Sec. of State Pompeo Says 'Crimea Is Ukraine'

Pompeo Says 'Crimea Is Ukraine' On Anniversary Of Russia's Seizure

(radiofreeeurope Feb 27 2020)

https://www.rferl.org/a/pompea-crimea-ukraine-anniversary-russia-seizure-/30457169.html

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington "does not and will not ever recognize" Moscow's claim to Ukraine's Crimea region, which it seized in 2014 and annexed.

Pompeo said that "February 27 will mark the sixth anniversary of Russia's attempted annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and the United States reaffirms: Crimea is Ukraine."

"As underscored in our July 2018 Crimea Declaration, the United States does not and will not ever recognize Russia's claims of sovereignty over the peninsula. We call on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea," he said.

"Six years on, Russia continues to rely on lies and disinformation in its failed attempt to legitimize the illegitimate. Its efforts are doomed to failure," he said.

Pompeo said the world will never forget "Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine."

"The United States condemns Russia's illegal actions in Crimea and its continued aggressive actions against Ukraine, including in the Donbas, and will maintain sanctions against Russia until it returns control of Crimea to Ukraine and fully implements its commitments under the Minsk agreements," he said, referring to a set of agreements struck in the Belarusian capital aimed at ending the conflict.

Pompeo's remarks came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a decree designating February 26 a memorial day to mark Russia's annexation of Crimea – an annexation not recognized by the international community and which has led to a series of sanctions against Moscow.

According to Russian state-run TASS news agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Zelenskiy's move "does not correspond to the real situation around Crimea," adding that Moscow "categorically" disagrees with the wording of Zelenskiy's decree.

Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014 after sending in troops and staging a referendum deemed illegitimate by at least 100 countries. In April that year, Russia threw its support behind armed separatists in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, generally known as the Donbas, where more than 13,000 people have been killed in the ongoing conflict.

Pompeo said that "Russia's occupation of Crimea and its increasing militarization of the peninsula is a threat to our common security."

He added that Moscow's "occupation authorities continue their assault on human rights and fundamental freedoms, brutally silencing critics in civil society and the media, and curtailing religious freedom."

Pompeo said more than 80 people from Crimea, including members of the Tatar community, "have been imprisoned by Russia – and some subjected to torture – for peaceful opposition to the occupation."

He also said Moscow had violated international law by forcibly conscripting nearly 20,000 Crimean men, a charge leveled in November by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which said the men were being forced to serve in the Russian military.

U.S. President Donald Trump this week extended for one year a series of previously imposed sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Trump's executive order was signed on February 25 and includes a package of sanctions that have expanded in scope over time since March 6, 2014.

linked from article:

President Trump statement Feb 25, 2020 on EO 13660

Text of a Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Ukraine

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/text-notice-continuation-national-emergency-respect-ukraine-2/

Crimea: Conscription Violates International Law

(Human Rights Watch, Nov 1 2019)

https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/11/01/crimea-conscription-violates-international-law#

Russia claims Ukraine will not regain the separtist eastern Ukraine

Ex-Kremlin aide says Ukraine will never reclaim rebel east

(AP news Feb 26 2020)

https://news.yahoo.com/ex-kremlin-aide-says-ukraine-104730866.html

MOSCOW (AP) — A former senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Ukraine will never be able to regain control over the separatist-controlled east.

Vladislav Surkov, who lost his job as Putin's adviser on Ukraine earlier this month, said in remarks published Wednesday that he stepped down because of a shift in the Kremlin course on the Ukrainian conflict. He didn't spell out specific reasons for his departure, saying only that it was due to a “change in context” on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made settling the conflict in eastern Ukraine his top priority. December's summit of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany failed to achieve a breakthrough, but the four leaders made a deal on a prisoner exchange and agreed on further moves toward settling the conflict in the east.

Observers in Moscow attributed Surkov's dismissal to the Kremlin's intention to take a less hawkish line on Ukraine, taking advantage of Zelenskiy's intention to move toward a settlement. Surkov was succeeded as the Kremlin's point man on Ukraine by another longtime Putin aide, Dmitry Kozak.

Asked Wednesday if the Russian policy on Ukraine has shifted, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off Surkov's claim, saying that the Kremlin adheres to a 2015 peace agreement brokered by France and Germany as the basis for political settlement.

The conflict in Ukraine'smostly Russian-speaking industrial east, called Donbass, erupted in April 2014 — weeks after Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. More than 14,000 have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists.

Surkov hailed leaders of separatists in eastern Ukraine as “true warriors” and “real heroes.” He charged that Ukraine will never be able to restore its control over the rebel-controlled territories.

“Donbass doesn't deserve such humiliation,” he said. “Ukraine doesn't deserve such honor.”

Surkov's harsh statement contrasted sharply with the usual rhetoric from the Kremlin, which has urged Ukrainian authorities to engage in dialogue with the rebels and work out a political settlement that would offer broad autonomy to the rebel regions in line with the 2015 peace deal. Such autonomous status was seen by the Kremlin as a key lever to hold off Ukraine's aspiration to join NATO.

