Interfax: Ryabkov on countering ‘Kremlin list’: response not to be completely mirrored, Russia not to harm itself

Sergei Ryabkov file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax) – The political meaning of the ‘Kremlin list’ composed in the United States is Washington’s wish to ‘put pressure’ on Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the newspaper Izvestia in an interview on Monday. “Hence, we are not trying to counter this situation in a completely mirrored way and will not do any harm to […]

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NEWSLINK: “Lost in memo frenzy, White House passed on punishing Russia for 2016 meddling” – The Hill/STEPHEN BLANK

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“Stephen Blank is a former professor of Russian National Security Studies and National Security Affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. He is also a former MacArthur fellow at the U.S. Army War College.”  

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NEWSLINK: “How top U.S. diplomat pushed back against Russian hacking; Victoria Nuland recalls the moment ‘the hairs went up on the back of our necks.'” – Politico.eu/SUSAN B. GLASSER

File Photo of Victoria Nuland Testifying

“By the summer of 2016, Victoria Nuland’s ‘Spidey sense’ told her something was very wrong. …”

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NEWSLINK: “How Twitter Bots and Trump Fans Made #ReleaseTheMemo Go Viral” – Politico/MOLLY K. MCKEW

Montage of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Logos, adapted from image at nps.gov

“Russian bots and their American allies gamed social media to put a flawed intelligence document atop the political agenda. That should alarm us.”  

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IN MEMORIAM [Link]: “Donald Barry Obituary” – Legacy.com

Lit Candle with Reflection and Dark Background

“Donald D. Barry, 83 of Bethlehem, died January 31, 2018 at home surround by his family. Born in East Cleveland, Ohio, he was the son of the late Ruth May Barry and John L. Barry. Don was educated at Ohio University and Syracuse University. During his time in graduate school he spent a year at Moscow University in the early […]

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NEWSLINK TRANSCRIPT: “Telephonic Press Briefing with Ambassador Volker, Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations” – U.S. Department of State

File Photo of Kurt Volker and W. Bruce Weinrod, adapted from image at defense.gov with photo credit to Senior Airman Nathan Lipscomb

“Special Briefing, Brussels, Belgium, January 29, 2018 … Today we are pleased to be joined from New York by Ambassador Kurt Volker, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. Ambassador Volker has recently returned from a trip to Ukraine and Dubai which included talks with his Russian counterpart Vladislav Surkov, so this is a very timely discussion. We thank you, Ambassador […]

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NEWSWATCH: “U.S. Outlines Plan on Nuclear-Weapons Use; Policy says arsenal might be option in response to major nonnuclear attack” – Wall Street Journal/Michael R. Gordon

File Photo of Stealth Bomber in Flight

“… a new … [U.S.] Nuclear Posture Review [declares that t]he U.S. … would consider using nuclear weapons only in ‘extreme circumstances’ to defend itself and its allies, including against ‘significant non-nuclear strategic attacks. … includ[ing] but … not limited to, attacks on the U.S., allied, or partner civilian population or infrastructure … nuclear forces, their command and control, or […]

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NEWSLINK: “Pentagon Says Russia Is Building Nuclear Torpedo Described as “Doomsday” Weapon” – Slate/Daniel Politi

Russian Nuclear Submarine

“[A] Pentagon document * * * publicly acknowledge[s] for the first time that Russia is ‘developing … a new intercontinental, nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo.’ Known as a ‘Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System’ many analysts have described it as a ‘doomsday’ weapon … theoretically … [with] the capacity to destroy an entire coastal city. … ‘essentially a drone-type device fired underwater […]

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NEWSWATCH: “The Nunes memo and Putin’s long game; As the president and other Republicans directly question the integrity of the FBI and DOJ, analysts and some in the GOP say it only furthers Russian objectives. [Excerpt]” – Politico/Matthew Nussbaum

Department of Justice Headquarters Building file photo, adapted from image at justice.gov

