On December 17, Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych met in Moscow. Russia offered generous aid.<\/p>\n
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said providing it helped prevent serious economic trouble. “What would have awaited Ukraine” without it, he asked?<\/p>\n
“The answer is clear – bankruptcy and social collapse.” He defended Kiev’s decision to establish closer ties with Moscow.<\/p>\n
Yanukovych called Tuesday’s discussion with Putin “fruitful.” It “resulted in the signing of documents thanks to (Putin’s) political will.”<\/p>\n
“(T)alks were constructive and content-intensive.” He and Putin focused on “practical work in all spheres.”<\/p>\n
“Today’s meeting confirmed that the interaction between (both countries) stands on a powerful basis and enjoys good prospects for further development,” Yanukovych added.<\/p>\n
“Our negotiations culminated in us signing a very substantial and broad package of agreements.” They’re mutually beneficial.<\/p>\n
More on agreed on terms below. They’re polar opposite harsh US\/EU demands. They’re exploitive. They assure harder than ever hard times.<\/p>\n
They guarantee longterm debt bondage. They assure wrecking Ukraine’s economy for profit.<\/p>\n
They mandate neoliberal harshness. They assure the worst of all possible worlds. They reflect neo-Malthusianism writ large.<\/p>\n
Its holy trinity mandates unrestrained corporate empowerment, eliminating social justice, and using state resources for bottom line profits, national security and internal control.<\/p>\n
Doing so requires selling off state assets to Western interests at fire sale prices. It demands granting them open Ukrainian market access on their terms.<\/p>\n
It mandates mass layoffs and deep social spending cuts. It demands crushing or marginalizing trade unionism.<\/p>\n
It means transforming ordinary Ukrainians into serfs. It assures harsh repression against nonbelievers.<\/p>\n
US\/EU terms are one-way. They’re all take and no give. They’re incompatible with democratic values. They spurn fundamental human and civil rights.<\/p>\n
They assure nothing whatever beneficial. Pie-in-the-sky illusions substitute. Promises remain distant dreams. You have to be sleeping to believe them.<\/p>\n
US\/EU leaders want Ukraine strip-mined for profit. They want its material wealth and resources exploited. They want them stolen.<\/p>\n
They want Ukraine hollowed out entirely. They want it transformed into another European backwater. They want what remains of its middle class society destroyed.<\/p>\n
They want perpetual debt bondage imposed. They want Ukraine co-opted geopolitically. They want all former Soviet Republics turning West, not East.<\/p>\n
They want them becoming NATO members or partners. They want Russia increasingly isolated. They want it weakened.<\/p>\n
They want its influence entirely destroyed. They want it exploited like other US\/Brussels-controlled nations. They want what no responsible leaders would accept.<\/p>\n
Ukraine is heavily dependent on Russia for energy. Putin guaranteed natural gas at well below fair market price.<\/p>\n
He offered a near one-third discount. He granted terms Yanukovych couldn’t refuse. They’re effective January 1. They’ll continue through 2018. They’re vital for Ukraine’s troubled economy.<\/p>\n
Ukraine will pay $268.5 per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas. Currently it’s priced at $400. Putin offered more. He did so free from harsh US\/EU terms. Oil shipments will resume after suspending them in 2010.<\/p>\n
Russia will invest billions of dollars in Ukrainian bonds. Doing so will afford Kiev a lifeline. It’ll provide vitally needed emergency funding.<\/p>\n
“The Russian government has made the decision to invest part of the National Welfare fund, to the sum of $15 billion, in Ukrainian government securities,” said Putin.<\/p>\n
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov explained:<\/p>\n
“This can be not only the resources from the National Welfare Fund. We will consider other resources, proceeding from the variability of our resources in the next year.”<\/p>\n
Putin’s going all out to save Ukraine from economic collapse. Restrictions on bilateral trade were eased.<\/p>\n
Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine’s oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy finalized four-year contractual terms. They include price, delivery, quantity, and transit arrangements.<\/p>\n
Russian and Ukrainian industry ministers agreed on government support for resuming Antonov An-124 planes production.<\/p>\n
Trade protocol terms were consummated. Goods will be shipped under a 2014 industrial cooperation arrangement.<\/p>\n
Construction of a Kerch Strait transport link will proceed. Yanukovych wants both countries cooperating in producing aircraft, ships, nuclear and other projects.<\/p>\n
He called for finishing construction of Ukraine’s Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant. Its Generating Units 3 and 4 are incomplete.<\/p>\n
“(A) minor amount of work remains to be done” on developing Antonov An-70 aircraft design before An-70s can be built, said Yanukovych.<\/p>\n
Russia and Ukraine finalized arrangements for mutual border crossings.<\/p>\n
Yanukovych intends focusing on “remov(ing) trade barriers and signing an agreement on pipelines and on the cancellation of transportation duties.”<\/p>\n
Russia is Ukraine’s main economic partner. In 2012, bilateral trade fell 11% to $45 billion.<\/p>\n
