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Europe And U.S. Finally Declare That Russian Soldiers Are Fighting In Ukraine

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In Minsk on February 12, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko waived passports of Russian soldiers caught or killed in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s propagandists immediately scoffed at such “political comedy,” but Poroshenko’s display showed that Russia is waging an undeclared war, using regular troops with regular Russian military equipment to destroy a weaker army, while claiming it doesn’t have any troops in Ukraine. Even more convoluted, Putin has asserted that any Russians fighting in Ukraine are idealistic unpaid volunteers over whom the Kremlin has little influence. Putin even insists that “Russia is not a party to the conflict,” just a bystander.

Putin is practicing the Big Lie, and much of the world believes it.

Western news media and diplomats readily adopt Kremlin language. They speak routinely of “rebels, Russian-backed insurgents, separatists, and Ukrainian civil war,” rather than of Russian tanks and missile launchers manned by regular Russian troops, or of Russian generals directing the field of battle, or of Russian military-intelligence forces storming Donetsk airport. Editorial offices throughout the Western world caution: We don't have 100% proof, so let’s hedge our bets and go along with Putin-speak.

Putin’s Big Lies--no troops and equipment and no influence over separatist allies--are the foundation of his undeclared war on Ukraine narrative. Unwittingly, the Western press, diplomats, and pundits have played along due to their hesitancy to call a spade a spade.

Up until the past week, the West left Putin’s Big Lies unchallenged. Even the most outspoken of critics, such as U.N. ambassador Samantha Power, accused Russia of supplying and training separatists and avoided reference to regular troops.

European and American patience has finally worn out. The dam broke with state department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, speaking out on February 13 in the following clear words:

The Russian military has deployed a large amount of artillery and multiple rocket launcher systems around Debaltseve where it is shelling Ukrainian positions…We are confident these are Russian military not separatist systems. The Russian military also has air defense systems deployed near Debaltseve. We are also confident these are Russian military not separatist systems.

The European Union joined the U.S. yesterday and also referred to Russian forces in east Ukraine in its official documents. To its Official Journal, the EU added that a Russian defense official and two ranking generals to its official blacklist for involvement “in supporting the deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine” and for being “involved in shaping and implementing the military campaign of the Russian forces in Ukraine.” The text was signed off at the highest level by EU’s foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini, who has strictly avoided any reference to Russian armed forces being active in Ukraine.

The dramatic change in language over the past few days has occurred as Russian forces and separatists continue their shelling and encirclement of a key rail hub in violation of the “last ditch” February 12 accord. Minsk II still used cautious diplomatic language, such as “evidence of continued and growing support given to the separatists by Russia, which underlines Russia's responsibility,” and calls for “foreign armed groups” to leave Ukrainian territory.

An EU diplomat speaking off the record declared the new language a “clear and understandable message against Russian propaganda and all the lies about non-Russian engagement in the military conflict.”

Putin’s propaganda machine has hit a big sinkhole in the middle of the road. Its response will be furious, shrill and overwhelming, not only against bloggers and columnists, but the U.S. State Department and the European Commission as well.

The U.S commander in Europe explained why the West was “still splitting hairs about the nature of the insurgency.” He opined that some want an “ambiguity to give people who don’t want to believe it an excuse to not believe.”

The European and American rejection in clear language of the Kremlin’s phony narrative of a civil war fought by separatists and Russian “volunteers” deprives them of the “excuse not to believe.” It also means that they have labeled the leader of another country, one Vladimir Putin, a liar.

The first step in solving any problem is to clearly define what it is. Europe and the U.S. have reluctantly taken this step. The next is to act.