{"id":247574,"date":"2016-06-03T11:52:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-03T11:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=247574"},"modified":"2016-06-03T16:01:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-03T16:01:23","slug":"g7-boldly-displays-lies-regarding-anti-russia-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/politics\/g7-boldly-displays-lies-regarding-anti-russia-sanctions\/","title":{"rendered":"G7 Boldly Displays Its Lies Regarding Anti-Russia Sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at The Saker<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The official statement from the G7 group, of leading industrialized countries, publicly exposes the entire G7 group, by basing on provable and even blatant lies, the group\u2019s support for continuation of Barack Obama\u2019s anti-Russia sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In its statement at the conclusion of the meeting of the G7 countries on May 27th, the G7 nations \u2014 the U.S. (who dictate to the others), plus the six others (who always do what they\u2019re told): Germany, Japan, Italy, France, Canada, and UK \u2014 said\u00a0in their joint statement<\/span><\/a> (which I shall accompany here by links to relevant sources, plus comments and questions from myself, for the purpose of clarification):<\/span><\/p>\n

We stand united in our conviction that <\/i>the conflict in Ukraine<\/i><\/span><\/a> can only be solved by diplomatic means\u00a0and in full respect for international law, especially the legal obligation to respect Ukraine\u2019s\u00a0sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence<\/i> [even though they don\u2019t similarly deny the rights of Catalonians to separate from Spain, nor of Scotts to separate from UK, if that\u2019s what the people there want]. We reiterate our condemnation of the\u00a0<\/i>illegal\u00a0annexation<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0<\/i>Crimean peninsula by Russia<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/i>[as those links show, the illegality was actually Obama\u2019s coup in Kiev<\/i><\/span><\/a>, not<\/i> what either the Crimeans or Russia did] and reaffirm our policy of its non-recognition and\u00a0sanctions against those involved <\/i>[those being sanctions solely against Russia, for having accepted the request of 97% of Crimeans to become Russian citizens, and for protecting Crimeans from being invaded by the Ukrainian army and air force<\/span><\/a>].<\/span><\/p>\n

We are concerned by continued violence along the line of contact in violation of the ceasefire<\/i> [in the far-eastern Donbass portion of Ukraine]; we\u00a0urge all sides to take concrete steps that will lead to\u00a0<\/i>the complete ceasefire required under the Minsk\u00a0agreements<\/i><\/span><\/a>. We also urge all sides to fulfill their commitments without delay with a view to holding\u00a0local elections in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions <\/i>[the two regions that together make up Donbass, the part of Ukraine that had voted 90% for the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych<\/span><\/a>, whom Obama overthrew in February 2014<\/span><\/a>] as soon as possible\u00a0<\/i>in\u00a0accordance with the Minsk agreements<\/i><\/span><\/a>. We emphasize our strongest support for\u00a0<\/i>full<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0implementation\u00a0of the Minsk agreements and the work of the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group. We\u00a0expect Russia <\/i>[but not the Ukrainian government] to live up to its commitments and use its influence over the separatists to meet their\u00a0commitments in full. <\/i>[This passage acknowledges that Russia has only \u2018influence\u2019 over the separatists, not control over them, and yet only Russia is being demanded here to meet its alleged \u2018commitments\u2019, which would be precisely what<\/i>, if Russia doesn\u2019t control the separatists, and if Russia exercises no \u2018influence\u2019 at all on the other side, the Ukrainian government?]\u00a0We stress the OSCE’s key role in helping to deescalate the crisis, and we call\u00a0upon all sides, particularly the separatists <\/i>[why \u2018particularly\u2019 the separatists \u2014 is this supposed to be an unbiased neutral statement, which it clearly is not?], to provide the organization\u2019s monitors full and unfettered\u00a0access throughout the conflict zone.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

