Podcasts about foreign minister lavrov

An intemperate recent interview from Foreign Minister Lavrov, at which he warned that 'fifth columnists' within the elite wanted to hand Russia to the West on a platter, is typical of a new tome of populist nationalism that got me wondering. Putin's Russia is often called 'fascist' but this is a label of dubious accuracy. Are there hints that Russia could turn fascist? I still think this will not happen, but it is something worth exploring.The Bell, by the way, is here. The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter-terrorism, civil affairs and similar situations.You can also follow my blog, In Moscow's Shadows, and become one of the podcast's supporting Patrons and gain question-asking rights and access to exclusive extra materials including the (almost-) weekly Govorit Moskva news briefing right here. Support the show

PREVIEW: RUSSIA: Colleague Jeff McCausland reports the additional significant topics discussed in Riyadh by Secretary of State Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov. More later. 1945 Postage

During this episode I spoke to Daria Labutina, journalist covering Russia's big “Return to Africa” and member of the Russian Foreign Ministry's journalist pool, author of the Telegram channel “Africa for Dummies”. Daria has been covering all things Africa for federal news agencies, having interviewed the prime-minister of the Central African Republic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mali, as well as ambassadors to Russia from other countries of the region. She has also interviewed Russian ambassadors to Angola and the Central African Republic. Perhaps most importantly, she joined and covered the visits of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov to Africa in 2022 and 2023. During the episode, Daria and I spoke about how Russia is building its PR strategy in Africa, how the high-level Africa visits went, why many Africans still speak Russian and whether or not the soviet legacy on the continent still matters. Timecodes:2:53 Why everyone is talking about Africa 3:54 The year 2022 changed everything 5:46 Self perception and historical relations 7:26 Going to Africa with Foreign Minister Lavrov 11:28 Does the Soviet legacy in Africa still matter?13:44 Interest in Africa VS actual financial opportunities 16:11 Russia's PR strategy in Africa 19:06 Moving from growing influence to increasing trade 21:26 Why Russia needed to work with Africa from scratch 25:46 Russian chocolate on African marketsThis episode was recorded under the MGIMO University development programme “Priority 2030” 

Happy Thursday everyone, this is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, July 28th, 2022. Whoopi Goldberg has made another whoopsie, and is back in the news, after comments she made about Turning Point USA, on this show called The View. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WhXg3GTn5OM - Play Video Well, when she said those things… Turning Point USA wasn’t exactly pleased with those comments, and as a result, TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk said the group was considering legal action against the show. https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-the-view-apologizes-for-wrongly-linking-neo-nazi-protestors-to-turning-point-usa?utm_campaign=64487 The View apologizes for wrongly linking neo-Nazi protestors to Turning Point USA That prompted this response from the view: https://rumble.com/v1dt5k9-july-27-2022.html - Play Video After TPUSA called out "The View" on Twitter for making openly and provably false statements, conservative politicians, commentators, and supporters defended the organization and got the hashtag #SUETHEVIEW trending. Human Events Daily host and Turning Point USA contributor Jack Posobiec called "The View's" actions "textbook" defamation. "I was standing outside when this incident happened," he added. "TPUSA attendees confronted the agitators." Tim Pool talked about this on his show: https://twitter.com/i/status/1552105148180217858 - Play Video https://thepostmillennial.com/biological-male-swimmer-lia-thomas-loses-bid-for-woman-of-the-year-to-female-fencer?utm_campaign=64487 Biological male swimmer Lia Thomas loses bid for 'Woman of the Year' to female fencer The NCAA has announced a biological woman as their choice to represent the Ivy League to compete for the "Woman of the Year" title over Lia Thomas, the transgender athlete who made headlines after leaving men's swimming to compete against women. Columbia University fencer, Sylvie Binder, will be the Ivy League's pick. The award is meant to honor women student-athletes who have "distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college career." Binder, a senior from Armonk, New York, won the NCAA Fencing Championship in 2019. Binder was selected over Thomas, whose eligibility was hotly contested as Thomas is biological male who identifies as a woman and began transition in 2019. Thomas swam for the men’s swim team representing the University of Pennsylvania for three seasons before transitioning to compete against female swimmers, breaking records and winning championships in the women's division. Riley Gaines, an SEC champion swimmer who competed against Thomas at the NCAA Championships, said the male nomination as "Woman of the Year" was "another slap in the face to women," adding that the NCAA has now "made this award worthless." The University of Pennsylvania nominated both Thomas and tennis player Iuliia Bryzgalova for NCAA Woman of the Year in July. The NCAA website states that a school may nominate two individuals for the award if one of the two nominees is a "student-athlete of color or international student-athlete." The announcement on Monday narrowed down the 577 students nominated to 151 female athletes. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee is set to select 10 nominees from each division and the top 30 will be announced in October, with the winner announced in January at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio. Moving on… Hey California! That’s a place that exists… California Democrats Move to Make State a 'Sanctuary' for Child Sex Change Surgery https://neonnettle.com/news/19709-california-democrats-move-to-make-state-a-sanctuary-for-child-sex-change-surgery "Woke" lawmakers have introduced a bill to create a safe haven for doctors to perform operations on kids to remove or alter their genitals.The bill was introduced by Democratic California State Sen. Scott Wiener.As Neon Nettle has previously reported, Wiener successfully campaigned to legalize "gay sex" with minors in the state. Weiner's latest bill would block courts from enforcing out-of-state court orders revoking custody for parents who allowed their children to get illegal sex changes.The measure would also weaken parental rights of those who aren’t supportive of sex changes for their kids, giving "woke" teachers and other officials more powers to put children through life-changing transgender treatments without the need for family approval or knowledge. The proposal comes as several states move to restrict “gender-affirming care,” for children, which includes socially transitioning, puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. Texas is treating these procedures as a form of child abuse under existing state laws, Alabama has banned the procedures for minors and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is making an administration-wide push to ban child sex-change procedures.Wiener characterized the bill as an effort to grant legal protections to transgender minors and their parents, noting that the bill blocks California courts from enforcing out-of-state subpoenas for parents who break state laws banning child sex-change treatments. The legislation also makes the enforcement of out-of-state arrest warrants for violations of child sex-change bans the lowest law enforcement priority. A spokeswoman for parental rights group Family Watch International told the Daily Caller News Foundation how the law might work in practice. If a mother in Texas believes her daughter is actually a boy and seeks a double mastectomy for her, her doctor may alert the authorities that the child is at risk for permanently disfiguring surgery, she explained.If the mother flees to California with the child to get the surgery, California would currently be required to comply with court orders from Texas to have the child returned to the state, according to the spokeswoman. Wiener’s bill would block California courts from complying with Texas’s child custody orders when it comes to parents giving their children sex changes, she explained. My goodness that is wicked… California is just going to be heaping judgement on itself and our nation by these disgusting practices. Folks, especially those in California, come join us in Knoxville this Fall! FLF Conference Plug: Folks, our upcoming Fight Laugh Feast Conference is 70 days away from happening in Knoxville TN, October 6-8! Don't miss beer & psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers which includes George Gilder, Jared Longshore, Pastor Wilson, Dr. Ben Merkle, Pastor Toby, and we can’t say yet…also dont miss our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and stuff for the kids too…like jumpy castles and accidental infant baptisms! Also, did you know, you can save money, by signing up for a Club Membership. So, go to FightLaughFeast.com and sign up for a club membership and then register for the conference with that club discount. We can’t wait to fellowship, sing Psalms, and celebrate God’s goodness in Knoxville October 6-8. Let’s shift our eyes over seas now… https://dailycaller.com/2022/07/27/us-military-prep-war-pelosi-taiwan/ US Military To Prep For War If Pelosi Goes To Taiwan: REPORT The U.S. military is readying for possible conflict in the Pacific ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible trip to Taiwan in August, according to The Associated Press. The Pentagon will escalate troop movements and security measures in the Pacific if Pelosi follows through with her planned Taiwan visit. China likely would not attack Pelosi’s plane directly, officials familiar with the matter told the AP, but senior officials worry that her presence could inflame existing tensions between the U.S. and China over Taiwan. Officials declined to provide specifics but said measures could include fighter jets, ships and surveillance equipment to create redundant shields around Pelosi. China threatened to impose a no-fly zone over Taiwan if Pelosi visits and has dispatched warplanes into Taiwan’s claimed air defense identification zone, CNN reported, as a possible countermeasure. Pelosi would be the highest-ranking elected official to visit Taiwan in a quarter century, according to the AP. While enhanced security is typical of any high-level official visit to a foreign country, the precautions would go beyond those taken for trips to less risky destinations. Tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated in recent months over conflict related to Taiwan, an independently-governed country that China perceives as part of the mainland. Milley said Sunday that the number of dangerous interceptions between U.S. and Chinese forces in the South Pacific has escalated in 2022, and China has used unusually strong language opposing the U.S. ahead of Pelosi’s possible visit, Financial Times reported Saturday, citing six people with direct knowledge of the warnings. China confirmed prior threats of possible military action should House Speaker Nancy Pelosi follow through on Monday. “If the US side insists on making the visit, the Chinese side will take firm and strong measures to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. Boniface Woodworking LLC: Boniface Woodworking exists for those who enjoy shopping with integrity; who want to buy handmade wooden furniture, gifts, and heirloom items that will last for generations. From dining tables and church pulpits to cigar humidors and everything in between; quality pieces that you can give your children’s children, tie them to their roots, and transcend the basic function of whatever they are! So, start voting with your dollars, and stop buying cheap crap from people who hate you! Visit www.bonifacewoodworking.com to see our gallery, learn our story, and submit your order for heirloom quality wood items. Nba Draft Sound Effect- Play Video Ladies and gentleman, we have a trade to announce! https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2022/07/27/brittney-griner-u-s-offer-russia-prisoner-swap-paul-whelan/10166157002/ The United States will send Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer nicknamed "The Merchant of Death," for the prisoner swap. In exchange, Russia will send over Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan… Their deal sounds cooler. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States made a "substantial" proposal to Russia to bring home wrongfully detained WNBA star Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, who is also serving a prison sentence in Russia. CNN reported that the U.S. offered Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer nicknamed "The Merchant of Death," for the prisoner swap. A prisoner swap freed former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed from a Russian penal colony in April. Blinken added he would engage with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It was the first public acknowledgement of a deal that could involve a prisoner swap or addressing the sanctions placed on the country after it invaded Ukraine. “My hope would be that in speaking to Foreign Minister Lavrov, I can advance the efforts to bring them home,” Blinken said. Blinken said President Joe Biden has been directly involved in the negotiations and he signed off on the offer to Moscow. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. If you liked the show, there’s a share button on your screen. Do it! Do it now! If you want to sign up as a club member, register for our conference, or sign up as a magazine subscriber, you can do all of that at fightlaughfeast.com. And as always, if you want to become a corporate partner for CrossPolitic, let’s talk. Email me at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

Happy Thursday everyone, this is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, July 28th, 2022. Whoopi Goldberg has made another whoopsie, and is back in the news, after comments she made about Turning Point USA, on this show called The View. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WhXg3GTn5OM - Play Video Well, when she said those things… Turning Point USA wasn’t exactly pleased with those comments, and as a result, TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk said the group was considering legal action against the show. https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-the-view-apologizes-for-wrongly-linking-neo-nazi-protestors-to-turning-point-usa?utm_campaign=64487 The View apologizes for wrongly linking neo-Nazi protestors to Turning Point USA That prompted this response from the view: https://rumble.com/v1dt5k9-july-27-2022.html - Play Video After TPUSA called out "The View" on Twitter for making openly and provably false statements, conservative politicians, commentators, and supporters defended the organization and got the hashtag #SUETHEVIEW trending. Human Events Daily host and Turning Point USA contributor Jack Posobiec called "The View's" actions "textbook" defamation. "I was standing outside when this incident happened," he added. "TPUSA attendees confronted the agitators." Tim Pool talked about this on his show: https://twitter.com/i/status/1552105148180217858 - Play Video https://thepostmillennial.com/biological-male-swimmer-lia-thomas-loses-bid-for-woman-of-the-year-to-female-fencer?utm_campaign=64487 Biological male swimmer Lia Thomas loses bid for 'Woman of the Year' to female fencer The NCAA has announced a biological woman as their choice to represent the Ivy League to compete for the "Woman of the Year" title over Lia Thomas, the transgender athlete who made headlines after leaving men's swimming to compete against women. Columbia University fencer, Sylvie Binder, will be the Ivy League's pick. The award is meant to honor women student-athletes who have "distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college career." Binder, a senior from Armonk, New York, won the NCAA Fencing Championship in 2019. Binder was selected over Thomas, whose eligibility was hotly contested as Thomas is biological male who identifies as a woman and began transition in 2019. Thomas swam for the men’s swim team representing the University of Pennsylvania for three seasons before transitioning to compete against female swimmers, breaking records and winning championships in the women's division. Riley Gaines, an SEC champion swimmer who competed against Thomas at the NCAA Championships, said the male nomination as "Woman of the Year" was "another slap in the face to women," adding that the NCAA has now "made this award worthless." The University of Pennsylvania nominated both Thomas and tennis player Iuliia Bryzgalova for NCAA Woman of the Year in July. The NCAA website states that a school may nominate two individuals for the award if one of the two nominees is a "student-athlete of color or international student-athlete." The announcement on Monday narrowed down the 577 students nominated to 151 female athletes. The Woman of the Year Selection Committee is set to select 10 nominees from each division and the top 30 will be announced in October, with the winner announced in January at the NCAA Convention in San Antonio. Moving on… Hey California! That’s a place that exists… California Democrats Move to Make State a 'Sanctuary' for Child Sex Change Surgery https://neonnettle.com/news/19709-california-democrats-move-to-make-state-a-sanctuary-for-child-sex-change-surgery "Woke" lawmakers have introduced a bill to create a safe haven for doctors to perform operations on kids to remove or alter their genitals.The bill was introduced by Democratic California State Sen. Scott Wiener.As Neon Nettle has previously reported, Wiener successfully campaigned to legalize "gay sex" with minors in the state. Weiner's latest bill would block courts from enforcing out-of-state court orders revoking custody for parents who allowed their children to get illegal sex changes.The measure would also weaken parental rights of those who aren’t supportive of sex changes for their kids, giving "woke" teachers and other officials more powers to put children through life-changing transgender treatments without the need for family approval or knowledge. The proposal comes as several states move to restrict “gender-affirming care,” for children, which includes socially transitioning, puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. Texas is treating these procedures as a form of child abuse under existing state laws, Alabama has banned the procedures for minors and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is making an administration-wide push to ban child sex-change procedures.Wiener characterized the bill as an effort to grant legal protections to transgender minors and their parents, noting that the bill blocks California courts from enforcing out-of-state subpoenas for parents who break state laws banning child sex-change treatments. The legislation also makes the enforcement of out-of-state arrest warrants for violations of child sex-change bans the lowest law enforcement priority. A spokeswoman for parental rights group Family Watch International told the Daily Caller News Foundation how the law might work in practice. If a mother in Texas believes her daughter is actually a boy and seeks a double mastectomy for her, her doctor may alert the authorities that the child is at risk for permanently disfiguring surgery, she explained.If the mother flees to California with the child to get the surgery, California would currently be required to comply with court orders from Texas to have the child returned to the state, according to the spokeswoman. Wiener’s bill would block California courts from complying with Texas’s child custody orders when it comes to parents giving their children sex changes, she explained. My goodness that is wicked… California is just going to be heaping judgement on itself and our nation by these disgusting practices. Folks, especially those in California, come join us in Knoxville this Fall! FLF Conference Plug: Folks, our upcoming Fight Laugh Feast Conference is 70 days away from happening in Knoxville TN, October 6-8! Don't miss beer & psalms, our amazing lineup of speakers which includes George Gilder, Jared Longshore, Pastor Wilson, Dr. Ben Merkle, Pastor Toby, and we can’t say yet…also dont miss our awesome vendors, meeting new friends, and stuff for the kids too…like jumpy castles and accidental infant baptisms! Also, did you know, you can save money, by signing up for a Club Membership. So, go to FightLaughFeast.com and sign up for a club membership and then register for the conference with that club discount. We can’t wait to fellowship, sing Psalms, and celebrate God’s goodness in Knoxville October 6-8. Let’s shift our eyes over seas now… https://dailycaller.com/2022/07/27/us-military-prep-war-pelosi-taiwan/ US Military To Prep For War If Pelosi Goes To Taiwan: REPORT The U.S. military is readying for possible conflict in the Pacific ahead of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s possible trip to Taiwan in August, according to The Associated Press. The Pentagon will escalate troop movements and security measures in the Pacific if Pelosi follows through with her planned Taiwan visit. China likely would not attack Pelosi’s plane directly, officials familiar with the matter told the AP, but senior officials worry that her presence could inflame existing tensions between the U.S. and China over Taiwan. Officials declined to provide specifics but said measures could include fighter jets, ships and surveillance equipment to create redundant shields around Pelosi. China threatened to impose a no-fly zone over Taiwan if Pelosi visits and has dispatched warplanes into Taiwan’s claimed air defense identification zone, CNN reported, as a possible countermeasure. Pelosi would be the highest-ranking elected official to visit Taiwan in a quarter century, according to the AP. While enhanced security is typical of any high-level official visit to a foreign country, the precautions would go beyond those taken for trips to less risky destinations. Tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated in recent months over conflict related to Taiwan, an independently-governed country that China perceives as part of the mainland. Milley said Sunday that the number of dangerous interceptions between U.S. and Chinese forces in the South Pacific has escalated in 2022, and China has used unusually strong language opposing the U.S. ahead of Pelosi’s possible visit, Financial Times reported Saturday, citing six people with direct knowledge of the warnings. China confirmed prior threats of possible military action should House Speaker Nancy Pelosi follow through on Monday. “If the US side insists on making the visit, the Chinese side will take firm and strong measures to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. Boniface Woodworking LLC: Boniface Woodworking exists for those who enjoy shopping with integrity; who want to buy handmade wooden furniture, gifts, and heirloom items that will last for generations. From dining tables and church pulpits to cigar humidors and everything in between; quality pieces that you can give your children’s children, tie them to their roots, and transcend the basic function of whatever they are! So, start voting with your dollars, and stop buying cheap crap from people who hate you! Visit www.bonifacewoodworking.com to see our gallery, learn our story, and submit your order for heirloom quality wood items. Nba Draft Sound Effect- Play Video Ladies and gentleman, we have a trade to announce! https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2022/07/27/brittney-griner-u-s-offer-russia-prisoner-swap-paul-whelan/10166157002/ The United States will send Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer nicknamed "The Merchant of Death," for the prisoner swap. In exchange, Russia will send over Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan… Their deal sounds cooler. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States made a "substantial" proposal to Russia to bring home wrongfully detained WNBA star Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, who is also serving a prison sentence in Russia. CNN reported that the U.S. offered Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer nicknamed "The Merchant of Death," for the prisoner swap. A prisoner swap freed former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed from a Russian penal colony in April. Blinken added he would engage with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It was the first public acknowledgement of a deal that could involve a prisoner swap or addressing the sanctions placed on the country after it invaded Ukraine. “My hope would be that in speaking to Foreign Minister Lavrov, I can advance the efforts to bring them home,” Blinken said. Blinken said President Joe Biden has been directly involved in the negotiations and he signed off on the offer to Moscow. This has been your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief. If you liked the show, there’s a share button on your screen. Do it! Do it now! If you want to sign up as a club member, register for our conference, or sign up as a magazine subscriber, you can do all of that at fightlaughfeast.com. And as always, if you want to become a corporate partner for CrossPolitic, let’s talk. Email me at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

