Russia
Includes Ukraine and Eastern/Central Europe and NATO and the use of anti-Russian hysteria (eg Russiagate) as a US domestic political weapon
2018
Return to Asian Geopolitics indexpage
Return to Russia indexpage

---

• December
• November
• October
• September
• August
• July
• June
• May
• April
• March
• February
• January

---

Return to top of page
DECEMBER 2018

• Yet another murder that wasn’t: The Perepilichny case and the anti-Russia campaign
  By Clara Weiss 24 December 2018 The past few days have seen the unravelling of one of the many alleged “murders” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of by the media and the intelligence agencies: after an investigation into the November 2012 death of the multi-millionaire Alexander Perepilichny, the coroner found that he “more likely than not” died of natural causes. This conclusion comes after years in which the media have treated his death as a “killing” and “murder,” ascribed to the Kremlin and even Putin himself, without any kind of factual substantiation. As recently as August 8, 2018, the New York Times cited his death as one of several for whom Putin was probably responsible, falsely writing that “the police were left scratching their heads over the body… It was not until 2015 that a botanist was able to identify the presumptive cause of Perepilichny’s death: His stomach held traces of gelsemium, a rare, poisonous plant grown in the Himalayas and known to have been used in Chinese assassinations.” In fact, the Surrey police at the time did not believe that his death was suspicious in any way, and concluded that he died of a heart attack. [Russia confrontation] [Canard] [Assassination]
• MH17: JIT’s expiring mandate
  Three and half years on, why are there still so many unanswered questions? Célia Schmidt The year is ending and so is the mandate of the Joint International Team investigating the downing of flight MH17. It’s time to provide the results of the prosecutors’ work. No need to say how it’s important to identify and pursue those responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on 17 July 2014 in Ukraine. Otherwise, the perpetrators will feel like they have impunity. But as the investigation progresses, more questions to the JIT and more doubts about their ability to find responsible for the death of 298 passengers arise. [MH17]
• Senate Reports On 'Russian Influence Campaign' Fail To Discuss Its Only Known Motive
  U.S. media is again making a big fuzz about the alleged 'Russian' attempts to 'influence' the presidential elections in 2016. In March the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee commissioned two reports about the alleged 'Russian influence' via social media. Those reports (1, 2) were released yesterday but not endorsed by the committee. Both reports rely on data that Facebook, Google and Twitter gave to the intelligence committee. The data includes tweets, Facebook posts, videos and how many likes, shares or retweets they received. These are from accounts which for some reason are believed to be related to the Internet Research Agency (IRA) in St. Petersburg. Most of these activities occurred after the 2016 election. Both reports look at the usage data and the content themes the IRA run pages provided. Both claim that the intent of the IRA was to influence the election and to sow discord within the U.S. population. But there is no, none, nada, zero evidence in the data that the IRA had such an intent. Nor is their any testimony or statement from persons involved that claims such. Even if there were data of an influence operation, there is no reason to believe that silly IRA memes, like the "Army of Jesus" one below, changed even one vote. In contrast the Muller investigation, which looked into the case, found evidence that the IRA had a commercial intent. Unfortunately this is mentioned neither in the two reports, nor in the current news about them. The only really known motive the IRA had when it created those accounts and filled them with content is simply ignored. [Russiagate] [Clickbait]
• US unable to defend against Russian and Chinese hypersonic weapons, report warns
  By James Rogers | Fox News Mikoyan MiG-31K fighter jet with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles flies over Moscow's Red Square marking the 73rd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. (Alexei NikolskyTASS via Getty Images) The U.S. lacks the defenses needed to protect against a new breed of highly sophisticated hypersonic weapons from China and Russia, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. “China and Russia are pursuing hypersonic weapons because their speed, altitude and maneuverability may defeat most missile defense systems, and they may be used to improve long-range conventional and nuclear strike capabilities,” the report said. “There are no existing countermeasures.” [Military balance] [Hypersonic] [Russia] [China]
• Latest Odds of a Shooting War Between NATO and Russia
  December 13, 2018 Hungarian scholar George Szamuely tells Ann Garrison that he sees a 70 percent chance of combat between NATO and Russia following the incident in the Kerch Strait and that it is being fueled by Russia-gate. An Interview with George Szamuely by Ann Garrison Special to Consortium News George Szamuely is a Hungarian-born scholar and Senior Research Fellow at London’s Global Policy Institute. He lives in New York City. I spoke to him about escalating hostilities on Russia’s Ukrainian and Black Sea borders and about Exercise Trident Juncture, NATO’s massive military exercise on Russian borders which ended just as the latest hostilities began. Ann Garrison: George, the hostilities between Ukraine, NATO, and Russia continue to escalate in the Sea of Azov, the Kerch Strait, and the Black Sea. What do you think the latest odds of a shooting war between NATO and Russia are, if one hasn’t started by the time this is published? George Szamuely: Several weeks ago, when we first talked about this, I said 60 percent. Now I’d say, maybe 70 percent. The problem is that Trump seems determined to be the anti-Obama. Obama, in Trump’s telling, “allowed” Russia to take Crimea and to “invade” Ukraine. Therefore, it will be up to Trump to reverse this. Just as he, Trump, reversed Obama’s policy on Iran by walking away from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal. So expect ever-increasing US involvement in Ukraine. [Russia confrontation] [Ukraine] [Adversarial] [War]
• Maria Butina Endgame
  Tony Kevin The Maria Butina criminal investigation, cruel and futile as it has been, seems to be approaching resolution. I wrote in some detail in Off-Guardian on 29 July about the 15 July arrest by the FBI in Washington DC of a 29-year-old Russian national, a postgraduate student in Washington DC and gun enthusiast, Maria Butina. I was not expecting Maria Butina to be still languishing in solitary confinement in a high-security prison in Virginia awaiting trial as an agent of foreign influence, over four months later. Yet this is what has happened to this unfortunate young aspiring lobbyist for better US-Russian relations. The Russian Government considers her, with good cause in my view, to be an innocent political prisoner who has been sorely mistreated – a victim of current American elite Russophobia. On 22 July, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told US Secretary of State Pompeo that Butina, arrested in the US on 15 July , one day before the Helsinki Summit began, under accusations that she was a Russian agent, had been detained on ‘fabricated charges’ and should be released. The Russian Foreign Ministry in ensuing months steadily upped the pressure, with regular prison visits to Maria whenever they could, and press updates by an increasingly outspoken Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who commented officially on 5 December: [Maria Butina] [Show trial] [Russia confrontation]
• Foreign Interventions in Revolutionary Russia
  by Jacques R. Pauwels Photo Source http://visualrian.com/images/item/850828 | CC BY 2.0 All over Europe, the First World War had brought about a potentially revolutionary situation as early as 1917. In countries where the authorities continued to represent the traditional elite, exactly as had been the case in 1914, they aimed to prevent the realization of this potential by means of repression, concessions, or both. But in the case of Russia, the revolution not only broke out but succeeded, and the Bolsheviks began work on the construction of the world’s very first socialist society. It was an experiment for which the elites of the other countries felt no sympathy whatsoever; to the contrary, they fervently hoped that this project would soon end in a dismal fiasco. (It was also a revolutionary experiment that would disappoint numerous sympathizers because the socialist Utopia failed to spring whole, Athena-like, from the brow of the Russian revolutionary Zeus.) [Russia confrontation] [Revolution] [Intervention] [Anti-Communism]
• The Kerch Strait gambit
  Tony Kevin Posted on 28 November 2018 A Kiev-provoked Ukraine/Russia naval clash near the Kerch Strait, Crimea, threatens to derail the Argentina G20 Summit (30 Nov -1 Dec) and to worsen US-Russia bilateral relations. NATO allies are lining up behind a false Ukrainian narrative. The war in Eastern Ukraine could escalate now.
  Tony Kevin is a former Australian ambassador to Poland and Cambodia, an Emeritus Fellow at Australian National University, Canberra, and the author of ‘Return to Moscow’ (2017) [Ukraine] [Provocation]
• Ukraine Provokes Russia to What End? Growing Tensions in the Sea of Azov
  By Tony Cartalucci Global Research, November 27, 2018 Russia has seized three Ukrainian military vessels violating its territory near Russia’s newly completed Crimean Bridge. The incident is a clear provocation carried out by Kiev and possibly engineered by Kiev’s Western sponsors – particularly those in Washington and London. Ukrainian military vessels are in fact permitted to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov provided they notify Russian authorities beforehand. The Sea of Azov – according to a joint agreement signed by Kiev and Moscow in 2003 – is considered internal waters of both Ukraine and Russia. With the completion of the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian Crimea to the rest of Russian territory across the Strait of Kerch, security measures have understandably increased. According to Russian state media, Ukrainian military vessels have previously observed agreed upon protocol when transiting the Strait of Kerch with military vessels. For the sake of provocation, they chose not to this time. TASS would explain in its article titled, “All three Ukrainian Navy vessels that violated Russia’s border detained in Black Sea,” that: The FSB [Russian Federal Security Service] stressed that Ukraine was aware of the procedure for warships’ passage through Russia’s territorial sea and Kerch-Yenikale Canal. “They have already used that procedure for innocent passage,” it said. This incident is just the latest amid growing tensions in the Sea of Azov. [Ukraine]
• Drama in the Kerch Strait: Teasing the Russian Bear
  By Pepe Escobar Global Research, November 28, 2018 Asia Times 27 November 2018 When the Ukrainian navy sent a tugboat and two small gunboats on Sunday to force their way through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov, it knew in advance the Russian response would be swift and merciless. After all, Kiev was entering waters claimed by Russia with military vessels without clarifying their intent. The intent, though, was clear; to raise the stakes in the militarization of the Sea of Azov. The Kerch Strait connects the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. To reach Mariupol, a key city in the Sea of Azov very close to the dangerous dividing line between Ukraine’s army and the pro-Russian militias in Donbass, the Ukrainian navy needs to go through the Kerch. Yet since Russia retook control of Crimea via a 2014 referendum, the waters around Kerch are de facto Russian territorial waters. Kiev announced this past summer it would build a naval base in the Sea of Azov by the end of 2018. That’s an absolute red line for Moscow. Kiev may have to trade access to Mariupol, which, incidentally, also trades closely with the People’s Republic of Donetsk. But forget about military access. And most of all, forget about supplying a Ukrainian military fleet in the port of Berdyansk capable of sabotaging the immensely successful, Russian-built Crimean bridge. Predictably, Western media has been complaining again about “Russian aggression”, a gift that keeps on giving. Or blaming Russia for its over-reaction, overlooking the fact that Ukraine’s incursion was with military vessels, not fishing boats. Russian resolve was quite visible, as powerful Ka-52 “Alligator” assault helicopters were promptly on the scene. Washington and Brussels uncritically bought Kiev’s “Russian aggression” hysteria, as well as the UN Security Council, which, instead of focusing on the facts in the Kerch Strait incident, preferring to accuse Moscow once again of annexing Crimea in 2014. The key point, overlooked by the UNSC, is that the Kerch incident configures Kiev’s flagrant violation of articles 7, 19 and 21 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. [Ukraine]

---

Return to top of page
NOVEMBER 2018

• Russia Is Key to Asia’s Future Development. Putin’s Asia Pivot. China’s Belt and Road. Towards A “Greater Eurasian Partnership”
  By F. William Engdahl Global Research, November 28, 2018 As serious problems emerge with the further development of China’s ultra-ambitious New Economic Silk Road, the formally named Belt, Road Initiative (BRI) the Russian Federation, especially in the wake of Washington’s mis-named trade war, is finding a positive role that could serve to change the entire dynamic of East Asian and Eurasian economic development. Depending on how it proceeds, it could help China to make necessary corrections to its current BRI development model and even benefit the development of the United States in a peaceful way. Here are some factors to consider. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping formally proposed his BRI project in Kazakhstan in 2013 the project has undergone a huge advance across many countries from Pakistan to Malaysia to Africa. The original rather vague concept has been greatly expanded with creation of numerous state-tied think tanks in China proposing this or that new element. A major problem, however, has become evident in recent months in several BRI partner countries where China seems to have pursued its own project concepts such as in Malaysia, without due consideration for the needs of the partner country, sometimes leaving them with unpayable debts. The BRI is one of the truly transforming ideas for rebuilding our debt-bloated world economy in a productive way. If that is to happen, it cannot be a mere repeat of the Anglo-American IMF model, “with Chinese characteristics.” Here is where recent initiatives of Russia’s Putin government could provide a major recalibration. The recent ASEAN meeting is instructive in this regard. [Russia] [Eurasia] [Eurasian Economic Union]
• Ukraine - Poroshenko Launched Clash With Russia To Gain Dictatorial Powers - He Failed
  The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko's attempted to shore up his approval rate for the upcoming election by provoking a military incident. It was a gamble and it failed. Three Ukrainian boats, a tug and two gun boats, attempted to sail from the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov. The Kerch Strait is territorial Russian water since Crimea voted to join Russia. "Innocent passage" is allowed but necessitates following the laws and regulations of the territorial country. The Ukraine does not accept the decision the people of Crimea and insists that the peninsula is still part of its territory. The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko sent the boats with the order not to coordinate their passage with Russian authorities. The captured sailors confirm that. He obviously wanted to provoke a violent Russian reaction. [Ukraine] [Poroshenko] [Provocation]
• South Korean to head Interpol
  Posted : 2018-11-21 16:22 Updated : 2018-11-21 16:33 By Jung Min-ho Interpol announced Wednesday that South Korean Kim Jong-yang had been chosen as its new president, beating a Russian official whose candidacy had unnerved the West. The U.S.-backed Kim, Interpol's acting president, was picked at a meeting of delegates from Interpol member nations in Dubai to replace Meng Hongwei, who went missing in his native China in September. [Interpol] [UNUS] [Russia confrontation] [US SK]
• At least 13 countries are interested in buying a Russian missile system instead of platforms made by US companies, despite the threat of sanctions
  • At least 13 countries have expressed interest in buying a Russian missile system, despite the potential for triggering U.S. sanctions, according to people with first-hand knowledge of a U.S. intelligence assessment. • One of the people said that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Vietnam, and Iraq have all discussed buying the S-400 missile system from Russia. The U.S. expects a handful of countries will fold under diplomatic pressure. • The S-400, a mobile long-range surface-to-air missile system, is the Kremlin's answer to America's Patriot and THAAD platforms. Lockheed Martin makes the THAAD, or terminal high altitude area defense, system, while Raytheon makes the Patriot. Amanda Macias | @amanda_m_macias Published 8 Mins Ago CNBC.com WASHINGTON — At least 13 countries have expressed interest in buying a Russian missile system instead of platforms made by American companies, despite the potential for triggering U.S. sanctions, according to people with first-hand knowledge of a U.S. intelligence assessment. One of the people, who declined to be named, said that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Vietnam, and Iraq have all discussed buying the S-400 missile system from Russia. However, the U.S. expects that a handful of countries will fold to diplomatic pressure. The S-400, a mobile long-range surface-to-air missile system, is the Kremlin's answer to America's Patriot and THAAD platforms. Lockheed Martin makes the THAAD, or terminal high altitude area defense, system, while Raytheon makes the Patriot. The Pentagon deferred questions about this story to the White House, which did not comment. [Decline] [Air defence] [S-400] [Arms sales]
• [Photo] Kremlin hopes for Kim Jong-un to visit Russia in 2019
  Posted on : Nov.9,2018 17:59 KST Modified on : Nov.9,2018 17:59 KST The Kremlin has announced that it hopes for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to visit Russia next year. Reuters reported on Nov. 7 that Kremlin aid Yuri Ushakov said, “I hope this visit will be possible next year.” In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Pyongyang to invite Kim to the Easter Economic Forum, which was held in Vladivostok on Sept. 11-13, but Kim did not attend the event. [Russia NK]
• The Election Has Already Been Hacked
  Even if not a single voting machine has been compromised, we’re in trouble. By Zeynep Tufekci Nov. 3, 2018 As the 2018 midterm election nears, an ominous question looms: Will this election be hacked? The answer is: Yes, it has already been hacked. This election has already been hacked even if not a single voting machine has been compromised. It has already been hacked even if not another ruble has been spent on spreading disinformation. It has already been hacked even if voter registration information has been undisturbed and no vote tallies are altered. Why? Because the legitimacy of an election depends on the electorate accepting that it was fair, that everyone who tried to vote got to vote and that every vote counted. Lose that, and your voting system might as well have suffered a devastating technological attack. Unfortunately, in much of the United States, we are no longer able to assure people that none of those things has happened. A recent poll shows that 46 percent of the American electorate do not think their votes will be counted fairly, and about a third think it is likely that a foreign country will tamper with the results. [Midterm] [Hacking] [Russia confrontation] [Petard]

---

Return to top of page
OCTOBER 2018

• N. Korea official visits Moscow to possibly discuss summit
  Posted : 2018-10-28 17:01 Updated : 2018-10-28 19:44 By Yi Whan-woo Sin Hong-chol North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Sin Hong-chol arrived in Moscow, Saturday, to meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov this week, according to the Russian foreign ministry, Sunday. Sin's trip comes after several Russian diplomats hinted at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to Moscow in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation. And speculation is rampant that Sin, who handles Pyongyang-Moscow relations, may begin talks with Morgulov for the first summit between their leaders. Kim and Putin have not yet met. [Russia NK] [Summit]
• Russia will target European countries if they host U.S. nuclear missiles: Putin
  Olesya Astakhova, Andrew Osborn President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would be forced to target any European countries that agreed to host U.S. nuclear missiles following Washington’s withdrawal from a landmark Cold war-era arms control treaty. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with Italian businessmen at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia October 24, 2018. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS Speaking at a news conference after holding talks with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Putin said he wanted to discuss what he called dangerous U.S. plans to leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with U.S. President Donald Trump. The two leaders are expected to hold talks in Paris on Nov. 11. Russia has called Trump’s decision to quit the 1987 treaty, which eliminated both countries’ land-based short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles from Europe, dangerous. Trump has accused Russia of violating the treaty, something Moscow denies. It says Washington is the one violating it. Sponsored U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton told Putin on Tuesday that Washington would press ahead with plans to quit the pact despite objections from Russia and some European countries. Putin told reporters on Wednesday that Russia would have to respond in kind and would do so swiftly if the United States quit the pact. “Answering your question directly, can we respond,” Putin said, when asked what Russia would do if Trump made good on his pledge to leave the treaty. “We can, and it will be very fast and very effective,” he said. “If the United States does withdraw from the INF treaty, the main question is what they will do with these (intermediate-range) missiles that will once again appear. “If they will deliver them to Europe, naturally our response will have to mirror this, and European countries that agree to host them, if things go that far, must understand that they are putting their own territory at risk of a possible counter-strike.” [Russia confrontation] [INF] [EU] [Response] [Counterattack] [Media]
• Bolton: Russian Meddling Had No Effect on 2016 Election Outcome
  VOA News October 23, 2018 08:22 U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton says he told Russian officials that its meddling in the 2016 election did not affect the outcome but instead created distrust. "The important thing is that the desire for interfering in our affairs itself arouses distrust in Russian people, in Russia. And I think it should not be tolerated. It should not be acceptable," Bolton said Monday on Ekho Moskvy radio. Bolton is in Moscow for talks with Russian leaders on President Donald Trump's intention to pull the United States out of a 1987 arms control agreement. Before joining the White House, Bolton called Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election an "act of war." [Bolton] [US Election16] [Interference] [Admission]
• Trump withdrawal from Russia nuclear pact plays into Putin’s hands
  David A. Andelman It may be the highest-stakes move for Donald Trump in his entire presidency – unilaterally removing the United States from yet another international treaty, this time with immediate and potentially existential consequences. U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018. Trump announced on Oct. 20 that he planned to withdraw from a nuclear weapons agreement with Moscow. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Trump’s Oct. 20 announcement that Washington would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia, a landmark 1987 agreement signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev to remove nuclear weapons from Europe, eliminates whatever curbs may be left on the development and deployment of a whole new generation of lethal and more readily deployable nuclear arms. Gone will be any restraints on Russian President Vladimir Putin from modernizing and updating his nuclear arsenal, thereby reviving the nuclear arms race at a time when a new round of nuclear forces in North Korea and Iran threaten the world and new missile technologies are proliferating. Sponsored Trump’s ill-conceived and poorly thought-out action plays directly into Putin’s hands. As much as the Russian leader may already be flouting the principles and provisions of that treaty, he can now do so with impunity and none of the consequences of being labeled the transgressor. [INF] [Russia confrontation] [Renege] [Anti-Trump]
• Politico Report Says Russiagaters Should Prepare To Kiss My Ass
  In a new article titled “Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment“, Politico cites information provided by defense attorneys and “more than 15 former government officials with investigation experience spanning Watergate to the 2016 election case” to warn everyone who’s been lighting candles at their Saint Mueller altars that their hopes of Trump being removed from office are about to be dashed to the floor. “While [Mueller is] under no deadline to complete his work, several sources tracking the investigation say the special counsel and his team appear eager to wrap up,” Politico reports. “The public, they say, shouldn’t expect a comprehensive and presidency-wrecking account of Kremlin meddling and alleged obstruction of justice by Trump — not to mention an explanation of the myriad subplots that have bedeviled lawmakers, journalists and amateur Mueller sleuths,” the report also says, adding that details of the investigation may never even see the light of day. Russiagate is bullshit, and we fucking told you so.https://t.co/ENWPRfR8Yq — Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) October 19, 2018 So that’s it then. An obscene amount of noise and focus, a few indictments and process crime convictions which have nothing to do with Russian collusion, and this three-ring circus of propaganda and delusion is ready to call it a day. [Russiagate]
• Mueller report PSA: Prepare for disappointment
  And be forewarned that the special counsel’s findings may never be made public. By DARREN SAMUELSOHN 10/19/2018 05:20 AM EDT President Donald Trump's critics have spent the past 17 months anticipating what some expect will be among the most thrilling events of their lives: special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on Russian 2016 election interference. They may be in for a disappointment. That’s the word POLITICO got from defense lawyers working on the Russia probe and more than 15 former government officials with investigation experience spanning Watergate to the 2016 election case. The public, they say, shouldn’t expect a comprehensive and presidency-wrecking account of Kremlin meddling and alleged obstruction of justice by Trump — not to mention an explanation of the myriad subplots that have bedeviled lawmakers, journalists and amateur Mueller sleuths. Perhaps most unsatisfying: Mueller’s findings may never even see the light of day. [Russiagate] [Mueller]
• Putin says Russia will deploy hypersonic missiles in 'coming months,' surpassing US and China
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow will deploy hypersonic weapons in the "coming months." • A hypersonic weapon is a missile that travels at Mach 5 or higher, which is at least five times faster than the speed of sound. That means a hypersonic weapon can travel about one mile per second. • The U.S. is currently unable to defend against hypersonic weapons. Amanda Macias | @amanda_m_macias Published 4 Hours Ago Updated 3 Hours Ago CNBC.com WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow will deploy hypersonic weapons in the "coming months," a significant step that would enable the Kremlin to surpass the U.S. and China. A hypersonic weapon can travel at least five times the speed of sound, or about one mile per second. What's more, the U.S. is currently unable to defend against this breed of threat. Read more: Hypersonic weapons: What they are, and why the U.S. can't defend against them Putin, who was speaking at a forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, added that Moscow's hypersonic weapons program was ahead of its competitors. [Russia] [Hypersonic] Military balance]
• How the Dutch foiled Russian 'cyber-attack' on OPCW
  4 October 2018 Four Russians, a car full of electronic equipment, and a foiled plot to hack the world's foremost chemical weapons watchdog. The Dutch security services say Russia planned a cyber-attack on the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague earlier this year. At a press conference on Thursday, Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld said the plan was thwarted with the help of officials from the UK. Russia has described the allegations as a "diabolical cocktail" and a "rich fantasy". Here is what we know about the alleged plot so far. [Russia confrontation] [Netherlands] [OPCW] [IO]
• US Openly Threatens Russia With War: Goodbye Diplomacy, Hello Stone Age
  by Tyler Durden Thu, 10/04/2018 - 21:05 Authored by Peter Korzun via The Strategic Culture Foundation, US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison is a highly placed diplomat. Her words, whatever they may be, are official, which includes the ultimatums and threats that have become the language increasingly used by US diplomats to implement the policy of forceful persuasion or coercive diplomacy. Bellicose declarations are being used this way as a tool. On Oct. 2, the ambassador proved it again. According to her statement, Washington is ready to use force against Russia. Actually, she presented an ultimatum - Moscow must stop the development of a missile that the US believes to be in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty). If not, the American military will destroy it before the weapon becomes operational. “At that point, we would be looking at the capability to take out a (Russian) missile that could hit any of our countries,” Hutchison stated at a news conference. "Counter measures (by the United States) would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty," she added. "They are on notice." This is nothing other than a direct warning of a preemptive strike. It is true that compliance with the INF Treaty is a controversial issue. Moscow has many times claimed that Washington was in violation, and that position has been substantiated. For instance, the Aegis Ashore system, which has been installed in Romania and is to be deployed in Poland, uses the Mk-41 launcher that is capable of firing intermediate-range Tomahawk missiles. This is a flagrant breach of the INF Treaty. The fact is undeniable. The US accuses Moscow of possessing and testing a ground-launched cruise missile with a range capability of 500 km to 5,500 km (310-3,417 miles), but there has never been any proof to support this claim. Russia has consistently denied the charges. It says the missile in question — the 9M729 — is in compliance with the provisions of the treaty and has never been upgraded or tested for the prohibited range. This is a reasonable assertion. After all, there is no way to prevent such tests from being detected and monitored by satellites. The US could raise the issue with the Special Verification Commission (SVC). Instead it threatens to start a war. This is momentous, because the ambassador’s words were not a botched statement or an offhand comment, but in fact followed another “warning” made by a US official recently. [Russia confrontation] [Belligerence] [Preemptive]
• UK Begged Trump Not To Declassify Russia Docs; Cited "Grave Concerns" Over Steele Involvement
  by Tyler Durden Sun, 09/23/2018 - 21:03 The British government "expressed grave concerns" to the US government over the declassification and release of material related to the Trump-Russia investigation, according to the New York Times. President Trump ordered a wide swath of materials "immediately" declassified "without redaction" on Monday, only to change his mind later in the week by allowing the DOJ Inspector General to review the materials first. The Times reports that the UK's concern was over material which "includes direct references to conversations between American law enforcement officials and Christopher Steele," the former MI6 agent who compiled the infamous "Steele Dossier." The UK's objection, according to former US and British officials, was over revealing Steele's identity in an official document, "regardless of whether he had been named in press reports." We would note, however, that Steele's name was contained within the Nunes Memo - the House Intelligence Committee's majority opinion in the Trump-Russia case. Steele also had extensive contacts with DOJ official Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie, who - along with Steele - was paid by opposition research firm Fusion GPS in the anti-Trump campaign. Trump called for the declassification of FBI notes of interviews with Ohr, which would ostensibly reveal more about his relationship with Steele. Ohr was demoted twice within the Department of Justice for lying about his contacts with Fusion GPS. Perhaps the Brits are also concerned since much of the espionage performed on the Trump campaign was conducted on UK soil throughout 2016. Recall that Trump aid George Papadopoulos was lured to London in March, 2016, where Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud fed him the rumor that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton. I [US_Election16] [Steele] [Russiagate]

