Courtesy of Mish.
Fruity Booty Trojan Horse
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Russian President Vladimir Putin met today in Moscow. The EU feared a Trojan Horse deal in which Greece would gain economic aid from Russia in exchange for a Greek torpedo fired at sanctions.
I would favor such a deal actually, given that sanctions are seriously misplaced and harm both sides. The way to better relations is negotiation and free trade.
The result however, was as expected: lies and platitudes from both sides including a Pledge to ‘Restart and Revive’ Relations.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras have made a pledge to “restart and revive” bilateral relations in a meeting aimed at boosting each other’s political bargaining chips in their confrontations with the EU.
While Mr Tsipras trumpeted his country’s right to engage with Russia despite misgivings from other EU member countries while Moscow was locked in a stand-off with the west, Mr Putin dangled the prospect of Russian investment in cash-strapped Greece but said he had no intention of dividing the EU.
But while the Greek prime minister repeated his criticism of sanctions, he also appeared to reassure fellow EU members over fears that Greece could break ranks. He said that while Greece was seeking to build “relations of confidence and trust with the Russian Federation”, it remained an EU member and was “complying with all the commitments we have made to the EU”.
Mr Putin also dismissed the idea that Russia would prop up Athens with cash in its fight with EU creditors. “The Greek side did not ask us for help,” he said.
He also dismissed the notion, advanced by some European officials, of using Greece as a Trojan Horse in the EU. “We are not going to use anything within the EU in order to solve the problem of improving our relations with the EU as a whole,” Mr Putin said. “The best solution for all would be to stop the sanctions war.”
“In fact, it is by far not just Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic that are opposed to sanctions,” said Alexei Martynov, a political scientist at the International Institute of the Newly Established States in Moscow. “A large number of politicians from other EU states think the same, but they only dare say that in the corridors and not publicly.”
Some Truth in Pack of Lies
How many lies can one count in the above paragraphs? Of course, Putin seeks to divide the EU. And of course Greece is engaged in gamesmanship in an attempt to gain leverage over the EU.
The one truth in all of this is Putin's statement "The best solution for all would be to stop the sanctions war."…