Kyle Anzalone is back this week on Antiwar Radio to update us on all things Ukraine. Anzalone explains the grain deal both sides reached after Turkey hosted negotiations. If honored, the deal is expected to free up 22 million tons of wheat. Next, Anzalone lays out how the battle lines are evolving after Foreign Minister Lavrov announced Russia has expanded its objectives beyond the Donbas region. There's also some good news about deals between Russia and the EU which will ease sanctions and open up the railroads into the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. However, the Biden Administration and Congress have been escalating their military support for Ukraine with promises to send more advanced weapons systems into the conflict.  Discussed on the show: “Russia and Ukraine sign breakthrough grain deal brokered by UN and Turkey” (Middle East Eye) Scott's Debate with Cathy Young about Ukraine Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, assistant editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter. Follow him on Twitter @KyleAnzalone_ This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio. Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 Download Episode. Kyle Anzalone is back this week on Antiwar Radio to update us on all things Ukraine. Anzalone explains the grain deal both sides reached after Turkey hosted negotiations. If honored, the deal is expected to free up 22 million tons of wheat. Next, Anzalone lays out how the battle lines are evolving after Foreign Minister Lavrov announced Russia has expanded its objectives beyond the Donbas region. There's also some good news about deals between Russia and the EU which will ease sanctions and open up the railroads into the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. However, the Biden Administration and Congress have been escalating their military support for Ukraine with promises to send more advanced weapons systems into the conflict.  Discussed on the show: “Russia and Ukraine sign breakthrough grain deal brokered by UN and Turkey” (Middle East Eye) Scott's Debate with Cathy Young about Ukraine Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, assistant editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter. Follow him on Twitter @KyleAnzalone_ This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Free Range Feeder; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt and Listen and Think Audio. Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

The conflict in Ukraine crossed the 100-day mark last week, and with it came growing concerns of a global food crisis. Most of the blame is being directed at Russia, which has been accused of blockading Ukrainian ports. World leaders are pressuring Moscow to allow for the safe passage of grain exports many countries depend on. Since the conflict broke out back in late February, Turkiye has played a key role as a mediator between Kiev and Moscow. That latest effort came, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Ankara to discuss ways to facilitate the safe crossing through the Black Sea. Turkiye offered to escort Ukrainian ships through a secure corridor, a proposal welcomed by both Moscow and Kiev. But Lavrov said Russia wasn't to blame for the grain crisis. Guests: Ivan Starodoubtsev Political Analyst Talha Kose Associate Professor at Ibn Haldun University

Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov's Ignorant Racism Infuriates Israel | The Murdoch Family Are Fully Onboard Tucker Carlson's Racist Propaganda | National Security and Environmental Concerns Over Dependence on Russia Could be a Win-Win backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

https://youtu.be/jVGmzU8tgSI Are you familiar with the current CIA director William Burns? In 2008, he was ambassador to Russia. In January of that year, he meant with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, and then wrote a memo for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice back home entitled “Nyet Means Nyet.” Julian Assange sacrificed his liberty to the darkest dungeons of the Empire to bring us this information. In the memo, Burns wrote: During his annual review of Russia's foreign policy January 22-23, Foreign Minister Lavrov stressed that Russia had to view continued eastward expansion of NATO, particularly to Ukraine and Georgia, as a potential military threat. While Russia might believe statements from the West that NATO was not directed against Russia, when one looked at recent military activities in NATO countries (establishment of U.S. forward operating locations, etc.) they had to be evaluated not by stated intentions but by potential. Lavrov stressed that maintaining Russia's “sphere of influence” in the neighborhood was anachronistic, and acknowledged that the U.S. and Europe had “legitimate interests” in the region. But, he argued, while countries were free to make their own decisions about their security and which political-military structures to join, they needed to keep in mind the impact on their neighbors. ... “Ukraine and Georgia's NATO aspirations not only touch a raw nerve in Russia, they engender serious concerns about the consequences for stability in the region. Not only does Russia perceive encirclement, and efforts to undermine Russia's influence in the region, but it also fears unpredictable and uncontrolled consequences which would seriously affect Russian security interests. Experts tell us that Russia is particularly worried that the strong divisions in Ukraine over NATO membership, with much of the ethnic-Russian community against membership, could lead to a major split, involving violence or at worst, civil war. In that eventuality, Russia would have to decide whether to intervene; a decision Russia does not want to have to face.   Burns further elaborated in his memoir, The Back Channel, that he had noted as far back as 1995 that, “Hostility to early NATO expansion is almost universally felt across the domestic political spectrum here.” In another memo to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2008, he wrote that, “Ukrainian entry into NATO is the brightest of all redlines for the Russian elite (not just Putin)..."   - Scott Horton, The History Behind the Russia-Ukraine War Odysee BitChute Minds Flote Archive Spotify

APAC stocks traded lower across the board following the losses on Wall Street; S&P 500 -1.2%, Nasdaq -2.2%.European equity futures are indicative of a slightly softer open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future -0.4% after the cash market closed lower by 0.8% yesterday.DXY remains firm above 99.50 (fresh YTD highs), JPY lags with USD/JPY above 124 at one stage, EUR/USD hovers around 1.09.ECB's Wunsch said the ECB's inflation target is essentially met and expects the deposit rate to be raised to zero by year end.Looking ahead, highlights include FOMC Minutes, ECB's Lane, Schnabel, Panetta, de Guindos, Fed's Harker.US TRADEUS stocks trundled lower throughout the US session with the tech-heavy Nasdaq hit the hardest amid the surge in yields.SPX -1.19% at 4,528, NDX -2.24% at 14,820, DJIA -0.80% at 34,641, R2K -2.22% at 2,045.Click here for a detailed summary.NOTABLE US HEADLINESEU Commission wants large online platforms to pay an annual supervisory fee of up to 0.1% of their global net income under new tech rules, according to an EU document, according to Reuters.JetBlue (JBLU) reportedly bids USD 3.6bln or USD 33/shr to acquire Spirit Airlines (SAVE), according to NYT.US Democratic Senator Sinema has told donors a path to revival for Build Back Better is unlikely, according to Axios.GEOPOLITICSRUSSIA-UKRAINENEGOTIATIONS/TALKSRussia's Foreign Minister Lavrov said the West is trying to derail talks between Russia and Ukraine by fuelling hysteria over Bucha, according to Ria. He added that agreements with Ukraine should completely rule out NATO's expansion to the east, according to Interfax.DEFENCE/MILITARYThe US will send an additional USD 100mln in Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, according to NBC sources. The amount was confirmed by Secretary of State Blinken.Military sources cited by The Times suggested the UK plans to develop its own hypersonic missile, the plan would be accelerated by the AUKUS pact.Russian Defence Ministry said its forces will "liberate" Mariupol from Ukrainian nationalists, according to Ria.China's Ambassador to the UN said the reports and images of civilian deaths in Bucha are very disturbing, relevant circumstances and specific causes of the events must be verified and established, according to Reuters.ENERGY/ECONOMIC SANCTIONSWhite House said sanctions expected to be announced on Wednesday related to Russia; aim is to make Russia choose between default and drain remaining Dollar reserves, according to Reuters.Russia's Sberbank is among banks being considered for tightened sanctions by US President Biden's administration, according to Reuters.OTHERChina's UN Envoy, in response to US/UK/Aus hypersonic weapons deal, warned against "things which may lead other parts of world into crisis" like Ukraine, via Reuters.EU's Foreign Affairs Chief Borrell said last week's EU-China summit was a "dialogue of the deaf", according to SCMP.CENTRAL BANKSFed's Daly (2024 voter) said the labour market is extremely tight and Fed is on a path to raise interest rates. She does not expect a big slowdown in US economy due to high oil prices. She said the Fed can begin balance sheet reduction as early as May meeting and will use balance sheet reductions as well as rate hikes to reduce policy accommodation. "We'll be able to get inflation moving down by end of year, but no recession", according to Reuters.ECB's Lane said maybe by mid-year we will see the peak on inflation, but it depends on the war. The momentum of inflation will slow down, so thinks that in the second half of the year the inflation rate will come down. "We do think it will be a lot lower next year and the year after." Lane expects to see a slowdown in the economy, but economy will still grow this year, via ECB.ECB's Wunsch said the inflation target is essentially met and expects the deposit rate to be raised to zero by year end. He said the ECB's rate could rise to 1.5-2% in the longer term, but caveat that even within the ECB there has been no discussion about raising interest rates, according to Reuters.APAC TRADEEQUITIESAPAC stocks traded lower across the board following the losses on Wall Street; Mainland China returned from its long-weekend.ASX 200 conformed to the downbeat tone which isn't helped by the RBA's hawkish hold yesterdayNikkei 225 saw most of its construction and machinery-related names with losses.KOSPI was pressured by its large tech exposure.Hang Seng was also weighed on by its tech exposure as yields continued to rise overnight.Shanghai Comp returned for the first time this week following its domestic holiday and saw less pronounced losses, with the Real Estate sector feeling relief from reports that over 60 Chinese cities ease policies on housing purchases to support the market.US equity futures held a downside bias and the NQ narrowly underperformed.European equity futures are indicative of a slightly softer open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future -0.4% after the cash market closed lower by 0.8% yesterday.FXDXY remained over 99.50 as yields continued rising, with the index hitting an overnight high of 99.640.EUR/USD briefly dipped under 1.0900 ahead of the YTD low of 1.0804.GBP/USD traded relatively flat after finding support around 1.3050Antipodeans were lacklustre throughout the session as upside remained capped by the soured APAC mood.JPY continued to weaken due to yield differentials with the US; USD/JPY briefly topped 124.00, whilst some desks noted of Japanese exporter offers around the psychological level.FIXED INCOME10yr UST futures edged lower in a continuation of the US action, whilst the corresponding cash yield rose to an APAC high of exactly 2.62%APAC yields rose in tandem, with the 10yr JGB yield hitting a high of 0.23% vs the BoJ's 0.25% cap.Bund futures conformed to the selling across the debt complex.COMMODITIESCrude clambered off worst levels despite the surprised build in the weekly Private Inventories.US Private Energy Inventory Data (bbls): Crude +1.08mln (exp. -2.1mln), Cushing +1.791mln, Gasoline -0.543mln (exp. +0.1mln), Distillate +0.593mln (exp. -0.8mln).Gas flows via Yamal-Europe pipeline resume eastward, according to Gascade data, according to Reuters.Spot gold remained caged in a tight range overnight.LME 3M copper fell amid the soured risk tone and prices receded further below USD 10.5k/t.CRYPTOCrypto markets experienced sudden selling and thereafter a recovery in which Bitcoin briefly fell under USD 45k.US Treasury Secretary Yellen to deliver speech on digital assets on Thursday, according to Reuters.NOTABLE APAC HEADLINESChina's Shanghai City says it will remain in lockdown until city-wide mass COVID testing (due to start Apr 6) is complete; results will be used to assess whether an extension to the lockdown is needed.China's Shanghai city reports 16,766 new asymptomatic COVID cases for April 4th (vs 13,086 for April 4th).Over 60 Chinese cities ease policies on housing purchases to support market, according to Global Times.PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.3799 vs exp. 6.3793 (prev. 6.3509 on Friday).PBoC injected CNY 10bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 2.10% for a CNY 440bln net drainDATA RECAPChinese Caixin Services PMI (Mar) 42 (Exp. 49.7, Prev. 50.2); Composite 43.9 (Prev. 50.1).

Massacre in Mariupol, Butchery in Bucha?, Chechen Ramzam Kadryov leads force of Islamic  Fighters to Ukraine to help Putin, South Korea's Defense Minister says it might launch a Preemptive Strike against North KoreaRetired US Diplomat to 5 different nations  David Hunter shares his knowledge, passion, interest, and experience.)  Massacre in Mariupol, Butchery in Bucha?:  Russian troops just  pulled out of the  Ukrainian city of Bucha, just outside of Kiev, and Ukrainian troops and international press entered the war-torn landscape. It revealed mass graves and dead civilians laying in the streets, some w/ hands tied behind their backs, suggesting they were executed by the Russians.  Tass News and other Russian sources  including Foreign Minister Lavrov deny it was the work of Russian troops---it is just a Western frame up, etc.     What should happen next?2) Chechen Ramzam Kadryov leads force of Islamic  Fighters to Ukraine to help Putin:  Ramzam, the son of Imam Kadyrov who fought against Russia in 1999 to establish an 'Islamic State of Chechny', has became loyal to Putin after switching sides in the 2ed Chechen War.  He has prospered with Russian money and arms.  Now he is coming at Putin's request to help Russia fight Ukrainian forces.  Why?3) South Korea's Defense Minister says it might launch a Preemptive Strike against North Korea:  And the influential sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jung Un,---  Ms.  Kim Yo Jong, --- has called the SK minister 'scum' for making these comments.  There is concern that NK might take further provocative action,  since its seven missile tests in Jan and test of an ICBM capable of hitting the mainland USA in March.  What do you think will happen?C.J. Cannon's Restaurant Located at the Vero Beach Airport, where the only thing we overlook is the runway!