During their talks in December, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany scheduled their next meeting for April in Berlin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned, however, that calling the next four-way summit will be contingent on observing previous agreements.

“We will only discuss the timing of the next summit only after the implementation of what we talked about in Paris, including normalization on the ground, clearing mines and political issues linked … to codifying a special status” of Donbass, Lavrov said Wednesday.

He pointed out that during December's summit, the Ukrainian president backed off from a preliminary deal to disengage Ukrainian and separatist forces along the entire line of contact in the east.

“So our second demand is that we will only discuss the timing for the summit after we prepare and sign a draft final document, so that there is no derailing of preliminary agreements,” Lavrov said.

related

>>8268000 Pompeao Crimea . . . . . . 000 inderesting

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KEK and perfect pic

In the West, Russia Backs Chaos, not Candidates

In the West, Russia Backs Chaos, not Candidates

(op-ed moscowtimes Feb 25, 2020)

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/02/25/in-the-west-russia-backs-chaos-not-candidates-a69404

As long as the Russian people see democracy in the West as a failure, they will have lower expectations of their own government.

A day before Democratic voters headed to the polls in Nevada, reports came out of a concerted effort by Russia to assist both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in their presidential campaigns. Democratic opponents of Sanders took this as a sign of common interest between Russia and the self-professed democratic socialist.

Sanders himself quickly denounced Russia’s actions, attributing them to a Russian attempt to divide the American public. While the recent history of Russia’s disinformation campaigns in the West supports the senator’s contention, his anti-establishment views likely also played a role in Russia’s decision to support the Sanders campaign.

Russian trolls/bots and pro-Russian opinion leaders famously supported Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign. They also contributed to the Brexit campaign; supported Catalonian independence; and backed the M5S and League in Italy, AfD in Germany, and Le Pen in France.

Until her campaign became too much of a longshot, those accounts boosted Tulsi Gabbard in the Democratic primary. What all of the movements receiving Russian social media assistance have in common is not their pro-Russian positions — though most of them do have that — but their opposition to the establishment.

There are three reasons Russia sides with Western anti-establishment figures.

First, the West is still the main adversary for most Russian elites, albeit one that’s no longer an existential threat.

That is why Russian interference remains low-cost and deniable. Russian elites have convinced themselves that the Western establishment is inherently Russophobic. Any anti-establishment movement is automatically seen as preferable to the maintenance of the status quo. Both Trump and Sanders meet that criterion. Trump regularly rails against the “deep state” — a talking point Russia uses itself — while Sanders does the same against the Democratic establishment.

Second, weakening the Western establishment has the added bonus of weakening the West in general and its willingness to confront Russia. Many Western anti-establishment groups are opposed to key Western institutions — NATO and the EU in particular. The consensus-based model of decision-making within those institutions means that even a handful of anti-establishment governments can derail a common stance against Russia. In this regard, Sanders hasn’t shown the same inclination to attack Western institutions that Trump has over the past three years.

An anti-establishment movement doesn’t have to be in power to benefit Russia, however. Constant infighting makes it impossible for Western politicians to focus on a Russian threat. Political elites in an America fighting over Trump, a Britain fighting over Brexit, or a Spain fighting over Catalonian independence simply do not see foreign policy as a priority.

Chaos is seen as a positive in itself — Russian trolls simultaneously worked on behalf of Trump and black rights movements in 2016 — something that gives Russia a freer hand in its own foreign policy. A Sanders presidency or even a Democratic nomination virtually guarantees that America will remain preoccupied with domestic conflicts.

Third, the spectacle of Western politicians criticizing the quality of their own countries’ elections and political institutions helps the Putin regime paint democracy as a deeply flawed, unstable, and undesirable system of governance.

Russian news gleefully reports on every alleged wrongdoing by the Western establishment, every allegation of fixed elections, and every claim of elites conspiring against the common man. As long as the Russian people see democracy in the West as a failure, they will have lower expectations of their own government and will look at those promising democracy at home with extreme suspicion.

(continued)

>>8268197

n the West, Russia Backs Chaos, not Candidates (continued)

To sum up, a successful Sanders campaign checks a lot of boxes for Russia and its supporters. Sanders both opposes and is opposed by the American establishment, including from his own party.

Sanders’s self-proclaimed democratic socialism rises to the top of the political agenda, displacing debates over America’s need to reclaim its global leadership role or to challenge Russia in the Middle East, Africa, or Russia’s near abroad. Even a Sanders defeat would be portrayed as an indictment of democracy to the Russian public.

How much a Sanders presidency would benefit Russia is an open question, however. Sanders wants to battle global kleptocracy — a major challenge to Russia’s foreign policy. Plus, he enjoys the support of Putin’s political rival, Alexei Navalny.

But the ability to promote chaos likely outweighs these concerns.

