they were gravely concerned about Russia’s “continuing aggressive posturing” and endorsed a sustainable NATO military presence in the region.

Despite NATO’s vacillation about its mission, the x-captive nations, the countries that were to be beneficiaries of the alliance’s military protection, still believe in its viability and commitment to defend their collective independence.

“We will stand firm on the need for Russia to return to respect of international law as well as of its international obligations, responsibilities and commitments as a pre-condition for a NATO-Russia relationship based on trust and confidence,” they said in the joint declaration.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said NATO simultaneously faces threats from the east and the south, necessitating “more troops, more infrastructure and more common actions” as he and his colleagues urged the alliance to take an active role in safeguarding their and by association global freedom.

News reports noted that the x-captive nations’ declaration also said the leaders would join efforts to secure “a robust, credible and sustainable” allied military presence in the region, and would advocate deeper cooperation between NATO and the European Union.  ‘Hybrid’ warfare, cyber defense, energy security and strategic communication were listed in the statement as key areas needing their attention.

The statement was issued after a meeting in Bucharest, Romania, of heads of state including Lithuania’s Dalia Grybauskaite, Latvia’s Raimonds Vejonis, Estonia’s Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Slovakia’s Andrej Kiska, Bulgaria’s Rosen Plevneliev and Hungary’s Janos Ader.

At a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Antalya, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius emphasized that Russia has tested the alliance’s vigilance and unity, and called on NATO to ensure a permanent presence of its troops in the Baltic states.

Other European countries have begun to modernize their defense capabilities amid fears and uncertainty over Russia. Poland has begun a military modernization program at a cost of more than $35 billion. Poland and Sweden signed a military cooperation agreement in September that also cited Russian military fears. Sweden said it had increased its own military spending by 11%.

“Once a sea of peace, the Baltic has become a sea of danger,” observed Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak.

Fearing Russian military incursion, Poland, the first country to recognize Ukrainian independence in 1991, is seeking to reaffirm its role as Ukraine’s biggest EU ally with pledges of more financial and diplomatic support, in an effort to reassure Kyiv that the West – or at least those x-captive nations that have been accepted into western structures – has not forgotten about its two-year war with Russia.

“Ukraine is a great strategic partner of Poland,” said Duda at a joint press conference in the Ukrainian capital. “Ukraine’s sovereignty is one of the major issues for our country.”

The Lithuanian head of state together with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Latvian President Andris Bērziņš and Polish President Bronisław Komorowski have confirmed the implementation of decisions adopted at a NATO Summit in Wales as well as energy, information and cyber security issues.

“Our countries have a shared goal – secure and economically strong region. We will only achieve this goal by standing together in the implementation of long-term collective defense measures and strategic projects aimed at ensuring the region’s energy self-sufficiency,” the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine delivered a wake-up call regarding appropriate levels of defense spending for the small Baltic states. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are on heightened alert as Russian military planes and warships circle their airspace and sea borders on a daily basis in what they call “unprecedented” Russian activity.

Separately, Polish President Duda observed in the website http://www.ji-magazine.lviv.ua that contemporary Russia has nothing to do with democracy.

In addition to violating its own constitution every day, Duda said Russia “is the first European country which has committed military intervention in the affairs of other independent European state, taking away part of its territory” referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia should not be the focus of any negotiations, Duda said, adding that the Minsk discussions involving Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France reminded him of Yalta of 1945, at which the free world surrendered parts of Europe to Soviet Russia in a naive gambit to appease Moscow.

“We cannot accept the fact that Russia should swallow Ukraine by pieces. We are responsible for the integration of European states and the integrity of borders in Europe. Stopping this decaying process will be a triuimph for Europe. To accept a rotten compromise will defeat it,” the Polish president said.

Lithuanian President Grybauskaite, a consistent and unambiguous advocate of Ukraine, in 2014, became the first European leader to speak frankly about the Russian aggression in the Donbas region of Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea. Grybauskaite said frankly in an interview with The Washington Post that she saw both the Islamic State and Russia as terrorists.

“Russia is terrorizing its neighbors and using terrorist methods,” the Lithuanian president was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Harkening back to the founding principles of the ABN, Grybauskaite has noted that Ukraine is not just fighting for its own sovereignty, but it is defending the sovereignty of all European nations. Her acerbic denunciation of Putin’s war is without comparison in Eastern Europe.