APAC stocks were cautious following the uninspiring lead from Wall St, where the major indices closed off their worst quarterly performance in two years and as the region digested weak data releases.European equities (Stoxx 600 +0.6%) opened marginally firmer before extending on gains after positive commentary from Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia is preparing a response to Ukraine's proposals, says there has been movement forwardUS futures are modestly firmer with the ES up 0.5% with gains of a similar magnitude across major indices ahead of the March payrolls report.Greenback has regrouped in advance of NFP with the DXY straddling 98.500. Usd/Jpy bounced further from recent lows beyond near term resistance through to circa 122.75.Looking ahead, highlights include US Final Manufacturing PMIs, US Labour Market Report, ISM Manufacturing PMI, China-EU Summit, Speech from Fed's Evans. GEOPOLITICSRUSSIA-UKRAINENEGOTIATIONS/TALKSRussian confirms that virtual discussions will take place with Ukraine later today, according to Tass.Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia is preparing a response to Ukraine's proposals, says there has been movement forward. Lavrov says Russia has seen "much more understanding" of the situation in Crimea and Donbass from the Ukrainian side. Lavrov says peace talks with Ukraine need to continue.UK reportedly urged Ukraine not to back down and is concerned US, France and Germany will push Ukraine to “settle” and make significant concessions to Russia, according to The Times citing a government source.Mayor of Ukraine's Mariupol says Russian forces are not allowing humanitarian aid in; City is dangerous to try and exit.DEFENCE/MILITARYUkrainian President Zelensky said the situation in the south of Ukraine and the Donbas region remains extremely difficult, according to Reuters.Ukraine's envoy to Japan said the situation on the ground is turning better for Ukraine and they will soon be able to protect their skies with advanced military equipment set to be provided by the US and UK, according to Reuters.UK Ministry of Defence said Russia is redeploying forces from Georgia to reinforce its invasion of Ukraine.Governor of Belgorod in Russia near the border with Ukraine confirmed an oil depot fire was caused by a Ukrainian helicopter attack inside of Russia, according to ELINT News. The Kremlin later said the strike does not create comfortable conditions to continue peace talks.Governor of Ukraine's Northern Chernihiv region says Russian troops are withdrawing from the Chernihiv region.ENERGY/ECONOMIC SANCTIONS & UPDATESRussia's Foreign Ministry said Russia will not ask the EU to end sanctions and has a sufficient margin of safety, according to RIA.US State Department called on any US citizens in Russia or Ukraine to leave immediately over concerns of being targeted specifically for arrest, according to Reuters.OTHERJapan froze the assets of 4 additional Russian organisations, 3 Russians and 6 North Koreans for involvement in North Korea's weapons projects, according to Reuters.EUROPEAN TRADEEQUITIESEuropean equities (Stoxx 600 +0.6%) opened marginally firmer before extending on gains after positive commentary from Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. The Stoxx 600 set to close the week out with marginal gains of around 0.6% in what has been a choppy week for indices.Sectors in Europe are higher across the board with Retail, Banks and Autos top of the leaderboard.US futures are modestly firmer with the ES up 0.5% with gains of a similar magnitude across major indices ahead of the March payrolls report.Click here for more detail.FXYen has relented as yields rebound and repatriation demand dries up - Usd/Jpy bounced further from recent lows beyond near term resistance through to circa 122.75.Greenback has regrouped in advance of NFP with the DXY straddling 98.500.Aussie outperforms as risk appetite picks up and 0.7500 continues to prove pivotal.Euro finds a base after marked month end reversal as hot inflation offset lukewarm manufacturing PMIs - Eur/Usd holding around 1.1050 after soaking up stops on a minor and brief half round number break.Yuan weaker after sub-50 Caixin Chinese manufacturing print, softer PBoC Cny midpoint fix and 7-day liquidity drain - Usd/Cnh above 6.3650.Click here for more detail.Notable FX Expiries, NY Cut:EUR/USD: 1.0975 (430M),1.1000-05 (445M), 1.1050 (290M), 1.1085 (318M), 1.1100-10 (1.01BN), 1.1150 (372M), 1.1175 (292M), 1.1200 (265M)USD/JPY: 119.75-00 (787M), 121.50-60 (1.17BN), 121.67-70 (320M)Click here for more detail.FIXED INCOMEBunds are firmly if not comfortably back on the 158.00 handle compared to a low of 157.71 on EurexGilts are peering over 121.00 vs 120.55 and have been up to 121.19 for just a 4 tick loss on the dayThe 10 year note is hovering above 122-00 within 122-21+/121-28+ extremes awaiting NFPClick here for more detail.COMMODITIESWTI (+0.6%) and Brent (+0.8%) kicked the session off on the backfoot following yesterday's SPR announcement by the Biden administration with WTI breaching it's weekly low printed on Tuesday at USD 98.44 with Brent so far unable to take out its weekly low of USD 102.19. Since then, crude benchmarks have attempted to claw back lost ground and sit in minor positive territory.White House Press Secretary Psaki said a gas tax holiday is not off the table, according to Reuters.US House Majority Leader Hoyer said oil companies should either produce on leases and drill wells or pay a fee for unused leases and idled wells, according to EIN News.Russian oil and gas condensate production slipped to 11.01mln BPD in March vs. 11.08mln BPD in February, according to Reuters sourcesGazprom says refilling storage ahead of winter will be a challenge for the EU.Gazprom says it has begun sending requests of gas-for-rouble payment switch to clients today; sats it remains a responsible partner and continues to secure gas suppliesJapan's Industry Minister said it is not clear whether the latest US decision to release oil will be done by the US alone or become part of an IEA-coordinated release, according to Reuters.It's been another uninspiring session for gold thus far with the yellow metal unable to break out of the USD 1900-50/oz range.Copper remains subdued following the cautious mood overnight and with Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI printing a 2-year low, whilst Dalian Iron Ore was able to settle near an 8-month high overnight.Click here for more detail.DATA RECAPEU HICP Flash YY (Mar) 7.5% vs. Exp. 6.6% (Prev. 5.9%)EU HICP-X F&E Flash YY (Mar) 3.2% vs. Exp. 3.3% (Prev. 2.9%)UK S&P GLBL/CIPS Manufacturing PMI FNL (Mar) 55.2 vs. Exp. 55.5 (Prev. 55.5)EU S&P Global Manufacturing Final PMI (Mar) 56.5 vs. Exp. 57.0 (Prev. 57.0)German S&P Global/BME Manufacturing PMI (Mar) 56.9 vs. Exp. 57.6 (Prev. 57.6)French S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (Mar) 54.7 vs. Exp. 54.8 (Prev. 54.8)Italian S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (Mar) 55.8 vs. Exp. 57.0 (Prev. 58.3)Spanish Manufacturing PMI (Mar) 54.2 vs. Exp. 55.5 (Prev. 56.9)CRYPTOBTC is on the backfoot but maintaining USD 45k status for now.APAC TRADEEQUITIESAPAC stocks were cautious following the uninspiring lead from Wall St, where the major indices closed off their worst quarterly performance in two years and as the region digested weak data releases.ASX 200 traded rangebound as pressure from losses in tech, industrials and financials was counterbalanced by resilience in the commodity-related sectors and upgrade to Australian PMI data.Nikkei 225 was subdued after mixed Tankan data in which the headline Large Manufacturing Index topped estimates, but Large Manufacturers and Non-Manufacturers' sentiment worsened for the first time in 7 quarters.Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were mixed with sentiment clouded after the PBoC drained liquidity and Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI slipped into contraction territory, although the mainland recovered amid the partial lifting of the lockdown in Shanghai and as Chinese press continued to advocate monetary easing.NOTABLE APAC HEADLINESPBoC injected CNY 10bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 2.10% for a CNY 90bln net drain.PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.3509 vs exp. 6.3473 (prev. 6.3482).DATA RECAPChinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI Final (Mar) 48.1 vs Exp. 50.0 (Prev. 50.4)Japanese Tankan Large Manufacturing Index (Q1) 14 vs Exp. 12 (Prev. 18)Japanese Tankan Large Manufacturing Outlook (Q1) 9 vs Exp. 10 (Prev. 13)Japanese Tankan Large Non-Manufacturing Index (Q1) 9 vs Exp. 5 (Prev. 9)Japanese Tankan Large Non-Manufacturing Outlook (Q1) 7 vs Exp. 8 (Prev. 8)Japanese Tankan All Big Capex Est (Q1) 2.2% vs Exp. 4.0% (Prev. 9.3%)

European equities (Eurostoxx 50 -0.3%) have faded gains seen at the open on the final trading session of the month. Futures in the US are modestly firmer as the NQ (+0.5%) marginally outpaces the ES (+0.1%)In FX, DXY has regained 98.00 status, EUR/USD eyes 1.11 to the downside and USD/JPY oscillates near the 122 markCrude benchmarks are suffering in the wake of reports suggesting that the Biden administration is considering a 'massive' SPR release.Looking ahead, highlights include US IJC, PCE Price Index, OPEC+ Meeting, Speeches from Fed's Williams.GEOPOLITICSRUSSIA-UKRAINENEGOTIATIONS/TALKSUkrainian negotiator said peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will resume online on April 1st and Ukraine requested the countries' two leaders should meet in the latest round of talks, but Russia argued that additional work on a draft treaty was needed, according to Reuters.Russia announced a ceasefire to evacuate residents of Mariupol in which a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, via the Russian-controlled port of Berdiansk, will begin at 10:00 am local time today.Russian Foreign Ministry says it would not rebuff a meeting between Foreign Minister Lavrov and his Ukraine counterpart but discussions would need to be substantive, according to Ria.DEFENCE/MILITARYUkrainian President Zelensky said they will not make any concessions and will fight for every part of their land and all their people, while a presidential adviser noted that guarantor states include the provision of military and humanitarian assistance within three days of any aggression, according to AJABreaking.UK GCHQ Director Fleming is to say that it looks like Russian President Putin hugely misjudged the situation in Ukraine and that "Demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, sabotaged their kit and refused to carry out orders". Furthermore, the GCHQ chief said some Russian soldiers in Ukraine have been short of weapons and morale is low, while Russia's choice to align with China after invading Ukraine has made Beijing more powerful and Russia could ultimately be squeezed out of the equation by China in the long-term on the global stage, according to Reuters.ENERGY/ECONOMIC SANCTIONS & UPDATESReported by Twitter sources including ET NOW that Russia is offering oil to India at a discount of around USD 35/bbl.Russia's Gazprom is studying options of halting gas supplies to Europe amid issues of payments in roubles, according to the Kommersant newspaper, which cites sources.Australia is to apply a 35% tariff on all imports from Russia and Belarus, according to 10 News First.Russia and Belarus bonds are to be excluded from 11 S&P Dow Jones Indexes.OTHERRussian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia considers the presence of US and NATO military infrastructure in countries bordering Afghanistan as unacceptable, according to Tass.EUROPEAN TRADEEQUITIESEuropean equities (Eurostoxx 50 -0.3%) kicked the final trading session of the month off on the front foot before drifting towards the unchanged mark.Sectors in Europe exhibit a mostly positive tilt with airline names cheering the declines in the energy space as the Energy sector suffers. The biggest laggard in the region is the retail section following a disappointing Q1 update from H&M (-8%).Futures in the US are modestly firmer as the NQ (+0.5%) marginally outpaces the ES (+0.1%) with inflation set to continue to remain in focus today, with the release of US PCE metrics for March; core PCE is seen rising to 5.5% Y/Y.Click here for more detail.FXDollar finds its feet as month, quarter and fiscal year end approach, albeit with a helping hand from others - DXY back on the 98.000 handle, narrowly.Commodity currencies reverse course alongside underlying prices, with crude crushed on reports of US SPR and IEA opening reserve taps - Usd/Cad rebounds through 1.2500 after sliding to new y-t-d low sub-1.2450 only yesterday.Yen choppy amidst residual repatriation flows and more BoJ action to cap JGB yields - Usd/Jpy circa 122.00 within a 122.45-121.35 range.Euro fades into 1.1200 vs Buck again as option expiries and tech resistance impinge, but Aussie may derive traction from expiry interest at 0.7500 - Eur/Usd now eyeing support at 1.1100 after tripping stopsClick here for more detail.Notable FX Expiries, NY Cut:EUR/USD: 1.1000 (3.15BN), 1.1050-60 (634M), 1.1070-80 (1.19BN), 1.1100-05 (1.67BN), 1.1110-15 (658M), 1.1120-25 (880M), 1.1130-35 (453M), 1.1150-60 (896M), 1.1175 (501M), 1.1195-05 (2.6BN), 1.1230 (337M)AUD/USD: 0.7400 (500M), 0.7500 (1.73BN), 0.7550 (579M), 0.7600 (445M)FIXED INCOMEBonds on track to see out extremely bearish month, quarter and end to FY on a firmer noteCurves more even after wild swings between flattening, inversion and steepeningBoJ ramps efforts to maintain YCC via a mostly larger JGB buying remit for Q2Click here for more detail.COMMODITIESWTI and Brent remain firmly on the backfoot in the wake of reports suggesting that the Biden administration is considering a 'massive' SPR release.The news has sent May'22 WTI and Jun'22 Brent to respective lows of USD 100.53/bbl and USD 107.39/bbl to leave them a few dollars above their weekly lows of USD 98.44/bbl and USD 102.19/bbl respectively.US President Biden's administration is considering a 'massive' release of oil to combat inflation and may release up to 1mln bpd for months from the strategic reserve in which the total release could be 180mln bbls, according to Bloomberg.Goldman Sachs says a potentially large SPR release would ease the situation but wouldn't resolve the structural deficit in the oil market. Says adjustments for SPR release, Iran supply delays would lower H2 22 Brent forecast by USD 15, to USD 120/bbl - still above market forwards.US President Biden will deliver remarks today at 13:30EDT/18:30BST regarding the administration's actions to reduce gas prices in the US, according to the White House. It was also reported that the US mulls permitting summertime sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline to ease pump prices, according to Reuters sources.IEA called an emergency ministerial meeting for Friday, according to the Australian Energy Minister's office. It was later reported that IEA countries are to decide on a collective oil release, according to New Zealand's Energy Minister's officeOPEC+ JTC replaced IEA reports with Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy as secondary sources to assess crude oil output and conformity, according to sources cited by Reuters.In the metals space, spot gold is contained well within recent ranges whilst copper remains subdued following disappointing Chinese PMI metrics overnight. Finally, Reuters notes that Dalian iron ore saw its best quarterly performance for five quarters amid Chinese policy support.Click here for more detail.NOTABLE EUROPEAN HEADLINESECB's Lane says it is important to remain data-dependent and for optionality in both directions. Should ensure that policy settings are adjusted if inflation expectations are de-anchored. Should also be fully prepared to appropriately revise monetary policy settings if the energy price shock and the Russia-Ukraine war were to result in a significant deterioration in macroeconomic prospects and thereby weaken the medium-term inflation outlook.DATA RECAPGerman Retail Sales YY Real (Feb) 7.0% vs. Exp. 6.1% (Prev. 10.3%); MM Real (Feb) 0.3% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. 2.0%)German Unemployment Chg SA (Mar) -18k vs. Exp. -20.0k (Prev. -33.0k)French CPI (EU Norm) Prelim YY (Mar) 5.1% vs. Exp. 4.8% (Prev. 4.2%)NOTABLE US HEADLINES:CRYPTOBTC is relatively flat on a USD 47k handle with price action in the crypto space contained.APAC TRADEEQUITIESAPAC stocks traded cautiously at month-end following the weak lead from the US due to increased Russia-Ukraine scepticism and as the region digested disappointing Chinese PMI data.ASX 200 was kept afloat by outperformance in the mining and materials industries although upside was capped as the tech sector suffered from profit-taking and with energy hit by a drop in oil prices.Nikkei 225 traded indecisively amid a choppy currency and after Industrial Production data missed forecasts.Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were subdued following the weak Chinese PMI data and with the mood in stocks not helped by the US SEC chief casting doubt regarding an imminent deal to avert a delisting of Chinese stocks.NOTABLE APAC HEADLINESPBoC injected CNY 150bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 2.10% for a CNY 130bln net injection.PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.3482 vs exp. 6.3467 (prev. 6.3566)US SEC chief cast doubt regarding an imminent deal to avert delisting of Chinese stocks from US exchanges, according to Bloomberg. However, CSRC said it is continuing its discussions with US SEC on the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and that both sides are willing to solve the audit dispute in which the outcome depends on the wisdom of both parties.Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said sharp FX moves are not desirable, while they are closely watching how FX moves and recent JPY weakening could impact Japan's economy with a sense of urgency. Matsuno added the government will take appropriate steps on FX policies in close communication with the US and other currency authorities based on international agreements.BoJ Apr-Jun bond buying schedule: Raises purchases amounts. Full release hereDATA RECAPChinese NBS Manufacturing PMI (Mar) 49.5 vs. Exp. 49.9 (Prev. 50.2)Chinese NBS Non-Mfg PMI (Mar) 48.4 (Prev. 51.6)Chinese Composite PMI (Mar) 48.8 (Prev. 51.2)Japanese Industrial Production MM SA (Feb) 0.1% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. -0.8%)Australian Building Approvals (Feb) 43.5% vs. Exp. 10.0% (Prev. -27.9%, Rev. -27.1%)

