Section: The Washington Post (USA)
Putin’s approval ratings hit 89 percent, the highest they’ve ever been
MOSCOW – Think Russians are tiring of conflict with the West? Not according to President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings, which hit all-time highs of 89 percent Wednesday. Putin has been riding sky-high ever since the March 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which Russians embraced as a restoration of their place at the...
Russia warns of deeper rifts with West as Europe extends sanctions
MOSCOW— The Kremlin lashed back at the European Union for “Russophobic” policies and warned of possible further political retaliation after European officials extended sanctions for another six months Monday over Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.Read full article >> …read more Source: The Washington...
Western firms are doing business in Russia again, but it’s not going so well
ST. PETERSBURG — As the crisis in Ukraine was spiraling into war a year ago, the Obama administration pressured U.S. business leaders not to attend Russia’s glitzy annual business summit. This year, they were back — but with Russia’s economy entering a deep funk, few of them were doing much business.Read full article >>...
These artists want you to occupy a Russian exhibit and win a trip to Crimea
VENICE – What do you call a person who shows up in a neighboring nation wearing camouflage and fighting an undeclared war? Why – on vacation. That’s the excuse the Russian government has used several times when its soldiers were caught in the bitter conflict in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin claims that some of its […] …read more...
Escalating skirmishes in eastern Ukraine increase threat to cease-fire
MOSCOW — Continued skirmishes between pro-Russian rebels and government forces in eastern Ukraine escalated Wednesday into the first major battle in months, leaving at least 17 dead and further threatening a tenuous cease-fire agreement signed in February. Read full article >> …read more Source: The Washington...
Self-exiled former Georgia president Mikheil Saakashvili returns as governor of key region in Ukraine
MOSCOW—He’s probably best known as the former president of Georgia. Or more recently, as a one-term academic at Tufts University, or to residents of Brooklyn, as the man about Williamsburg in fluorescent shoes. Mikheil Saakashvili, the pro-Western ex-president of the small former Soviet country brazen enough to start a war with Russia in...
Map: The U.S. is bound by treaties to defend a quarter of humanity
The United States is bound by a number of treaties that could, in theory, force it to get involved in a war if an ally is attacked. Consider, for example, the situation in Ukraine, a non-member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. If a NATO ally were to find itself under similar threat from Russia, the U.S. […] …read more Source: The...
Wary of Russia, Europe now tiptoes when it comes to expansion
RIGA, Latvia — The last time European leaders gathered to discuss the future of the nations that lie between E.U. borders and Russia, the talks sparked a biting Russian response and the crisis in Ukraine. This time, they are treading lightly.Read full article >> …read more Source: The Washington...
Ukraine says it wants a missile shield to protect against Russian aggression
MOSCOW — Ukraine wants a nuclear missile shield, according to the country’s security chief, something that would almost certainly provoke an aggressive response from Russia.Ukraine is “rebuilding our missile shield, the main task of which is to defend against aggression from Russia,” Oleksandr Turchynov, the head of Ukraine’s National...
Visits by top U.S officials give Russia something to crow about
MOSCOW — For several months, high-level U.S. diplomats have been giving Russia the cold shoulder as punishment for its role in the Ukraine conflict.But no longer.Two senior American officials — U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry, followed by Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland — have visited Russia in as many weeks, giving some...
