Nord Stream Sabotage Was CIA, US Navy Covert Op: Seymour Hersh Bombshell Prompts White House Response

Nord Stream Sabotage Was CIA, US Navy Covert Op: Seymour Hersh Bombshell Prompts White House Response

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/nord-stream-sabotage-w...

BY TYLER DURDEN
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Famed journalist and Pulitzer-prize winner Seymour Hersh, who for decades was a star reporter writing for The New York Times and New Yorker, on Wednesday published a new bombshell as his first Substack post, prompting a quick White House response.

Hersh conducted his investigation into who sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines via a series of underwater blasts on Sept. 26, 2022. Here is the URL of his report.

https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-s...
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Using the BALTOPS 22 Naval Exercise as a Cover to Blow-up Pipelines

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Hersh has concluded the United States blew up the Russia-to-Germany natural gas pipelines, as part of a covert operation, under the guise of the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercise, which took place in June, 2022

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"Yes, they did it toward the end of the [BALTOPS] exercise [in June, 2022]. But at the last minute, the White House got nervous. The President said he was afraid to do it.

He changed his mind after about 3 months. He issued new orders to get an opportunity to remotely detonate the bombs at any time," the Berliner Zeitung quoted Hersh as saying, in an interview on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.

"Biden decided not to blow them up back in June <...>. But in September, he ordered it to be done," Hersh added.

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Rich Norway Aiding and Abetting and Making More Money

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Norway was particularly interested in successfully pulling off the now-infamous sabotage against the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines.

"Norway was interested in income growth, and hence in increasing the volume of its energy supplies to the EU, including to Germany," the Berliner Zeitung quoted Hersh as saying.

"And what do we see after the sabotage? Norway has made it (happen). Its energy exports grew against the backdrop of increasing hostility towards Russia," the journalist added.

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The US is Making More Money as Well

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The US had built-up a major LNG export capacity, partially for geo-political purposes, in Louisiana and Texas, during the past 15 years. The LNG was carried by special-purpose foreign vessels, because the US does not own such vessels.
US companies sold their LNG to Europe at 3 to 4 times US prices, to offset reduced deliveries from Russia starting in 2021.

Russia's gas deliveries were reduced before Russia's intervention, because Brussels' eco-bureaucrats told EU members not to sign long-term gas contracts with Russia, to avoid sending the wrong signal regarding global warming.

Russia delivers gas only under long-term contracts, per worldwide, industry standard practice.

That meant EU countries buying on the SPOT market, which increased gas prices at least 5 times.

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Covert Sabotage Planning Started in December 2021, Significantly Before Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

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Hersh, who never reveals his sources, relied on unnamed national security sources, describes months of discussions and back-and-forth, involving the Biden White House, CIA, and Pentagon.
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The report says planning was started in December 2021, with a special task force formed under the aegis of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, with input from Secretary Blinken and Undersecretary Nuland.
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"The Navy proposed using a newly commissioned submarine to assault the pipeline directly. The Air Force discussed dropping bombs with delayed fuses that could be set off remotely.
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The CIA argued that whatever was done, it would have to be covert. Everyone involved understood the stakes," the report, entitled “How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline” reads.
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"The Biden Administration was doing everything possible to avoid leaks as the planning took place late in 2021 and into the first months of 2022," it continues.
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As momentum gained to proceed with a covert sabotage attack, "Over the next few weeks, members of the CIA’s working group began to craft a plan for a covert operation that would use deep-sea divers to trigger an explosion along the pipeline," Hersh writes.
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There was significant push back within the intelligence community, but any reservations were overcome in the lead-up, and aftermath, of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 24, 2022.
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According to the Hersh investigative report:
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Throughout “all of this scheming,” the source said, “some working guys in the CIA and the State Department were saying, ‘Don’t do this. It’s stupid and will be a political nightmare if it comes out.’”
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Nevertheless, in early 2022, the CIA working group reported back to Sullivan’s interagency group: “We have a way to blow up the pipelines.”
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Biden Meets with Scholz at the White House

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What came next was stunning. On February 7, 2022, less than three weeks before the seemingly inevitable Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden met in his White House office with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who, after some wobbling, was now firmly on the American team.
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“If Russia invades — that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again — then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said on February 7, 2022. “We will bring an end to it.”

