Poroshenko Shifts Goalposts With Tacit Approval From West – Cunningham

The Ukrainian regime of Petro Poroshenko backed by the West has become a sort of "star team" in shifting the goalposts on any given political matter, especially on the Minsk ceasefire deal, noted a UK expert.

"Poroshenko and his reactionary Kiev regime – which seized power in February last year in a Western-backed violent coup against a constitutionally elected government – have shown themselves to be shameless purveyors of the most outlandish claims over the Ukraine crisis," noted Finian Cunningham, an author and prominent expert in international affairs.

This week Petro Poroshenko, greeted in Berlin with open arms by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck, called upon his Western allies to boycott the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia and claimed again – without the slightest evidence – that Russia was "waging war against Ukraine."

However, these ludicrous and reckless assertions "are gladly broadcast by the US-led NATO military alliance, Western governments and Western news media," noted the author. Even though Berlin has recently adopted a more cautious approach to Ukrainian propaganda and they continue indulging Kiev's dangerous warmongering.

So far, enjoying this whole-hearted support of the West, the Kiev regime is moving goalposts on any given political matter with total impunity.

For instance, while declaring that "there was no alternative to the Minsk ceasefire," Poroshenko's regime is violating the deal at every turn, the expert underscored.

Sporadic fire of Ukrainian military forces on militia's positions in eastern Ukraine has never ceased since February 15. At least 20 percent of Kiev's heavy artillery still remains in the conflict zone. Moreover, Kiev's remaining forces have been conducting live-fire drills near the Contact Line, psychologically terrorizing peaceful civilians.

The ongoing economic blockade of the southeastern regions by the Kiev regime is adding fuel to the fire: Ukrainian authorities are cutting off pensions, gas supplies, communication networks and restricted movements of civilians in the East.

"It should be noted that these violations are not just breaches of the Minsk accord; they constitute ongoing war crimes committed by the Kiev regime against the civilian Donbas population," underscored Finian Cunningham.

What makes matters even worse, instead of granting autonomy to Donetsk and Luhansk republics, in accordance with the Minsk agreement, Kiev decided to declare areas under the control of the southeastern republics "temporarily occupied."

Surprisingly, turning a blind eye to Kiev's blatant violation of the Minsk deal, the West and German Chancellor Angela Merkel particularly, are pointing their accusing finger at independence supporters and the Russian Federation, the expert noted.

"Shifting goalposts to 2018 is certainly not a feasible solution to find an urgent peace settlement to a conflict that threatens to engulf, not only Ukraine, but the wider Eurasian continent," warned Finian Cunningham, adding that Merkel and other Western leaders should concentrate on the side, which is brazenly undermining the political process in Ukraine – the Kiev regime.

"Unfortunately, the prognosis is that if Merkel cannot see the glaring truth of the situation by now and how the Kiev regime is an incendiary time-bomb for EU-Russia relations, then there is not much hope of the chancellor ever coming to a realistic political position on Ukraine," the expert concluded.