Category: United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

How the Ukraine War Spilled Into the U.S. Election; Foreign meddling in campaigns may be the new normal

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – July 13, 2017) Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru. U.S. politics as an extension of the Russian-Ukrainian war theater sounds mildly ridiculous — but, as partisan U.S. forces push competing stories of the post-Soviet nations’ […]

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Interfax: Serious Russia-NATO talk about de-escalation in Europe requires restoration of military contacts – Grushko

Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Military, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
NATO Meeting file photo

BRUSSELS. July 13 (Interfax) – Information briefings even at the level of ambassadors in the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) are not sufficient for a serious talk about de-escalation of the military situation in Europe; what is needed is a restoration of interrupted military contacts, Alexander Grushko, Russia’s Permanent Representative to NATO, said after a NRC meeting on Thursday. “If someone is […]

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With Fraying U.S.-Russian Ties Comes Fraying Arms Control

Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian Mobile ICBM Parade File Photo

(WASHINGTON – July 11, 2017 – Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Mike Eckel – also appeared at rferl.org/a/us-russia-fraying-ties-erode-arms-control/28611015.html) The U.S. Congress is moving decisively to start dismantling some of the bedrock agreements of U.S.-Russian arms control, reflecting the dangerous state of relations between Washington and Moscow and raising the specter of a new arms race. […]

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Trump’s Low-Level Russian Connection; The lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr. was no Kremlin power broker.

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – July 11, 2017) Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru. In stories about her meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Natalia Veselnitskaya, the unlikely celebrity in the latest installment of the Trump-Russia story, is often described as […]

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VIDEO NEWSWATCH: “Inside Russia’s propaganda machine” – PBS Newshour

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations, Videos
Kremlin and River

(PBS Newshour – July 11, 2017 – also appeared at pbs.org/newshour/bb/inside-russias-propaganda-machine/) “For years, the Kremlin and the media it controls have waged a multifaceted information (and disinformation) campaign inside Russia and pointed at its perceived adversaries, including the U.S. As part of our week-long series Inside Putin’s Russia, special correspondent Nick Schifrin and producer Zach Fannin report on the information […]

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NEWSWATCH: “The Biggest News about the Trump-Putin Meeting Was That It Happened At All. A relatively normal first meeting between Russian and American leaders is a good thing.” – The National Interest/ Andrew Kuchins

JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… Trump finally had the opportunity to meet … Putin for more than two hours … at the G-20 summit …. The meeting was newsworthy mainly because it happened …. for a bilateral relationship that had degraded to a more dangerous kind of postmodern Cold War since the Russian seizure of Crimea more than three years ago, and a vicious whirlwind […]

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NEWSLINK: “DOES PUTIN SPEAK ENGLISH? AFTER TRUMP MEETING, THE KREMLIN WEIGHS IN” – Newsweek/ DAMIEN SHARKOV

Germany, Russian Language, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Putin Descending a Staircase

“… Officially, besides his native Russian, Putin speaks English and German – a language he used on a daily basis in his past career for the Soviet security services (KGB) while deployed in the city of Dresden in East Germany during the 1980s. …”

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Russia ready to expel about 30 U.S. diplomats, freeze U.S. property – newspaper

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

MOSCOW. July 11 (Interfax) – Moscow plans to expel about 30 U.S. diplomats and freeze a number of U.S. properties in Russia, the newspaper Izvestia said on Tuesday citing a knowledgeable source with the Russian Foreign Ministry. “Washington’s decision not to return the embassy property seized in December 2016 may prompt Russia to take those measures. The problem was not […]

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How Trump Got Putin Wrong on Cybersecurity; The idea that Russia and the U.S. work out the rules of engagement in cyberspace isn’t crazy.