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“The [US] president was afraid of Chancellor Scholz not wanting to put more guns and more arms [for Kiev]. That’s all. I don’t know whether that it was anger, or punishment, or an exercise of US dominance, but the net effect is that it cut off Germany's main natural gas energy source, and for much of Western Europe,” Hersh claimed.  
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Twenty days earlier, Undersecretary Nuland had delivered essentially the same message at a State Department briefing, with little press coverage. “I want to be very clear to you today,” she said in response to a question. “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”

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At a Senate hearing, on January 6, 2023, Nuland celebrated the Nord Stream 2 pipeline bombing: "Senator Cruz, like you, I am, and I think, the administration is, very gratified to know that Nord Stream 2 is now, as you like to say, a hunk of metal at the bottom of the sea."
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As for Washington motives in such a risky covert sabotage mission, Hersh writes, "As long as Europe remained dependent on the pipelines for cheap natural gas, Washington was afraid that countries like Germany would be reluctant to supply Ukraine with the money and weapons it needed to defeat Russia."

The actual reason was a likely alliance of Germany/Russia/China, with other countries added over time.

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Hersh during his interview with Berliner Zeitung: “The point is that Biden has decided to let the Germans freeze this winter. He would rather see Germany freeze than [see] Germany possibly stop supporting Ukraine."
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Norway Involved in Planning and Execution

Norway, a major supplier of gas to Europe, in competition with Russia, played a significant logistics and intelligence role in assisting an elite US Navy team of divers, based in Panama City, Florida, to carry out the operation:
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Sometime in March 2022, a few members of the team flew to Norway to meet with the Norwegian Secret Service and Navy.
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One of the key questions was where exactly in the Baltic Sea was the best place to plant the explosives.
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Nord Stream 1 and 2, each with two pipelines, were separated, much of the way, by little more than a mile, as they made their run directly from Russia to the port of Greifswald, in the northeast of Germany.
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The Norwegian navy was quick to find the right spot, in the shallow waters of the Baltic sea, a few miles off Denmark’s Bornholm Island. Denmark was informed of the secret operation, as a courtesy.

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NOTE: The governments of the UK, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany may have been actively involved, but information has not yet been revealed.  
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Placing the C4 Charges on the Pipelines: The pipelines ran more than a mile apart along a seafloor that was only 260 feet deep. That would be well within the range of the divers, who, operating from a Norwegian Alta-class mine hunter, would dive with a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and helium in their tanks, and plant shapable C4 charges on the four pipelines, which were protected with 4” thick concrete covers.
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It would be tedious, time consuming and dangerous work, but the waters off Bornholm had another advantage: there were no major tidal currents, which would have made the task of diving much more difficult.
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Hersh's sources underscore, the order to place the charges came directly from President Biden's office.
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The C4 explosives attached to the pipelines would be triggered by a sonar buoy dropped by a plane on short notice, but the procedure involved the most advanced signal processing technology.
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Once in place, the delayed timing devices, attached to each of the four pipelines, could be accidentally triggered by the complex mix of ocean background noises throughout the heavily trafficked Baltic Sea—from near and distant ships, underwater drilling, seismic events, waves, and even sea creatures.
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To avoid this, the sonar buoy, once in place, would emit a sequence of unique low frequency sounds—much like those emitted by a flute or a piano—that would be recognized by the timing device and, after a pre-set hours of delay, trigger the explosives.
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Detonating the C4 Charges: On September 26, 2022, a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance plane made a seemingly routine flight and dropped a sonar buoy.
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The signal spread underwater, initially to Nord Stream 2 and then to Nord Stream 1.
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A few hours later, the C4 explosives were triggered and three of the four pipelines were put out of commission; if the C4 charge material is submerged too long, it may become ineffective.
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Within a few minutes, pools of methane gas that remained in the three pipelines could be seen spreading on the water’s surface and the world learned that something irreversible had taken place.

