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Putin meets Zelensky for the first time at Paris summit


RT
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 16:59 UTC
ZelenskyMacronPutin
© Reuters/Thibault Camus
Presidents Zelensky, Macron and Putin, (Chancellor Merkel not shown); beginning the Normandy Four summit, Paris, France
The Russian and Ukrainian presidents have come face-to-face for the very first time on the grounds of the Normandy Four summit in Paris, which focuses on the years-long conflict in eastern Ukraine. The high-profile talks, involving leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine kicked off in Paris on Monday. It's the first meeting since 2016 of the highest-level representatives of the Normandy Four.

All eyes were set on Putin and Zelensky from the onset, and those watching the footage couldn't help but notice that the recently-elected Ukrainian president became a bit disoriented. At first, Zelensky tried to get into the seat reserved for Putin - only to get helped by Macron into a chair across the table. Then, a live feed showed the Ukrainian leader missing the timing for the group photo, this time getting some help from Putin, who gestured for Zelensky to turn around and face the reporters.

Since arriving in Paris, Putin has talked with Merkel, while Zelensky met Macron. It soon became apparent that the Monday talks would last longer than expected and the schedule was shifted. The much anticipated tête-à-tête meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents is expected to take place after the main talks but before the final press conference.

Comment: The beginning of the Normandy Four summit in Paris, France:




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Arrow Down

Crowd cheers as news host warns: Zelensky will be toppled by protests if he crosses 'red lines' in Paris


RT
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 18:34 UTC
Zelensky and Protesters
© Reuters /Valentyn Ogirenko
Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy; People take part in a rally ahead of the so-called "Normandy" format summit, in Kiev.
Pressure is mounting on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the opposition threatening him with civil unrest should he show weakness during the Normandy Four talks with Russian, French and German leaders on Monday.

Thousands attended a rally at the iconic Maidan square in the center of the Ukrainian capital, organized in the run-up to the high-profile meeting by the parties of Petro Poroshenko, whom Zelensky defeated in the spring election, as well as former PM Yulia Tymoshenko and rock star Vyacheslav Vakarchuk. And the speakers on stage didn't mince words.

"Your flight will be not from Paris to Kiev, but from Paris to Rostov[-on-Don]. If it won't be tomorrow then it'll be a bit later," prominent news host Vitaly Gaidukevich warned, addressing the head of state.
Protesters Kiev
© Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko
The mention of the Russian city was in fact a stark reminder to Zelensky that "Maidan democracy" continues to grip Ukraine. The blunt threat meant that the Ukrainian president may endure the fate of ex-leader Viktor Yanukovych, if he doesn't deliver what the opposition wants.

Comment: Zelensky has his 'choice of scripts' for this meeting, given various input, threats and advice. It remains to be seen how he faces the international forces while placating the agitated home crowd. The reality is this one meeting will not right the years of wrongs regarding Ukraine, and diplomacy will only stretch so far. Zelensky has a chance to impress and create a work-out situation. Is he up to the task?

RFE/RL 8/12/2019: Putin, Zelensky meeting hopes to break deadlock on peace process
The presidents of Ukraine and Russia are set to meet in Paris on December 9 for long-awaited talks on resolving the military conflict in eastern Ukraine that has left more than 13,000 people dead since 2014. It will be the first time the heads of Ukraine and Russia have met since 2016 and the first meeting ever between Zelensky and Putin.

Moscow denies direct involvement in the conflict between separatist formations in parts of eastern Ukraine and the Kyiv government. The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled in November 2016 that the war in eastern Ukraine was "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."

The Kremlin wants to maintain as much influence over Kyiv as it can, using the land held by the separatists it supports in the Donbas as a lever. The Ukrainian president must balance the benefits of progress toward peace with the potentially disastrous risk of being seen as surrendering to Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on December 6 in Rome that Moscow was seeking "to really ensure the security of the people of the Donbas, to guarantee their rights as set forth in the Minsk agreements, and to stop this conflict."

Zelensky, for his part, said earlier this month that the mere fact the talks have restarted was his "first victory" in efforts to end the war. He will push three main ideas in Paris: a further exchange of prisoners, implementing a cease-fire agreement, and the disbanding of "illegal armed formations" in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has said that Putin plans a one-on-one meeting with Zelensky. Kyiv, however, has said only that such an encounter is only under consideration.

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on December 6 posted online a statement advising Zelensky not to meet directly with Putin. "Do not trust Putin," he recommended. "Never and in nothing." He warned his successor that Putin will use "KGB-style manipulations, flattery, and play on the president's emotions and flaws."