---

Return to top of page
SEPTEMBER 2018

• Russia to give Syria S-300 air defense after accusations against Israel
  Polina Nikolskaya, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber Russia said on Monday it would supply an S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria in two weeks despite strong Israeli objections, a week after Moscow accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet in Syria. FILE PHOTO: Russian S-300 anti-missile rocket system move along a central street during a rehearsal for a military parade in Moscow May 4, 2009. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin The White House said it hoped Russia would reconsider the move, which U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton called a “significant escalation” of Syria’s seven-year war. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow had in the past obliged Israel by refraining from providing Syria with the S-300. But last week’s crash, which killed 15 Russian service members, had forced Russia to take “adequate retaliatory measures” to keep its troops safe. “A modern S-300 air defense missile system will be transferred to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks,” he said. The system will “significantly increase the Syrian army’s combat capabilities,” he said. [Russia Syria] [Israel] [S-300]
• Estranged allies draw closer again under pressure from the US
  Tomoyo Ogawa and Oki Nagai, Nikkei staff writers September 14, 2018 20:26 JST Chinese troops march Thursday during joint military exercises with Russia in Eastern Siberia. © AP VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Russia's weeklong military exercises, the largest since the Cold War, feature an unlikely pairing with Chinese forces demonstrating the stronger ties between two powerful nations subject to U.S. pressure. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday conducted an inspection of the Vostok 2018 war games being held in the Siberian territory of Trans-Baikal. There he told the troops "you have demonstrated your military skill, and showed that you can effectively resist potential military threats." Putin then addressed the maiden participation of China's People's Liberation Army. "We will never forget that during the Second World War our countries were allies and fought the aggressor together," said the Russian president. "Today we share an important task of ensuring stability and security across the Eurasian space." [Russia China] [NCW]
• On the Brink with Russia in Syria Again, 5 Years Later
  September 12, 2018 It’s deja-vu all over again in Syria, with the U.S. on the verge of a confrontation with Russia as Donald Trump faces his biggest decision yet as president, comments Ray McGovern. By Ray McGovern Special to Consortium News The New York Times, on September 11, 2013, accommodated Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s desire “to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders” about “recent events surrounding Syria.” Putin’s op-ed in the Times appeared under the title: “A Plea for Caution From Russia.” In it, he warned that a military “strike by the United States against Syria will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders … and unleash a new wave of terrorism. … It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.” Three weeks before Putin’s piece, on August 21, there had been a chemical attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was immediately blamed. There soon emerged, however, ample evidence that the incident was a provocation to bring direct U.S. military involvement against Assad, lest Syrian government forces retain their momentum and defeat the jihadist rebels. [Syria] [False flag] [Putin] [Russia confrontation]
• As Russia launches the biggest war games ever with China, the Pentagon will be watching 'very closely'
  • Russia launches a week of massive military exercises in the far east of the country this week and the Pentagon will be watching the "war games" very closely, a former U.S. national security official told CNBC. • As many as 300,000 Russian troops are expected to take part in large-scale military drills as part of "Vostok 2018," Russia's annual military training exercises taking place between September 11-17. • China and Mongolia are also taking part. Holly Ellyatt | @HollyEllyatt Published 13 Hours Ago Updated 9 Hours Ago CNBC.com Russia launches a week of massive military exercises in the far east of the country this week and the Pentagon will be watching the "war games" very closely, experts told CNBC. As many as 300,000 Russian troops are expected to take part in large-scale military drills as part of "Vostok 2018," Russia's annual military training exercises taking place between September 11-17. Aside from personnel, up to 36,000 tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles will be involved, Russia's Ministry of Defence said in a statement on their website on Tuesday. In addition, over 1,000 aircraft, helicopters and drones, and 80 ships and supply vessels will take part. Vostok 2018 will also see the Russian military practice massive airstrikes and measures against cruise missiles. This year's military exercises, widely known as "war games," are set to be the biggest to take place since 1981 when the Cold War overshadowed international relations. Russia is showing a diplomatic pivot to the east with China this year, with several thousands of its troops, participating in some of the military exercises taking place in the Siberian and the Far Eastern regions of Russia. Mongolia is also sending troops to be involved in the drills. The Pentagon will be watching Russia and China's expanding military capabilities, as well the upcoming "war games," very closely, according to a former U.S. national security official. [Russia confrontation] [Military exercises] [Russia China] [ Double standards]
• Moscow Has Upped the Ante in Syria
  September 9, 2018 As Syrian forces backed by Russia launch the final showdown in Syria against jihadist extremists in Idlib province, the potential for a U.S.-Russia confrontation has never been greater, as VIPS warns in this memo to the president. September 9, 2018 MEMORANDUM FOR: The President FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity SUBJECT: Moscow Has Upped the Ante in Syria Mr. President: We are concerned that you may not have been adequately briefed on the upsurge of hostilities in northwestern Syria, where Syrian armed forces with Russian support have launched a full-out campaign to take back the al-Nusra/al-Qaeda/ISIS-infested province of Idlib. The Syrians will almost certainly succeed, as they did in late 2016 in Aleppo. As in Aleppo, it will mean unspeakable carnage, unless someone finally tells the insurgents theirs is a lost cause. That someone is you. The Israelis, Saudis, and others who want unrest to endure are egging on the insurgents, assuring them that you, Mr. President, will use US forces to protect the insurgents in Idlib, and perhaps also rain hell down on Damascus. We believe that your senior advisers are encouraging the insurgents to think in those terms, and that your most senior aides are taking credit for your recent policy shift from troop withdrawal from Syria to indefinite war. [US Syria policy] [Jihadist] [Russia confrontation] [Trump]
• Judge orders Butina to remain in jail, lashes out at attorneys for missteps
  By Spencer S. Hsu September 10 at 4:01 PM A federal judge on Monday blasted U.S. prosecutors and defense attorneys during a hearing in which the defense sought to have a Russian woman freed on bail pending trial on charges she was a foreign agent attempting to infiltrate the National Rifle Association and other American conservative groups . In ordering continued detention for Maria Butina, 29, U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said Butina remained a serious flight risk. Chutkan also imposed a gag order after slamming prosecutors for their mistaken claim in court filings that Butina traded sex for access and her defense for repeated public statements that the judge said could bias potential jurors. Butina has pleaded not guilty after being indicted July 17 on charges of conspiracy to act and failing to register as an agent of a foreign government. Her defense said she was merely networking to develop relationships with Americans. She is jailed in Alexandria, Va. [Maria Butina] [Hysteria] [Russia confrontation]
• Pentagon sends reinforcements to remote Syria base after Russia threatens attack
  By David S. Cloud and Tracy Wilkinson Sep 07, 2018 | 3:10 PM Syrians use dirt to put out a fire at the scene of a reported airstrike Tuesday in Idlib province. (Zein al Rifai / AFP/Getty Images) More than 100 U.S. Marines were sent as reinforcements to a remote coalition outpost in southern Syria on Friday after Russia threatened to attack militants in the area, the Pentagon said. The troops were flown by helicopter to the base at Tanf — a small town near Syria’s borders with Iraq and Jordan. The base is used by U.S. special forces to train Syrian fighters who are confronting Islamic State militants. Moscow has sent messages to the U.S. in recent days, warning that Russian military and Syrian government units were planning an attack on what they refer to as terrorists near Tanf, U.S. officials said. The Russian threats may be a way of testing U.S. resolve to keep troops in Syria now that President Bashar Assad’s forces, backed by Russian troops and warplanes, have succeeded in defeating rebels everywhere except Idlib province and areas of eastern Syria controlled by the U.S. and its allies. [Russia confrontation] [Proxy] [Jihadist] [Syria]
• [Photo] Xi Jinping and Shinzo Abe to individually meet with Putin at Eastern Economic Forum
  Posted on : Sep.8,2018 15:01 KST Modified on : Sep.8,2018 15:01 KST The 4th Eastern Economic Forum will be held in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sept. 11-13. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are on the list of expected attendees. Both Xi and Abe are scheduled for individual meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss measures related to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and complications in North Korea-US relations. While South Korean President Moon Jae-in will not be attending the forum, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon will be attending in the president’s stead. Kim Yong-jae, Ministry of Foreign Economic Affairs will be attending in place of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The photo shows Xi and Putin at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July 2017.
• Sino-Russia military relations at ‘an all-time high’
  Vostok 2018 ‘war games’ will likely be followed by Joint Sea-2018 naval exercises in the Yellow Sea By Gordon Watts September 5, 2018 7:43 PM (UTC+8) Like most high-ranking military officers, Air Force General Xu Qiliang is direct and to the point. The vice-chairman of China’s powerful Central Military Commission rarely uses six words when one will do. Indeed, ‘blunt’ could be his middle name. Yet Xu left no-one in doubt about the depth and breadth of “Sino-Russian relations” at a high-level meeting with Moscow’s Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu in Beijing earlier this year. “China will continue to strengthen military-to-military relations with Russia to address new security challenges in the world,” he said without mentioning the United States or its NATO and Asian allies. “Relations are now at an all-time high, characterized by deepening strategic mutual trust and expanding cooperation,” Xu told the government-owned website China Military Online. Next week, this blossoming alliance will come together for the Vostok 2018 ‘war games,’ which start on the same day as the Eastern Economic Forum in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok. Military might In the biggest show of Russian military might since the days of the Cold War and the old Soviet Union, more than 300,000 mainly Russian troops, with a contingent of 3,200 personnel from China, will take part in the five-day “exercise,” which begins on Sept. 11. [Russia China] [Military exercises]
• Russia submitted proof of false-flag chemical-weapons plot to OPCW & UN – Lavrov
  Published time: 31 Aug, 2018 16:37 There is “no doubt” that militants are plotting a false-flag chemical-weapons attack in Syria’s Idlib province, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Moscow has provided proof of the plot to the UN and OPCW. “We have presented concrete facts obtained from various sources both to the UN and to The Hague, where the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) headquarters is located,” Lavrov said, while speaking about the risk of a false-flag attack involving the use of chemical weapons in Syria, adding that “these facts are congruent.” Read more A displaced Syrian boy is pictured at Kelbit refugee camp in Idlib province, Syria on January 17, 2018. Russia warns US not to ‘play with fire’ in Syria – Lavrov Lavrov said that “there is no doubt that such provocations are being prepared.” He explained that terrorist groups entrenched in Syria’s northwestern province, including Al-Nusra Front (now known as Tahrir al-Sham), are trying to derail the separation of terrorists from other armed groups “in every possible way.” [Syria] [cbw] [False flag] [Lavrov] [OPCW] [White Helmets] [Nusra]
• Putin Is Sneaking Up on Europe From the South
  The Kremlin understands that the best way to undermine the West is through its soft underbelly—the Middle East. By Steven A. Cook | August 31, 2018, 1:45 PM Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) and Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Korolev (L) watch a terrestrial globe while visiting Russia's Navy Headquarters during Navy Day in Saint Petersburg on July 30, 2017. (ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP/Getty Images) Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) and Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy Vladimir Korolev (L) watch a terrestrial globe while visiting Russia's Navy Headquarters during Navy Day in Saint Petersburg on July 30, 2017. (ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP/Getty Images) The first big battles between the U.S. military and the Wehrmacht during World War II were not actually in Europe. Between Nov. 8 and Nov. 10, 1942, the United States and allied forces landed in Algeria and Morocco. After defeating Vichy French forces, the armies proceeded east to Tunisia to take on the German forces in that country. Why North Africa? Allied military planners had determined that an invasion of France in 1942 was doomed to fail, so plans were made to attack Germany from—as Winston Churchill reportedly remarked—the “soft belly of the Mediterranean.” It was from Tunisia that the invasion of Italy and the long, bloody march to Berlin began. Perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin is a student of history, or maybe he likes maps, but whatever his hobby, he seems to understand geography quite well. The character of Moscow’s influence differs greatly from the old Soviet days when it was collecting client states (except for Russia’s ongoing deployment of force in Syria). But it has been effective—or effective enough—in drawing important allies away from the United States while presenting Russia as a competent, nonideological partner that shares interests with the regional players. Therein lies the central logic to Russia’s Middle East-Europe strategy: establish influence at Washington’s expense, weakening the U.S. position in the region, and in the process apply pressure on Europe via its weak underbelly—in this case to the south and southeast of the European Union. [Russia confrontation] [US Middle East strategy]
• Russia holds up release of report on North Korea sanctions
  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia said Thursday it is holding up release of a report by U.N. experts who said North Korea is violating U.N. sanctions including by not stopping its nuclear and missile programs and by “a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products.” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after a closed Security Council meeting on the report that he was blocking its release “because we disagree on certain elements of the report.” He said Russia also asked for an investigation into regular leaks of reports on North Korea to the media. The Associated Press and other news organizations reported the panel’s latest findings in early August. [UNSC] [Sanctions] [Resistance] [UNUS]

---

Return to top of page
AUGUST 2018

• Lebanon embraces Russia’s refugee initiative for Syria
  Anton Mardasov August 21 On his visit to Moscow, Lebanon's foreign minister expressed support for a Russian initiative on the return of Syrian refugees, but its implementation is easier said than done Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hosted his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil in Moscow Aug. 20. The agenda of the talks included economic partnership, military-technical cooperation, protection of religious and ethnic groups, the situation in Gaza and the relationships between Russia and the Mashriq countries. The main item, however, was Russia’s initiative to return Syrian refugees home from neighboring countries. During the final press conference, Lavrov said that Lebanon should not become a hostage to the Syrian crisis and the problem of refugees. “We have discussed in detail the prospects for strengthening our cooperation on issues related to the safe and dignified return of Syrian citizens home, those who have found temporary refuge on Lebanese soil,” Lavrov said. “Conditions for this have been created and will continue to improve.” [Russia Lebanon] [Syria]
• Russia-led regional payment network could blunt US sanctions on Iran
  Maziar Motamedi August 21, Russia is reportedly expanding on previous talks with Iran to create a regional integrated payment network. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin A board with the currency exchange rates of the US dollar and the euro against the Russian ruble is on display outside a bank branch in Moscow, Russia, April 10, 2018. Russia is reportedly making preparations to establish a regional integrated payment network. Iran understandably wishes to join such an endeavor. But what will such a network look like, what will its implications be for Iran and the region, and how will it be received by other countries, especially the United States? The news of the apparent Russian initiative was first publicized by Aboutaleb Najafi, the CEO of Informatics Services Corporation, an executive arm of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) that was established in 1993 to create and operate Iran's comprehensive banking automation system and payment networks. Najafi did not disclose many details, while media coverage in Russia has been scant. But both sides have previously attested to the necessity of gradually moving away from the US dollar and dealing in national currencies. Other countries such as Turkey have also been named as potential partners to join such an initiative. [Reserve] [Russia Iran]
• Be Careful What You Ask For: Wasting Time with Manafort, Cohen, and Russiagate
  by Jim Kavanagh August 24, 2018 Photograph Source Voice of America | CC BY 2.0 So, Paul Manafort, described by the New York Times as “a longtime lobbyist and political consultant who worked for multiple Republican candidates and presidents,” was convicted of bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account. And Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, pled guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud (making false statements to obtain loans), and breaking campaign finance laws by paying off two women who claimed to have had sexual affairs with Trump. Because Cohen says those payoffs were made at Trump’s direction, that is the one charge that directly implicates Trump. On the basis of the these results, the NYT editorial board insists: “Only a complete fantasist … could continue to claim that this investigation of foreign subversion of an American election, which has already yielded dozens of other indictments and several guilty pleas, is a ‘hoax’ or ‘scam’ or ‘rigged witch hunt.’” Democrats concur, saying the results “put the lie to Mr. Trump’s argument that Mr. Mueller was engaged in a political investigation.” [Russiagate] [Double standards] [Witchhunt]
• The Russians Did It (cont.)
  by William Blum August 21, 2018 Each day I spend about three hours reading the Washington Post. Amongst other things I’m looking for evidence – real, legal, courtroom-quality evidence, or at least something logical and rational – to pin down those awful Russkis for their many recent crimes, from influencing the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election to use of a nerve agent in the UK. But I do not find such evidence. Each day brings headlines like these: “U.S. to add economic sanctions on Russia: Attack with nerve agent on former spy in England forces White House to act” “Is Russia exploiting new Facebook goal?” “Experts: Trump team lacks urgency on Russian threat” These are all from the same day, August 9, which led me to thinking of doing this article, but similar stories can be found any day in the Post and in major newspapers anywhere in America. None of the articles begins to explain how Russia did these things, or even WHY. Motivation appears to have become a lost pursuit in the American mass media. The one thing sometimes mentioned, which I think may have some credibility, is Russia’s preference of Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016. But this doesn’t begin to explain how Russia could pull off any of the electoral magic it’s accused of, which would be feasible only if the United States were a backward, Third World, Banana Republic. [Russia confrontation] [Russiagate] [Media]
• “Kim Jong-un to not attend Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok”
  Posted on : Aug.21,2018 17:20 KST Modified on : Aug.21,2018 17:20 KST Russian government official cites inter-Korean summit as reason for Kim’s absence North Korean leader Kim Jong-un An official from the Russian government has stated that North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un will not attend the Eastern Economic Forum which is to be held from September 11-13 in Vladivostok. In an interview with leading Russian newspaper Izvestia on August 19, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov was asked about Kim’s participation in the Eastern Economic Forum. Ushakov pointed out that the 3rd Inter-Korean summit would be taking place in Pyongyang during this period, adding “For this reason, Chairman Kim and President Moon will not be visiting Russia.” [Summit1809] [Russia Korea]
• Western narratives, proven to be false, have nevertheless brought about a real Russia-West estrangement
  Tony Kevin We have a situation now in which two major world governments, UK and Russia, both nuclear powers and permanent members of the UNSC, are upholding entirely opposed and contradictory narratives on two issues – the alleged Salisbury/Amesbury Novichuk poisonings, and the alleged nerve gas attacks by Assad Government forces on 7 April in Douma, Syria (on basis of false White Helmets-staged evidence). The latter allegation led to a US/UK bombing attack on Syrian Air Force bases. On both issues, the US and French governments – also UNSC members and nuclear powers – have in solidarity supported UK government- sourced narratives , though in the former case there has been no UK judicial process, and in the latter case OPCW inspectors have found no physical evidence of use of nerve agents in Douma , and nor do local people’s accounts support the allegations. In the Salisbury case, OPCW technical reports made public in Moscow on 14 April by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, detailing results of the Skripal samples analysis by the OPCW Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland, support a finding that the Skripals were probably poisoned temporarily with non- lethal BZ toxin , found in the Skripal samples, and that quantities of Novichok (A-234) lethal toxin had twice been added to the samples before they passed from British Govt to OPCW custody, in two clumsy attempts some weeks apart to create a false Novichok chemical trail. Lavrov commented, in strong language for him, that the fact Spiez Lab found these two doses of A-234 in the samples “appears to be utterly suspicious.” [Skripal] [OPCW]
• Caspian Sea Agreement Symptomatic of Wider Geopolitical Changes
  James O’Neill On 12 August 2018 the five littoral states to the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan) signed an historic agreement governing the use of the Caspian Sea. The negotiations had been ongoing for more than 20 years. One of the issues was with the Caspian should be regarded as a sea (it is salty but completely enclosed) or a lake. If the former, then it would be governed by the international law of the sea. If defined as a lake, then the resources would be divided equally between the five States. In the event, the five nations agreed to accord it ‘a special status,’ neither lake nor sea. Whether this unique formulation will be recognised by non-littoral States is an open question. There are several significant elements to the Caspian Sea Convention (CSC) that are worthy of note. The first aspect is the size of the resources at stake. The Caspian Sea basin is known to hold 50 billion barrels of oil in proven reserves, and nearly 9 trillion cubic metres of natural gas. To put that in perspective, the gas reserves are greater then the entire known United States reserves. The agreement signed on 12 August gave each of the five states a 15 nautical mile exclusive territorial zone, plus a further 10 nautical mile exclusive fishing zone. The balance of the sea area was for common use. Its economic development would therefore be a joint exercise with the benefits equally shared. A Caspian Economic Forum was also established to determine, inter alia, the practical means and effects of such cooperation. The second aspect of the agreement relates to security arrangements. All non-littoral States are forbidden to have foreign military bases. This is specifically directed at NATO, which continues its encroachment and attempted encroachment in all nations with proximity to Russia. [Caspian]
• Russia Regrets US Decision to Suspend Open Skies Treaty
  2019 NDAA defunds 2002 treaty to punish Russia Jason Ditz Posted on August 14, 2018 A little discussed portion of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the $716 billion US military spending bill also defunds US participation in Open Skies Treaty. The move was presented as a way to punish Russia. Effective since 2002, the Open Skies Treaty has 34 participants. The treaty allows nations to carry out unarmed surveillance flights over one another’s nations, theoretically to build confidence that none of them are secretly building up military forces. Russian Deputy FM Sergei Ryabkov issued a statement of regret on Tuesday over the US suspension of the treaty. Russian MPs suggested this was a prelude to a new arms race, and would lead to a US arms buildup that dishonoring the treaty is meant to hide. The language in the NDAA demands an assessment of what Russian surveillance flights over the US are for, and claimed such flights could expose certain American counterintelligence “vulnerabilities.” [Russia confrontation] [Open Skies] [Renege] [Tension]
• Putin hopes for early summit with Kim: Pyongyang media
  Posted : 2018-08-15 14:42 Updated : 2018-08-15 16:15 AUGUST 12, 2018: Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attend a meeting of the heads of state of the Caspian Five at the Friendship Palace. TASS-Yonhap Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at an early date, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday. The message was delivered to the North's leader as Putin congratulated North Korea on the 73rd anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "I am satisfied with the fact that the relations between our two states have friendly and constructive characters," Putin was quoted as saying by the KCNA. In this April 27, 2018, file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, poses with South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a photo inside the Peace House at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone, South Korea. AP-Yonhap "I affirm that I am ready to meet you at an early date to discuss urgent issues of bilateral relations and important matters of the region," Putin added. He also voiced hope for developing "reciprocal cooperation," including trilateral economic projects involving the two Koreas and Moscow. In response, Kim sent a message to his Russian counterpart, which highlighted the development of the two nations' friendly relations, the KCNA added. Putin earlier invited Kim to an annual economic forum to be held in Vladivostok in September though the North's leader has yet to reveal his response. The two countries have agreed to hold a summit by the end of 2018. (Yonhap) [Summit] [Russia NK]
• [Photo] Joint inter-Korean performance to be held in Sakhalin, Russia
  Posted on : Aug.14,2018 16:57 KST Modified on : Aug.14,2018 16:57 KST A team of South and North Korean artists has been dispatched to Sakhalin Island, Russia, to partake in a joint performance to commemorate Korea’s Liberation Day, the Inter-Korean Summit, and the forced migration of Korean laborers to Sakhalin under Japanese imperial forces. This will be the first joint inter-Korean performance since the Apr. 27 Inter-Korean Summit and the first one to be held in Sakhalin in 26 years. The inter-Korean joint concert is organized by the Sakhalin Korean Residents Association, and will feature performers from North Korea’s Samjiyon and Moranbong bands and South Korea’s National Gugak Center. (provided by the National Gugak Center) [Joint Korean]
• Russia Finance Minister: We May Abandon Dollar in Oil Trade as It Is Becoming “Too Risky”
  By Zero Hedge Global Research, August 13, 2018 Zero Hedge 12 August 2018 One month ago, the bond market and political pundits did a double take when according to the latest Treasury International Capital report, Russia had liquidated virtually all of its US Treasury holdings, selling off the bulk of its US government bonds in just two months, March and April. And with the US threatening to impose a new set of “crushing” sanctions on Russia, including in retaliation for the alleged Novichok nerve gas attack in the UK, Russia not only intends to continue liquidating its US holdings, but to significantly reduce its reliance on the US Dollar. Speaking in an interview for the Rossiya 1 TV channel, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Russia “aims to keep reducing its investments in American securities” following new U.S. sanctions and said that the “US dollar is becoming an unreliable tool for payments in international trade.” The minister also hinted at the possibility of using national currencies instead of the dollar in oil trade. “I do not rule it out. We have significantly reduced our investment in US assets. In fact, the dollar, which is considered to be the international currency, becomes a risky tool for payments,” Siluanov noted. On Friday, the Russian ruble sank to the lowest level in over two years after news about new US sanctions against Russia over the alleged poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, UK, coupled with general selling of emerging market currencies as a result of the growing Turkish financial crisis. [Reserve]
• Butina Case: Neo-McCarthyism Engulfs America
  By Philip Giraldi Global Research, August 09, 2018 Note to readers: please click the share buttons above The United States Department of Justice would apparently have you believe that the Kremlin sought to subvert the five-million-member strong National Rifle Association (NRA) by having two Russian citizens take out life memberships in the organization with the intention of corrupting it and turning it into a mouthpiece for President Vladimir Putin. Both of the Russians – Maria Butina and Alexander Torshin – have, by the way, long well documented histories as advocates for gun ownership and were founders of Right to Bear Arms, which is not an intelligence front organization of some kind and is rather a genuine lobbying group with an active membership and agenda. Contrary to what has been reported in the mainstream media, Russians can own guns but the licensing and registration procedures are long and complicated, which Right to Bear Arms, modeling itself on the NRA, is seeking to change. Maria Butina, a graduate student at American University, is now in solitary confinement in a federal prison, having been charged with collusion with Torshin and failure to register as an agent of the Russian Federation. It is unusual to arrest and confine someone who has failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, but she has not been granted bail because, as a Russian citizen, she is considered to be a “flight risk,” likely to try to flee the US and return home. It is to be presumed that she is being pressured to identify others involved in her alleged scheme to overthrow American democracy through NRA membership. [Maria Butina] [Russia confrontation] [Hysteria]
• Russia denounces new U.S. sanctions as illegal, mulls retaliation
  Andrew Osborn Russia condemned a new round of U.S. sanctions as illegal on Thursday and said it had begun working on retaliatory measures after news of the curbs pushed the rouble to two-year lows over fears Moscow was locked in a spiral of never-ending sanctions.
  Moscow has been trying with mixed success to improve battered U.S.-Russia ties since Donald Trump won the White House in 2016, and Russia’s political elite was quick to chalk up a summit last month between Trump and Vladimir Putin as a victory [Russia US policy]
• N. Korea planes land in Vladivostok prompting rumors
  Posted : 2018-07-31 16:11 Updated : 2018-07-31 18:33 By Kim Bo-eun Rumors are circulating about the consecutive landing of five North Korean Air Koryo planes at Russia's eastern city of Vladivostok, Monday, which was more than usual. Air Koryo operates just two regular flights between Pyongyang and Vladivostok a week ? one on Monday and one on Friday. However, three Air Koryo Ilyushin-76 cargo aircraft landed in Vladivostok at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Also an IL-62 and Tupolev-154 passenger planes landed at 11 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. the same day. Two of the cargo planes returned to Pyongyang at 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., along with a passenger aircraft that departed at 12:30 p.m. A Vladivostok airport spokesman said Air Koryo was "flying extra flights from the standard passenger ones," according to NK News. It is reportedly rare to use IL-76s for cargo flights between Pyongyang and Vladivostok. One IL-76 is known to transport North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's armored limousine. Speculation arose that the unusual operation of extra flights using the IL-76 could be part of preparations for Kim's visit to Russia. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the North Korean leader to the Eastern Economic Forum to be held in Vladivostok in September. Kim is not known to have responded. Other speculation is that the flights were operated to bring back North Korean workers from Russia, who failed to receive approval for a further stay on new contracts there. Meanwhile, an IL-62 is used by the North Korean leader as a personal plane. [Russia NK]

