Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses the Munich Security Conference via video link, Feb 19, 2022. The remarks by China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday constitute the first full statement on Beijing’s stance regarding Russia’s current tensions with the West and its sub-plot …
Moscow’s coercive diplomacy is working
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gesturing at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin , Moscow, February 15, 2022 The upshot of the Russian response, transmitted to Washington on Thursday, regarding security guarantees may look as if the stalemate is heading toward a war. Moscow has rejected the US’ call for ‘de-escalation’ by pointing …
Biden dials back belligerence toward Russia
US President Joe Biden spoke with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin from his retreat at Camp David, Maryland, February 12, 2022 The White House readout of US President Joe Biden’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday conveys the impression that its leitmotif was Washington’s threat of sanctions against Russia if it attacked Ukraine. But …
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China’s support is a game changer for Russia
During the visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing on Friday, the world attention was focused on how far China would go in support of Russia in the latter’s standoff with the US and NATO. From the joint statement issued after the visit, China has given fulsome support to Russia, endorsing Moscow’s demand for security …
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Blinken delays US response to Russia
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warns of imminent Russian assault on Ukraine, scrambling to get allies to rally. (File photo) A special press briefing in unseemly hurry by the US state department to warn an imminent Russian assault on Ukraine; a surprise call by state secretary Blinken to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to …
CSTO’s mission accomplished in Kazakhstan
Russian servicemen fold the national flag during ceremony marking end of CSTO mission in Kazakhstan, Almaty, January 13, 2022 The readout of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “working meeting” in the Kremlin on Wednesday with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu regarding the Collective Security Treat Organisation’s mission to Kazakhstan needs careful analysis. As is customary with Putin, …
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Turkey draws closer to the US and Europe
A US Navy destroyer crosses the Bosphorus to enter the Black Sea, as tensions simmer around Ukraine. (File photo) Being a “swing state” may have tactical advantages but when life gets tough and the tough gets going, there could be consequences. Turkey once faced such a moment of truth a hundred years ago. It faces a similar predicament …
US shows the exit ramp to Russia
US president Joe Biden speaks on the phone to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Delaware, Dec. 30, 2021 Getting off your high horse is never easy and it remains to be seen how deftly Moscow navigates its path in the downstream of President Vladimir Putin’s 50-minute phone conversation Thursday with his American counterpart Joe Biden. …
Putin hints at military options in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via video conference outside Moscow, December 24, 2021 The Rossiya 1 state television in Moscow broadcast today President Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference on Friday. It conveys a much fuller picture of the grave crisis brewing in the Russian-American relations than what the excerpts in the Russian …
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Nord Stream 2 is a double-edged geopolitical tool
Germany has suspended Nord Stream 2 certification; and, Russian gas stops flowing into Germany from December 21, 2021 When Pavel Zavalny, the chairman of Russian parliamentary committee on energy, made the forecast last Friday that Nord Stream 2 pipeline could start shipping natural gas to Germany as early as next month, it was received with …
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