During an interview with German news magazine Focus, Grybauskaite said the Russian despot “uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means. That’s exactly what Stalin and Hitler did.”

Grybauskaite elaborated: “Russia is at war against Ukraine and that is against a country which wants to be part of Europe. Russia is practically in war against Europe,” she said, adding that she is prepared to “take up arms” in the instance of Russian attacks.

Grybauskaite is convinced that if Russia is not repulsed from Ukraine, Putin will sweep across the Baltics, central Europe and northern Europe.

“The situation is still deteriorating. Russian troops are still on the territory of Ukraine. That means that Europe and the world are allowing Russia to be a country which is not only threatening its neighbors but is also organizing a war against its neighbors. It is the same international terrorism as we have in Iraq and Syria.

“In Ukraine, it is a real war (not hybrid as the free world is antiseptically stating – ID). The European Union and most of the leaders in the world are trying to talk about it as if it is not war but some kind of support of terrorist elements. We saw Crimea. In the very beginning, it was green men, and it became Russian military. Now it is the same in eastern Ukraine. And I’m sure that it is not the last territory where Putin is going to demonstrate his powers.

“If we will be too soft with our sanctions or adapt sanctions but not implement them, I think he will go further trying to unite east Ukraine with south Ukraine and Crimea. He recently said that in two days he is capable to reach Warsaw, the Baltic States, and Bucharest. So that is an open threat to his neighbors.

“If he will not be stopped in Ukraine, he will go further.”

Linas Linkevičius, Lithuanian minister of foreign affairs, another outspoken critic of the free world’s political myopia, in an article in EurActiv, chastised the free world for paying too much attention to not provoking Russia. Linkevičius warned about the dangers of acting in a “pragmatic and responsible manner” with Russia.

The Lithuanian official recalled that at the 2008 NATO-Russia Summit in Bucharest, Russian President Putin urged the West not to cooperate with Ukraine, claiming that the country is an artificial creation, rather than a state. “That seemed to have set off an alarm clock. However, it was not heard, or the West comfortably chose not to hear it. Ukraine experienced the impact six years later, while Georgia witnessed warfare on its territory soon after, in August,” he wrote.

The difference in attitudes between the former captive nations and the free world, is striking, emphasizing have and have not experiences with bondage. The United States and old Europe do not understand this. If the x-captive nations are doomed to expect only tepid support from the free world, then they will have to seize the day and create a sovereign alternative that will ensure them of their all-inclusive independence – political, economic, commercial and military.

What are the former captive nations to do? With NATO immersed in a deep re-analysis of the mission that it was precisely mandated to undertake at the end of World War II – to defend the free world against Russian imperialism, then the alliance is not building confidence in the captive nations. The logical question is if the aggressor has clearly not changed, why then should NATO’s mission change?

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has warned against Russian aggression in what some have said were his strongest remarks since becoming Pentagon chief. He detailed Russian forces’ “challenging activities” at sea, in the air, in space and in cyberspace. Carter also said Moscow was “violating sovereignty in Ukraine and Georgia and actively trying to intimidate the Baltic states.”

“We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot, war with Russia,” Carter said. “We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake; the United States will defend our interests, our allies, the principled international order, and the positive future it affords us all.”

Carter and US Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Samantha Power are the staunchest supporters of Ukraine and the x-captive nations against Russian aggression. But they are incapable of achieving anything in a White House that itself is not committed to helping the victims beyond economic sanctions.

US General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s top military chief, among high-ranking soldiers, has warned that Russia has enough troops on Ukraine’s border to carry out an incursion across the region.

“We are very concerned with the militarization of Crimea,” Breedlove told a press conference in Kiev, where he was holding talks with Ukraine's leaders. “The capabilities that are being installed in Crimea will bring an effect on almost the entire Black Sea,” he added.

The commander of American forces in Europe, said that cruise and surface-to-air missiles on the peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in March, could be used to “exert influence” over the strategic region.

Unfortunately, Breedlove’s outspoken and realistic opinion is a minority point of view not seriously regarded by political leaders.

Taking matters into their own hands, Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland are pressing forward with discussions about a joint brigade that would provide an opportunity for Ukraine to learn from Lithuania and Poland’s experience of NATO integration and to develop efficient armed forces.