---

Return to top of page
JULY 2018

• Feds examining suspicious money movements linked to Russian Maria Butina, associates
  By Peter Stone And Greg Gordon July 30, 2018 11:38 AM Federal investigators have traced a number of suspicious financial transactions involving Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist who was arrested July 15; a Republican operative and several obscure companies, people familiar with the matter say. The transactions could help explain why FBI counterintelligence agents kept a close watch over the last two years on Butina, a 29-year-old graduate student who was taken into custody in Washington when investigators suspected she was preparing to leave the country. She is charged with conspiring to covertly serve as a Russian agent seeking to influence the National Rifle Association and other U.S. political groups. McClatchy reported in January that the FBI was investigating whether Butina’s mentor, Alexander Torshin, had funneled money to the NRA in an effort to bolster the group’s financial support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The nation’s leading gun rights lobby was Trump’s biggest financial backer, spending more than $30 million on his behalf and in opposition to Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, an advocate for tougher restrictions on firearms sales. However, it could not be learned whether the suspicious transactions related to the NRA or led investigators to a channel for large movements of money to the group. The NRA has said it received only $2,500 from Russian donors in 2016 and that no foreign money has gone for its election activities, which would have been illegal. [Maria Butina] [Russia confrontation] [Hysteria]
• Russians are everywhere
  Sorry, but I have to ask, are these Russians in the room with us now? [Russia confrontation] [Hysteria] [Humour]
• America’s latest witch-hunt
  Tony Kevin The current Maria Butina indictment in the US reminds one of Voltaire’s famous saying: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. I do not share Maria Butina’s fondness for guns or for the National Rifle Association’s aggressive lobbying for easy public access to guns. Nor would I put up my hand to attend National Prayer Breakfasts in the US. But she seems to be an innocent victim of current Washington elite Russophobia. Maria Butina was keen to develop networks in these major pro- Republican US civil society organisations, especially in the years leading up to Trump’s election in late 2016. She has recently been arrested – on 15 July, one day before the Helsinki Summit – on two grounds : conspiracy (18 USC §371) , and failing to register as an agent of Russian influence (18 USC §951(a) ) . Here are the indictment documents. [Maria Butina] [Russia confrontation] [Hysteria]
• Moon-Strzok No More, Lisa Page Spills the Beans
  July 23, 2018 • 30 Comments Save The meaning of a crucial text message between two FBI officials appears to have been finally explained, and it’s not good news for the Russia-gate faithful, as Ray McGovern explains. By Ray McGovern Special to Consortium News Former FBI attorney Lisa Page has reportedly told a joint committee of the House of Representatives that when FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok texted her on May 19, 2017 saying there was “no big there there,” he meant there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. It was clearly a bad-luck day for Strzok, when on Friday the 13th this month Page gave her explanation of the text to the House Judiciary and Oversight/Government Reform Committees and in effect threw her lover, Strzok, under the bus. Strzok’s apparent admission to Page about there being “no big there there” was reported on Friday by John Solomon in The Hill based on multiple sources who he said were present during Page’s closed door interview. Strzok’s text did not come out of the blue. For the previous ten months he and his FBI subordinates had been trying every-which-way to ferret out some “there” — preferably a big “there” — but had failed miserably. It is appearing more and more likely that there was nothing left for them to do but to make it up out of whole cloth, with the baton then passed to special counsel Robert Mueller. The “no there there” text came just two days after former FBI Director James Comey succeeded in getting his friend Mueller appointed to investigate the alleged collusion that Strzok was all but certain wasn’t there. [Russiagate] [FBI]
• Donald Trump was Elected by Russia? Mass Dementia in the Western Establishment
  Mainstream Media Reaction to Trump-Putin Meeting By Diana Johnstone Global Research, July 20, 2018 Where to begin to analyze the madness of mainstream media in reaction to the Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki? By focusing on the individual, psychology has neglected the problem of mass insanity, which has now overwhelmed the United States establishment, its mass media and most of its copycat European subsidiaries. The individuals may be sane, but as a herd they are ready to leap off the cliff. For the past two years, a particular power group has sought to explain away its loss of power – or rather, its loss of the Presidency, as it still holds a predominance of institutional power – by creation of a myth. Mainstream media is known for its herd behavior, and in this case the editors, commentators, journalists have talked themselves into a story that initially they themselves could hardly take seriously. Donald Trump was elected by Russia? On the face of it, this is preposterous. Okay, the United States can manage to rig elections in Honduras, or Serbia, or even Ukraine, but the United States is a bit too big and complex to leave the choice of the Presidency to a barrage of electronic messages totally unread by most voters. If this were so, Russia wouldn’t need to try to “undermine our democracy”. It would mean that our democracy was already undermined, in tatters, dead. A standing corpse ready to be knocked over by a tweet. Even if, as is alleged without evidence, an army of Russian bots (even bigger than the notorious Israeli army of bots) was besieging social media with its nefarious slanders against poor innocent Hillary Clinton, this could determine an election only in a vacuum, with no other influences in the field. But there was a lot of other stuff going on in the 2016 election, some for Trump and some for Hillary, and Hillary herself scored a crucial own goal by denigrating millions of Americans as “deplorables” because they didn’t fit into her identity politics constituencies. The Russians could do nothing to build support for Trump, and there is not a hint of evidence that they tried. They might have done something to harm Hillary, because there was so much there: the private server emails, the Clinton foundation, the murder of Moammer Gaddafi, the call for a no-fly zone in Syria … they didn’t have to invent it. It was there. So was the hanky panky at the Democratic National Committee, on which the Clintonite accusations focus, perhaps to cause everyone to forget much worse things. [Russiagate] [Media]
• Guardians of the Magnitsky Myth
  July 21, 2018 FROM THE ARCHIVES: In pursuit of Russia-gate, U.S. mainstream media embraces any attack on Russia and works to ensure Americans don’t hear the other side of the story, as with the Magnitsky myth, reported Robert Parry on Oct. 28, 2017. By Robert Parry Special to Consortium News As Russia-gate becomes the go-to excuse to marginalize and suppress independent and dissident media in the United States, a warning of what the future holds is the blacklisting of a documentary that debunks the so-called Magnitsky case. The emerging outlines of the broader suppression are now apparent in moves by major technology companies – under intense political pressure – to unleash algorithms that will hunt down what major media outlets and mainstream “fact-checkers” (with their own checkered histories of getting facts wrong) deem to be “false” and then stigmatize that information with pop-up “warnings” or simply make finding it difficult for readers using major search engines. For those who believe in a meaningful democracy, those tactics may be troubling enough, but the Magnitsky case, an opening shot in the New Cold War with Russia, has demonstrated how aggressively the Western powers-that-be behave toward even well-reported investigative projects that unearth inconvenient truth. Throughout the U.S. and Europe, there has been determined effort to prevent the American and European publics from seeing this detailed documentary that dissects the fraudulent claims at the heart of the Magnitsky story. The documentary – “The Magnitsky Act: Behind the Scenes” – was produced by filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov, who is known as a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin but who in this instance found the West’s widely accepted, anti-Russian Magnitsky storyline to be a lie. However, instead of welcoming Nekrasov’s discoveries as an important part of the debate over the West’s policies toward Russia, the European Parliament pulled the plug on a premiere in Brussels and – except for a one-time showing at the Newseum in Washington – very few Americans have been allowed to see the documentary. Instead, we’re fed a steady diet of the frothy myth whipped up by hedge-fund investor William Browder: Buys silence. Browder and sold to the U.S. and European governments as the basis for sanctioning Russian officials. For years now, Browder has been given a free hand to spin his dog-ate-my-homework explanation about how some of his firms got involved a $230 million tax fraud in Russia. Browder insists that some “corrupt” Russian police officers stole his companies’ corporate seals and masterminded a convoluted conspiracy. But why anyone would trust a hedge-fund operator who got rich exploiting Russia’s loose business standards is hard to comprehend. The answer is that Browder has used his money and political influence to scare off and silence anyone who dares point to the glaring contradictions and logical gaps in his elaborate confection. [Magnitsky Act] [Browder] [Russia confrontation]
• Pentagon sending $200 million in nonlethal aid to Ukraine in move expected to rile Moscow
  By Lucas Tomlinson | Fox News U.S. Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis addresses a news conference during a NATO defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 15, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir - RC11E611BC10 The Pentagon announced Friday it would send $200 million in nonlethal military aid to Ukraine -- a move likely to anger Moscow just days after President Trump held a summit in Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The American military hardware being shipped to Ukraine includes “secure communications, military mobility, night vision, and military medical treatment, according to Maj. Sheryll Klinkel, a Pentagon spokesperson. [Russia confrontation] [Ukraine] [Arms] [Repression]
• American Scholars Say The Real Threat To The U.S. Is Russophobia
  Two American foreign policy experts, Stephen F. Cohen and John Mearsheimer, both say they are afraid anti-Russia sentiment in the U.S. will tank Trump's efforts. Posted July 20, 2018 [Russia confrontation] [Video]
• When Did Russia Become an Adversary?
  by Gary Leupp July 16, 2018 Photo by Alexei Kuznetsov | CC BY 2.0 “Russia is an adversary.” How many times have we heard this lately? Perhaps in some schoolmarmish reminder from a CNN, MSNBC or Fox anchor. Everybody’s just supposed to know this. But when did it become received wisdom? How many times did we hear that Russia was an adversary in the 1990s, when Boris Yeltsin ruled over the Russian Federation, presiding over a bleak decade of economic downward spiral, banning the Communist Party (1991-93), bombarding the Duma building in 1993 during a constitutional crisis, colluding with the U.S. to fix the 1996 Russian presidential election, tolerating repeated U.S./NATO interventions in former Russian ally Yugoslavia from 1994 to 1999, welcoming Harvard Business School advisors to Moscow to reform the Russian economy? (Oops, I must remind myself that my current university students were for the most part born in the late 90s. So they might not remember hearing much about Russia at all.) Actually we didn’t as I recall hear anything at all about enmity with Russia. Russia had gone from being the hulking Eurasian brown bear of the Cold War era to the cuddly teddy bear of a drunken buffoon, Boris Yeltsin. Russia was not an enemy but a pathetic foil, the other superpower experiencing abject defeat as the U.S. asserted “full-spectrum dominance” during the “American Century” of the 2000s, an object of amusement by those crowing over the U.S.’s (imagined) victory in the Cold War. Russia was not an adversary when, following the 9/11 attacks, Yeltsin’s successor Vladimir Putin offered NATO a transport route through Russia to supply the alliance in its Afghan War. I don’t recall hearing any official announcement to the effect that Russia had been judged an adversary at that point—by anyone I respect, anyway. Was it in June 1999 when the Russian Army moved to secure Pristina Airport in Kosovo, at the end of NATO’s aggressive campaign in the Serbian province? This incident strikes me not as a provocation but as a measured move and pointed statement to NATO (the anti-Soviet military alliance that refuses to fold as the Warsaw Pact did in 1990, and which has increasingly become a tool of U.S. imperialism) that Russia too retains historical interests in the Balkans. [Russia confrontation] [History]
• Ukraine’s anti-Roma pogroms ignored as Russia blamed for far right resurgence
  Max Parry Hate crimes against Ukraine’s Roma community are on the rise with concern growing among human rights groups. Last month, former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a lecture at Trinity College Dublin made remarks condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin, blaming him for the resurgence of far right politics in the European Union and United States. Clinton stated that Putin… …has positioned himself as the leader of an authoritarian, white-supremacist and xenophobic movement that wants to break up the EU, weaken America’s traditional alliances and undermine democracy. We can see this authoritarian movement rippling out from the Kremlin, reaching across Europe and beyond. It’s emboldening right-wing nationalists, separatists, racists and even neo-Nazis.“ Before addressing the deceitfulness of her comments, the one part of them that is true needs to be recognized. At this point, it is universally acknowledged that there is a significant revival in far-right and neo-Nazi political activity being experienced in America and across the EU. It is also increasingly present in other countries such as India and Turkey, and even Brazil’s current leading candidate for President is being called a fascist. However, not only is Putin’s more traditional conservatism not in line with the rabidly anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant orientations mobilizing in the West, according to a recent study the actual determinant of such activity is historically contingent with austerity implemented by neo-liberals like Mrs. Clinton. There is also one country in Europe facing a regrowth of far right nationalism which throws her narrative about Russia into disarray when considered. While not yet an EU member, the Ukraine was promised a still pending entry into the trade bloc and has undergone the same drift towards fascism. Recently, hate crimes committed by ultra nationalist gangs against its large Roma community have become increasingly widespread to the point where Human Rights Watch, an organization often politicized with a pro-Western bias, has even voiced concern. Forced evictions and violence against the Romani have been occurring under the post-Maidan authorities since 2014, but the attacks have sharply escalated in recent months. HRW reports that: [Ukraine]
• A Call to Ease Tensions Between the Nuclear Superpowers
  July 11, 2018 With Donald Trump about to meet Vladimir Putin in their first summit on July 16, prominent academics, journalists, politicians and activists call for a lessening of dangerous tensions between the two nuclear powers. An Open Letter: Common Ground For Secure Elections and True National Security Many Americans remain deeply concerned about reports of Russian interference with the 2016 election. Meanwhile, relations between the United States and Russia are at their lowest and most dangerous point in several decades. For the sake of democracy at home and true national security, we must reach common ground to safeguard common interests—taking steps to protect the nation’s elections and to prevent war between the world’s two nuclear superpowers. Whatever the truth of varied charges that Russia interfered with the election, there should be no doubt that America’s digital-age infrastructure for the electoral process is in urgent need of protection. The overarching fact remains that the system is vulnerable to would-be hackers based anywhere. Solutions will require a much higher level of security for everything from voter-registration records to tabulation of ballots with verifiable paper trails. As a nation, we must fortify our election system against unlawful intrusions as well as official policies of voter suppression. At the same time, the U.S. and Russian governments show numerous signs of being on a collision course. Diplomacy has given way to hostility and reciprocal consular expulsions, along with dozens of near-miss military encounters in Syria and in skies above Europe. Both sides are plunging ahead with major new weapons development programs. In contrast to prior eras, there is now an alarming lack of standard procedures to keep the armed forces of both countries in sufficient communication to prevent an escalation that could lead to conventional or even nuclear attack. These tensions are festering between two nations with large quantities of nuclear weapons on virtual hair-trigger alert; yet the current partisan fixations in Washington are ignoring the dangers to global stability and, ultimately, human survival. The United States should implement a pronounced shift in approach toward Russia. No political advantage, real or imagined, could possibly compensate for the consequences if even a fraction of U.S. and Russian arsenals were to be utilized in a thermonuclear exchange. The tacit pretense that the worsening of U.S.-Russian relations does not worsen the odds of survival for the next generations is profoundly false. Concrete steps can and must be taken to ease tensions between the nuclear superpowers. Andrew Bacevich, Professor Emeritus, Boston University Phyllis Bennis, Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies Noam Chomsky, Professor, Author, and Activist Stephen F. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies and Politics, NYU and Princeton University, and Board Member, American Committee for East-West Accord John Dean, Former Nixon White House Counsel Phil Donahue, Journalist and Talk-Show Pioneer Thomas Drake, Former NSA Senior Executive and Whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg, Activist, “Pentagon Papers” Whistle-blower, and Author of The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Jack Matlock, Former US Ambassador to the USSR and Board Member, American Committee for East-West Accord Walter Mosley, Writer and Screenwriter Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize–Winning Novelist Frances Fox Piven, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, CUNY Graduate School Valerie Plame, Former Covert CIA Operations Officer and Author Adolph Reed Jr., Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania Bill Richardson, Former Governor of New Mexico Patricia Schroeder, Former Congresswoman Norman Solomon, National Coordinator, RootsAction.org Gloria Steinem, Writer and Feminist Organizer Adlai Stevenson III, Former US Senator and Chairman, Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor and Publisher, The Nation Alice Walker, Writer, Poet, and Activist Jody Williams, Professor and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate James Zogby, President, Arab American Institute Signers have endorsed this Open Letter as individuals and not on behalf of any organization. The Letter originally appeared in The Nation magazine. [Trump_Putin_July18] [Peace effort]
• Kim Jong-un's Plane Spotted in Vladivostok
  By Kim Myong-song July 10, 2018 09:28 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's private plane has been spotted in the Siberian port of Vladivostok. According to tracking website Flightradar24, Kim's plane arrived in Vladivostok on Monday morning and returned to North Korea three hours later. The plane flew over North Korea without using a call sign until it reached the East Sea. The elderly Ilyushin 62M aircraft was not used to take Kim to Singapore and China last month because it can only cover short distances. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's private plane arrives at Incheon International Airport, in this photo taken in February. Kim has not been seen in public since visiting factories in Sinuiju early this month, raising speculation that he may have flown to Russia. He missed a friendly basketball match with South Korean players last week and did not meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the weekend. He also seems to have missed a ceremony at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on Sunday commemorating the 24th anniversary of the death of nation founder Kim Il-sung, or at least state media did not say he was there. But a Unification Ministry official said if the plane returned within just three hours "there is very little chance of Kim Jong-il being on board. Considering that the plane landed in Vladivostok, the trip appears to be related to the upcoming Eastern Economic Forum in September." Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Kim to the forum, and lower-ranking officials may have used the plane to prepare for his visit. [Russia NK]
• At World Cup, Russians embrace the world, one relationship at a time
  by Amie Ferris-Rotman July 9 at 11:46 AM A couple kiss on the Insar riverside during World Cup festivities in Saransk. (Francisco Seco/Associated Press) MOSCOW — For Katya, a 20-year-old student in the Russian capital, encountering the world at large came way of a young Mexican engineer named Axel. The pair met in a crowded Moscow bar halfway through the World Cup, when Axel’s national team, Mexico, was still in with a chance. “The first thing I noticed was how he looked different from anyone I’ve met,” says Katya, who, like others in this story, only gave her first name. Axel, 25, had never been to Russia before. “I was scared my dark skin would get me into trouble.” He beams at his new girlfriend. “But it’s been great. I don’t feel like I am in Russia.” [Russia confrontation] [Media] [World Cup 2018]
• John Bolton: No one should have ‘a case of the vapors’ over Trump’s summit with Putin
  by David Nakamura July 1 at 9:44 AM Email the author National security adviser John Bolton listens as President Trump speaks at the White House on May 22. (Oliver Contreras/Bloomberg News) BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — National security adviser John Bolton on Sunday defended President Trump's decision to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki this month as a way to get beyond the “political noise” that has consumed Washington over the ongoing investigation of Russian election interference. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Bolton said the summit would be “somewhat unstructured,” especially during the leaders' one-on-one time, to avoid “the pressure of immediate deadlines or crises.” “He wants to understand the Russian position, but, more importantly, he wants Putin to understand our position,” Bolton said. “Let them discuss these issues and see exactly where there might be room for progress or where we find there is no room at all.” [Trump_Putin_July18] [Bolton]

