Russia
Putin orders start of mass vaccination against Covid-19 in Russia, will begin NEXT WEEK with key workers given priority
President Vladimir Putin has ordered the start of large scale vaccination against coronavirus in Russia, by the end of next week. Medics and teachers will be the first to get the shots and participation will be voluntary. Russia’s pharma industry is ready to meet the challenge, Putin said during a… »
Edward Snowden is Granted Permanent Residence in Russia
Russia has given a permanent residence permit to Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency public interest informant. Edward Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since 2013 when he disclosed the American secret services’ programs of massive surveillance. The USA has requested his extradition for violating espionage laws. Today’s… »
Vladimir Putin: additional steps to de-escalate the situation in Europe in the wake of the termination of the INF Treaty
In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union came to an agreement to eliminate their stocks of intermediate-range and shorter-range (or “medium-range”) land-based missiles (which could carry nuclear warheads). In February 2019, the United States announced it was suspending compliance with it. This has opened up the possibility of… »
France needs ‘strategic dialogue’ with Eastern Europe, not Russia
By Jeroen Bult Not always natural allies, France and the Baltic states have a more nuanced relationship than their disagreements over Russia may suggest, argues Dutch historian and journalist Jeroen Bult. Baltics in-depth. “The visit I am paying to your country is a visit of the Eternal France… »
President Carter, Do You Swear to Tell the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth?
By Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, Conor Tobin’s January 9, 2020 Diplomatic History[1] article titled: The Myth of the ‘Afghan Trap’: Zbigniew Brzezinski and Afghanistan[2] attempts to “dismantle the notion that President Jimmy Carter, at the urging of National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, aided the Afghan Mujahedin intentionally to lure… »
Novichok, Navalny, Nordstream, Nonsense
Once Alexei Navalny was in Berlin it was only a matter of time before it was declared that he was poisoned with Novichok. The Russophobes are delighted. This of course eliminates all vestiges of doubt about what happened to the Skripals, and proves that Russia must… »
Top Human Rights Tweets of the Week
Trending rights tweets this week: Srebrenica 25 years on; new ICE regulations are devastating for some international students in the US; disastrous new terrorism law in the Philippines; and HRW invites you to an inspiring evening filled with special guests, performances, and experts joining together for a brighter future. »
Putin’s “Soft Authoritarian” Regime and Russian Freedom
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* One of the founders of Russia’s Pussy Riot rock band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, was interviewed at length on the BBC this past weekend. She has no time for President Vladimir Putin. When the group played inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour she was sent to jail… »
Wrecking New START will wreck the entire framework of arms control that has existed since the 1960s
Rybakov – Billingslea arms control meeting 22 and 23 June, in Vienna, Austria The US and RUSSIA, must focus on nuclear risk reduction, extension of New START and reaffirm that a nuclear war ‘cannot be won and must never be fought’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabakov and US Special Envoy… »
The largest US-led military exercise in Europe scales down but COVID-19 doesn’t stop it!
By Jan Oberg Defender Europe 20 is a huge, basically US military exercise, on European soil between February and May this year. It has already started. In the midst of a closed-down coronavirus Europe. And it is war-preparing, not peace- or confidence-building. The diagram above from the British Army… »