APAC stocks traded cautiously at month-end following the weak lead from the US; S&P 500 -0.6%.Ukrainian negotiator said peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will resume online on April 1st.DXY attempted to nurse losses but remains on a 97 handle, JPY lags in the G10 FX space as USD/JPY trims losses.US President Biden's administration is considering a 'massive' release of oil to combat inflation, according to Bloomberg.European equity futures are indicative of a higher open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future up 0.5% after the cash market closed lower by 1.1% yesterday.Looking ahead, highlights include UK GDP, German Retail Sales & Unemployment, US IJC, PCE Price Index, OPEC+ Meeting, Speeches from Fed's Williams, ECB's Lane & de Guindos.US TRADEUS stocks traded negative as doubts grew regarding the progress from Russia-Ukraine talks with Russian forces not showing signs of a withdrawal.S&P500 -0.6% at 4,603, Nasdaq 100 -1.1% at 15,071, Dow Jones -0.2% at 35,228, Russell 2000 -2.0% at 2,091.NOTABLE US HEADLINESFed's George (2022 voter) said the possibility for yield curve inversion should factor into Fed balance sheet chat and that Fed holdings should fall 'significantly', allowing longer-term rates to increase along with increases in short term policy rates. George added inversion has implications for financial stability and she is less concerned about its value as a predictor of a recession, while she also stated that the policy rate could be increased in a "steady, deliberate" manner as the Fed monitors the impact on the economy, inflation and demand, according to Reuters.GEOPOLITICSRUSSIA-UKRAINENEGOTIATIONS/TALKSUkrainian negotiator said peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will resume online on April 1st and Ukraine requested the countries' two leaders should meet in the latest round of talks, but Russia argued that additional work on a draft treaty was needed, according to Reuters.Russia announced a ceasefire to evacuate residents of Mariupol in which a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, via the Russian-controlled port of Berdiansk, will begin at 10:00 am local time today.Ukrainian President Zelenskiy spoke to US President Biden and shared an assessment of the situation on the battlefield and at the negotiating table while they discussed specific defensive support, a new package of enhanced sanctions, macro-financial and humanitarian aid, according to Reuters.Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Kyiv understands Crimea and Donbass issues are definitively resolved, while he noted the outcome of talks with Ukraine in Istanbul is positive progress but not yet a final outcome, according to Interfax.Ukraine spokesperson tweeted that Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov demonstrates a misunderstanding of the negotiation process and that the issues of Crimea and Donbas will be settled for good after Ukraine restores its sovereignty over them.French Foreign Minister Le Drian said that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have not advanced, according to Reuters.DEFENCE/MILITARYUkrainian President Zelensky said they will not make any concessions and will fight for every part of their land and all their people, while a presidential adviser noted that guarantor states include the provision of military and humanitarian assistance within three days of any aggression, according to AJABreaking.US Pentagon said the US expects Russia to refit and resupply troops to redeploy them into Ukraine and suggested it looks like Russian President Putin has not been 'fully' informed by MoD at every turn over the prior month, while it added that some Russian troops are going to Belarus, according to Reuters.US official said "newly declassified intelligence finds Russia President Putin has felt misled by the Russian military, and there is now persistent tension between Putin and the MoD", according to Voice of America.UK GCHQ Director Fleming is to say that it looks like Russian President Putin hugely misjudged the situation in Ukraine and that "Demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, sabotaged their kit and refused to carry out orders". Furthermore, the GCHQ chief said some Russian soldiers in Ukraine have been short of weapons and morale is low, while Russia's choice to align with China after invading Ukraine has made Beijing more powerful and Russia could ultimately be squeezed out of the equation by China in the long-term on the global stage, according to Reuters.Governor of Ukraine's Donetsk region said there is continued shelling of all settlements along the demarcation line and the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol likely failed on Wednesday.ENERGY/ECONOMIC SANCTIONSWhite House said the Biden admin continues to look at options for further Russian sanctions, according to Reuters.US official said India should not 'significantly' increase Russian oil imports against prior years and that India will expose itself to a 'great risk' if it notably raises imports of Russian oil, although the US favours India purchasing Russian oil at discounts and is not against India settling trade with Russia in Rupees, according to Reuters. It was separately reported by Twitter sources including ET NOW that Russia is offering oil to India at a discount of around USD 35/bbl.European Commission is readying new sanctions against the Kremlin over Russia's invasion of Ukraine which could be ready as early as next week and the size of new measures depends on Russia's stance on gas payments in Roubles, according to Reuters citing EU sources.German government spokesperson said following a call between German Chancellor Scholz and Russian President Putin that the G7 agreement remains in which energy supplies from Russia will be paid in Euros or Dollars, as agreed in contracts. President Putin told Scholz payments would continue in Euros and go to Gazprom-bank which is not affected by sanctions where the bank would then convert money into roubles, while Scholz did not agree with this in the phone call and asked for a written explanation.Dutch PM Rutte said a peace deal with loss of Ukrainian territory and sovereignty will not automatically end sanctions.Australia is to apply a 35% tariff on all imports from Russia and Belarus, according to 10 News First.FUND/SOVEREIGN/OTHER NEWSCBR lifted the ban on short-selling on the stock market for March 31st, according to RIA.Russia and Belarus bonds are to be excluded from 11 S&P Dow Jones Indexes.Russian hackers recently tried to penetrate the networks of NATO and eastern European militaries, according to Google's Threat Analysis Group cited by Reuters.OTHERWhite House said Iran-related sanctions announced on Wednesday will delay a nuclear deal and the sanctions will remain in place even if a nuclear deal is reached, according to Reuters.Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said Russia considers the presence of US and NATO military infrastructure in countries bordering Afghanistan as unacceptable, according to Tass.APAC TRADEEQUITIESAPAC stocks traded cautiously at month-end following the weak lead from the US due to increased Russia-Ukraine scepticism and as the region digested disappointing Chinese PMI data.ASX 200 was kept afloat by outperformance in the mining and materials industries although upside was capped as the tech sector suffered from profit-taking and with energy hit by a drop in oil prices.Nikkei 225 traded indecisively amid a choppy currency and after Industrial Production data missed forecasts.Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp. were subdued following the weak Chinese PMI data and with the mood in stocks not helped by the US SEC chief casting doubt regarding an imminent deal to avert a delisting of Chinese stocks.European equity futures are indicative of a higher open with the Euro Stoxx 50 future up 0.5% after the cash market closed lower by 1.1% yesterday.FXDXY attempted to nurse some of the prior day's losses but with upside capped amid slightly softer yields. DXY remains sub-98.00.EUR/USD initially extended on the gains from the hot German CPI data but returned flat on late dollar reprieve.GBP/USD continued to fade yesterday's gains after taking a backseat to recent euro strength.USD/JPY has continued to pick-up from yesterday's 121.31 low and is now back on a 122 handle.Antipodeans were pressured in late trade amid the cautious mood and decline in oil prices.FIXED INCOME10yr USTs were underpinned as yields eased and with lower oil prices helping alleviate some inflationary woes.Bunds remained subdued near the 157.00 level following the recent hot inflation data from Germany.10yr JGBs were rangebound with only mild support following firmer demand at the 2yr auction.COMMODITIESWTI and Brent declined heavily on news of a potential US SPR release totalling 180mln bbls.US President Biden's administration is considering a 'massive' release of oil to combat inflation and may release up to 1mln bpd for months from the strategic reserve in which the total release could be 180mln bbls, according to Bloomberg.US President Biden will deliver remarks today at 13:30EDT/18:30BST regarding the administration's actions to reduce gas prices in the US, according to the White House. It was also reported that the US mulls permitting summertime sales of higher ethanol blends of gasoline to ease pump prices, according to Reuters sources.IEA called an emergency ministerial meeting for Friday, according to the Australian Energy Minister's office. It was later reported that IEA countries are to decide on a collective oil release, according to New Zealand's Energy Minister's officeOPEC+ JTC replaced IEA reports with Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy as secondary sources to assess crude oil output and conformity, according to sources cited by Reuters.Spot gold saw mild losses as the greenback found some relief from recent selling pressure.Copper prices were weaker amid the cautious risk sentiment and disappointing Chinese PMI data.CRYPTOBitcoin was indecisive with prices relatively unchanged heading into the European morning.NOTABLE APAC HEADLINESPBoC injected CNY 150bln via 7-day reverse repos with the rate at 2.10% for a CNY 130bln net injection.PBoC set USD/CNY mid-point at 6.3482 vs exp. 6.3467 (prev. 6.3566)US SEC chief cast doubt regarding an imminent deal to avert delisting of Chinese stocks from US exchanges, according to Bloomberg. However, CSRC said it is continuing its discussions with US SEC on the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and that both sides are willing to solve the audit dispute in which the outcome depends on the wisdom of both parties.Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno said sharp FX moves are not desirable, while they are closely watching how FX moves and recent JPY weakening could impact Japan's economy with a sense of urgency. Matsuno added the government will take appropriate steps on FX policies in close communication with the US and other currency authorities based on international agreements.DATA RECAPChinese NBS Manufacturing PMI (Mar) 49.5 vs. Exp. 49.9 (Prev. 50.2)Chinese NBS Non-Mfg PMI (Mar) 48.4 (Prev. 51.6)Chinese Composite PMI (Mar) 48.8 (Prev. 51.2)Japanese Industrial Production MM SA (Feb) 0.1% vs. Exp. 0.5% (Prev. -0.8%)Australian Building Approvals (Feb) 43.5% vs. Exp. 10.0% (Prev. -27.9%, Rev. -27.1%)EUROPEDATA RECAPUK Lloyds Business Barometer (Mar) 33 (Prev. 44)

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov held a breakfast meeting with the “Moscow-accredited” Ambassadors from the BRICS countries. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry website, Foreign Minister Lavrov maintained that “the unprecedented economic war unleashed against Russia through sanctions is a crude violation of key international legal standards”.

Biden is traveling to Europe for NATO Special Meeting, Beautiful Russian journalist   Marina Ovsyannikova Protests, Russia Announced this Week it Used Hypersonic Missiles in Combat, Biden Administration is Warning US of Russian Cyber-attack, President Biden openly called Putin a "War Criminal" Retired US Diplomat to 5 different nations  David Hunter shares his knowledge, passion, interest, and experience.1)  President Biden is traveling to Europe for NATO Special Meeting: NATO called an emergency meeting this week of it's members top leaders to discuss member responses to Russia's attack on Ukraine.  Biden will also attend a G-7 meeting, and afterwards go to Poland on March 25th for meeting with Pres. Duda.  He is not planning to cross into Ukraine's territory.  What is going on? 2)  Beautiful Russian journalist   Marina Ovsyannikova Protests:   Ms. Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One TV in Russia,   held up a sign during broadcast of top news  program, saying Stop the War and Don't Believe Putin's Propaganda.  This was one of the most open protests against what Russia is calling a  'special military operation' not a war.  Putin is repressing his citizens from knowing the truth, and arresting protesters against  the war, calling them scum and traitors.  Will Russians continue to oppose Putin?  How can we help them? 3) Russia Announced this Week it Used Hypersonic Missiles in Combat: They said they used a Khinzal hypersonic missile in attacking Ukraine military targets.  Was this because Ukraine has been so successful in shooting down Russia's traditional speed missiles?  Why else would they use it?  4)  Biden Administration is Warning US of Russian Cyber-attack:  The White House warned on March 21, 2022 that US companies should batten down their cybersecurity systems in anticipation of a forthcoming cyber-attack by Russia against US 'infrastructure'.  What might that be,...  and how would the US retaliate?5)  President Biden openly called Putin a "War Criminal":  Last week in response to an question Biden said Putin was a war criminal.  Secretary of State Blinken agreed with that, saying anyone who bombs innocent civilians, women and children is committing war crimes.  Putin's  Foreign Minister Lavrov called in US Ambassador to Russia Sullivan and declared Biden's remarks were 'unstatesman like'.  Who is right? Your JUNK MONKEYS are just a click away! Don't let your junk drive you bananas!