“… Putin might get tired of winning. Ever since the U.S. intelligence community discovered the Russian operation to interfere in the 2016 presidential election … some Republicans have been laboring to undermine investigations into the attack and discredit the intelligence agencies that discovered it. … [O]n Friday … House Republicans released a partisan memo alleging anti-Trump bias at the FBI […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Why Did the Trump Administration Pass the Buck on Sanctioning Russia?” [excerpt] – Russia Matters/David Szakonyi

Portion of U.S. Treasury Department Building Facade, North Side, with Sculpture of Alexander Hamilton

David Szakonyi is an assistant professor of political science at George Washington University This week’s highly anticipated news on additional Russia sanctions landed with a thud. For weeks, both Moscow and Washington had been astir about the impending steps the Trump administration would take against Russia based on legislation reluctantly signed by the president nearly six months ago” and overwhelmingly […]

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NEWSWATCH: “The U.S. will send antitank weaponry to Ukraine. Here are 4 big questions” – Washington Post/Andrew S. Bowen

File Photo of Soldier Firing Javelin Shoulder-Mounted Anti-Tank Missile

“The Trump administration last week announced updated sanctions on Russian individuals and companies …. Since 2015, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has continued to simmer, with no apparent political solution on the horizon. The seizure of territory has largely ended, leaving both sides vexed at their failure to achieve their objectives. The U.S. decision in late 2017 to provide the […]

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NEWSWATCH: “U.S., Russia likely to meet nuclear treaty obligations by Feb. 5: State Department” – Reuters

Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

“The United States fulfilled its obligations under the New Start nuclear arms treaty with Russia in August last year and expects Moscow also will be within the limits set by the accord by the Feb. 5 deadline, the State Department said …. Under the terms of the agreement, which went into force on Feb. 5, 2011, each side had seven […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Did The FBI Vouch For The Crazy Russian Deal From The Steele Dossier?” – Forbes/Paul Roderick Gregory

“The media’s promotion of an unverified dossier against … Trump[] failed to cement Hillary Clinton’s expected victory …. If that were the whole story, the dossier would have faded from public view … Trump would not have spent his first year fighting off charges of treason, and a much bigger story would not be getting ready to break. What we […]

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NEWSWATCH: “PUTIN’S POSTMODERN WAR WITH THE WEST” – The Wilson Quarterly/Patrick Babiracki

Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“It may not look like war, but perhaps it should. Russia’s interference in American democracy proves that popular conception of the term needs to be updated – and failure to do could increase U.S. susceptibility.” Click here for: “PUTIN’S POSTMODERN WAR WITH THE WEST” – The Wilson Quarterly/Patrick Babiracki  

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Interfax: Sovereign debt sanctions may cause brief volatility, no real effect on economy, financial stability – Nabiullina

Elvira Nabiullina file photo

ROSTOV-ON-DON. Feb 1 (Interfax) – U.S. sanctions targeting Russian sovereign debt, if introduced, might lead to short-term volatility on the sovereign debt market, but would not have a substantial effect on the economy or financial stability, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said. “We saw this risk previously, we see it now. We evaluated it, evaluated the effect of two possible […]

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Investors Take U.S. List Of Russian ‘Oligarchs’ In Stride — For Now

Portion of U.S. Treasury Department Building Facade, North Side, with Sculpture of Alexander Hamilton

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Carl Schreck – January 30, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-investors-brush-off-us-treasury-oligarchs-list/29007996.html) For months Russia’s business and political elite were fretting about the planned release of a U.S. list of potential Russian targets for fresh sanctions — including government officials and “oligarchs” purportedly close to the Kremlin. After that unclassified list […]

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Can Russia Sustain Its Foreign Policy Power Plays in 2018?

