New sanctions against Russia: Crimea prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya banned from entry to EU http://t.co/8F59maj1rL pic.twitter.com/hEfiAL1oz9
— RT (@RT_com) May 13, 2014
Talked to friend from #Donetsk:"I don't want to join #russia,I want UA army to come and kill bunch of separatists pulling us down"1/2
— Kateryna_Kruk (@Kateryna_Kruk) May 13, 2014
Seems there's still a chance to beat the crowds in Crimea this summer. (Pic from May 6, 2014 via @TukvaSociopat) pic.twitter.com/XGQAd3z6V8
— Jakub Parusinski (@j_parus) May 13, 2014
New Crimea tourist campaign. Ladies celebrating Russia ! Come and visit Crimea ! pic.twitter.com/pUGAN9vtje
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 13, 2014
Donetsk People's Republic to seek UN recognition of its sovereignty. "But we don't hope to get a positive answer": http://t.co/YyHZka1r8s
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) May 13, 2014
At the time, the Kremlin tried to play down its control over the rebels. Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said that, "Russia essentially has lost its influence over these people" because he claimed they were fighting for their lives. However, a more dramatic example of this lack of traction came with Putin's unexpected call for the rebels to postpone their referenda on secession from Ukraine.
Local anti-Kyiv leaderships in Donetsk, Lugansk and Slovyansk rejected his appeal and went ahead with their shambolic and illegitimate polls on May 11. Needless to say, overwhelming support for secession was reported.
So what does this mean? The Machiavellian explanation is that this is the kind of shadow play so beloved of the Kremlin's once-and-maybe-future political technologist, Vyacheslav Surkov; a staged maneuver to support Moscow's claims not to be running the rebellion.
There is much to commend this line, but it does overlook one thing: it requires Putin to be willing to make himself look weak, even irrelevant. This is not something he is generally inclined to do, especially in recent times.
So should one accept the Kremlin's narrative at face value, that it is an honest broker trying to bring peace to Ukraine despite the actions of, in Putin's words, "the people who carried out an anti-constitutional seizure of power [in Kyiv], a coup d'état"? Of course not. The Kremlin annexed Crimea and has stirred up trouble from Odessa to Kharkiv.
The truth is, as ever, somewhere in between.
Germany's FM Steinmeier in Ukraine now, meeting w @Yatsenyuk_AP & FM @ADeshchytsia at Kyiv airport pic.twitter.com/TrAnOZ0Dn5 via @GermanyDiplo
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) May 13, 2014
FM #Steinmeier with PM @Yatsenyuk_AP: We support your efforts to launch a national dialogue through Round Tables under Ukrainian ownership.
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) May 13, 2014