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Denial and Dissing of the Hersh Report; "shooting the messenger"

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Hersh broke such well-known stories as the My Lai massacre and Abu Ghraib scandal. He has long been known for impeccable insider sources

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Given that it was Hersh behind the new bombshell 'whodunnit' report, mainstream media, MSM, couldn't ignore it in the way MSM ignored whistleblower Jeffrey Sachs and others.
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The allegations were quickly picked up by The Times (in London), Reuters, and others - including Russian state media, prompting the White House to swiftly issue a rebuttal:
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Adrienne Watson, at the White House, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, that a blog post, by a US investigative journalist, alleging the United States was behind explosions of the Nord Stream pipelines, "is utterly false and complete fiction."
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Cover Story Concocted by CIA

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The CIA had completed its demolition task and, with help of Germany, planted stories in the New York Times and German weekly Die Zeit, regarding a supposed “ad hoc ‘off the books’ operation” , carried out by a “pro-Ukrainian group,” which allegedly used a luxury sailing yacht to plant explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines.

“It was a total fabrication by the CIA, passed along to the Germans, and aimed at discrediting your (Hersh) story,” a source within the American intelligence community reportedly told Hersh.

https://www.rt.com/news/573428-nord-stream-us-coverup/

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Russia Response

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Russia's Foreign Ministry says the Hersh report reveals new facts that must be answered.
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Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed, "We have repeatedly stated Russia's position on the involvement of the United States and NATO, noting that they did not hide it, bragging to the whole world about their intention to destroy the civilian infrastructure, through which Europe received Russian energy resources."
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She added: "We have also regularly underscored the reluctance of Norway, Denmark, Germany and Sweden to conduct an open investigation, and the US/EU opposition to Russia's participation in it.
And this is despite the fact that our country has suffered huge costs. The White House should comment on all these facts."

Some General Comments

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Nord Stream 1 has been feeding natural gas (to Germany, etc.), at very low prices, for about 20 years

Nord Stream 2 was completed, and filled with gas in 2021, but was not placed in operation, because of sanctions on Russia

Then, 3 of the 4 pipelines were blown up, and the question was why, and who did it.

On February 7, 2022, before the war in Ukraine, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, at a press conference at the White House with German chancellor Olaf Scholz, said that we can stop Nord Stream.

The exact wording from Joe Biden was “If Russia invades, there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2, we will bring an end to it.”

And when a reporter asked how exactly he intended to do it, given that the project was within the control of Germany, Biden just said, “I promise, we will be able to do it.”

This amounts to the leading NATO country attacking a vital economic interest of Germany, a major NATO country, a violation of Article 5 of the NATO Agreement

German companies own 49% of the pipeline system, and Gazprom, which supplies the natural gas, owns 51%

Siemens, a German company, supplied the compressor systems located in Russia, and has a parts and services contract.
Siemens is not allowed to provide parts and services, because of sanctions on Russia

The reason the US blew up the pipes is to avoid Germany lifting the sanctions on the pipes, in case of:

1) Colder than usual weather

2) Too much adversity for the energy-intensive German industrial sector

According to Hersh, the planning of the attack was not reported to Congress, as is necessary with other covert operations.

It also was not reported to many places inside the military.
There were other people in other institutions that should have known, but were not informed.

The operation was very secret.
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Some Geo-Politics from the US Aspect

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It would be an existential nightmare for the US to see Germany (the industrial engine of Europe), Russia (with huge natural resources) and China (a low-cost producer of a multitude of industrial products) form a future alliance, and see itself rendered irrelevant in European and world affairs. That had to be prevented, at all costs, which means:

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1) Destroying Major Energy Infrastructure: German access to low-cost Russian resources, such as natural gas at $2.80/1000 m3, via the 4 pipelines of Nord Stream 1 and 2, had to be permanently cut off by blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, plus sanctions on Russia to prohibit Siemens, a German company, from providing services and parts to the Siemens gas compressors in Russia.