---

Return to top of page
JUNE 2018

• Did Sen. Warner and Comey ‘Collude’ on Russia-gate?
  June 27, 2018 The U.S. was in talks for a deal with Julian Assange but then FBI Director James Comey ordered an end to negotiations after Assange offered to prove Russia was not involved in the DNC leak, as Ray McGovern explains. By Ray McGovern Special to Consortium News An explosive report by investigative journalist John Solomon on the opinion page of Monday’s edition of The Hill sheds a bright light on how Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and then-FBI Director James Comey collaborated to prevent WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange from discussing “technical evidence ruling out certain parties [read Russia]” in the controversial leak of Democratic Party emails to WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. A deal that was being discussed last year between Assange and U.S. government officials would have given Assange “limited immunity” to allow him to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has been exiled for six years. In exchange, Assange would agree to limit through redactions “some classified CIA information he might release in the future,” according to Solomon, who cited “interviews and a trove of internal DOJ documents turned over to Senate investigators.” Solomon even provided a copy of the draft immunity deal with Assange. But Comey’s intervention to stop the negotiations with Assange ultimately ruined the deal, Solomon says, quoting “multiple sources.” With the prospective agreement thrown into serious doubt, Assange “unleashed a series of leaks that U.S. officials say damaged their cyber warfare capabilities for a long time to come.” These were the Vault 7 releases, which led then CIA Director Mike Pompeo to call WikiLeaks “a hostile intelligence service.” [Assange] [DNC] [Russiagate] [FBI]
• 4 Signposts of American Collapse Which Also Occurred in the USSR
  "Having witnessed one collapse, and now witnessing another, the one approach I would definitely not recommend is doing nothing and hoping for the best." Dmitry Orlov Tue, Jun 19, 2018 | 9,100 142 Orlov is one of our favorite essayists on Russia and all sorts of other things. He moved to the US as a child, and lives in the Boston area. He is one of the better-known thinkers The New Yorker has dubbed 'The Dystopians' in an excellent 2009 profile, along with James Howard Kunstler, another regular contributor to RI (archive). These theorists believe that modern society is headed for a jarring and painful crack-up. He is best known for his 2011 book comparing Soviet and American collapse (he thinks America's will be worse). He is a prolific author on a wide array of subjects, and you can see his work by searching him on Amazon. He has a large following on the web, and on Patreon, and we urge you to support him there, as Russia Insider does. His current project is organizing the production of affordable house boats for living on. He lives on a boat himself. If you haven't discovered his work yet, please take a look at his archive of articles on RI. They are a real treasure, full of invaluable insight into both the US and Russia and how they are related. In thinking through the (for now) gradually unfolding collapse of the American empire, the collapse of the USSR, which occurred close through three decades ago, continues to perform as a goldmine of useful examples and analogies. Certain events that occurred during the Soviet collapse can serve as useful signposts in the American one, allowing us to formulate better guesses about the timing of events that can suddenly turn a gradual collapse into a precipitous one. When the Soviet collapse occurred, the universal reaction was “Who could have known?” Well, I knew. I distinctly remember a conversation I had with a surgeon in the summer of 1990, right as I was going under the knife to get my appendix excised, waiting for the anesthesia to kick in. He asked me about what will happen to the Soviet republics, Armenia in particular. I told him that they will be independent in less than a year. He looked positively shocked. I was off by a couple of months. I hope to be able to call the American collapse with the same degree of precision. [Collapse]
• Confession of a Putin-Nazi Denialist
  CJ Hopkins, The Consent Factory Last week, I published an inappropriate and deeply offensive satirical essay, for which I would now like to repeatedly apologize. The offensive satirical essay in question, Awaiting the Putin-Nazi Apocalypse, which I regret having written and for which I intend to repeatedly apologize throughout this essay, concerned what I perceived, at the time I wrote it, as an overreaction on the part of millions of decent, patriotic liberals to the first eighteen months of Donald Trump’s presidency and Vladimir Putin’s ongoing efforts to destroy democracy and take over the world. In light of recent revelations, and repeated viewings of heartbreaking close-up color photos of children in cages, I feel it incumbent on myself to confess what I recognize now as my part in spreading the scourge of Putin-Nazism that is metastasizing like a hideous Slavic colon cancer throughout our great nation, and to repeatedly apologize for having been an apologist for such Hitlerian evil, as well as any discomfort my Putin-Nazi Denialism might have caused anyone. In addition to repeatedly apologizing for any emotional or psychological discomfort or trauma my essay may have caused, I would like to attempt to explain why I wrote it, not to in any way excuse myself, but rather, in the hope that other political satirists might learn from my mistake, and stop and think about the consequences of going after cheap, easy laughs while hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being rounded up by the American gestapo and shipped off to concentration camps to be horribly murdered with poison gas, and experimented on by sadistic doctors, or just slowly starved and worked to death … which is obviously nothing to joke about. [Satire] [Russia confrontation]
• Moon Addresses Russian Parliament
  By Jeong Woo-sang June 22, 2018 11:00 President Moon Jae-in kicked off his state visit to Moscow on Thursday by becoming the first Korean leader to make a speech at the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament. "A major change is taking place on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said referring to a flurry of diplomacy with North Korea. "Now, the South, North and U.S. are putting the dark period of war and hostility behind them and heading toward an era of peace and cooperation," he added. "When a peace regime is established on the Korean Peninsula, economic cooperation between the South and North Korea will take off and will be expanded to three-way cooperation with Russia," Moon said. Lawmakers gave Moon a 30-second standing ovation after his 20-minute speech. He then met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and holds a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. [Russia SK] [Moon Jae-in]
• Moon, Putin to hold bilateral summit this week: Cheong Wa Dae
  2018/06/18 17:03 SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in will make a state visit to Russia this week for a bilateral summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and meetings with other Russian leaders, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. The summit will be held in Moscow on Thursday, shortly after Moon arrives there on a three-day visit, according to Cheong Wa Dae. It will mark Moon's first trip to the Russian capital since taking office in May 2017, as well as the first state visit to Russia by a South Korean president since 1999. [Russia SK] [Moon-Putin]
• Russia's Nord Stream II Pipeline Is Ukraine's Worst Nightmare
  Ariel Cohen , Contributor I cover energy, security, Europe, Russia/Eurasia & the Middle East Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Gazprom Proposed Nord Stream II route. Ukraine is Russia’s gateway into European gas markets. Of the 193 billion cubic meters (bcm) Russia’s state-owned Gazprom pumped westward in 2017 – nearly 40 percent of Europe’s total supply – 93 bcm transited via Ukraine. Moscow, however, wants to change that, diminishing Ukraine’s transit role. Kyiv, on the other hand, hopes to maintain the current arrangement, as transit revenues contribute some USD 2-3 billion annually to the Ukrainian economy (roughly 3 percent of GDP) and act as a buffer against further Russian aggression. The poor state of Ukraine’s energy sector, which is beset by aging infrastructure, overregulation, uncompetitive pricing, and limited diversity of supply, means that Ukraine is economically and strategically reliant on the Russian gas transit, and is buying Russian-sourced gas and coal despite the state of belligerency between Kyiv and Moscow. [Russia confrontation] [Ukraine] [Gas] [Nord Stream]
• John Bolton was paid $115,000 to participate in two panels sponsored by foundation of Ukrainian steel magnate
  National security adviser John Bolton said at one of the panels that Trump “doesn’t care as much about policy as other American presidents have.” (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News) by David A. Fahrenthold June 12 Email the author National security adviser John Bolton was paid $115,000 in the past year to participate in two panel discussions sponsored by the foundation of an Ukrainian steel magnate — including one in Kiev last September, during which Bolton reassured the audience that President Trump would not radically change U.S. foreign policy. “The notion that [Trump’s election] is going to represent a dramatic break in foreign policy is just wrong,” Bolton said, responding to a question from a British interviewer. “Calm down, for God’s sake,” he continued. Bolton’s appearances at the Kiev event and at another event in Munich this February were paid for by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, according a financial disclosure form released Monday by the White House. [Bolton] [Continuity] [Corruption] [Russia confrontation]
• The Faked Assassination of Arkady Babchenko
  by Patrick Cockburn June 4, 2018 The faked assassination of Arkady Babchenko is a bizarre affair which has intriguing features similar to the murder of another journalist in Ukraine 18 years ago. The difference is that this previous killing was all too real, but in both cases the Ukrainian government and its security services showed the same weird capacity to discredit themselves by engaging in ill-conceived plots always likely to do them more harm than good. [Babchenko]
• Spooks Spooking Themselves
  May 31, 2018 As the role of a well-connected group of British and U.S. intelligence agents begins to emerge, new suspicions are growing about what hand they may have had in weaving the Russia-gate story, as Daniel Lazare explains. By Daniel Lazare Special to Consortium News With the news that a Cambridge academic-cum-spy named Stefan Halper infiltrated the Trump campaign, the role of the intelligence agencies in shaping the great Russiagate saga is at last coming into focus. It’s looking more and more massive. The intelligence agencies initiated reports that Donald Trump was colluding with Russia, they nurtured them and helped them grow, and then they spread the word to the press and key government officials. Reportedly, they even tried to use these reports to force Trump to step down prior to his inauguration. Although the corporate press accuses Trump of conspiring with Russia to stop Hillary Clinton, the reverse now seems to be the case: the Obama administration intelligence agencies worked with Clinton to block “Siberian candidate” Trump. The template was provided by ex-MI6 Director Richard Dearlove, Halper’s friend and business partner. Sitting in winged chairs in London’s venerable Garrick Club, according toThe Washington Post, Dearlove told fellow MI6 veteran Christopher Steele, author of the famous “golden showers” opposition research dossier, that Trump “reminded him of a predicament he had faced years earlier, when he was chief of station for British intelligence in Washington and alerted US authorities to British information that a vice presidential hopeful had once been in communication with the Kremlin.” Apparently, one word from the Brits was enough to make the candidate in question step down. When that didn’t work with Trump, Dearlove and his colleagues ratcheted up the pressure to make him see the light. A major scandal was thus born – or, rather, a very questionable scandal. Besides Dearlove, Steele, and Halper, a bon-vivant known as “The Walrus” for his impressive girth, other participants include: Robert Hannigan, former director Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, UK equivalent of the NSA. Alexander Downer, top Australian diplomat. Andrew Wood, ex-British ambassador to Moscow. Joseph Mifsud, Maltese academic. James Clapper, ex-US Director of National Intelligence. John Brennan, former CIA Director (and now NBC News analyst). [Russiagate]
• Russia censures Iran, expects Israel to help restore ties with US
  Vladimir Putin surprised many at the event known as Russia’s Davos with his comments on the Iran nuclear deal and Russia's relations with the US By M.K. BHADRAKUMAR JUNE 1, 2018 12:02 PM (UTC+8) The annual meeting of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum – dubbed as “Russia’s Davos” – on May 25, which traditionally promotes foreign investment in the Russian economy, ended this time around as a major political event signaling a renewed bid by President Vladimir Putin for détente with the West. In wide-ranging remarks at the forum, Putin made an explicit overture to Washington for dialogue. The US decision to quit the Iran nuclear deal was the leitmotif of the Q&A at St Petersburg – which are generally choreographed by the Kremlin in advance – and Putin seized the opportunity to articulate a highly nuanced position on the topic with an eye on the overall Russian-American relationship. Unsurprisingly, Putin criticized the US’ rejection of the Iran nuclear deal as a unilateralist move which would have [Putin] [Israel] [Russia Middle East Strategy] [Iran]
• ‘Dead’ Russian Journalist Appears at News Conference in Ukraine
  Journalist Says He Faked His Death Back from the dead. Arkady Babchenko, a dissident Russian journalist, at a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, on Wednesday. He said his “death” was part of a sting operation.Published OnMay 30, 2018CreditImage by Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press By Neil MacFarquhar May 30, 2018 MOSCOW — The assassination bore all the hallmarks of yet another contract killing carried out in the murky shadows of the conflict pitting Russia against Ukraine. A photo of the victim, a dissident Russian journalist, showed him lying face down Tuesday in a vermilion pool of his own blood. He was found by his wife, and died on the way to a hospital from multiple gunshot wounds to the back, said the police in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital. Then on Wednesday, the journalist, Arkady Babchenko, to all appearances very much alive, walked into a news conference that Ukrainian security officials had called to discuss his “murder.” “First of all, I would like to apologize that all of you had to live through this, because I know the horrible feeling when you have to bury your colleagues,” Mr. Babchenko told stunned reporters after the gasps died down. “Separately, I want to apologize to my wife for all the hell she had to go through.” The staged death, said Vasily S. Gritsak, the head of the Ukraine Security Service, was a sting operation aimed at stopping a real assassination plot against Mr. Babchenko. [Ukraine] [Russia confrontation]
• Russia's foreign minister is headed to North Korea
  By Jamie Tarabay, CNN Updated 0847 GMT (1647 HKT) May 30, 2018 North Korean official reportedly heading to US (CNN)Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit North Korea on Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, the latest move in Pyongyang's push for diplomatic rapprochement. Lavrov is expected to discuss not only the situation in the Korean peninsula and the wider region, but also the relationship between the two countries, according to the ministry. His visit comes as North Korea, the US and South Korea intensify efforts towards convening a historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, American officials crossed the demilitarized zone into North Korea to meet with officials there, South Korean media reported, purportedly to discuss the substance of any talks should they occur. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho had extended an invitation to Lavrov to visit the country on a trip to Moscow on April 10. The long-time Russian foreign minister has previously traveled to Pyongyang, including in 2009 during an earlier round of negotiations on North Korean disarmament. There were no discussions during the April 10 meeting of either Russian President Vladimir Putin or North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visiting each other's capitals, Lavrov said at the time, but added that both leaders "regularly exchange statements." Shuttle diplomacy ramps up North Korean and US officials have been spotted in Singapore, ostensibly planning the logistics of the event which was scheduled for June 12 in the city-state until Trump called it off last week. He has not said definitively that the summit was back on, but the shuttle diplomacy between the three nations to find common ground has been a positive signal to observers that it will go ahead. Shadowy figures behind North Korean diplomacy As Lavrov arrives in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un's right-hand man Kim Yong Chul will be in New York meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump confirmed Kim's travel in a tweet on Tuesday, and said the trip was a "solid response" to his letter from last week to Kim Jong Un. In his letter Trump had decried the "tremendous anger and open hostility" seen in statements out of North Korea, but also said he looked "very much forward to meeting" Kim Jong Un. The forging of a relationship with the US has North Korean allies like China and Russia concerned that it would hinder their influence and standing with Pyongyang. Putin had criticized Trump's decision to cancel the summit, telling reporters last week that "we in Russia view it with regret because we really counted on this very significant step toward the de-escalation of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and that this will be the beginning to the whole process of denuclearization." [Lavrov_PY18] [Russia NK]
• Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov accepts invitation to visit North Korea
  By Nada Bashir, Lauren Kent and Ben Westcott, CNN Updated 1158 GMT (1958 HKT) April 10, 2018 (CNN)Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Pyongyang after accepting a formal invitation from the country's top diplomat, the latest in a series of outreaches by North Korea. "We are very happy about the invitation which we have received to visit Pyongyang," Lavrov said Tuesday after a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Moscow. But there is no word on a possible future summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Lavrov said while there had been no discussions about either leader visiting the other's capital during his talks with Ri, both Kim and Putin "regularly exchange statements." The long-time Russian foreign minister has previously visited Pyongyang, including in 2009 during an earlier round of negotiations on North Korean disarmament. [Lavrov_PY18] [Russia NK]
• Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to visit North Korea ahead of Trump-Kim summit
  Kremlin's chief diplomat will meet counterpart in Pyongyang to discuss situation on Korean peninsula Tom Embury-Dennis Russian foreign minister to visit North Korea ahead of Trump-Kim summit Popular videos Russia's foreign minister is to visit North Korea to hold talks with his counterpart about the situation on the Korean peninsula, the Kremlin says. Sergei Lavrov's visit on Thursday comes ahead of a planned summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un on North Korean denuclearisation next month. The foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday that Mr Lavrov would hold talks with North Korea's foreign policy chief to discuss bilateral issues as well as the overall issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula. [Lavrov_PY18] [Russia NK]
• Ultimatums, Pressure Policies in N Korean Situation Destined to Fail – Lavrov
  © Sputnik / Grigoriy Sisoev 09:38 30.05.2018(updated 11:46 30.05.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay an official visit to North Korea on Thursday and will discuss bilateral relations, the situation around the Korean Peninsula and international agenda with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that he would discuss situation in the region and bilateral relations during his visit to North Korea. "The purpose of this visit, just like any other, is to discuss bilateral relations with our partners and address the situation in the relevant region of the world," Lavrov said at the Primakov Readings international think tank summit. Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday expressed hope that talks between North Korea and the United States will bear fruit. "We support the ongoing changes in relations between the two Koreas, in the relations between Pyongyang and Washington. And we very much hope that these negotiations, which were announced, and which are now confirmed as appointed, will not result in ultimatums," Lavrov said. The minister noted that Russia was involved in the six-party talks on the North Korean issue, pointing out that the settlement of the crisis on the Korean Peninsula would inevitably require the resumption of this multilateral negotiation process with the participation of all six member-countries. Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Lavrov's visit to North Korea was scheduled for Thursday. According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the Russian minister will pay a visit to the country at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier stated that Pyongyang needs more security guarantees if the world hopes to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. [Lavrov_PY18] [Russia NK]

