Russian President Vladimir Putin made claims Monday that the Islamic State group has received financial support from more than 40 countries, including some in attendance at the G-20 summit in Turkey. Putin told reporters that he shared evidence with other G-20 member states at the meeting.
RFE/RL: U.S. Military Chief Says Recommends Providing Ukraine With Lethal Defensive Aid
The top U.S. military commander has said he recommended that the United States provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine to help the country “protect [its] sovereignty”…
BREAKING: FRANCE SEEKS UNITED US-RUSSIA ASSAULT ON ISLAMIC STATE
Hollande said the United States and Russia needed to set aside their policy divisions over Syria, adding that he hoped to meet soon with President Barack Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin “to unify our strength and achieve a result that has been too long in coming.”
“We need a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition,” he said.
John Hudson: US And Russia Quietly End Diplomatic Tailspin
A behind-the-scenes effort by US and Russian diplomats may have preempted a new wave of tit-for-tat retaliations.
French Connections: The Knock-On Effects of the Paris Attacks
“A U.S.-Russia grand alliance against Assad and ISIS?” asks Robert Kuttner. “Most readers of the Prospect have scoffed at the idea that the U.S. should make common cause with the thuggish Vladimir Putin, an idea promoted by Stephen F. Cohen on the left and Donald Trump on the right. But the idea just became a little less fringe.”
Reuters: Thousands evacuated in Ukraine as ammunition depot explodes
Massive explosions and a blaze at a military ammunition depot in central Ukraine forced authorities to evacuate 24,000 people and close airspace over the region, officials said on Wednesday.
Obama, Putin agree need for UN-negotiated Syria talks, ceasefire
Antalya (Turkey) (AFP) – US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Sunday on the need for UN-sponsored peace talks and a ceasefire to resolve years of war in Syria, a White House official said.
The two leaders spoke during a short and unannounced summit meeting over a coffee table on the margins of a G20 summit in the Turkish resort of Antalya.
Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor: Do Liberal Democrats Want War With Russia?
Having grown into an inescapable political phenomenon, “Russiagate” abets the chances of war with Moscow in at least three ways. It depicts Russia as a “hostile nation.” It has crippled Trump’s promise to ease tensions by cooperating with Moscow. And it discourages anti-Cold War voices in American mainstream media and politics.
France’s Sarkozy urges West, Russia tie-up vs Islamic State
PARIS (Reuters) – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy called on Sunday for the creation of a single international coalition to combat Islamic State in Syria following attacks in Paris that claimed 129 lives.
Daniel Larison: Corker Announces His Retirement
Corker spent two terms in the Senate, and during that time he had a generally poor record on foreign policy issues.
Obama Administration Officials Insist Russia Is to Blame for the Syrian Crisis
Last week, on November 5, The Wall Street Journal reported that the CIA will be stepping up its illegal war in Syria by increasing the number of weapons it is providing to the so-called Syrian moderate opposition, putting the lie to President Obama’s pledge not to lead the United States into a proxy war with Russia. If a hearing held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last Wednesday morning on “Russia’s Escalation in Syria” is any indication, the president should expect little to no opposition to the CIA’s action.
Robert Parry: The Rise of the New McCarthyism
As the New McCarthyism takes hold in America, the neocon Washington Post makes Russia the villain in virtually every bad thing that happens, with U.S. dissidents treated as “fellow-travelers,” writes Robert Parry.
RUSSIA ACCUSES US OF HIJACKING PREPARATIONS FOR SYRIA TALKS
VIENNA (AP) — Russia accused the United States on Thursday of hijacking preparatory talks for a weekend meeting of nearly 20 nations focused on ending the Syrian war. The charge was denied by U.S. officials, who expressed surprise that Moscow did not show up.
Robert Parry: WPost Pushes More Dubious Russia-bashing
The Washington Post has published another front-page story about Russia maybe placing some ads on Facebook, but the article violates a host of journalistic principles in hyping its case, reports Robert Parry.
Q&A: Former U.S. ambassador Matlock reflects on Cold War
ACEWA Founding Board Member Ambassador Jack Matlock sat down for an interview with Duke University’s Chronicle last last month:
TC: What would you tell whoever is elected president in 2016 to do about our relationship with Russia and other former Soviet countries?
JM: Well, as far as Russia is concerned, I think that in dealing with the most important problems we have, problems like global warming, the threat of terrorism, the impact of failed states, international drug trade, international crime in general, organized crime, these I think are the crucial problems and in dealing with them, Russia is either going to be part of the solution or part of the problem.
Gordon Hahn: Russian Propaganda: Much Ado About Little
Much is being made about the ostensibly omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Russian propaganda machine.
Washington Appears to Reject the Opportunity to End the New Cold War With Russia
ation contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussion of the new US-Russian Cold War. Cohen points out that instead of cooperating with Moscow’s air war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the Obama Administration is threatening to send US planes and possibly troops to counter the Russian military operation there, while also stepping up NATO ground, air and sea exercises in areas on Russia’s own borders
Mark Pfeifle: China Is Using the Russia-America Standoff to Win Big in Europe
Beijing is gaining energy-leverage in the region that is comparable only to that which Moscow enjoyed during the Cold War.
Paris Climate Talks Should Include Russia’s Lake Baikal
Following this year’s unnaturally dry summer, wildfires of an intensity not seen in decades have roared across the shores of Russia’s Lake Baikal. At their peak, they raged across nearly 150,000 hectares of land, an area roughly equivalent to that of the Houston metropolitan area. Greenpeace Russia estimates that over the course of July and August alone, up to 1.5 million hectares burned — that is, over 5.5 thousand square miles.
The image of Siberia burning is deeply unsettling, especially given its reputation as one of the coldest places on earth. Though wildfires in the region occur each year, their recent size and severity reveal broad ecological stress in the region. Of equal concern is Lake Baikal’s declining water level, which in early 2015 dropped below critical levels for the first time in more than three decades.
Paul Robinson: Cunning Trolls
If the latest stories in the Western press are to be believed, those dastardly Russians are responsible for turning a piece of anti-Russian propaganda into a viral video on social media. Curse them for their cunning!