by Stephen Lendman

On Wednesday, Putin offered a seven-point plan to end Southeastern Ukraine's conflict. A previous article discussed it.

It's genuine. It's sincere. It's fair-minded. It favors neither side. It's a way to restore regional peace. It's an important proposal to keep conflict from spreading.

It doesn't matter. Obama wants war, not peace. So do rogue NATO partners. Kiev's puppet regime is a convenient proxy.

MSM scoundrels ridiculed what demands support. More on this below.

Obama commented before Putin explained his plan, saying:

"There is an opportunity here. But no realistic political settlement can be achieved if, effectively, Russia says:"

'We are going to continue to send tanks and troops and arms and advisors under the guise of separatists who are not homegrown, and the only possible settlement is if Ukraine cedes its territory or its sovereignty or its ability to make its own decisions about its security and its economic future.’ "

Separately, he accused Russia of "a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, a sovereign and independent European nation."

"It challenges that most basic of principles of our international system: that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun, that nations have the right to determine their own future."

His hypocrisy was glaring. No nation spurns international laws more than America. None more flagrantly challenge the sovereign independence of other nations.

None wage perpetual wars for unchallenged global dominance. None more brazenly trample on human and civil rights. None more egregiously violate core principles it claims to stand for.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said:

"Our view is that if President Putin is prepared to stop financing, arming, and training separatists and remove Russian troops from Ukraine, those are objectives, of course, not only would we support but certainly the Ukrainians would support."

"And President Putin's plan certainly does not do that. So as of now, I think there's a great deal more work to be done."

"And President Putin has had a lot of words but not backed them with actions, and that's essentially what we feel needs to happen from here."

Obama and Psaki disagreed on the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Psaki said:

"…I don't want to make a sweeping term because there are reports we have that are unconfirmed, and we speak to the ones that we have that are more confirmed."

"I don't have anything new to confirm," she added. On the one hand, she suggested Russian troops crossed Ukraine's border.

On the other, she stopped short of accusing Moscow of an invasion. "Why do you shy away from this," she was asked?

She ducked the question, saying "in our view it doesn't matter what we call it."

"So our actions, in our view, and what we're going to do about it is more important than what we call it."

On Wednesday she was asked:

"Jen, yesterday you hadn't confirmed independently the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine."

"But today, President Obama - I quote - (said) Russian forces have moved into Ukraine with tanks, with weapons, and this not a subject to dispute. Has something changed?"

Psaki contradicted her Tuesday comments, saying:

"We've said that many times before…" She lied claiming she "actually said (it on Tuesday).

"So you think it's a fact (about) Russian presence in Ukraine. Military presence," she was asked?

"I'm sorry. I'm not understanding your question," she responded.

"It's a fact," she was asked?

"Is a fact? We've long - we've stated for some time time now. Yes."

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on contradictory US statements.

Obama and his State Department expressed different views on alleged Russian involvement in Ukraine.

"We have repeatedly said there are no Russian troops on (its) territory," said Peskov.

"While Obama says there can be no doubts about that, US Department of State officials say simultaneously with their president that the United States has no proof of Russian military presence in Ukraine."

"This situation underscores their reluctance to use facts."

"It’s an obsession with attributing a negative role in the development of the Ukrainian crisis to Russia, and we strongly object to this."

In its latest weekly August 28 - September 3 update, OSCE observers monitoring the Russian/Ukrainian border said they witnessed no Russian troops or tanks crossing over.

Claims otherwise are spurious. It doesn't matter. They repeat with disturbing regularity. Putin bashing is a growth industry.

Ukraine's putschist prime minister Arseniy called his peace plan "an attempt to confuse the international community" ahead of the September 4 and 5 NATO summit.

"Putin's real plan is the destruction of Ukraine and the resumption of the USSR," he claimed.

Peace won't come until Moscow withdraws its troops and proxy fighters, he added.

Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) defense ministry press service head Vladislav Brig wants Kiev forces entirely out of Southeastern Ukraine as a condition for peace.

"The negotiating side here is not Russia," he said. "It is the Donetsk People's Republic. We will stop the offensve when Ukrainian troops leave out territory."

MSM scoundrels consistently turn truth on its head. Big Lies substitute for hard truths.

On Tuesday, The New York Times claimed Putin's peace plan "muddied the diplomatic waters, leaving the West an excuse for delaying punitive sanctions that would also hurt European economies…"

"The ultimate effect, coming after Russian troops intervened in Ukraine last week to beat back a successful government offensive, may be to leave the country as a loose coalition that Moscow could still dominate, which critics of the Russian president say is his real aim."

"The timing of Mr. Putin's announcement was lost on no one, however, as he and Western leaders engaged in a global chess game over the fate of Ukraine."

Putin's plan "raise(d) more questions than it answered."