---

Return to top of page
MAY 2018

• Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s upcoming visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
  1046-30-05-2018 en-GB1 ru-RU1 On May 31, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay an official visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The foreign ministers are to hold talks in which topical issues on the bilateral agenda will be discussed. They will also exchange views on the situation around the Korean Peninsula and other key international and regional issues. [Russia NK] [Kim_Trump_talks18]
• Russian Foreign Minister Will Visit North Korea for Talks
  By Mairead McArdle May 30, 2018 8:39 AM The Russian foreign minister will visit North Korea for talks on Thursday. Sergey Lavrov will meet with North Korea’s foreign policy chief, Ri Yong Ho, to discuss issues important to both of them as well as those relating to the entire Korean Peninsula, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
  Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Trump’s decision to cancel the summit, saying he viewed the move with “regret.” “Kim Jong Un on his part did everything he promised to do, even blew up some tunnels on their sites and after this we hear the U.S. is canceling the meeting,” Putin said. North Korea destroyed several nuclear facilities and returned three captive American citizens to the U.S. as a sign of good faith prior to the summit. “We hope very much that dialogue will be revitalized, renewed, because without that we can’t hope for any kind of significant progress in solving this extraordinarily important issue,” Putin said. [Russia NK] [Kim_Trump_talks18] [KT_summit_cancellation] [Putin] [Lavrov]
• MH17: “New evidence”, same issues
  Nearly four years since the incident, and over two years since they last reported any progress, the MH17 Joint Investigative Team (JIT) have held a press conference. To underline their previous position – they still think Russia did it. The timing of this statement could be seen as very politically convenient for the NATO allies and the Kiev regime. The West would have you believe that the proximity to the World Cup is purely coincidental. Whilst those suggesting that this is a great cover for Ukraine’s renewed shelling of separatists regions in the Donbass will surely be dismissed as “apologists” or “cynics”. None of that is really the issue though. Whether they truly have “new evidence”, or whether this is just a rehash of discredited Bellingcat nonsense, is immaterial. If the politically convenient timing is a coincidence or a stunt does not matter. The most important point is that the JIT is fatally and irredeemably flawed. The JIT, made up of investigators from Australia, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Ukraine…but not Russia, has obvious credibility problems from the outset. The presence of Ukrainian investigators instantly means the end of objectivity. You can’t have an impartial investigation when one of the main suspects is doing the investigation. That’s simple common sense. It’s not just the presence of the Ukrainian investigators that taints the JIT’s findings either. The four countries involved have signed a joint non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which states that none of their evidence can be made public unless ALL FOUR of the national governments agree. Essentially, Ukraine have a veto on whether any single bit of evidence they find ever sees the light of day. This is absurd. [MH17]
• Russia still has role on Korean Peninsula issues
  Posted : 2018-05-26 10:20 Updated : 2018-05-26 16:45 By Hwang Jae-ho Dr. Victoria V. Panova The Moon Jae-in government has three main foreign policies: the "New Economic Map," based on cooperation with North Korea; the "New Southern Policy," focusing on Southeast Asia and South Asia, and the "New Northern Policy," which concerns Russia and Central Asia. In terms of promoting the "New Northern Policy" into serious progress, President Moon has established the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation and attended the New Eastern Economic Forum conducted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok last September. Next month, Moon is planning to meet Putin at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, where issues regarding North Korea and South Korean-Russian economic cooperation will be discussed. Here, Dr. Victoria V. Panova, Vice President for International Relations at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) in Vladivostok, gives her view on Korean-Russian relations in this email interview. [Russia SK]
• Making Excuses for Russiagate
  May 18, 2018 As months turn into nearly two years and no solid evidence emerges to nail Russia for nabbing Election 2016, some big Russia-gate cheerleaders are starting to cover their tracks, as Daniel Lazare explains. By Daniel Lazare The best evidence that Russia-gate is sinking beneath the waves is the way those pushing the pseudo-scandal are now busily covering their tracks. The Guardian complains that “as the inquiry has expanded and dominated the news agenda over the last year, the real issues of people’s lives are in danger of being drowned out by obsessive cable television coverage of the Russia investigation” – as if The Guardian’s own coverage hasn’t been every bit as obsessive as anything CNN has come up with. The Washington Post, second to none when it comes to painting Putin as a real-life Lord Voldemort, now says that Special counsel Robert Mueller “faces a particular challenge maintaining the confidence of the citizenry” as his investigation enters its second year – although it’s sticking to its guns that the problem is not the inquiry itself, but “the regular attacks he faces from President Trump, who has decried the probe as a ‘witch hunt.’” [Russiagate]
• U.S. jets intercept pair of Russian bombers off Alaskan coast
  by Alex Horton May 12 at 10:44 AM Two U.S. fighter jets were called to escort two Russian bombers away from international airspace 200 miles off the Alaskan west coast May 11. (Reuters) Two Russian long-range bombers were intercepted off the coast of Alaska by a pair of F-22 Raptor fighter jets on Friday, the military said. The Tu-95 bombers were flying in the Air Defense Identification Zone in the Bering Sea north of the Aleutian Islands, where they were visually identified and shadowed by the U.S. jets at 10 a.m., said Navy Capt. Scott Miller, a North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman. The bombers did not enter North American sovereign airspace, he said in a statement. [Russia confrontation] [Media] [Hype] [ADIZ]
  • Can You Really See Russia From Alaska? Yes, but only the boring parts.
    By Nina Rastogi In her Sept. 11 interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson, Sarah Palin had this to say about Russia: "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." Is that true? Yes. Russia and Alaska are divided by the Bering Strait, which is about 55 miles at its narrowest point. In the middle of the Bering Strait are two small, sparsely populated islands: Big Diomede, which sits in Russian territory, and Little Diomede, which is part of the United States. At their closest, these two islands are a little less than two and a half miles apart, which means that, on a clear day, you can definitely see one from the other. The Diomede Islands are often blanketed by persistent fog, which makes visibility difficult. On a clear day, though, a person standing at sea level can see a little less than three miles across the ocean. You can see farther if you go higher—at the highest altitude on Little Diomede (919 feet), you can see for about 37 miles. (Between mid-December and mid-June, when the water between the two islands freezes, an intrepid explorer can just walk from one to the other.) [Geography]
• Russia, after Netanyahu visit, backs off Syria S-300 missile supplies
  Andrew Osborn Russia is not in talks with the Syrian government about supplying advanced S-300 ground-to-air missiles and does not think they are needed, the Izvestia daily cited a top Kremlin aide as saying on Friday, in an apparent U-turn by Moscow. FILE PHOTO: An S-300 air defense missile system launches a missile during the Keys to the Sky competition at the International Army Games 2017 at the Ashuluk shooting range outside Astrakhan, Russia August 5, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo The comments, by Vladimir Kozhin, an aide to President Vladimir Putin who oversees Russian military assistance to other countries, follow a visit to Moscow by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, who has been lobbying Putin hard not to transfer the missiles. Russia last month hinted it would supply the weapons to President Bashar al-Assad, over Israeli objections, after Western military strikes on Syria. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the strikes had removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold the missiles and Russia’s Kommersant daily cited unnamed military sources as saying deliveries might begin imminently. But Kozhin’s comments, released so soon after Netanyahu’s Moscow talks with Putin, suggest the Israeli leader’s lobbying efforts have, for the time being, paid off. [Russia Syria] [Israel] [S-300]
• Putin comes out with a ‘Russia First’ strategy
  Amid a host of domestic development programs, a renewed effort to repair Russia’s relations with the West may be on the cards By M.K. Bhadrakumar May 11, 2018 Vladimir Putin during a service at the Kremlin's Cathedral of the Annunciation conducted by Patriarch Kirill after being sworn in as President of Russia on May 07, 2018. Photo: AFP/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/Anadolu Agency Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia’s new president at a grand ceremony in the Kremlin on Monday. As his fourth term begins – which may also be his last term – speculation is rife about the composition of the new Russian government. Chronic Russia watchers are absolutely certain that Putin’s nominees for top government posts – to be announced by May 15 – will give clues about his priorities on the policy front. However, Putin may have ended their suspense already with a presidential decree titled “Russia for the People” issued within hours of being sworn in as president. The decree consolidates his vision of the economic and social development of Russia and is projected as his top priority. One may call it Putin’s strategy of “Russia First.” But Putin’s strategy is radically different from his US counterpart’s “America First.” For a start, it is far more sweeping in its scope with developmental programs embracing healthcare, education, demographics, housing and urban development, international cooperation and exports, labor productivity, SMEs, roads and infrastructure, ecology, digital economy, science and culture. The ambitious goals include making Russia one of five largest economies globally by 2024. In terms of nominal GDP, Russia now ranks 13th in world ranking, while in terms of total purchasing power parity, it is ranked sixth, after China, the US, India, Japan and Germany. Other goals outlined in Putin’s strategy include extending the life expectancy in Russia to 78 years by 2024, from the present 71, and to 80 years by 2030, and halving the number of Russians in poverty, now estimated at 20 million, keeping productivity growth at 5% and maintaining GDP growth at a pace faster than the global average. [Putin] [Russia development strategy]
• N.Korea, Russia Plan Border Bridge
  By Lee Kil-seong May 08, 2018 11:46 North Korea and Russia plan to build a bridge across the Tumen River that runs through their border and are set to start negotiations next month. U.S. news service NK News on Friday said Aleksandr Krutikov, a deputy minister for development of Siberia, said that North Korea will provide the labor and Russia the equipment and materials. At present, the only link over the Tumen River connecting the two countries is a rail bridge that was built in 1959. The two sides discussed the project during talks in Pyongyang in March. North Korea's Deputy Premier Ro Tu-chol told Alexandr Galushka, Russia's Far East development minister, "There are 23 automobile checkpoints between North Korea and China, and none with Russia." Ro pointed out that products made in Siberia therefore have to be transported through China, and the bridge could make trade much easier. After the meeting, the Russian government set up a working group to deal with the construction of the bridge. Meanwhile, North Korea's exports to China rose to $11.8 million in March after plunging to $8.8 million in February due to tougher international sanctions, according to Voice of America. [Bridge] [Trade] [Russia NK]
• Russia: A U.S. exit doesn’t mean end of nuclear accord
  May 5, 2018 Vladimir Yermakov, the director general of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, said on Friday that a U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, does not necessarily mean the end of the deal. “It might even be easier for us on the economic front, because we won’t have any limits on economic cooperation with Iran. We would develop bilateral relations in all areas – energy, transport, high tech, medicine,” Reuters quoted him as saying. Yermakov noted, “If the United States breaks an international agreement backed by UN Security Council resolutions, it will be the United States that should suffer the consequences. Neither Iran nor China nor Russia nor the European states should lose out.” Russia would continue to uphold its obligations under the deal, he added. Elsewhere, he said that if the U.S. pulled out, there was no question of discussing new UN Security Council sanctions on Iran. [Iran deal]
• US Navy resurrects Second Fleet in Atlantic to counter Russia
  • 8 hours ago The US Navy has said it will re-establish its Second Fleet, as Russia becomes more assertive. Chief of Naval Operations Adm John Richardson said the fleet, disbanded in 2011, would oversee forces on the US East Coast and North Atlantic. He said the National Defense Strategy, published earlier this year, made it clear that the era of great power competition had returned. The strategy makes countering Russia and China a priority. The fleet, which was disbanded for cost-saving and structural reasons, will be based in its previous home - Norfolk, Virginia. [Russia confrontation] [Seapower]
• Video: The Art of War: US Fleet with 1000 Missiles in the Mediterranean
  By Manlio Dinucci The US aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, which set sail from the world’s largest naval base in Norfolk (Virginia), entered the Mediterranean with its strike group. The strike group consists of the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy and the guided-missile destroyers USS Farragut, USS Forrest Sherman, USS Bulkeley, and USS Arleigh Burke. Two others, USS Jason Dunham and USS The Sullivans, will rejoin the strike group at a later date. German destroyer FGS Hessen is added to the Truman strike group. The fleet, with more than 8,000 men on board, has an enormous firepower. The Truman – a supercarrier 300 meters long, equipped with two nuclear reactors – can launch 90 fighters and helicopters in consecutive waves. Its strike group, supplemented by 4 destroyers already in the Mediterranean and some submarines, can launch over 1,000 cruise missiles. The US Naval Forces Europe-Africa – whose headquarters are located in Naples-Capodichino while the base of the Sixth Fleet is located in Gaeta – are thus strengthened. They are under the orders of the same admiral (currently James Foggo) who commands the Allied Joint Force Command Naples at Lago Patria. The deployment of the US fleet in the Mediterranean is part of the overall strengthening of US forces in Europe, under the orders of the same general (currently Curtis Scaparrotti) who holds the position of Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In a congressional hearing, Scaparrotti explains the reason for the strengthening of US forces in Europe. What he presents is a real war scenario: he accuses Russia of carrying out “a campaign of destabilization to change the international order, fracture NATO and undermine US leadership around the world”. After “the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia and its destabilization of Eastern Ukraine”, the United States, which deploys over 60,000 troops in European Nato countries, has increased its posture in Europe by deploying an armored brigade combat team and a combat aviation brigade, and by pre-positioning equipment for additional armored brigade combat teams. At the same time the US doubled its maritime deployments to the Black Sea. To strengthen its forces in Europe, the United States spent more than 16 billion dollars in five years. At the same time the US pushed the European allies to increase their military spending by 46 billion dollars in three years to strengthen the NATO deployment against Russia. This is part of the strategy launched by Washington in 2014 with the putsch of Maidan and the consequent attack on the Russians of Ukraine: making Europe the first line of a new cold war to strengthen the US influence on its allies and hinder Eurasian cooperation. The NATO foreign ministers reaffirmed their consent on April 27, preparing a further expansion of NATO to the East against Russia through the entry of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Georgia and Ukraine. This strategy requires an adequate preparation of public opinion. To this end, Scaparrotti accuses Russia of “using political provocation, spreading disinformation and undermining democratic institutions” even in Italy. He then announces that “the US and NATO counter Russian misinformation with truthful and transparent information”. In their wake, the European Commission announces a series of measures against fake news, accusing Russia of using “disinformation in its war strategy”. It is to be expected that NATO and the EU will censor what is published here, by decreeing that the US fleet in the Mediterranean is a fake news spread by Russia in its “war strategy”. [Russia confrontation] [IO]
• Popular Putin prepares for Cold War 2.0
  As US-led Western hostility against Moscow mounts, Vladimir Putin's new government is bound to be a war cabinet By Pepe Escobar May 4, 2018 Immediately after his official inauguration on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to announce a new government. And a bombshell is in the making. The new cabinet is bound to be a Stavka: that is, a war cabinet. In the context of the interminable Russiagate saga, increasingly harsh US sanctions, the Skripal charade (which, incidentally, has totally disappeared from the Western news cycle), and the serious escalation in Syria – in contrast to the Russia-Iran-Turkey attempt at a peace process in Astana – that’s an all but inevitable option chosen by the Kremlin. As early as four years ago former military officer Yevgeny Krutikov, a columnist for Vzglyad, exposed what constituted Russian red lines for the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Ukraine, Georgia, Finland, Sweden, “unfriendly actions of Lithuania and Poland” against the Kaliningrad enclave and navigation in the Baltic, and last but not least, the Arctic, “almost the ideal of all available bases for launching a first strike, both by nuclear weapons and high-precision, strategic non-nuclear arms.” Yet the new, absolute red line is Syria – as recently delineated by the Russian Defense Ministry: Any attack on Russian assets or personnel will be met with a devastating response. [Putin] [Resurgence] [Election]
• US/Russian competition: Russia at bay.
  By khakis5_wp 05/05/2018 “The man, who sold the bear’s skin while the bear yet lived, was killed in hunting him.” Russian proverb. Introduction: In our neighbourhood there lives a thug we have nick-named Godzilla. He supplements his living by pushing lethal materials into the community and by providing protection and extortion services for the deep-state criminals that employ him. When required, and with impunity, he kills. Recreation for Godzilla is to climb the fence into the local school playground and make the children hand over their lunch-boxes. Occasionally recalcitrant and foolish children, such as Castro, Allende, Chavez, Gadhafi, Saddam, Assad and Kim have refused to hand over their goodies. They have duly earned a beating and been crippled and/or left for dead. Meanwhile, the other children look on in awe. They either do nothing to draw attention to themselves, or utter words of encouragement in the hope that the flattery will dissuade the thug from pillaging their own lunch boxes. Some of them have gone even further in the hope that, if they actually join in and restrain some of Godzilla’s victims, while he robs them, he might let them share some of his spoils. It is a great living and lots of unchallenged fun that the thug has enjoyed. And then one slightly bigger boy has started to stand up to him. It now looks as though this asking-for-it martyr might gather a small cluster of other resisters around him. Godzilla’s reptilian brain sees only one solution to that problem. The Competition: The competition between Russia and the USA is striking in its one-sidedness: [Russia confrontation]
• Russian military spending falls, could affect operations: think-tank
  Reuters Staff Russian military spending fell by a fifth last year, its first decline in nearly two decades, with tighter purse-strings likely to affect Moscow’s military activity ahead, a report by defense think-tank SIPRI showed on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Russian military helicopters fly in formation over navy ships of the Baltic Fleet seen on the Neva River during a rehearsal for the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, Russia July 28, 2017. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo Russia has flexed its military muscles during the last few years with its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and deep involvement in the Syrian conflict serving as examples of its more belligerent stance. But while global military spending rose one percent to $1,739 billion last year, Russia’s fell 20 percent in real terms to $66.3 billion, the report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) showed. [Military expenditure]
• The Downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 and the New Cold War with Russia
  By Prof. Kees van der Pijl Global Research, April 30, 2018 On 17 July 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was brought down over eastern Ukraine, a few minutes before it would have crossed into Russian airspace on its journey from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The incident, killing all on board, occurred six months after Ukrainian ultra-nationalists had seized power in Kiev with Western support, triggering the secession of Crimea and a Russian-Ukrainian insurgency in the Donbass (Donetsk and Lugansk provinces). In my forthcoming book Flight MH17, Ukraine and the New Cold War. Prism of Disaster (Manchester University Press, June), which will also come out in a German translation with PapyRossa in Cologne and a Portuguese one with Fino Traço publishers in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, I challenge the Western narrative on what happened that day. [MH17] [Ukraine] [Russia confrontation] [NCW]
• Turning on Russia
  April 29, 2018 In this first of a two-part series, Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould trace the origins of the neoconservative targeting of Russia. By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel last September reported that, “Stanley Fischer, the 73–year-old vice chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, is familiar with the decline of the world’s rich. He spent his childhood and youth in the British protectorate of Rhodesia… before going to London in the early 1960s for his university studies. There, he experienced first-hand the unravelling of the British Empire… Now an American citizen, Fischer is currently witnessing another major power taking its leave of the world stage… the United States is losing its status as a global hegemonic power, he said recently… The U.S. political system could take the world in a very dangerous direction…” [Russia confrontation] [History]

---

Return to top of page
APRIL 2018

• Can Russia and South Korea coerce cooperation on the Peninsula?
  27 April 2018 Author: Anthony V Rinna, Sino-NK Strengthening trilateral economic ties between North Korea, Russia and South Korea has been one of the earliest foreign policy goals of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s government. Four months after Seoul’s initial outreach to Moscow to discuss strengthening commercial relations with Russia and North Korea, Moon unveiled his ‘New Northern policy’. The policy includes increased mutual economic exchange between Russia and South Korea, with the hopes of slowly integrating the North into the fold as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in attend a session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, 7 September 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin). Moon’s plans to develop trilateral commercial relations have drawn praise from pro-unification groups within South Korean civil society, who have highlighted the historic economic connection between the Korean Peninsula and Russia. South Korea’s interest in pursuing economic collaboration with the North and the Russian Federation coincides well with Moscow’s interests. After fluctuations in Moscow’s relations with both Pyongyang and Seoul during the 1990s and early 2000s, Moscow has strived to work in a balanced fashion with two separate political entities on the Peninsula. [Russia SK]
• Russia slammed for 'stunt' bringing Douma residents to OPCW
  Agence-France Presse27 April 2018 Syrians testified to members of the global chemical arms watchdog that the alleged chemical attack in Douma was staged. The Russian-organised meeting was dismissed as an "obscene masquerade" by the French ambassador Russia came under fire Thursday accused of organising an "obscene masquerade" by bringing a group of Syrians to the OPCW to back claims that there was no chemical attack on Douma. The group, including a young boy named Hassan Diab, testified to members of the global chemical arms watchdog in The Hague that the April 7 incident in the town had been staged. Experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are currently in Syria to probe the alleged chlorine or sarin gas attack on Douma. [Douma] [OPCW] [EWA] [Hypocrisy] [Chutzpah] [France]
• Just When You Thought “Russiagate” Couldn’t Get Any Sillier …
  by Thomas Knapp April 20 is cannabis culture’s high holiday, and the Democratic National Committee celebrated it with fervor this year: Blaze up, get silly, file a bizarre lawsuit accusing the Russian government, Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and transparency activist group WikiLeaks of conspiring to steal an election. The suit confirms that after more than a year, special counsel Robert Mueller still hasn’t amassed the evidence required for a successful criminal prosecution, requiring proof “beyond a reasonable doubt.” A civil suit lowers that bar to “a preponderance of the evidence.” But even that’s a long shot. The only credible evidence produced so far implicates only the Trump campaign, not the other two defendants, and only to the same extent that it likewise implicates the Clinton campaign. That is, both campaigns admittedly tried to tap “Kremlin-connected” sources (defined as “anyone who’s ever been in Moscow”) for dirt on their opponents. [Russiagate] [DNC] [Litigation] [Evidence]
• Sergei and the “Divinely Appointed” Stalin
  A new article has just been published in Social Sciences – download here. Entitled “Sergei and the ‘Divinely Appointed’ Stalin: Theology and Ecclesiology in Church-State Relations in the Soviet Union in the Lead-up to the Cold War,” it deals with material that I could cover only briefly in the book on Stalin. The abstract is as follows: In contrast to the tendency to focus on political and social reasons for the rapprochement between the Soviet government and the Russian Orthodox Church, between Stalin and the later patriarch Sergei, this article deals with theological and ecclesiological sensibilities. One would expect such reasons from the side of the church but I also argue that they were important for Stalin’s considerations and acts. His deep awareness and intimate knowledge of the church, and active involvement and concrete proposals in the long interaction between church and state, were as important as those of Sergei. The article begins with a reconsideration of Stalin’s period of theological study, which influenced him deeply and provided with him unique insights into the nature of the church. After this period, an intriguing path unfolds, through key categories of Stalin’s thought thought and his effort—which was strongly opposed – to include the article on religious freedom in the 1936 constitution, let alone the definition of socialism (in contrast to communism) in terms of two biblical verses in the very same constitution. At the same time, the statements and actions of Sergei, already from 1927, were also part of the narrative, so the analysis moves between church and state until the meeting in 1943. All of this is crucial material for understanding developments in the period officially known as the Cold War. And as a teaser, I quote part of the final paragraph, where Patriarch Sergei and then his successor, Aleksii, speak of Stalin in the following terms (I leave out the Russian here): Stalin, they write, is “deeply revered” and “beloved by all,” is a “wise, divinely appointed leader,” who had become so through “God’s Providence.” Indeed, they express feelings of “deep love and gratitude” for his “constant, wise attention to Her [the Church’s] needs.” [Stalin] [Church State relations] [Orthodox]
• John Bolton chaired anti-Muslim Think Tank That Spread Fake News With Help of Russian Trolls
  Trump's national security adviser was chairman of the Gatestone Institute - a group that warned of a looming 'jihadist takeover' of Europe leading to a 'Great White Death' John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, was the head of a nonprofit organization that “promotes misleading and false anti-Muslim news, some of which was amplified by a Russian troll factory,” NBC News reported on Monday. The Gatestone Institute, a New York-based advocacy group, employs authors who appeared on Russian state-run media, including Sputnik and RT News, criticizing mainstream European leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron. [Bolton] [Russia confrontation] [Troll]
• America is still unprepared for a Russian attack on our elections
  By Editorial Board April 22 at 6:57 PM AS THIS year’s midterm elections approach, the country is still unprepared for another Russian attack on the vote, and President Trump continues to send mixed signals — at best — about what he would do if the Kremlin launched an even more aggressive interference campaign than the one that roiled the 2016 presidential race. In last month’s omnibus spending bill, Congress set aside more than $300 million for states to invest in hardening their election infrastructure. They have a lot to do. New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks election technology and procedures nationwide, reports that most states are using electronic voting machines that are at least a decade old, many running antiquated software that may not be regularly updated for new security threats. Though most states recognize that they must replace obsolete machines, not much has changed since 2016. [Russia confrontation] [Election] [Anti-Trump] [Hysteria]
• Frustrated at visa holdup, Russians give up on American vacations
  by Amie Ferris-Rotman April 22 at 5:45 PM Email the author MOSCOW — Russians wanting a glimpse of the American Dream now have to wait. Or not go at all. Escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington are putting a damper on Russians’ vacation plans, catching ordinary people in a diplomatic crossfire that has distinct Cold War overtones. A year ago, obtaining a U.S. tourist visa could take less than a week. Now, it comes with an eight-month delay. “I am waiting for a miracle to happen. Maybe tomorrow Russia and the United States will decide they are friends, all staff will come back to the embassy, and I’ll get my visa,” said Mohamed Torky, executive chef at a Holiday Inn in northern Moscow. Torky had planned a July vacation to the United States, to see fabled Las Vegas and eat steaks in Texas. He even thought of fulfilling his childhood dream of driving a Ford Mustang on American highways. But instead, he’ll be vacationing in nearby Georgia, or Egypt. The 32-year-old is furious. “Putin doesn’t suffer, Trump doesn’t suffer, but people like me suffer,” he said, referring to the Russian and American presidents. [Russia confrontation] [Tourism] [Counterproductive]
• Russian pranksters fool Nikki Haley in call about fake country
  By Bob Fredericks December 28, 2017 A couple of Russian funnymen prank-called US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley by posing as a Polish government official. Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov posted a video in which a woman who the cutups said was Haley thought she was speaking with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the [Charleston] Post and Courier reported. “Let me start with very much thanking you for the support we received on the vote today. We will never forget it,” the gullible Haley told the phony PM. Poland was one of 35 countries who abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
  The phony Morawiecki also asked Haley about the fictional island of Binomo in the South China Sea.
  
  “You know Binomo?” he asked.
  
  “Yes, yes,” Haley replied.
  
  “They had elections and we suppose Russians had its intervention,” the comic said.
  
