Thread by @karolcummins

Giuliani set to make paid appearance next week at Kremlin-backed conference that includes Putin

#Bagman #Donbas washingtonpost.com/politics/giuli…

📌Giuliani’s decision to take part in the conference astounded national security experts.

#MakeItDumber

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🔑The conference is a regular summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, an economic trading union whose members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. #TOC 💰💦
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🔑It is the brainchild of Putin and was created out of Moscow’s fear of the so-called color revolutions that spread across former Soviet countries.

EEC vs EU get it?
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🔑Putin has aimed to use the group to establish Russia as a bulwark against Europe and a center of gravity in the former Soviet region, describing the EEU as “a new supranational union that could become one of the poles of the modern world.” #NewWorldOrder
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🔑In 2012, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the group part of an effort to “re-Sovietize the region.”

🔑National security experts said Giuliani’s presence at the event could bolster the E.U. rival. #TrumpPutinGoal
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“It’s terrible judgment for the president’s lawyer to attend this meeting,” said David Kramer, a former State Department official responsible for Russia and Ukraine during the George W. Bush administration. #InOurFaceCollusion
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“He is lending credibility to an organization Putin set up as an alternative to the European Union. . . .

This will further fan the flames on top of the havoc he has already created for Ukraine.”

#TrumpPutinGoals
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📌Michael McFaul, said he was surprised Giuliani or any American would attend the Eurasian conference, particularly since the organization was a flash point in Russian-Ukrainian tensions.

🔑#PutinWantsDonbas to prevent UKR from joining the EU.
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🔑McFaul noted the EEU was created by Putin at a time when Ukraine was considering joining the European Union. #PutinWantsDonbas
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🔑An agenda the two-day summit says it is focused on transit in the region. #MoneyEnergyFlows 💰💦

🔑On Tuesday evening, Putin is set to take part in the official closing ceremony with Rouhani and leaders of the EEU’s other member countries.
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🔑Earlier in the day, Giuliani is set to appear on a panel titled “Digital financial technologies — new opportunities for integrating payment systems of the Eurasian continent in transport logistics.”

#MoneyFlows 💰💦
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🔑The moderator listed on the agenda is GLAZYEV, an economist who served as one of Putin’s top advisers until this August and who is viewed in Moscow’s diplomatic circles as a possible successor to him.

#Glazyev = POSSIBLE SUCCESSOR TO PUTIN

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🔑Next week, GRAZYEV is expected to be appointed to a top post at the commission that oversees the EEU.
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📌Glazyev was one of a number of senior Russian government officials sanctioned by the Obama administration in 2014 as punishment for Russia’s incursion into Crimea.

#ItsAllConnected

@threadreaderapp unroll please TY
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