The plan grew out of a meeting in Kyiv between Lithuania's President Grybauskaite and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko. Grybauskaite announced that Lithuania would be providing Ukraine with military aid, but did not specify if this would include weaponry or be of the non-lethal kind. Grybauskaite, whose country already has a tense relationship with Russia, recently called Russia a “terrorist country” because of its troops in eastern Ukraine.

In view of the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-16, the joint defense concept charted by Bandera and Stetsko is worthy of a revival. The former captive nations already have made individual and collective political declarations and expressed a willingness that could lead to the successful resuscitation of such a structure.

Not surprisingly, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin had also alluded to the imperativeness of such a far-reaching coalition. Outraged by the Russian invasion of his homeland, Klimkin suggested soon after President Petro Poroshenko’s visit to Canada and the United States the creation of a Coalition of Freedom to defend democracy and Western values in a troubled world.

“It is about security for everyone,” said Klimkin during an exclusive Fox News interview on the eve of the 65th UN General Assembly. “If someone in this interchangeable and intertwined world cannot feel secure, how can US citizens here feel secure?”

Klimkin explained that Ukraine is confronting a threat any nation can face, adding “we need a network of security.” His Coalition of Freedom would consist of “countries which are committed to freedom, to democratic values, where we are not talking about spheres of influence, but the values and real interests of democratic countries.”

I applauded his decision in my blog at the time.

Undeniably and justifiably, the former captive nations are being threatened by Russia and cannot trust their sovereign, independent existence to the whims, politics and nervousness of NATO and the free world. They must unite for their joint security and defense against Russian aggression.

On the 70^th anniversary of the establishment of a historic anti-Russian defense alliance, the leaders of Ukraine and its neighbors should realize that the time and opportunity are now to revive the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, the World Anti-Communist League and the Captive Nations Week Committee for their common defense. They should form global, UN, regional, academic, military and NGO coalitions to defend democracy, liberty and human rights as bulwarks against Russian aggression.

What Ukraine and the former captive nations have experienced in the Russian prison of nations has convinced them that Russia can’t be trusted today. The former captive nations must convince Washington, the other capitals and Russia that they will unite, arm themselves and build ramparts against Russia if their common predicament is not remedied.

For the sake of global and regional stability, security and peace, their plight and mission should not be belittled by the United States and the free world.

And the War in Ukraine Goes On …

Despite sanctions, negotiations, pleas, anger, frustration, UN resolutions, congressional or parliamentary interventions, and killings, Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has claimed more than 10,000 lives and left in excess of 1.5 million people homeless in 25 months, continues.

In recent weeks, multistate institutions, governments and media have reported on Russia’s rapid and uninhibited escalation of its war, raising concern in Kyiv and other x-captive nations’ capitals that Moscow will continue its military campaign to keep Ukraine from immersing itself in Western establishments by restoring the iron curtain and its empire.

Last week, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said fighting between pro-Russian terrorists and Ukrainian troops increased sharply in eastern Ukraine in defiance of international calls to observe the latest installment of the Minsk truce agreement. Sadly, western observers concluded that the February 2015 Minsk ceasefire agreement has failed to completely halt the war.

“We have been registering with great concern the deterioration of the situation in the east for months now,” said Ertugrul Apakan, chief of the OSCE’s monitoring mission to Ukraine.

OSCE’s reports indicate that Russians are stepping up their attacks against Ukrainian positions on a daily basis and the frequency is staggering.

“Regrettably, the worsening security situation in the Donbas, precipitated by ceasefire violations from combined Russian-separatist forces, has constrained Ukraine’s capacity to move forward on the political aspects of Minsk implementation and Ukraine’s reform program. The United States expresses grave concern over the escalating cycle of violence that has taken hold in the Donbas and notes, once again, clear and incontrovertible evidence that military provocation remains the policy of combined Russian-separatist forces. No fewer than 37 outgoing grad rockets were launched out of separatist-controlled Donetsk city on April 8, in blatant disregard for the withdrawal lines and in violation of the September 1 ceasefire. As confidence in the ceasefire regime erodes, the tit-for-tat exchange of fire has grown into sustained combat in key hotspots, with over 2,800 ceasefire violations occurring on April 8 alone. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) has recorded the highest-ever use of heavy weapons since the ceasefire began. Maintaining this intense level of fighting requires, as the SMM has previously noted, a ‘sophisticated supply chain’ to keep separatist forces well-stocked with weapons and ammunition,” said Ambassador Daniel B. Baer to the Permanent Council, Vienna

UAToday.tv reported that Avdiyivka, a town in Donbas under the control of Ukrainian forces, has recently experienced a major uptick in military action. Heavy battles have been going on here since April 2. Citing Ukrainian officials, the news outlet said the town and its surrounding area are currently the most dangerous location in the conflict zone.