Rose Gottemoeller, the Steven C. Házy lecturer at the Center for International Security and Cooperation in Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and research fellow at the Hoover Institution, leads a conversation on international security and cooperation. FASKIANOS: Welcome to today's session of the Winter/Spring 2022 CFR Academic Webinar Series. I'm Irina Faskianos, vice president of the National Program and Outreach at CFR. Today's discussion is on the record, and the video and transcript will be available on our website at CFR.org/academic. As always, CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. We are delighted and honored to have Rose Gottemoeller with us today to talk about international security and cooperation. Rose Gottemoeller is the Steve C. Házy lecturer at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and its Center for International Security and Cooperation. She is also a fellow at the Hoover Institution. From 2016 to 2019, she served as the deputy secretary-general (DSG) of NATO, where she advanced NATO's adaptation to the new security challenges in Europe and the fight against terrorism. And before that, she served as the undersecretary for arms control and international security at the State Department. In 2009 and 2010, she was the assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification, and compliance, during which time she served as chief U.S. negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Russian Federation. So, Rose Gottemoeller, thank you very much for being with us. I can't think of anybody better to have this conversation with us than you. When we planned this webinar, we knew it was the sixtieth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but what we did not know was Russia would invade Ukraine and that there would be a war going on. So perhaps you can put this in context, talk about the lessons learned from the Cuban Missile Crisis, and where we are now, given what's going on in Ukraine. GOTTEMOELLER: Thank you so much, Irina. And it's wonderful to be with you, and with everyone who was able to join us today from across the country. I know there are many impressive institutions who are dialing in, and I really appreciate the chance to have a conversation with you and look forward to talking with the students and hearing what your questions are as well. Let me indeed begin talking today about the Cuban Missile Crisis, which happened sixty years ago this coming October. It was a time—I was a fourth grader at the time. And I remember, I was going to a Catholic school in Dearborn, Michigan. And the nuns said to us: You really must get home quickly tonight, children, there might be a nuclear war. You need to be with your parents. None of us knew exactly what was going on, but we knew that nuclear war was a really bad thing. We'd been through many drills, hiding under our desks or out in the hallway with our head between our knees. I have to tell you, even as a third grader, during one of those drills I thought to myself: If we get hit by a nuclear weapon, putting my head between my knees is not going to help one bit. So even as a third grader, I knew that nuclear weapons were weapons of mass destruction. So, we did manage to solve that crisis, with a secret deal, as it turned out. President Kennedy agreed quietly to withdraw intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Turkey. Never made public, until much later. And Khrushchev agreed to withdraw what were equivalent missiles from Cuba. And we got back to the negotiating table. In fact, the Cuban Missile Crisis dealt not only the United States and the Soviet Union, but other countries around the world, what I call a short, sharp shock. We recognized how devastating would be the effect of nuclear war, and we decided we really did need to talk together about how we were going to control and limit those risks. So, it led to a blossoming of negotiations on all kinds of limitations and controls. First, the Limited Test Ban Treaty. It was a test ban on nuclear testing in the atmosphere that was very quickly agreed after the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy gave an important speech at American University in June of 1963, when he said we really must control this most dangerous of weapons. And he proposed at that time a test ban treaty limiting testing in the atmosphere. And that was agreed rather quickly. It's amazing to me, as an arms control negotiator, that that treaty was then agreed by August of that very year. So record time. The U.K. also joined in those negotiations. But one thing that's very interesting, the Limited Test Ban was the first, I would say also, environmental arms control treaty. It was inspired by the fact that countries around the world and publics around the world were recognizing that testing in the atmosphere was producing a lot of strontium-90 and other radioactive pollutants that were getting into the food supply. Again, I remember from that period my own mother saying, “We've got to be worried about the milk we're drinking because it's got strontium-90 in it from testing in the atmosphere.” So even then, there were some environmental pushes that led to, I think, in part the quick negotiation of the Limited Test Ban Treaty. After that, we went to the step of controlling tests also under the sea and underground, starting with the Threshold Test Ban Treaty, that did not enter into force until the early 1990s. It was a long negotiation, but it was negotiated through that period of the 1960s into the 1970s. We also negotiated what has been the foundational document of the nonproliferation regime: the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). That was negotiated through the late 1960s and entered into force in 1972. It did basically designate five nuclear weapon states. These days they are U.S., U.K., France, China, and Russia. But at that time, those nuclear weapon states were the only states that would be permitted to possess nuclear weapons. All other states around the world would give up their right to nuclear weapons. But there was a grand bargain there. The nuclear weapon states agreed to proceed with total nuclear disarmament, under Article 6 of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and in return for which the non-nuclear weapon states under the NPT would, again, not build their own weapons. They would prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. And everyone would work to promote peaceful uses of the atom, whether in nuclear energy, or agriculture, manufacturing, mining industry, et cetera, promoting—or medical uses as well—promoting peaceful uses of the atom. So those are what are called the three pillars of the NPT: disarmament, nonproliferation, and peaceful uses. So that was agreed in 1972. And working in that multilateral way was important, but there was also an impetus given in this commitment to disarmament for the United States and the Soviet Union to get together and to begin to negotiate bilaterally the two together on limiting their nuclear weapons. We built up a tremendous nuclear arsenal during the Cold War years. At the time that we were beginning to talk to the Soviets about limiting nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon delivery systems, missiles and bombers, submarines—at that time, in the late 1960s, we had about 32,000 nuclear warheads, if you can imagine that. And the Soviets built up their stockpile to be about 40,000 nuclear warheads. So there were tremendous numbers of nuclear weapons being held in storage, but there were also tremendous numbers that were deployed. So we worked steadily from that period, the 1970s into the 1980s, to try to limit nuclear weapons. Didn't work so well. There are various reasons why. Most specifically, I think, we were just driving harder and harder with more effective missiles to deploy more warheads on those missiles. And so, by the time we got into the 1980s, we had about 12,000 warheads deployed on missiles and deployed or designated for deployment on bombers. The Soviets the same, about 12,000. Now, remember those numbers I gave you, 32,000 total, 40,000 total in the USSR. We held a lot of weapons in storage, not on top of missiles, not on top of delivery vehicles, as we called them. They were just held in storage. But we also then had 12,000 deployed on missiles and pointed at each other in a very high-readiness state. So we had got through the 1970s and 1980s not blowing each other up, but we also didn't have much success limiting those systems because there was this technological jump ahead, being able to put more warheads on individual missile systems. So, that's when Reagan and Gorbachev entered the scene. In the mid-1980s they got together. Reagan had not been very easy on the USSR when he came into office. He declared the USSR the “evil empire.” And he drove hard military modernization that included some nuclear modernization as well. The sclerotic Soviet leadership at that time, they were dying off one by one. First it was Brezhnev, then it was Andropov, then there was a third fellow. They all went very, very quickly. And Gorbachev took over in the mid-1980s. And he and Reagan actually then got together and began to talk about how they might reduce—not try to limit, because limit wasn't good enough. The technology was always pushing ahead. But how could we actually begin to reduce nuclear weapons and their delivery systems, and the missiles we put them on? So that was the negotiations that began in the 1980s for the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and also the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which finally entered into force in 1994. And that treaty, once again, took the number of deployed warheads on both sides down from 12,000 deployed warheads on each side to 6,000 deployed warheads on each side. If you think about one of these warheads, a single warhead is enough to destroy a city. It's nothing like what we're seeing in Ukraine today. Sadly, such horrible destruction and the really barbaric attacks on civilian targets like this maternity hospital yesterday. I'm just heartbroken about this, as I'm sure many of you are. But that was a big bomb that was really directed at a single facility and was very destructive. But if you can imagine a nuclear weapon, that could really pulverize—pulverize—the center of a city. And that's what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, when the United States was the only country to use nuclear weapons in wartime. And that is what has led to this nuclear taboo that has been pretty clear, because it was recognized these are weapons of mass destruction. They completely pulverize, and many, many lives lost. And those who are left living, as it was said at the time of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would envy the dead because of the severity of their injuries. So, people were recognizing that we had too many deployed warheads. We had 12,000 pointed at each other on a high state of alert. So getting them down to 6,000 on each side was important. That was the goal of the START treaty. Then in the early 2000s, in 2002, President Bush and President—believe it or not—Putin at that time decided in the Moscow Treaty on a further reduction. That took us down to 2,200 deployed warheads on both sides. And then the treaty that I worked on negotiating, the New START treaty in 2009 and 2010, took us down to 1,550 deployed warheads on both the U.S. and Russian sides. So 12,000 down to 1,550. That's a pretty good disarmament record. And it all sprang from that short, sharp shock of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Now, sixty years later, it's a tragedy, but we seem to be facing another crisis on par with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Vladimir Putin has been rattling the nuclear saber. We are very concerned, not necessarily about a big nuclear exchange between the United States and the Russian Federation, but about some smaller strike, perhaps use of a nuclear weapon on Ukrainian territory, perhaps a so-called demonstration strike, where Russia would launch a nuclear explosion over the Black Sea, for example, just to prove that they're willing to do it. And so, at the moment, we are facing these nuclear threats out of the Kremlin with a lot of concern, but also very serious attitude about how we sustain and maintain nuclear deterrence at this moment of supreme crisis in Ukraine, and ensure that we continue to deter Russia from taking these disastrous actions with weapons of mass destruction. But also think about ways—how can we go forward from here to preserve what we have achieved in these sixty years since the Cuban Missile Crisis. This great foundation of big nuclear international regimes that we have been able to put in place—such as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, that means the only country that has tested nuclear weapons in this century is North Korea. There is a taboo against nuclear testing that is strongly held, the taboo against nuclear use has held since Hiroshima and Nagasaki over seventy-five years ago. And now, we are looking at ensuring that we sustain and maintain the Nonproliferation Treaty regime so that we do not see a lot of new nuclear weapon states emerging across the globe. Just one thing I forgot to mention—President Kennedy spoke quite a bit about these things. I think the Cuban Missile Crisis really for him personally was a big shock, and really provoked his thinking quite a bit—but he said, “We need this Nonproliferation Treaty because otherwise we're going to end up with twenty, twenty-five nuclear weapon states around the world. And that will be hugely destabilizing.” So the Nonproliferation Treaty regime, although we pay attention to the rogue states, the DPRKs [Democratic People's Republic of Koreas], the Irans, of course. It looks like we may be now returning to the Iran nuclear deal. I certainly hope so. We also need Iranian oil at this moment, which is another matter. But we have a couple of nuclear rogues out there. But, in general, we have prevented the proliferation of nuclear weapons, thanks to the Nonproliferation Treaty regime. We need to do everything we can at this moment to preserve and protect these important big regimes. And that goes not only for nuclear, but also the so-called other weapons of mass destruction. The Chemical Weapons Convention bans the use of chemicals in wartime. Not only chemical weapons, that is chemical designed to be used as weapons, but also what we've been seeing in Syria, the use of chlorine gas in wartime. That is forbidden by the Chemical Weapons Convention as well. So we need these big regimes to continue—the Biological Weapons Convention, the same. So I really wanted to stress this point as we get to our discussion period, because it's going to take a lot of attention and effort if Russia is now turning its back on playing a responsible role in the international community. If Russia is turning into a very big pariah state, as I argued yesterday in a piece in Foreign Affairs, we need to figure out what we are going to do, losing Russia as a partner. Because Russia has actually been a great player in negotiating all these treaties and agreements. But if Russia is turning its back on a responsible role in the international community, then the United States has to look for other partners. I would argue that we should be really approaching Beijing. They are, after all, a nuclear weapon state under the Nonproliferation Treaty. And historically they have been a rather responsible nuclear weapon state under the Nonproliferation Treaty, joining in efforts to advance the goals of nuclear disarmament. So it's hard, because at the moment, as you know, Beijing and Washington have been at great odds over any number of issues—Taiwan, trade and investment, human rights with the Uyghurs. So many issues we've been at odds over. But I think the moment has come where we need to think about how we are going to preserve these weapons of mass destruction regimes, the nuclear regimes, the testing—the ban against nuclear testing. How are we going to preserve it in the face of Russia as a pariah state? And that means, I think, we must partner with China. So those are my remarks to begin with. I see we have a few questions already. And I'm really looking forward to our discussion. Irina, back over to you. FASKIANOS: Rose, thank you very much. So let's start with a raised hand from Babak Salimitari. And please state your institution and unmute yourself. Q: Good morning. My name is Babak Salimitari. I'm a third-year economics major at University of California, Irvine. And my question really pertains with NATO as a force for international security. I was looking at the list of countries that were not paying the 2 percent of their necessary GDP for defense. And these are some rich countries, like Norway, and the Netherlands, and Germany. These aren't poor, third-world countries. I don't understand why they don't pay their fair share. So when you were in NATO, what did you tell these people? GOTTEMOELLER: That's a very good question, Babak. And, honestly, it's been great for me to watch now with this otherwise terrible crisis in Ukraine—it's been great for me to watch that countries who were very resistant of paying their 2 percent of GDP are now stepping forward and saying they are ready to do so. And Germany is the prime example. President Trump was very insistent on this matter, and very much threatening dire action by the United States, including that the United States would fail to honor its so-called Article 5 commitments to NATO, which that is—under the founding document of NATO, the so-called Washington Treaty of 1949, Article 5 states that if a single country in the NATO alliance is attacked, then all countries must—and it asks for help, there's that important point too—if it asks for help then other NATO countries are obliged to come to its assistance in defending it. So President Trump was threatening that the United States would not fulfill its Article 5 commitments. He was very tough on this matter. I was the deputy secretary-general at NATO during the years of the Trump presidency. My boss and I, Jens Stoltenberg and I, always welcomed President Trump's pressure on these matters, because every single U.S. president, again, since Jack Kennedy—I'll go back to him. There's a great—now in the public domain—a great report of a National Security Council meeting where John Kennedy says, “I am tired of these NATO European freeloaders. We spend all the money on defense; they take our defenses and don't build up their own. And they're freeloading, they're freeriding on us.” So every single U.S. president has raised this issue with the allies. But it was Donald Trump who got them to really sit up and take notice in the first instance. So President—I'm sorry—Secretary-General Stoltenberg and I always supported his efforts, although we were not supportive of his drawing any question about U.S. obligations with regard to Article 5. But we supported his efforts to push the allies on paying 2 percent of GDP. A number of them did step up during the Trump years, and so more were paying 2 percent of GDP now with this crisis. Unfortunately, again, it's taken a dire crisis in Ukraine. But we see even Germany stepping up. Just one final word on Germany. At the time, when I was DSG, they kept saying, well 2 percent of our GDP, we are the most enormous economy in Europe. And if we spend 2 percent of GDP, then other countries are going to start worrying about casting back to the past and remembering Nazi Germany, and thinking about the big military buildup in the 1930s. So we don't want that to happen. So that was very deeply ingrained in the political elites in Berlin. But now, we're seeing that 180-degree switch just in the last ten days. I think it's remarkable. But I welcome it, for one, that they are now willing to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense. FASKIANOS: Great. I'm going to take the next question, a written question, from Caleb Kahila, undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. One issue that I don't hear much about is the actions of individuals involved in nuclear weapons. An example is Abdul Qadeer Khan, who leads the Pakistani nuclear program but is also believed to have given nuclear information to Iran, North Korea, among others. With examples like Khan, should the international community take the issue of individual nuclear proliferation more seriously? GOTTEMOELLER: That is a great question. And indeed, certain individuals have had a profoundly malignant effect on nuclear nonproliferation. It is worthwhile to note that the Nonproliferation Treaty—the membership is very wide, but there are a few outliers. And India and Pakistan are both outliers. And I think for some weird reason, Khan felt justified in being an outlier to share nuclear weapons information with a number of countries, including also Libya, as I understand. So there was this notion I think that he had, almost an ideological notion—he's dead now—but an ideological notion of producing an Islamic bomb to counter both the Indians, their mortal enemies, but also to ensure that the rest of the world did not mess with Pakistan, and also did not mess with the rest of the Muslim world, the Islamic world. So it was, I think, very clear that this one malignant individual had an enormous deleterious effect on the nonproliferation regime. We have been able to, I think, place constraints and dial back in many ways from some of his export activities, including when the Libyans were willing to give up their weapons of mass destruction programs. But you're absolutely right that it necessary to pay attention to individuals—powerful individuals, they have to be—who have that kind of access. And luckily, they are fairly rare. But we have to pay attention to the individuals who could make a very big problem for the nonproliferation regime. I do worry nowadays about the North Koreans, about the DPRK. The trouble is, they are themselves bent on acquiring nuclear bombs. And if they give away their fissile material, for example. One of the big barriers to getting a bomb is you need a significant amount of either highly enriched uranium or plutonium. And it's rather difficult to acquire. So if the DPRK were going to get into this business of giving away their expertise, the next question would be, well, how about some fissile material to back that up? And I dare say, they'd rather keep all their fissile material for themselves. But that's a very good question, Caleb. Thank you for that. FASKIANOS: I'm going to go next Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome at Brooklyn College. Q: Thank you very much. Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome. And I teach political science at Brooklyn College. And I have two issues that are kind of bothering me. One is, what are the chances that Russia will turn its back on the NPT in totality, and on other weapons regimes in this war? And then, besides an alliance with China, what are the other options for the U.S.? The second thing is, would Russia have been so bold to invade Ukraine if Ukraine hadn't destroyed its weapons—it's nuclear weapons and joined the NPT? I remember a Mearsheimer article in Foreign Affairs, I think, where he was giving a very unpopular view at that time that nuclear—destroying nuclear weapons in the Ukraine was a bad idea, because there was a need to kind of have a defense against Russia's potential invasion of the Ukraine. This was in the 1990s. And now it seems like he was right. So I'm just wondering what you think of these two issues. GOTTEMOELLER: Very good questions, Dr. Okome. And very difficult ones. But let me start on your first question. I argued yesterday in my Foreign Affairs article that I don't think it's so much that Russia would actually leave the regimes. I don't believe that they would turn their backs on the regimes by leaving them. What I believe, though, is that they will just prove to be not the good partner they have been historically. Historically they have really been, as I put it in the article, a giant of the nonproliferation regime, always looking for solutions for problems. Helping to drive forward top priorities, not only in the Nonproliferation Treaty but in what I call the wider regime, which includes these other treaties and agreements, including our bilateral treaties, the New START treaty is currently still in force, thank God. So I do worry that now they would instead turn to a more negative role, perhaps a wrecker role, in trying to stymie decision making in the regime implementation bodies, and trying to be mischievous in the way they interact with the rest of the regime members. And for that reason, I think we will need to have strong leadership. And the United States will need allies. And so that is why I have been emphasizing looking to China as a possible ally in what will be a very difficult, very difficult time going forward. But I do feel very sure that we must have as a top objective, a top priority preserving these regimes and agreements. Your second question, let me say a few words about the so-called Budapest Memorandum. I was involved in negotiating it. I worked for President Clinton in the 1990s. I was convinced at the time, I remain convinced, that what the Budapest Memorandum bought Ukraine was thirty years of peace and stability to build itself up as an independent and sovereign nation. We, in the Clinton administration, argued to Ukraine at the time that if they tried to hang on to the nuclear weapons that were left on their territory after the breakup of the Soviet Union, that they would end up in an immediate conflict with Russia that would be destabilizing and would not allow their fragile, young democracy to take root. And I still believe that very strongly. For those of you who don't remember those years, when the Soviet Union broke apart, over a thousand warheads were left on Ukrainian territory, over a thousand warheads were left on Kazakh territory, Kazakhstan, and approximately a hundred warheads were left in Belarus. So there—and there were strategic delivery vehicles. There were intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) deployed in all three countries, and there were bombers deployed in Ukraine. So there were weapon systems that needed to be destroyed and eliminated. And in this case, we got the Ukrainians to agree to join the Nonproliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon state. Their warheads were returned to Russia for down-blending to low-enriched uranium, which was then used in—(laughs)—it's ironic—but it was used for power plant fuel for the nuclear power plants in Ukraine. I do want to stress that at that time there was a very cooperative negotiation going on. And our assumption working—it was with the Russians and the Ukrainians and the Americans together. We were all working on this problem together in good faith. And it was a very, very positive effort overall. I still believe that Ukraine