By Vitaly Portnikov, Ukrainian journalist and political analyst
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine
Source: http://rus.newsru.ua/columnists/25Apr2014/polknezvonit.html

photo: UNIAN

With every passing day Russia grows more sure that a few more destabilizing actions, a few more regions seized by “peacekeepers,” a few more sadists acting as “people’s mayors” will be enough. Ukraine will be brought to her knees.

Only several days ago Western leaders bored Russian President Vladimir Putin with phone calls – but, as you may have noticed, in the last few days telephone communication has stopped. While this does not mean it has ended for good, it’s already clear that Western leaders have lost special interest in talking with Putin. And not just with him. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov officially complained that he hasn’t heard from his American counterpart for several days. Instead of talking on the phone with Lavrov, John Kerry preferred to make a strong statement on the “closing window” for changing course.

Moscow, has a tradition of disregarding its own international obligations – barely a few weeks ago Russia broke the Budapest memorandum in cold blood – decided that Geneva will be another episode in the political games and no one will pay attention to Lavrov’s signature under the agreement. However, the West views Russia’s disrespect for her pledges to stabilize the situation in our country as an occasion to talk to each other, and not with the Russian leaders. That’s because now Russia is not just a state that doesn’t respect Ukraine and her territorial integrity. It’s a state that does not respect its own joint agreement with the United States and the European Union. And this agreement is much more relevant than the one signed in Budapest. So now Western leaders have an excellent opportunity to talk not to Putin or Lavrov – but amongst themselves.

With every passing day Russia grows more confident that a few more destabilizing actions, a few more regions seized by “peacekeepers,” a few more sadists acting as “people’s mayors” will be enough. Ukraine, kneeling humbly will beg the USA to agree to the possibility of Russian conditions, Europe itself will raise the price of Russian gas so that the people of the most peaceful country in the Galaxy will live even better off. If things aren’t going quite as planned, this is evident only by the lack of phone calls from future vassals in Washington, Brussels, Berlin and Kyiv.

No need to worry and conduct military exercises. They will be sure to call. They will agree to everything. They will declare you saviors of the Universe, emperors of Mars, diplomats of the year – what more do you want? A cottage in Spain? A yacht on Sardinia? A Russian spring in France? Payment of gas supplies in pure gold? A monument to Yanukovych in Lviv?

You’ll have it. The main thing – sit back and wait for the phone. They are already preparing, dialing the number right now. Probably something’s wrong with the line, probably they are calling via the Internet – we all know it’s a CIA project, after all, something could go wrong. When they surrender you’ll just install a protected Kremlin landline and have a conversation without the hassle.

For now just wait for the call, and please don’t make any abrupt movements. If you can, of course.