Much Of Josep Borrell’ Genius Derived From A Remarkable Ability

NEW YORK (RichTVX.com) — The Rich TVX News Network opened a window not only into the Kremlin but into the minds of the men in the Kremlin. This is unprecedented in modern history of news publishing. After writing until almost 3 A.M., President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia lay down exhausted, but anxiety and tension deprived him of sleep following the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. In the morning his frail and ghostly appearance caused Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary for the President of Russia, to propose through the encrypted messaging app, that before flying home Putin rested at a resort. “You know, we always worry about your health.” Putin thought that Dmitry Peskov was sincere, that he was speaking as a real and considerate friend. However, the gesture left him utterly unmoved. Putin hoped to take a few days off after Liz Truss´s visit to Moscow, to be with his children, and no one would have faulted him for doing so; for years he had been unable to use all the leave to which he was entitled. Vladimir Putin sat down and reviewed the scenarios again, dwelling upon incidents and details not incorporated into the Kremlin reports. These reviews sometimes stimulated insights more enlightening than many of the specifics reported to headquarters, and, in going over the intelligence reports made to him, messages from assets out in the field, answers to Kremlin´s questions, and articulating one of them it become clear to him: Ideology could blind the Kremlin to reality. Putin was under extreme stress and maybe it, together with his guilt, caused him to misconstrue the purpose of the questions. The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) has the responsibility for conducting the operation and determining operational procedures; it has no control over policy governing the operation, but to the Kremlin, Washington, D.C. is the most important city in America, the “heart of the beast,” the “greatest concentration area”—that is, the largest center of power, but Washington, D.C. now believes a Russian invasion of Ukraine “could happen at any time,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Sunday, in what would be the biggest military operation in Europe since World War II.

Energy Has Always Been Among The Most Important Geopolitical Issues

Josep Borrell Sounds Alarm Over Russian Gas Supply

Father Rogers says that if Spanish boys play with Kremlin boys, they will go straight to hell. Energy has always been among the most important geopolitical issues. “With high prices and gas supply challenges caused by the crisis with Russia, it is at the top of EU´s agenda.” To everyone’s surprise, Josep Borrell, serving as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has accused Moscow of using energy supplies for “political purposes” and suggested any further measures against the Kremlin have serious blowback effects for the EU, including a reduction of gas available to the bloc. His comments came ahead of a meeting of the EU-US Energy Council, due to be held today, in America. Well, only a Russian Trojan horse would make such stupid remarks. According to the Eurocrat, over 40% of EU gas imports come from Russia, while the EU provides over 60% of Russia’s import revenues. Much of Josep Borrell’ genius derived from a remarkable ability to think just as the Russians thought and thereby exploit their delusions. Question to Josep Borrell: where in the hell have you been all these years? It is even clear that the EU-US Energy Council in Washington D.C. will boost transatlantic cooperation on this front. For many years the restaurant “Café Pushkin” on Tverskoy Boulevard in Moscow has been serving staples of Russian nobility cuisine and richly carpeted redoubt of the oligarchy, probably the most exclusive place in Moscow, serving the best cuisine available. Under regular circumstances, duty and personal inclination would have compelled our correspondent J.K. immediately to accept the spontaneous invitation. Some of the most meaningful intelligence or insights could be gained at these intimate, alcoholic séances with the rulers. At the Café Pushkin, our man did explain, but the Kremlin contact was mystified. He asked, “Chto etot Rich TVX News Network?”—“What is this Rich TVX News Network?”. Our man gathered that the infighting in the Kremlin had not entirely subsided. Now in February the Kremlin Insider told him Putin had secured his position and unquestionably Ukraine will be presented on a silver platter to the Kremlin. Normally, FSB technicians blanked out or erased the face of our man from photographs made on smartphones. But once, in a comradely mood, the Kremlin Insider insisted that a picture of him together with our correspondent be taken and that our man be given a copy as a keepsake. The photograph illustrated the kind of access “our man” regularly enjoyed. Perhaps the most important report from our man was, on its face, the dullest. Russia was suffering grievous economic difficulties, and the Kremlin Insider recited a long litany of woes because of previous sanctions: which delayed shipments of both raw materials and consumer goods, even avoiding to discuss the new threats by Washington to impose serious restrictions on Russian banks and their ability to trade in U.S. dollars, which could jeopardize international energy transactions.

