Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the United Nations to Wall Street to the Inner City

On Ukraine, US Now Mourns Odessa Deaths, But Is Trigger Set?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 2 -- Six hours after the Ukraine debate of the UN Security Council, and the death of dozens in a fire set by the Right Sector in Odessa, US State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf put out this statement:

"The United States today mourns with all Ukrainians the heartbreaking loss of life in Odesa.  Today the international community must stand together in support of the Ukrainian people as they cope with this tragedy.
 
"The violence and mayhem that led to so many senseless deaths and injuries is unacceptable.  We call on all sides to work together to restore calm and law and order, and we call on the Ukrainian authorities to launch a full investigation and to bring all those responsible to justice.
 
"The events in Odesa that led to the deadly fire in the Trade Union Building dramatically underscore the need for an immediate de-escalation of tensions in Ukraine.  The violence and efforts to destabilize the country must end.  We again call for the immediate implementation of the commitments made in Geneva on April 17.  The United States stands ready to support this implementation."

    This echoed US Ambassador Samantha Power in the May 2 UNSC debate citing the January 15 US statement condemning January 10 violence in Kyiv.

  Then new Security Council president for May, Oh Joon of South Korea, asked if Churkin's comments about a Council statement calling for an end to violence in Eastern Ukraine was a formal proposal or just an idea.

  When Churkin re-iterated it, Oh Joon said the 15 Council members' political coordinators will meet about it. But when UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant was leaving after the meeting, he said if Russia submits a draft among other things condemning the takeover of buildings in Eastern Ukraine, there'd be support. That seems unlikely.

  France's Gerard Araud on his way in snarked, "I am against violence, that is on the record" -- but contrast to the day before, when a $20 Q&A publicized with no mention it would be off the record was declared secret by Araud. Oh, well. Here's a piece on Oh Joon's Program of Work press conference, held like the UN's daily briefing during the Ukraine speeches.

  Back on April 29, Ukraine was the Council's topic after an already full day of speeches on another less than successful mediation, Israel and Palestine.

   US Ambassador Samantha Power cited "pro-Russian thugs with baseball bats."

  Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin countered that after the April 17 deal in Geneva, the Right Sector headed to East Ukraine and has not disarmed. He asked, why should the separatists?

  Churkin said the Vienna Document monitors taken captive had no proof of their status with them and called this a provocation. One expected a reply, perhaps from France's snarky outgoing Ambassador Araud -- but no.

  In Washington there is a controversy: when Secretary of State John Kerry told the Trilateral Commission about intelligence showing Russian involvement with the separatists, did he mean US eavesdropping or, as spokesperson Jen Psaki specified on April 29, Ukrainian intelligence?

  (That is, did the US "obtain" the tapes just as the tape of Kerry at the Trilateral, including the use of the word apartheid and Israel, was said to be obtained? The Free UN Coalition for Access supports and salutes that ongoing reporting.)

  When Ukraine's long time Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev spoke, he referred to Russian military vehicles up against his country's border, with signs in Russian and Ukrainian saying "Peacekeepers" - like in the Caucuses in 2008, he said.
 
  But when the meeting ended, he did not come to the UNTV stakeout as he used to do. Nor did Churkin, or Power. Tomorrow, Syria is the topic. This is how the UN works, or doesn't.

 And when the meeting was over one wag, not this one, asked who plays baseball in Ukraine? What are bats doing there?

  Back on April 28 when the US announced new sanctions on Russia, senior Obama administration officials or "SAOs" were asked about the stock price of Russian banks actually going up since they were not on the list, and if the US has given up on Crimea.

   On Crimea, one SAO cited the UN General Assembly's overwhelming condemnation. But as Inner City Press reported the day of that vote, there were 58 abstentions.

   The US officials were directly asked about France's still-proposed sale of Mistral warships to Russia, on which Inner City Press asked US State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf on March 14. On April 28, one SAO said this issues wasn't in their bailiwick; a second SAO the Europeans are looking into this.

   At the UN, outgoing French Ambassador Gerard Araud has refused to answer Press questions about the Mistral. In France, foreign minister Laurent Fabius has said it would only be reconsidered if other European countries committed to similar losses for themselves, which seems unlikely.

   A questioner calling in from Moscow asked the US officials about the captive "OSCE observers." Since even one of the SAO had called them "Vienna Document observers," one waited to see it would be specified to clarify the record. But now. The SAO who cited "Vienna Document" observers said their mistreatment makes sectoral sanctions more likely. Well, four of the seven ARE German...

   This returns to the question of Russian bank stocks. Sanctions on the financial and energy sector are described as the US' ace in the hole. When would it be played? Would it? Watch this site.

Back on March 14, Inner City Press asked US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf on March 14 about France's Mistral deal, about a pending UN Security Council resolution and an analogy raised earlier in the day by Russian foreign minister Lavrov: the French-run referendum that split Mayotte off from the Comoros.

  On the Mistral sale, Harf replied that ""Decisions about these kind of sales are obviously a matter for each sovereign state... We would hope that any country would exercise judgment and restraint when it comes to transferring military equipment that could exacerbate tensions in any conflict region.. That certainly applies here." Video here, from Minute 18:34.

  Hart said she would check if the US has discussed the Mistral sale with France.

   From the State Department transcript:

Inner City Press: on Ukraine, one question that’s come up is, in terms of sanctions is France has this big deal where it’s selling Mistral warships to Russia, and it’s said that it’s going forward. What does the United States think of that sale of military hardware?

MS. HARF: Well, decisions about these kind of sales are obviously a matter for each sovereign state to take into account including a host of factors – obviously, international law, regional stability. We would hope that any country would exercise judgment and restraint when it comes to transferring military equipment that could exacerbate tensions in any conflict region. In general, I think that certainly applies here.

 
  French foreign minister Laurent Fabius, who like his Permanent Representative to the UN Gerard Araud has declined comment on the Mistral sale, has said he may travel to Russia on March 18.

On the Mayotte analogy, Harf said "In general, it's very clear under Ukraine's constitution how this legally could take place... a countrywide referendum. She said of "any comparisons, they just don't have relevancy here."

  Inner City Press also asked Harf about South Sudan: Riek Machar's rejection of the proposed deployments of regional forces by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and of the Salva Kiir government's information minister saying that broadcasting interviews with rebels in South Sudan would be illegal.

  Harf noted that she had begun the briefing with a statement condemning crackdowns on the press in Russia, and that would apply here. But would it? Watch this site.

 Follow @innercitypress Follow @FUNCA_info