icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
4 Jun, 2015 20:17

‘US geopolitical ploy: Surround Russia back into Eurasian landmass’

‘US geopolitical ploy: Surround Russia back into Eurasian landmass’

The US has been driving the Ukrainian crisis from the very beginning, so there is no action made by Kiev that will be condemned by the Americans, Srdja Trifkovic, a foreign affairs expert, told RT.

The G7 summit will take place next week in Bavaria, Germany, on June 7-8. EU leaders are expected to discuss anti-Russian sanctions. Ahead of the meeting, Moscow says that recent violence in Ukraine constitutes a violation of the Minsk agreement.

RT:The spokesman for the Russian president said the escalation could be linked to upcoming international gatherings. He's obviously referring to the EU summit later this month focusing on extending the sanctions against Russia. What would Kiev gain from this?

Srdja Trifkovic: Quite frankly, we are talking about Kiev as if it were an independent actor, which in reality it is not. Kiev’s policy is being set in Washington, and Poroshenko is like a cyclist who has to keep turning the pedals. I think that the immediate international gathering that we are looking at, the G7, will probably not make any tremendous decisions regarding the Ukrainian crisis. But it is indeed very much in the US interest, as well as that of the regime in Kiev, to prepare the ground for the EU summit and to cast Russia as an aggressor.

READ MORE: Kremlin: Timing of Kiev-provoked Donbass tensions linked with looming EU summit

It’s another thing whether [Angela] Merkel and and [François] Hollande will go along with it, because they have every reason to feel rather fed up with Poroshenko’s broken promises and the way in which the Americans have been torpedoing the Minsk-2 process. The latest example being Poroshenko’s announcement that he would talk to Donbass, but to the Ukrainian Donbass after the elections, which is effectively saying Minsk-2 is off the table.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko meets U.S. Vice President Joe Biden as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Victoria Nuland (L-R) look on during the 51st Munich Security Conference at the 'Bayerischer Hof' hotel in Munich February 7, 2015. (Reuters/Michaela Rehle)

RT:Washington has repeatedly accused anti-government forces of violations while ignoring the reports of those by the Ukrainian side, in effect ignoring reports from the OSCE. Why would that be the case?

ST: Why is it surprising? The same thing kept happening during the wars of Yugoslav succession when whatever the Muslims or the Croats and later the Albanians did was either unreported or justified and the Serbs were blamed for everything. The US has made its political choice in Ukraine. That choice is based on the geopolitical ploy to surround Russia back into the depths of the Eurasian landmass. There is simply nothing that the Ukrainians can or will do that will be condemned by the US. The US is not acting as an honest broker. The US is very much a party to this conflict; it has been driving the Ukrainian crisis from the beginning and it will continue doing so in the future.

RT:The Ukrainian president has been telling his parliament he plans to ramp up military spending. Is the country in a position to afford this?

ST: He can do so because as long as some money is coming from across the ocean in the form of IMF credit lines he can effectively keep his economy afloat and avoid the nosedive, the utter bankruptcy. I’m rather surprised that some of Ukraine’s creditors in the West have not created havoc over this because after all it effectively means that their money is being used to wage an unnecessary and ultimately losing war. This can’t continue forever. I think that they will try one more time this summer with an offensive and they will get a bloody nose yet again. Only after that at last, after a few hundred or thousand more lives are lost, will we have serious political discussions.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Podcasts
0:00
26:13
0:00
24:57