A memorandum titled "Save Ukraine!" will appear in tomorrow's (Wednesday's) edition of the Russian weekly Zavtra. Written by experts for the Izborsk Club, an influential intellectual group accorded prominence by President Vladimir Putin in recent months, the statement defines a "fascist and Nazi creeping coup" in Ukraine as a strategic threat to the Russian Federation. While holding the United States and the EU responsible for the regime-change project in Ukraine, the memorandum calls for summoning the USA to crisis-avoidance consultations under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Ukraine's sovereignty or, if Budapest Memorandum signers Ukraine or Britain refuse such a conference, undertaking emergency Russian-American diplomacy based on the precedent of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis—when the world went to the brink of nuclear war.

Several of the evaluations and ideas in the memorandum coincide with last week's interviews and articles by Presidential advisor Academician Sergei Glazyev and retired Gen. Leonid Ivashov, who are Izborsk Club participants and were among the co-authors of the club's early 2013 military strategic white paper.

The "Save Ukraine!" memorandum states that the situation in that country "is approaching a boundary limit, beyond which lies the danger of Ukraine's going fascist." This development leads, it continues, toward "transformation of Ukraine from a non-aligned, neutral and non-nuclear state into a new 'hot spot' for Europe and the entire world, and into a hotbed of instability and chaos on Russia's borders."

Detailing the recent concessions by Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych and the actions of the EU and the USA, including those revealed in the leaked phone conversation between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Ambassador in Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt, the memorandum says that these events are "creating the conditions for an illegitimate seizure of power by a coalition of political forces that do not represent the interests of the majority of the people of Ukraine." Charging that "the U.S. leadership group on top of Operation Ukraine is comprised of high-ranking intelligence and diplomatic operatives," the statement suggests that "Washington is most worried of all that Moscow, which has enormous reserves among the Ukrainian population, will suddenly wake up and become more active, wrecking the almost completed plan of establishing a totally anti-Russian government, up to and including the broad use of the fascistized followers of [Nazi collaborator Stepan] Bandera."

The report outlines possible political scenarios for regime-change in Ukraine, either by the abrupt ouster of Yanukovych or through a "coalition government" process that would also end in his ouster. A new leader, possibly former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, released from prison, would "take over the leadership of Ukraine, on the radical nationalist platform of [Oleh] Tyahnybok and other rightwing fascist groups. An ideological turn of events of that sort ... would be a way of forming an anti-Russian state on the Russian Federation's border, as well as disrupting any comprehensive integration processes in the former Soviet area."

"Strategic Interests of the Russian Federation"

Under the subhead, "Consequences of the coup for Russia's strategic interests," the memorandum outlines what "a new political and ideological regime in Ukraine, ... based on an extreme nationalist ideology, as the only available mechanism for suppressing social tensions," can be expected to do: "decisions which directly affect the strategic interests of the Russian Federation." The list includes military expansion by the United States and NATO that is unacceptable for Russia:

Quote Izborsk Club:• Rejection of the presence of the Russian Armed Forces in Crimea, including at Sevastopol as the base of the Russian Federation's Black Sea Fleet. The time frame will be set at six to ten months, which is insufficient for an orderly relocation of the military facilities to Russian territory in the vicinity of Novorossiysk.

• Purges of pro-Russian forces in eastern and southern Ukraine, leading to a flood of refugees into the Russian Federation.

• Annihilation of manufacturing capacities in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, and other Ukrainian cities, which do contract work for the Russian military-industrial complex.

• Stepped-up forcible Ukrainianization of the population on the left bank of the Dnieper [where there are large Russian ethnic and/or Russian-speaking populations].

• Expanded partnership of Ukraine with NATO and the appearance of U.S. and NATO bases in Ukraine, including Crimea.

• Establishment in eastern Ukraine of bases for training terrorists, who will begin to operate both in the Caucasus and in the Volga Basin, and possibly also Siberia.

