{"id":197856,"date":"2019-11-14T07:35:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T07:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=197856"},"modified":"2019-11-16T07:17:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-16T07:17:03","slug":"nato-will-be-soiling-its-pants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=197856","title":{"rendered":"\u2018NATO will be soiling its pants\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian tycoon seen as power behind president calls for \u2018new Warsaw Pact\u2019 with Moscow<\/h3>\n

RT \u2013 Nov 14, 2019<\/h1>\n
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Ukrainian President Zelensky and Donald Trump at the UN Sept 2019. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

A tycoon who spent millions of dollars arming anti-Russian fighters in Ukraine has emerged from the shadows to blast the Europe he once idolized. The oligarch now sees alliance with Russia as the only option for his country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Igor Kolomoysky, the oligarch seen by many as the shadow power behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has changed his tune sharply from the days of the 2014 Maidan rebellion.<\/span><\/p>\n

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New volunteers for the Ukrainian interior ministry’s “Azov” battalion take their oath of allegiance to their country during a ceremony in Kiev. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Back then he was an ally of pro-European President Petro Poroshenko, who even appointed him governor of the Dnepropetrovsk region. Once installed there, Kolomoysky placed a bounty on captured fighters from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics, who fought against the new authorities in Kiev, and spent<\/a><\/strong><\/span> a reported $10 million per month fielding his own private militia, also funding ultranationalist volunteer units, like the neo-Nazi<\/strong><\/span><\/a> Azov Battalion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll just have to kill them,\u201d<\/em> he said of the rebels at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

He now believes an alliance with Russia is the best bet for Kiev, he told the New York Times in an interview.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re stronger anyway. We have to improve our relations,\u201d<\/em> he said. \u201cPeople want peace, a good life, they don\u2019t want to be at war. And you [America] are forcing us to be at war, and not even giving us the money for it,\u201d<\/em> he added, referring to reports that the International Monetary Fund is holding up an aid package to Ukraine until the government pursues money missing from Kolomoysky\u2019s Privatbank – money Kolomoyasky is accused of embezzling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou all won\u2019t take us,\u201d<\/em> the oligarch said of the EU and NATO. \u201cThere\u2019s no use in wasting time on empty talk. Whereas Russia would love to bring us into a new Warsaw Pact.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The IMF, he said, could easily be replaced by loans from Russia. \u201cWe\u2019ll take $100 billion from the Russians. I think they\u2019d love to give it to us today,\u201d<\/em> Kolomoisky said. \u201cWhat\u2019s the fastest way to resolve issues and restore the relationship? Only money.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Progress towards EU and NATO membership, coveted by the government in Kiev, has been slow at best. Despite the signing of the Ukraine\u2013European Union Association Agreement in 2017 (which the electorate rejected in the Netherlands), European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said at the time that it would take at least 20 years for Ukraine to become a full-fledged member state.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ukrainian Jewish oligarch Igor \u201cBenya\u201d Kolomoysky (at left), a banking and investment magnate, who is the 4th richest person in Ukraine at $2.1 Billion. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Kolomoysky\u2019s referencing of the Cold War military alliance is likely to raise eyebrows in Washington, especially given his closeness to Ukraine\u2019s new president Volodymyr Zelensky. Kolomoysky used to be Zelensky\u2019s employer back when the president was a comedian, and is reported to have bankrolled his election campaign. In addition, Western leaders have expressed concern<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that the billionaire could play puppet-master to Zelensky, prompting the new leader to publicly declare that his wealthy backer would hold no sway over his administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Zelensky has maintained dialogue with European leaders on resolving the war in Ukraine, he has also held phone talks<\/a><\/strong><\/span> with Russian President Vladimir Putin on mending ties and simmering down the conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump has expressed hope that Zelensky and Putin can \u201cget together and solve\u201d their problems. However, for most lawmakers in Washington the prospect of a Moscow-Kiev pact is a no-go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kolomoysky is undaunted by the prospects of a Democrat taking office next year and cracking down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf they get smart with us, we\u2019ll go to Russia,\u201d<\/em> he told the Times. \u201cRussian tanks will be stationed near Krakow and Warsaw. Your NATO will be soiling its pants and buying Pampers.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Though described by Putin as a \u201cswindler\u201d<\/em> and \u201cone of a kind chancer,\u201d<\/em> Kolomoysky is certain that Kiev will drift towards Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m describing, objectively, what I\u2019m seeing and where things are heading,\u201d<\/em> he said<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian tycoon seen as power behind president calls for \u2018new Warsaw Pact\u2019 with Moscow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58,91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Current_Affairs","category-russia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=197856"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197860,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197856\/revisions\/197860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=197856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=197856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=197856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}