2) Inflicting a Strategic Weakening, Isolation, and Ultimate Break-up of Russia: Russia had to be weakened and isolated to make it less useful as a strategic partner for China, by:

a) Moving NATO infrastructures from East Germany to Russian borders, which required expensive countermoves by Russia

b) Imposing pre-planned sanctions on Russia to eliminate its SWIFT access to the world’s financial system, and collapse its currency and economy; the GDP of the US/EU is at least 10 times larger than of Russia

The sanctions had a major adverse impact on Europe. It’s high, post-COVID, GDP growth-rate in 2021, became near-zero %, in 2022, with the UK having a negative GDP growth-rate in 2022

The sanctions had a minor impact on Russia. The Russian ruble was the strongest major currency in the world in 2022, and Russian GDP shrank only 2.1% in 2022, with minor GDP growth predicted for 2023 and 2024, per IMF estimates, versus predictions of about a 20 to 25% GDP drop in 2022, due to illegal US/EU sanctions in violation of WTO rules, and not approved by the UN.

c) After the US-instigated/financed, violent coup d'etat in Kiev in 2014, with hundreds of people killed during several months, the US/EU-financed/armed/trained/advised Ukraine has been used as a proxy battering ram against Russia, for as long as it takes, or until Ukraine runs out of cannon fodder and NATO “volunteers”.

Ukraine was “augmented” as a proxy fighter, with 46 US Department of Defense-owned/controlled bio labs, starting in 2014, which the Pentagon finally owned up to, and Nuland testified to, under oath, in Congress, after months of denial.

Why would impoverished, corrupt Ukraine need so many bio labs, unless evil doings were planned for.

NOTE: The Canadian Foreign Minister calling for regime change in Russia. Does she consult with other countries before making such as statement?

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/canadian-foreign-minister-ca...

Russia Annexed Crimea, Because of at Least Four Major Provocations

1)  US-led NATO had more than doubled in membership, despite a verbal promise by US Secretary of State Baker to naive Gorbachev, in 1991, to not expand NATO “one inch" beyond East Germany. 

2)  The US had financed/instigated the Kiev coup d'etat on Feb. 22, 2014, that replaced the legally elected President Viktor Yanukovych with pre-selected, pro-Western leaders, who favored membership in NATO, a major trespassing of a well-known Russian red line.

3) The US had placed anti-ballistic missiles in Romania and Poland, and likely would have placed them in east Ukraine and Crimea as well, plus a NATO naval base, to encircle Russia.
Those missile sites, staffed with only US military personnel (the citizens of other countries have no access) could easily be converted to hypersonic missiles that would reach Moscow within minutes

https://www.rt.com/news/571981-elon-musk-victoria-nuland/

4) The 8-y genocide of ethnic Russians in the Donbas area, which killed about 14,000 civilians, as documented by UN OSCE observers in weekly reports. This genocide has been on-going, because Kiev refused to implement the Minsk Agreements 

Kiev Aggravating the Donbas Situation

Most of Ukraine has been a part of the Russian Empire and the USSR for about 300 years, from about 1700 to 1991.

The Donbas area in east Ukraine consists of two provinces, Luhansk and Donetsk. 

The people in the Donbas area are predominantly ethnic Russians. They speak Russian, not Ukrainian. They belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, not the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, etc.

Russia had to be goaded into protecting the ethnic Russians in the Donbas area, who have many relatives in Russia 

Harassment and Genocide of Ethnic Russians in Donbas Started after the Coup d'Etat in 2014

The US had spent $5 billion from 1990 to 2014, per Nuland, to finally achieve the coup d'etat in Ukraine, in February, 2014

The extremist, Russia-hating Kiev government, installed under the supervision of the US, decided to eradicate all aspects of Russian influence and culture from Ukraine, to receive financing/arms/training/advice from its new protectors, i.e., the US/UK/EU, to "take back our lands from Russia".