The news outlet also said Russian terrorists located in Yasynuvate near Avdiyivka have shelled Ukrainian army positions 73 times in a 24-hour period, leaving four soldiers wounded. The Russian secessionists have broken ceasefire in this area almost 600 times in the course of one week earlier this month. Russian-backed troops are using tanks, machine guns, sniper rifles as well as heavy artillery, all of which are officially banned under the Minsk agreements.

Another OSCE report, delivered by Ambassador Baer, detailed that since the Permanent Council last met, “the level of violence in eastern Ukraine has only increased.” Baer added that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine reported on average 600-800 violations per day, adding that “the situation on the ground can hardly be called a ceasefire.” Baer added that “these are not short bursts of gunfire but rather sustained combat lasting several hours, involving heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, and heavy artillery.”

“Combined Russian-separatist forces have not hesitated to make use of proscribed heavy weapons that should be far away from the contact line; this past weekend, they fired a volley of 20 grad rockets at Ukrainian government positions. On April 1, the SMM found a surface-to-air missile system on separatist-held territory contrary to the commitment in the Minsk agreements to withdraw all such weapons from that area.

“The presence of such heavy weapons increases the risk of a rapid re-escalation of the conflict. While the fighting has largely been concentrated in several hotspots in Donetsk, there have been recent signs that the fighting could spread to Luhansk, as sustained ceasefire violations were reported on April 1,” Baer said.

Fortunately for Ukraine, Baer admitted that the Russia-backed separatists have not held up their end of the Minsk accords, which, he said, “were designed not merely to end the conflict, but to restore Ukraine’s governance over its sovereign territory.” He added that the decision taken by the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ in last month to issue passports “has no legal basis in either the Minsk agreements or international law.” These are significant conclusions for the international community to take to heart.

During another 24-hour period, Ukrainian positions in and around Luhansk and Donetsk were bombarded 87 times resulting in eight Ukrainian soldiers being wounded. Three servicemen were wounded as a result of shelling, and five others were wounded when their infantry fighting vehicle was blown up by a landmine, said Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

Russians have also seized a United Nations official in eastern Ukraine. The officer, named by the rebels as Yuriy Suprun, was seized on 8 April. The United Nations is calling for his “immediate and unconditional.”

The UN office in Ukraine, which is carrying out humanitarian operations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, said it is deeply concerned that one of its staffer is a captive in Donetsk. The statement went on to say the UN has information the staff member is being “well treated.”  It did not supply any information on the circumstances surrounding the abduction including when or where it took place.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is obviously pressing forward with his invasion of Ukraine without regard to Western opinions or international agreements that he’s signed. Free world leaders have access to all public and secret news about the Russian war in Ukraine but they are still hard pressed to do anything about this latest threat to regional and global peace and stability. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine continues without its restraint and this dangerous precedent will be detrimental for generations to come.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke on last Thursday with newly elected Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Hroysman, congratulated him on his election and expressed the Washington’s expectations of the new government.

At the same time, Biden emphasized that, in order to maintain international support for Ukraine, “the new team should move forward quickly on Ukraine’s reform program, including fulfilling its IMF commitments, as well as on Minsk implementation and the confirmation of a new, reformist Prosecutor General.” He reiterated unwavering US commitment to the prosperity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

That statement is heartwarming, as have been all of Biden’s remarks to Ukraine, but it is not enough in this perilous time for Ukraine. Urging and threatening Kyiv to reform and eliminate corruption, as important as they are for Ukraine’s future, cannot be singled out when Russian troops and terrorists remain in Ukraine and continue to violate the truce dozens of times in one day.

If this wasn’t all that Ukraine had to contend with, news media also reported last week that the worse is still to come. Geopolitical expert George Friedman observed that while Putin’s military buildup isn’t yet ready to take any further action in Ukraine, he believes the buildup is continuing. Putin will, if he desires, be ready for stronger action against Ukraine by 2017, Friedman pointed out. Hopefully, that’s why the US is also building forces in the region of the x-captive nations.

