Section: POLITICO – Europe Edition (EU)
Manafort’s man in Kiev
In an effort to collect previously undisclosed millions of dollars he’s owed by an oligarch-backed Ukrainian political party, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been relying on a trusted protégé whose links to Russia and its Ukrainian allies have prompted concerns among Manafort associates, according to people who...
Russia’s season of menace
MOSCOW — August in Moscow is a season of brooding heat broken by sudden rainstorms, of bathing in chilly rivers and experiencing pangs of regret for a summer that never quite happened. Also, it’s Russia’s traditional season of disaster. The hard-line coup attempt that brought the fall of Communism in 1991, the default and financial...
Why Donald Trump is dangerous for Eastern Europe
The escalating situation in Crimea and the U.S. presidential campaign have more than a few things in common, but two of them are Russian President Vladimir Putin and a dearth of facts. It remains unclear exactly what happened on the occupied peninsula to trigger such a strident response from Russia, which accuses Ukraine of supporting terrorist...
Putin’s latest Crimean gambit
Curiously, it took Russia four full days after an alleged attack by Ukrainian special forces in Crimea to make a public statement about the event. On August 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the airwaves to denounce “tactics of terrorism.” He stated the alleged killings of a soldier and an FSB security agency operative “will not pass...
Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of ‘terrorist attacks’
Tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated sharply Wednesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukrainian forces of attacking Russian troops occupying Crimea. Putin charged Ukraine with “practicing terror” and warned that he “obviously will not let such things slide by,” according to Russia’s RIA News. “This is a very...
Q&A: Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Donald Trump
Anders Fogh Rasmussen was NATO’s secretary general for five years until October 1, 2014. During his term, Europe dealt with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of a regional war in eastern Ukraine. In an interview with POLITICO, the former Danish prime minister voiced concerns about U.S. commitment to its role as global...
Former NATO chief: Donald Trump is a global risk
PARIS — Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine would weaken the United States and empower autocrats around the world, said former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Trump, whom a group of 50 national security advisers have said would be a liability for U.S. security, has piled criticism on his country’s NATO partners in Europe,...
Trump changed views on Ukraine after hiring Manafort
Donald Trump sounded like a supporter of Ukraine’s territorial integrity last September, when he spoke by video feed to a gathering of political and business elites in Kiev. “Our president is not strong and he is not doing what he should be doing for the Ukraine,” Trump told he group of pro-Western businessmen, diplomats and politicians. “I...
America, welcome to the war
TALLINN — The revelation that Russia’s intelligence services hacked the computer systems of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in what appears an attempt to weaken her in the U.S. election against Donald Trump may seem like the stuff of conspiracy. But the truth is far more alarming. Russia’s activities aren’t part of...
Trump: Taking back Crimea would trigger World War III
World War III would break out if the United States were to intervene and take back Crimea from Russia on behalf of Ukraine, Donald Trump declared Monday, in his latest statement explaining his assessment of the geopolitical situation. Trump mocked media coverage of his interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that suggested he did not...
