The brawl within the U.S. government between those, such as Gen. Mark Milley, arguing that a negotiated settlement will eventually have to be reached, and the British “defeat Russia at all costs'’ crew represented by the Victoria Nuland nutcases, is escalating. This is quite evident from the deployment of NBC News senior international correspondent Keir Simmons to Crimea on Feb. 28 and March 1, to file reports which warn against the strategic danger of allowing Ukraine to try to retake Crimea.
The Ukrainian government and its killer thugs responded hysterically to Simmons’s initial report, denouncing it for conveying the reality that inhabitants of Crimea are happy to be Russians. [https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/a-rare-look-inside-crimea-the-territory-illegally-annexed-by-russia-in-2014-164219461846].
But they are not talking about NBC anchor Andrea Mitchell’s follow-up interview with Simmons, which makes clear that U.S. government networks arranged for the NBC deployment.
Mitchell and Simmons argued that Ukraine’s commitment to retaking Crimea appears unrealistic, not only because Crimeans oppose it. Simmons pointed to Russia’s naval base in Sevastopol, visible behind him, bristling with military might. Negotiations face the conundrum that Russia views this base as so strategically important that Putin might be willing “to do anything” to defend it, while the Ukraine government is determined that the Russian fleet must leave — “a very, very dangerous standoff,” Simmons added.
Mitchell raised Victoria Nuland’s insistence this week that Crimea has to be “at least demilitarized.” Simmons looked at the base behind him, and replied, “I am wondering how on Earth is that going to happen.”
Should Ukrainian long-range missiles or F16’s hit Crimea, that would be “a tripwire,” the two agreed. That is why this is the place that has Jake Sullivan “really worried,” Simmons commented. Simmons cited Gen. Mark Milley’s warning that retaking Crimea would be very, very difficult, and made the case that if Ukraine attempts to take out the Kerch bridge (again), it would be very costly for “Russian civilians,” because there would be no way for the civilians to escape. He reiterated: that’s why Gen. Milley says this is very difficult. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkJKDTFqx68
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko denounced Simmons’s visit to Crimea March 1, threatening that Simmons could be “banned from entering Ukraine for such actions.” Myrotvorets, which works tightly with the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), had already placed Simmons on its kill list on Feb. 28th, charging him, among other crimes, of participating “in propaganda activities of Russia (the aggressor country) against Ukraine” and “in attempts to legalize the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by Russian invaders.” (https://myrotvorets.center/criminal/simmons-kir/). The Center for Countering Disinformation of Zelensky’s National Security and Defense Council, followed with a March 2 Telegram post attacking NBC News and Simmons for “questionable” coverage of Crimean views. The CCD implies that NBC is a Russian propaganda outlet, because Simmons interviewed Putin in 2021 and the head of its international department was born and educated in Russia (https://t.me/TheCenterforCounteringDisinfo/1989).