• Extension of "Euromaidan" techniques into major Russian cities, especially in ethnically defined constituent territories of the Russian Federation.

• Expulsion of the Russian Orthodox Church from Ukraine, accompanied by forcible seizure of churches and monasteries, resulting in a further decline of the authority of both the ROC and the executive branch of government within Russian society.

• Launching of prosecutions against Gazprom, Rosneft, and their executives, with the new Ukrainian government also suing Russia in Western-sponsored international courts under various pretexts.

"Catastrophic for the Future of Russia"

In the final section, "What is Russia to do?", the authors state: "We consider the situation taking shape in Ukraine to be catastrophic for the future of Russia and the entire post-Soviet area." Among the measures they propose that Russian political leaders take, "within the framework of international law," are the following:

Quote Izborsk Club:• an official ideological evaluation of the creeping coup as fascist and Nazi, infringing the rights of all peoples and ethnic groups living in Ukraine;

• an appeal to the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to resist with all their might the fascist plague that is seizing power in Kiev, and to bring broad layers of the public into the political process;

• direct social and economic assistance to all the regions of southern and eastern Ukraine, through launching bilateral programs and keeping low gas prices for Ukrainian customers, while withholding additional direct loans to the government of Ukraine;

• calling on all Russian citizens to contact their relatives and friends in Ukraine, to mobilize them to join an overt political process against the Maidan, which is leading to a future fratricidal war; <...>

• launch of a broad campaign on national TV channels to support the Ukrainian public and expose the fascist content of the coup that is under way, as well as the adverse economic consequences for Ukraine, especially its eastern and southern regions;

• an open declaration to the world community on the unacceptability for Russia of the creation of a fascist, anti-Semitic state close to our borders, as well as making such statements at the UN and other international organizations;

• an appeal by the Government of the Russian Federation, under the currently valid Budapest Memorandum on the Sovereignty of Ukraine, dated Dec. 5, 1994 (Article 6), to the governments of Ukraine, the USA, and Great Britain, with a decisive protest against U.S. interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine and a demand to convene a conference of the parties to the Budapest Memorandum in connection with the situation involving political aggression and measures of "economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty";

• in the event of refusal of one of the parties to take part in such a conference, the said memorandum should be declared temporarily invalid, with Russia entering into direct talks with Washington, citing the situation with the Caribbean Crisis [Cuban Missile Crisis] of 1962 as a precedent for the current events in Ukraine, and proposing to the USA to hold negotiations on developing joint monitoring of the political process and elections in Ukraine, as well as joint mediation of a settlement of the developing political crisis;

• a proposal to the People's Republic of China and other BRICS countries to develop economic assistance plans for Ukraine and joint work in the entire post-Soviet area, in order to rein in any attempts at unilateral U.S. hegemony.

In conclusion, they write:

Quote Izborsk Club:Only such actions by the Russian state and sane forces in the Russian and international community, together with the executive bodies of our two countries, can stabilize the social and economic situation in Ukraine and prevent social and political catastrophe in that country.

In a timely restatement of long-standing Russian policy on the U.S.-NATO Ballistic Missile Defense system, which is being deployed to encircle Russia and impose their strategic capitulation to the British Monarchy's policies, Russia's ambassador to NATO, Alexander Grushko, told Russia 24 TV channel yesterday.

We can go around in circles, convene meetings, but if we fail to resolve the fundamental issue of providing reliable legal guarantees of non-direction of the US and NATO missile system against Russian forces of nuclear deterrence, we can expect no improvements [in the BMD discussion].

If our partners are not ready to give us this information, then we have no chance to come to an agreement. I do not see any possibility of doing this.

Both current President Vladimir Putin and then-President Dmitri Medvedev have stated in no uncertain terms that the unilateral deployment of the U.S.-NATO BMD is strategically unacceptable to Russia, and that they will take necessary countermeasures before the system is fully deployed.

