KERRYING A TORCH FOR PUTIN..EASING SANCTIONS FOR RUSSIA
http://www.wsj.com/articles/kerry-is-so-very-nice-to-putin-1431559190
Kerry Is So Very Nice to Putin
Easing sanctions if Russia settles for what it’s already grabbed.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Monday that the Kremlin continues to provide heavy arms and training to its proxy militias in eastern Ukraine—a “blatant violation,” he says, of the Minsk deal Russia signed in February to end the fighting. NATO says Russia is also building forces on both sides of its international border with Ukraine. Civilians in the port of Mariupol, a few miles from the front lines, are bracing for an attack and posting signs to the nearest bomb shelter.
So what better time for John Kerry to attempt to reconcile with Vladimir Putin? The Secretary of State arrived Tuesday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where he met first with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and then was granted an audience with the Russian President.
“The Kremlin had let Washington squirm about whether Mr. Kerry would be well-received, only confirming that Mr. Putin would meet with him about an hour before his arrival,” the Journal reported Tuesday, adding that “Mr. Putin was likely pleased by Mr. Kerry’s effort at obeisance” after the secretary paid homage to Russian sacrifices in World War II.
No doubt. Following eight hours of discussions, Mr. Kerry suggested that “U.S. and EU sanctions can begin to be rolled back” if Russia abides by the Minsk deal. That deal is known as “Minsk II” because the Kremlin had already violated September’s “Minsk I” accord, which was supposed to freeze the conflict in eastern Ukraine, bringing peace in return for securing Russia’s extensive territorial gains. So Mr. Putin may now be rewarded with the lifting of economic sanctions simply by promising to abide by another deal he violated from the moment it was signed.
Mr. Kerry appears to have given up even asking that Russia exit from eastern Ukraine, much less reverse last year’s illegal seizure and annexation of Crimea. Barely a year ago President Obama invoked the ghosts of World Wars I and II to warn in Brussels that “casual indifference” to Russia’s takeover of Crimea “would ignore the lessons that are written in the cemeteries of this continent.”
More than 6,000 people have since died fighting in eastern Ukraine. Casual indifference is official policy.
Mr. Kerry also failed to bring up Russia’s sale of the S-300 air-defense system to Iran. In 2010 the Administration persuaded Moscow not to sell the missiles to Tehran, a supposed triumph of the Russian “reset.” Now the Administration calls the sale “permissible” and begs for Russia’s further cooperation with the Iran nuclear talks—another reminder of how much Mr. Obama is prepared to sacrifice to his Iran diplomacy.
The Ukrainians must be thrilled to see Mr. Kerry volunteering their territory for the sake of America’s Middle East interests. Western Europeans will conclude that Americans won’t object when they ease sanctions, while Estonians, Moldovans, Poles and other Eastern Europeans will wonder if their territory is also negotiable.
As for Mr. Putin, the lesson is that he can grab what he wants, wait out the faux outrage and sanctions, and then consolidate his gains in return for more promises of peace.
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