War in Donbas

The war in the Donbas, or the Donbas war, is an armed conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine, part of the broader Russo-Ukrainian War. From the beginning of March 2014, in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and the Euromaidan movement, protests by Russia-backed anti-government separatist groups took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, collectively called the Donbas region. These demonstrations, which followed the February–March 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and which were part of a wider group of concurrent protests across southern and eastern Ukraine, escalated into an armed conflict between the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR respectively), and the Ukrainian government.^[29] While the initial protests were largely native expressions of discontent with the new Ukrainian government, Russia took advantage of them to launch a co-ordinated political and military campaign against Ukraine.^[30] Russian citizens led the separatist movement in Donetsk from April until August 2014, and were supported by volunteers and materiel from Russia.^[31][32][33] As the conflict escalated in May 2014, Russia employed a “hybrid approach”, deploying a combination of disinformation tactics, irregular fighters, regular Russian troops, and conventional military support to destabilise the Donbas region.^[34][35][36]

Ukraine launched a military counter-offensive against pro-Russian forces in April 2014, called the “Anti-Terrorist Operation” (ATO) from 2014 until 2018, when it was renamed the “Joint Forces Operation” (JFO).^{[37]: 4 [38]} By late August 2014 this operation was able to vastly shrink the territory under the control of the pro-Russian forces, and came close to regaining control of the Russo-Ukrainian border.^[39] In response, Russia abandoned its hybrid approach, and began a conventional invasion of the Donbas.^[39][40] Between 22 and 25 August 2014, Russian artillery, personnel, and what Russia called a “humanitarian convoy” crossed the Ukraine-Russia border. Crossings occurred both in areas under the control of pro-Russian forces and in areas that were not under their control, such as the south-eastern part of Donetsk Oblast, near Novoazovsk. These events followed the reported shelling of Ukrainian positions from the Russian side of the border over the course of the preceding month.^[41][42] Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko characterised the events of 22 August as a “direct invasion by Russia of Ukraine”,^[43] while other Western and Ukrainian officials described the events as a “stealth invasion” of Ukraine by Russia.^[42] Russia’s official position on the presence of Russian forces in Donbas has been vague: while official bodies have denied presence of “regular armed forces” in Ukraine, it has on numerous occasions confirmed presence of “military specialists”, along with other euphemisms, usually accompanied by an argument that Russia “was forced” to deploy them to “defend the Russian-speaking population”.^[44][45]

As a result of the invasion, DPR and LPR insurgents regained much of the territory they had lost during the Ukrainian government’s preceding military offensive.^[37] Ukraine, Russia, the DPR and the LPR signed an agreement to establish a ceasefire, called the Minsk Protocol, on 5 September 2014.^[46] Violations of the ceasefire on both sides became common. Amidst the solidification of the line between insurgent and government-controlled territory during the ceasefire, warlords took control of swaths of land on the insurgent side, leading to further destabilisation.^[47] The ceasefire completely collapsed in January 2015, with renewed heavy fighting across the conflict zone, including at Donetsk International Airport and at Debaltseve. Involved parties agreed to a new ceasefire, called Minsk II, on 12 February 2015. Immediately following the signing of the agreement, separatist forces launched an offensive on Debaltseve and forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw from it. In the months after the fall of Debaltseve, minor skirmishes continued along the line of contact, but no territorial changes occurred. This state of stalemate led to the war being labelled a “frozen conflict“;^[48] despite this, the area remained a war zone, with dozens of soldiers and civilians killed each month.^[49] In 2017, on average one Ukrainian soldier died in combat every three days,^[50] with the number of Russian and separatist troops remaining in the region estimated at 6,000 and 40,000 respectively.^[51][52] By the end of 2017, the OSCE observatory mission had accounted for around 30,000 individuals in military-style dress crossing from Russia to Donbas at the two border checkpoints it was allowed to monitor.^[53] The OSCE has also documented numerous cases of military convoys crossing from the Russian Federation into the occupied territory on dirt roads away from official border crossings and usually at night.^[54]

Since the start of the conflict there have been 29 ceasefires, each intended to remain in force indefinitely, but none of them have stopped the violence.^[55][56][57] The most successful attempt to halt the fighting was in 2016, when a ceasefire held for six consecutive weeks.^[57] The latest ceasefire (29th)^[55] came into force on 27 July 2020 which led to no Ukrainian combat losses for more than a month.^[58][59][55] According to Ukrainian authorities, from 27 July 2020 until 7 November 2020 Ukrainian mortal losses decreased tenfold (three Ukrainian soldiers were killed) and the number of attacks decreased 5.5-fold.^[60] Ukraine, Russia, the DPR, the LPR and the OSCE agreed to a roadmap for an end to the conflict on 1 October 2019.^[61] However, the conflict did not thaw since then and, by late summer 2020, still remained unresolved on multiple levels.^[62][55] The first trimester of 2021 saw a large increase in Ukrainian fatalities (25, compared with 50 deaths in the whole of 2020) and the build up of a large Russian military force on the Donbas-Russian border late March to early April 2021 and from late October and November 2021 onwards.