In today's CounterPunch, February 12, an article by Mike Whitey, entitled "Caught Red-Handed—Secret Tape Reveals US-backed Plot to Topple Ukraine's Democratically-Elected President", is prefaced with the following quote ...

“In the latest debacle for the US State Department and the Obama Administration, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was caught on tape micro-managing Ukraine opposition party strategies with US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. That the Ukraine regime-change operation is to some degree being directed from Washington can no longer be denied….The taped conversation demonstrates in clear detail that while Secretary of State John Kerry decries any foreign meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs, his State Department is virtually managing the entire process.”

– Daniel McAdams,
“‘F**k the EU’: Tape Reveals US Runs Ukraine Opposition“
Ron Paul Institute

...and starts as such:

Quote Mike Whitey:Washington is at it again, up to its old tricks. You’d think that after the Afghanistan and Iraq fiascos someone on the policymaking team would tell the fantasists to dial-it-down a bit. But, no. The Obama claque is just as eager to try their hand at regime change as their predecessors, the Bushies. This time the bullseye is on Ukraine, the home of the failed Orange Revolution, where US NGOs fomented a populist coup that brought down the government and paved the way for years of social instability, economic hardship and, eventually, a stronger alliance with Moscow.

So, what is the Obama Teams' motive?

Quote Mike Whitey:Let’s cut to the chase: The US still clings to the idea that it can dominate the world with its ham-fisted military (that hasn’t won a war in 60 years) its scandalized Intel agencies, its comical Rambo-style “Special Ops” teams, and its oh-so-brilliant global strategists who think the days of the nation-state will soon be over hastening the onset of the glorious New World Order. Right. Ukraine is a critical part of that pipe dream, er, strategy which is why the US media puts demonstrations in Kiev in the headlines while similar protests in the US are consigned to the back pages just below the dog food ads. In any event, the crisis is likely to intensify in the months ahead as Washington engages in a no-holds-barred tug-o-war with Moscow over the future of civilization.

And to the "bigwig strategists, like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Ukraine is a war that Washington must win to maintain its position as the world’s only superpower." So, what are they telling US policymakers?

Quote Mike Whitey:[That] if they want to rule the world, they’ve got to take over Eurasia. That’s pretty clear. It’s the Great Game all over again and Ukraine is one of the biggest trophies, which is why the US has allied itself to all kinds crackpot, rightwing groups that are stirring up trouble in Kiev. It’s because Washington will stop at nothing to achieve its objectives. Of course, there’s nothing new about any of this. The US frequently supports violent, far-right organizations if their interests coincide. Here’s a little background on the topic from Eric Draitser in an article in CounterPunch titled “Ukraine and the Rebirth of Fascism”:

Quote Eric Draitser:"In an attempt to pry Ukraine out of the Russian sphere of influence, the US-EU-NATO alliance has, not for the first time, allied itself with fascists. Of course, for decades, millions in Latin America were disappeared or murdered by fascist paramilitary forces armed and supported by the United States. The mujahideen of Afghanistan, which later transmogrified into Al Qaeda, also extreme ideological reactionaries, were created and financed by the United States for the purposes of destabilizing Russia. And of course, there is the painful reality of Libya and, most recently Syria, where the United States and its allies finance and support extremist jihadis against a government that has refused to align with the US and Israel. There is a disturbing pattern here that has never been lost on keen political observers: the United States always makes common cause with right wing extremists and fascists for geopolitical gain." ("Ukraine and the rebirth of Fascism“, Eric Draitser, CounterPunch)

Death squads here, jihadis there; what difference does it make to the big shots in Washington?

Not much, apparently.

In an answer to questions about whether-or-not the US is actually siding with the anti-Semites, NAZIs, and fascists in the Ukrainian government's opposition....