Here is Zelensky and his top advisor dragging the US into WWIII

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-person-dragging-us...

Donbas People are Ethnic Russians

The people in the Donbas area are predominantly ethnic Russians. They wanted no part of Kiev's new government installed after a US-instigated, violent coup d'etat, in February 2014.

The two Donbas provinces declared themselves independent republics. 

Kiev's armed forces responded by invading the Donbas area and managed to take back about 60% of the area.

The Ukraine army included the Russia-hating, tattooed AZOV battalions, which idolized Banderas, a German NAZI collaborator during WWII.

The Ukraine army used long-range artillery and infiltration raids, to kill about 14,000 civilians (an average of about 1,750/y), plus injure many more, on the eastern side of the heavily fortified defense line, for 8 years, from 2014 to February 24, 2022

This was part of the Ukraine-initiated harassment/genocide of the ethnic Russians, who rightfully distrusted, and therefore wanted no part of Kiev's Western-oriented government.

About 2.5 million people were evacuated from the Donbas area to Russia, during these 8 years.

UN OSCE Role: Very little of the harassment/genocide was reported by the Mainstream Media, MSM, in the US and Europe, even though on-site UN OSCE observers filed weekly reports for 8 years!!!

Ukraine Build-up of Forces in Donbas Area Prior to Russian Invasion in 2022

During the latter half of 2021, Ukraine had amassed at least 100,000 NATO-armed/trained/advised troops on the western side of the defense line, to launch a blitzkrieg against Donbas after January 2022; the ground would be frozen.

Ukraine had been steadily increasing its round-the-clock shelling intensity; it was 700 - 800 shells per day from February 17 to 24, 2022.

Russia had massed its troops, mostly in Belarus and near Donbas, as a counter move.

Ukraine would have conquered the remaining 40% of the Donbas area, which would have resulted in an even greater genocide, if Russia had not intervened on February 24, 2022.

Increased Rate of Killing in Both Donbas Provinces

Some 4,449 civilians were killed, plus 4,147 wounded, by Ukrainian bombardments of populated localities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) since the Ukraine escalation began on February 17, 2022 to February 27, 2023, a few days more than one year
Similar numbers of killed and wounded likely took place in the Luhansk Democratic Republic, LPR

https://tass.com/politics/1582031

The rate of killing by Ukraine armed forces in the Donbas area, after the Russian intervention, increased about 5 times, from about 1,750/y (the average of 8 years) to about 8,500/y

Ukraine unashamedly claims, it shells only military targets, but many schools, hospitals, shopping centers and apartment buildings were destroyed in the Donbas area, as part of its on-going harassment/genocide.

That Donbas genocide and destruction is hardly ever reported by the mainstream media, MSM.

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Minsk Agreements Not Implemented

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For 8 years prior to the intervention, Russia had been trying to get the Minsk Accords implemented to give a measure of cultural/political/social/religious autonomy for the ethnic Russians in the Donbas area, with the area remaining an integral part of Ukraine, per the Minsk Accords.

But the US/UK, Ukraine, France and Germany, etc., stone-walled and obstructed the implementation, because they were using the Minsk Accords as a tool to deceive and delay, while financing/arming/training/advising Ukraine armed forces to NATO standards, for about 8 years

There were public admissions by the following persons, 1) they were not going to implement the Minsk agreements, 2) the purpose of not implementing the Minsk agreements was to buy time to pump Ukraine with weapons and prepare Ukraine to be a proxy fighter to strategically weaken Russia:

Ms. (former German Chancellor) Angela Merkel,

Mr. (former French President Francois) Hollande,

Mr. (former Ukrainian President Pyotr) Poroshenko,

Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky, 

Germany and France are co-signers of the Minsk Agreements.

Merkel and Hollande knew they had no choice but to support the US agenda to protect their lucrative, trillion dollar commercial interests in the US/Canada/Mexico.

