... cause and an outsize geopolitical ambition. The Russian Federation has learned from this. When it travels abroad, it goes for security buffers as in Ukraine, status as in Syria and mostly money elsewhere. There is no grand design, but a lot of opportunity-seeking,... ...
The choice to weaponize internet technologies to influence other countries’ domestic politics, for instance, has provoked accusations from such important partners as Germany and France but failed to advance Russia’s political goals. Regarding elections ...
... numerically limit in a future agreement through the verification measures provided for by the 1987 INF Treaty. The mutual accusations of violations that destroyed the treaty were just a pretext for terminating it. If the parties had wanted to, they could ... ... process has scored a number of historical victories during the past fifty years, and it should remain at the core of international security, even if many problems cannot be resolved quickly or all at once.
Arms Control Options and Prospects
So far, it’s not ...
... status of their cantons, and to prevent the disbandment of Syrian Democratic Forces units that could assume responsibility for security east of the Euphrates.
The Syrian government’s position regarding a special administrative status for the Kurds remains ... ... hopes to use these political terms as a tool to pressure Damascus and its allies. Apart from political considerations, the refusal to cooperate directly with the Syrian government is justified by citing the need to implement administrative reforms and ...
... forces for their deployment to the Euphrates area.
Grigory Lukyanov, Ruslan Mamedov:
Russia and Turkey: Approaches to Regional Security in the Middle East
The rationale seems to be that the start of Turkish military operation may in fact benefit Moscow.... ... Turks attack the Kurds, this may make the latter more flexible in terms of reaching an agreement with Damascus.”
Bye-bye, USA
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov voiced Moscow's view of the desired outcome shortly after US President Donald Trump ...
... “violations” that had virtually no effect on the balance of powers of the two countries. However, the more presence of these accusations impeded the enforcement of particular agreements. The number of alleged breaches accumulated over time and, even though ... ... can be used for offensive purposes. We have to admit that this “logic” has actually managed to outweigh the approach to security embodied in the INF Treaty, which was aimed at reducing the nuclear threat by banning dangerous offensive nuclear weapons ...
The second decade of the 21st century began with a string of explosive protests in the Middle East and North Africa, which have destabilized not only the countries that saw violent regime change but the entire region. A way out of the profound systemic crisis is yet to be found. Most countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia) have launched the needed socioeconomic reforms, albeit belatedly, but outcomes are difficult to predict. In other parts of the Arab world (Syria, Libya, Yemen)...
In a wide-ranging interview, Russia’s Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov speaks about nuclear arms control, the EU elections and top jobs, the situation in Ukraine, including the MH17, and America’s bid to challenge Russian gas.
In a wide-ranging interview, Russia’s Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov speaks about nuclear arms control, the EU elections and top jobs, the situation in Ukraine, including the MH17, and America’s bid to challenge Russian gas.
Vladimir Chizhov is a career diplomat...
... One of the few remaining confidence-building instruments, the Vienna Document 2011, is not amenable to modernization in the context of NATO’s policy of “forceful containment” of Russia and the policy of sanctions. A “structured dialogue” on security threats going to the OSCE since 2017 can help de-escalate the situation. However, to do this, we must work together to reduce the danger of war and prevent incidents, and not to waste forces on fruitless mutual accusations or attempts to fix non-consensus and deliberately confrontational topics from the category of “hybrid” threats on its agenda.
Today, many of our Western partners are willing to appeal to "multilateral" approaches, but they do not ...
... compliance guarantees to accompany possible agreements. Not so much from Washington’s side, which through its withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran and the ABM and INF treaties vividly confirmed its failings as a reliable partner. Pyongyang wants security guarantees from Beijing and Moscow, which are linked to the DPRK geographically, historically and politically.
With his trip to Vladivostok, Kim Jong-un shows that he assigns no less importance to cooperation with Russia than to work with the ...
... alliance is seen as an instrument of U.S. influence and U.S. defense assurances.
That is why Russia is utterly baffled by U.S. accusations that the Kremlin — and President Vladimir Putin specifically — are trying to “drive a wedge between NATO partners.... ... reaction convinced Moscow that the West has no intention of accommodating Russian interests even on the most fundamental national security issues, including the protection of territorial integrity and the fight against terrorism.
It became clear that the Western ...
