Russia
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US risks confrontation with Russia
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov remarked last week that Moscow expects nothing good in relations with a “deeply hostile” US under the incoming administration of Joe Biden. He further said in an interview with the Interfax published Wednesday, “We are heading from bad to worse. The next US president has been left with… Continue reading
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the general meeting of the Russian International Affairs Council, Moscow, December 8, 2020
The international agenda has been packed with crises and conflicts. As if this was not enough, COVID-19 appeared and has done tangible damage to the global economy. State borders are still closed or subject to different restrictions. Human contact has been disrupted in all spheres without exceptions. It is only possible to counter this virus… Continue reading
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Russian Cooperation Saves British Vaccine
In late November Debs is dead and I wrote about the ruthless vaccine competition. The cause were the ambiguous results of the non-profit AstraZeneca vaccine trials which led to delighted criticism from those who prefer commercial vaccine suppliers. Continue reading
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John Kerry’s Think Tank Calls for War With Russia Over Climate Change
Recently-appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry has announced his intention of dealing with the pressing issue of global warming as a national security concern. “America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is,” the 76-year-old former Secretary of State wrote. “I am proud to… Continue reading
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The Curious Case Of USS Ross: U.S. Warship Appears In Russian Territorial Waters, And Then Vanishes
The cyber command of the US Navy intervened in the work of the international automatic vessel identification system (AIS), creating a dangerous precedent, according to reports on December 4th. Continue reading
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Russia, China reinvent their moorings in Central Asia
The United States, which was de facto assuming the historical role of Great Britain in the 19th century Great Game in Central Asia, was inclined to take a relaxed view of China’s return to the region in the first decade of the post-Soviet period. China’s rise had not yet become a compelling geopolitical reality in… Continue reading
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Putin creates conditions for ending bloodshed in Caucasus
The trilateral Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia statement of November 10 on Nagorno-Karabakh is a major development in regional and international security. A daring attempt is afoot to tamp down an ethnic conflict with political overtones by redrawing territorial boundaries. Continue reading
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Russia Achieves Ceasefire In Nagorno-Karabakh
The war over Nagorno-Karabakh has ended for now. The Armenian Autonomous Oblast within Azerbaijan will continue to exits with Russian peacekeepers currently deploying to control its borders. Most of the Armenian occupied territories will be handed back to Azerbaijan. A Russian controlled land corridor will connect Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Continue reading
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Nagorno-Karabakh: Erdogan Trying to Save Himself at the Expense of Others?
It is still difficult to find out what is actually going on in the NK conflict zone. News outlets are highly selective in their reporting, which is based more often than not on carefully controlled information drips from Azerbaijan and Armenia. The reports being shared back and forth on various sites are little more than… Continue reading
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Why Are These Anti-Russian And Anti-Chinese Narratives So Similar?
After more than four years of Russiagate we finally learn (paywalled original) where the Steele dossier allegations about nefarious relations between Trump and Russia came from: Continue reading
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Magic Novichok
The security services put an extraordinary amount of media priming effort into explaining why the alleged novichok attack on the Skripals had a delayed effect of several hours, and then failed to kill them. Excuses included that it was a cold day which slowed their metabolisms, that the chemical took a long time to penetrate their skins,… Continue reading
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Russia and the EU: “Business as Usual” Is Over
Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, is the world’s foremost diplomat. The son of an Armenian father and a Russian mother, he’s just on another level altogether. Here, once again, we may be able to see why. Continue reading
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with radio stations Sputnik, Komsomolskaya Pravda and Govorit Moskva
14 October 2020 — Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Question: Good afternoon, Mr Lavrov. We are not going to shake hands today to comply with the coronavirus requirements, even though we are not wearing masks right now. We have been told that you are pressed for time because the Italians are waiting for… Continue reading
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Foundations for China’s and Russia’s mutual trust
The following is the ninth installment of an extended report on one of the most important geopolitical developments of the 21st century: the increasingly comprehensive alliance between China and Russia and its implications for Eurasian and regional powers across the planet. Continue reading
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The Bridge: Connecting Past and Present through Archival Research on Russia
Despite all indications to the contrary, many of the most important Russian archives are open and are worth investigating. Continue reading
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The factors drawing Putin and Xi together
The following is the eighth installment of an extended report on one of the most important geopolitical developments of the 21st century: the increasingly comprehensive alliance between China and Russia and its implications for Eurasian and regional powers across the planet. To follow this series, click here. Continue reading
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The Time of Troubles in Transcaucasia – Part 2
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin on October 2 that the European Union seeks a “constructive dialogue and a positive agenda” with Turkey. She had just returned to the German capital after a 2-day summit meeting of the EU countries in Brussels. Germany played a key role at the summit in steering EU-Turkey… Continue reading
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Russia’s response to expansion of NATO to its doorstep
The following is the sixth installment of an extended report on one of the most important geopolitical developments of the 21st century: the increasingly comprehensive alliance between China and Russia and its implications for Eurasian and regional powers across the planet. Continue reading
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The Time of Troubles in Transcaucasia – Part 1
Three days into the renewed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh in the Transcaucasian region — also known as South Caucasus — it is becoming clear that the binary narrative dished out by western commentators of this being a Turkish-Russian clash of wills and strategies is either simply naive or purposively deceptive. The point is, Russia and Turkey… Continue reading
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Western Metrics No Longer Matter for Russians
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in meetings recently with the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Workneh Gebeyehu. In a followup to the Russia-Africa summit held back in October 2019 in Sochi, the two discussed the decisions of the first Russia-Africa summit, with an added focus on expanded cooperation with African… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 