Cybersecurity, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – July 10, 2017) Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru. One of the many challenges of dealing with Donald Trump is that he sometimes misunderstands things. The fallout from Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin […]

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NEWSLINK: “The Trump campaign’s attempted collusion” – Washington Post editorial

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Historic Washington Post Masthead, adapted from image at nlrb.gov

“… Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who has campaigned against Western-imposed sanctions on Russia, met with Mr. Trump’s closest advisers: his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.; his son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and the Trump campaign chairman at the time, Paul Manafort. The meeting was suggested, as The Post reported Monday, by a Russian pop star whose family has business ties both to the […]

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NEWSLINK: “Trump and Putin at Hamburg: Towards Reset 2.0?” – Russian and Eurasian Politics/ Gordon Hahn

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“It is perhaps ironic and at the same time just that the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin occurred in Germany at the G-20 summit in Hamburg. After all it is there that the Cold War began to unwind with the peaceful fall of the Berlin wall. It is also there in a […]

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NEWSLINK: “Why deciding to ‘move forward’ with Putin is a big mistake” – Washington Post/ Michael McFaul

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

“In his readout of the first meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised the desire of both presidents to forget about the past — and move on. Regarding Putin’s denial of interfering in our 2016 president elections, Tillerson stated, ‘I think what the two presidents, I think rightly, focused on is how do we […]

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NEWSLINK: “The Culture of Dishonesty” – New York Times editorial

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
New York Times Masthead from 1913 adapted from image at loc.gov

“… On Sunday, before Donald Trump Jr. acknowledged that there was a Clinton-related aspect to the meeting, Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, was on Fox News suggesting that the Veselnitskaya episode was “a big nothingburger” for the Trump campaign. …”

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NEWSWATCH: “THE G-20 SUMMIT: AFTERWORD” – Angela Stent/ Valdai

JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Country Flags Outside 2017 G20 Meeting in Hamburg, adapted from image at state.gov

“… The main focus inside the United States was the meeting with President Putin, which lasted over two hours, much longer than anticipated. There was great anticipation about what this first meeting might produce …. Resumption of relations has been delayed by the domestic debate in the United States about Russia’s actions during the 2016 election campaign. It turned out to […]

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NEWSLINK: “Trump is right about challenging Russia over Syria” – Asia Times/ David Goldman

Military, Syria, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Syria Map

“The ceasefire in three Syrian provinces announced Friday after the Trump-Putin meeting in Hamburg is the first step in the right direction that the United States has taken in the Middle East in more than 20 years. The Syrian deal should be understood in the context of President Trump’s address in Warsaw the day before, a challenge to Russia to […]

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NEWSLINK: “When Trump Met Putin: Is Reconciliation in the Air?” – The National Interest/ Doug Bandow

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“The long awaited meeting between America’s and Russia’s presidents finally occurred at the G-20 summit. They got along great, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, connecting ‘very quickly,’ and talked for more than two hours. Even First Lady Melania Trump couldn’t drag her husband away after the first hour. …”

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NEWSLINK: “Mending the Gap? Why the DNC mistrusts the FBI” – Economic Principals/ David Warsh

Cybersecurity, Newslinks, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
FBI Headquarters File Photo

“… The DNC’s reluctance to share its server probably stems from an awareness of lingering antagonisms within the FBI – the natural inference is that there’s presumably something on it that they don’t trust some FBI agents to keep to themselves once seen. Still, the failure to turn over the evidence is just the sort of lever on public opinion […]

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NEWSLINK: “PUTIN AND TRUMP ESTABLISH BILATERAL CHANNEL TO MOVE FORWARD” – Richard Sakwa/ Valdai

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“The first face-to-face meeting of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump finally took place on 7 July 2017 at the G20 summit in Hamburg. Not since the days of superpower summits during the Cold War has a meeting been more eagerly anticipated, or so assiduously impeded by its opponents. In the context where normal practices of diplomacy have so far degenerated, […]

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NEWSLINK: “Time for the U.S. to modernize its approach to Russia” – The Hill/ James Durso

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Artist's Rendition of U.S. Embassy, Moscow, with the Russian Foreign Ministry in the Background

“… No doubt some senior Russian officials and businessmen are unsatisfied with Putin, but they’re not so unsatisfied that they will cooperate with the U.S., EU or NATO in unhorsing him, especially given our chronic inability to keep a secret. Despite all that ‘mafia state” chatter, Russia’s leadership will, if they need to, close ranks and clean house to protect […]

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Press Briefing on the President’s Meetings at the G20 by Secretary of State Tillerson and Secretary of Treasury Mnuchin on the President’s Meetings at the G20

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

U.S. Department of State July 7, 2017 Press Briefing on the President’s Meetings at the G20 BY SECRETARY OF STATE TILLERSON AND SECRETARY OF TREASURY MNUCHIN ON THE PRESIDENT’S MEETINGS AT THE G20 Hamburg Messe Hamburg, Germany SECRETARY TILLERSON: Thank you, Steve, and thanks for staying with us late these evening. President Trump and President Putin met this afternoon for […]

