The ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine casts a long shadow over areas of shared American and Russian interest, making the Obama administration’s 2009 “reset” in relations appear a distant memory. However perceptions have shifted in the intervening six years, common concerns still exist between Washington and Moscow; chief among them: terrorism.
In Ukraine, feeling grows that the east is lost to Russia (AP via Fox)
While still speaking about a united Ukraine, Poroshenko’s government last month shut off electricity supplies to Luhansk over unpaid debts. Kiev already had stopped supplying gas to both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and in March, Poroshenko imposed a trade blockade on the regions beyond Kiev’s control.
BREAKING: Eyeing Russia, US leads fresh military drills in Ukraine
Ukrainian and US troops launched fresh drills Monday near the war-torn country’s Polish border in a bid to show unity and resolve in the face of an increasingly resurgent Kremlin.
The annual Rapid Trident exercises involve 1,800 soldiers from 18 countries and last for just under two weeks.
In the Horrorscape of Aleppo (Charles Glass)
Militarists in the White House, Congress, and the US media call for escalation against Assad and Vladimir Putin, but they might serve Syria’s beleaguered population better by seeking an accord with the Russians and Iranians. Until then, there will be more war crimes. And more war.
How Russia proved to be the best BRICS bet in 2015
Which country would you invest in: a fast- growing economic powerhouse with a world-beating stock market or a tottering former superpower embroiled in a proxy war and heading for a recession?
If at the start of 2015 you had chosen the second, Russia, you would be walking away with risk-adjusted returns surpassing that of the first, China, and also every other BRICS country, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Why is attribution such a challenge? (Jeff Schilling)
I am always skeptical when I see that a particular threat actor has been identified, such as in the case of the recent DNC hacking event.
MH-17 Mystery: A New Tonkin Gulf Case?
In 1964, the Tonkin Gulf incident was used to justify the Vietnam War although U.S. intelligence quickly knew the facts were not what the U.S. government claimed. Now, the MH-17 case is being exploited to justify a new Cold War as U.S. intelligence again is silent about what it knows, writes Robert Parry.
Five killed in Ukraine’s deadliest 24 hours since Easter truce (AFP)
Kiev (AFP) – Four Ukrainian soldiers and a civilian were killed in the deadliest 24-hour period in Ukraine’s eastern separatist war zone since the start of an Easter truce, officials said Wednesday.
Russia’s Lavrov talks with Ukraine, US, German counterparts
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held separate talks Saturday with his Ukraine, US and German counterparts, the Kremlin announced, as fighting spikes in eastern Ukraine.
During the telephone calls with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Lavrov called for the Ukrainian army “to begin the demilitarisation” of the flashpoint Shyrokine village.
PODCAST: Again, Is the Possibility of a Trump-Putin Détente Really Dead? (Stephen F. Cohen)
Princeton and NYU Professor Emeritus Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. Cohen reiterates a general theme he has developed in recent years: the exceedingly dangerous nature of the new Cold War makes détente – that is, negotiating areas of US-Russian cooperation to replace or offset perilous areas of conflict, imperative for American and international security.
Breakaway Transnistria region could become next flashpoint with Russia
…a sense of unrest is returning to Transnistria. Regional developments connected to the ongoing crisis between Russia and neighboring Ukraine are sparking fears of renewed conflict, with local media and incendiary official statements adding to a sense of rising tensions
PODCAST: Lev Golinkin, Author of “A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka” Talks to John Batchelor
Ukraine’s attempt to attack a Jewish war hero is a disgrace, says the author and journalist Lev Golinkin. Holocaust whitewashers have attempted this in Lithuania, and now it seems Ukraine is following suit. This, according to Golinkin, is not just about attacking the dead, but attacking the living.
Russian sanctions: US to punish Putin by stepping up financial sanctions if Russia does not fulfil commitment to Minsk agreement
The United States is preparing to punish Russia by starving off its access to western credit if President
Putin does not meet demands for peace in Ukraine, it has been reported.
Merkel meets Putin to discuss crises in Syria and Ukraine (BBC)
The meeting, at Mr Putin’s summer residence in Sochi, comes with bilateral relations in a trough over the war in Syria and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Russia says Iran deal paves way for ‘broad’ coalition against Isis
The Iran nuclear deal has paved the way for a “broad” coalition to fight the Islamic State group, according to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
“It removes the barriers – largely artificial – on the way to a broad coalition to fight the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups,” Lavrov said in a statement on the ministry’s website on Tuesday.
What’s wrong with American articles about ‘The New Cold War’ with Russia? (Meduza)
The American mainstream [has] failed to show skepticism about a special declassified intelligence report on Russia’s attempts to influence the U.S. elections, despite the report’s lack of new information and failure to offer concrete evidence proving that Vladimir Putin wanted to undermine American democracy. Instead, most of the report consisted of an annex devoted to the Russian television channel Russia Today (RT).
Ukraine marks Malaysian plane crash anniversary
Residents of the Ukrainian village where a Malaysian airliner was shot down with 298 people aboard a year ago joined a procession to the crash site on Friday, while Australia’s prime minister remembered the “savagery” of the disaster as he unveiled a plaque in Canberra that’s set in soil from where the wreckage fell.
Ukraine opens criminal probe against 94-year-old Jewish WWII hero (Ynetnews)
In an unprecedented move, this is the first time Ukrainian authorities have sought to arrest a person who worked against Nazi collaborators during and after the Second World War. Steckler was recognized as a local war hero and is regularly invited to the parades commemorating the victory over the Nazis.
Russia Gets To Observe NATO’s Biggest Exercise In Years
Among the guests invited to observe the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s biggest military exercise in more than a decade will be the alliance’s once, and potentially future, adversary: the Russians.
At first blush it might seem odd that the country which a rising number of NATO members view as the world’s gravest security threat would be given a ring-side seat to watch the alliance test its newly revamped response force.
Army to Move Brigade’s Worth of Firepower into Poland (Military.com)
The U.S. Army in Europe is moving ahead with a plan to place another brigade’s worth of combat-ready armor and artillery inside Poland in an effort to push firepower closer to potential hot spots along NATO’s eastern flank.