Obama Targets Putin In New Memoir, Says Russia ‘To Be Feared, Perhaps, But Not Emulated’

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

… Obama has targeted … Putin for criticism … suggesting … the Russian president has put … thirst for power over scruples and calling him the leader of a government that resembled a “criminal syndicate” […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Joe Biden May Want to Forget About the Russia Investigation” – Wall Street Journal/ Gerard Baker

File Photo of Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in front of U.S. Flag and Russian Flag, adapted from image from RIA Novosti

The candidate struggles to field softballs from friendly media. … It’s well past time … Biden was asked … what he knew about … serious malfeasance by [Obama administration] officials [in the Russiagate investigation targeting the Trump campaign]. … We know … Biden was kept abreast of … the investigation […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Hunter Biden’s web of interests; His ties span the globe and raise questions about the overlap of business and politics” – Financial Times/ Aime Williams, Sun Yu, Roman Olearchyk

“Hunter Biden’s business interests often show up in unexpected places … Now [they are] … at the centre of … the fourth impeachment inquiry in U.S. history. … under scrutiny after … Trump leaned on the president of Ukraine to investigate …. Trump has also publicly called on China to investigate the Bidens. The Ukraine revelations have led House Democrats […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “What the Press Doesn’t Know About Ukraine; Reporters will have to ask a lot more questions to understand the missing context of the Trump call” – Wall Street Journal/ Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

“We might not be here if the mainstream media, which loved the Steele Dossier when it seemed to incriminate … Trump, had later shown an equal interest in investigating its origins as a partisan fabrication. In his now-famous transcript … Trump mainly presses Ukraine’s new president for dirt not on the Bidens but on the known unknowns of 2016. ‘I […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Despite ‘thug hugs,’ Trump is tougher on despots than Obama” – New York Post/ Marc Thiessen

White House

“During a single visit to Asia … Trump embraced not one, not two, but three dictators. He became the first American president to set foot in North Korea, where he praised his ‘great friendship’ with North Korea’s despotic leader, Kim Jong Un; he held another cringe-worthy press availability with … Putin, where Trump joked about Russia’s electoral interference; … he […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Former ambassador: U.S. should stop trying to make friends with Russia” – Missoula Current (Montana)/ Laura Lundquist

Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

“… Putin, suspecting the U.S. of trying to overthrow him, targeted McFaul for … two years. Russian state media discredited McFaul using propaganda and political harassment. … Obama pulled McFaul out. … [I]s Putin, the man who controls … Russian government and media, really so popular? McFaul isn’t so sure. … Russia is the most highly surveilled country in the […]

» Read more

Why the ‘Reset’ Didn’t Last

File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Nini Arshakuni, Angelina Flood, Natasha Yefimova-Trilling – December 8, 2019 – russiamatters.org/analysis/why-reset-didnt-last) Ten years ago this week, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed up on Vice President Joe Biden’s proposed “reset” in relations with Moscow by giving her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, a symbolic red button marked “RESET.” While the English version of the […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Sorry, but Trump is not ‘tough on Russia’; The administration has taken some tough stances toward Moscow. Why does the president disavow them?” – Washington Post/ Michael McFaul

Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

“… The Trump administration has a tough policy on Russia, one that I mostly support. But Trump himself does not. For the past two years, he has consistently made it clear that he does not support his own administration’s policy toward Russia. The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy states very bluntly that ‘China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “The Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki was a historic event – in the worst possible way” – Washington Post/Michael McFaul

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“As I touched down in Helsinki two days ago, I had one small hope — that the ‘summit’ between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be a historic one. During my five years serving in the Obama administration, I attended many summits, meetings and talks with Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Putin. Almost all were memorable to me, […]

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Does Vladimir Putin Speak for the Russian People?” – New York Times Book Review/Daniel Beer

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… Putin turned directly to McFaul and berated him for trying to ruin United States-Russia relations. * * * … McFaul concluded that [Putin] was ‘paranoid,’ a man of ‘fixed and flawed views’ who ‘saw us as the enemy,’ … that so long as he ruled Russia, ‘strategic partnership was impossible.’ … [But McFaul’s] relentless focus on Putin’s individual role […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “Former Ambassador McFaul Talks U.S.-Russia Relations and ‘Hot Peace'” – The Washington Diplomat/Aileen Torres-Bennett/Michael McFaul

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… Obama thought very similar to the way I did. There was hardly any daylight, both on substantive issues and analytic framework. …”    

» Read more

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Michael McFaul on Putin the Intimidator” – Los Angeles World Affairs Council

Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

“… The first time … McFaul met … Putin … [when] he was an assistant to the mayor of St Petersburg[,] ‘He made absolutely no impression on me …’ said McFaul. ‘I would never have predicted … that he would become President of Russia.’ … when McFaul arrived in Moscow in 2012 as … U.S. ambassador …. [a]t their very […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “Michael McFaul: The smear that killed the ‘reset’; Putin needed an American enemy. He picked me.” – Washington Post/Michael McFaul