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NEWSLINK: “Meeting Putin was necessary – but hardly ‘an honor'” – Washington Post editorial

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“… It is not an honor to sit down with the leader of a regime that invades peaceable neighbors, covertly interferes in the elections of democratic nations, and orchestrates and tolerates the assassination of domestic political opponents and journalists. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to meet. As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after the leaders ended two-plus hours of conversation, it is crucial for […]

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NEWSLINK: “The Trump-Putin Meeting: No More than Baby Steps. Nobody should expect major changes to happen overnight.” – The National Interest/ Nikolas Gvosdev

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were scheduled to meet for only about thirty minutes, but they remained closeted together for over two hours … on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the first face-to-face meeting of the two presidents, even longer than the ninety minutes that George W. Bush and Putin had during their initial meeting. After the […]

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NEWSLINK: “This Is How the G-20 Summit Helped Trump and Putin Claim Victories. Don’t anticipate a swift improvement in the largely dysfunctional U.S.-Russia relationship. For Putin, the dysfunction is useful for domestic politics.” – The National Interest: Matthew Rojandsky

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladirmir Putin and Donald Trump Sitting in Chairs with Flags Behind, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“The much anticipated first face-to-face meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has taken place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The two presidents met for over two hours, with only translators and their respective chief diplomats—Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov—joining them. Despite its length, the meeting’s narrow agenda, which […]

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NEWSLINK: “On eve of Trump-Putin meeting, Russia asks: ‘Can Trump deal?’ The Kremlin sees the G20 meeting as an opportunity to gauge whether Trump ‘is able to deliver on anything he talks about’ – a possibility that Russian analysts increasingly doubt.” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Donald Trump

“When President Trump meets Vladimir Putin for the very first time, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Germany on Friday, it is going to be one of the most eagerly awaited and anxiously watched handshakes in history. Yet both sides have been carefully tamping down expectations for any kind of breakthrough at the meeting, each with […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to Russian media questions following President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Hamburg, July 7, 2017”

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Sergei Lavrov file photo

“Question: Mr Lavrov, how did this long meeting go? Sergey Lavrov: If the presidents see that they have issues to discuss and to solve something rather than just exchange opinions, I don’t think that time is of paramount importance. Indeed, they had a very long conversation. My feeling was confirmed that President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the […]

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NEWSWATCH @McFaul Tweet: “Ok team Trump, you have to go on the record and deny this if it’s not true. …”

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

(Twitter – July 8, 2017 – Michael McFaul @McFaul) Ok team Trump, you have to go on the record and deny this if it’s not true. Putin is making Trump look like a total pushover. Push back!   Julie Pace @jpaceDCHAMBURG, Germany (AP) – Putin says he thinks Trump believes his denial of Russian meddling in US vote, but better […]

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NEWSLINK: “Trump may claim he won the U.S.-Russia meeting, but Putin probably benefits more” – Washington Post/ David Ignatius

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

“The self-proclaimed ‘deal maker’ finally got the beginnings of what could be an important diplomatic agreement in Friday’s Russian-American summit in Hamburg. For a rookie, President Trump appears to have avoided big mishaps that sometimes plague such great-power talks.  The importance of the meeting between presidents Trump and Putin isn’t so much in the details, though the proposed cease-fire in […]

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NEWSLINK: “Even Now, Does Mr. Trump Get It on Hacking?” – New York Times editorial

Cybersecurity, Newslinks, Spies, Spy Allegations, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“… it is important that when he held his first presidential face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday, Mr. Trump began by raising the interference issue and then reportedly pressed him more than once on Russian involvement during the course of their two-hour-and-15-minute conversation. …”

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NEWSLINK: “Donald Trump Meets Vladimir Putin: Time For U.S. To Normalize Relations With Russia” – Forbes/ Doug Bandow

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“… The meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin was overdue. The two apparently agreed that neither state would interfere in the other nation’s election. President Trump should make clear that respecting American elections is a red line for bilateral relations. Negotiations over a cyber-accord, in line with that reached with China, would be a logical next step. …”

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Russia’s Expert Advice: How Putin Should Tackle His First Trump Meeting; The two presidents are set to meet for the first time today on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany.

