Rice Censures Russia in Ukraine Gas Fight

Washigton Post ^ | January 5, 2006

[Mazepa]

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Russia of using its energy wealth as a political weapon, and warned on Thursday that Moscow must play by international rules if it wants to be part of the global economy.

Rice said it was "ironic and not good" that Russia used gas exports to apply pressure to former close ally Ukraine just as Moscow was assuming the rotating presidency of the Group of Eight economic powerhouse nations.

"It was not a good week from the point of view of Russia's demonstrating that it is now prepared to act ... as an energy supplier in a responsible way," Rice told reporters.

"When you say you want to be a part of the international economy and you want to be a responsible actor in the international economy, then you play by its rules," Rice said.

European nations made that point strongly, following moves to drastically raise gas prices or cut off supplies to Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union and until 2004 still largely under Moscow's influence.

The crisis came in the middle of the cold Ukrainian winter and just two months before parliamentary elections in Ukraine. The voting is the first since the tumultuous Orange Revolution mass protests that catapulted to power a critic of Russia, Viktor Yushchenko.

Under international pressure, Russia signed a complicated energy deal with Ukraine this week that keeps gas flowing but requires Ukraine to pay sharply higher prices.

[OldFriend]

Dr. Rice is ten times the power that General Powell ever was or could hope to be.

Reports that Powell sat at the meeting of formers and said not one word.

How could he, Dr. Rice has outshone him in every instance.

[Greysard]

Whatever Rice says matters little; whatever Putin says matters a lot. He controls the flow of oil and gas; what does Rice control? The world is ruled by power, and only by power - definitely not by words.

[Leo Carpathian]

DOCUMENTS REVEAL DIPLOMACY DURING UKRAINE UPRISING
Andrew Robinson, Canada's ambassador to Ukraine, had no time for
diplomatic niceties when it came to the trampling of democracy

By Mike Blanchfield, The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Canada, Saturday, 24 December 2005

Andrew Robinson knew revolution was just four days away, but the only
thing he was not sure of was how bloody it would be.

It was Nov. 17, 2004, and Canada's ambassador to Ukraine correctly
predicted the historic elections in the former Soviet- bloc state were
rigged and would unfairly elect the hand-picked, Russian-backed Viktor
Yanukovych to the president's office.

"Declaration of a Yanukovych victory would probably be followed by street
demonstrations (in) Kiev and a few other cities, put down by force, with
probably loss of life," Mr. Robinson reported back to Ottawa in a diplomatic
dispatch. "Regardless of the balloting, however, the results of the vote
count are likely to be close thanks to the enormous efforts of the
authorities to hold onto power, through a parody of democratic elections."

Within days, hundreds of thousands would take to the streets of Kiev as the
world witnessed the birth of the Orange Revolution as Ukraine wrestled free
of the chains of its Iron Curtain totalitarian past. The worst-case
scenario -- tanks and soldiers putting down democratic protest -- never came
to pass. Opposition candidate Viktor Yush-chenko, who became a symbol
of the struggle, would ultimately win another ballot on Dec. 26, 2004.

That result was monitored by thousands of international observers, including
former prime minister John Turner and 500 Canadians. Canada led the
international condemnation of the rigged Nov. 21 election in Ukraine,
raising alarms even before that first fraudulent vote.

That emphatic and outspoken criticism was the result of the front- line
dispatches from Mr. Robinson and his team in Ukraine.
Indeed, Mr. Robinson was called on the carpet by the Russian- backed
government of Ukraine months earlier for his comments.

Now, for the first time, the extent of Canada's diplomatic efforts on the
ground have been made public, released to Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin
under Access to Information.

The Foreign Affairs documents portray our man in Kiev as a tough- minded,
straight-shooter who had no time for diplomatic niceties when it came to the
trampling of democracy.

On Nov. 22, one day after the fraudulent vote, Mr. Yushchenko -- whose
deep facial scars were the result of a poisoning attempt on his life -- met
with Mr. Robinson and other ambassadors in Kiev to hand-deliver his
"appeal to the parliaments and nations of the world to bolster the will of
the Ukrainian people, to support their aspiration to return to democracy."
When he reported back to Ottawa, Mr. Robinson referred to Mr.
Yushchenko as "the real winner of yesterday's election."

A week later, as the protests and the political stalemate continued, Mr.
Robinson appealed to the federal government to do more, saying its past
gestures had been greatly appreciated. "A point may come when a
particular gesture from Canada will make a difference," he wrote.

Two weeks later, the government announced Mr. Turner and a team of 500
monitors would be dispatched to the Dec. 26 election as the first mission
of the newly formed Canada Corps.

Meanwhile, Mr. Robinson assigned staff to monitor the hearings in the
Ukraine Supreme Court on the legality of the Nov. 21 vote.

"According to the embassy's observer in the Supreme Court, Yushchenko's
team appears to have the upper hand as far as knowledge of the law,
professionalism, preparedness and tactics," wrote Donald Banks, a
Canadian counsellor.

Mr. Banks also said letters from voters "confessing that they were part of
the fraud" had started streaming in, detailing how they had been paid to
vote for Mr. Yanukovych. "Unlike previously, when fear suppressed such
information, people are signing these letters and providing their
addresses."

A few days later, Ukraine's high court ordered another election take place
on Dec. 26.

While Mr. Yanukovych had been "significantly weakened" by the court
order, Mr. Robinson did not expect the hand-picked successor of
departing president Leonid Kuchma to be that easily defeated. "This
campaign has seen numerous black tricks, the stakes remain high, and
we should not rule out further surprises before election day," said Mr.
Robinson.

As the election day approached, anxiety mounted. Mr. Robinson reported the
Kuchma regime was beginning to realize it would lose to Mr. Yushchenko's
opposition movement, "but that does not mean that they will just lie down
and accept their loss of power."

Mr. Robinson accused Mr. Kuchma of trying to prevent the printing of
ballots, and he expressed concern armed groups would incite violence the
day after the vote in order to justify a state of emergency. Meanwhile, the
embassy was making contingency plans to protect Canadian observers
on the ground.

As the returns flowed in on Dec. 26, it became apparent Mr. Yushchenko
would not be denied the victory this time. He won close to 60 per cent of
the 16 million ballots cast.