... Second, in the 1990s, starting with the dissolution of the USSR. The latter was, in the wording of Fidel Castro to Sandinista Comandante Tomas Borge, “suicide, not homicide”. The result of that suicide was the dawn of unipolarity and the shift of NATO towards Russia. Today, Putin’s Russia is expected to commit suicide again by permitting that continued expansion of NATO—even after the U.S. and Ukraine refused to rule it out.
The original expansion of NATO was a reflection of the actual correlation ...
... southern ones. Several opposition TV channels and newspapers were closed and a number of opposition figures fled the country, were killed (as Oles Buzina) or arrested (including the leader of the main opposition party Vladimir Medvedchuk). One of the signatories of Minsk 2 agreements, representing Donetsk, Alexander Zaharchenko, was assassinated in 2018 in the centre of the city.
Minsk 2 has not been implemented and was in dead end. Even the Steinmeier formula did not cut the Gordian knot. After the ...
..., nor Britain’s dramatic retreat from the European Union, nor the chronic crises in the Middle East, nor the persisting rise of Beijing’s global influence, nor the coronavirus pandemic—nothing prevented these preparations.
Igor Ivanov:
Russia-NATO: On the History of the Current Crisis
Russia proceeded with a rapid modernization of its armed forces, pursuing programs of import substitution, accumulating foreign exchange reserves, expanding trade with China and deepening political and military-technical ...
... It is still an open question how effectively this aid will be used, and to what extent it will be used to modernize the Ukrainian economy and social sphere.
As for the military aspects, Kiev and Western countries are likely to drown out the issue of NATO membership, as well as to rush the rebuilding of the entire military machine of Ukraine to the standards of the alliance. One can expect increased military and technical assistance to Kiev from certain NATO countries, including supply of modern weapons....
The recommendations addressed most of the areas of common ground so far sketched in Russian, US and NATO exchanges during the present crisis
In December 2020, this group of senior Russian, American and European experts offered governments a
set of recommendations on Russia-NATO risk reduction
. The recommendations addressed most of the areas of common ...
... “Pioneer” missile in response to the new “Pershings” and “Gryphons”
Who is to blame? A seemingly clear-cut answer to this accursed question relevant for the country’s current security concern has recently emerged: the United States and NATO with its U.S.-led enlargement into the post-Soviet space, with them having completely eclipsed international terrorism on the agenda. By the same token, the issue has been supplanted in U.S. discourse by the notions of “great power competition” ...
... element of a more general issue of Euro-Atlantic security, albeit a very important one.
Washington and its allies have proven reluctant to such an open and fundamental conversation. This became evident from the official responses received from the US and NATO. Obviously, there are some positive elements in these answers, but there is still no willingness to talk about key security issues. If one steps back from the intricate diplomatic wording, it is very clear that the central component of the Russian ...
... surpassing the last defense budget of Donald Trump. It is inevitable that the U.S. will press forward to modernize its nuclear triad. Russia to a large extent has already done so. It is a reverse situation in comparison to the Cold War era. This time NATO has an overwhelming superiority in conventional weapons, and Russia with its nuclear doctrine has to rely heavily on nuclear deterrence. Recently the UK has sharply raised the ceiling of its nuclear warheads. A new fundamental shift is occurring—a ...
On February 10, 2022, a regular online international expert dialog on Russia-NATO relations took place, bringing together experts, former diplomats and military, public leaders from Russia, the USA, and European NATO member-states
On February 10, 2022, a regular online international expert dialog on Russia-NATO relations took ...
... and Kiev bring into focus such issues as Turkey’s vigorous penetration into the post-Soviet space, its willingness to act as a military and political patron of a number of former Soviet countries and aid them in strengthening their relations with NATO despite their non-NATO member status. Do these developments make conflict in the Black Sea more likely? What risks would this create for Russia and its interests?
The Caucasus and Ukraine: Two Links in the Same Chain
Andrey Kortunov:
Recep Erdogan ...