would have been caught immediately in the maelstrom of conflict with Russia if they had tried somehow to hang onto those weapons. And technically, it would not have been easy, because the command and control of all those missiles was in Moscow. It was not in Ukraine. They would have had to try to guillotine themselves from the command-and-control system in Moscow and build up a command-and-control system in Ukraine for these nuclear weapon systems. And it was our judgment, it remains my judgment, that it would have been very destructive for the young Ukrainian state, the young Ukrainian democracy to try to hang on to them. And I do think that they have taken shape as an independent power, not entirely healthy economically but, before this terrible crisis, their economy was growing. And so I do think that what we are seeing today, with the brave—very brave defense of Ukraine by the Ukrainian public, and its armed forces, and first and foremost its president—that was all born out of the thirty years that the Ukrainians got to build up their country as an independent and sovereign state. And, again, they would not have had that if they had insisted in the 1990s on holding onto nuclear weapons. FASKIANOS: Great. I'm going to take a written question from Michael Strmiska, who is associate professor of world history at Orange County Community College in New York State. I'm going to shorten it. In essence, the Biden administration has said they will not impose a no-fly zone, as have other nations. And then we recently saw the Polish fighter jets via the U.S. to Ukraine. They have declined on that. So at what point do you think—there's been a lot of talk that either one of those will trigger a nuclear war. And in his question he says: Putin says “nuke” and we run and hide. If the death toll in Ukraine approaches the levels of the Holocaust, do you think the calculus will change? And do you think that this—that would trigger nuclear war? GOTTEMOELLER: Well, it's a complex question, Dr. Strmiska. Let me—let me try to give you my point of view on it. I'll just say, first of all, that I don't think we're running and hiding at all. We have sustained—and when I say “we” I'm still talking as if I'm NATO DSG. (Laughs.) But what I mean is the United States and its NATO allies have been providing a steady stream of military assistance to Ukraine, and a steady stream of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and also to the countries bordering Ukraine—Moldova, Hungary, Poland—that are—that are sheltering refugees from Ukraine. So we are really, I think, continuing to support them in, so far, pretty amazing ways. I have been talking to some military experts this morning, retired military officers here in the United States. And they think Putin and the Russians may be running out of ammo. We'll see to it that the Ukrainians do not run out of ammo. And so we are doing a lot to help them. And in terms of the deterrence messaging that's gone on, I've actually been rather admiring of the way that the administration has been clear about, and firm, about the dangers of rattling the nuclear saber, but also has been very clear that we are not taking steps ourselves to up the readiness of our nuclear forces, nor will we do so. They, the White House and the Department of Defense (DOD), basically postponed an ICBM test this week to ensure that there was no hint of a message that we, ourselves, are escalating. But we've been very firm and clear that nuclear use of any kind would be crossing, for us, a redline that is significant. So now let me get to your question about the no-fly zone, because I think this is—this is a complex question. It's turned into this kind of cause célèbre in the media, the press. You're watching the twenty-four-hour news cycle. All of us are, like, glued to our televisions right now, it's so horrible what is unfolding before us in Ukraine. So everybody's saying, no-fly zone, no-fly zone, no-fly zone. But when you look at it, the Russians aren't actually flying aircraft very much in Ukraine. These missiles are being delivered from Russian territory, from Belarusian territory, from ships in the Black Sea, and some now from Ukrainian territory in Donetsk and Luhansk in the eastern part of the country. But the vast majority—yesterday, the count was over 670 missiles. The vast majority of them have come from Russia. The Ukrainians don't need a no-fly zone right now. They need missile defenses. And so some of the actions that have been taken, for example, by the—by the U.K. government, for example, to get into their hands some handheld capability—now, these are not going to go after those big missiles, like the terrible explosion at the maternity hospital yesterday. That was caused by a very big missile. But some—they can be useful to defend their skies against some smaller—some smaller projectiles. And I think that's going to be important, those kinds of steps. I wish there were a way to get the Ukrainians the Israeli Iron Dome system. That's the best missile defense system around for short- to medium-range missiles. But I have my doubts that—(laughs)—the Israelis are going to want to get involved in this thing. But that's the point. This is not an air superiority problem at the moment. It is a problem of missile attacks. And so we need to do, I think, what we can to, again, get some help to the—to the Ukrainians. But we've got to be clear in our own mind what kind of help they really need. We'll see. This could change. And the Russians are upping their activity, so it may turn into more of an air battle than it has been up to this point. But I think it's really good to think harder about what the actual threat to Ukraine is today, rather than just being so fixated on a no-fly zone. FASKIANOS: Thank you. That's an important clarification. Let's go now to Kazi Sazid, who has raised his hand. Q: Hello. So I'm a political science student at CUNY Hunter College, just right next to CFR, actually. So my question is, we've seen in the past in how geopolitics and geopolitical biases obscures if not manipulates the reality of certain threats to international security and cooperation. One example is Nixon destabilizing the Allende government because there's a fear that socialism triumphed the narrative that socialism can only happen through dictatorships basically falls flat. So my question is, what avenues and mechanisms are available to ensure that security situations are not sensationalized to the point where people believe it is a bigger threat than it truly is? Sorry if that's a loaded question. GOTTEMOELLER: Well, it's a good question because it points to the information/misinformation space. And I think we've all been thinking about that a lot right now. And the United States and its NATO allies I think in the run up to the invasion actually were doing a pretty good job controlling the information space by, for example, undoing these false-flag operations that the Russians were trying to launch in the run-up to the invasion. They were actually apparently on the cusp of trying to replace the Zelenskyy government with their own puppet government. All of this was outed by some very astute use of intelligence by, again, the U.S. and the U.K., and getting it out into the information space. So in the run-up to the invasion, we were actually winning the misinformation war. Nowadays, I'm a little concerned about a couple of things. First, I'm concerned—well, there's so much to talk about here, but let me—let me just give it a shot, Kazi. We have to be concerned about the fact that Vladimir Putin is closed up in his bubble with his small cohort and is not getting sources of information that may cause him to think twice about what he's doing. And that is of concern when you're trying to deter the man, when you're trying to ensure that he knows that there will be a firm response. I don't think he had any idea—and maybe even today doesn't have any idea—at the strong pushback and the very capable pushback he's getting from the Ukrainian armed forces. They are defending their country well. And the Ukrainian public is joining in on that effort. Putin, in his bubble, just did not realize that. And now I'm not sure he's getting the information that would really help him to understand the situation that his armed forces are in right now. If, as my military experts conveyed this morning, they're beginning to run low on missiles, they're beginning to run low on ammunition, it's going to be a problem. They're going to start doing worse, rather than being able to pick up the pace, as we were talking about a moment ago, and as many people expect. So that's number one problem, is how is that deterrence messaging thing working with the Kremlin right now? The second thing I'd point to, though, is how do we reach the Russian people? Everybody takes note of the fact that all the—the internet backbone is closing down now in Ukraine. Harder and harder for Russians who are interested to get independent news that is not the product of state TV and state radio, state propaganda outlets. So how to get that message across is one that is really, really important. But I note at the same time, there was a poll that came out yesterday that was so interesting to me. It said, 58 percent of Russians support the war. And they say, well, that's pretty good. 58 percent of Russians support the war? But then when you think about it, there were a lot of “I don't knows” in that—in that poll as well. And when people don't want to say publicly what they really think they may say “I don't know,” or “I don't have an opinion on this matter.” Fifty-eight percent, when you juxtapose it against the support for the invasion of Crimea in 2014, is extraordinarily low. There was over 90 percent support for the invasion of Crimea in 2014. And now we're looking at 58 percent against the war—no, I'm sorry—it's 58 percent support the war. Sorry about that. And then a bunch of “I don't knows” in there, or “I don't want to comment” in there. So I think that there is an issue here about trying to talk directly to the Russian people. And the president has discussed that already in public. And I think we need to do better about figuring out how to reach the Russian people, especially now that social media's being shut down, other, I would say, more open forms of internet communications are being—are being shut down. We need to figure out how to message the Russian people as well. And finally, I'm not sure I'm actually answering your question, but I think—I think it's time that we start pivoting. We, the United States and NATO, to a more positive overall message of global leadership. That this is about our values and this is about what we want the world to be like in the years going forward. Let's talk about what we would need to support an independent Ukraine, no matter what. And let's talk about how we see the necessity of democratic principles and the rule of law being reenergized, restrengthened by this terrible crisis. I think we need to get a message out there about how we have a positive agenda, and we will push to pursue it, come what may. FASKIANOS: Thank you. Our next question is from Susie Risk, a first-year economics student at West Virginia University. Do you believe economic sanctions from the West on Russia is a viable way to slow Russia's advance on Ukraine? From my understanding they are mostly affecting civilians in the country, not those attacking Ukraine. And what are the other ways states like the U.S. could affect Russia in a nonviolent way? GOTTEMOELLER: I actually think the coherence of these sanctions across the board have turned them into a powerful instrument to both convey to the Kremlin, to the Russian government, and to the Russian people that they are on the wrong course. The coherence of them—there aren't any workarounds left. And in fact, even in the case of the Europeans, for example, saying that they can only cut back partially on their purchases of Russian oil because they cannot—they can't do without Russian oil and gas at the moment, but they say they're going to cut by 65 percent by the end of the year. OK, that's great, but what I'm hearing is, again, this status of the Russian Federation now as being the invader, being the country that has taken these wrong steps and is so deserving of these coherent sanctions across the board, that it is leading—like, the insurance industry—to think twice about insuring tankers that are picking up Russian oil. And so it's leading to ports messaging that they will not offload Russian oil. So despite the fact that they are still selling oil, the overall behavior of the Russian Federation and the way it is now wrapped in this coherent sanctions regime, is leading, I think, to a situation where, yeah, sure, they're going to continue to put some oil through—gas and oil through the pipelines into Europe. And they, I think, may be more likely to continue pushing that, rather than trying to turn the tap on and off, as they've done historically to try to pressure the Europeans. I think they'll be wanting to sell their gas and oil. But I think increasingly, on the stock market and in other settings, they are going to have a harder and harder time pushing oil sales, gas and oil sales. So you see this coherent sanctions regime as having knock-on effects that I think will have an even greater effect on the Russian economy, even on the Russian oil economy. FASKIANOS: It's been pretty amazing to watch the sanctions both from governments and from private—as you said—private companies and social media companies pulling out. Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and all of that, to try to—and the ruble has devalued. I think it is pretty much devalued to the very bottom. GOTTEMOELLER: Well, that's a great—that's a great point too, Irina. And particularly mentioning the sanctions against the central bank have had a profound effect. Russian rating has gone to junk—it's gone below junk bond status now, and so they're not rated anymore by the big rating companies. So it's had a profound effect on the Russian economy overall. And so, I'm wondering about—they've got very good technocrats running their banking system. That was always, I think, one of the things Putin was very proud about in coming out of the 2014 invasion of Crimea with a lot of sanctions slapped on him. He basically turned his country inward and said we are going to be more self-sufficient now and you, the bankers, you do what you can to ensure that we have lots of reserves, a rainy-day fund, that we are protected from shocks in future. Well, what happened in sanctioning the central bank is 70 percent of that rainy-day fund is held in Western financial institutions, and those now have placed blocks on the Russians getting their hands on their—on their financial reserves. So I think those steps have been coherent and very strong and have led to this really tanking of the Russian economy. FASKIANOS: Right. And with the sanctions now affecting the oligarchs and the well-to-do in Russia, that also could bring pressure on Putin—assuming they can get close enough to him—because, as you said, he is very much in a bubble that probably has been exacerbated by the two-year pandemic that we all have been living through. I'm going to go next to Nancy Gallagher, with a raised hand. Nancy, over to you. There we go. Q: I'd love to go back to the history that you started with briefly as a way of thinking about the future. And you've spent your entire career, basically, thinking about what mix of toughness and cooperation is appropriate for our relations with Russia or the Soviet Union at any given time. And even during the worst periods that you talked about, there was still some tacit cooperation that was going on to make sure—or to try to reduce the risks of a nuclear war that neither side really wanted. So it's never been 100 percent confrontation. And I'm just wondering, as you think about our relationship with Russia now, whether you've essentially written Russia off for the indefinite future or if you think that we should be continuing to think about ways of simultaneously being as tough as we need to right now, but also not completely closing the door on cooperation either to keep the risks of escalation under control now or to improve the prospects for reengagement with Russia in the future. GOTTEMOELLER: Thank you for that question, Nancy, and thank you so much for joining this call. The other half of my Foreign Affairs piece yesterday talked about this and really stressed, as strongly as I could, that we need to do everything we can to keep Russia at the nuclear, both arms control and also nonproliferation regime tables, that we need to do everything—for one thing, Russia, as I mentioned, has been a giant of these regimes. They are really very good diplomats and negotiators who work these issues, and they can help to find solutions. They have helped to find solutions throughout the fifty years since we began seriously negotiating bilaterally in the Strategic Arms Limitation agreement of the 1970s, agreed in 1972. From that time forward to the present day, fifty years we've had this great relationship at the negotiating table. We haven't agreed by any means at every step of the way, and sometimes we've been in negative territory, but we've always slowly and steadily driven forward on nuclear disarmament objectives. So I think we need to do everything we can to preserve that, and I am hopeful that we can do so. Even in the depths of this horrendous crisis, the Russians have been continuing—although with some issues coming up in recent days over sanctions—but they've been continuing to try to resuscitate the Iran nuclear deal. And I've got my fingers and toes crossed that, in fact, we will resuscitate the Iran nuclear deal. Now, the Russians maybe were reluctant at the moment because I think the United States is seeing the potential for Iranian oil to start to flow again, which would help with this cutoff that we've embraced of our purchases of Russian oil and gas. So there's a whole bunch of issues there. But the point I wanted to make is, despite this severe disagreement and a really dire crisis over Ukraine, in this particular case we've been able to continue to work together more or less positively, and that has been the history of this. Nuclear weapons are an existential threat to our survival and to the survival of Russia, clearly, but also to humankind. If we suddenly have a massive nuclear exchange, the effect on humankind overall is going to be dire. So for that reason, that existential threat has continued to place us together at the negotiating table to try to find solutions here. So I do hope that we can work our way through this and find ourselves back at the table with the Russians before too long to negotiate a replacement for the New START Treaty, which goes out of force in 2026, and to work on other issues, such as a replacement for the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which we withdrew from after Russian violations in 2019. But I think there are actually some good proposals on the table about how we return to constraints on intermediate-range ground-launched missiles. The Russians initiated some of those. Again, they are good diplomats and they are good policymakers in this realm, so I would hate to do without them. But what spurred my concern in the first place and what led to the article was this message that Dmitry Medvedev put out two weeks ago when he said, well, maybe we ought to, just withdraw from the New START Treaty and maybe we ought to just kick the embassies out of Moscow and hang—kick all the diplomats out and hang big padlocks on the embassies. Maybe we don't need the world was his message, and that's what alarmed me, so that's why I was talking about the worst case. But I do hope we can keep the Russians at the table. FASKIANOS: And just to pick up, Doru Tsaganea, an associate professor at the Metropolitan College of New York, has a question about China. And there have been reports that Xi asked Putin to hold off the invasion until after the Olympics in Beijing. There seems to be alliance between China and Russia, and now some—maybe China coming back can be—I mean, the way to bring—to give Putin an off ramp is via China. You just wrote this article in Foreign Affairs about—and you've mentioned how we can leverage—really get China in the mix to help give Putin an off ramp. Can you talk a little bit more about that dynamic? GOTTEMOELLER: Yes. Again, I started thinking about this—well, I was thinking about it during their appearance together at the Olympics—at the Olympics opening ceremony. Doesn't that seem like twenty years ago now? February 4, it was. FASKIANOS: It does. (Laughs.) GOTTEMOELLER: But, clearly, they have a joint agenda. They'll be working together on some things. But I was actually—at the time, I was actually quite positively impressed that what they did talk about—the one thing they talked about in the arms-control realm was beginning to put in place constraints on ground-launched intermediate-range missiles not only in Europe, but also in Asia. And I thought, wow, now that's interesting. If there's going to be, you know, generally Eurasian constraints on ground-launched intermediate range missiles, that's a really interesting development. And so I came away from February 4, rather positively impressed that we might be able to do something with both Russia and China in that regard. But fast forward to the 24 of February and the invasion of Ukraine, and here in—just a few days after that terrible day, the foreign minister of Ukraine, Mr. Kuleba, phoned his counterpart in Beijing and asked for facilitation again of diplomacy with Russia. And at least from the readouts of that meeting, slightly less forward-leaning on the Chinese side but not contradicting anything Kuleba said, the Chinese seemed to indicate a willingness to facilitate diplomacy. It does—I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. In diplomacy, it's always better if you don't know what's going on behind the scenes—(laughs)—if it is quiet diplomacy, if it's not out in public, if it's not this—one of the reasons why I was pretty—well, we all hoped against hope regarding no invasion. But, the Russians seemed to be in bad faith from December on because they kept playing at megaphone diplomacy—putting out their proposals to the public and the press, and even leaking U.S. answers in some cases. So they were clearly not playing a proper diplomatic game, which is quiet diplomacy behind the scenes trying to make quiet progress. So I hope that this Chinese facilitation has begun. I have no hint of it at the moment, but I certainly think that it could be—it could be a productive way to begin to develop some new off ramp. We've tried a lot off ramps with Putin and it hasn't worked, but maybe the Chinese can help us develop another way of approaching this matter. Finally, I will just take note of the fact that there are other facilitators in the game. For example, President Erdoğan of Turkey has been very active, and today there is a meeting between the foreign ministers of—again, Kuleba, foreign minister of Ukraine, and Foreign Minister Lavrov of Russia in Turkey. I, for one, I haven't seen any reports of it. You may have seen reports of the outcome, Irina, but I think that that—that kind of facilitation is important, and I hope it will continue. We all want to see diplomacy taking precedence over the bombing of innocent civilians in Ukraine. FASKIANOS: Right. There are a lot more questions, and I—we can't get to them. I apologize. But I don't want to—and we are at the end of our time, but I just want to give you an opportunity and give the students to hear your thoughts on public service. You've devoted your—mostly your entire career to it. You're now teaching. You have a lecturer spot at Stanford, so you're clearly working with students. And what you would say about public service. GOTTEMOELLER: I was so privileged to have the opportunity to serve both President Clinton and President Obama. I think if you can in your career do a stint of public service it will be absolutely a wonderful experience for you. Now, sometimes bureaucracies can be pretty frustrating, but it's worth—it's worth the price of admission, I would say, to begin to operate inside that system, to begin to figure out how to make progress, and it is the way you put ideas into action. You know, from the outside I can write all the op-eds I want to, and, yeah, some of them may get picked up by somebody inside the government. But when you're working inside the government, you can really put ideas into action from the lowest levels, even if you have a chance to be an intern at the State Department or in one of the other agencies of government, you can begin to get a flavor for this. But you might be surprised that they're asking for your opinion because you all at the, I would say, less-old—(laughs)—end of the spectrum have a lot of good new ideas about how the world should work going forward. And particularly I think this problem I talked about, how to communicate now directly with the Russian people, for example, you've got the skills and savvy to help people inside government to understand how to—how to do that effectively. So you've got some special skills, I think, that are much needed at the present time. So I would not shy away from some time in government. People often ask me, well, won't I get trapped there? I think your generation will not get trapped there just because you already think about the world of work differently. You're not going to be a lifer in any organization. You don't want to start in the State Department and work there for forty years. You'll be working, in—maybe in Silicon Valley; and then you go work for Capitol Hill, the Congress; then you may go into government for a little while, the executive branch; and then back to—back to the corporate world. So I know that you'll be thinking quite differently about how to build your careers, but don't shy away from public service. It's a very good experience and it's where you can make a difference. FASKIANOS: Well, with that, Rose Gottemoeller, thank you very much for being with us today and for sharing your expertise and analysis. We really appreciate it. And giving us a historical context, which is so valuable to understanding where we are today. You can follow Rose on Twitter at @gottemoeller. Our next Academic Webinar will be on Wednesday, March 23, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Jody Freeman at Harvard University will talk about global climate policy. We will send out the link to this discussion—the video, transcript—as well as the link to Rose's Foreign Affairs article so you can read it if you didn't have a chance. It was in yesterday's background. And I encourage you to follow us on Twitter at @CFR_academic, and go to CFR.org, ForeignAffairs.com, and ThinkGlobalHealth.org for research and analysis on global issues. So thank you all again and thank you, Rose. GOTTEMOELLER: Thank you. Thanks for a great discussion. (END)

