MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti) – The West ought to fundamentally change its approach towards the Ukrainian crisis, making Ukraine a ‘neutral buffer’ between Russia and NATO instead of westernizing it, asserts John J. Mearsheimer, American professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. “The United States and its European allies now face a choice on Ukraine. They can […]
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KYIV. Aug 27 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian government plans to endorse a Ukraine-NATO action program for 2014 at its Wednesday session, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said. “The government will endorse a Ukraine-NATO annual action program today. The president of Ukraine will be present at the NATO summit. NATO is our partner, and we expect our western partners and the alliance […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – James G. Neuger, Patrick Donahue – August 18, 2014) NATO will stop short of basing substantial combat forces in eastern Europe to avoid a complete rupture in relations with Russia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. A North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit next month will settle on other ways of protecting the alliance’s eastern flank, including previously […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 11, 2014) The notion that the West has a strategy for Ukraine is “a myth of Kremlin propaganda,” Vladimir Pastukhov says. “What is happening in Ukraine is the result not so much of the application of a mistaken strategy by the West as much as it is the sad consequence of […]
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BRUSSELS, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow said Tuesday Russia had beefed up its troops along its border with Ukraine by some 20,000 soldiers. “Russia broke intl law w/ [with] no justification, invaded #Ukraine, backs separatists, now has ±20,000 troops on Ukraine’s E. border,” Vershbow wrote on his Twitter page. NATO has never looked for pretext […]
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MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) – The group of NATO ships in the Black Sea has grown to nine vessels, setting a record for recent decades, a Russian military source told RIA Novosti Tuesday. “American cruiser Vella Gulf arrived in Burgas early Tuesday, and French frigate Surcouf, which returned to the Black Sea on July 4, unmoored from the port […]
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(RIA Novosti – July 7, 2014) Russia doesn’t view NATO as an adversary, Secretary-General Rasmussen is wrong, the Russian mission to NATO has said in response to an interview Anders Fogh Rasmussen gave to Euronews. RIA Novosti news agency quoted the mission saying via Twitter: “The NATO secretary-general’s statement that in Russian military documents ‘the alliance is viewed as an […]
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MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti) – One of the main political goals of the Ukrainian “Euro-Maidan” movement is the further expansion of NATO to the east, Russian Deputy Security Council Secretary Evgeny Lukyanov told RIA Novosti in an interview Wednesday. “It’s quite apparent that this is one of the goals,” Lukyanov said in reference to the West criticizing Russia for […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – June 27, 2014) The White House has submitted to Congress a 2015 military funding request that includes $1 billion to support NATO allies in Europe in response to Russia’s interference in Ukraine. The money is part of a total $65.8 billion Overseas Contingency Operations request that U.S. President Barack Obama submitted Thursday, […]
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MOSCOW. June 26 (Interfax) – While accusing Russia of violating international law, the United States attempts to create some parallel law for itself and its allies accessible only to chosen ones, Russian State Duma international affairs committee head Alexei Pushkov said. “It appears to me that the attempt to accuse us of violating international law pursues two goals – to […]
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MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) – Greenpeace has rejected a claim made by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen that Russia funds European environmentalists opposing shale gas production in Europe. “Greenpeace sees this suggestion as absurd because the Organization and many other environmental groups are calling for fracking which used in exploiting shale formations, to be banned across the world,” Greenpeace […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, June 16, 2014) A decision has been taken at the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] to suspend attempts to establish dialogue with NATO, and the course has been mapped towards developing cooperation with the OSCE. “Given the situation, the council of foreign ministers (of the CSTO member states) deemed it advisable to suspend attempts to establish dialogue […]
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(Stratfor.com – George Friedman – June 10, 2014) Editor’s Note: This is the final installment in George Friedman’s recent series written during his journey from the Baltics, through Central and Eastern Europe and then east to Turkey and Azerbaijan. I traveled between Poland and Azerbaijan during a rare period when the forces that shape Europe appear to be in flux, and most […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH – June 10, 2014) The Russian Ministry of Defense has issued a statement questioning Western policy on the development of a European missile defense system (EuroPRO). Russia’s comments came in response to the refusal by the organizers of the 10th International Conference on Missile Defense to allow Russian […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, June 9, 2014) Russia sees the NATO build-up near its borders as a display of hostile intentions, views the deployment of additional forces in central and eastern Europe as a breach of the Founding Act [between Russia and NATO], and warns that it will not let this pass without responding. “We cannot view this sort of military […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yuri Paniyev, special to RBTH – June 3, 2014) The first NATO-Russia Council session in three months saw Russia’s envoy to NATO hit out at the organization’s deployment of extra troops to Eastern Europe. At the talks in Brussels Russia reiterated its call for Kiev to bring military operations in eastern Ukraine to […]
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BRUSSELS. June 2 (Interfax) – NATO was and is a leading military organization in the European-Atlantic region – that is why, while developing cooperation with it in spheres of common interest, Russia paid special attention to ensuring appropriate defense levels amid any scenarios, Russia’s Permanent Representative to NATO Alexander Grushko told Interfax. “It is known that in military affairs potentials, […]