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“Michael McFaul, the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Hoover fellow at Stanford University, was the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. He is the author, most recently, of ‘From Cold War to Hot Peace.’ …”  

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “The big chill: the alarming decline in U.S.-Russian relations; A candid expert account suggests little will change under the current leadership” – Financial Times/Mary Sarotte

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“Soviet-era jokes are fashionable once again in Russia. … a man walks into the headquarters of … the FSB … and says, ‘My pet parrot is missing.’ An agent responds, ‘Why are you wasting my time? Complain to the police or animal control!’ Man adds hastily, ‘Sorry, I told them already. I’m informing you because, if they find my parrot, […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “From Cold War to Hot Peace” – Medium/Michael McFaul

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… What happened? How did we go from toasting the Reset in Prague in 2010 to lamenting its end in Moscow just two years later? Nothing fundamental had changed in our policy toward Russia. Nor had Russia done anything abroad that might trigger new animosity — that would come later. The one obvious change between these two meetings was Russia’s leadership. Medvedev […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “A few cruise missiles from Trump won’t stop Syria’s war crimes” – Washington Post Editorial

Syria Map

“Having declared that Syria will pay a ‘big price’ for its latest use of chemical weapons … Trump will deal another blow to U.S. global leadership if he does not follow through. But a few cruise missiles won’t change anything in Syria. What’s really needed is a concerted strategy …. the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian allies are […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “How Will Trump Punish Russia Next? When it comes to sending messages to bad actors, presidents have a standard bag of tricks to choose from.” – Politico/Samantha Vinograd

File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated Before Russian and U.S. Flags

“… I spent a lot of time in the situation room debating how to respond to naughty global players ….”

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “A Bernie Sanders campaign veteran advises a surging opposition movement in Russia” – Washington Post/ Andrew Roth

Arm and Torso of Person in Brown Sweater Placing Paper Ballot into Ballot Box

“Vitali Shkliarov, a 41-year-old political operative born in Belarus, speaks the gospel of Bernie Sanders in the style of a Silicon Valley executive. Technology, he says, is a key to access …. The idea got a test drive in Moscow’s recent municipal elections … the veteran of the Sanders and … Obama campaigns sees it as part of a worldwide movement. * […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “What Trump needs to read before meeting Putin” – Washington Post/ Michael McFaul

Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

When I worked in the White House at the National Security Council from 2009 to 2012, I wrote briefers for President Barack Obama for his “bilats” with then-President Dmitry Medvedev and then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. I have written an (unsolicited) backgrounder deliberately for President Trump; short, simple and with his stated views on Russia in mind ahead of this week’s […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “An inside listen into Obama’s struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault” – Washington Post/ Allison Michaels

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

The story raises “Can He Do That?” questions for both the Obama and Trump administrations. Can a president fail to sufficiently punish a country that interferes in our democratic elections? Can an incoming president deny that such interference occurred? And what happens when the two leaders transition power?

» Read more

VIDEOS & ARTICLE: Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Michael Riley, Jordan Robertson – June 13, 2017) [See video “How to See If Russia Meddled With Your Vote”: bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-13/russian-breach-of-39-states-threatens-future-u-s-elections] Russia’s cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump’s election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “The Trump-Russia Story Starts Making Sense. The Kremlin seems to have bet big on the willingness of U.S. intelligence agencies to leak.” – Wall Street Journal/ Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

File Photo of CIA Seal on Floor

“The Trump-Russia business is finally coming into clearer, more rational focus. Former Obama CIA chief John Brennan, in testimony this week, offered no evidence of Trump campaign cooperation with Russian intelligence. Instead he spoke of CIA fears that Russia would try to recruit/blackmail/trick Trump colleagues into being witting or unwitting agents of influence.”

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “Susan Rice Keeps Her Mask On; The press corps buys her story that ‘unmasking’ was no big deal” – Wall Street Journal

File Photo of Susan Rice and Barack Hussein Obama in St. Petersburg Russia, with Mural of St. Petersburg Scene in Background, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“Susan Rice returned to the friendly confines of MSNBC … to respond to softball questions about the news that the #Obama national security adviser had ‘unmasked’ the identity of at least one member of the #Trump transition team … surveilled by U.S. #intelligence. … all the more imperative to hear her under oath before #Congress. … Rice didn’t deny that she had sought […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “What Does Obama Think of the Russia Story? The only reasonable conclusion: Not much.” – Wall Street Journal/JAMES FREEMAN