It is important to note, the Russian intervention came after Ukraine did the following:

1) Amassed at least 100,000 troops on the western side of defense line of the Donbas area

2) Significantly increased the rate of bombardments of the eastern Donbas area in January/February, 2022

Russia, after 8 years of trying to get the Minsk accords implemented, needed to protect the ethnic Russians from the on-going genocide.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 24, 2022, to put an end to the genocide, and liberate two additional ethnic Russian-leaning provinces.

All four provinces voted by more than 90% to be part of Russia, which was voted into law by the Russian Duma.

Nuland: “The US seeks no war with Russia. It just wants Russia to leave Ukraine”.

That statement is the epitome of hypocrisy, because Ukraine likely would restart its genocide and oppression of ethnic Russians in the four provinces and in Crimea.

Peace Talks Nixed by US/UK

Naftali Bennett, the former Prime Minister of Israel, said:

1) Just after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the West “blocked” a ceasefire he was helping to broker early in the war, and

2) Russia and Ukraine had made significant compromises to settle their differences during peace talks in Turkey.

Bennett said, “there was a good chance of reaching a ceasefire” but the Western powers “curbed” negotiations, in a wide-ranging interview uploaded to YouTube.

US/UK/EU Long-Term Strategy

The US/UK forced Zelensky's government to toe the line, i.e., no peace talks, or else be cut off from NATO funding and arms.

The US/UK thought it had finally cornered Russia into a war of attrition, i.e., bleed/weaken/isolate Russia "for as long as it takes", which would:

1) Collapse the Russian ruble and Russian economy with pre-planned sanctions

2) Create social and political unrest all over Russia, by having US/EU media affiliates in Russia "report the truth”; using the Russian branch of Radio Free Europe to “spread freedom in Russia”; financing NGOs and pro-West opposition groups, all aiming to oust Putin and install a malleable pro-West person, such as Navalny, as was done in Ukraine in 2014.

3) Break up Russia into separate parts, similar to Yugoslavia. Each part would be absorbed into the "Rules-Based, Family of Civilized Nations" after meeting "US/EU/NATO conditions"

4) Get control of and exploit "former-Russia's" vast energy, timber, and other resources

5) Get control of the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and the new sea lanes north of Siberia from Norway, to Alaska, to the Pacific Ocean, and deny China-controlled ships access to these areas.

6) Create a US/EU-owned/controlled Belt-Road Initiative, BRI, to connect the EU to the "former-Russia" parts and surrounding countries, and put the entire area under US/EU/NATO control, and deny China access to these areas, unless complying with “conditions” set by the US/EU.

Fortunately, the Ruble drop, GDP drop, and weakening and isolation, did not happen, because Russia’s plentiful scientists and engineers have risen to the challenge to produce in Russia what it used to buy from Europe. China will do its best to assist Russia, for as long as needed, because if Russia falls, China would be next, for sure.

LIST OF ARTICLES

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UKRAINE A GEO-POLITICAL PAWN OF US/UK/NATO TO WEAKEN RUSSIA

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-plot-is-thickening...

 

UKRAINE WAR, A MOVE BY THE US/EU TO PRESERVE HEGEMONY AND PREVENT A MULTI-POLAR WORLD  

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/ukraine-war-a-move-by-...

 

WHITNEY: SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT-STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT UKRAINE  

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/whitney-setting-the-re...

 

THE US-INSTIGATED, DANGEROUS, UKRAINE IMBROGLIO 

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/the-us-instigated-dang...

 

UKRAINE ROCKED BY CORRUPTION SCANDAL, WAVE OF TOP OFFICIALS RESIGN: Sports Cars, Mansions & Luxury Vacations While Ukraine People Suffer

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-rocked-corruption-sc...

 

NORD STREAM SABOTAGE WAS CIA, US NAVY COVERT OP: Seymour Hersh Bombshell Prompts White House Response

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/nord-stream-sabotage-w...