The Oligarch Who Financed Neo-Nazis Said Ukraine Could Join “A New Warsaw Pact”
Igor Kolomoysky, the Ukrainian oligarch who financed Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in Donbas, told the New York Times last month that Ukraine could potentially join a “New Warsaw Pact”, but his dramatic words should be seen through the prism of a disgruntled billionaire who has an axe to grind with the West for personal reasons but who also finally realized that he can leverage his country’s geostrategic status as an American proxy state against Russia in pursuit of maximum gains for all of his countrymen.
From Neo-Nazi Financier To Russian Ally?
Ukrainian billionaire oligarch Igor Kolomoysky shocked the world when he told the New York Times(NYT) in an exclusive interview last month that his country could potentially join a “new Warsaw Pact”, but his dramatic words should be taken with a grain of salt. Kolomoysky is widely regarded as the “gray cardinal” in Kiev after his former employee, Volodymyr Zelensky, was elected President of Ukraine earlier this year.
Prior to that, the oligarch was one of the chief financiers of the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion that waged a Hybrid War of Terror on the people of Donbas, so he’s far from “Russian-friendly” by any objective description. Rather, he’s an entirely self-interested but extremely pragmatic player who finally realized that he can leverage his country’s geostrategic status as an American proxy state against Russia in pursuit of maximum gains for both himself and his countrymen. It should be noted that the NYT reminded its readers several times about Kolomoysky’s problems with the West after the IMF and Western diplomats pressured former President Poroshenko to seize the billionaire’s bank “amid allegations of a multibillion-dollar embezzlement”, so he certainly has an agenda in “rebelling” against them since he would naturally prefer for current President Zelensky (over whom he’s speculated to have considerable influence) to return his company back to him despite the outrage that this would engender from his country’s current foreign patrons.
The Words That Shocked The World
That’s one way of interpreting his “anti-Western revolt”, though the other is more selfless and can be seen as the intent of a sincere Ukrainian patriot to correct the geopolitical mistakes that were made over the past half decade since the spree of urban terrorism popularly described as “EuroMaidan” succeeded in overthrowing his country’s democratically elected government and subsequently transforming the state into a Western proxy against Russia which hasn’t received any tangible benefits in exchange for sacrificing itself for its new “partners”. After all, the following statements that Kolomoysky made in the interview strongly say as much:
- “We have to improve our relations (with Russia). People want peace, a good life, they don’t want to be at war. And you (America) are forcing us to be at war, and not even giving us the money for it.”
- “You all (NATO) won’t take us. There’s no use in wasting time on empty talk. Whereas Russia would love to bring us into a new Warsaw Pact.”
- “(The West wants) war with Russia to the last Ukrainian.”
- “Give it five, 10 years, and the blood will be forgotten (with Russia). I showed in 2014 that I don’t want to be with Russia (but) I’m describing, objectively, what I’m seeing and where things are heading.”
- “We’ll take $100 billion from the Russians. I think they’d love to give it to us today. What’s the fastest way to resolve issues and restore the relationship? Only money.”
- “If (the Democrats win and) they get smart with us, we’ll go to Russia. Russian tanks will be stationed near Krakow and Warsaw. Your NATO will be soiling its pants and buying Pampers.”
- “If I put on glasses and look at myself like the whole rest of the world, I see myself as a monster, as a puppet master, as the master of Zelensky, someone making apocalyptic plans. I can start making this real.”
Some of what he said is clearly rational, such as questioning why Ukraine should continue fighting a proxy war in Donbas at the West’s behest without receiving any financial, military, and institutional benefits in return, but other parts are clearly hyperbolic such as the creation of a “new Warsaw Pact” (possibly inaccurately referring to Ukraine’s possible membership in the CSTO), Russia willing (or even able to provide for the matter) $100 billion to Ukraine, and that “Russian tanks will be stationed near Krakow and Warsaw” if his proposed/”threatened” rapprochement with Moscow is a success. That last half of his comments are his attempt to skillfully manipulate the US’ anti-Russian hysteria in order to receive his requested tangible benefits from the West.
