... Ukraine. In the struggle against violent extremism, the U.S., Europeans and Russia generally agree on the need to control the Islamic State. However, there has been a significant lack of coordination that has been further antagonizing relations.
First, NATO-member Turkey
shot down
a Russian aircraft in November 2015 — an action that tested the NATO-Russia relationship, even if Turkey and Russia eventually came to terms in the aftermath. Then, in early April 2017, the U.S. fired 59 cruise missiles at Syrian airbase ...
... spectacular success, with Russia’s desired outcomes being achieved in the US, the UK, Italy, Bulgaria, and Moldova, while seeing trends favorable to its interests significantly increased in places like Germany and Austria. Furthermore, U.S. and NATO “ally” Turkey has taken a decidedly sharp anti-democratic and anti-Western plunge and is clearly cozying up to Russia.
2017 may be even better for the Kremlin, and even worse for what is still referred to as the West.
This is the new face of warfare, one ...
... in the Ukraine has become as hot as the scorching weather the country has been experiencing of late. Discussions about the latest trends at home and around the world and what it all means for the future of Ukraine have reached fever pitch. The recent NATO Summit in Warsaw, the attempted coup in Turkey, the complicated dynamics of the development of Ukraine’s relations with important regional partner (Poland) and the threat of the situation in Donbass escalating – all this has sent shockwaves around the country.
The NATO Summit in ...
... Kremlin’s foreign policy goes against Western interests in Ukraine and the Black Sea. The result is ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine and economic sanctions against Russia. Turkey, on the other hand, is close to being isolated from international affairs. Turkey has historically been NATO’s ally. Still, Washington is supporting the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, which is considered in Ankara as a branch of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which regularly organizes terrorist attacks in Turkey. The coup attempt,...
... with NATO’s policies. However, it would be more accurate to say that it is a two-way road, and the U.S. also depends on Turkey especially when it comes to dealing with the Middle East and regional conflicts there. Let’s not forget, that Turkey is NATO’s outpost in the Middle East having the second largest army in the Alliance and playing the role of a buffer between this volatile region and Europe. Besides, Turkey hosts U.S. troops and warplanes at its Incirlik Air Base, an important foothold ...
... both leaders would like to make a case that the West is not the only game in town, that they have other options, and that if the West shuts its door in front of Putin and Erdogan, they can look for other alternatives.
Do you think Russia can dislodge Turkey as a NATO member?
In Russia there are no allusions about Turkey’s membership in NATO. I don’t think anyone here in Moscow believes that Turkey might leave NATO. But at the same time, everybody knows that Turkey is a very special NATO member. For ...
... 2274 on Afghanistan at the UN.
REUTERS/Yves Herman
Andrey Kortunov:
How Not to Talk with Russia
Another unspoken topic of the meeting is the Turkey issue, and not in terms of the Syria crisis but regarding the issue of trilateral cooperation between NATO, Turkey and Russia. This format at ambassador level will make it possible to formulate an understanding of whether it is possible to speak of a settlement of the Russian-Turkish conflict of interests, bearing in mind that neither NATO nor Russia wants ...
... okay with the erosion of democratic values and a deeply undemocratic military occupation of the West Bank as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict stifles Israel’s left and drives its people further to the right. The assault on democratic norms in Turkey by its government is far worse. Still worse in that region, the Arab Spring has, in general, become a massive tragedy.
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Additionally, democracy by no means appears stable or secure overall in either Sub-Saharan Africa or in Latin America....
... today’s threat is bigger than it was, say, three years ago,” Kortunov warns in an interview to Russia Direct. Without the solid policy toward Turkey, Washington seems to straddle between increasing cooperation with Russia over Syria and supporting Turkey as a NATO member in its hypothetical military confrontation with Moscow. This leads to another catch-22 problem: The less certain Washington is toward Turkey, the more unpredictable and explosive the situation becomes. The prospects of a confrontation between ...
... actions in Syria and Ukraine, and most Russians are never going to agree with America's actions in Syria and Ukraine. But a good first step toward peace in these and all conflicts is to refrain from fighting. Russia has refrained from fighting with Turkey and thereby saved the NATO alliance from a potentially devastating existential crisis. The United States and its allies should reciprocate by canceling their economic sanctions on Russia.
Russia and the West may never be allies or even partners, but they can and should live ...
