Russia tells US National Security Advisor, on Ukraine intervention…”Bite Me!” in words

Greetings,

Good advice, wrong address: Russia responds to Susan Rice ‘no tanks to Ukraine’ warning

U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque)

Russia sees merit in the advice against use of force in Ukraine which US National Security Adviser Susan Rice voiced, but believes it was wrongly directed towards Moscow. Washington would be a more appropriate recipient of the piece of wisdom.

“We have noted the expert assessment of Susan Rice based on  multiple cases when American troops were sent to various places  of the word, especially those where the US administration  believed the norms of Western democracy were in danger, or where  the local regimes were getting out of hand,” a Russian  Foreign Ministry source told news agencies on Monday.

The source added that, “We expect that national security  adviser would be giving to the US leadership the same advice on  the mistaken path of the use of force if it decides to conduct a  new intervention.”

The veiled reproach comes after a Sunday interview, in which  Susan Rice said bluntly that sending troops to restore ousted  President Yanukovich’s leadership in Kiev “would be a grave  mistake” on the part of Russia.

Ukrainians react to a speech in Kiev’s Independence Square February 23, 2014 (Reuters / Baz Ratner)

Rice did not elaborate on why she believed Moscow would even  consider using military force to help Yanukovich. During the  three months of confrontation in Ukraine, Western officials  flocked to the country in support of the opposition crowd.  Russia, meanwhile, distanced itself from the situation and only  criticized the West for what Moscow considered blatant meddling  in Ukraine’s internal affairs.

“The position of some of our Western partners doesn’t show  genuine concern, but a desire to act out of geopolitical  self-interest,” said a statement on the Russian foreign  ministry’s website.

Following the ouster of President Yanukovich, Moscow has not  changed its stance nor voiced any support for him. It only  criticized the opposition for not keeping its word and breaking a  West-sponsored reconciliation agreement, which it signed with  Yanukovich.

Moscow wants to see somebody in Kiev who would have the authority  and power to implement whatever agreements the countries may  negotiate, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stressed on  Monday.

“Frankly, the legitimacy of many governmental bodies is in  doubt there,” he said. “Treating masked men armed with  Kalashnikov rifles, who are now circling Kiev, as a government –   we would find it difficult working with such a government.”

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of  new Russia, it has fought just one war with a foreign power. In  2008, Russian tanks were sent to Georgia, after the latter tried  to use military force to seize control over its breakaway region  of South Ossetia. Russia justified its actions by the death of  Russian peacekeepers who were stationed in Georgia under a UN  mandate with the brief not to allow military action between  Georgians and Ossetians, and who were killed by the advancing  Georgian troops.

Russia also used its military in its own territory in the  Republic of Chechnya, which went from a nationalist uprising to  forming a de facto independent government to transforming into a  hotbed of banditry and terrorism, spilling violence into  neighboring Russian regions. Moscow eventually took Chechnya back  under its control through alliances with some local militant  factions and by offering generous rebuilding funding in exchange  for assurances of security and loyalty.

U.S. Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in Iraq (Reuters / Bob Strong)

In 1991, when the USSR ceased to exist, the US conducted a war  against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Since then America has fought four  major wars against foreign nations, including the bombing  campaign in Yugoslavia, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq  (for the second time), and the bombing campaign in Libya. It  stopped short of starting a fifth war against Syria in 2013, a  move which was prevented in large part by the mediation of  Russia, which convinced the Syrian government to relinquish its  chemical weapons.

Washington justifies its interventions on humanitarian reasons  and the obligation to depose repressive governments. Such  obligations however, do not seem to apply to countries which have  a poor human rights record, like Saudi Arabia, but remain  American allies.