https://youtu.be/3l0Ta09_98g NYET MEANS NYET: RUSSIA'S NATO ENLARGEMENT REDLINES   Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).    (C) Summary. Following a muted first reaction to Ukraine's intent to seek a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the Bucharest summit (ref A), Foreign Minister Lavrov and other senior officials have reiterated strong opposition, stressing that Russia would view further eastward expansion as a potential military threat. NATO enlargement, particularly to Ukraine, remains "an emotional and neuralgic" issue for Russia, but strategic policy considerations also underlie strong opposition to NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia. In Ukraine, these include fears that the issue could potentially split the country in two, leading to violence or even, some claim, civil war, which would force Russia to decide whether to intervene. Additionally, the GOR and experts continue to claim that Ukrainian NATO membership would have a major impact on Russia's defense industry, Russian-Ukrainian family connections, and bilateral relations generally. In Georgia, the GOR fears continued instability and "provocative acts" in the separatist regions.    End summary.   Date: February 1st, 2008 - https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08MOSCOW265_a.html Odysee BitChute Minds Flote Archive Spotify Apple Podcasts

Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched an illegal, unjustified war against Ukraine and Putin himself is the only person who can stop the war immediately. In this episode, we seek to understand why President Putin has launched this horrific war in order to judge our country's ability to bring the war to a quicker end. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD244: Keeping Ukraine CD186: National Endowment for Democracy CD168: Nuclear Desperation Ukraine Civil War Alan MacLeod. Feb 22, 2022. “Documents Reveal US Spent $22 Million Promoting Anti-Russia Narrative in Ukraine & Abroad.” The Washington Standard. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Oct 8, 2021. “Conflict-related civilian casualties in Ukraine.” United Nations. Andrew Higgins and Peter Baker. Feb 6, 2014. “Russia Claims U.S. Is Meddling Over Ukraine.” The New York Times. NATO Expansion Becky Sullivan. Updated Feb 24, 2022. “How NATO's expansion helped drive Putin to invade Ukraine.” NPR. Henry Meyer and Ilya Arkhipov. Dec 17, 2021. “Russia Demands NATO Pullback in Security Talks With U.S.” Bloomberg. Joe Dyke. Mar 20, 2021. “NATO Killed Civilians in Libya. It's Time to Admit It.” Foreign Policy. NATO. Updated May 5, 2020. “Enlargement.” NATO. 2020. “The Secretary General's Annual Report.” National Security Archive. December 12, 2017. “NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard.” Arms Control Association. “The Debate Over NATO Expansion: A Critique of the Clinton Administration's Responses to Key Questions.” “Record of conversation between Mikhail Gorbachev and James Baker in Moscow. (Excerpts.)” February 9, 1990. National Security Archive. “Ukraine: The Orange Revolution and the Yushchenko Presidency.” In The Encyclopedia Britannica. NATO in Ukraine Xinhua. Nov 14, 2021. “Ukraine, NATO countries hold naval drills in Black Sea.” News.cn Chad Menegay and Aimee Valles. Sept 22, 2021. “US, NATO, Ukraine enhance interoperability with Rapid Trident exercise.” NationalGuard.mil Reuters. April 3, 2021. “Ukraine and Britain to Hold Joint Military Drills.” U.S. News and World Report. NATO Allied Maritime Command. Mar 17, 2021. “NATO forces train with the Ukrainian Navy.” European Deterrence Initiative Paul Belkin and Hibbah Kaileh. Updated July 1, 2021. “The European Deterrence Initiative: A Budgetary Overview” [IF10946.] Congressional Research Service. Weapons Treaties TASS. Feb 21, 2022. “Europe won't understand Kiev talking of regaining nuclear weapons — Russian diplomat.” Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation. Updated March 2021. “Fact Sheet: Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.” Arms Control Association. Last reviewed August 2019. “The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at a Glance.” General Dynamics General Dynamics. “Corporate Governance: Board of Directors.” Russia-China Alliance Chen Aizhu. Feb 4, 2022. “Russia, China agree 30-year gas deal via new pipeline, to settle in euros.” Reuters. Robin Brant. Feb 4, 2022. “China joins Russia in opposing Nato expansion.” BBC News. Sanctions Matina Stevis-Gridneff. Feb 25, 2022. “European Leaders Agree to a Second Wave of Russia Sanctions.” The New York Times. Congressional Response Joe Gould. Feb 22, 2022. “Emergency funding proposal for Ukraine gets bipartisan backing in Congress.” Defense News. Reuters. Feb 25, 2022. “U.S. providing $600 mln for Ukraine defensive weapons -House Speaker Pelosi.” Reuters. Images State Property Fund of Ukraine USAID Partnership Audio Sources House Speaker Weekly Briefing February 23, 2022 YouTube Version Overview: At her weekly briefing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), along with several of her Democratic colleagues, talked about the situation in Ukraine and President Biden's sanctions after Russia recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas region. Clips 10:25 Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): Putin is terrified by the prospect of a democracy at his border. A democracy, giving an example to the Russian people of the kind of life and economy they might enjoy if they cast aside their own autocrat. This is, I think, one of the preeminent motivations of Vladimir Putin. 15:32 Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA): I chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign operations, which oversees many of the resources to assist the Ukrainian people through this crisis. This includes our economic assistance to Ukraine, including loan guarantees. Economic assistance would come through the economic support accounts for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia, those of the accounts that would come through. Without getting in too many of the weeds, I wanted to just mention that because it's an effort that we're looking at now in terms of our funding. It also includes humanitarian plans, including funding for refugees, God forbid, and for those internally displaced by conflict. The administration has committed to us that in the event of conflict, there is a need over the next 12 months of at least $1 billion for humanitarian needs. So I support the efforts of the administration also to bolster Ukraine's economy, including the proposed $1 billion in loan guarantees to continue with Ukraine's economic reforms. 22:08 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): I will just close by saying this: I had the privilege of going with President Clinton, who invited four members of Congress House and Senate, Democrat and Republican, the Senate Democrat was Senator Joe Biden. And we went to the expansion of NATO meeting in Paris. And it was all the heads of state of the then NATO countries who spoke and it was so beautiful because they all spoke in such a positive way about NATO. We thought like we were NATO and they were also NATO, they had ownership and agency in possession of the NATO possibilities. The representative of Russia who was there was Boris Yeltsin. And he was very ebullient, but he was welcoming to what was called was the expansion we had supported in our own country, the Baltic States, Poland, others countries becoming what was called the Partnership for Peace and it included many countries. Now Putin is saying push it back to pre-1997. Don't ever try to add another country and remove weapons out of Eastern Europe. That's what he wanted. No, that was not going to happen. 33:35 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): What is this about? The people of Hung -- many of us have visited Ukraine and have seen that they love democracy. They do not want to live under Vladimir Putin. He does not want the Russian people to see what democracy looks like. And therefore he wants to bring them under his domain. 35:15 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): When we talk about the president, he's doing the sanctions. He has a full picture of all this. As I said, he was present there the day of the expansion of NATO. I saw the respect he commanded then, and that was 1997, by the heads of state of all those countries, and of course, that has only grown over time, by his leadership, but also the expansion of NATO. I think we're very well served, I respect his judgement. And again, it's not just about when you do the sanctions, or how you support the people. It's about how the world views what Putin is doing. This is a very evil move on the part of Vladimir Putin. President Biden Remarks on Russia and Ukraine February 22, 2022 YouTube Version Transcript Overview: During an address, President Biden announced new sanctions against Russia in response to President Vladimir Putin sending Russian troops into separatist regions of Ukraine. Clips 1:57 President Biden So, today, I'm announcing the first tranche of sanctions to impose costs on Russia in response to their actions yesterday. These have been closely coordinated with our Allies and partners, and we'll continue to escalate sanctions if Russia escalates. We're implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions: V.E.B. and their military bank. We're implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. That means we've cut off Russia's government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either. Starting tomorrow [today] and continuing in the days ahead, we will also impose sanctions on Russia's elites and their family members. They share in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies and should share in the pain as well. And because of Russia's actions, we've worked with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 will not — as I promised — will not move forward. 3:23 President Biden: Today, in response to Russia's admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus, I have authorized additional movements of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic Allies — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Let me be clear: These are totally defensive moves on our part. We have no intention of fighting Russia. We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States, together with our Allies, will defend every inch of NATO territory and abide by the commitments we made to NATO. 4:22 President Biden: Russian forces remain positioned in Belarus to attack Ukraine from the north, including war planes and offensive missile systems. Russia has moved troops closer to Ukraine's border with Russia. Russia's naval vessels are maneuvering in the Black Sea to Ukraine's south, including amphibious assault ships, missile cruisers, and submarines. Russia has moved supplies of blood and medical equipment into position on their border. You don't need blood unless you plan on starting a war. 6:25 President Biden: I'm going to take robust action and make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours. We are closely monitoring energy supplies for any disruption. We're executing a plan in coordination with major oil-producing consumers and producers toward a collective investment to secure stability and global energy supplies. This will be — this will blunt gas prices. I want to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump. This is critical to me. 7:37 President Biden: Yesterday, the world heard clearly the full extent of Vladimir Putin's twisted rewrite of history, going back more than a century, as he waxed eloquently, noting that — well, I'm not going to go into it, but nothing in Putin's lengthy remarks indicated any interest in pursuing real dialogue on European security in the year 2022. 8:04 President Biden: He directly attacked Ukraine's right to exist. He indirectly threatened territory formerly held by Russia, including nations that today are thriving democracies and members of NATO. He explicitly threatened war unless his extreme demands were met. And there is no question that Russia is the aggressor. Russian President Putin Statement on Ukraine February 21, 2022 YouTube Version Transcript Overview: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced after a Security Council meeting that Russia would recognize the independence of the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's Donbas region. Clips 00:15 President Putin: I would like to emphasise again that Ukraine is not just a neighbouring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. These are our comrades, those dearest to us – not only colleagues, friends and people who once served together, but also relatives, people bound by blood, by family ties. 1:22 President Putin: I would like to start by saying that the modern Ukraine was completely created by Russia. To be more exact, Bolshevist, partially communist Russia. This process started almost immediately after the 1917 revolutions, leading and planning and his group of supporters did it in a rough way. If we talk about Russia, they were alienating parts of historical territories of Russia. And millions of people who live there, obviously no one asked anything. Then before the Great Patriotic War, Stalin added to the USSR and handed over some lands that belonged to Poland and Hungary, and as a compensation gave some ancient German lands to Poland. And the 1960s crucial decision to take Crimea away from Russia and also gave it to Ukraine. That's how the territory of Soviet Ukraine was formed. 3:05 President Putin: We cannot help but react to this real threat, especially since I would like to reiterate that Western backers they can help Ukraine with getting this weapon to create yet another threat for our country because we can see how consistently they are pumping Ukraine with weapons. The United States alone starting from 2014 transferred billions of dollars including the arm supply training personnel. In recent months, Western weapons are sent to Ukraine given ceaselessly in front of the eyes of the entire world 7:05 President Putin: Actually, as I have already said, Soviet Ukraine is the result of the Bolsheviks' policy and can be rightfully called “Vladimir Lenin's Ukraine.” He was its creator and architect. This is fully and comprehensively corroborated by archival documents, including Lenin's harsh instructions regarding Donbass, which was actually shoved into Ukraine. And today the “grateful progeny” has overturned monuments to Lenin in Ukraine. They call it decommunization. You want decommunization? Very well, this suits us just fine. But why stop halfway? We are ready to show what real decommunizations would mean for Ukraine. 9:31 President Putin: Everything seemed to be working well in conditions of the totalitarian regime, and outwardly it looked wonderful, attractive and even super-democratic. And yet, it is a great pity that the fundamental and formally legal foundations of our state were not promptly cleansed of the odious and utopian fantasies inspired by the revolution, which are absolutely destructive for any normal state. 10:05 President Putin: It seems that the Communist Party leaders were convinced that they had created a solid system of government and that their policies had settled the ethnic issue for good. But falsification, misconception, and tampering with public opinion have a high cost. The virus of nationalist ambitions is still with us, and the mine laid at the initial stage to destroy state immunity to the disease of nationalism was ticking. As I have already said, the mine was the right of secession from the Soviet Union. 13:55 President Putin: Even two years before the collapse of the USSR, its fate was actually predetermined. It is now that radicals and nationalists, including and primarily those in Ukraine, are taking credit for having gained independence. As we can see, this is absolutely wrong. The disintegration of our united country was brought about by the historic, strategic mistakes on the part of the Bolshevik leaders and the CPSU leadership, mistakes committed at different times in state-building and in economic and ethnic policies. The collapse of the historical Russia known as the USSR is on their conscience. 14:39 President Putin: It was our people who accepted the new geopolitical reality that took shape after the dissolution of the USSR, and recognised the new independent states. Not only did Russia recognise these countries, but helped its CIS partners, even though it faced a very dire situation itself. This included our Ukrainian colleagues, who turned to us for financial support many times from the very moment they declared independence. Our country provided this assistance while respecting Ukraine's dignity and sovereignty. According to expert assessments, confirmed by a simple calculation of our energy prices, the subsidised loans Russia provided to Ukraine along with economic and trade preferences, the overall benefit for the Ukrainian budget in the period from 1991 to 2013 amounted to $250 billion. 21:24 President Putin: A stable statehood has never developed in Ukraine; its electoral and other political procedures just serve as a cover, a screen for the redistribution of power and property between various oligarchic clans. Corruption, which is certainly a challenge and a problem for many countries, including Russia, has gone beyond the usual scope in Ukraine. It has literally permeated and corroded Ukrainian statehood, the entire system, and all branches of power. Radical nationalists took advantage of the justified public discontent and saddled the Maidan protest, escalating it to a coup d'état in 2014. They also had direct assistance from foreign states. According to reports, the US Embassy provided $1 million a day to support the so-called protest camp on Independence Square in Kiev. In addition, large amounts were impudently transferred directly to the opposition leaders' bank accounts, tens of millions of dollars. 23:37 President Putin: Maidan did not bring Ukraine any closer to democracy and progress. Having accomplished a coup d'état, the nationalists and those political forces that supported them eventually led Ukraine into an impasse, pushed the country into the abyss of civil war. 26:30 President Putin: In fact, it all came down to the fact that the collapse of the Ukrainian economy was accompanied by outright robbery of the citizens of the country, and Ukraine itself was simply driven under external control. It is carried out not only at the behest of Western capitals, but also, as they say, directly on the spot through a whole network of foreign advisers, NGOs and other institutions deployed in Ukraine. They have a direct impact on all the most important personnel decisions, on all branches and levels of government: from the central and even to the municipal, on the main state-owned companies and corporations, including Naftogaz, Ukrenergo, Ukrainian Railways, Ukroboronprom, Ukrposhta , Administration of Sea Ports of Ukraine. There is simply no independent court in Ukraine. At the request of the West, the Kiev authorities gave representatives of international organizations the pre-emptive right to select members of the highest judicial bodies - the Council of Justice and the Qualification Commission of Judges. In addition, the US Embassy directly controls the National Corruption Prevention Agency, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, and the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court. All this is done under a plausible pretext to increase the effectiveness of the fight against corruption. Okay, but where are the results? Corruption has blossomed as luxuriantly, and blooms, more than ever. Are the Ukrainians themselves aware of all these managerial methods? Do they understand that their country is not even under a political and economic protectorate, but reduced to the level of a colony with a puppet regime? The privatization of the state has led to the fact that the government, which calls itself the "power of patriots", has lost its national character and is consistently leading the matter towards the complete desovereignization of the country. 