File Photo of U.S. Embassy Moscow, with Russian Foreign Ministry Building in Distance

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Brown, Editor, Moscow Times – January 31, 2018) When Vladimir Putin landed in Syria late last year, he was greeted by President Bashar Assad not as a foreign dignitary, but as the guardian of the embattled nation. “Syria has been preserved as a sovereign and independent state,” Putin told soldiers assembled at the Khmeimim […]

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Why The List Matters

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – January 31, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/daily-vertical-transcript-why-the-list-matters/29009462.html) So by now we’ve all probably heard the initial reaction to the U.S. Treasury Department’s much-anticipated list of the most influential Russian officials and oligarchs who could be subject to future sanctions. It’s nothing more than a “who’s who” […]

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NEWSLINK: “DC Think Tanks Fail To Deliver Russian ‘Sanctions’ Smackdown, Market Up” – Forbes/ Kenneth Rapoza

Portion of U.S. Treasury Department Building Facade, North Side, with Sculpture of Alexander Hamilton

“… The bulk of the names on the list, including Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, VTB Bank president Andrey Kostin, and metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska, were all names on ‘black’ and ‘gray’ lists circulating between the State Department and Washington think tanks for months. Treasury said that the appearance on the list does not mean they are banned from traveling to […]

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NEWSLINK: “Washington added every Russian billionaire to its ‘list of oligarchs.’ Does that make sense? Who are these ‘oligarchs’?” – Meduza

File Photo of Two Persons Shaking Hands and Exchanging Cash

“1. What Happened? … 2. Who does Washington consider an “oligarch” in Russia? … 3. But who are “oligarchs” really? It is just very rich business people? … 4. Who are Russia’s oligarchs? Where’d they come from? … 5. Is this the only definition of “oligarchy”? … 6. Does Russia have “oligarchs” today? …”

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NEWSLINK: “Russia ‘will target US mid-term elections’ says CIA chief” – BBC/Gordon Corera

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

“Even though there has been co-operation in counter-terrorism (the CIA helped stop a plot in St Petersburg last year) … Pompeo says he still sees Russia primarily as an adversary, sharing the concerns in many European countries about its subversion. ‘I haven’t seen a significant decrease in their activity,’ … Asked if his concerns extended to the upcoming U.S. mid-term elections […]

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Interfax: There are enough potential buyers of Russian defense industry products to replace those who may stop buying them due to U.S. actions – Russian MP

Russian State Duma Building file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) – The number of potential buyers of products manufactured by the Russian defense industry is sufficient to replace those who could quit this market following the publication of the ‘Kremlin list’ by the United States, deputy head of the State Duma Defense Committee Yury Shvytkin told Interfax. “If we take the defense industry, if these or […]

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[Ambassador Huntsman:] We Can and Must Improve Ties With Russia; For a better future for Russians, Americans and the world, we have to begin to find solutions to the common problems

File Photo of John Huntsman, Men in Military Uniforms and Others, adapted from image at army.mil

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jon Huntsman – January 26, 2018) Jon Huntsman is the U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Reflecting on my first three months as U.S. Ambassador to Russia and looking forward to the prospects for 2018, I remain convinced that, not only can we improve the U.S.- Russia relationship, but we must. We are making progress, and there […]

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Interfax: Trump would like to see relations with Russia improved – U.S. ambassador to Russia

Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

MOSCOW. Jan 27 (Interfax) – U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman has said he believes that President Donald Trump would like to spend more time on relations between Russia and the United States. “I know that the President would like to see this relationship improved. I think he would like to spend more time on the relationship itself, as he […]

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Interfax: Ambassador Huntsman hoping for more meetings with Russian officials to normalize dialogue

File Photo of U.S. Embassy Moscow, with Russian Foreign Ministry Building in Distance

MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) – United States Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman expects to have more meetings with Russian officials to normalize dialogue between the two countries. “I wish we had more meetings, and we will continue to ask,” Huntsman told journalists in Moscow on Monday. He said that replies normally come to the embassy and was thus unaware whether […]

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NEWSWATCH: “We’re as close to Doomsday today as we were during the Cold War” – Washington Post/Lawrence Krauss, Robert Rosner

Nuclear Mushroom Cloud

“… To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger – and its immediacy. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program appeared to make remarkable progress … increasing risks for itself, other countries in the region and the United States. * * * Global nuclear risks were compounded by U.S.-Russia relations that now feature more conflict than cooperation. The […]