We recall that the duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia\u2019s complete implementation of the\u00a0Minsk agreements<\/i>\u00a0[yet again, the G7\u2019s statement is clearly and singularly hostile against Russia, and supportive of the coup-imposed<\/span><\/a> Ukrainian government]\u00a0and respect for Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty<\/i>\u00a0[but what about the right of self-determination of peoples, which even the West recognizes in the cases of Scotland\u2019s right to separate from UK, and Catalonia\u2019s right to separate from Spain \u2014 but NOT in Donbass\u2019s and Crimea\u2019s right to separate from Ukraine, though Donbass had voted 90% for Yanukovych, and Crimea had voted 75% for him<\/span><\/a>, and the post-coup Ukrainian regime was rabidly hostile to them and calling the residents there \u2018terrorists\u2019 for rejecting Ukraine\u2019s coup-government as their government?]. Sanctions can be rolled back when Russia\u00a0meets these commitments <\/i>[what \u2018commitments\u2019, that are only by one<\/i> side of the dispute \u2014 and not even by one of the two sides in the dispute<\/i>, neither by the Ukrainian government, nor by the separatists?]. However, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures <\/i>[here the warmongering G7 are actually threatening to increase sanctions against Russia, though their case for even having those sanctions is based entirely upon lies<\/span><\/a>] in\u00a0order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require<\/i>\u00a0[according to what standard, and judged by whom \u2014 them?]. We recognize the importance of\u00a0maintaining dialogue with Russia<\/i>\u00a0[but if this assertion weren\u2019t a lie, then would their entire statement here be so incredibly one-sided and false as it so obviously is?]\u00a0in order to ensure it abides by the commitments it <\/i>[yet again referring only to Russia] has made as well\u00a0as international law and to reach a comprehensive, sustainable and peaceful solution to the crisis.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

We commend and support the steps Ukraine is taking<\/i>\u00a0[can anyone but a full-fledged idiot fail to recognize how biased in favor of the Ukrainian government and against the Russian government \u2014 how totally one-sided \u2014 this<\/i> statement is?]\u00a0to implement comprehensive structural,\u00a0governance and economic reforms and encourage Ukraine to continue and accelerate the process.\u00a0We urge Ukraine to maintain and enhance the momentum in its fight against corruption and its\u00a0judicial reform, including the Prosecutor General\u2019s office. We are fully committed to providing\u00a0long-term support to this end <\/i>[does that mean anything more than providing yet more taxpayer-backed loans to get the bankrupt Ukrainian government even deeper into debt and austerity than it already is and to sell off in insider-rigged \u2018auctions\u2019 virtually the entire Ukrainian government?]. We also commend the work of the Ukraine support group of G7\u00a0Ambassadors in Kyiv.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Three underlying suppositions<\/b> of that statement are:<\/span><\/p>\n

1: All of the violations of the Minsk agreements were by Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

2: Russia controls what the independence forces in the separatist Donbass region of the former Ukraine do, and is therefore responsible for everything that those forces do, including any Minsk-violation they might commit.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 (a corollary of 1&2): The Ukrainian government never violates the Minsk agreements, or else must suffer no sanctions for having done so: only Russia can be blamed for any failure to comply with the Minsk agreements.<\/span><\/p>\n

All 3 are blatantly false.<\/span><\/p>\n

1: Many of the violations were by the Ukrainian government, and most if not all the rest were by Donbass separatist forces firing back at forces attacking from the Ukrainian government. Self-defense against attacks from the other side doesn\u2019t violate any agreement, and it certainly isn\u2019t a violation of the Minsk agreements. (The residents of Luhansk and Donetsk had never agreed to be sitting ducks for Ukrainian soldiers and airmen intent upon killing them<\/span><\/a>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

2: Russia doesn\u2019t control what the separatist forces do, but does provide essential assistance to those forces \u2014 and there is a big difference between providing such assistance, and having control over those forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

