U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (L-R) attend a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (not pictured) during the 51st Munich Security Conference at the 'Bayerischer Hof' hotel in Munich February 7, 2015. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
New York Times: Western Nations Divide Over Arming Kiev Against Russian-Backed Separatists
MUNICH — Differences within the Western alliance over whether to send defensive arms to Ukraine were thrust into the open on Saturday when Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, bluntly opposed providing lethal military support to Kiev and called instead for continued efforts to persuade Russia and separatist forces to cease-fire.
WNU Editor: When I looked at the pictures and videos of this conference .... I noticed that Ukrainian President Poroshenko was stuck like glue to U.S. Vice-President Biden and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry .... while distancing himself from French President Hollande and German Chancellor Merkel. French President Hollande and German Chancellor Merkel were almost always together .... and are rarely seen with the Ukrainian or U.S. delegations. If body language was my only metric to gauge on what will be the outcome of recent Ukrainian peace talks and negotiations .... I will not be optimistic.
More News On Reported Divisions Among Western Nations To Resolving The Ukraine Crisis
Ukraine crisis: Hot topic provokes conflicting views at Munich Security Conference -- Euronews
Munich Security Conference exposes divisions over Ukraine -- Deutsche Welle
NATO Chief, Russian Foreign Minister Still At Odds Over Ukraine -- WSJ
Ukraine crisis takes center stage during Munich Security Conference -- CCTV
Split or solidarity? Crisis in E. Ukraine tops Munich Security Conference agenda -- RT
4 comments:
Re: Header photo, from left to right, resignation and embarrassment, anger and an attempt to frighten, defeat.
Yup .... that pretty well sums it up. But I am worried about what side deals are now being made.
I can't think of any deals the US could make that would be any more harmful to Russia or the eastern Ukraine than those that already exist. Now what Germany and France do with Russia is another matter altogether. In the Ukraine the west can probably count on enough Russian help to avoid the worst, but in the east is where I see very bad things to come. If anything I wouldn't be surprised if the US just walks away and leaves Kiev to it's fate. The one note of guarded optimism could be any side agreement that Germany and France make with Russia would be their (Ger/Fr) stepping in financially to save Kiev from collapse. This though is problematic with Greece looming on the near horizon.
I've got east and west Ukraine swapped in the above comment.
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