File Photo of Michael McFaul Standing and Barack Hussein Obama Sitting at Desk, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… Schiff … and Maddow are convinced [of] … more than circumstantial evidence of collusion between the … Trump campaign and the Russian government. But … Obama doesn’t see it that way, judging from … comments before and after leaving the White House. It’s a reasonable guess [Obama] has seen more relevant intelligence on this issue than they have. * * * … the Trump White House […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK: “Russia-gate’s Unasked Questions; Comey’s testimony settles nothing” – The American Conservative/Philip Geraldi

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

“… If the #FBI began its investigation of team #Trump in late July – after the nomination process but before the election – and the Trump campaign office was located in Trump Tower, doesn’t that confirm that Donald Trump is right when he insists that his office was ‘wiretapped’ during the summer even if his word choice was not apt? […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “Down the conspiracy rabbit hole” – Washington Post/Charles Krauthammer

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

“We learn … from Tuesday’s spectacular WikiLeaks dump that among the CIA’s various and nefarious cybertools is the capacity to simulate intrusion by a foreign power, the equivalent of planting phony fingerprints on a smoking gun. … Washington [is] caught up in one of its periodic conspiracy frenzies. Actually, two. One, anti-Trump, is that he and his campaign colluded with Russian […]

» Read more

RUSSIALINK TASS: “Russia ready to take its part of road towards restoration of relations with US”

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

“Moscow is ready to take its part of the road towards restoration of relations with Washington, which suffered major damage at the previous head of the U.S. administration Barack Obama, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Austria’s Profil weekly. Moscow is watching closely statements made by President Donald Trump about Russia, he said.”

» Read more

RUSSIALINK RBTH: “Deconstructing Obama’s failure with Russia: What went wrong?”

File Photo of Barack Obama Sitting at Desk with Mike McFaul Standing Next to Him Facing Him

“Barack Obama began his presidency calling for an improvement in Russian-U.S. relations, but deep-rooted suspicions and vastly different national interests prevented a closer rapport. As the Obama era ends, relations between the countries are at their lowest point since the mid 1980s. RBTH explores what went wrong. …”

» Read more

Russia Fears That Trump Won’t Be Such a Great Deal After All

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer , Ilya Arkhipov, Irina Reznik – January 19, 2017) Russia is giving Donald Trump the kind of fawning television coverage usually reserved for Vladimir Putin, with its most popular propagandist hailing the president-elect this week as “a man of his word.” But inside the Kremlin, the initial euphoria over having a Putin admirer in […]

» Read more

Remarks by the President in Final Press Conference. (excerpt re: Russia)

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

(The White House – Office of the Press Secretary – January 18, 2017) Q Mr. President, thank you. The President-elect has said that he would consider lifting sanctions on Russia if they substantially reduced their nuclear stockpile. Given your own efforts at arms control, do you think that’s an effective strategy? Knowing this office and Mr. Trump, how would you […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “FBI, Dems bicker over investigation of hacked servers” – The Hill/KATIE BO WILLIAMS

FBI Headquarters Building file photo

“… The DNC told Buzzfeed in a statement published Wednesday that the FBI never requested access to its servers after they were breached. … a senior law enforcement official disputed that characterization … ‘The FBI repeatedly stressed to DNC officials the necessity of obtaining direct access to servers and data, only to be rebuffed until well after the initial compromise […]

» Read more

TRANSCRIPT: Statement by the President of Russia

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

(Kremlin.ru – December 30, 2016) We regard the recent unfriendly steps taken by the outgoing US administration as provocative and aimed at further weakening the Russia-US relationship. This runs contrary to the fundamental interests of both the Russian and American people. Considering the global security responsibilities of Russia and the United States, this is also damaging to international relations as […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK Foreign Policy Magazine/Oliver Carroll: “Putin’s Masterstroke of Nonretaliation. In refusing to expel U.S. diplomats in response to President Obama’s sanctions, the Russian leader pulled another fast one on the White House.”

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

“It was one of the most heavily anticipated diplomatic moves of the year, but when it came down to it, the Obama administration’s decision to expel 35 embassy staff, close two compounds, and impose sanctions on top intelligence chiefs caught Russia off guard. The move was virtually unprecedented in the post-Cold War world. But that was the point. It was […]

» Read more

Trump Has Tough Choice After Obama Sanctions on Russia Hack

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Nick Wadhams, Justin Sink – December 30, 2016) President Barack Obama is forcing his successor, Donald Trump, into a difficult choice: reverse the sanctions the departing president just imposed on Russia for hacking e-mails in the U.S. election or put at risk his campaign vow to improve relations with Vladimir Putin. Hours after Obama imposed penalties […]

» Read more

Statement by the President on Actions in Response to Russian Malicious Cyber Activity and Harassment

Multilingual Polling Place Sign from U.S. Election Polling Place

(The White House – Office of the Press Secretary – December 29, 2016) Today, I have ordered a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election. These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary […]

» Read more

Obama Options on Russian Hacks Range From Covert to Military

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Nafeesa Syeed – December 28, 2016) President Barack Obama has vowed that the U.S. will respond to Russian hacking undertaken during the U.S. presidential campaign. Yet the public may never hear about it. During his presidency, Obama favored a policy of deterrence when it came to responding to cyber attacks, in what U.S. officials call “naming […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK AFP: “Obama wants Ukraine deal ‘before term is up'”

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

“US President Barack Obama said he told Vladimir Putin … that he wants to reach a settlement that solves the Ukraine crisis before he leaves office in January. ….”

