Washington's Bait-And-Switch: NATO Armed Kiev Under Cover Of Ceasefire!
- Washington’s Bait-And-Switch: NATO Armed Kiev Under Cover Of Ceasefire!
by Tyler Durden, www.zerohedge.com
Submitted by Daniel McAdams via The Ron Paul Institute For Peace & Prosperity,
Just over ten days ago, as the pro-independence forces in east Ukraine were on the march with significant gains on the battlefield, a ceasefire was signed in Minsk, Belarus. According to the terms of the ceasefire, the pro-independence fighters were to lay down their arms, cease their offensive to regain lost territory in the Donetsk and Lugansk region, and disband.
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In exchange for this, the US-backed government in Kiev was to agree to an amnesty for pro-independence fighters, commit to economic development in the east, and agree to enshrine decentralization in law to provide autonomy to the east.
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Most importantly, the ceasefire was to stop the Kiev government’s shelling of major population centers in the east and stop the slaughter of military forces on both sides.
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It turns out to be a grotesque sleight of hand, with Kiev receiving guarantees at the September 5, NATO summit in Wales that NATO members would provide the military equipment to finish the pro-independence forces in the east after the ceasefire gave time to re-group a badly beaten, largely conscript Ukrainian army.
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This grand deception came to light yesterday, as Valery Heletey, defense minister of the US-backed regime in Kiev, bragged that, as Reuters put it:
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NATO countries were delivering weapons to his country to equip it to fight pro-Russian separatists and “stop” Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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We are already seeing the result of this bait and switch, as yesterday saw a dramatic resumption of the US-backed government’s shelling civilian Donetsk, which is under control of the pro-independence movement.
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The ceasefire provided pro-US Kiev forces time to regroup and absorb NATO weapons under the guise of stopping the violence, with the intent of slaughtering rather than negotiating with the pro-independence forces. This is no great surprise, as the February coup itself proceeded with US cooperation just as a compromise power-sharing agreement between the elected president, Yanukovich, and the Maidan rebels was signed.
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