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MOSCOW. June 2 (Interfax) – The stepped-up debate on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO may have negative implications for the north Baltic region, which has been traditionally calm from the military-political point of view, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. “Amid the NATO infrastructure build-up in a number of countries bordering on Russia and the stepped-up […]
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MOSCOW, May 27 (RIA Novosti), Rick Rozoff – This past week the North Atlantic Treaty Organization continued its ongoing efforts to prepare the nation of Georgia for full membership in the military bloc. A meeting of the NATO Military Committee, consisting of military representatives and the chiefs of defense of the 28 full members of the alliance, and the chief […]
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KIEV, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s membership in NATO is off the table for now, but its future in the military alliance will depend on Russia’s plan of action, the Ukrainian acting foreign chief said Monday. “I can say for sure that Ukraine is not going to raise the question of its NATO membership any time soon. It runs […]
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(Jack Matlock, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991 – jackmatlock.com – May 18, 2014 – http://jackmatlock.com/2014/05/granville-on-poker-with-putin/#more-723 – reviewing “[PDF] The Folly of Playing High-Stakes Poker with Putin: More to Lose than Gain over Ukraine” by Johanna Granville) Dr. Johanna Granville, a professor at the American University of Bulgaria who has resided in Western Ukraine for the last two years, has written […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ryan Chilcote, Henry Meyer and Olga Tanas – May 20, 2014) Russia is being pulled into a new Cold War with the U.S. and its allies, who are using economic warfare reminiscent of the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. Russia has prepared a raft of retaliatory steps in response to […]
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(Business New Europe, MOSCOW BLOG – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 19, 2014) The shouting match between west and east continues, but the Russian stock market was surging on May 19, a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to arrive in China, where he is expected to sign a string of massive investment deals. Some […]
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MOSCOW, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – Relations between Russia, the European Union and NATO need to be fundamentally reconsidered, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. “We will discuss international affairs, including the European situation, on what is happening in the interrelations between Russia and the EU, what is happening in the NATO-Russia Council in regard to the crisis in […]
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BRUSSELS. May 14 (Interfax) – It is clear that certain forces in NATO are preparing the ground to rescind the 1997 Russia-NATO Founding Act, which starts with the statement that Russia and the alliance have stopped being adversaries, Russian Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Alliance Alexander Grushko said. “In addition to cooperation principles, schemes and areas, it carries an […]
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MOSCOW, May 14 (RIA Novosti), Rick Rozoff – On May 9 the website of United States European Command, one of six regional unified (land, air, naval and special forces) combatant commands used by the Pentagon to divide up the entire planet, announced the opening ceremony of Exercise Spring Storm in Estonia run by the U.S.’s Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). […]
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BRUSSELS. May 13 (Interfax) – NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow has accused Russia of attempts to establish a sphere of influence in Eurasia and to push its will on countries of the region. “My message today is that, if we are to enjoy a peaceful and prosperous European future, all countries must have the right to choose their own […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ott Ummelas – May 7, 2014) NATO is prepared to counter non-conventional warfare used by Russia to annex Crimea, Estonian Defense Minister Sven Mikser said. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 1949 founding treaty “can be effectively used to counter new threats” and doesn’t need to be revised, Mikser said in an interview yesterday in the Estonian […]
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(Interfax – April 28, 2014) The Russian authorities are considering the possibility of closing the NATO Information Office in Moscow, Kommersant reported on Monday. “It’s a probable response because we are not managing to find a common language with NATO in the current situation,” a source told Kommersant. Sources close to the presidential administration told Kommersant no final decision on […]
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(Interfax – Groznyy, April 23, 2014) Russia and NATO countries have reached a level of direct confrontation, Nikolay Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization], told journalists on Wednesday [23 April]. “In effect, thanks to the actions of certain NATO states, we have reached a level of direct confrontation,” Bordyuzha told journalists in Groznyy on Wednesday after a […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, April 21, 2014) The situation in Ukraine, the deployment of a missile defence system by the USA and the expansion of NATO are increasing the number of threats to Russia’s security, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, has said. “The scale of challenges and threats is expanding steadily. Today we are especially concerned about […]
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Supreme Allied Commander Europe http://aco.nato.int/saceur2013/blog/who-are-the-men-behind-the-masks.aspx 17 April 2014 Who Are the Men Behind the Masks? By General Philip Breedlove NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and Commander of U.S. European Command. [DJ: Headline in Military Times : “4-star: Armed attackers in Ukraine are Russian troops in disguise”] It’s hard to fathom that groups of armed men in masks suddenly sprang […]
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BRUSSELS, April 16 (RIA Novosti) – NATO will intensify air patrols over Eastern Europe and dispatch extra ships to the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas due to the crisis in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a meeting of alliance ambassadors in Brussels. “We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water, and more […]
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(Business New Europe MOSCOW BLOG – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – April 15, 2014) The Kremlin is very unhappy about the EU’s bid to pull Ukraine into its economic orbit through the Association Agreement that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych failed to sign in November. But what really gives Moscow the willies is Nato’s unrelenting march eastwards over the […]
