Friday, April 25, 2014

Unelected 39 year old suggests WWIII

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the unelected interim prime minister of Ukraine, made widely reported public statements today suggesting that any military conflict in Ukraine will lead to a broader military conflict in Europe and, and that Russia wants to start WWIII.  Does he think this will make Europe and the U.S. more likely to support his every move?  If so he's probably mistaken.  Everyone wants to get away from him now, although they would not compound his faux pas by saying so. 

In what way did he think that these comments would help the situation at all in his country, in the region, and in the world.  Since he has little credibility outside of the some areas of his country there is probably no harm done, but what was he thinking.  Doesn't he realize that he is being humored by the West and tolerated by his own citizens because everyone sees him in an interim role until the scheduled May 25th elections.  His role is to make it through this "interim" with as little fanfare as possible.  He did not know that?

Understanding his role could have been made more difficult by Vice President Biden's triumphant visit to Kiev last week, with his big smile, waves, and ability to jog down the steps of the Air Force plane just like President Obama.  Biden did not to seem to be in touch with an appropriate tone for the visit.  Something very serious is going on here, but the 71 year old Biden seemed to be in a glowing pep rally mode.  Why would 39 year old Yatsenyuk see the need to restrain himself after that example.

We needed a light moment, and one could hope that we get more opportunities.  The outlook now is not so good.

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