Section: US & Canada
The Most Revealing Moment in Mike Pompeo’s Confirmation Hearing
Donald Trump’s presidency has been shaped by two Russia storylines. One concerns investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. The other involves a deepening rift between Russia and the United States over issues beyond Russian meddling in democratic processes:...
Putin Seen Unlikely to Let US Strike in Syria Go Unanswered
Faced with the threat of a U.S. strike on Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin has a dilemma: Allow U.S. missiles to hit Moscow’s ally without a response or risk a military clash with the United States. If driven into a corner by a U.S. attack, Putin is seen as unlikely to sit back. Inaction would threaten his hard-won gains in Syria,...
Pompeo Confirms U.S. Forces Killed Russian Mercenaries
CIA Director and Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo confirmed on Thursday that United States forces killed a couple hundred Russians in Syria back in February. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.), during Pompeo’s confirmation hearing to be the next secretary of state, questioned the adequacy of the Trump administration’s actions in...
Ukraine Announces Plans To Quit CIS, Terminate Parts Of Russia Friendship Treaty
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced plans to quit the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and terminate parts of a friendship treaty with Russia. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
A Key Trump-Russia Intermediary Has Been Missing for Months, as the Case for Collusion Grows Stronger
They met in Moscow. Joseph Mifsud saw her for the first time at the Bolshoi Theater. He struck up a conversation, offered to take her picture, and asked her out to dinner. Mifsud, an obscure, middle-aged academic originally from Malta, soon began dating the young Ukrainian woman. He liked to impress her by talking about his ties to important...
Missing Family Of Four In Eastern Ukraine Found Dead, Killed In Mine Blast
Ukrainian police say a missing family of four has been killed in an antitank mine explosion near the front line in the eastern region of Luhansk, an area the United Nations has called one of the most mine-contaminated places on Earth. …read more Source: Radio Free Europe / Radio...
Putin, Who Invaded Ukraine And Sent Troops To Syria, Complains The World Is ‘Becoming More Chaotic’
“The current global situation cannot but cause concern,” the Russian president said. …read more Source:...
If only Stéphane Dion had saved Canada’s foreign policy
“In Geneva and New York, in March, June and September 2016, I attend several bilateral meetings between Dion and about 30 foreign ministers from other countries,” Jocelyn Coulon writes in his curious new book about Justin Trudeau’s foreign policy, Un selfie avec Justin Trudeau (published last week in French only by Québec-Amérique). Dion,...
The Obvious Question: What Does Russia Want?
Angus Ross, Andrew Savchenko Security, Eurasia Russia reserves the right to pursue its interests in the post–Soviet space without Western interference, in any way it sees fit. With Vladimir Putin now safely back in the Kremlin for another six years, and with a number of crises involving Russian forces still smoldering in the world, the time is...
Why the US Must Befriend Hungary’s Populist Leader
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a convincing majority in Sunday’s parliamentary election. Even the day before the election, The Guardian was all too pleased to showcase the left’s apoplexy by running the headline, “Hungary’s war on democracy is a war on democracy everywhere.” This has it exactly backward, of course....
