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© AFP / Thomas KIENZLEWolfgang Ischinger gives a speech to open the 54th Munich Security Conference
A notorious witch-hunt website says the chairman of one the most reputed pro-NATO gatherings and some top US military retirees are now enemies of Ukraine, as they dared to sign a non-binding roadmap for peace in Donbass.

The controversial 'Mirotvorets' (Peacekeeper) website took aim at German Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, blacklisting him for what it said was "attempting to disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine" and for "taking part in Russia's propaganda events aimed against Ukraine."
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© Screenshot from myrotvorets.center
Ischinger chairs the Munich Security Conference (MSC), a major pro-NATO event in Europe; while Russia and China - two of the West's designated opponents - are frequently invited, their input seems unable to alter the conference's mainstream narrative.

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© Screenshot from myrotvorets.center
Now, his crime was adding his signature to 12 proposals that outlined steps towards ending the war in Donbass and defusing tensions between, on the one hand, EU and Russia, and on the other Ukraine and Russia.

The prominent German diplomat, who occasionally reflects on the "annexation of Crimea," wasn't the only Western dignitary to be accused of siding with Russia. The roll of other blacklisted signatories, however, raises more than a few eyebrows. Being 'anti-Ukraine' and 'pro-Russian' isn't what you'd expect from some of these.

For example, there's US General Philip Breedlove - former chief of NATO forces in Europe - who once labeled Russia "an existential threat to the United States, its allies, and the international order." Some of his leaked emails suggest he tried to push Washington decision-makers into escalating the conflict with Russia following the February 2014 coup in Kiev.


Another person on the blacklist is retired Admiral James Stavridis - also a NATO commander - who insisted that some "Russians" have engaged in a "direct attack on the heart of our democratic system" back in 2016. He urged the US to impose sanctions on Russian sports teams, important figures, international symphony orchestras, academic institutions, diplomatic delegations - even on Vladimir Putin himself.

Called "Twelve Steps Toward Greater Security in Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic Region," the loosely-worded paper was published on the sidelines of MSC last week.

It suggested setting up a de-mining mission in Eastern Ukraine, where Donbass is located, ensuring freedom of movement in the war-ravaged region, and creating a military-to-military crisis management format between Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia - all members of the Normandy Four group, set up in 2014 to address the conflict.

The authors believe that the economic recovery of Donbass is equally important, adding that Ukraine should enter a free trade area with both the EU and Russia - an issue which sparked the bloody 2014 coup and the subsequent war in the east.