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Che Guevara

Bolivian socialists have chosen exiled Morales as their election campaign chief


RT
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 22:55 UTC
Bolivian supporters of Morales
© Reuters/Agustin Marcarian
Supporters of Bolivia's ousted President Evo Morales hold a placard that reads "Down with the coup in Bolivia" outside the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2019.
With Bolivia under the stewardship of an interim government following the coup against former President Evo Morales, the country's socialist party has chosen the exiled leader to run its upcoming election campaign from abroad.

Morales' Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party gathered in the city of Cochabamba this weekend to choose its candidates, in a snap election that has yet to be announced, but has been promised by interim president Jeanine Áñez.


Comment: This is an interesting and unexpected move by the MAS party to designate Morales as its campaign manager. Taping his leadership shows the world how highly Bolivians regard their former president in this unparalleled signal of defiance to outside interference in their affairs and choices.

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Target

Ayatollah Sistani: Enemy plot seeks to create civil strife, bring back dictatorship


Press TV
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 11:25 UTC
Sistani
© Tehran Times
Iraq's Ayatollah Sistani
Iraq's top cleric has warned that enemies of Iraq and affiliated groups in the country are plotting to create internal strife and bring the country back to the "era of dictatorship", an apparent reference to the former rule of Saddam Hussein.

Addressing worshipers during Friday prayers in the holy city of Karbala, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged protesters to prevent attacks on people and their property and distance themselves from those committing such acts. A representative of Ayatollah Sistani delivered the top cleric's sermon:
"It is imperative on peaceful demonstrators that they separate their ranks from non-peaceful individuals and cooperate on shunning saboteurs - whoever they are - and not allow them to abuse peaceful protests to damage and attack the property of citizens.

"The enemies and their levers, in order to achieve their malicious goals, plan to spread chaos and plunge the country into internal strife and then return it to dictatorship, so everyone must work together to take away this opportunity from them."

Comment: We can see how this situation is shaping up. Not hard to do when similar examples are currently happening in many targeted countries simultaneously. The Ayatollah has wise advice. If taken, will it be enough to insulate Iraq from both the 'evil within' and the 'evil without'?

Tehran Times, 9/12/2019 Roadmap by religious authority for Iraq's political future
The religious authority has always respected the will of the Iraqi people to determine their political and administrative system through holding referendums on the constitution and regular parliamentary elections.

"No person or group, no side with a particular view, no regional or international actor may seize the will of the Iraqi people and impose its will on them," Ayatollah Sistani said.

Some political parties are seeking to use popular protests in their own favor to achieve their political goals. These parties, influenced by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, are pursuing other goals than pushing for reforms in the country.

The second point is the failure of efforts by some foreign countries to exploit protests in Iraq. Foreign media, especially those affiliated with the U.S., have worked hard in recent days to show that the demonstrators have chanted slogans against the religious authority and even have attacked some of their offices during the protests.

In addition, some Arab media are trying to show that there is a gap between the Iraqi people and the religious authority. But an examination of the position of the religious authority since the beginning of the protests shows that the religious authority urges the government to meet people's demands and calls for peaceful protests by the demonstrators.
See also:

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Arrow Up

More than 100 Democrats send Pompeo a letter in opposition to Trump's settlement policy

Michael Arria
Mondoweiss
Thu, 05 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
IsraeliSettlement
© Najeh Hashlamoun/APA
Israeli settlement near the Palestinian village of Al Maasarah
Last month, over 100 Democratic House members signed a letter that decried the Trump administration's policy shift on West Bank settlements. The letter was initiated by Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI and was sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. On November 18, Pompeo announced that the U.S. government was abandoning a 1978 State Department legal opinion which determined that settlement expansion in the occupied territories were in violation of international law. Just a day after Pompeo's announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advanced a bill that would annex the Jordan Valley. Levin's letter reads:
"If the U.S. unilaterally abandons international and human rights law, we can only expect a more chaotic and brutal twenty-first century for Americans and our allies, including the Israeli people. Given these serious implications, we strongly urge you to reverse this policy decision immediately."
On Dec 1, Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennet announced that new Israeli settlement would be constructed in Hebron. "Everyday things are getting worse for us, and no one bats an eye," a Palestinian Hebron resident named Mufeed al-Sharabati told Mondoweiss' Yumna Patel, "The American government gave the green light to the Israelis to build settlements without consequence."

Comment: Whether there is a crack in Israel's hold over the US government, a realization finally dawning or just blow-back to all things Trump...it is 'a beginning'.