His "strategy is to convince Kiev that it must negotiate, not fight, and to reinforce the idea that the overall outcome depended on Moscow."

Washington Post editors want NATO countries providing Ukraine support "even if it's not part of the alliance."

They repeated the Big Lie about "Russian soldiers and tanks advanc(ing) across Southeastern Ukraine…" They want more than defensive measures agreed on.

They claim a brigade-sized rapid reaction force "will do nothing to stop what Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko rightly calls the 'direct, unconcealed aggression' by Russia against Ukraine or (Putin's) mounting ambitions…"

Obama ruled out force to defend Ukraine. It "will soon be confronted with the terrible choice of fighting alone against the Russian invasion or capitulating to Mr. Putin's demands."

WaPo editors want Washington and other NATO members supplying Ukraine with weapons and munitions.

They want sanctions targeting Russia's economy "significantly escalated."

"Russia's aggression in Ukraine poses a critical test to the Western alliance, and the war there is at a tipping point." they claim.

"The response cannot be to cede Ukraine while trying to dissuade Mr. Putin from further conquests."

Wall Street Journal editors ridiculed what they called a "Putinesque Cease-Fire," saying:

"Thousands of Russian soldiers have turned the military tide in eastern Ukraine, and now Vladimir Putin wants to secure his advantage."

"That's the essence of the cease-fire outline that the Russian autocrat proposed to Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday."

His plan "would cede to Russia control over a second giant chunk of Ukraine's territory…"

"It's no accident (Putin) floated this plan before the" September 4 and 5 NATO summit.

He "hopes to forestall sanctions and divide the West…" Peace gives Putin a chance "to grab more territory when the mood strikes."

"Ukraine will not be (hiis) last military destination."

Fact checking Western Big Lies:

It bears repeating what previous articles explained. Ukraine is Washington's newest colony. It's a convenient proxy. It serves its regional aims.

It's government has no legitimacy. it's a coup d'etat regime.

It's infested with neo-Nazi fascists. They're waging war on freedom. They want all opposition elements crushed.

They want all independent voices silenced. They want their message alone getting out.

They want democracy prevented at all costs. They want unchallenged hardline rule. They want what free people everywhere reject.

Russia hasn't supplied Ukrainian self-defense forces with weapons and munitions.

It didn't invade Ukraine. It's troops aren't involved in fighting. No credible evidence suggests otherwise.

Retired Russian military personnel, some active duty members on leave, other Russian nationals, as well as individuals from other countries came to Southeastern Ukraine as volunteer fighters.

At the same time, other foreign volunteers and Blackwater USA type mercenaries fight for Kiev. Western leaders and media ignore their involvement.

Washington wants total Eastern European control. Ukraine is a vital linchpin. It's key in its plans to marginalize, weaken, isolate, contain and co-opt Russia.

As a Western proxy, Kiev is a dagger threatening Russian sovereign independence. Putin is justifiably alarmed.

War serves Washington's interests. Peace defeats them. Direct confrontation with Russia is madness.

Things seem inexorably heading in this direction. Neocons infest Washington. They exert enormous influence.

They want war, not peace. Obama is the latest in a long line of US warrior presidents. He's on a fast track for the unthinkable.

America's rage for war makes nuclear confrontation possible. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) prevented it earlier.

Fail safe days appear over. The unthinkable appears possible. At stake is world peace.

Imagine risking humanity's destruction. Imagine what no responsible leaders would dare. The worst of all possible outcomes may follow. Forewarned no longer is forearmed.

A Final Comment

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged heeding Putin's call for Southeastern Ukrainian peace. "We do not give up," he said.

"President Vladimir Putin personally makes great efforts in direct contacts with President Poroshenko to find such ways of cooperation that will allow immediately put an end to bloodshed, remove the threat for the civilian population, ensure solution to humanitarian problems, problems of reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure, and, of course, ensure the beginning of the negotiating political process."

"We hope the calls will be heeded first and foremost in Kiev, Luhansk and Donetsk."

"We will be ready together with OSCE within the framework of the contact group to help the conflicting parties to move along the path of stabilization of the situation in practice."

"There was no lack in peace initiatives. We were actively pushing forward approaches which are sealed in the Geneva Statement dated April 17."

"We fixed the Berlin Declaration and documents which presuppose an immediate cessation of fire and the start of a respectful inclusive dialogue on a constitutional reform with the participation of all regions."

"None of those that signed the documents together with us, I mean Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union, are interested, as it seemed to us, in implementing what we reached agreement about. This is very sad."

"(T)he West’s behavior raises very big doubts as to the sincerity of what is being done by Brussels and Washington."

It bears repeating. Washington and rogue NATO partners want war, not peace. Humanity's fate hangs in the balance.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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