Kiev Imposes Economic Blockade on Donbas

by Stephen Lendman

US-installed Kiev fascists have no legitimacy whatever. Stooge governance. Pledging one thing. Doing another. Operating lawlessly.

Systematically violating Geneva and Minsk agreed on terms. Calling for deescalation. Withdrawal of armed forces.

Ending conflict. Restoring peace and stability. Refraining from violence, intimidation and provocative actions.

All forms of extremism, racism and intolerance. Inclusive national dialogue.

Decentralized power. Special Donbas status. Improving Southeastern Ukraine humanitarian conditions.

Reconstructing Donbas. Providing economic aid. Among other terms agreed on.

Promises made. Promises broken. Rogue states operate this way. Kiev fascists didn't surprise.

Governing lawlessly. Negotiating duplicitously. With full US support and encouragement.

Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin is a convenient Western stooge. Ludicrously claiming a possible Russian attack.

"We are prepared," he said. "(B)ut what we need is deescalation." Calling losing part of its Southeastern territory "the most dangerous mistake."

"(T)he sovereignty of Ukraine (is) an absolute goal to ensure security in Europe." Ignoring a universal right.

Self-determination is inviolable. "(B)ased on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples," according to the UN Charter, Article 1.

A fundamental human right. "Everyone…entitled to all" Universal Declaration of Human Rights "freedoms…"

"(W)ithout distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

"(O)n the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty."

Washington and its Kiev puppets bear full responsibility for Ukrainian crisis conditions. Oligarch president Petro Poroshenk's decree withdrew Donbas human rights protections.

Rescinding European Convention on Human Rights provisions. Protecting fundamental human rights and freedoms. Including "in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation."

Drafted in 1950. Effective since September 1953. Establishing a European Court of Human Rights.

Adjudicating for anyone claiming lost rights. Individuals and nation-states. Protecting them legally.

The only human rights agreement providing this type protection. Whether enforcing it against Kiev remains to be seen.

Imposing an illegitimate economic blockade. When is a war not a war? When Kiev says so. Ludicrously claiming an "anti-terrorist operation."

Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) leader Igor Plotnitsky saying:

Poroshenko's decree "on full economic blockade of the Donbas region is an act of genocide designed to impoverish and destroy our people."

“We are not going to sheer away from our path. We are going to live better than Ukraine for which the power of the oligarchs will turn out to be worse and more destructive than any blockade."

Donetsk People's Republic (DRP) Vice Speaker Denis Pushilin calling Poroshenko's decree "another example of the crudest violation of the Minsk protocol."

Calling for "special status of Donbass and its coordinated concept envisages economic benefits and money for restoration of the region."

Improving humanitarian conditions. "The Minsk process is under threat…" OSCE officials must "assess this step taken by Ukraine."

On Saturday, Poroshenko's decree was posted on his web site. Rescinding Donetsk and Lugansk special status.

Abolishing human rights protections. Imposing economic blockade conditions.

Suspending state services. Including for schools, hospitals and emergency needs.

Ordering his cabinet "to terminate the activities of state enterprises, institutions and organisations in the various territories where anti-terrorist operations are being conducted."

"This is a decisive step. The games have stopped. All the structures that the state finances will be withdrawn from there. Ukraine will no longer finance them."

Ordering Ukraine's central bank to suspend operations in Donbas. Freezing individual and company accounts.

Subjecting local power plants to "special procedure(s) for accounting supplies of fuel." Potentially suspending them altogether for plants unable to pay.

Cutting off heat as winter approaches. A survival issue for many. Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights head Mkihail Fedotov, saying:

"I believe those measures are dangerous and would hurt the civilian population in the conflict zone."

"They are showing a desire to distance from the conflict zone. (Poroshenko's decree) does not make progress towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict."

Putin saying he learned about it from media reports. "I think that it is a big mistake, because they are cutting off these regions with their own hands," he said.

"At official discussions within the framework of the G20, the Ukrainian issue was not brought up at all."

"It was not even mentioned, but all bilateral meetings were actually devoted almost exclusively to the problems in Ukraine."

"We discussed (sanctions) at bilateral meetings. (T)alked a lot about the Ukrainian issue."

"Sanctions harm everyone. There is a general understanding of that." They "threaten international peace and stability."

Violate international law. Claiming Russian intervention in Ukraine doesn't wash.

Moscow goes all-out for ending conflict conditions. Restoring peace and stability.

Washington is polar opposite. Russian lower house State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee head Alexei Pushkov saying America seeks "NATO enlargement."

"(E)astern expansion. (F)or the final fight with China for the global leadership."

Since its 1949 establishment, NATO underwent several enlargements. Major ones after Soviet Russia dissolved.

With over 70 members and partners. Over one third of world nations. On every continent except Antarctica.

Encroaching on Sino/Russian borders. Threatening their national security. Risking East/West confrontation. Menacing humanity's survival.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stressing a new "offset strategy." A "Defense Innovation Initiative."

To stay ahead of competitors. Address nonexisting "emerging threats." Ordered the establishment of a new Long-Range Research and Development Planning Program.

To identify and develop technological breakthroughs. Enhance US combat power.

Maintain military superiority. Prepare for an eventual showdown with China and Russia.

Partnering with rogue NATO states. Lunatics make policy in Washington. Obama their titular head.

A caricature of a leader. Irresponsible and then some. Governing extrajudicially.

A war criminal multiple times over. A serial liar. A moral coward. A buffoon backed up by military might. Using it lawlessly.

In Australia, telling a Queensland University audience:

"I'm here today to say that American leadership in the Asia Pacific will always be a fundamental focus of my foreign policy."

Escalating Washington's military footprint. "Day in and day out, steadily and deliberately, we will continue to deepen our engagement,” he said.

Threatening regional stability. Ludicrously saying "(t)he question we face is which of these futures will define the Asia Pacific in the century to come."

"Conflict or cooperation? Oppression or liberty?" America's presence where it doesn't belong is hugely destabilizing.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier saying regional conditions "adversely affect the situation around the globe. (E)xacerbat(ing) chaos and anarchy in world affairs…"

(E)rod(ing) the effectiveness of the global governance system, which is already compromised."

Challenges require joint efforts, Lavrov stressed. Mutual cooperation. Steps to strengthen international security and stability.

Multipolarity when it's most needed. Washington's agenda is polar opposite. For its own interests at the expense of others.

"(F)rom the standpoint of supremacy, exceptionality and domination. (A)t variance with (today's) compelling and objective need," Lavrov said.

America's agenda runs counter to "core principles of the UN Charter, which forms the cornerstone of international law -  sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts."

"The United States and its allies have claimed the right to interfere, sometimes brazenly, in the events of other countries under the mantle of protecting human rights and promoting democratic values, up to an including sanctions and the use of force."

Unilaterally claiming the right to use force. In "any part of the world when (its) interests are at stake."

Its 2010 National Security Strategy "states outright that (it) will not necessarily follow UN Security Council resolutions when its interests demand otherwise…"

Unilaterally using force. Lawlessly. Recklessly. Ruthlessly. Russia prioritizes peace, stability and mutual cooperation.

Policies polar opposite Washington's. Responsible ones. At a time full-blown tyranny in America is a hair's breadth away.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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