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Russian Meddling Is a Meme

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – January 24, 2018) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the Editor-at-Large of Vedomosti, an independent Russian daily. Mr. Trudolyubov was the editorial page editor of Vedomosti between 2003 and 2015. He has been a contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times since the fall of […]

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NEWSWATCH: “U.S. Sanctions Would Be ‘Economic War’ to Head of Russia’s VTB; Personal sanctions would be preferable to institutional ones, Kostin says” – Bloomberg/Jake Rudnitsky, Francine Lacqua

VTB Bank File Photo

“As Moscow braces for a possible expansion of U.S. sanctions, the head of Russia’s second-biggest bank said any further restrictions on the nation’s lenders would be tantamount to ‘economic war.’  * * * While VTB has been subject to restrictions on raising financing since 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, new sanctions could go as far as cutting off […]

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NEWSLINK: “Was This Russian General Murdered Over the Steele Dossier? The notorious dossier on Trump that Republicans want to discredit may well have been credible enough in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s eyes to get at least one person killed” – Daily Beast/Amy Knight

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night » Read more

Explaining Russia’s Schizophrenic Policy toward the United States

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(PONARS Policy Memo – PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – Kimberly Marten – January 19, 2018) Kimberly Marten is the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University, and the Director of the Program on U.S.-Russia Relations at Columbia’s Harriman Institute. The weaknesses and inconsistencies of Russia’s recent actions toward the United States need to be explained. […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Pentagon: China, Russia Outpace Terrorism Threat” – AP

Aerial Photo of Pentagon and Environs

“Countering China’s rapidly expanding military and an increasingly aggressive Russia are now the U.S. military’s top national security priorities, outpacing the threat of terrorism, the Pentagon said …. A new national defense strategy says that competition with China and Russia has threatened America’s military advantage around the world. … require[ing] increased investment to make U.S. forces more lethal, agile and […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Contrary to Expectations, US-Russian Relations Deteriorate Under President Trump” – Russia Matters/Thomas Graham

Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

  “… Trump’s presidency began … with widespread expectations of improvement in U.S.-Russian relations [yet now they are] in worse shape than he found them. … the National Security Strategy … identified Russia (along with China) as a strategic adversary intent on undermining U.S. primacy … [Additionally, consider] Trump’s decision to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine to help deter Russian […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Intel Committee Releases Glenn Simpson Testimony Transcripts” – House Intelligence Committee

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence today voted to publish the transcripts of testimony provided to the committee by Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson. The November 8 transcript is available here: http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00/20180118/106796/HMTG-115-IG00-20180118-SD001.pdf and the November 14 transcript is available here: http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00/20180118/106796/HMTG-115-IG00-20180118-SD002.pdf

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NEWSLINK: “Containing Russia, Again; An Adversary Attacked the United States-It’s Time to Respond” – Foreign Affairs/ Robert D. Blackwill, Philip H. Gordon

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

“… evidence of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election – and in U.S. politics and society more generally – grows. …”

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Andrei Liakhov: Re: “Cohen on Putin”

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

Subject: Cohen on Putin Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2018 From: Andrei Liakhov <gaffriloff@yahoo.co.uk> [Andrei Liakhov has over 20 years of experience with leading international law firms, private companies and government institutions in the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Canada, and Ukraine.] Brilliant analysis, I can subscribe to every word. Pity the video is cut short and we do not […]

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Interfax: Russian Foreign Ministry suggests barring U.S. diplomats from monitoring presidential election

File Photo of U.S. Embassy Moscow, with Russian Foreign Ministry Building in Distance

MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) – A proposal to deprive United States diplomats of the right to monitor Russia’s upcoming presidential election has been forwarded to the Russian Central Elections Commission (CEC), a source at the Foreign Ministry told Interfax. “The Russian Foreign Ministry assumes that the U.S. side did not allow [Russian] diplomats who planned to visit some polling stations […]

