Section: European Voice (EU)
Vladimir Putin and France unfriend each other
PARIS — The new Cold War is getting chilly again. Russian President Vladimir Putin called off a trip to Paris due to take place next week, sparking a diplomatic spat with France that followed other flare-ups between Moscow and Western powers. The temperature of the relationship is heading back toward lows last reached when Russia annexed...
Vladimir Putin cancels France trip amid new Russia-West tensions
PARIS — Russian President Vladimir Putin called off a trip to Paris next week after declining an offer to meet François Hollande solely for talks on Syria, Reuters quoted a source in the French presidency as saying on Tuesday. “There were contacts between the Kremlin and the Elysée this morning to offer to Putin a working visit on Syria, but...
Britain’s Brexit delusions
Just eight months after David Cameron promised Britons “the best of both worlds” if they voted to stay in the European Union on his renegotiated terms, Britain is hurtling toward the worst of all worlds — a swift, hard Brexit on unfavorable trade terms. The dynamics of British politics since the June referendum have vaporized the softer options...
Georgia’s pro-Western parties pull ahead in national vote
The governing party of Georgia is strongly in the lead in the parliamentary election, according to the National Commission. After a count of votes from about two-thirds of the country’s precincts the commission said Sunday that the Georgian Dream party, a pro-Western, reformist party, which has been in power since 2012, had tallied just...
Seven reasons the new Russian hack announcement is a big deal
It’s been buried under news of Donald Trump bragging about his ability to grab women by their genitals, but Friday afternoon’s news dump included a stunning declaration by the Department of Homeland Security: the first direct accusation from the Obama administration that Russia is trying to interfere with our elections. “The U.S....
Russian hacking crisis tests Obama’s nerve
President Barack Obama came under immediate pressure Friday night to punish Russia for hacking into U.S. political institutions — with calls to rally European allies behind sweeping new sanctions against Moscow. The demands for swift action followed the administration’s extraordinary public statement accusing the Russian government of...
Lobbyist advised Trump campaign while promoting Russian pipeline
A Republican lobbyist was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote one of Vladimir Putin’s top geopolitical priorities at the same time he was helping to shape Donald Trump’s first major foreign policy speech. In the first two quarters of 2016, the firm of former Reagan administration official Richard Burt received $365,000...
Obama administration becomes target of Russian ridicule
White House press secretary Josh Earnest is used to being a political target — but not a military one. Moscow’s Embassy in Washington tweeted an image Wednesday juxtaposing a photo of an anti-aircraft missile system alongside — and pointed at — the White House spokesman’s face. Speaking to reporters later that day, Earnest laughed off...
Trump on Putin: ‘I don’t love, I don’t hate’
Donald Trump on Wednesday denied Tim Kaine’s accusation that he loves Russian President Vladimir Putin, telling a rally in Nevada that “I don’t love, I don’t hate” him. During the Tuesday night vice presidential showdown, Kaine repeatedly attacked Trump and Mike Pence for the Republican nominee’s warm words for Putin, even...
Pence breaks with Trump on Putin, attacking Assad
Mike Pence broke sharply with his own running mate on Tuesday, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “small and bullying leader” and saying the U.S. should consider striking the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad. On multiple occasions during his vice presidential debate with Democrat Tim Kaine, Pence took positions at odds with Donald Trump, who...