3: Here are some direct and indisputable violations of the Minsk agreements, by the Ukrainian government<\/i> (totally ignored by the G7\u2019s statement, just cited here):<\/span><\/p>\n

Measure 4 of the agreement \u2014 which was signed on 12 February 2015 \u2014 states that,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWithout delays, but no later than 30 days from the date of signing of this document [i.e., by no later than 13 March 2015], a resolution has to be approved by the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] of Ukraine, indicating the territory which falls under the special regime in accordance with the law \u2018On temporary Order of Local Self-Governance in Particular Districts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts,\u2019 based in the line set up by the Minsk Memorandum as of 19 September 2014.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t only a required action, but also an action required to have been taken by no later than a specific date, and it was not done<\/i>. Instead, on 12 March 2015, Radio Free Europe headlined “A Bipartisan Cause In Washington: Arming Ukraine Against Russia\u201d<\/span><\/a> and reported that, \u201cconsensus appears to be snowballing\u00a0among Democratic and Republican\u00a0lawmakers in the U.S. capital on at\u00a0least one issue: arming Ukraine. One exception, however, is the figure who matters most: President Barack Obama.\u201d No reason was given for his hesitation on this, but by this time it was clear that Ukraine would be in stark violation already of the Minsk II accord \u2014 barely a mere month after its passage. The U.S. Congress can ignore international legalities and be unconcerned about the public appearance abroad (that America doesn\u2019t really care about international legalities), but the U.S. President needs to keep up the legalistic front so as not to embarrass too much the leaders of America\u2019s client-states such as Germany and France (which had initiated<\/i> the Minsk agreements: after all, Obama\u2019s agent who orchestrated the coup had said at the time, “F–k the EU!”<\/span><\/a>; but there\u2019s a limit to the public humiliation that even the most cooperative of the White House\u2019s stooges can reasonably be expected to tolerate).<\/span><\/p>\n

The crucial March 13th date came and went, without being mentioned in Western \u2018news\u2019 media. (And please note here that the 27 May 2016 G7 statement says \u201cWe also urge all sides to fulfill their commitments without delay,\u201d but simply ignores that Ukraine didn\u2019t only \u201cdelay,\u201d Ukraine still refuses to comply.) Then, four days later, at the Fort Russ website on March 17th, appeared the headline \u201cBack to war? Ukrainian parliament rejects the Minsk agreement\u201d<\/span><\/a>, and reported that, \u201cA month after the Minsk agreement the masks are off. New weapons are coming, American instructors are in Ukraine, the IMF credit is approved. Time to get back to killing the kids of Donbass. Where are the sanctions on Kiev?\u201d That information was unpublishable in the West\u2019s \u2018news\u2019 media \u2014 their \u2018journalistic\u2019 standards exclude such \u2018Russian propaganda\u2019 as this. Truth doesn\u2019t set these standards; power does, and the G7 (and their aristocracies\u2019 \u2018news\u2019 media) have the power. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Minsk II agreement set up a 13-stage process; and each stage beyond stage three, every stage from #4 on through #13, is in abeyance, because the Ukrainian government refuses to implement its side of them<\/i>. As a consequence of Ukraine\u2019s refusals, the G7 group are demanding intensification of the anti-Russia sanctions, on the basis of blaming Russia for all violations of the Minsk accords<\/i>. Blaming Russia for all of them is the official<\/i> \u2018truth\u2019, and the \u2018news\u2019 media comply with it. (Similarly, in 2002 and 2003, the \u2018news\u2019 media, in order to assist the U.S. government to eliminate another<\/i> Russian-allied leader, Saddam Hussein, had complied with the official \u2018truth\u2019 about \u2018Saddam\u2019s WMD\u2019<\/span><\/a> \u2014 that those nuclear-weapons equipments and materials still existed, and that they threatened the West, though the IAEA actually said that they had destroyed all of Saddam\u2019s nuclear-weapons-related capabilities and materials in 1998<\/span><\/a>, and the press simply hid this crucial information from the public, and allowed George W. Bush to state without challenge, citing \u201cthe IAEA, that they were six months away from developing a weapon\u201d<\/span><\/a> \u2014 an entirely fabricated charge against Saddam<\/span><\/a>. Geoffrey Perret\u00a0wrote<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(p. 349): \u201cAfter inspections resumed in November 2002, the IAEA concluded that there were no nuclear weapons and no program to build them. That was why the Niger yellowcake story had to be cooked up.” So: Iraq was invaded on 19 March 2003, on entirely fabricated \u2018evidence\u2019, which an honest press would have exposed, instead of stenographically \u2018reported\u2019. And now, we\u2019re heading into World War III<\/span><\/a>, this way.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Another item in Minsk II that has a deadline is #11: \u201cConstitutional reform in Ukraine, with a new constitution to come into effect by the end of 2015, the key element of which is decentralisation (taking into account peculiarities of particular districts of Donetsk and\u00a0Luhansk oblasts, agreed with representatives of these districts).\u201d That deadline, too, came and went, and is still being ignored by the G7 and \u2018the West\u2019; and the reason it hasn\u2019t been complied with, not even after the deadline passed<\/i>, has likewise been that Ukraine refuses to comply with it<\/i> (which is the reason why the West\u2019s \u2018news\u2019 media ignore it).<\/span><\/p>\n

