• 18-12-2015 (00:32)

Oh, Sergei!

Andrey Piontkovsky: on today’s direct line there was no mention of ISIS (an extremist organization banned in Russia)

update: 12/18/2015 (00:32)

Putin’s straight lines are a dull PR product, a long-tired genre with routine declarations of love from provincial journalists and promises to give a Christmas tree or Santa Claus. But today I noticed that Putin was in an extremely cheerful mood. And I even know why he was so pleased.

Several times, even when it was not at all required by the content of the question, he returned to Kerry’s visit, to the relationship between the Russian Federation and the United States. It was felt that he was extremely satisfied with the results of the two days of negotiations with Kerry. And this is not surprising.

Kerry is a clinical idiot and I am not going to choose expressions within the bounds of political correctness. He's a pompous oaf who dreams of a Nobel Peace Prize and is apparently terribly jealous of his boss. Apparently, he is going to get it for a peaceful settlement in Syria. When the number of victims there approaches half a million people.

At the same time, Kerry should under no circumstances be left alone with Lavrov. Lavrov in this pair is the dominant male who does what he wants with him. After sessions with Lavrov, Kerry can only moan in orgasm at joint press conferences: “Oh, Sergei! Yes!!” It was important for Putin in Syria to return to the table with the big boys in a geopolitical casino as an important decision-maker, and even to put his feet on this table. And Lavrov received everything he needed from Kerry: assurances that Russia and the United States are two great powers working hand in hand in Syria. Kerry not only failed to mention the need for Assad to leave, he sharply attacked the Syrian opposition for this demand.

All this happened just when a huge scandal broke out around Moscow. It turned out that Moscow is “protecting” the ISIS oil trade. Its main beneficiary is Assad. All this was told in detail, citing sources in the highest echelons of Russian power, by the editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy, Alexey Venediktov. And the US financial intelligence said the same thing, confirming it with a mass of bank documents. The Americans even imposed sanctions against specific personalities, including K. Ilyumzhinov.

In this situation, instead of asking key questions, including for Russian society, about Assad-Putin-ISIS business contacts, Kerry bleats something about constructive cooperation.

Cooperation in what – in saving Assad’s ass? Initially, it was assumed that the Russian Federation would provide some assistance in the fight against ISIS. But on today's hotline, ISIS was no longer discussed. Putin said that “we will support Assad’s offensive for some time, and then there will be a peaceful settlement.”

Somewhere even the standard propaganda meme has disappeared - we must destroy them on distant frontiers so that they do not crawl to us.

When Kerry talks about “two great powers that are constructively solving the world’s problems,” an atmosphere emerges in which pressure will be exerted on the Ukrainian leadership to impose Putin’s interpretation of the Minsk agreements on Kyiv. This pressure will increase. Both from Washington and the Norman sweet couple.

The Kremlin understands that they do not have the resources for a serious military escalation either in Syria or Ukraine. And there is no need for this, when with the help of “American partners” it is possible to “solve issues” by political means. I don’t expect a military escalation in Donbass, but the political attack on Kyiv on the issue of elections and the special status of the self-proclaimed republics will certainly intensify.

PS Once again the President of the Russian Federation confirmed his stable diagnosis of a moral idiot - Yes, Nemtsov was my opponent, but it was not necessary to kill him.

“It’s hard to imagine a better exercise than the operation in Syria. We can train there for a long time without compromising the budget.”

Syrians are not people for Putin. They will never forget this. Never.

Andrey Piontkovsky