  “Yes, of course they did, absolutely. We’ve been watching that very closely, and I think we will continue to watch that as we deal with the issues that keep coming up about the South China Sea,” she answered. He then asked Haley what the US was going to do about it. “Let me find out exactly what our stance is on that, and what if anything the US is doing or thinks should be done, and I will report back to you on that as well,” she said. Haley’s spokesman John Degory told the paper, “We have nothing to share on that at this time.” [Nikki Haley] [Hoax] [Russia confrontation]
• Russia takes low-key approach to West's strike on Syria
  Maxim A. Suchkov April 16, 2018 The United States and Russia appear to have coordinated with each other on how to minimize repercussions from the Syrian strike. MOSCOW — The US-Russia standoff over Syria that held the world in suspense for more than a week appears to have ended with a series of strikes Saturday by the United States, UK and France. The strikes targeted facilities associated with Syria's presumed chemical weapons capabilities and, according to the Pentagon, will set back the Syrian chemical weapons program “for years.” In Moscow, the attacks were met with what could be considered “mild outrage." The Kremlin issued a statement calling the strike “an act of aggression against a sovereign state that is on the frontline in the fight against terrorism.” It said, “The current escalation around Syria is destructive for the entire system of international relations.” [Attack180414] [Symbol] [Face] [Inversion]
• Island Russia
  by Paul Robinson, April 10, 2018 Vladislav Surkov, long considered an important ideological figure within the ‘Putin regime’, has previously been described as a ‘relative Westernizer’ among Vladimir Putin’s advisors. But even he is apparently now fed up with the West. In an article published [on April 9] in Russia in Global Affairs, Surkov declares that Russia is neither of the West nor of the East. Instead it stands alone. The events of 2014 (the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine) marked a turning point, Surkov argues, the completion of Russia’s epic journey to the West, the end of numerous fruitless attempts to become part of Western civilization, to join the “good family” of European peoples. From 2014 onwards, a new long era, the epoch of 14+, stretches into a future in which we will experience a hundred (two hundred? three hundred?) years of geopolitical loneliness. Surkov states that for the past 400 years, the Russian elite have tried to Westernize their country, following whatever trend seemed to be most in fashion in the rest of Europe, be it socialism a hundred years ago or the ideology of the free market in the 1990s. None of this has led the West to accept Russia as one of its own. The problem, says Surkov, is that Despite the external similarities of the Russian and European cultural models, their softwares are incompatible and their connectors dissimilar. You can’t make a common system out of them.
• As lies on Syrian gas attack unravel, US and UK shift to claims of Russian “cyber war”
  By Will Morrow 18 April 2018 On Monday, the US and British intelligence agencies released a joint report charging Moscow with unspecified “cyber warfare” against the West. The American media was filled with hysterical warnings that Russia may have hacked “millions” of personal devices as well as critical infrastructure. The tenor of the media coverage was epitomized by the New York Times, which labelled the intelligence agencies’ report a “computer-age version of a Cold War air raid drill, but asking citizens to upgrade their password rather than duck and cover.” The coordinated campaign comes amid the unravelling of the official pretext for Friday night’s illegal US-British-French bombing of Russia’s ally Syria—the claim that the Assad government carried out a chemical weapons attack in eastern Ghouta on April 7. On Sunday, the Independent published an on-the-spot report by well-known veteran journalist Robert Fisk, an expert on Middle East policy, who visited Douma, the town in Ghouta where a gas attack supposedly occurred. [Russia confrontation]
• Russian ambassador to UK presser on eve of “allied” strikes on Damascus
  April 13 2018 Ruptly broadcast of the presser held by Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alexander Yakovenko on Friday, April 13 regarding the alleged Skripal poisoning and the alleged chemical weapon attack on Douma. Worth watching for the video comparison of Tony Blair, lying about WMDs in 2003 to promote war in Iraq, and proclaiming his support for war in Syria in 2108, based on the lies about the certitude of Russian culpability promulgated by the current UK govt. The statement took place the day after the release of the report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which backed the U.K.’s assessment that a military-grade nerve agent was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. The US/UK/French air strikes took place the night of 13-14 April, just hours after this [Skripal] [Douma]
• China must walk the talk and support Russia
  by Ghassan Kadi , The Saker, April 12, 2018 This article was written before the most recent missile attack on Syria, carried out by the US, France, and the UK. Its argument retains relevance. When Chinese Defence Minister, General Wei Fenghe visited Moscow on the 4th of April 2018 and made his historic comment that he was in Moscow to give a message to America that China stands by Russia (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-04/chinas-new-defence-chief-visits-russia-to-send-a-message-to-us/9616216), he put China in a new and unprecedented global position, because China had never made such direct statements about the USA since the early days of Chairman Mao; and that was a long time ago, when China was not an industrial power and an aspiring global power, and long before the rift between the USSR and Mao’s China began. A lot has changed since, and neither Russia nor China are today what they used to be a few decades ago, and as they changed, matured and developed, their relationship vis-à-vis each other and the United States seem to have gone the full circle. Today’s China and Russia are friends and allies; not only by the virtue that they both are desirous to change the unipolar so-called “New World Order” status of the world, but also because they have a huge number of issues that unite their national interests. [China Russia]
• Russia's Putin predicts global 'chaos' if West hits Syria again
  Jack Stubbs, Laila Bassam Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Sunday that further Western attacks on Syria would bring chaos to world affairs, as Washington prepared to increase pressure on Russia with new economic sanctions. In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, Putin and Rouhani agreed that the Western strikes had damaged the chances of achieving a political resolution in the seven-year Syria conflict, according to a Kremlin statement. “Vladimir Putin, in particular, stressed that if such actions committed in violation of the U.N. Charter continue, then it will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations,” the Kremlin statement said. [Putin] [UNUS] [Legality] [US Syria policy]
• U.S. Military Killed 'A Couple Hundred' Russians In Syria Airstrikes, Pompeo Says As Trump Considers New Attack
  By Tom O'Connor On 4/12/18 at 2:13 PM Mike Pompeo, the CIA director nominated to be secretary of state, told lawmakers Thursday that the U.S. killed up to 200 Russians in airstrikes conducted against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in February. U.S. officials have so far remained silent about the number of casualties inflicted by a coalition assault on pro-Syrian government fighters that the Pentagon claimed opened fire on Syrian Democratic Forces in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Both a U.S.-led coalition and the Russia-backed forces supportive of Assad are battling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in the region, but recent tensions have produced fears of a conflict erupting between Washington and Moscow. "In Syria, now, a handful of weeks ago, the Russians met their match. A couple hundred Russians were killed," Pompeo said during his confirmation hearing in Washington. [Russia confrontation] [US Syria policy] [Pompeo]
• Russia prepares for nuclear war with US
  Newsweek Cristina Maza 12 hrs ago Russian state-owned television is urging the country’s residents to stock their bunkers with water and basic foodstuffs because Moscow could go to war with Washington. Warning that the potential conflict between the two superpowers would be “catastrophic,” an anchor for Russia’s Vesti 24 showed off shelves of food, recommending that people buy salt, oatmeal and other products that can last a long time on the shelves. Powdered milk lasts five years while sugar and rice can last up to eight years, the newscaster explained before showing videos of pasta cooking in a bomb shelter. The channel's newscasters also displayed charts explaining how much water people need to store for drinking, washing their face and hands, and preparing food every day—and how that amount changes depending on the temperature of a person’s bomb shelter. The program also recommended that people stock up on gas masks and read guides on how to survive nuclear war. [US Russia war] [Media] [Inversion]
• Fears of a U.S.-Russia conflict recede as Trump, Moscow and Macron dial back the rhetoric
  Buses carry rebels and their families who left Douma in Syria on Thursday. (Omar Sanadiki/Reuters) By Liz Sly and Anton Troianovski April 12 at 2:04 PM Email the author BEIRUT — Fears that a major war could be imminent eased across the Middle East on Thursday after a flurry of tweets and statements by world leaders that suggested that they are looking for ways to de-escalate the sky-high tensions of recent days. U.S.-led military strikes in retaliation for the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons against a Damascus suburb last weekend remained a distinct possibility, but there were indications that efforts to head off a global confrontation are gathering momentum. In Moscow, the Kremlin sought to tamp down fears of a looming conflict with the United States by signaling for the first time in days that it might not carry out threats to retaliate against a U.S. strike. “We still believe that it is very necessary to avoid any steps which can trigger an escalation in tensions in Syria,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We believe that this could have a very destructive impact on the entire Syrian settlement.” [US Syria policy] [Russia confrontation] [Media] [Saving face] [Backdown] [False balance] [Mattis]
• The coastal area of Syria was closed for exercises of the Russian Navy
  There is an update from 12:31? april 11, 2018 The Kremlin was urged not to rely on "ephemeral" media sources when assessing the situation in Syria Moscow. 11 April. INTERFAX.RU - Russian Navy ships, starting from April 11, will conduct exercises near the coast of Syria, follows from the international notification for aviation personnel (NOTAM) and navigational warning for seafarers. The reports contain the coordinates of the closed area, as well as the conduct of training shooting there. The training area, located in the international waters of the Mediterranean, is adjacent to the sea border of Syria. It will be closed on 11-12, 17-19 and 25-26 April from 10 to 18 Moscow time. Currently, as part of the permanent operational connection of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, there are about 15 warships and vessels providing the Black Sea Fleet, including the carriers of the Caliber cruise missiles Frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen, as well as submarines that repeatedly struck at the targets of terrorists in Syria. [Russia Syria] [Warning]
• Don't worry, the US would win a nuclear war with Russia
  by Tom Rogan | March 30, 2018 01:11 PM The U.S. has better potential to get more nuclear warheads onto Russian targets than Russia could get onto U.S. targets. (PHIL SANDLIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS) Do not be alarmed by Russia's announcement of production on a new nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile. While the ICBM, RS-28 Sarmat, will likely be operational within the next few years, it will not change the nuclear strike balance of power in Russia's favor. In a nuclear war with Russia, U.S. victory would remain the most likely outcome. That's primarily because the U.S. has better potential to get more nuclear warheads onto Russian targets than Russia could get onto U.S. targets. The extension here is that while both nations retain a triad of nuclear strike forces -- ICBM-armed ground bases, aircraft, and submarines -- Russia would struggle to utilize the aircraft and submarine components effectively. For a start, Russia's strategic bomber force is aged and nonstealth in nature. While the Russians are attempting to upgrade these capabilities, they are a long way from being able to rival U.S.-equivalent platforms such as the B-2 bomber. Correspondingly, in the event of war, Russian strategic bombers would find themselves highly vulnerable to detection, interception, and destruction by U.S. fighter interceptors. Similarly, Russian nuclear strategic submarine, or SSBN, forces are also less adept than their U.S. counterparts. Yes, the Russians have developed a relatively new class of SSBN, the Borei class, but that program has been delayed repeatedly and only three boats are currently operational. While the Russian Navy has ten other SSBNs, all those boats were built in the Soviet era and they struggle with maintenance issues. They are also loud. That matters in better enabling U.S. intelligence services to monitor the location of Russia's SSBN force at all times. In war, this would enable U.S. Virginia class attack submarines to hunt and kill the Russian fleet before they reached their launch patrol sectors. In a crisis, the U.S. would surge its attack submarines to ensure redundant capability. [US Russia war] [Nuclear war] [Military balance]
• N.Korean FM Visits Russia
  Arirang News April 10, 2018 09:16 North Korea's foreign minister is in Moscow for a three-day stay. On Tuesday, Ri Yong-ho meets his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss a range of bilateral and international topics, focusing mainly on the Korean Peninsula. Moscow expressed support for Pyongyang's efforts to improve relations with South Korea and talk directly with the U.S. Ri's trip follows a visit to Azerbaijan last week for a multilateral summit and to Beijing for talks with China's top diplomat Wang Yi. North Korea is trying to win international support ahead of its back-to-back summits with Seoul and Washington. [Russia NK]
• Russian presidential election
  Yesterday the people of Russia elected Vladimir Putin by an overwhelming majority. With almost all the votes counted, Putin has seventy-six percent of the ballot. His nearest rival, Pavel Grudidin, the Communist Party's candidate, came distant second with twelve percent. The results of the election have been treated by the western corporate media as proof that Russia is not a democracy, that the election was rigged and that Putin is a dictator. This reaction is obviously nothing more than the recycling of a pre-determined narrative. It simply ignores the actual evidence. For example, the election was monitored by thousands of observers, including over fifteen hundred international observers from a hundred and fifteen countries. The election was covered by more than ten thousand journalists. In these circumstances systematic rigging of the election is inconceivable. The election makes clear, precisely what the western political media elite are determined to deny: Vladimir Putin has the overwhelming support and confidence of the people of Russia. When people such as Boris Johnson claim that their conflict is not with the people of Russia, but only with Putin, they are either deluding themselves or they are lying. There is opposition to Putin, but it is not what people like Johnson believe it to be. [Russia confrontation] [Election] [Putin]
• ‘Toxic’ Putin on mission to poison the West
  Spook: Before entering politics, Putin worked for Russia’s notorious spy network, the KGB. Is Putin Europe’s most dangerous leader since Hitler? He stands accused of ordering brutal assassinations and cyberattacks, as well as plotting the downfall of Western democracy. This Sunday Vladimir Putin will stand for re-election as the President of Russia. In a nation with no credible opposition, and where dissenters can be assassinated, the result is beyond doubt. And so the West must prepare for another six years of Putin at Russia’s helm. Many expect severe troubles ahead. Yesterday the The Daily Telegraph’s front page bore a warlike exhortation for Britain to “bolster” its defences, while the The Financial Times claimed Putin imperils “peace and democracy in Europe [Propaganda] [Russia confrontation]
• An Economic Lesson for Tom Friedman: Putin Brought Russia Out of Poverty
  by Dean Baker April 5, 2018 As a long-term columnist at the NYT, Thomas Friedman apparently never feels the need to know anything about the topics on which he writes. This explains his sarcastic speculation that Putin could be a CIA agent, since he has done so much to hurt Russia. For all his authoritarian tendencies, it is likely that most Russians think primarily about Putin’s impact on the economy, just as is typically the case among voters in the United States. On that front, Putin has a very good record. According to data from the I.M.F. Russia’s economy had plunged in the 1990s under the Yeltsin presidency. When Putin took over in 1998, per capita income in the country had shrunk by more than 40 percent from its 1990 level. This is a far sharper downturn than the United States saw in the Great Depression. Since Putin took power its per capita income has risen by more than 115 percent, an average annual growth rate of more than 3.9 percent. [Putin] [Economy]
• Erdogan, Putin mark start of work on Turkey's first nuclear power plant
  Tulay Karadeniz The leaders of Turkey and Russia marked the official start of work to build Turkey’s first nuclear power station on Tuesday, launching construction of the $20 billion Akkuyu plant in the southern province of Mersin. Construction site of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is seen during the groundbreaking ceremony in Mersin, Turkey April 3, 2018. Depo Photos via REUTERS The plant will be built by Russian state nuclear energy agency Rosatom and will be made up of four units each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan marked the start to construction, watching by video link from Ankara. [Turkey] [Nuclear energy]
• Stalin’s Theological Education
  I had a brief paragraph in my Stalin book on his theological education, but did not have the opportunity to develop that material further. Here is a much fuller analysis of that crucial time: What did Stalin have in common with communists such as Friedrich Engels and Kim Il Sung, let alone Louis Althusser, Henri Lefebvre or indeed Terry Eagleton? He made the transition from a youthful religious faith to Marxism. Crucially, none of them gave up their interest in matters theological. Even if they had “lost” their faith (and not all did), they maintained a lively interest in, if not an insight into, the realities of belief, theology and the church. So also with Stalin. However, Stalin did have an experience unique to a world communist leader: he studied theology for five years (1894-1899) at the Tiflis (Tbilisi in Georgian) Spiritual Seminary, a training college for priests in the Russian Orthodox Church. [Stalin] [Religion] [Theology]
• Russia Has No Plans Yet for Summit with Kim Jong-un
  April 02, 2018 12:26 The Russian government last week said it is "not yet" considering a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to the TASS news agency. "So far, a Russian-North Korean summit is not on the agenda. The Russian president has no such plans," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last Wednesday. What is "under consideration" instead is a visit from North Korea's top diplomat, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the following day. "Things are currently under consideration but it is possible to say that the visit is an immediate prospect," she told reporters. But she hinted that a meeting between Kim and Putin could eventually be on the cards, saying, "We consider equal and mutually beneficial contacts between countries as an important aspect of international relations. We believe any activity that may ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula should be welcome." Former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il flew to Moscow and to meet with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in May 2011. [Russia NK]
• How Trump got to ‘yes’ on the biggest purge of Russian spies in U.S. history
  Russia expels 60 U.S. diplomats, closes St. Petersburg consulate The move comes in response to the March 26 expulsion of Russian diplomats from the U.S. and a number of other countries. (The Washington Post) By John Hudson, Shane Harris and Josh Dawsey March 29 Email the author In the days leading up to the largest expulsion of Russian spies and diplomats in U.S. history, few people inside or outside the Trump administration knew exactly what the president would do. U.S. intelligence officials, who had been pushing to dismantle Moscow’s spy networks, believed that the president might decide against a recommendation to close the Russian Consulate in Seattle. In conversations with European leaders, Trump said the United States was not interested in expelling spies in response to the poisoning of a former Russian double agent in Britain if other countries were not doing the same. But on March 23, the president’s national security team presented him with three options, and Trump’s final decision set in motion an exodus of 60 accused Russian spies and diplomats — a surprising rebuke of Moscow that caught even U.S. allies off guard. “We received signals that expulsions were coming, but the numbers surprised us,” said a senior European diplomat based in Washington. “It was very high.” President Trump speaks last Friday at the White House. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) The uncertainty surrounding the president’s decision reflected a phenomenon that has baffled the United States’ closest allies for almost a year: Despite Trump’s reliably warm rhetoric toward Moscow and his steadfast reluctance to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Trump administration has at times taken aggressive action against Russia at the recommendation of the president’s top aides. [Trump] [Russia confrontation] [Russiagate] [Expulsion]
• Russian Accused of Hacking U.S. Technology Firms Is Extradited
  By Marc Santora and Hana de Goeij March 30, 2018 PRAGUE — A Russian man accused of hacking the systems of three American technology companies in 2012, possibly compromising the personal information of more than 100 million users, was extradited to the United States from the Czech Republic on Friday. The man, Yevgeniy A. Nikulin, appeared in Federal District Court in San Francisco after arriving in the city around 6 a.m. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley scheduled his next court appearance for next week. “This is deeply troubling behavior once again emanating from Russia,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “We will not tolerate criminal cyberattacks and will make it a priority to investigate and prosecute these crimes, regardless of the country where they originate.” Mr. Nikulin had been held in the Czech Republic since the authorities there arrested him in 2016. His case quickly turned into a battle between Washington and Moscow over whether he should be tried in the United States. He was arrested just two days before the Obama administration formally accused the Russian government of stealing and disclosing emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions and prominent individuals. In fighting Mr. Nikulin’s extradition to the United States, his lawyer had argued that the case against him was politically motivated. The Russian government argued separately that it had jurisdiction in the case after a Moscow court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Nikulin in November 2016 in the 2009 theft of $3,450 via a website called WebMoney. More broadly, the Kremlin claims that the United States has unfairly targeted Russians around the world for political purposes. The Russian ambassador in Prague has said the case against Mr. Nikulin was an effort to “extend the jurisprudence of American law to the territory of third countries.” [Extraterritoriality] [Russia confrontation]