American Domestic Political Context
Kolomoysky’s sharp anti-Western criticisms shouldn’t be seen separately from the US’ Ukrainegate conspiracy theory and the subsequent pressure that’s been put upon Trump. The oligarch knows that there’s no better time for him to seek concessions from the US than now since the President is compelled to prove that he didn’t allegedly withhold aid to Ukraine for supposedly corrupt reasons. In fact, Kolomoysky actually said in the interview that he believes that his government should have taken Trump up on his suggestion and carried out an extensive investigation into the corrupt activities that Hunter Biden is accused of being involved in, so he’s by no means an anti-Trumper, especially not after openly saying that he’d defy a future Democratic president who “gets smart” with Ukraine by having his country pivot towards Russia instead. These aren’t the words of a madman, but of a strategic genius who’s playing a high-stakes gamble in pursuit of maximum national and personal gains, the first of which relates to improving his country’s overall situation while the latter refers to his desire to have his seized assets returned to him without the West personally sanctioning him and/or pushing for regime change against Zelensky in response.
Bibi Behind The Scenes
The trump card likely emboldening Kolomoysky isn’t just the US’ domestic political context and his awareness that he can leverage his country’s geostrategic status as one of the premier Western proxy states against Russia, but the behind-the-scenes role that “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin (“Bibi”) Netanyahu is playing in promoting a Russian-Ukrainian rapprochement. He reportedly discussed this during his visit to Kiev in August, during which time he met with the only other Jewish President and Prime Minister in the world outside of “Israel”. There are deep socio-political connections nowadays between Ukraine and “Israel” as a result of the former’s rich Jewish heritage, the presence of many Ukrainian Jewish migrants/refugees in “Israel”, and the closeness that both of their leaders feel towards one another as a result of their religious commonalities. For what it matters, Kolomoysky himself is also Jewish and had previously left for “Israel” after Poroshenko seized his bank. None of this, however, is to imply whatsoever that there’s a so-called “Jewish conspiracy” at play, but just to point out some of the reasons why Bibi is so interested in mediating between Ukraine and Russia.
The other reasons are purely geostrategic and have to do with a speculative quid pro quo between Russia and “Israel”. The reader should be made aware that those two are actually allies, not the “foes” that the Alt-Media Community deliberately misportays them as for reasons that only those guilty outlets and influencers can account for if they were ever publicly challenged to do so, which the author explained in his comprehensive analysis for Global Research two months ago titled “Russia’s Middle East Strategy: ‘Balance’ vs. ‘Betrayal’?” In exchange for Russia ensuring that Iran doesn’t violate the “buffer zone” that Moscow carved out 140 kilometers beyond the occupied Golan Heights at Tel Aviv’s request in summer 2018, “Israel” probably agreed to do whatever it could to help broker a “New Detente” between Moscow and the West, beginning with Ukraine and possibly eventually going as high up as to ultimately include the US, the latter of which was hinted at following the historic Jerusalem Summit between the Russian, “Israeli”, and American National Security Advisors back in June. In the context of the present analysis, Kolomoysky might be actively involved in the “Israeli”-backed Russian-Ukrainian dimension of Tel Aviv’s grander “New Detente” efforts.
Concluding Thoughts
Kolomoysky’s sudden “anti-Western rebellion” took practically all observers off guard, though it becomes more understandable in hindsight why he’s doing what he is. Some degree of personal motivations definitely drove the billionaire oligarch to say some of the dramatic things that he did during his exclusive interview with the NYT, though it can’t be ignored that a lot of what he said makes sense and was probably inspired by this Ukrainian patriot sincerely feeling dejected by the West after his country’s so-called “partners” made promises that it evidently never intended to keep.
Kolomoysky realized that he could exploit his country’s geostrategic status as a frontline Western proxy against Russia in order to reap more advantages from its current foreign patrons, though he objectively seems to be leaning towards a rapprochement with Moscow, one that could very well be brokered by Bibi behind the scenes. The West is now in a serious dilemma because it had earlier lionized him for his financial support of Neo-Nazi death squads in Donbas so he can’t be simply smeared as a “Russian puppet”, nor can they recklessly criticize him because their own society’s “political correctness” makes it taboo to harshly condemn anyone of Jewish heritage. For these reasons, Kolomoysky is quickly turning into the West’s worst nightmare, one that will likely continue haunting them in the coming months.
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This article was originally published on OneWorld.
Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
Featured image is from OneWorld
The original source of this article is Global Research
Copyright © Andrew Korybko, Global Research, 2019
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