Saturday, March 7, 2015

EU, US Aren't Seeing Eye to Eye on Ukraine Crisis (Frank-Walter Steinmeier)

Information obtained by European sources about the situation in eastern Ukraine somewhat differs from statements coming from NATO and US representatives, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the media after an informal meeting of top EU diplomats in the Latvian capital Riga.

“The statements [on the situation in Ukraine] made by our sources do not fully coincide with the statements made by NATO and the American side,” the German top diplomat said.

America apparently wants to undermine the Europeans’ mediatory effort led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, Der Spiegel weekly newsmagazine reported on Saturday.

The publication quotes General Philip Breedlove, the NATO supreme allied commander and head of the US European Command, as saying late last month that the situation in Ukraine was ”getting worse every day”.

On November 12, 2014, during a visit to Bulgaria, General Breedlove told a news conference in Sofia that “We have seen columns of Russian equipment, primarily Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops entering into Ukraine.”

Der Spiegel continued that “once again the federal government, acting on information provided by federal intelligence,” disagreed with General Breedlove.

During his media briefing in Riga, Frank-Walter Steinmeier underscored a German desire to discuss the matter in every detail in Paris with his American counterpart John Kerry and also during his upcoming visit to Washington to rule out any further “misinterpretations.”

   http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150307/1019198002.html#ixzz3TiWm12ph
7/3/15
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  • Breedlove's Bellicosity: Berlin Alarmed by Aggressive NATO Stance on Ukraine (Der Spiegel)....

 US President Obama supports Chancellor Merkel's efforts at finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. But hawks in Washington seem determined to torpedo Berlin's approach. And NATO's top commander in Europe hasn't been helping either...
It was quiet in eastern Ukraine last Wednesday. Indeed, it was another quiet day in an extended stretch of relative calm. The battles between the Ukrainian army and the pro-Russian separatists had largely stopped and heavy weaponry was being withdrawn. The Minsk cease-fire wasn't holding perfectly, but it was holding.
On that same day, General Philip Breedlove, the top NATO commander in Europe, stepped before the press in Washington. Putin, the 59-year-old said, had once again "upped the ante" in eastern Ukraine -- with "well over a thousand combat vehicles, Russian combat forces, some of their most sophisticated air defense, battalions of artillery" having been sent to the Donbass. "What is clear," Breedlove said, "is that right now, it is not getting better. It is getting worse every day." 
German leaders in Berlin were stunned. They didn't understand what Breedlove was talking about. And it wasn't the first time. Once again, the German government, supported by intelligence gathered by the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany's foreign intelligence agency, did not share the view of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
The pattern has become a familiar one. For months, Breedlove has been commenting on Russian activities in eastern Ukraine, speaking of troop advances on the border, the amassing of munitions and alleged columns of Russian tanks. Over and over again, Breedlove's numbers have been significantly higher than those in the possession of America's NATO allies in Europe. As such, he is playing directly into the hands of the hardliners in the US Congress and in NATO.
The German government is alarmed. Are the Americans trying to thwart European efforts at mediation led by Chancellor Angela Merkel? Sources in the Chancellery have referred to Breedlove's comments as "dangerous propaganda." Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier even found it necessary recently to bring up Breedlove's comments with NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg....................http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/germany-concerned-about-aggressive-nato-stance-on-ukraine-a-1022193.html 6/3/15

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