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Donald Trump Waving Before Large Crowd with Trump Signs, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – David Kharebov – July 7, 2017) On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, will hold their first face-to-face meeting. Ahead of this widely anticipated encounter on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, we asked three Russian experts to weigh in on the following questions: – What are […]

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NEWSLINK: “Trump Aides Want Kremlin Critic in Putin Meeting; Trump officials hope the White House will allow a leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin to be included in the one-on-one meeting between the two leaders on Thursday” – DailyBeast/ Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng, Spencer Ackerman

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

“The White House’s best-known Russia hawk is already in Germany, in advance of Donald Trump’s high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the G-20 summit. But whether Fiona Hill will be allowed in the room when the two presidents get together is still very much an open question. According to two White House aides, senior Trump administration officials have […]

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NEWSLINK: “What Russia hopes to gain from this week’s Putin-Trump meeting” – Washington Post/ David Filipov

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Stylized Russian and U.S. Flags, 200, 1807-2007

” Nearly eight months after his parliament toasted the election victory of Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin will finally have his first face-to-face with his American counterpart Friday, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg. But the optimism over President Trump that brought out the bubbly on the floor of the State Duma on Nov. 9 has long […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Senior Russian diplomat interviewed on relations with USA; Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov’s interview with the newspaper Izvestia, published on July 3, 2017” – Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Izvestia

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Sergei Ryabkov file photo

“… ‘Crisis in relations’ [Zabrodin] Many people in Russia hoped that under Donald Trump, Moscow and Washington would manage to reach agreement. However, there is an impression that the crisis in relations is only deteriorating. What is the reason for that? [Ryabkov] I would not say that the relationship is in an even worse crisis than it was at the […]

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NEWSLINK: “No ‘Specific Agenda,’ but Trump, Putin Have Lots to Discuss” – AP

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Donald Trump Waving Before Large Crowd with Trump Signs, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“President Donald Trump’s first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will be brimming with global intrigue, but the White House says there’s “no specific agenda.” So in the absence of a set list of topics, what are two of the world’s most famously unpredictable leaders to discuss? …. ELECTION HACKING … IRRITANTS … RUSSIA’S WISH LIST … […]

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

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
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 […]

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NEWSWATCH: “No Thaw Likely at Trump-Putin Meeting” – Wall Street Journal/ Nathan Hodge

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Donald Trump Waving Before Large Crowd with Trump Signs, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“Russian officials are cautious about expectations for a fresh start in relations with Washington despite a planned first meeting between … Putin and … Trump next week. … Lavrov expressed hope that ‘pragmatism will prevail.’ But he added that U.S.-Russian relations ‘have become hostage to the internal politics’ inside Washington. * * * Russia continues to chafe under U.S. and Western […]

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NEWSLINK: “What Trump should say when he meets Putin for the first time” – Washington Post

Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Donald Trump

“ALTHOUGH PRESIDENT TRUMP likes to rely on his instincts, this week’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg, Germany, calls for careful preparation and straight talk. Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, told reporters that “we have no specific agenda” and “it’s whatever the president wants to talk about.” This is far too casual and risky. …”

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RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions at the Primakov Readings International Forum, Moscow, June 30, 2017” – Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Sergei Lavrov file photo

“Mr Dynkin, Mr Kissinger, Ladies and gentlemen, Colleagues, It is a great honour for me to address the second Primakov Readings International Forum, which has been organised by the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO). …”

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NEWSLINK: “THREAT PERCEPTIONS” – Irrussianality/ Paul Robinson

Military, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
DIA Headquarters file photo, adapted from DIA Public Affairs photo at defense.gov

“… This is also pretty obvious, and one doesn’t need a $4 billion a year agency to come up with this stuff, but it’s interesting that at least somebody in the American security establishment is willing to admit that people elsewhere in the world don’t all appreciate what the United States is doing. Unfortunately, all intelligence agencies can do is […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Intel Report: Kremlin Sees U.S. Urging Regime Change in Russia” – AP

JRL NewsBlog, Military, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
DIA Headquarters file photo, adapted from DIA Public Affairs photo at defense.gov

[DIA report here dia.mil/Portals/27/Documents/News/Military%20Power%20Publications/Russia%20Military%20Power%20Report%202017.pdf] “Kremlin leaders are convinced America is intent on regime change in Russia, a fear that is feeding rising tension and military competition between the former Cold War foes, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm has assessed. The unclassified report by the Defense Intelligence Agency … portrays Russia as increasingly wary of the United States. It cites Moscow’s ‘deep and […]