---

Return to top of page
MARCH 2018

• Let’s build 9 bridges between Seoul, Moscow: President Moon
  Sep 7, 2017 President Moon Jae-in delivers the keynote address in the plenary session of the third Eastern Economic Forum, at the Far Eastern University in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sept. 7. President Moon Jae-in delivers the keynote address in the plenary session of the third Eastern Economic Forum, at the Far Eastern University in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sept. 7. By Yoon Sojung Photos = Yonhap News President Moon Jae-in reemphasized the importance of developing the Russian Far East by expanding cooperation between Seoul and Moscow on Sept. 7. President Moon was giving the keynote address in the plenary session of the third Eastern Economic Forum, held at the Far Eastern University in Vladivostok, Russia. Dubbing the sectors of cooperation between Korea and Russia as the “nine bridges,” President Moon said that Russia’s New East Asia Policy and Korea’s New Northern Policy are connected. He emphasized that the Russian Far East is still a land full of potential and attraction that will lead Northeast Asia toward co-prosperity. [Russia SK]
• Navy, Marines Step Up Training to Prepare for High-End Fight
  By: Megan Eckstein February 20, 2018 6:22 PM • Updated: February 21, 2018 7:42 AM A U.S. Marine with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion and Japan Ground Self Defense Soldier with the Western Army Infantry Regiment, clear hallways while conducting Urban Explosive Demolitions training during exercise Iron Fist 2018, Jan. 19. US Marine Corps Photo SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Navy type commanders have boosted the quality of their training events to prepare for battle against a peer or near-peer competitor and continue to look for ways to make their training more complex and operationally relevant. 1st Marine Division Commanding General Maj. Gen. Eric Smith said earlier this month at the WEST 2018 conference that all his training is now based on actual operational plans – a departure from previous training against notional adversaries that starts on the lower end of the warfare scale and works up the range of military operations. “All of our training scenarios are against a peer or near-peer competitor. They’re all based on O plans. If it’s not based on an O plan, then don’t do it,” he said at the conference cohosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA. “There’s added incentive for the young Marines to actually go out and execute in a training that has a real name, not the Dakotians or whatever else you make up in some of our scenarios – it’s got to be an O plans-based scenario so that you have skin in the game.” The Marines are also including scenarios in their training events now that had been overlooked for nearly two decades, while the service was focused on a counter-insurgency and stability operations mission set. “We’re trying to make sure the Marines are instilled with the confidence to be able to go against a peer competitor. Some of it is as simple as air threats: we haven’t had a bomb dropped on us in almost 70 years, you have to begin to prepare yourselves for an aviation threat which we haven’t faced since the ‘50s. We’re doing that,” Smith said. [US military] [Russia confrontation] [Conflict] [US Russia war]
• With Putin’s reelection, expect rising tensions with the West
  Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a rally near the Kremlin on Sunday. (Denis Tyrin/AP) By Anton Troianovski and Matthew Bodner March 18 at 4:43 PM Email the author MOSCOW — When Russian President Vladimir Putin took the stage on a square outside the Kremlin to claim victory in Sunday’s national election, he did so at an open-air concert celebrating the fourth anniversary of his annexation of Crimea. He thanked the crowd for their support in the “very difficult circumstances” of recent years and then led a chant: “Russia! Russia! Russia!” With his landslide win Sunday, Putin got the election show he wanted. As he figures out what’s next, expect rising tensions with the West. In the weeks leading up to Putin’s reelection to six more years in power, the president hardly campaigned and offered few concrete plans for major domestic reforms. He did, however, awe Russians with displays of fantastic new weaponry while state-controlled television intensified a drumbeat of reporting about the threats allegedly posed by the United States and its allies. The unified story line: Russia is under attack, and it needs a strong leader to survive. [Putin] [Election] [Mandate] [Russia confrontation] [Resurgence] [Unintended consequences]
• Putin claims victory in Russia’s presidential election
  Eight candidates are running for the presidential seat, though Vladimir Putin is expected to have an easy victory, keeping him in power until 2024. By Anton Troianovski March 18 at 4:02 PM Email the author MOSCOW — Vladi­mir Putin claimed victory Sunday after cruising to reelection , with authorities reporting high voter turnout in balloting that was widely expected to bring the Russian president a fourth term. From the Arctic to the International Space Station, Russia rolled out an elaborate presidential-election-day spectacle designed to show the breadth of Putin’s public support as he extends his tenure to 2024. Putin’s opponents on Sunday’s ballot include a nationalist, a Communist, and two liberals. But Putin barely campaigned, opposition activist Alexei Navalny was barred from the ballot, and a landslide victory for Putin appears certain. With about a third of the ballots counted, more than 73.1 percent were for Putin, according to the Central Election Commission. The runner up was Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin with 15.6 percent. “Success awaits us!” Putin told supporters in central Moscow. “Together, we will get to work on a great, massive scale, in the name of Russia.” Russian servicemen vote at a polling station in Saint Petersburg on March 18, 2018. (Olga Maltseva/AFP/Getty Images) The biggest question as Russians went to the polls on Sunday was the level of turnout. While independent surveys show that most Russians continue to approve of Putin as president, a lack of suspense or popular opposition candidates threatened to keep people home. The Kremlin, analysts say, was looking for high turnout to deliver legitimacy for another Putin term. At 6 p.m. Moscow time, Russia’s Central Election Commission said, nationwide turnout stood at 59.9 percent — just above the level in the 2012 election at that time. [Putin] [Election] [Media] [Turnout]
• Putin on track for commanding win as Russians head to polls
  Reuters Staff PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia (Reuters) - Russians began voting in a presidential election on Sunday set to give Vladimir Putin a commanding victory that could only be blemished if large numbers do not bother taking part because the result is so predictable. On Russia’s eastern edge, in the Pacific coast city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, polling stations opened at 2000 hrs GMT, and voting across the vast country will run until polls close at the westernmost point, the Kaliningrad region, 22 hours later. Opinion polls give Putin, the incumbent, support of around 70 percent, or nearly 10 times the backing of his nearest challenger. Another term will take him to nearly a quarter century in power — a longevity among Kremlin leaders second only to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Many voters credit Putin, a 65-year-old former KGB spy, with standing up for Russia’s interests in a hostile outside world, even though the cost is confrontation with the West. A row with Britain over allegations the Kremlin used a nerve toxin to poison a Russian double agent in a sleepy English town — denied by Moscow — has not dented his standing. The majority of voters see no viable alternative to Putin: he has total dominance of the political scene and the state-run television, where most people get their news, gives lavish coverage of Putin and little airtime to his rivals.
  A March 9 survey by state-run pollster VTsIOM gave Putin, who was first elected president in 2000, support of 69 percent. His nearest rival Pavel Grudinin, the Communist Party’s candidate, is on just 7 percent. The first politician in years to challenge the Kremlin’s grip on power, Alexei Navalny, is barred from the race because of a corruption conviction he says was fabricated by the Kremlin. [Putin] [Election] [Resurgence] [Public opinion] [Grudinin] [Navalny] [Media]
• Putin easily wins another six-year term, firms grip on Russia
  Vladimir Soldatkin, Gleb Stolyarov Russian President Vladimir Putin won a landslide re-election victory on Sunday, extending his rule over the world’s largest country for another six years at a time when his ties with the West are on a hostile trajectory. Russian President and Presidential candidate Vladimir Putin at a polling station during the presidential election in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2018. Yuri Kadobnov/POOL via Reuters Putin’s thumping victory will extend his total time in office to nearly a quarter of a century, until 2024, by which time he will be 71. Only Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ruled for longer. Putin has promised to use his new term to beef up Russia’s defenses against the West and to raise living standards. In a widely-expected result, an exit poll by pollster VTsIOM showed Putin, who has already dominated the political landscape for the last 18 years, had won 73.9 percent of the vote. Backed by state TV, the ruling party, and credited with an approval rating around 80 percent, his victory was never in doubt [Putin] [Election] [Media]
• West launches massive campaign to kick ‘inconvenient’ Russia out of UN Security Council – Senator
  Published time: 14 Mar, 2018 18:53 Edited time: 15 Mar, 2018 08:50 West launches massive campaign to kick ‘inconvenient’ Russia out of UN Security Council – Senator The West has launched a large-scale campaign to remove Russia from the UN Security Council (UNSC), Senator Sergey Kalashnikov said, commenting on the UK's accusations against Moscow over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. “The West has launched a massive operation in order to kick Russia out of the UN Security Council,” Kalashnikov said, as cited by RIA Novosti. “Russia is now a very inconvenient player for the Western nations and this explains all the recent attacks on our country.” The Senator believes that in order to curb Russia’s membership there is going to be an attempt to reform the principal UN body tasked with the maintenance of international peace and security. The Russian Federal Council member reminded that the USSR, to which Russia is the legal successor, has been an integral part of the UNSC since its establishment in 1946. On Wednesday, Labor MP Chris Leslie addressed May on the issue of reforming the UN Security Council in order to limit Russia’s rights within the body during a parliament session. Leslie argued that Russia was “increasingly looking like a rogue state,” adding that “we must now begin to talk about reform” of the UNSC. “Russia can’t be allowed to simply sit pretty, thumbing its nose to the rest of the world community and feeling that it’s immune from the rule of law internationally,” Leslie said. May responded by saying that Leslie was not the only one to stress the need for changes within the UNSC, promising that “this is something that we will look at.” [Russia confrontation] [UNSC] [Skripal] [UK]
• Why Russia’s New Strategic Capabilities Come as a Shock to the US Intelligence Community
  By Philip Giraldi Global Research, March 11, 2018 Strategic Culture Foundation 8 March 2018 The United States of America spends something like $80 billion annually on intelligence gathering and analysis. When the CIA was founded by the National Security Act in 1947 the intention was to create a mechanism that would warn about an imminent threat. The memory of Pearl Harbor in 1941, when Japan attacked the U.S. naval base was still fresh, and the legislation was popularized by the slogan “no more Pearl Harbors.” In spite of the dedication of considerable resources and manpower, there have been some major intelligence failures in the past seventy years, starting with the inability to anticipate the breakout of the Korean War and including the embrace of false intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction. But the most recent failure is perhaps more consequential than either Korea or Iraq. On March 1st, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke before his country’s Federal Assembly plus a large group of both local and foreign journalists, outlining his plans for the economy and also dealing with other domestic issues should he be reelected later this month. The final third of the presentation was on national defense and, in its substance, was clearly directed at a global audience, particularly the United States. He explained “During all these years since the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty [in 2001] we have been working intensively on advanced equipment and arms, which allowed us to make a breakthrough in developing new models of strategic weapons.” He was referring to the RS-28 Sarmat ballistic missile, which has almost unlimited range and ultra-high speed, enabling it to employ trajectories including strikes coming over the South Pole that can defeat existing American Anti-Ballistic Defense systems. Russia has also produced and deployed a hypersonic glider weapon system Avangard. But the real game changer is the Russian ability to negate America’s ability to project power through its navy. The already deployed air-launched Kinzhal anti-ship missile has a range of 2000 kilometers and a hyper-sonic speed that makes it nearly impossible to intercept. The development has made America’s thirteen aircraft carrier groups obsolete. President Putin made clear that Russia now has an overwhelming military advantage in cruise and ballistic missiles that are capable of penetrating U.S. defenses. The new reality may or may not impel policymakers in Washington to approach Moscow and seek a new round of negotiations for arms control, but the real shock deriving from the Putin announcement is the failure of the intelligence community to anticipate the developments and advise their significance. Some of the new systems were hardly secret, with development of the Sarmat, for example, known to western governments for a number of years. [CIA] [Espionage] [Military balance]
• Trump administration hits Russian spies, trolls with sanctions over U.S. election interference, cyberattacks
  By Ellen Nakashima March 15 at 2:14 PM Email the author The Trump administration on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on Russian government hackers and spy agencies to punish Moscow for interfering in the 2016 presidential election and for a cyberattack against Ukraine and other countries last year that officials have characterized as “the most destructive and costly” in history. Sanctions also were imposed on individuals known as “trolls” and the Russian organizations — including the Internet Research Agency — that supported their efforts to undermine the election. Additionally, the administration alerted the public that Russia is targeting the U.S. energy grid with computer malware that could sabotage its systems. [Russiagate] [Russia confrontation] [Financial sanctions]
• Republicans on House panel, excluding Democrats’ input, say there’s no evidence of Russia collusion
  By Karoun Demirjian March 12 at 8:55 PM Email the author House Intelligence Committee Republicans say they have found no evidence that President Trump and his affiliates colluded with Russian officials to sway the 2016 election or that the Kremlin sought to help him, a conclusion at odds with Democrats’ takeaways from the congressional panel’s year-long probe and the apparent trajectory of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation. The findings are part of a 150-page draft report that Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.), who oversees the committee’s Russia probe, announced on Monday. It will probably be weeks before the document is made public. “We’ve found no evidence of collusion,” Conaway told reporters Monday. He noted that the worst the panel uncovered was “perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings, inappropriate judgment at taking meetings” — such as a June 2016 gathering at Trump Tower in New York City between members of the Trump campaign and a ­Russian lawyer. Conaway said that meeting “shouldn’t have happened, no doubt about that.” [Russiagate]
• Poisioned British-Russian Double-Agent Has Links To Clinton Campaign
  On Sunday a former British-Russian double agent and his daughter were seriously injured in a mysterious incident in Salisbury, England. The British government says that both were hurt due to "exposure to a nerve agent". Speculative media reports talk of Sarin and VX, two deadly nerve-agents used in military chemical weapons. Anonymous officials strongly hint that 'Russia did it'. New reports though point to a deep connection between the case and the anti-Trump/anti-Russia propaganda drive run by the Obama administration and the Hillary Clinton election campaign. Sergei Skripal once was a colonel in a Russian military intelligence service. In the early 1990s he was recruited by the MI6 agent Pablo Miller. He continued to spy for the Brits after his 1999 retirement. The Russian FSB claims that the British MI6 paid him $100,000 for his service. At that time a Russian officer would only make a few hundred bucks per month. Skripal was finally uncovered in 2004 and two years later convicted for spying for Britain. He was sentenced to 18 years and in 2010 he and other agents ware exchanged in a large spy swap between the United States and Russia. Skripal was granted refuge in Britain and has since lived openly under his own name in Salisbury. His wife and his son died over the last years of natural causes. The only near relative he has left is his daughter who continued to live in Russia. Last week his daughter flew to Britain and met him in Salisbury. On Sunday they went to a pub and a restaurant. At some point they were poisoned or poisoned themselves. They collapsed on a public bench and are now in intensive care. A policeman on the scene was also seriously effected. [Russia confrontation] [Espionage] [Steele]
• Russia’s new hypersonic missile put through military tests (VIDEO)
  Published time: 10 Mar, 2018 21:03 A video showing a new set of tests of the cutting-edge hypersonic Kinzhal missile has been released by the Russian Defense Ministry. President Vladimir Putin earlier said the weapon is designed to penetrate any possible defenses. The footage features a pair of MiG-31 aircraft carrying a single Kinzhal on its under-fuselage pylons. The planes take off and launch the ‘Kinzhal’ (Russian for “dagger”) missiles during high-altitude flight. The video shows the very moment of the missile launch. The projectile can be seen detaching from the plane’s belly, shooting off the engine shroud and swiftly blasting away, leaving only a trail in the skies. [Missiles] [Military balance]
• New arms race started by US pulling out of missile treaty – Putin
  Published time: 2 Mar, 2018 08:00 Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied accusations he revived an arms race by unveiling Russia’s new nuclear deterrent. That was done by US President George W. Bush killing a 30-year-old missile treaty in 2002, he told NBC. In an interview with NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Today” on Thursday, the Russian leader brushed off claims in the Western media that by introducing new nuclear-powered missiles, including the hypersonic Sarmat, he has signaled a new arms race. The alarmist rhetoric that fills Western news outlets is just another form of propaganda, Putin said. “My point of view is that the individuals saying that a new Cold War has started are not really analysts; they do propaganda,” he said, as translated by NBC. Putin blamed Washington’s 2002 withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) for escalating the confrontation. “If we are to speak of an arms race, then an arms race started precisely at that point”. It was US President George W. Bush who withdrew from the ABM Treaty, which had been one of the main pillars of the détente and held for nearly 30 years. Bush argued that the treaty hindered the US’ ability to protect itself from “future terrorist or rogue state attacks.” In the years following, the US has encircled Russia with its missile defense installations, extending its anti-missile shield to Romania and Poland, deploying for the first time a battery of Patriot long-range anti-aircraft system to Lithuania for war games. [Arms race] [George W Bush] [ABM] [Renege][Putin]
• Let’s Get Real About Russiagate
  Some on the left are still waving away the inconvenient facts that don’t fit with their politics. By Katha Pollitt March 8, 2018 When will we really know what happened with Russia and the 2016 election? The story lines proliferate so quickly that it’s a full-time job following them all. [Russiagate] [Democrats]
• Are You Listening, America?
  Journalists watch as Russian President Vladimir Putin gives his annual state of the nation address in Moscow. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP) On Thursday, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s much-maligned president, delivered his state of the nation address to the Russian Federal Assembly (the Russian national Legislature, consisting of the State Duma, or lower house, and the Russian Council, or upper house). While the first half of his speech dealt with Russian domestic issues—and any American who has bought into Western media perceptions that Russia is a collapsing state, possessing a failed economy, would do well to read this portion of the speech—it was the second half of the presentation that caused the world to sit up and listen. In this portion of the speech, Putin outlined developments in Russian strategic military capability. The developments collectively signal the obsolescence of America’s strategic nuclear deterrence, both in terms of its present capabilities and—taking into account the $1.2 trillion nuclear weapons modernization program President Trump unveiled earlier this year—anything America might pursue in the decades to come. Advertisement Some Western observers have derided Putin’s speech as simple posturing, a manic effort to project Russian power, and with it global credibility, where none exists. Such an interpretation would be incorrect. There should be no doubt among American politicians, military leaders and citizens alike. “Every word has a meaning,” Putin told his audience. The weapons he referred to are real, and Putin meant every word he said. “Back in 2000,” he said, “the U.S. announced its withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Russia was categorically against this. We saw the Soviet-U.S. ABM Treaty signed in 1972 as the cornerstone of the international security system. … Together with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty [START], the ABM Treaty not only created an atmosphere of trust but also prevented either party from recklessly using nuclear weapons, which would have endangered humankind. … We did our best to dissuade the Americans from withdrawing from the treaty. All in vain.” [Putin] [ABM] [Renege] [Resurgence]
• Making Sense of the Russian 5th Generation Fighters in Syria
  The Saker • March 2, 2018 When I got an email from a friend telling me that a pair of Su-57s was seen landing at the Russian Aerospace Forces base in Kheimim, Syria, I immediately dismissed it as a fake. The list of reasons why this could not be true would run for pages. I knew that, so I simply replied: “that’s a fake” and forgot about it. Over the next couple of days, however, this story was picked up by various websites and bloggers, but it still made no sense. What kept me feeling really puzzled was that the Russian official sources did not dismiss the story, but chose to remain silent. Then another two Su-57s were reported. And then, suddenly, the Russian media was flooded with stories about how the Su-57s were sent to Syria as an act of “revenge” for the killing of Russian PMCs by the US; that the Su-57s had basically flattened eastern Ghouta while killing about “2000 Americans“. This was some truly crazy nonsense so I decided to find out what really happened and, so far, here is what I found out. First, amazingly enough, the reports of the Su-57 in Syria are true. Some say 2 aircraft, some say 4 (out of a current total of 13). It doesn’t really matter, what matters is that the deployment of a few Su-57s in Syria is a fact and that this represents a dramatic departure from normal Russian (and Soviet) practice. Introducing the Sukhoi 57 5th generation multi-role fighter The Su-57 (aka “PAK-FA” aka “T-50?) is the first real 5th generation multi-role aircraft produced by Russia. [Russia Syria] [Military balance] [SU-57]
• Putin claims Russia is developing nuclear arms capable of avoiding missile defenses
  Putin: Russia tested nuclear-powered cruise missile impervious to U.S. defense shields Russian President Vladimir Putin announced March 1 Russia had successfully tested new nuclear-powered weapons that could avoid any missile defense systems. (Reuters) By Anton Troianovski March 1 at 12:47 PM Email the author MOSCOW — Deploying emotional language and an animation of a cruise missile streaking toward North America, Russian President Vladimir Putin used an annual speech to his nation on Thursday to claim Russia was developing new nuclear weapons that he said could overcome any U.S. missile defenses. Putin’s speech, less than three weeks before the Russian presidential election, represented an escalated level of martial rhetoric even by his pugnacious standards. For the first time, Putin claimed that Russia had successfully tested nuclear-propulsion engines that would allow nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and underwater drones to travel for virtually unlimited distances and evade traditional defenses. [Resurgence] [Military balance] [Deterrence] [Missile defense] [Putin address180301]
• Putin’s message couldn’t be clearer: The West needs to stop provoking a war we don’t want & which no one can win
  Does anyone in the West understand what the real point of Putin’s comments about Russia’s new weaponry? The Guardian’s coverage (“Putin threatens US arms race with new missiles declaration”) shows us their masters see this as just another chance to cast Russia as a dangerous rogue state. The Times takes a similar line (“Putin unveils his super weapons to defy the West”). Elsewhere Putin’s speech is not only misinterpreted it’s also relegated to sidebars in favour of photos of snow (Telegraph), or dropped into the tiny print at the bottom of the page (New York Times). The western press has basically opted out of analysing this, so let’s do it for them. Why is Putin talking about the new generation of weapons? What does he hope to achieve? First and foremost what Putin’s speech – just as all his previous warnings – is ultimately intended to do is avert a pending worldwide catastrophe. The US political class is too fluoridated, too driven by ideologues, too crazy to understand MAD any more. And its current policy, in concert with the EU and NATO, is one of continued unremitting provocation toward Russia, presented through the subservient and frankly stupid corporate media as “responding” to Russian “aggression”. [Russia confrontation][Putin address180301]
• Will Russia Meddle in Italy’s Election? It May Not Have To
  By Jason Horowitz March 1, 2018 Photo Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy posing for photographers in a television studio in January. Mr. Berlusconi has sought to position himself as a bridge between the United States and Russia. Credit Andrew Medichini/Associated Press ROME — It happened in the United States. Then there were the Netherlands, France and Germany. One after the other, the West’s leading democracies have staged national elections in which Russia is accused of using social media and fake news to try to influence the outcome. Now, Italy is holding pivotal elections on Sunday that could shake Europe — and Russian meddling is again a concern. But the difference this time is that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia might not even need to bother, because the parties most likely to do well in Italy would probably be favored by Russia, too. Much has changed since Russia started its online misinformation campaigns, and much of it is good for Mr. Putin. [Russia confrontation] [Media] [Italian election] [Interference]

---

Return to top of page
FEBRUARY 2018

• What we know about the shadowy Russian mercenary firm behind an attack on U.S. troops in Syria
  By Adam Taylor February 23 Email the author 0:14 U.S. releases video of strike in Syria The Pentagon said coalition forces conducted strikes in response to "an unprovoked Syrian pro-regime forces attack" in Syria on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8. (U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs) One of the most complicated episodes in Syria's ever-twisting war took place the night of Feb. 7. In that incident, U.S. troops and their Syrian allies near the town of Deir al-Zour were attacked by hundreds of fighters loyal to the Syrian regime. The Americans responded with a devastating counterattack that the United States said left about 100 dead. Soon, the situation was complicated further by reports that Russian mercenaries had taken part in the attack and were among the dead — making it the deadliest U.S.-Russia clash since the Cold War. The mercenary firm is named Wagner, and it has been linked to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch who was recently indicted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III for an alleged role in “information warfare” ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Worse still, U.S. intelligence reports suggest that Prigozhin was in touch with both the Kremlin and Syrian officials shortly before and after the attack, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The situation raises big questions about what role a Russian mercenary firm — or rather a “pseudo-mercenary” firm, according to Russian military expert Mark Galeotti — was playing in the Syrian war. [Russia confrontation] [Syria]
• IOC board upholds Russian doping ban, keeping athletes from marching with flag
  By Chico Harlan February 24 at 9:25 PM A fan of the Russian men’s hockey team at the team’s semifinal game against the Czech Republic. (Brian Snyder/Reuters) PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — The International Olympic Committee’s executive board recommended Sunday to uphold a ban on Russia’s Olympic federation, a decision that would prevent Russian athletes from marching in the Closing Ceremonies with their tricolor flag. The IOC’s full membership was scheduled to vote later in the day on a final decision. The recommendation signals that the IOC believes that Russia hasn’t yet fully met the requirements for reinstatement following its punishment for a long-running doping operation. In recent days, Russia has hurt its case, as two of its athletes here have tested positive for banned substances. Pressure has since mounted on the IOC to maintain the sanctions. In an open letter to IOC members published Friday, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations said that the “clean athletes of the world would be outraged” if Russia’s ban was lifted. “By failing to impose a meaningful sanction on [Russia’s Olympic committee], the IOC would be culpable in this effort to defraud clean athletes of the world,” the institute wrote. “Clean athletes continue to raise concerns and are understandably frustrated with the equivocal stance of the IOC when it comes to the systemic doping in Russia.” [Russia confrontation] [Olympics18] [UNUS] [Drugs]
• Goofy Indictments Divert Attention from Criminal Abuses at the FBI and DOJ
  By Mike Whitney Global Research, February 20, 2018 The Unz Review 18 February 2018 “If the election is ‘disrupted’ by voters changing their votes due to Russians posting on Facebook, then the problem is not that Russians are posting on Facebook, the problem is that voters are changing their votes based on posts they read on Facebook.” Bill H, comments line Sic Semper Tyrannis “God help America. We’ve lost our damn minds.” Publius Tacitus Robert Mueller’s Friday night indictment-spree, is a flagrant and infuriating attempt to divert attention from the damning revelations in the Nunes memo (and the Graham-Grassley “criminal referral”) which prove that senior-level officials at the FBI and DOJ were engaged in an expansive conspiracy to subvert the presidential elections by spying on members of the Trump campaign. The evidence that the FBI and DOJ “improperly obtained” FISA warrants to spy on Trump campaign affiliate, Carter Page, has now been overshadowed by the tragic massacre in Parkland, Florida and the obfuscating indictments of 13 Internet “trolls” who have not been linked to the Russian government and who are being used to conceal the fact that the 18 month-long witch hunt has not yet produced even one scintilla of hard evidence related to the original claims of “hacking or collusion”. Think about what’s Mueller is really up to: He’s not just moving the goalposts, he’s loading them onto a spaceship and putting them on another planet. Where’s the evidence that Russia hacked the DNC computers and stole their emails? Where’s the proof that members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia? That’s what we want to know, not whether some goofy Russian troll was spreading false information on Facebook. That has nothing to do with the original charges. It’s just politically-motivated gibberish that proves Mueller has nothing to support his case. After a full year, the investigation has failed to produce anything but a big goose egg. [Russiagate] [Mueller] [Evidence]
• Mr. Trump: They’re laughing at you, not with you
  By Eugene Robinson Opinion writer February 19 at 7:40 PM Email the author President Trump is right about one thing: They must be “laughing their asses off” in Moscow. At him. Faced with compelling evidence that Russian cyber-saboteurs worked to sway the 2016 election, influencing swing-state voters with lies on social media and even staging real-life campaign rallies, Trump’s only response has been a frantic and pathetic attempt to protect his own delicate ego. “But wasn’t I a great candidate?” he pleaded Sunday on Protecting our democracy obviously concerns Trump not at all. But you’re probably not surprised. [Russiagate] [Anti-Trump] [Self delusion]
• Mueller Indictment - The "Russian Influence" Is A Commercial Marketing Scheme
  Yesterday the U.S. Justice Department indicted the Russian Internet Research Agency on some dubious legal grounds. It covers thirteen Russian people and three Russian legal entities. The main count of the indictment is an alleged "Conspiracy to Defraud the United States". The published indictment gives support to our long held believe that there was no "Russian influence" campaign during the U.S. election. What is described and denounced as such was instead a commercial marketing scheme which ran click-bait websites to generate advertisement revenue and created online crowds around virtual persona to promote whatever its commercial customers wanted to promote. The size of the operation was tiny when compared to the hundreds of millions in campaign expenditures. It had no influence on the election outcome. The indictment is fodder for the public to prove that the Mueller investigation is "doing something". It distracts from further questioning the origin of the Steele dossier. It is full of unproven assertions and assumptions. It is a sham in that none of the Russian persons or companies indicted will ever come in front of a U.S. court. That is bad because the indictment is build on the theory of a new crime which, unless a court throws it out, can be used to incriminate other people in other cases and might even apply to this blog. The later part of this post will refer to that. In the early 1990s some dude in St.Petersburg made a good business selling hot dogs. He opened a colorful restaurant. Local celebrities and politicians were invited to gain notoriety while the restaurant served cheap food for too high prices. It was a good business. A few years later he moved to Moscow and gained contracts to cater to schools and to the military. The food he served was still substandard. But catering bad food as school lunches gave him, by chance, the idea for a new business: Parents were soon up in arms. Their children wouldn’t eat the food, saying it smelled rotten. As the bad publicity mounted, Mr. Prigozhin’s company, Concord Catering, launched a counterattack, a former colleague said. He hired young men and women to overwhelm the internet with comments and blog posts praising the food and dismissing the parents’ protests. “In five minutes, pages were drowning in comments,” said Andrei Ilin, whose website serves as a discussion board about public schools. “And all the trolls were supporting Concord.” The trick worked beyond expectations. Prigozhin had found a new business. He hired some IT staff and low paid temps to populate various message boards, social networks and the general internet with whatever his customers asked him for. You have a bad online reputation? Prigozhin can help. His internet company will fill the net with positive stories and remarks about you. Your old and bad reputation will be drowned by the new and good one. Want to promote a product or service? Prigozhin's online marketeers can address the right crowds. [Russiagate] [Troll] [Clickbait]
• US playing with fire in Syria: Lavrov
  MOSCOW The U.S. actions in Syria are aimed at partitioning the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergi Lavrov has said, accusing Washington of using the Kurdish forces to undermine Syria’s territorial integrity. The Russian top diplomat urged Washington on Feb. 19 not to “play with fire” in Syria and carefully consider its steps based “not on immediate needs of today’s political situation, but rather from the long-term interests of the Syrian people and all the peoples of this region, including the Kurds.” “It seems to me that the statements of our American colleagues that the only purpose is to fight ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] and preserve territorial integrity need to be confirmed by actions,” Lavrov said, when speaking on session of the International Discussion Club Valdai. “Unfortunately, with all the statements about the need to unite efforts in the fight against this common evil [terrorism], there is still a desire to use this situation for geopolitical narrow-minded purposes and attempts continue to move away from truly collective work,” Lavrov said. “The Kurds are being used in a game, which has no relation to their own interests,” Sputnik quoted Lavrov as saying. [US Syria policy] [Fragmentation] [Kurds] [Pawns]
• Meddling ‘incontrovertible’ to U.S., ‘just blabber’ to Russia
  Politics Feb 17, 2018 3:22 PM EST MUNICH — Top Russian and American officials exchanged barbs Saturday in Germany over the U.S. indictment of 13 Russians accused of an elaborate plot to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. H.R. McMaster, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said at the Munich Security Conference that the federal indictments showed the U.S. was becoming “more and more adept at tracing the origins of this espionage and subversion.” “As you can see with the FBI indictment, the evidence is now really incontrovertible and available in the public domain,” McMaster told a Russian delegate to the conference. Just minutes before, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had dismissed the indictments as “just blabber,” according to remarks through an interpreter. “I have no response,” Lavrov said when asked for comment on the allegations. “You can publish anything, and we see those indictments multiplying, the statements multiplying.” The two men addressed the conference of top world leaders, defense officials and diplomats, giving more general back-to-back opening remarks. But both were immediately hit with blunt questions about the U.S. indictment and the broader issue of cyberattacks. In Russia, news of the indictments was met with more scorn. “There are no official claims, there are no proofs for this. That’s why they are just children’s statements,” Andrei Kutskikh, the presidential envoy for international information security, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. [Russia confrontation] [USA_election16] [Evidence]
• The rise of ‘Putin’s chef,’ the Russian oligarch accused of manipulating the U.S. election
  By Marwa Eltagouri February 17 at 7:48 AM Email the author Yevgeny Prigozhin has won several lucrative contracts with the Russian government. (AP) The Justice Department’s special counsel Friday indicted a group of Russian Internet trolls, accusing them of running a years-long scheme to illegally meddle with the 2016 presidential election by using social media to bolster then-Republican candidate Donald Trump’s chance at winning and hurt that of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Among the 13 Russians charged is Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, an oligarch and financial backer of the troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency, according to Russian media. He is a caterer who has been nicknamed “Putin’s chef” because of his proximity to the Russian president. According to The Washington Post’s Devlin Barrett, Sari Horwitz and Rosalind S. Helderman, Prigozhin is linked to two of the three Russian businesses also named in the indictment, Concord Consulting and Concord Catering. [Russia confrontation]
• For Olympic Athletes from Russia, a sense of unity and defiance
  By Chico Harlan and Anton Troianovski February 14 at 2:02 PM Email the author The logo of the Russian Olympic team is seen on the uniform. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters) PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — At first glance, Russia is shrugging off one of the stiffest penalties in Olympics history. Russian-born athletes are everywhere at these Winter Games, zipping down luge courses, jumping off ski ramps, pulling off triple axels. The nation has one of the Games’ largest delegations. It has won five medals. Its fans show up to arenas by the hundreds, draped in flags, waving pompoms and tricolor flags, chanting “Victory” at the top of their lungs. But nearly one week into these Olympics, the visuals belie the sting. Sanctioned for a long-running nationwide doping operation, the Russian group is in fact down 64 competitors from Sochi in 2014, cleaved of some of its best athletes. The beloved biathlon team was decimated. The top speedskater is at home. The medal pace is way behind the norm, and when Russians do reach the podium, they’re reminded of their bizarre place in these Games: their anthem, like their flag, is banned in PyeongChang. For Russians, these Olympics have become two things at once: a somber sporting moment but also a chance to project a defiant image to the world. At a time when Russia’s resurgence is redefining global politics, the nation is being humbled in the sports world, though not without a fight. [Russia confrontation] [Softwar] [Olympics18] [Resurgence] [UNUS]
• Petition for Verso to publish English translation of Losurdo’s Stalin book
  Posted by stalinsmoustache under Stalin Verso Books has initially refused to publish an English translation of Domenico Losurdo’s book on Stalin, even though they have published other works by him. Those who know the press will not be surprised by this. However, a petition is underway to get Verso to change its opinion. You can find the petition here. [Stalin] [Censorship]
• “Russian Hacking”, a dangerous delusion
  by Kit Published on February 12, 2018 The author is Yale professor. Yes, seriously. The Guardian published this short opinion piece today, its headline reads: America lost a cyberwar to Russia in 2016. When will we have truth? Refuting the stale claims repeated in the headline, and expanded upon in the prose, is but the work of a moment. Hitchens’ razor states that any claim made without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence. A Yale professor should know that. Therefore the refutation of the claim “Russia hacked the election” can be made in three simple words: No, they didn’t. Job done. I consider the article dealt with. But now we have to deal with the undertone. Now we have deal with why this article is scary. The scary part of this article isn’t the war-like talk about Russia. [Russiagate] [Self delusion]
• Why ‘Russian Meddling’ is a Trojan Horse
  by Rob Urie February 9, 2018 Prior to the 2016 presidential election, if one were to ask what single act could seal a new Cold War with Russia, align liberals and progressives with the operational core of the American military-industrial-surveillance complex, expose the preponderance of left-activism as an offshoot of Democratic Party operations and consign most of what remained to personal invective against an empirically dangerous leader, consensus would likely have it that doing so wouldn’t be easy. The decision to blame Russian meddling for Hillary Clinton’s electoral loss was made in the immediate aftermath of the election by her senior campaign staff. Within days the received wisdom amongst Clinton supporters was that the election had been stolen and that Donald Trump was set to enter the White House as a pawn of the Russian political leadership. Left out was the history of U.S. – Russian relations; that the largest voting bloc in the 2016 election was eligible voters who didn’t vote and that domestic business interests substantially control the American electoral process. Graph: The Democrats’ choice to blame external forces, e.g. Russian meddling, for their electoral loss in 2016 ignores evidence of that none-of-the-above is the people’s choice. The largest voting bloc in the 2016 election was eligible voters who chose not to vote. In contrast to the received wisdom in political consultant circles, choosing not to vote is a political act. The U.S. has the lowest voter turnout in the ‘developed’ world for a reason. Source: electproject.org. More than a year later, no credible evidence has been put forward to establish that any votes were changed due to ‘external’ meddling. As the Intercept has reported, since the election progressive candidates seeking public office have been systematically subverted by establishment Democrats in favor of those with connections to big-money donors. And the Democratic Party leadership in congress just voted to give Mr. Trump expanded spying powers with fewer restraints. Congressional Democrats are certainly behaving as if they believe Mr. Trump was duly elected. And more to the point, they are supporting his program. [Russiagate] [Democrats] [Evidence]
• The Olympics have just begun, but bigger story lines are starting to emerge
  By Barry Svrluga Sports columnist February 10 at 12:09 PM Email the author Gold medalist Lim Hyo-jun of South Korea is joined by silver medalist Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands and bronze medal winner Semen Elistratov of Russia after the men's 1,500-meter short-track speedskating final. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) GANGNEUNG, South Korea — They stood on the platform next to each other, each a medal winner, one for the host country of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the other for — and let’s get this straight right now — Russia, despite what his uniform said. What played out Saturday night at Gangneung Ice Arena was, by name, the 1,500-meter men’s short-track speedskating final. But step back a bit and see the reality: These Games’ two primary themes were there, skating, side-by-side. When you come here, try the bibimbap and the kimchi. Ride in a Hyundai and drink some soju. (Note: Haven’t tried it yet. Will get back to you.) And please, if you’re here for the Olympics, whatever you do, show up for some short-track speedskating. This is college football in the Deep South, hockey in Toronto, soccer in Brazil. This is where, on the first full day of competition, Vice President Pence sat next to Korean President Moon Jae-in, front and center. It was supposed to be the place to be. Where else to go? But even in the delirious arena that’s home to South Korea’s signature sport, you have to allow for the possibility that factors other than race strategy and tactics could overwhelm everything else. The winner of the men’s 1,500 meters was Lim Hyo-jun, a 21-year-old native of Daegu, South Korea, who set an Olympic record and won the host country’s first medal of its own Games — gold, at that. “I dreamed of this for life,” Lim said. When he received his stuffed animal memento during Saturday night’s brief, anthem-less presentation — the actual medal ceremony, complete with the hardware, will come later — the competitor to his left was Semen Elistratov, a 27-year-old native of Ufa, Russia. Elistratov didn’t wear his home nation’s traditional red but instead white and blue — almost Finland-ish. That’s the uniform for the Olympic Athletes from Russia — the semantic creation of the International Olympic Committee, which banned the Russian Olympic Committee for what it determined was state-sponsored doping at the previous Winter Olympics, held on Russian soil. Elistratov will be awarded bronze, the first medal for what the IOC will call “OAR,” but what the rest of the world should absolutely call “Russia.” We have examined Russia’s case from a bureaucratic perspective, from a good-vs.-evil perspective. Saturday night, we got, from Elistratov, the personal perspective. “Before I went to the Olympics they told me, ‘You should make a choice whether you are going to these Olympic Games or not,’?” Elistratov said through an interpreter. “This was not an easy decision at all. That’s why my bronze Olympic medal, it’s almost like a platinum medal.” Elistratov was well aware that Russian champion Viktor Ahn, who won three gold medals and a bronze in Sochi, isn’t here, and his presence could have changed the race Saturday night, could have changed any of the rest of the short-track program. But Ahn was one of the Russian athletes whose appeal to compete in PyeongChang was denied at the last minute by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That decision will shape this competition, just as it will the competition at so many other venues. [Olympics18] [Russia confrontation]
• Russiaburger: The Trump-Russia Scandal Explained
  It's now clear that the Russians offered help and members of the Trump campaign accepted. But the real scandal may be money laundering. By John Feffer, February 7, 2018. The discussion of the Russia file these days sounds like the review of a fast-food restaurant. Echoing that infamous catchphrase of Wendy’s that became a political meme in the 1984 presidential elections — Where’s the Beef? — the charges of cooperation between the Kremlin and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign have either been dismissed as a “nothingburger” or embraced as a “somethingburger” with all the fixings. It’s an odd characterization. The beef is obviously right there on the bun. Russia engaged in various efforts to influence or disrupt the 2016 presidential elections. Trump campaign staffers met with Russian officials and discussed the election. The president’s own son convened a meeting, attended by campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, with a Russian lawyer who promised compromising material on Hillary Clinton. After the election, various appointees and administration officials — National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, Attorney General Jeff Sessions — then lied about their Russian contacts. So, the only question is whether the burger is a run-of-the-mill cheeseburger or a XXXL Fatburger that gets caught in the throat of a president who sure loves him some fast food. I lean toward the latter. But that’s going to require a closer look at the ingredients. Brace yourself: It’s never a pretty picture behind the scenes at a burger joint. [Russiagate] [Liberal]
• George W. Bush: There’s clear evidence Russia meddled in U.S. election
  By Kristine Phillips February 8 at 10:35 AM Email the author Hillary Clinton and former president George W. Bush look on at President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Former president George W. Bush said he believes Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, departing from President Trump, who has been skeptical of intelligence agencies’ findings that the Kremlin had interfered to help him win. “There’s pretty clear evidence that the Russians meddled. Whether they affected the outcome is another question,” the 43rd president said at a summit in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. He added: “It’s problematic that a foreign nation is involved in our election system. Our democracy is only as good as people trust the results.” Bush has been critical of Russia, slamming it for working to “exploit our country’s divisions.” [Russiagate] [George W. Bush]
• A look at Washington's battle of the Russia memos
  Patricia Zengerle The White House must decide this week whether to clear the release of a classified memo written by Democrats. The document aims to rebut a Republican memo alleging FBI and Justice Department bias against President Donald Trump in a federal probe into potential collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. A copy of the formerly top secret classified memo written by House Intelligence Committee Republican staff and declassified for release by U.S. President Donald Trump is seen shortly after it was released by the committee in Washington, February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg The following explains what is in play in a partisan dispute roiling Washington. [Russiagate]
• The Defining Year Was 1991: The Demise of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union
  by Marcus Papadopoulos, via Global Research Whilst there are no golden ages, it is abundantly clear that the world today is in a very unhealthy state. From Eastern Europe to North Africa to the Middle East, countries, in recent years, have been severely destabilised, resulting in carnage and the destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives. And at the heart of that destabilisation is American and British foreign policy. But how have we arrived at this situation in the world today? And what are the roots of America and Britain’s ‘humanitarian intervention’? A lot of people answer the above questions by citing the illegal American and British invasion of Iraq. Well, they are emphatically wrong. What we are seeing today in, for example, Syria, has its origins in 1991. Because that year was a turning-point in geo-politics. It was the year that saw the dismemberment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Yugoslavia was the first step in a series of Western interventions in the world, including Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine, and the West was able to successfully intervene in those countries because the Soviet Union is no more. [Soviet collapse] [Yugoslavia]
• Russian-Turkish axis in Syria faces meltdown
  With suspicions running high that the nominal allies drew each other's blood on February 3, Ankara may well seek a modus vivendi with the US By M.K. Bhadrakumar February 6, 2018 1:26 PM (UTC+8) A still image obtained from social media shows the wreckage from a Russian military plane shot down by rebel forces near Idlib, Syria, on February 3. Photo via Reuters A still image obtained from social media shows the wreckage from a Russian military plane shot down by rebel forces near Idlib, Syria, on February 3. Photo via Reuters Two things differentiate the downing of a Russian Su-25 ground-attack jet in the western province of Idlib on February 3 from the drone attacks on the Russian air base at Hmeimim a month earlier. One, Russia could thwart the attack on January 5 by a wave of drone aircraft but singularly failed to anticipate the use of man-portable air defense systems by extremists operating in Idlib under Turkish watch. Russia lost an ace fighter pilot in the latter attack. Two, Moscow sensed an American hand in the drone attack on January 5, but this time around Russia’s Tass news agency promptly highlighted an American denial on record. The Kremlin’s Dmitry Peskov made a point of cautioning against speculations “before one gets precise information as to how terrorists in Syria got that particular man-portable air defense system and other weapons that they have.” Notably, however, an influential lawmaker – Dmitry Sablin, coordinator of the Russia-Syria parliamentary friendship group – went ahead to “speculate,” saying: “We have information that the MANPADS used to bring down our jet was brought into Syria from a neighboring country several days ago. Countries from whose territory weapons arrive, that are then used against Russian servicemen, must understand that this will not go unpunished.” [Turkey] [Russia] [Syria] [Neo-Ottomanism]
• Hero or hired gun? How a British former spy became a flash point in the Russia investigation.
  By Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman February 6 at 10:04 PM Email the author 2:50 What you need to know about Christopher Steele, the FBI and the Trump 'dossier' The Russia probe got its start with a drunken conversation, an ex-spy, WikiLeaks and a distracted FBI. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) In the fall of 2016, a little more than a month before Donald Trump was elected president, Christopher Steele had the undivided attention of the FBI. For months, the British former spy had been working to alert the Americans to what he believed were disturbing ties Trump had to Russia. He had grown so worried about what he had learned from his Russia network about the Kremlin’s plans that he told colleagues it was like “sitting on a nuclear weapon.” [Russiagate] [Christopher Steele]
• Release of Nunes memo throws anti-Russia campaign into disarray
  By Andre Damon 3 February 2018 The Democratic Party was thrown into disarray Friday after the publication of a classified memo exposing as a factionally-motivated witch hunt the investigation by leading intelligence agencies into the Trump administration’s alleged collusion with Russia. The so-called Nunes memo, which Democratic lawmakers, US intelligence agencies and major newspapers had been seeking to block for days, alleges that the FBI under the Obama administration used discredited sources and withheld key information to initiate a wiretap of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. [Russiagate] [Nunes] [FBI]
• “Nunesburgers” & denial from the MSM while Politico blames Putin
  the completely spontaneous (no, honestly) “nunesburger” designed to make you think there’s nothing to it The “Nunes” Memo isn’t political dynamite but it could be the final blow to the whole ridiculous and virtually fact-free Russiagate narrative. It confirms the Steele dossier is a scam, and demonstrates the lies employed to get approval for spying on Trump’s team, it shows the vindictive bias in the establishment towards an elected official. But, of course, the mainstream media and various paid opinion-makers are not admitting that. In fact there’s a chorus of evasion and distraction and frantic meme-creation right now, from bots spamming talking points, and “#nunesburger” hashtags to avowedly serious opinion pieces claiming it’s all a “half-baked conspiracy theory”…blah…blah… There’s no shortage of examples of just how eerily lockstep the various strands of the campaign are, but here’s one of the “serious” ones to mull over. Politico’s The Nunes Memo & Putin’s Long Game. [Russiagate] [Nunes] [Putin]
• It’s All Downhill in Chechnya, This Time at a Ski Resort
  By Andrew e. Kramer Jan. 31, 2018 VEDUCHI, Russia — Sporting a camouflage ski suit, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, pulled a gigantic ceremonial lever to start this once war-wrecked region’s first ski lift. “God is great!” some spectators yelled as the machine whirred to life. High in the Caucasus Mountains, a ski resort is rising on slopes that once teemed with Islamist militants. The Veduchi resort, which takes its name from the local village, is a multimillion-dollar development featuring a hotel and spa center, chalets and a helicopter pad. It is the centerpiece of an improbable effort for Russia to ski and snowboard its way out of a long-simmering insurgency. The potential for winter sports as a method of diplomacy came into focus recently in South Korea, which is preparing to welcome North Korean athletes to the Winter Olympics this month. But Russia has a longer-term strategy: putting winter sports to use as a tool for economic development and pacification in a decades-old conflict in the Caucasus. A state-owned company, North Caucasus Resorts, is building a string of ski resorts in the restive, predominantly Muslim areas of the Caucasus. Three have opened so far, the most recent here in the Argun Gorge of Chechnya. The intention is to create jobs, though even the developer conceded that it might be difficult to convince winter sports enthusiasts of the merits of Chechnya, where Russia brutally repressed an Islamist insurgency and where thousands of militants may be returning from Syria after fighting for the Islamic State. [Russia confrontation] [Chechnya] [Pacification] [Tourism] [Jihadist]

