Russia and US are discussing cooperation in the Arctic and Alaska—first steps taken toward restoring relations.
Tag: Putin
Putin asks upper house to send Russian army to back Ukraine separatists
Russian parliament’s upper house on Tuesday voted to allow President Vladimir Putin to use the Russian army outside the country to support separatists in Ukraine.
A total of 153 Russian senators backed the decision, with no one voting against or abstaining.
Putin earlier in the day asked the Federation Council to approve the army’s use outside the country to back separatists who have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.
“Negotiations have stalled. The Ukrainian leadership has taken the path of violence and bloodshed,” Deputy Defence Minister Nikolay Pankov said during a session of the Federation Council called at Putin’s request.
“They have not left us a choice,” Pankov said, addressing the chamber.
He alleged that there were “heavy armoured vehicles” on the border of east Ukraine’s separatist-controlled regions known as the DNR and LNR.
Pankov also said that NATO was “actively pumping Ukraine with modern weapons.”
“Russia will act for the protection of the sovereignty of other states and in order to prevent acts of aggression,” Pankov said.
The Kremlin’s Strange Victory How Putin Exploits American Dysfunction and Fuels American Decline
Donald Trump wanted his July 2018 meeting in Helsinki with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to evoke memories of the momentous encounters that took place in the 1980s between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Those arms control summits had yielded the kind of iconic imagery that Trump loved: strong, serious men meeting in distant places to hash out the great issues of the day. What better way, in Trump’s view, to showcase his prowess at the art of the deal?
That was the kind of show Trump wanted to put on in Helsinki. What emerged instead was an altogether different sort of spectacle.
By the time of the meeting, I had spent just over a year serving in the Trump administration as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council. Like everyone else who worked in the White House, I had, by then, learned a great deal about Trump’s idiosyncrasies. We all knew, for instance, that Trump rarely read the detailed briefing materials his staff prepared for him and that in meetings or calls with other leaders, he could never stick to an agreed-on script or his cabinet members’ recommendations. This had proved to be a major liability during those conversations, since it often seemed to his foreign counterparts as though Trump was hearing about the issues on the agenda for the first time.
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Putin warns hypersonic missiles are ready to launch & stockpiles blood ‘for war’ as Ukraine declares state of emergency
VLADIMIR Putin has warned “unparalleled” hypersonic missiles are ready for action and has been stockpiling blood, fuelling war fears.
Troops have also been on the move amid concern Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, could be next in his sights, as the country declares a state of emergency.
The world is waiting on Vladimir Putin’s next move
Satellite images showing a build up of medical supplies near the Ukraine borderCredit: AFP
Tanks were also spotted on roads as Russia beefed up its forces in rebel areasCredit: East2West
Massed Russian helicopters in BelarusCredit: East2West
With a huge 200,000 strong force encircling Ukraine, the world is on a knife edge waiting for Putin’s next move – which could see the bloodiest conflict in Europe since WW2.
Ukraine has now declared a state of emergency, allowing police to carry out random checks, and also announced all citizens will now be allowed to carry guns.
Putin has given a chilling warning that “weapons without parallel in the world have been put on combat duty”.
His threat was delivered on Defender of the Fatherland Day – three days after he watched two of the new missiles tested from a Bond villain style “situation room”.
Persecution Live 