Posted on 07/06/2017 9:03:05 PM PDT by KOZ.
Edited on 07/07/2017 6:07:11 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
As President Trump attempts to bolster Eastern European nations against Russian belligerence while meeting in Europe this week, he is getting added support from his top diplomat. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will accompany Trump on Friday and Saturday in Hamburg for a summit of the "Group of 20" developed countries, but then he will depart for Ukraine, for a show of solidarity in the nation where Russia has most overtly attempted to exert its influence. His message there, a senior State Department official said Wednesday, would be to support Ukraine's "sovereignty and territorial integrity." Russia invaded eastern Ukraine in 2014 and annexed the Crimean peninsula, provoking a string of international sanctions that are still in place. Tillerson has not always embraced the idea of sanctions and has suggested alternatives to the so-called Minsk agreements, which call for Russia to end its occupation of Crimea. The State Department official sought to dispel suspicion that the U.S. and Russia might cut their own deal over Ukraine. "There certainly is no intent or desire to work exclusively with Russia," the official said in a briefing with reporters. "I mean, this is a multiparty issue." He said that the nations charged with handling the Ukraine crisis under the so-called Normandy format
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
"We have neither ruled out providing such weapons to Ukraine nor have we taken any decision to do so," the official said.
How about the EU? Read Cauldron. Prescient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauldron_(Bond_novel)
Germany in Ukraine... Yeah, that could only help. /s
I’m glad to hear that Trump and Tillerson can work together on something of great significance. A few weeks ago, I heard rumors that he had become highly and publically upset at having his suggestions for assistants blocked by one of Trump’s team members.
Trump and Tillerson to Putin, “get the f out a Ukraine!”
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