---

Return to top of page
JANUARY 2018

• IOC bans use of Russian flag at Pyeongchang Olympics
  Posted on : Jan.29,2018 17:16 KST Modified on : Jan.29,2018 17:16 KST Russian athletes will also be forced to use the “OAR” designation instead of “RUS” The OAR logo that Russian athletes must use on their team uniforms (provided by IOC) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced conduct guidelines strictly banning the use of the national flag by Russian athletes competing in the Pyeongchang Olympics as individuals. According to guidelines posted to the IOC website on Jan. 27, Russian athletes may not display the Russian country code “RUS” on their competition or team uniforms and must use the abbreviation “OAR” (short for “Olympic athlete from Russia’) instead. While spectators are allowed to display Russian flags during the Olympics, Russian athletes may not use the Russian flag, national anthem, or associated symbols and emblems. The Olympic flag is to be displayed when Russian athletes take the medal stand, and the “Olympic Hymn“ is to be played in place of the Russian national anthem when athletes win gold. Use of the Russian flag by athletes is restricted to their own rooms within the Olympic athletes’ village. [Russia confrontation] [Olympics18] [IOC] [UNUS]
• UK Defence Secretary accuses Russia of planning to kill “thousands and thousands and thousands” of Britons
  By Robert Stevens 27 January 2018 Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has ratcheted up Britain’s threats against Russia. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, published as its main front-page story Friday, Williamson said that Russia was spying on Britain’s critical national infrastructure and claimed, “The plan for the Russians won’t be for landing craft to appear in the South Bay in Scarborough, and off Brighton Beach. “What they [Russia] are looking at doing is they are going to be thinking ‘How can we just cause so much pain to Britain?’ Damage its economy, rip its infrastructure apart, actually cause thousands and thousands and thousands of deaths, but actually have an element of creating total chaos within the country.” The newspaper wrote, “Gavin Williamson told The Daily Telegraph that Moscow had been researching the UK’s critical infrastructure and how it connected to Continental power supplies with a view to creating ‘panic’ and ‘chaos.’” Williamson added that Russia was willing to take actions “that any other nation would see as completely unacceptable.” Without citing any evidence, he posed the question, “Why would they keep photographing and looking at power stations, why are they looking at the interconnectors that bring so much electricity and so much energy into our country.” The newspaper noted this was a reference to “energy lines that link the UK to continental supplies and allow Britain to trade and share electricity and gas with neighbours.” The UK, it said, “has four undersea interconnectors for electricity and three for gas, which provide energy to three million homes—a figure which will rise to eight million when further connections are built.” Williamson’s comments come just days after General Sir Nick Carter, the chief of the general staff of the armed forces, declared that Britain must actively prepare for war with Russia and other geo-political rivals. [UK] [Russia confrontation] [MISCOM] [Military expenditure]
• Trump sought release of classified Russia memo, putting him at odds with Justice Department
  By Ashley Parker, Rosalind S. Helderman, Josh Dawsey and Carol D. Leonnig January 27 at 4:37 PM On Wednesday, as Republicans were clamoring to make public a secret document they think will undercut the investigation into Russian meddling, President Trump made clear his desire: Release the memo. Trump’s directive was at odds with his own Justice Department, which had warned that releasing the classified memo written by congressional Republicans would be “extraordinarily reckless” without an official review. Nevertheless, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly relayed the president’s view to Attorney General Jeff Sessions — although the decision to release the document ultimately lies with Congress. [Russiagate] [FBI]
• Kazakhstan Cheers New Alphabet, Except for All Those Apostrophes
  By Andrew Higgins Jan. 15, 2018 Photo Erden Kazhybek, the head of the Institute of Linguistics in Almaty, Kazakhstan, illustrated different spellings of one sound in the Kazakh language. Credit Andrea Bruce for The New York Times ALMATY, Kazakhstan — In his 26 years as Kazakhstan’s first and only president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev has managed to keep a resurgent Russia at bay and navigate the treacherous geopolitical waters around Moscow, Beijing and Washington, keeping on good terms with all three capitals. The authoritarian leader’s talent for balancing divergent interests, however, suddenly seems to have deserted him over an issue that, at first glance, involves neither great power rivalry nor weighty matters of state: the role of the humble apostrophe in writing down Kazakh words. The Kazakh language is currently written using a modified version of Cyrillic, a legacy of Soviet rule, but Mr. Nazarbayev announced in May that the Russian alphabet would be dumped in favor of a new script based on the Latin alphabet. This, he said, “is not only the fulfillment of the dreams of our ancestors, but also the way to the future for younger generations.” [Kazakhstan] [Linguistics] [Russia confrontation]
• In planned speech, Sen. Jeff Flake compares Trump’s media attacks to comments by Stalin
  By Ed O'Keefe January 14 at 9:36 PM Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) speaks at a committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Oct. 31. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press) Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) plans to give a speech in the coming days that compares President Trump’s public criticism of the news media to similar comments once made by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. A spokesman said that Flake, who will retire after this year amid intense political pressure sparked by his criticism of the president, plans to deliver the speech Wednesday before Trump announces the winners of his self-described “fake news” awards. Trump announced via Twitter that he would be handing out awards Wednesday to news outlets he thought unfairly covered him. [Anti-Trump] [Russia confrontation] [Stalin]
• Feud over Trump dossier intensifies with release of interview transcript
  Glenn R. Simpson, former Wall Street Journal journalist and a founder of the research firm Fusion GPS, arrives to appear before a closed House Intelligence Committee hearing in November. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP) By Devlin Barrett and Tom Hamburger January 10 at 12:04 AM The political battle over the FBI and its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election intensified Tuesday with the release of an interview with the head of the firm behind a dossier of allegations against then-candidate Donald Trump. The transcript of Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn R. Simpson’s interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee was released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the panel’s senior Democrat, over the objections of Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Feinstein’s action comes alongside an effort by Republicans to discredit the dossier as a politically motivated document that the FBI has relied too heavily upon in its investigation. Feinstein sought to push back against that perception and to bolster the FBI’s credibility. “The innuendo and misinformation circulating about the transcript are part of a deeply troubling effort to undermine the investigation,” she said. [Russia confrontation] [US_election16] [Chris Steele] [FBI] []Russiagate]
• ‘A real Halloween special’: Fusion GPS co-founder questions New York Times report on Trump-Russia
  By Erik Wemple January 9 at 7:30 PM Glenn R. Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, arrives for a closed House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in November. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press) That New York Times article from Oct. 31, 2016, on the FBI investigation into the links between Russia and the Trump campaign won’t stop wiggling around in the newspaper’s archives. “Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to Russia,” reads the headline over a piece that addressed an ongoing probe that hadn’t yet “found any conclusive or direct link between Mr. Trump and the Russian government.” The story continues: “And even the hacking into Democratic emails, F.B.I. and intelligence officials now believe, was aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing Mr. Trump.” That article has been an item of intense interest among anti-Trumpers ever since it hit the Internet, as it essentially rebutted other stories suggesting that the ties between Team Trump and Russia merited a great deal of continued scrutiny. During this pre-election period, both Slate and Mother Jones had published stories suggesting bona fide connections. And just a little over a week ago, the New York Times itself reported that as far back as July 2016, the FBI started a Russia-Trump probe in large part because of a tip from the Australians about a Trump campaign aide — George Papadopoulos — boasting to an Australian official about Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton in May 2016, two months before the WikiLeaks emails hit the Internet. [Russia confrontation] [Russiagate] [FBI]
• North Korea: The Deafening Silence around the Moon-Putin Plan
  by Joseph Essertier The Moon-Putin Plan: One Possible Path To Peace One could be forgiven for not having heard of it since it disrupts the standard “North-Korea-Problem” narrative, but there is a realistic solution to the crisis that liberal and progressive appeasers are keeping silent about. This is the Moon-Putin Plan unveiled in September in Vladivostok. President Moon outlined it as nine “bridges” of cooperation linking South Korea to Russia via North Korea—“gas, railroads, ports, electricity, a northern sea route, shipbuilding, jobs, agriculture, and fisheries.” Siberian oil and gas pipelines would be extended to Korea, both North and South, as well as to Japan. Both Koreas would be linked up with the vast rail networks of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, including high-speed rail, and the Eurasian Economic Union, which includes the Trans-Siberian Railway. In the words of Gavan McCormack, “North Korea would accept the security guarantee of the five (Japan included), refrain from any further nuclear or missile testing, shelve (‘freeze’) its existing programs and gain its longed for ‘normalization’ in the form of incorporation in regional groupings, the lifting of sanctions and normalized relations with its neighbour states, without surrender.” This Moon-Putin Plan has the potential to satisfy all the states involved, possibly even the US. One would think, “Done deal. Problem solved.” Yet mainstream journalists in Japan and English-speaking countries have largely ignored it, and even very few non-mainstream journalists have covered it. Why should this be so? [Russia SK] [Eurasian landbridge]
• Senior Republican refers Trump-Russia dossier author for possible charges
  By Devlin Barrett and Tom Hamburger January 5 at 2:55 PM The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Friday that the Justice Department investigate for possible criminal charges the author of the now-famous “dossier” alleging the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin during the 2016 election. The move by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) marks a major escalation in conservatives’ challenges to the FBI’s credibility as the agency investigates whether any Trump associates committed crimes. Another Republican, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), joined in the letter to the Justice Department. Their letter makes what is called a criminal referral to the Justice Department, suggesting it investigate the dossier author, former British spy Christopher Steele, for possibly lying to the FBI. It is a crime to lie to FBI agents about a material fact relevant to an ongoing investigation. The move was viewed skeptically by some Democrats and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, as well as experts in criminal law. Steele’s role has become a matter of increasingly heated debate, with the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill suggesting his reports were biased, since he was hired with money that ultimately came from the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. [Russiagate] [DNC] [Smear] [Christopher Steele]
• Jill Stein in the Cross-Hairs
  The Russia Investigation shifts to Clinton's Political Rivals
  Mike Whitney • December 26, 2017 “Jill Stein had dinner with Putin, so… GET THE GUILLOTINE! That’s how we roll in this country now. Didn’t she know it’s illegal to eat with Russians?” Richard Baris, Twitter The Russia-gate investigation has zeroed-in on Green Party presidential candidate, Jill Stein, proving that the probe is not an attempt to determine whether Russia meddled in the 2016 elections, but a crude weapon to bully the political rivals of Hillary Clinton and her dissolute allies in the national security bureaucracy. The Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Richard Burr said on Monday that the committee was “just starting to look at Ms. Stein’s campaign … as it continues its investigation of the Trump campaign.” According to a report in the New York Times: “Democrats have seethed for more than a year at Ms. Stein, whose tens of thousands of votes in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania either exceeded or nearly matched Donald J. Trump’s margins of victory in those states, which delivered him the White House. At least in certain quarters, they greeted news of the queries enthusiastically. Jesse Ferguson, a former Clinton campaign spokesman, said Americans ought to know if a presidential nominee, no matter how minor, had become a Russian asset or was simply boosted in an effort to chip away Democratic votes from Mrs. Clinton. “Russian operatives were not promoting Jill Stein because they thought she would win,” Mr. Ferguson said. “They were promoting her because they thought it would hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump.” (“Senate investigators scrutinize another presidential candidate: Jill Stein”, New York Times) Let me get this straight: The Democrats think Stein siphoned votes away from Hillary, so Stein must be a “Russian agent”. Is that it? How long are American liberals going to put up with this nonsense? [Russiagate] [Greens] [Hillary Clinton]
• Trump’s worthy choice to provide Ukraine weapons
  Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, talks on Dec.?27 to Ukrainian military members released in a prisoner exchange with Russia-backed separatists. (Mikhail Palinchak/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) By Editorial Board December 30 at 5:44 PM THE TRUMP administration hesitated for months over whether to provide Ukraine with defensive weapons, but when it finally acted this week, its timing was impeccable. Aggression by Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine rose sharply in mid-December: Heavy artillery and rocket barrages belied the notion that Moscow’s three-year-old intervention in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk had settled into a “frozen conflict.” There was speculation that Vladi­mir Putin saw escalation in Ukraine as a way of rallying domestic support ahead of a March presidential election. [Russia confrontation] [Ukraine] [Weapons] [Escalation]

---

Return to top of page[.....] Return to Asian Geopolitics indexpage[…..] Return to Russia indexpage