How did people jump to this conclusion that Bernie Sanders, by opposing Democrats, must ipso facto be working at the behest of Russia? It wasn’t entirely organic. And it points to how fake news can infect some of our brethren on the left.
Russia says will respond in kind to new U.S. sanctions over Ukraine
Moscow said on Wednesday it would react in kind to United States’ widening of sanctions imposed on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, criticizing the move as straining relations and posing risks for international stability.
The U.S. Federal Register said on Wednesday Washington was adding 29 people to the sanctions list to tighten restrictions previously imposed on Russia.
Why Is Every Story About Macron And Putin Exactly The Same? (Kenneth Rapoza)
Whether it’s Reuters or the anti-Putin tabloid The Daily Beast, every headline today about the meeting between newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, reads the same…
Berlin and Paris Versus Kiev: A Conversation with Stephen F. Cohen
Nation contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new cold war. This installment focuses on different but related recent developments. According to Cohen, by summoning Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President François Hollande made clear that the US-backed government in Kiev, not Moscow, is blocking implementation of their Minsk plan for negotiating an end to the Ukrainian civil war.
Donald Trump is a victim of Washington’s anti-Russia bias (Mary Dejevesky)
It is not clear whether Trump’s enemies really believe that his Russia policy is a risk to US national security or whether Russia – because it can still inspire such fear in American minds – is being used as an emotive stick to beat him with.
Russian jets in Syrian skies
Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming days, and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state.
PODCAST: Dr. Ellendea Proffer Teasley discusses her new book “Brodsky Among Us”
Host and scholar Pietro Shakarian talks with Proffer Teasley about her late husband Carl Proffer, the founding of Ardis Publishers, the origin of the Ardis name, and her personal experiences with Russian literary giants Joseph Brodsky, Vladimir Nabokov, Nadezhda Mandelstam, Elena Bulgakova, and Lily Brik, among others.
Why Waiting for Russia to Collapse Is a Terrible Ukraine Policy
Two months ago, a number of senior U.S. national-security officials insisted that the Russian Federation has reemerged as the premier existential threat to American interests. Today, as energy prices continue to tumble and China’s economy falters, a new narrative has emerged: the pending collapse of Russia itself, or at least the prospects that the government of Vladimir Putin is entering into its last days.
The continuous oscillation in views—Russia as a powerful threat, Russia as an imploding basket case—does not permit a cool, rational assessment of Russia’s actual strengths and weaknesses.
Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul Buck Party Consensus on Russia and Iran Sanctions (The Real News)
Investigative journalist Max Blumenthal explains that these sanctions punish Russia and Iran unnecessarily intensifies the conflict between the US and these countries.
Ukraine crisis: Prime Minister says nationalist protesters are worse than the separatists following violence that left one dead
The all-too-familiar sight of masked men, Molotov cocktails, wooden sticks and explosives returned to the streets of Kiev, as violence between police and the mostly nationalist protesters broke out after a contentious vote in the Ukrainian national parliament. More than 100 people were injured, and one national guardsmen died as a result of a grenade thrown during the clashes.
Oliver Stone: ‘Shocked’ by Intelligence Agencies’ Hostility Toward Trump (Fox)
Oliver Stone joined Tucker Carlson to discuss his new four-hour documentary on Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. presidential election, and intelligence agencies’ “hostility” toward President Donald Trump.
KYIV BLOG: Ukraine not out of the woods yet
The $3.6bn debt deal announced on August 27 by Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance, where private bondholders agreed to take a 20% writedown on the face value of $18bn in government debt, is very good news. Yet it’s not a done deal and the final sum that will be restructured will almost certainly be less than the headline figure.
Russian Military Says It Might Have Killed ISIS Leader
Russia’s military said on Friday that it is looking into whether a Russian airstrike in the Syrian desert killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-declared caliph of the Islamic State, in what would be a major military achievement for Russia.
Right wing, anti-decentralization protest in Kyiv kills three policemen, injures dozens more
Excellent media round up of the unrest roiling Kiev by the website NewColdWar.org which trenchantly examines “two news reports from Western media sources on the clash. The reports come with typical, misleading Western media phrasing describing as “separatists” the people of eastern Ukraine who are resisting the civil war launched by the governing regime in Kyiv in April 2014.
Yasha Levine Reports From St. Petersburg (LBO)
Yasha Levine, author of the forthcoming Surveillance Valley, talks to radio host Doug Henwood about Russia, anti-Russia hysteria, and the latest NSA leak.
Ukraine Has Reached a Debt Deal. Now What?
While most analysts agree that the deal buys time for the authorities in Kiev, the terms of the deal seems to favor the lenders over the Ukrainian government. Goldman Sachs noted that the likelihood that bondholders would vote against the bond restructuring was small “given the attractiveness of the offer relative to market expectations.”
In return for a four-year extension on payments of the remaining debt, Ukraine agreed to a higher coupon (interest rate) of 7.75 percent, up from 7.25 percent. Further, after the four-year period expires in 2019, Ukraine will be obliged to spend 40 percent of any GDP growth over 4 percent on debt repayment.
Ukraine’s ultra-right militias are challenging the government to a showdown (Josh Cohen)
As Ukraine’s fight against Russian-supported separatists continues, Kiev faces another threat to its long-term sovereignty: powerful right-wing ultranationalist groups.
Ukraine move to cede powers to pro-Russia rebels sparks deadly melee
A bill granting autonomy to Ukraine’s restive eastern regions cleared its first parliamentary hurdle on Monday but sparked a violent right-wing protest that left a national guardsman dead and more than 120 people injured.
Sorting Out Ukraine Conflict’s History (James Carden)
Edmund Wilson once wrote that “it is all too easy to idealize a social upheaval which takes place in some other country than one’s own.” And this is an illusion that has plagued the mainstream narrative regarding the Ukrainian revolution from the start.
Exclusive: U.S. weighs sanctioning Russia as well as China in cyber attacks
The United States is considering sanctions against both Russian and Chinese individuals and companies for cyber attacks against U.S. commercial targets, several U.S. officials said on Monday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said no final decision had been made on imposing sanctions, which could strain relations with Russia further and, if they came soon, cast a pall over a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September.