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[PDF] NEWSLINK: “[DIA Report:] ‘Russia Military Power: Building a Military to Support Great Power Aspirations'” – Defense Intelligence Agency [116-page PDF]

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Military, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
DIA Headquarters file photo, adapted from DIA Public Affairs photo at defense.gov

“… Since returning to power in 2012, Russian President Putin has sought to reassert Russia as a great power on the global stage and to restructure an international order that the Kremlin believes is tilted too heavily in favor of the United States at Russia’s expense. …”

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NEWSLINK: “How to ‘Think Like the Russians’: A Partisan Perception Chart for Improving U.S.-Russian Relations” – Russia Matters/ Bruce Allyn

Newslinks, Nuclear, Missile Defense, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Nuclear Mushroom Cloud

U.S.-Russia relations have dropped to a low point reminiscent of the scariest days of the Cold War, and the risk of nuclear miscalculation is the highest it’s been in nearly 55 years. With passions flaring and recriminations flying, how can Washington and Moscow find a calm common language and ratchet down tensions? …

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NEWSLINK: “Understanding Russia Doesn’t Mean Liking Moscow; It Means Making America Safer” – Russia Matters/ Paul Saunders

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Kremlin and River

One of America’s biggest problems in dealing with Russia today is the pressure on policymakers to decide on a course of action without a good understanding of our rival and its motives, goals and priorities. While few would condemn a company for studying the market to assess its competitors, or decry U.S. politicians for doing research on their opponents, attempts […]

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NEWSLINK: “Media Contempt for Facts Grows Along With the Dangers of War With Russia; “Russiagate” has become a grave threat to US national security-but its discredited foundational allegations persist.” – The Nation/ Stephen F. Cohen

Cybersecurity, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

“Nation Contributing Editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Previous installments, now in their fourth year, are at TheNation.com.) Cohen is increasingly alarmed that as Washington and Moscow drift toward military conflict, the US political-media establishment remains obsessed with “Russiagate”-allegations that Russian President Putin ordered the hacking of the Democratic […]

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Ukraine Says There’s No Evidence of Illicit Payments to Manafort

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Volodymyr Verbyany – June 27, 2017) Ukrainian prosecutors said they’d found no proof of illicit payments to U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager from his work for the party of the nation’s ousted leader. Anti-corruption investigators in the ex-Soviet republic said last year that they’d found ledgers showing $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments between […]

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Moscow Media Report that West Wants to Dismember Russia Dismissed by Russian Experts

Europe, EU, History, Soviet Union, NATO, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Russia Regions Map

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 26, 2017) On Saturday, a Russian television program featured a claim by an unnamed Russian intelligence officer that NATO viewed the destruction of the USSR as “only the first step” and then planned “to create a Middle Volga Republic” in order to reduce “all of Russia to the size and power […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting with Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko. [excerpt re: NGOs]

Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Valentina Matviyenko file photo

(Kremlin.ru – June 26, 2017) Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko. Valentina Matviyenko: Mr President, we also organised public hearings on a subject that was long ripe for discussion. We simply gave this discussion a formal framework through these hearings on the inadmissibility of interference in Russia’s internal affairs. We know how […]

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NEWSLINK: “How Putin Seduced Oliver Stone – and Trump” – New York Times/ Masha Gessen

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Newslinks, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Screenshot of Vladimir Putin in Twitter Video of Trailer of Oliver Stone TV Film Regarding Russia

“Watching four hours of Oliver Stone interviewing President Vladimir Putin of Russia is not a lesson in journalism. Mr. Stone is an inept interviewer, and he does not get Mr. Putin to say anything the world hasn’t heard from him before. Watching the interviews for entertainment is a questionable proposition, too: The four-part series contains many dull exchanges and even […]

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Behind Brave Face on Sanctions, Russia Is Already Adjusting

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – June 23, 2017) They are only discussed. They may not even be implemented. But the new sanctions under consideration in the U.S. Congress have already become a factor the Bank of Russia can’t ignore. While Governor Elvira Nabiullina dismissed sanctions as having little impact on Russia, the looming threat of wider measures was […]

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

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
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?

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