Quote Mike Whitey:It sure looks that way. In fact, there was a funny story in the World Socialist Web Site about Assistant Secretary of State Victoria “Fuck the EU” Nuland which shows how far these people will go to achieve their objectives. In this case, Nuland, who — according to the WSWS — is “the grand-daughter of Jewish immigrants who fled to America to escape pogroms in Tsarist Russia”…was seen “handing out cookies in Maidan square to Svoboda thugs who venerate the mass murderers of Hitler’s SS.” (“Leaked Phone Call On Ukraine Lays Bare Washington’s Gangsterism“, Bill Van Auken, World Socialist Web Site)

Nice, eh? So Vickie was having a little snacktime with guys who’d probably shove a knife in her back if they were given half a chance. That’s what you call dedication. By the way, Nuland’s “husband is Robert Kagan, the right-wing foreign policy pundit who served as the founding chairman of the Project for a New American Century, the neo-conservative Washington think tank that played a key role in the political and ideological preparation for the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The fact that Obama and Co. are directly involved in this latest would-be coup, doesn’t surprise anyone. According to a recent poll conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, “almost a half (45%) of Russian citizens think that protests in Ukraine have been provoked by Western special services.” By “special services” we presume the survey’s authors mean US Intel agencies and US-funded NGOs which have a long history of poking their noses in other country’s affairs.

And how much does all of this cost the US taxpayers?

Quote Mike Whitey:The fact is, the USG gives away tons of money to all types of shady groups who carry out their agenda. As far as Ukraine is concerned, we actually have a better idea of the money that’s been spent than Paul thinks. Check out this video of Nuland addressing various industry groups and admitting that, “Since the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, the United States supported the Ukrainians in the development of democratic institutions and skills in promoting civil society and a good form of government…We have invested more than 5 billion dollars to help Ukraine to achieve these and other goals.” (“Washington’s cloned female warmongers“, Finian Cunningham, Information Clearinghouse)

5 billion smackers to topple a democratically-elected government in Ukraine while 8 million Americans still can’t find a damn job in the US. That tells you a lot about Obama’s priorities, doesn’t it?

So, do we now know what the Obama team are doing in Ukraine?

Quote Mike Whitey:Last week’s fiasco surrounding Nuland’s leaked phone conversation has clarified what’s really going on behind the scenes. While the media has focused on Nuland’s obscenity, (“Fuck the EU”) it’s the other parts of the conversation that grabbed our attention. Here’s a brief summary by the WSWS’s Bill Van Auken:

Quote Bill Van Auken:“The call (exposes) the criminal and imperialist character of US policy in Ukraine …What the tape makes clear, is that Washington is employing methods of international gangsterism, including violence, to effect a political coup aimed at installing a regime that is fully subordinate to US geo-strategic interests…

The precise goal of US efforts is to shift political power into the hands of a collection of Western-aligned Ukrainian oligarchs who enriched themselves off of the private appropriation—theft—of state property carried out as part of the Stalinist bureaucracy’s dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In doing so, it aims to turn Ukraine into a US imperialist beachhead on the very border of Russia, whose territory it also wants to divide and subjugate to neocolonial status as part of its drive to assert American hegemony throughout the strategic landmass of Eurasia…

Nuland makes clear that behind the scenes, Washington is dictating which leaders of the opposition…should enter the government to swing it behind Washington and what role the others will play…”(“Leaked Phone Call On Ukraine Lays Bare Washington’s Gangsterism“, Bill Van Auken, World Socialist Web Site)

Ultimately, what are the US (and EU) financial elites planning for their future?

Quote Mike Whitey:US elites want to trim Moscow’s wings, set up shop in Eurasia, control China’s growth, be a bigger player in the continent’s oil and natural gas markets, export its financial services model, and make as much money as possible in the 21st century’s hottest market, Asia. It’s all about profits. Profits and power.

Yeah, profits and power, are good.

But also — a thermonuclear war on Russia, which the EU and US elites are threatening by their actions.

It's a Cuban Missile Crisis deja vu. How will this end?

