The United States abandons Ukraine

[swag]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/02/03/the-united-states-abandons-ukraine/?utm_campaign=buffer&utm_content=buffere2ee9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_term=.bae3cd4b0c51

By Maxim Eristavi


. . . On Jan. 28, President Trump spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The conversation, by all accounts, was marked by an air of friendship and conciliation. In the hours that followed, the fighting in eastern Ukraine suddenly spiked. The number of explosions tracked by monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) skyrocketed from 420 on Jan. 26 to 10,330 on Jan. 31, the sharpest increase ever recorded by the observers. Targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure have left potentially hundreds of thousands of people in the region without water even as they face temperatures well below freezing. Ukraine now confronts a major humanitarian crisis, as thousands of civilians in the government-controlled town of Avdiivka huddle in the dark and cold under intense shelling by combined Russian and separatist forces.

This appalling situation prompted a public outcry from several countries. But as the fighting escalated, many Ukrainians were desperately waiting for a strong statement of support from their biggest ally, the United States. It never came — at least not in the form they were hoping for.

Few in Kiev ever really had illusions that the new U.S. president would continue his predecessor’s policy of criticizing and constraining Russia for violating their country’s territorial integrity. Many Ukrainians had suspicions about Trump. For many years, Trump associates earned big money in Ukraine by lending their skills as consultants and advisers to the spectacularly corrupt ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. As a candidate, Trump made his sentiments amply clear by refusing to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and demonstrating his admiration for Putin.

Even so, the break between the two allies came much faster than anyone in Ukraine had expected — and at the worst possible moment.

It took the State Department almost two days to come up with a reaction to the escalating violence. Finally, on Jan. 31, a spokesman in Washington issued a shockingly bleak statement that didn’t mention Russia once. This is a drastic departure from the previous language used by the United States, which was notable for exposing and acknowledging Moscow’s predominant role in the conflict.

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[MBS]

1. Tragic.

And grotesque.

[kacekwl]

2. And the fucking republicans

will continue to remain silent. Let this be a lesson to our allies as to whom our support from trump and pres bannon will go.