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Oil Well

President Rouhani unveils a 'budget of resistance' against US sanctions


Yahoo News
Sun, 08 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Rouhani
© AFP/STR
President of Iran Hassan Rouhani
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani announced Sunday a "budget of resistance" against US sanctions targeting the country's vital oil sector, backed by a $5 billion Russian investment. Rouhani said the aim was to reduce "hardships" in Iran where a shock fuel price hike last month triggered nationwide demonstrations that turned deadly.

After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of "maximum pressure".

Iran has suffered a sharp economic downturn, with a plummeting currency sending inflation skyrocketing.

Rouhani told parliament that the budget of 4,845 trillion rials, or $36 billion at the current street rate, was devised to help Iran's people overcome difficulty. The budget would benefit from a $5 billion "investment" from Russia which was still being finalised.
"We know that under the situation of sanctions and pressure, people are in hardship. We know people's purchasing power has declined. We hope that $5 billion in capital will enter the country, either through plans that have already been finalised or which will be finalised next year."

Comment: While Rouhani puts on a good face and offers confidence in the Iranian economic crisis, the proof of his words will be the test. Make no mistake, the US-Israel cabal has not exhausted all its tricks and the longer it takes, the more damage inflicted.

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Yoda

Rep. Devin Nunes suing Adam Schiff for unlawfully releasing his phone records

Jim Hoft
The Gateway Pundit
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 20:12 UTC
schiff nunes phone records
© FOS News
Adam Schiff
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) joined Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures this morning.

Rep. Nunes told Maria he will take legal action against Rep. Adam Schiff for leaking his phone records in a political maneuver to embarrass and smear the Republican lawmaker.

Comment: Just the latest of Adam Schiff's underhanded and now clearly illegal tactics to push Trump's impeachment and removal from office ahead. The list is long, starting right from the first accusation of 'Russian collusion'.

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War Whore

'Undeniable Evidence': Explosive Classified Docs Reveal Afghan War Mass Deception

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Mon, 09 Dec 2019 20:26 UTC
pentagon
© Getty
In what's already being hailed as a defining and explosive "Pentagon papers" moment, a cache of previously classified documents obtained by The Washington Post show top Pentagon leaders continuously lied to the public about the "progress" of the now eighteen-year long Afghan war.

The some 2,000 pages of notes from interviews of senior officials who have shaped US strategy in Afghanistan confirm that "senior US officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false... hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable," according to the bombshell Post report.

The internal interviews and statements were unearthed via Freedom of Information Act request and span the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations. The trove further confirms that US leaders knew vast amounts of money was being wasted in a futile attempt to "Westernize the nation".
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Yoda

Tulsi Gabbard is the only candidate sounding the alarm on Washington's $6.4 trillion wars

Doug Bandow
The American Conservative
Fri, 29 Nov 2019 19:55 UTC
tulsi gabbard
© Flickr/Creative Commons/Gage Skidmore
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in August 2019.
Meanwhile, her fellow Democrats appear abysmally unconcerned about the human and financial toll.

The Democratic establishment is increasingly irritated. Representative Tulsi Gabbard, long-shot candidate for president, is attacking her own party for promoting the "deeply destructive" policy of "regime change wars." Gabbard has even called Hillary Clinton "the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party."

Senator Chris Murphy complained: "It's a little hard to figure out what itch she's trying to scratch in the Democratic Party right now." Some conservatives seem equally confused. The Washington Examiner's Eddie Scarry asked: "where is Tulsi distinguishing herself when it really matters?"
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Document

Clinton Foundation whistleblowers have come forward with hundreds of pages of evidence, Meadows says

Samuel Chamberlain, Catherine Herridge
Fox News
Fri, 06 Dec 2019 20:05 UTC
Hillary, Chelsea and Bill Clinton at a Clinton Foundation event

Hillary, Chelsea and Bill Clinton at a Clinton Foundation event
Three people have come forward with hundreds of pages of evidence of potential wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation, including misappropriation of funds and allegations of quid-pro-quo promises made to donors during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told Fox News on Thursday.

Meadows, the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, is also the chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations. The panel is set to hold an investigative hearing next week on the status of the Foundation case.

U.S. Attorney John Huber was tasked to investigate the foundation last year by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The Clinton Foundation consistently has maintained that it is a charity, and never traded on Hillary Clinton's position as America's top diplomat, which she held from 2009-2013. The organization has a four-star rating from the watchdog site Charity Navigator and has touted its mission "to create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service."

However, The Hill reported Thursday that prosecutors working for Huber recently requested documents from a private investigative firm that also has been looking into the foundation. The firm, MDA Analytics LLC, reportedly has contacted the IRS, the Justice Department and the FBI's Little Rock office with evidence from its own investigation.
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