Page 47 - bne_November 2020_20201104

bne November 2020 Eastern Europe I 47
Then in a obvious appeal to American voters Putin made statements that appeared to have been crafted to appeal to some of the main voting groups in the US elections.
He kicked off with a somewhat bizarre parallel between communist ideology and Christianity, whose adherents make up the largest part of the voting public in the US.
“In fact, [communist values] are akin
to Christian values. Yes, they are difficult to implement, but they are
very attractive, nevertheless. In other words, this can be seen as an ideological basis for developing contacts with the Democratic representative,” Putin said.
After dealing with conservative Christians Putin moved on to the African-American population and even cited black rights activist Angela Davis.
“It's a fact that African Americans constitute a stable electorate, one of the electorates of Democratic Party. The Soviet Union also supported African Americans’ movement for their legitimate rights. Back in the 1930s, Communist International leaders wrote that both black and white workers had a common enemy – imperialism and capitalism,” a link Putin suggested that Russians still share.
“People of my generation remember when huge portraits of Angela Davis, member of US Communist Party, an ardent fighter for rights of African- Americans, were on view around USSR. We believe that it's something we can talk about, that can be used as the basis for mutual understanding.”
Common START
One area the two leaders do have
in common is a desire to restart the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) missile treaty negotiations. The current treaty, that limits the signatory’s ability to produce new missiles, is due to expire in February.
"Joe Biden has said openly that he is ready to extend the new START treaty or to sign a new strategic offensive
Fokin sacked as Ukraine’s representative to Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass
FPRI BMB Ukraine
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed on September 30 Vitold Fokin from his position of deputy head of Ukraine’s delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), the main negotiation platform on the Donbass conflict between Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE.
The decision comes a day after Fokin declared during an official meeting that he “hadn’t seen [...] any confirmation that a war between Russia and Ukraine [was] going on” (Novosti Donbassa). A massive public outcry followed, with the 87 years-old former prime minister disavowed by the entire government: head of the president’s office and main Donbass negotiator Andriy Yermak quickly called on Fokin to resign, while Interior minister Arsen Avakov called him an “utter fool” who “should, at the very least, go back to retirement.”
Fokin did not last long — we covered his arrival at the TCG in our August
7 issue. Since then, he had become known for a series of controversial statements, most recently when he voiced support for a general amnesty in separatist-controlled Donbass as well as for a “special status” that would apply not only to the territories currently controlled by Russia-backed groups, but to the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Reports that he had earned his position in the TCG thanks to his granddaughter’s relationship with Andriy Yermak also did not help make him a credible figure.
His departure highlights two ongoing trends of the Donbass negotiations
in the Zelenskiy era. On the surface level, communications have been consistently fumbled, messy and confused, with several instances of decisions or statements followed by speedy and embarrassed back-tracking. The second trend partly explains the messy PR: Kyiv has tried to find compromises with Moscow without setting off Ukraine’s opposition and civil society. It hasn’t always failed — this summer’s successful ceasefire is testament to that —
but it still is a shaky tightrope to walk, especially considering the lack of experience of some of the people in charge of Ukraine’s Donbass negotiations.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy efforts to bring the war in the Donbas to an end have been messy, but he has scored several successs
www.bne.eu