Through September 2013, it declined another 15%. Both leaders want trade problems resolved. Putin called less trade “alarming.”<\/p>\n
He wants whatever is needed done “to reverse this negative trend, and not only reach the previous benchmarks, but also provide conditions for moving ahead.”<\/p>\n
He mentioned mutual grain trade cooperation. Historically, Ukraine’s been called Europe’s “bread basket.” Its rich dark soil is valued. Its grain producing area is huge. It matches Texas in size.<\/p>\n
It produces 25% of former Soviet republics’ agricultural output. Its exports include wheat, corn, barley, vegetables, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, meat and milk.<\/p>\n
Russia is Ukraine’s largest market. The Russian\/Ukrainian grain pool nears operational status.<\/p>\n
Putin urged humanitarian cooperation between both countries. Taras Hyryhorovich was a famous 19th century Ukrainian poet.<\/p>\n
He remained devoted to his birth country. “Body and soul I am the son and brother of our unfortunate nation,” he said.<\/p>\n
He was born on March 14, 1814. “We will celebrate the 200th anniversary” of his birth, said Putin.<\/p>\n
On May 9, 1944, Russia’s Red Army liberated Sevastopol, Ukraine. It did so from Hitler’s once invincible Wehrmacht. Next year, both countries will commemorate its 70th anniversary, said Putin.<\/p>\n
He stressed agreed on terms have no “preconditions, nor the increasing, or reducing, or freezing any social standards, pensions, allowances or costs.”<\/p>\n
“Ukraine is our strategic partner and ally in every sense of the word,” he added.<\/p>\n
“And I’d like to calm everyone down,” he stressed. “(W)e didn’t even discuss Ukraine’s accession to the Customs Union today.”<\/p>\n
Mutually beneficial terms were agreed on. Putin\/Yanukovych bashing followed. The New York Times called agreed on terms “bold but risky.”<\/p>\n
Wall Street Journal editors headlined “The Putin Crony Rescue Fund,” saying:<\/p>\n
“Russia raises the bidding to keep Ukraine in the Kremlin maw.”<\/p>\n
“Empire rebuilding isn’t cheap.” Washington could respond by imposing sanctions. Doing so “could be as powerful as the Kremlin’s checkbook,” they said.<\/p>\n
Score one for Putin and Yanukovych. Imperial supporters don’t like being outfoxed, outmaneuvered, or outmatched. Journal editorial remarks sound like sour grapes.<\/p>\n
Putin’s terms are important carrots. Washington and Brussels offer sticks and harsh threats.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian opposition elements reacted with “fury and dismay.” They chanted “Out with the crook!”<\/p>\n
Fatherland parliamentary coalition leader\/former economy minister Arseniy Yatsenhuk said “(f)ree cheese is only found in a mousetrap.”<\/p>\n
He vowed to block Ukrainian\/Russian agreed on terms. He said they won’t get parliament’s approval.<\/p>\n
“Not a single document which contradicts European integration will pass the procedure of voting,” he said.<\/p>\n
Parliament can’t do much. It can’t block cheap Russian gas. It can’t stop Moscow from buying Ukrainian bonds.<\/p>\n
It can’t subvert other proposed mutually agreed on terms. It can denounce them. Perhaps it can slow things down. It can appeal to public opinion. Little else.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform leader\/parliamentarian\/former WBC heavyweight boxing champion\/sports science PhD holder Vitali Klitschko denounced Yanukovych, saying:<\/p>\n
“He has given up Ukraine’s national interests, given up independence and prospects for a better life for every Ukrainian.”<\/p>\n
He called him his “personal opponent. I am challenging him in the ring,” he added.<\/p>\n
Ultranationist Svoboda (Freedom) party leader Oleh Tyahnybok said Yanukovych “wants to surrender to serfdom, to eternal slavery under Moscow. (He) betrayed Ukrainians.”<\/p>\n
White House spokesman Jay Carney said:<\/p>\n
“Any agreements concluded between Kiev and Moscow will not address the concerns of those who have gathered in public protest across Ukraine.”<\/p>\n
“We urge the Ukrainian government to listen to its people.” Internal sentiment is very much divided. Carney didn’t explain.<\/p>\n
Nor about Western enlisted street thugs inciting things. Doing so is longstanding US policy. Washington rules apply. Fair-minded treatment is verboten.<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced what he called “attempts to put blatant pressure on the Ukrainian government, which continue despite the decisions taken in Moscow.”<\/p>\n
“Kiev is demanded to make its ‘free’ choice in favor of Europe,” he added.<\/p>\n
“Our position is based on respect for the sovereign choice made by the Ukrainian people.”<\/p>\n
Putin pledged earlier to respect whatever decision Ukraine choose. He respects the sovereignty of all nations. He refrains from interfering in their affairs.<\/p>\n
Washington and Brussels prioritize it. The battle for Ukraine continues. It’s future remains very much up for grabs.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.<\/p>\n
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/p>\n
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.<\/p>\n
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/p>\n
It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.dailycensored.com\/russian-ukrainian-aid-v-useu-neoliberal-harshness\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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