» Read more

Russian Foreign Ministry has concerns about worsening of relations with U.S. up until Obama Administration’s last day in office

Artist's Rendition of U.S. Embassy, Moscow, with the Russian Foreign Ministry in the Background

MOSCOW. Nov 17 (Interfax) – Moscow is of the view that Barack Obama’s outgoing administration will be seeking a worsening of relations with Russia until its last day in office. “There are also concerns that the White House will be consistently worsening the atmosphere of relations [with Russia] until its last day,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at […]

» Read more

TRANSCRIPT: Press Conference of President Obama and Prime Minister Renzi of the Republic of Italy [excerpt re Russia]

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

The White House Office of the Press Secretary October 18, 2016 Press Conference of President Obama and Prime Minister Renzi of the Republic of Italy (excerpt re Russia) PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I’m going to be a little more subdued in my discussions of the Republican nominee in this context than I might be on the campaign trail. But let me […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK Daily Beast/Michael Weiss: “Barack Obama’s Wrong: The New Cold War’s Only Just Begun. From propaganda to missile deployments, Russian leader Vladimir Putin is testing Obama’s resolve-while claiming to be America’s victim.”

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

Recently, a Russian weatherman on state-owned Rossiya-24 outlined ways in which a Russian nuclear strike in Nebraska could strategically cripple U.S., Canadian, and Mexican communications. Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations has announced that 40 million citizens will take part in a “fire drill,” popularly and traditionally seen as precautionary measures (such as they are) in the event of a nuclear […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “Five myths about Russia” – Washington Post/Masha Gessen

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

During the 2012 presidential debates, President Obama mocked challenger Mitt Romney for identifying Russia as the ‘No 1. geopolitical foe’ of the United States. ‘The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years,’ Obama quipped. Four years later — after Russian aggression in Ukraine and Crimea, along with […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: “The scary truth about what Putin really wants (and Obama’s willful ignorance)” – Fox News/Judith Miller

File Photo of G7 Leaders and other Officials Around Round Table at the Hague, with Flags

What is Vladimir Putin up to? Evidence of Russian ambition seems to mount by the day. Seizing its neighbor’s territory. Russian bomber overflights of NATO member states. Sophisticated cyberattacks aimed at influencing America’s presidential election. Missiles fired at civilian aircraft. Devastating air strikes on hospitals and relief convoys in Aleppo as the ink dries on a U.S.-Russian cease-fire agreement for […]

» Read more

NEWSLINK Los Angeles Times/Max Boot: “Who’s better for his people? Putin or Obama? The answer is obvious.”

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

“… I am no defender of President Obama. I was a foreign policy advisor to John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012, and I have been very critical of Obama’s weak foreign policy. I think the Iran nuclear deal, the withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 and the hands-off policy toward Syria, in particular, have been catastrophic mistakes. I am […]

» Read more

NEWSWATCH: Michael McFaul and Barack Obama share insights about Russia

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

Michael McFaul on Twitter, Sept. 9, 2016: If Obama seized control of Fox, allowed only supporters in Congress, closed the NRA & arrested Trump, he too might have 80% approval rating — Michael McFaul (@McFaul) September 9, 2016 Barack Obama, Speech in Philadelphia, Sept. 13, 2016 “The interviewer asks him [Trump] ‘well why do you support this guy? ‘He’s a […]

» Read more

Russia, America, it’s time to talk face-to-face

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

During the late 1980s, superpower leaders demagnitised international confrontation by speaking directly to the other side. Why shouldn’t we do this again? (opendemocracy.net – Vasily Gatov – July 18, 2016) Vasily Gatov is visiting fellow at the Center of Communication Leadership and Policy at USC Annenberg, and is a Russian media researcher and author based in Boston. He has more […]

» Read more

RBTH: Moscow and Washington consider expanding cooperation in Syria

Syria Map

U.S. President Barack Obama made an offer to Russia to begin joint combat operations against the Al-Nusra Front militants. Some Russian experts believe that this overture has been made in order to strengthen the Democrat Party’s position in the presidential election race. Yet this step also could have positive implications for Moscow. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI […]

» Read more
1 2 3 5