German Foreign Minister threatens Ukraine with sanctions

This article leapt out at me, but when I looked to find confirmation I found that Fort Russ was the only source in the English language.

I was almost ready to conclude that the Russian newspaper was making it up until I looked on You Tube, and then I found it – straight from German ARD television, from the horse’s mouth

Of course it wouldn’t be on English-language media. it’s simply not part of the Anglo-American narrative

"Germany reserves the right to impose sanctions on Ukraine"--Steinmeier

МИД Украины вызвал посла ФРГ из-за слов Штайнмайера о возможных санкциях против Киева

Fort Russ,

9 February, 2015

Translated from Russian by J.Hawk

Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s announcement that sanctions against Kiev are possible cause a furious reaction by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Foreign Minister Steinmeier made this statement in an interview with the ARD TV channel.

Steinmeier said that if no political decision is reached in Ukraine, the German government reserves the right to “act decisively against the Ukrainian leadership, up to and including sanctions”.

Germany’s ambassador to Ukraine Christoph Weil was forced to have a discussion with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Andrey Olefirov due to Steinmeier’s statement.

Ukrainian diplomats are very sensitive to Western countries’ position on the ongoing crisis in the country. However, that sensitivity is very one-sided. In December Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU Andrey Eliseev similarly strongly reacted to Steinmeier’s statement that Ukraine is not wanted in NATO.

“Nobody can prevent Kiev from joining NATO!”  was the Ukrainian diplomat’s reply. Germans, as usual, took no offense, and nobody summoned Ukraine’s ambassador to the German MFA.

J.Hawk’s Comment: Let’s not forget Steinmeier’s statement was made against the background of Angela Merkel’s visit to the US. It would seem that everyone knows what Poroshenko must do. It would seem that we now know what was agreed to between Putin, Merkel, and Hollande in Moscow, namely the federalization of Ukraine. It's a solution that is consistent with the interests of both Russia and Germany, as the two countries in effect decide the zones of their respective zones of economic influence. It also has the benefit (from everyone's perspective except the junta's) of cutting the junta out of the equation to a significant degree. 

Poroshenko, for his part, is still insisting that the situation should revert to the original (and never implemented) Minsk agreement. “Finis Ucrainae” is still the most likely scenario, unless something snaps in Kiev. That Western leaders are, for the first time, suggesting the possibility of Kiev being sanctioned suggests Poroshenko is in process of graduating from "disappointment" to "liability."