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ANKARA, Turkey, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – The US guided-missile destroyer Donald Cook and French intelligence warship Dupuy de Lôme have entered the Black Sea, the Turkish newspaper Sabah reported Friday. According to the US military command, the dispatch of the Donald Cook destroyer was a move to reassure the country’s NATO allies in the region amid heightened tensions due […]
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MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – Recent statements by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on the situation in Ukraine as well as the alliance’s double standard on Crimea have hindered a de-escalation of tensions in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “Several times over the last few months we have heard nothing constructive in comments by the […]
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(Stratfor.com – George Friedman – April 8, 2014) George Friedman is the Chairman of Stratfor. Ever since the end of the Cold War, there has been an assumption that conventional warfare between reasonably developed nation-states had been abolished. During the 1990s, it was expected that the primary purpose of the military would be operations other than war, such as peacekeeping, […]
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(Interfax – April 4, 2014) NATO’s decision to suspend cooperation with Russia gives Moscow the right to suspend NATO transit to Afghanistan across Russian territory, Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov said. “NATO is transporting armaments, military hardware and servicemen to Afghanistan across our territory. If our cooperation comes to a halt, we will have the right […]
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(Interfax – April 2, 2014) NATO’s decision to suspend cooperation with Russia will harm Afghanistan, Moscow’s envoy to NATO has said. Interfax news agency quoted Aleksandr Grushko saying: “Above all, NATO’s decision will harm Afghans.” He said that the decision was counterproductive. “As a member of the international community, we carry particular responsibility for the preservation of international peace and […]
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MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) – The Pentagon’s recent talk of suspending anti-missile consultations with Russia is hot air, as the negotiations lost their significance long ago, experts have told RIA Novosti. The Russia-NATO missile shield talks have been treading water for years, ever since the two agreed at a 2010 Lisbon summit to cooperate on the European project. The […]
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MOSCOW. April 3 (Interfax) – Russia will keep a close eye on how the United States and Turkey follow the principles of the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, which set the rules for warships’ presence in the Black Sea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We have the Montreux Convention, which introduces absolutely clear-cut criteria that restrict […]
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MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) – NATO’s decision to suspend cooperation with Russia resembles Cold War-style sword swinging, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday. The 28-nation NATO bloc announced Tuesday it will suspend all practical contacts with Moscow, in a move to put further pressure on Russia following its reunification with Crimea. “The decision of the NATO Council of […]
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MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) – The decisions taken at meetings of the NATO Council and the Ukraine-NATO Commission have impeded intra-Ukranian talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State John Kerry in a telephone conversation. “The Russian side has stressed the urgent need for a joint effort to set up a broad intra-Ukranian dialogue promoting national […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – James G. Neuger, Gopal Ratnam and Henry Meyer – April 2, 2014) Russia pressed Ukraine to disarm nationalists it says are oppressing its compatriots there as NATO looked to bolster European security as the alliance’s Cold-War foe massed troops on Ukraine’s border. The presence of as many as 40,000 soldiers along Ukraine’s eastern frontier is fueling […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Patrick Donahue – April 1, 2014) Germany’s top diplomat said Ukraine won’t join NATO and urged Russia to move troops away from the Ukrainian border, saying it would be a “small signal” that the crisis is easing. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his French and Polish counterparts, Laurent Fabius and Radoslaw Sikorski, said the European Union […]
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(Stratfor.com – Geopolitical Weekly – George Friedman – Tuesday, March 25, 2014 – 03:08) As I discussed last week, the fundamental problem that Ukraine poses for Russia, beyond a long-term geographical threat, is a crisis in internal legitimacy. Russian President Vladimir Putin has spent his time in power rebuilding the authority of the Russian state within Russia and the authority of […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 24, 2014) Russians must recognize that Vladimir Putin is “an aggressor and instigator of war,” that he is making them into “victims and participants in state crimes,” that he will eventually lose to the democratic world, and that he, they and their country will suffer and be held accountable just as […]
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MOSCOW, March 24 (RIA Novosti) – The signing of a political pact between Ukraine and the European Union is a hasty step which points to the prospect of closer military ties between Kiev and NATO, a Russian foreign ministry source said Monday. “The political provisions of the association deal pave the way for further entrenchment of Ukraine into the foreign […]
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Subject: Mistakes in some arguments given for Russia’s action Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 From: Ira Straus IRASTRAUS@aol.com Mistakes in some arguments given for Russia’s action By Ira Straus U.S. Coordinator Committee on Eastern Europe and Russia in NATO A. The imagined NATO threat It is argued that the EU association agreement was a step to NATO membership, and Russia […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – February 4, 2014) Russia, Asia and the Middle East are fueling a global upswing in defense expenditure, even as the member nations of the NATO alliance continue to cut their military budgets, according to international consultancy IHS Jane’s annual review, released Monday. But while other countries from list of top military spenders […]
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