This is not a time for so-called rational discussions with an irrational Putin about Russia’s war with Ukraine. He is the international outlaw and must be treated like one. In addition to strongly encouraging its allies in Europe to renew and intensify sanctions against Moscow in July until it withdraws from Ukraine, Washington must provide Ukraine with light and heavy defensive weapons as well as tactical and special-ops instructors to aid Ukraine’s valiant troops in successfully engaging Russian invaders.

This proactive policy will not only preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity and save it – and the other x-captive nations – from returning to Russia’s rebuilt prison of nations but it will also save the free world from a Russian invasion.

Poroshenko’s Two Messages in Washington

President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine again brought his passionate message about his country to Washington, DC, last week during the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit. However, while his plea and warning about Ukraine’s war with Russia have not yet fallen on America’s deaf ears, they are sounding frayed due to Kyiv’s halfhearted battle with corruption.

In speeches to the Congress, the World Affairs Council of America and the Ukrainian American community, Poroshenko pointed out that since the Russian invasion of Ukrainian Crimea in February 2014 the country has stagnated economically while successfully defending itself from Russian aggression. He emphasized that Ukraine is embroiled in a war of survival and it has singlehandedly managed to halt the invasion of well-armed Russia. Poroshenko advised the free world to understand that Ukraine is not only fighting for its existence as an independent, sovereign and indivisible European country but also for the free world’s safety and security.

“Ukrainian patriots are losing their lives defending the same values that are dear to America and Europe. We are of one blood, one mind and one values. Democratic values,” Poroshenko observed.

“There are so many reasons not to carry (leadership): indifference, fatigue, self-doubt… And there is only one reason to carry it: you have it in your blood. In these times of doubt, I urge America to be strong and believe in itself – just like people of goodwill worldwide keep believing in America. Don’t let pragmatism make you forget about values, with freedom being at the top of them. Don’t let America become small-minded,” Poroshenko expounded in the US Congress.

“Ukraine’s fight is a fight for freedom.  And this fight continues,” Poroshenko said, urging American lawmakers to provide support for Ukraine.

And Congress and the White House have been for the most part supportive of Ukraine, perhaps due to the herculean efforts by Ukrainian American organizations and citizens. During the latest visit, Vice-President Joe Biden told Poroshenko that the US was moving forward with an additional $335 million in security assistance, the White House said in a statement.

Biden, who has been the White House’s point person in contacts with Poroshenko and Kyiv, again cautioned the Ukrainian leader that efforts by his administration to form a reform-oriented government were critical to unlocking international economic assistance, including an essential third $1 billion US loan guarantee, the statement said.

By comparison with other admonitions, Biden’s was the most constructive and palatable. Hopefully, Poroshenko will not belittle it.

Poroshenko argued that US and free world sanctions against Russia must remain intact until the restoration of peace in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv’s authority over Crimea. Indeed, sanctions must be upheld and even amplified until Russia withdraws its soldiers and terrorists from Ukraine. Anything less would signal the free world’s contempt for Ukrainian spilt blood.

“If the West lifts sanctions, the Kremlin’s wish will come true: Ukrainian blood will cost nothing. Killing Ukrainians will go without punishment,” said Poroshenko.

“Can anyone in the West accept this? I hope not. Sanctions are the only ‘line in the sand’ that the West drew after 2014. It is the only line between good and evil drawn in the context of this war,” he said.

“And if there is no line anymore – then what’s the difference between good and evil? Do we really want a world devoid of political boundaries? Do we want a world where one can grab other nation’s land, kill thousands – and stay unpunished? Therefore, without sustainable peace in Donbas – sanctions must stay in place,” Poroshenko insisted.

“Without restoring Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea – sanctions must stay in place.  Without a new Russian attitude – sanctions must stay in place. Anything less would be a compromise at the cost of values and justice,” he said, echoing sentiments expressed a couple of days earlier by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda.

The Ukrainian president – and other x-captive nations’ leaders – said the right signal to send to Russia “is that if you pursue an aggressive policy, no one will deal with you.”

Poroshenko’s message has been simple: Criminals must be held accountable for their aggression; and they must withdraw from occupied territories. Russia must be banned from the global table.

