MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova - US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State Victoria Nuland is doing one of her regular rounds of inspections and instructions as she visits Kiev today and has met with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, political analyst Jon Hellevig told RIA Novosti.
“Ms. Nuland has the role of a key handler of the top members in the power echelons of the coup-installed Ukrainian regime and we must therefore just assume that she is doing one of her regular rounds of inspections and instructions,” Hellevig said, analyzing the formalities around Monday meeting.
On Monday, the Ukrainian President met with Nuland to discuss the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. Poroshenko stressed the need to resume the work of Ukrainian border servicemen and to involve OSCE monitors with proper equipment to monitor the Russian-Ukrainian border.
Poroshenko also stressed the need to resume gas, electricity and food supplies to the territories controlled by the independence supporters.
“It is indeed peculiar if a president of a large sovereign state holds such formal meetings with a person of the rank of Assistant Secretary of State,” Jon Hellevig told RIA Novosti. “It would seem that the Ukrainian regime is to a large degree subordinated to the Western powers and most notably to the USA. We all remember Ms. Nuland’s very public role in the violent coup which toppled the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Mr. Yanukovich,” he continued.
“There are the now iconic images where she provokes the police on the security cordons by teasingly and superciliously offering cookies to them. As memorable as that is the leaked conspiratorial phone call where she plotted the overthrow of the elected government of Ukraine and which of her puppets she would put in as replacements to the various ministerial positions. This is the same phone call were she sent her very best wishes from the bottom of her heart to the EU leadership,” Hellevig recalled.
The conflict in Ukraine started in April, when Kiev authorities launched a military operation against independence supporters in the southeast of the country.
As a result of a September 5 meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group, Ukrainian authorities and the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Luhansk and Donetsk agreed on a ceasefire, which took effect the same day. They also agreed to the presence of OSCE monitors in the region, an exchange of prisoners and the opening of humanitarian corridors.
The conflicting sides have repeatedly accused one another of violating the truce, although the OSCE said the ceasefire was generally holding.
According to United Nations estimates, the conflict has so far killed over 3,600 people and injured over 8,500.