Russian Meddling Allegations – former DHS Jeh Johnson says DECLASSIFY

Excerpt:

“It is vital that the Trump administration declassify what we know so it can be described by our intelligence community publicly, so the voters are armed with this information,” Jeh Johnson, who served as Homeland Security secretary under former President Barack Obama, said during a forum in Detroit Monday.

“That’s what we did in the prior administration,” he added, referring to a statement he and other top officials issued in October 2016 blaming Russia for hacking and then leaking emails from the Democratic National Committee.

(trivia: 2015 DHS Head Jeh Johnson’s email was hacked by a UK teenager)

Growing Calls for US Intelligence to Clear Up Russian Meddling Allegations

(voice of america news Feb 26, 2020)

https://www.voanews.com/usa/growing-calls-us-intelligence-clear-russian-meddling-allegations

WASHINGTON - Pressure appears to be building on the White House and U.S. intelligence agencies to declassify some information and brief the public on possible Russian attempts to meddle in the upcoming presidential election.

Much of the push is coming from former U.S. intelligence and security officials upset at a series of leaks that led to reports Russia was trying to bolster the campaigns of both President Donald Trump and one of his Democratic challengers, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

But some of the pressure is also coming from lawmakers who want see the American public get what they describe as an untainted assessment of what Russia is and is not doing, rather than see the allegations used for domestic political gain.

Congressional officials say, so far, lawmakers have not made any official requests to the intelligence agencies for any sort of public briefing or official statement on possible Russian meddling, due to concerns about protecting intelligence sources and methods.

Still, the officials note some sort of public disclosure is in line with the recommendations of a bipartisan report issued earlier this month by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which warned against keeping voters in the dark.

“The public should be informed as soon as possible, with a clear and succinct statement of the threat, even if the information is incomplete,” the report stated. “Delaying the release of information allows inaccurate narratives to spread, which makes the task of informing the public significantly harder."

Both the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment when asked by VOA if a plan to share some of the latest intelligence with the public was under consideration.

In India Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed anger over the intelligence leaks, calling the reports of Russia meddling to boost his reelection campaign or the campaign of Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders “highly exaggerated.”

“Intelligence never told me,” he told reporters. “And we have a couple of people here that would know very well.”

Other Trump administration officials have also forcefully denied the reports of Russian meddling to boost the president.

But on Friday, Sanders confirmed U.S. intelligence had, in fact, warned him about the Russian meddling. He later warned Moscow to stay out of U.S. politics.

It is those contradicting narratives that have former intelligence and security officials calling for some sort of public disclosure.

“I would certainly encourage it…no matter what it says,” former acting CIA Director John McLaughlin told VOA. "We don’t know the whole story yet."

Other longtime intelligence officials agree.

“Indications and warnings of threats to our democratic process are not like fine wine, getting better with age,” Daniel Hoffman, a former CIA chief of station, said. “We learned from 2016, we need a coordinated assessment based on the facts rather than innuendo and poor analysis tinged with confirmation bias.”

(continued)

>>8268365

Russian Meddling Allegations – former DHS Jeh Johnson says DECLASSIFY

(continued)

At least one White House official has indicated an openness to sharing some of the existing intelligence with the public.

“I'd have no problem with that,” U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “If there's intelligence that we can declassify, that we can get out there – all the better – because, again, we weren't in office in 2016 when the last election meddling took place and the administration did very little about it.”

However, some of those who were in office in 2016 accuse the Trump administration of doing even less.

“It is vital that the Trump administration declassify what we know so it can be described by our intelligence community publicly, so the voters are armed with this information,” Jeh Johnson, who served as Homeland Security secretary under former President Barack Obama, said during a forum in Detroit Monday.

“That’s what we did in the prior administration,” he added, referring to a statement he and other top officials issued in October 2016 blaming Russia for hacking and then leaking emails from the Democratic National Committee.

Some Democratic lawmakers have also seized upon the president’s handling of the latest allegations of Russian meddling.

“What does the president do in response to that information? He fires the head of the intelligence community,” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said on the floor of the Senate late Tuesday, arguing for the passage of election security legislation.

“He fires them because he doesn’t want them to tell Congress what the Russians are doing,” he said.

Trump administration officials have consistently pushed back, arguing the president has made it clear that interference by Russia or anyone else will not be tolerated.

"Meddling in our elections is unacceptable," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Tuesday. "Should Russia or any foreign actor take steps to undermine our democratic processes, we will take action in response."

Some former intelligence officials caution that President Trump’s long-contentious relationship with U.S. intelligence agencies, dating back to their 2017 assessment that Russia did seek to help Trump win the election, is hurting the administration’s credibility.

“One doesn’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a former CIA chief of staff and former senior director of the White House Situation Room, who has been critical of Trump in the past. “The congressional intelligence committees should demand open hearings in order to assure the American people, and closed hearings in order to conduct appropriate oversight of the activities to assess that threat.”

>>8268373

who couldn't love a show with all those Corsairs