The extension or even intensification of sanctions, and the NATO buildup on Russia\u2019s borders, are steps along the road to WW III<\/span><\/a>, but Western \u2018news\u2019 media have been so effective at their function (propaganda), so that their respective publics are unconcerned about the risks of nuclear annihilation resulting, and about the increasing closeness of whatever event will spark such a global nuclear war, because those publics don\u2019t even know the most important things that are happening<\/i> in their \u2018democratic\u2019<\/span><\/a> countries. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a video at Fort Russ on 1 June 2016, showing \u201cTexas visits frontline DPR positions\u201d<\/span><\/a>. But such evidence is irrelevant to the G7 leaders (Obama, Merkel, Hollande, Abe, Cameron, Renzi, Trudeau<\/span><\/a>): they\u2019ve got an entire world to destroy<\/span><\/a>, and they\u2019re too busy doing it, to care about evidence that shows them to be all liars<\/span><\/a>. (Not a single one<\/i> of them said, to the G7\u2019s proposed statement: NO \u2014 I will not sign this!!!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Is the path to nuclear annihilation being created by an elite of hypocritical liars and a mass of their deceived suckers? Can anything destroy this path, and so block those liars from destroying the world? Will any major news medium in the West finally separate itself from the chorus of liars and start to report the terrifying truth of these matters \u2014 while there is still time left to avert global calamity<\/span><\/a>?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of\u00a0 They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/i><\/span><\/a>,<\/i> and of<\/span> \u00a0<\/i>CHRIST\u2019S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at The Saker The official statement from the G7 group, of leading industrialized countries, publicly exposes the entire G7 group, by basing on provable and even blatant lies, the group\u2019s support for continuation of Barack Obama\u2019s anti-Russia sanctions. In its statement at the conclusion of the meeting of the G7 countries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1254,"featured_media":247575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487,17,18],"tags":[115,30,1036,4107,96,535,860,859,59,1023,804,524,754,523,49,76,40,1024],"class_list":{"0":"post-247574","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"category-politics","9":"category-latest-news","10":"tag-barack-obama","11":"tag-big-brother","12":"tag-breaking-news","13":"tag-cameron","14":"tag-cover-up","15":"tag-global-news","16":"tag-hollande","17":"tag-merkel","18":"tag-military","19":"tag-nuclear","20":"tag-politics-2","21":"tag-russia","22":"tag-syria","23":"tag-ukraine","24":"tag-usa-news","25":"tag-warfare","26":"tag-white-house","27":"tag-ww3"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}