When Russia started its aggression in Crimea, US President
Barack Obama issued a statement saying “There will be a cost associated with Russia’s
action”. The statement seemed strange and we dismissed it as one off slip of
tongue. Who says there will be costs! More commonly you would say, there will
be repercussions, there will be consequence and so on….
But when it comes to American diplomacy, nothing is a slip
of tongue, it is a well-rehearsed and carefully planned statement and no one deviates
from that. So ever since, be it John Kerry, Jay Carney or Obama a recurring
theme has been “costs”. No repercussions, no consequences, not even price; just
Cost!
Let’s looks at some simple definitions – Cost is the actual
value of a product nothing more nothing less. Price is Cost + Change.
What the Obama administration is posing to the world is that
the US won’t sit quite while Russia goes all crazy on Ukraine. But to NOT piss off
Russia and especially Vladimir Putin, the message is: there will be a “cost”
(or a fair exchange – no penalty) nothing more for their actions. Since there
are no free lunches, there will be a cost that Russia will have to pay since
they have Crimea (the underline message to Russia is you are getting a discount
– no price only cost)
Kerry had a phone conversation with Mr. Lavrov on Thursday in
which he “reiterated the United States’ concern about the upcoming
referendum and made clear there will be costs if Russia continues to take
escalatory steps”
Carney: We’re not going to rule out individuals or rule
out actions, except to say that there will be costs imposed on Russia -- additional
costs imposed on Russia if Russia does not change direction
“Europe and America are united in
our support of the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people. We’re united
in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions so far,” President Obama said.
