The key question at the heart of this investigation is not whether the Russians had dirt on Clinton, including damaging emails. The issue is whether the Trump campaign was working with Russian officials to acquire and disseminate information about her that could be used to tilt the 2016 election.
Ukraine crisis: PM Yatsenyuk survives no-confidence vote (BBC)
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote, hours after the president asked him to step down.
The prime minister has been criticised over the slow pace of reforms and faces allegations of corruption.
David Filipov: This Russian presidential contender has zero chance against Putin.
But a man can dream.
Saudi Arabia, Russia to Freeze Oil Output Near Record Levels (Bloomberg)
Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze oil output at near-record levels, the first coordinated move by the world’s two largest producers to counter a slump that has pummeled economies, markets and companies.
Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate: ‘Fire and Fury’, Clinton Probe, and Russiagate
The book ‘Fire and Fury’ sparks a rift between Trump and Bannon, the FBI revives scrutiny of the Clinton Foundation, and GOP Senators target the author of the Steele dossier. Best-selling author Max Blumenthal breaks down the growing intra-elite clashes and the key developments that are being overlooked
NATO’s Provocative Anti-Russian Moves (Jonathan Marshall)
Twenty-seven years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, NATO is back flexing its muscles as if nothing had changed since the days of the Soviet Union. Defense ministers from the enlarged, 28-member organization agreed recently to strengthen the alliance’s “forward presence” in Eastern Europe. If their new policy is endorsed at a summit in Poland this summer, NATO will begin deploying thousands of troops in Poland and the Baltic states, right up against Russia’s borders.
Kimberly Strassel: The Democrats’ ‘Russian Descent’
The running joke in today’s Washington is that one risks a subpoena merely for ordering a salad with Russian dressing.
Report on Donbass (Paul Robinson)
Given the poor quality of much commentary about Russia’s role in the war in Donbass, it was good this week to read something which was actually quite informative, even if I disagreed with some of its assumptions and policy recommendations.
Patrick Armstrong: Russian Federation Sitrep
LOST OPPORTUNITY….Once the USA was extremely popular in Russia. In the early 90s a high of 80% felt good about the USA. 35% then thought the US was friendly and 3% thought it hostile: today it’s 3% and 59% respectively.
RUSSIA PRESSES AIR BLITZ IN SYRIA TO DICTATE PEACE TERMS (AP)
Moscow joined the fight in Syria to return to relevance in international diplomacy. It has succeeded by anyone’s measure – and Russia hopes to use its air power to dictate the terms of a cease-fire and prospective peace talks.
Russian warplanes have helped the Syrian army make broad advances and close in on the country’s biggest city, Aleppo. Meanwhile, the Western-backed opposition is fractured and weakened.
Lawrence J. Korb: The Vatican tries to reduce the revived global threat of nuclear
With the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, many experts felt that the threat of nuclear war had receded.
Russian PM Medvedev says new cold war is on (BBC)
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said strains between Russia and the West have pushed the world “into a new cold war”.
“On an almost daily basis, we are being described the worst threat – be it to Nato as a whole, or to Europe, America or other countries,” Mr Medvedev said.
Paul Saunders: Where Are U.S.-Russia Relations Headed?
Paul Saunders, executive director of the Center for the National Interest, interviews Andranik Migranyan, a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (an academic institution run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia) about the future of U.S.-Russia relations.
Saudi Arabia Cooking Up Strategic Move Against Russia (Haaretz)
Saudi-Turkish threat to invade Syria points to the gap between the desire for a cease-fire agreement and reality. Judging by Russia’s conduct so far, Riyadh and Ankara might want to reexamine what could be a dangerous gamble.
Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor: Four Years of Ukraine and the Myths of Maidan
The history of the Ukrainian crisis, which has made everything it affected worse, is distorted by political myths and American media malpractice.
Obama urges Russia to stop bombing ‘moderate’ Syria rebels (Reuters)
U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russia on Sunday to stop bombing “moderate” rebels in Syria in support of its ally Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to latest efforts to end the war.
Rajan Menon and William Ruger: Arming Ukraine provokes Russia
Ukraine matters more to Russia than it does to the United States. This hard reality makes the Trump administration’s recent decision to approve selling lethal weapons to Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles, counterproductive and dangerous.
Why Is America Restarting the Cold War With Russia? (Dana Rohrabacher)
The president’s new budget proposal for 2017 calls for a 200 percent increase for our military spending in Europe aimed at Russia—perhaps the most provocative step yet in our apparent efforts to encircle and antagonize that country.
Lyle J. Goldstein: In Pursuit of an ‘Olympic Truce’ on the Korean Peninsula
The road to Pyongyang may well run through Moscow.
“Soft Power”: The Values that Shape Russian Foreign Policy (David Speedie)
In the increasingly frigid environment of U.S.-Russia relations, much attention is given to what may be seen as Russia’s strategic “interests.” (Of course, much of the policymaking class in the West seems to suggest that Russia is entitled to no “interests” whatsoever.) Of at least equal significance for understanding Russian attitudes, however, is a grasp of the values, the moral framework for Russia’s foreign policy.