The Justice Department’s independent inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, and his team uncovered a staggeringly dysfunctional and error-ridden process in how the F.B.I. went about obtaining and renewing court permission under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, to wiretap Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.
News
DW: Germans in favor of ‘reducing reliance’ on US
A new YouGov poll has found that a majority of Germans are in favor of reducing reliance on the US and increasing ties with Russia.
Open Letter from the Dartmouth Conference: Don’t Let START Stop
Drawing upon six decades of constructive contacts between American and Russian citizens, we the participants in the latest Dartmouth Conference have decided to issue this urgent appeal to our governments, warning of the dangers of a new nuclear arms race and strongly urging both governments to act immediately to extend the New START Treaty beyond its February 2021 expiration.
Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Weighs Extending New START Treaty
President’s decision about pact with Russia will be influenced by whether China joins arms-control negotiations and progress toward tougher agreement
Happy Thanksgiving from ACEWA
We will resume posting on Monday – ed.
BBC: Russia holds World War Two victory parade in coronavirus shadow
Russia is celebrating its biggest public holiday, Victory Day, with a military parade in Moscow that was meant to be held on 9 May.
Al Jazeera: Russia’s Putin hails Soviet role in WWII at military parade
The world owes the Soviet Union a debt of gratitude for its contribution to Nazi Germany’s defeat, Russian leader says.
Reuters: Russia’s Putin says he may seek another term if constitutional changes passed
Vladimir Putin is considering running for a new term as Russia’s president if voters approve constitutional changes that would enable him to do so, Russian news agencies quoted him as saying in an interview on Sunday.
BBC News: The former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev full interview
The former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has warned that current tension between Russia and the West is putting the world in “colossal danger” due to the threat from nuclear weapons.
AP: Putin Insists on Recognition of USSR’s WWII Role
Poland and Russia frequently butt heads over who is to blame for starting the war, and Putin took up the issue in the article.
BBC: Victory Day in the Time of COVID-19
Russian military aircraft swooped through the skies above an empty Red Square which, in normal circumstances, would be packed with spectators.
CNN: Russian court sentences US citizen Paul Whelan to 16 years in prison
Former US marine Paul Whelan was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison, a Moscow court ruled Monday, concluding a months-long case that put additional strain to already complicated US-Russian relations.
BBC: Nato alliance experiencing brain death, says Macron
President Emmanuel Macron of France has described Nato as “brain dead”, stressing what he sees as waning commitment to the transatlantic alliance by its main guarantor, the US.
Reuters: Gorbachev: Don’t build Berlin-style wall between Russia and West
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, has warned against building a new physical or invisible wall between Russia and the West, 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Reuters: Russia says it’s already too late to replace new START treaty
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday there was no longer enough time left for Moscow and Washington to negotiate a full-fledged replacement for the New START nuclear arms control treaty before it expires in February 2021.
CNN CLIP: Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice Blames the Russians
Susan Rice speculating on CNN that Russia is fueling US protests: “I would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on both sides using social media. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they are funding it in some way, shape, or form.”(h/t Aaron Mate)
ELN Group Statement: Saving the Open Skies Treaty
For nearly two decades, the Open Skies Treaty allowed its members to gather information on each other’s military forces and activities through aerial surveillance.
Asia Times: Russians want more cooperation with EU, polls show
Despite the Russian government’s standoff with Western nations, public opinion has been shifting away from hostility.
John Hudson and Paul Sonne: Trump administration discussed conducting first U.S. nuclear test in decades
he Trump administration has discussed whether to conduct the first U.S. nuclear test explosion since 1992 in a move that would have far-reaching consequences for relations with other nuclear powers and reverse a decades-long moratorium on such actions, said a senior administration official and two former officials familiar with the deliberations.
NY Times: Trump to Withdraw From ‘Open Skies’ Arms Control Treaty
Mr. Trump’s decision, the third major retreat from arms control agreements, will be viewed as evidence that he also plans an exit from the last major arms treaty with Russia: New START.