The Ukrainian president also said some 10,000 people, including more than 2,700 Ukrainian army troops, had been killed in fighting between Russian soldiers and terrorists and Ukrainian armed forces.  Russia has delivered more than 750 tanks, more than 1,500 artillery systems, stores of ammunition to a very small territory. He said nearly 1.8 million people had been forced to leave their homes in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk since the war started.

Furthermore, Ukraine’s economy shrank 9.9% in 2015 in addition to a drop of almost 7% in 2014, Ukraine’s economy has also been hurt by a trade war with Russia, formerly its largest market for exports, and a drop in the global price of its wheat and steel exports.

Since the start of the war, the World Bank Group has provided a total of more than $4.1 billion in budget support, investments and private sector financing to Ukraine.

Faced with Russian gross violations of international law and order and national pain and suffering, Poroshenko expressed surprise at the international community’s reluctance to provide Ukraine with lethal military assistance.

While the world places its hopes for peace on the so-called Minsk accords, Poroshenko indicated that the ceasefire agreement has not contributed to a lessening of death and anguish. Russia continues to press onward with impunity in its aggression against Ukraine.

“Nineteen months after we initiated the Minsk process, I still receive reports about losses and shelling of our positions in the frontline every single day. Every morning I have a report from Chief of the General Staff, General of the Ukrainian Army Muzhenko. Unfortunately, every day we have from 50 to 100 bombardments per day,” he said.

While logistic and military demands placed on Russia can be easily satisfied, Poroshenko said “changing Russia’s attitude and making it leave Ukraine alone” aren’t, revealing his understanding of Ukraine’s ongoing precarious predicament of having to share a border with belligerent Russia.

Russia’s more than 24-month occupation of Crimea have resulted in systemic and large-scale violations of human rights in Crimea, he said.

“The occupation regime targets everyone who shows dissent, especially Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars who support sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The Russian occupation regime has launched over 130 criminal cases against Crimean Tatars, including a case to ban their main organization – Mejlis. 21 Crimean Tatars have been kidnapped, 3 found dead, 9 are still missing. More than 20,000 Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars were forced to leave the peninsula,” Poroshenko detailed.

But in the context of the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, Russia’s most dangerous plans are its militarization of the Ukrainian peninsula and its intention to station nuclear weapons in Crimea.

“This is Russia’s understanding of security in the region,” Poroshenko summarized disparagingly.

While Poroshenko’s message about Ukraine’s war with Russia is one side of its current profile, the reverse side is fast becoming the single greatest impediment to attracting supporters. Corruption can isolate Kyiv from the international community before a global campaign can be mounted to expel Russia from Ukraine. Biden had called corruption a cancer that is eating Ukraine.

The New York Times, in an editorial, among other sources, called Ukraine on the carpet for this glaring offense.

“But the president, the prime minister and the Parliament must be made to understand that the International Monetary Fund and donor nations, including the United States, cannot continue to shovel money into a corrupt swamp unless the government starts shaping the democratic rule that Ukrainians demanded in their protests,” wrote the New York newspaper.

“Alas, nothing is likely to change unless President Petro Poroshenko and Parliament agree to install some real corruption fighters and approve serious judicial reform.”

Ukrainian patriots from across the country have said corruption is the single greatest domestic evil that is plaguing Ukraine. Despite Poroshenko’s declarations that Ukraine is making headway in its war against graft, very little has been accomplished. Corrupt officials remain in office at all levels of government or else they are rotated to different offices to conceal their activities.

The President and the Verkhovna Rada must find the courage to weed out corrupt officials regardless of whose friend or relative they may be. This process must begin with the President himself by his divestiture of all his financial holdings rather than establish off-shore venues for his current and future sources of income. This conflict of interest cannot be tolerated in a country that seeks to establish a new credible, democratic, law-abiding image.

Ukrainians are also sick and tired of government corruption. But as they clamor for good officials to arrest the bad ones, they tolerate graft on their local levels as they seek jobs, buy goods and services, and apply to higher education. The people must also do their share to end this dishonest holdover of the Soviet era.

The nation has demonstrated with the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity that it has the true grit – like Nadiya Savchenko – to seize the day and improve its fate. Poroshenko, the government and people are winning against Russia. This Ukrainian triumvirate must now stand shoulder to shoulder and defeat corruption before it is too late.