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Russian senator wants more nuclear weapons if US violates START-3

Russian Nuclear Submarine

(Interfax – January 16, 2018) Russia will have justification for a symmetrical response if the US boosts its nuclear forces in violation of the START-3 treaty, the chairman of the Defence Committee of the Federation Council (parliament’s upper house), Viktor Bondarev, has said. “If, in the process of bolstering its nuclear arsenal, the US violates START-3 (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty […]

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Who’s On The List? Russia’s Elite Nervous About New U.S. Sanctions

Portion of U.S. Treasury Department Building Facade, North Side, with Sculpture of Alexander Hamilton

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – WASHINGTON – January 15, 2018 – also appeared at https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-sanctions-list-putin-circle-elite-nervous/28976991.html) There’s a chill settling in over Moscow, and it’s not just the arctic temperatures that typically smother the Russian capital in January. As U.S. officials put the finishing touches on new financial and travel sanctions against Russia, […]

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U.S. not prepared for contacts with Russia in format of meetings between foreign policy, defense chiefs – ambassador

File Photo of John Huntsman, Men in Military Uniforms and Others, adapted from image at army.mil

MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) – The United States is currently not prepared to discuss the resumption of contacts with Russia in the 2+2 format – meetings between the heads of the two countries’ foreign-policy and defense agencies – even though the countries are trying to intensify bilateral dialogue on key issues, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said in reply […]

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Alexander R. Vershbow: “Re: 2018-#8-Johnson’s Russia List [re Russia and NATO expansion]”

Alexander Vershbow file photo

Subject: Re: 2018-#8-Johnson’s Russia List [re Russia and NATO expansion] Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:24:42 -0500 From: Alexander R. Vershbow <arvershbow@gmail.com> David: Re: JRL No. 8 item 19: Happy New Year. Steve Cohen and others, in accusing the West of “deceiving” Gorbachev and breaking an alleged “promise” not to enlarge NATO, forget that Gorbachev himself refuted this in an […]

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NEWSLINK: “From Siberia to Crimea: The Revenge of History in U.S.-Russian Relations; One is tempted to conclude that the Washington foreign-policy establishment has learned little over the past century” – The National Interest/ Lyle J. Goldstein

Balaklava harbour, the cattle pier, Crimea, Ukraine, 1855; adapted from image at loc.gov; Fenton, Roger, 1819-1869, photographer;

“… What were more than 7,000 ‘doughboys’ doing in Siberia at the end of the First World War? To make a long and complex story-explored in detail by such luminaries as George Kennan-a bit shorter, the intervention by a large group of allied powers was not simply anti-Bolshevik, but was premised at the outset as a wartime operation to prevent […]

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Interfax: New U.S. nuclear doctrine is next step to build infrastructure enabling global strike on Russia – MP Slutsky

Russian State Duma Building file photo

MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) – The United States’ new nuclear doctrine is aimed at protecting the infrastructure which is being created in Europe to enable a strike on Russia, the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Leonid Slutsky said on Facebook. “It’s hardly a revelation that the U.S. is building comprehensive infrastructure to support Prompt Global Strike. Under the pretext […]

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NEWSLINK: “The DNC: Swimming In Malware But Never Once Targeted” – Medium/ Jeffrey Carr

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

  “… As I and other cybersecurity researchers have pointed out, malware is shared. The concept of ‘exclusive use’ is an unsubstantiated myth. The differences in how the DNC and Joint Staff networks were breached versus the White House and State Department suggest an alternative theory that makes more sense; i.e., that malware developed by Russian-speaking hackers for use by […]

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Putin: We’re not going to interfere with U.S. affairs, but it should be ready to meet challenges it prompts

Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

MOSCOW. Jan 11 (Interfax) – Russia is not going to interfere with affairs of the United States, but Washington should be ready to meet the challenges provoked by the U.S. itself, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “If they stick their nose into everything, they should be ready, they should be capable of meeting certain challenges, which they, as a matter […]

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