Obama, like the Bushies, is an 8-year term doge and agent provocateur for the Wall Street, City of London, and Dutch-British Empire's elite.

The name of the author of the article in post #5 is accidently misspelled. My apologies.

The correct spelling of the author's name is Mike Whitney.

Quote Roger Casement:It may go farther than that. The implied objective is the annihilation of all organized states east of Poland and South of the Alps, if you look at the maps in Zbigniew Brzezinksi's 1997 book The Grand Chessboard. A Fortress Europe with a global reach.

A mentally healthy person doesn't easily believe that a US statesman, trained in political science, and geostrategy, can possibly be planning and advocating the demise of hundreds of millions of people. It really seems WAY over-the-top.

But, of course, there is a reason for this. In Brzezinksi's Wikipedia profile:

His family, members of the nobility (or "szlachta" in Polish), bore the Trąby coat of arms and hailed from Brzeżany in Galicia in the Tarnopol Voivodeship (administrative region) of then eastern Poland (now in Ukraine). The town of Brzeżany is thought to be the source of the family name. Brzezinski's father was Tadeusz Brzeziński, a Polish diplomat who was posted to Germany from 1931 to 1935; Zbigniew Brzezinski thus spent some of his earliest years witnessing the rise of the Nazis. From 1936 to 1938, Tadeusz Brzeziński was posted to the Soviet Union during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge.

Apparently, it isn't just the Western European aristocrasy that has been inbreeding because of their marriage system for too many centuries... :)

The National Interest, which calls intself a voice for the "realist" grouping within the U.S. foreign policy establishment, has posted an attack on Obama's "liberal imperialist" policy, by David Rieff, who has previously written to attack humanitarian intervention.

Rieff notes the irony of the neo-cons attacking Obama for not embracing "American Exceptionalism," when in fact, there is a remarkably close resemblance between the neo-con foreign policy of the Bush Administration, and Obama's own policies.

"The consanguinity, you could even say, between the neocons and liberal hawks has rarely been more apparent," Reiff writes, citing, as examples, Obama's drone strikes, and the expansion of the powers of the intelligence agencies. Rieff then takes up the recent incidents involving the leaked phone call of Robert Kagan's wife, Victoria Nuland, and Samantha Power's sidling up to the punk-rock group Pussy Riot to denounce Russia's human-rights record.

Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, "seems to have been looking for a platform to denounce the Russian government," and Nuland, Reiff notes, is not just any American diplomat, but she is the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe. "That even in an unguarded moment she could feel free to speak this way is not so much reminiscent of a senior foreign-service officer whose main task, Ukraine or no Ukraine, is to keep relations between the U.S. and the EU on an even keel, but rather of a British resident agent in one of the princely states of India during the Raj. These representatives of empire must have felt the same sort of exasperation. Ah well, such are the frustrations of indirect rule, whether in Baroda or Hyderabad in 1889 or in Brussels today."

"At least the British resident agent could depose a recalcitrant maharaja if the interests of the Raj required it," Rieff continues. "Poor Secretary Nuland: for a moment one almost feels sorry for her, as she—can there be another word for it?—conspired with the U.S. Ambassador to Kiev to overthrow the current President of Ukraine, only to have not only her opinions about the EU, but which opposition leader Washington wishes to install in his place, posted on YouTube. 'Fuck the EU,' yes, but 'Fuck the Russians' too, for making regime change so bloody difficult."

Reiff's conclusion is that, contrary to myth, there is no rupture of the old bi-partisan Cold War consensus on foreign policy, but "the reality is one of far more continuity than rupture," and that neo-cons like Robert Kagan, and liberal hawks like Samantha Power agree on more than they disagree — as Nuland's career illustrates. "Are we all liberal imperialists now?" Reiff asks, and says that if you work on foreign policy for the U.S. government (i.e., Obama), "the answer would seem to be an emphatic yes."