31:04 President Putin: In March 2021, a new Military Strategy was adopted in Ukraine. This document is almost entirely dedicated to confrontation with Russia and sets the goal of involving foreign states in a conflict with our country. The strategy stipulates the organisation of what can be described as a terrorist underground movement in Russia's Crimea and in Donbass. It also sets out the contours of a potential war, which should end, according to the Kiev strategists, “with the assistance of the international community on favourable terms for Ukraine.” 32:05 President Putin: As we know, it has already been stated today that Ukraine intends to create its own nuclear weapons, and this is not just bragging. Ukraine has the nuclear technologies created back in the Soviet times and delivery vehicles for such weapons, including aircraft, as well as the Soviet-designed Tochka-U precision tactical missiles with a range of over 100 kilometres. But they can do more; it is only a matter of time. They have had the groundwork for this since the Soviet era. In other words, acquiring tactical nuclear weapons will be much easier for Ukraine than for some other states I am not going to mention here, which are conducting such research, especially if Kiev receives foreign technological support. 33:47 President Putin: Foreign advisors supervise the activities of Ukraine's armed forces and special services and we are well aware of this. Over the past few years, military contingents of NATO countries have been almost constantly present on Ukrainian territory under the pretext of exercises. The Ukrainian troop control system has already been integrated into NATO. This means that NATO headquarters can issue direct commands to the Ukrainian armed forces, even to their separate units and squads. The United States and NATO have started an impudent development of Ukrainian territory as a theatre of potential military operations. Their regular joint exercises are obviously anti-Russian. Last year alone, over 23,000 troops and more than a thousand units of hardware were involved. A law has already been adopted that allows foreign troops to come to Ukraine in 2022 to take part in multinational drills. Understandably, these are primarily NATO troops. This year, at least ten of these joint drills are planned. Obviously, such undertakings are designed to be a cover-up for a rapid buildup of the NATO military group on Ukrainian territory. This is all the more so since the network of airfields upgraded with US help in Borispol, Ivano-Frankovsk, Chuguyev and Odessa, to name a few, is capable of transferring army units in a very short time. Ukraine's airspace is open to flights by US strategic and reconnaissance aircraft and drones that conduct surveillance over Russian territory. I will add that the US-built Maritime Operations Centre in Ochakov makes it possible to support activity by NATO warships, including the use of precision weapons, against the Russian Black Sea Fleet and our infrastructure on the entire Black Sea Coast. 36:54 President Putin: Article 17 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates that deploying foreign military bases on its territory is illegal. However, as it turns out, this is just a conventionality that can be easily circumvented. Ukraine is home to NATO training missions which are, in fact, foreign military bases. They just called a base a mission and were done with it. 37:16 President Putin: Kiev has long proclaimed a strategic course on joining NATO. Indeed, each country is entitled to pick its own security system and enter into military alliances. There would be no problem with that, if it were not for one “but.” International documents expressly stipulate the principle of equal and indivisible security, which includes obligations not to strengthen one's own security at the expense of the security of other states. This is stated in the 1999 OSCE Charter for European Security adopted in Istanbul and the 2010 OSCE Astana Declaration. In other words, the choice of pathways towards ensuring security should not pose a threat to other states, whereas Ukraine joining NATO is a direct threat to Russia's security 38:10 President Putin: Let me remind you that at the Bucharest NATO summit held in April 2008, the United States pushed through a decision to the effect that Ukraine and, by the way, Georgia would become NATO members. Many European allies of the United States were well aware of the risks associated with this prospect already then, but were forced to put up with the will of their senior partner. The Americans simply used them to carry out a clearly anti-Russian policy. 38:41 President Putin: A number of NATO member states are still very sceptical about Ukraine joining NATO. We are getting signals from some European capitals telling us not to worry since it will not happen literally overnight. In fact, our US partners are saying the same thing as well. “All right, then” we respond, “if it does not happen tomorrow, then it will happen the day after tomorrow. What does it change from the historical perspective? Nothing at all.” Furthermore, we are aware of the US leadership's position and words that active hostilities in eastern Ukraine do not rule out the possibility of that country joining NATO if it meets NATO criteria and overcomes corruption. All the while, they are trying to convince us over and over again that NATO is a peace-loving and purely defensive alliance that poses no threat to Russia. Again, they want us to take their word for it. But we are well aware of the real value of these words. In 1990, when German unification was discussed, the United States promised the Soviet leadership that NATO jurisdiction or military presence will not expand one inch to the east and that the unification of Germany will not lead to the spread of NATO's military organisation to the east. This is a quote. They issued lots of verbal assurances, all of which turned out to be empty phrases. Later, they began to assure us that the accession to NATO by Central and Eastern European countries would only improve relations with Moscow, relieve these countries of the fears steeped in their bitter historical legacy, and even create a belt of countries that are friendly towards Russia. However, the exact opposite happened. The governments of certain Eastern European countries, speculating on Russophobia, brought their complexes and stereotypes about the Russian threat to the Alliance and insisted on building up the collective defence potentials and deploying them primarily against Russia. Worse still, that happened in the 1990s and the early 2000s when, thanks to our openness and goodwill, relations between Russia and the West had reached a high level. Russia has fulfilled all of its obligations, including the pullout from Germany, from Central and Eastern Europe, making an immense contribution to overcoming the legacy of the Cold War. We have consistently proposed various cooperation options, including in the NATO-Russia Council and the OSCE formats. Moreover, I will say something I have never said publicly, I will say it now for the first time. When then outgoing US President Bill Clinton visited Moscow in 2000, I asked him how America would feel about admitting Russia to NATO. I will not reveal all the details of that conversation, but the reaction to my question was, let us say, quite restrained, and the Americans' true attitude to that possibility can actually be seen from their subsequent steps with regard to our country. I am referring to the overt support for terrorists in the North Caucasus, the disregard for our security demands and concerns, NATO's continued expansion, withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, and so on. 43:05 President Putin: Today, one glance at the map is enough to see to what extent Western countries have kept their promise to refrain from NATO's eastward expansion. They just cheated. We have seen five waves of NATO expansion, one after another – Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary were admitted in 1999; Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in 2004; Albania and Croatia in 2009; Montenegro in 2017; and North Macedonia in 2020. As a result, the Alliance, its military infrastructure has reached Russia's borders. This is one of the key causes of the European security crisis; it has had the most negative impact on the entire system of international relations and led to the loss of mutual trust. The situation continues to deteriorate, including in the strategic area. Thus, positioning areas for interceptor missiles are being established in Romania and Poland as part of the US project to create a global missile defence system. It is common knowledge that the launchers deployed there can be used for Tomahawk cruise missiles – offensive strike systems. In addition, the United States is developing its all-purpose Standard Missile-6, which can provide air and missile defence, as well as strike ground and surface targets. In other words, the allegedly defensive US missile defence system is developing and expanding its new offensive capabilities. The information we have gives us good reason to believe that Ukraine's accession to NATO and the subsequent deployment of NATO facilities has already been decided and is only a matter of time. We clearly understand that given this scenario, the level of military threats to Russia will increase dramatically, several times over. 45:07 President Putin: I will explain that American strategic planning documents confirm the possibility of a so-called preemptive strike at enemy missile systems. We also know the main adversary of the United States and NATO. It is Russia. NATO documents officially declare our country to be the main threat to Euro-Atlantic security. Ukraine will serve as an advanced bridgehead for such a strike. 46:00 President Putin: Many Ukrainian airfields are located not far from our borders. NATO's tactical aviation deployed there, including precision weapon carriers, will be capable of striking at our territory to the depth of the Volgograd-Kazan-Samara-Astrakhan line. The deployment of reconnaissance radars on Ukrainian territory will allow NATO to tightly control Russia's airspace up to the Urals. Finally, after the US destroyed the INF Treaty, the Pentagon has been openly developing many land-based attack weapons, including ballistic missiles that are capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 5,500 km. If deployed in Ukraine, such systems will be able to hit targets in Russia's entire European part. The flying time of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Moscow will be less than 35 minutes; ballistic missiles from Kharkov will take seven to eight minutes; and hypersonic assault weapons, four to five minutes. It is like a knife to the throat. I have no doubt that they hope to carry out these plans, as they did many times in the past, expanding NATO eastward, moving their military infrastructure to Russian borders and fully ignoring our concerns, protests and warnings. Excuse me, but they simply did not care at all about such things and did whatever they deemed necessary. Of course, they are going to behave in the same way in the future. 47:46 President Putin: Russia has always advocated the resolution of the most complicated problems by political and diplomatic means, at the negotiating table. We are well aware of our enormous responsibility when it comes to regional and global stability. Back in 2008, Russia put forth an initiative to conclude a European Security Treaty under which not a single Euro-Atlantic state or international organisation could strengthen their security at the expense of the security of others. However, our proposal was rejected right off the bat on the pretext that Russia should not be allowed to put limits on NATO activities. Furthermore, it was made explicitly clear to us that only NATO members can have legally binding security guarantees. 48:35 President Putin: Last December, we handed over to our Western partners a draft treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States of America on security guarantees, as well as a draft agreement on measures to ensure the security of the Russian Federation and NATO member states. The United States and NATO responded with general statements. There were kernels of rationality in them as well, but they concerned matters of secondary importance and it all looked like an attempt to drag the issue out and to lead the discussion astray. We responded to this accordingly and pointed out that we were ready to follow the path of negotiations, provided, however, that all issues are considered as a package that includes Russia's core proposals which contain three key points. First, to prevent further NATO expansion. Second, to have the Alliance refrain from deploying assault weapon systems on Russian borders. And finally, rolling back the bloc's military capability and infrastructure in Europe to where they were in 1997, when the NATO-Russia Founding Act was signed. These principled proposals of ours have been ignored. 50:21 President Putin: They are again trying to blackmail us and are threatening us with sanctions, which, by the way, they will introduce no matter what as Russia continues to strengthen its sovereignty and its Armed Forces. To be sure, they will never think twice before coming up with or just fabricating a pretext for yet another sanction attack regardless of the developments in Ukraine. Their one and only goal is to hold back the development of Russia. 51:06 President Putin: I would like to be clear and straightforward: in the current circumstances, when our proposals for an equal dialogue on fundamental issues have actually remained unanswered by the United States and NATO, when the level of threats to our country has increased significantly, Russia has every right to respond in order to ensure its security. That is exactly what we will do. 51:33 President Putin: With regard to the state of affairs in Donbass, we see that the ruling Kiev elites never stop publicly making clear their unwillingness to comply with the Minsk Package of Measures to settle the conflict and are not interested in a peaceful settlement. On the contrary, they are trying to orchestrate a blitzkrieg in Donbass as was the case in 2014 and 2015. We all know how these reckless schemes ended. Not a single day goes by without Donbass communities coming under shelling attacks. The recently formed large military force makes use of attack drones, heavy equipment, missiles, artillery and multiple rocket launchers. The killing of civilians, the blockade, the abuse of people, including children, women and the elderly, continues unabated. As we say, there is no end in sight to this. Meanwhile, the so-called civilised world, which our Western colleagues proclaimed themselves the only representatives of, prefers not to see this, as if this horror and genocide, which almost 4 million people are facing, do not exist. But they do exist and only because these people did not agree with the West-supported coup in Ukraine in 2014 and opposed the transition towards the Neanderthal and aggressive nationalism and neo-Nazism which have been elevated in Ukraine to the rank of national policy. They are fighting for their elementary right to live on their own land, to speak their own language, and to preserve their culture and traditions. How long can this tragedy continue? How much longer can one put up with this? Russia has done everything to preserve Ukraine's territorial integrity. All these years, it has persistently and patiently pushed for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2202 of February 17, 2015, which consolidated the Minsk Package of Measures of February 12, 2015, to settle the situation in Donbass. Everything was in vain. Presidents and Rada deputies come and go, but deep down the aggressive and nationalistic regime that seized power in Kiev remains unchanged. It is entirely a product of the 2014 coup, and those who then embarked on the path of violence, bloodshed and lawlessness did not recognise then and do not recognise now any solution to the Donbass issue other than a military one. In this regard, I consider it necessary to take a long overdue decision and to immediately recognise the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic. I would like to ask the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to support this decision and then ratify the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance with both republics. These two documents will be prepared and signed shortly. 54:52 President Putin: We want those who seized and continue to hold power in Kiev to immediately stop hostilities. Otherwise, the responsibility for the possible continuation of the bloodshed will lie entirely on the conscience of Ukraine's ruling regime. Ukraine is 'longing for peace' says Zelensky at Munich Security Conference February 19, 2022 Transcript Overview: Western powers should drop their policy of "appeasement" toward Moscow, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky told a security forum Saturday, as fears mount of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Clips 13:37 Vladimir Zelensky: Ukraine has received security guarantees for abandoning the world's third nuclear capability. We don't have that weapon. We also have no security. 14:37 Vladimir Zelensky: Since 2014, Ukraine has tried three times to convene consultations with the guarantor states of the Budapest Memorandum. Three times without success. Today Ukraine will do it for the fourth time. I, as President, will do this for the first time. But both Ukraine and I are doing this for the last time. I am initiating consultations in the framework of the Budapest Memorandum. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was commissioned to convene them. If they do not happen again or their results do not guarantee security for our country, Ukraine will have every right to believe that the Budapest Memorandum is not working and all the package decisions of 1994 are in doubt. President Biden Remarks on Russia-Ukraine Situation February 18, 2022 YouTube Version Transcript Overview: Following talks with NATO allies, President Biden provided an update on Russia-Ukraine tensions and international efforts to resolve the crisis. Clips 3:04 President Biden: You know, look, we have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week — in the coming days. We believe that they will target Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people.War posturing - Biden US provided record security assistance to Ukraine 4:00 President Biden: This past year, the United States provided a record amount of security assistance to Ukraine to bolster its defensive — $650 million, from Javelin missiles to ammunition. And we also previously provided $500 million in Ukrai- — in humanitarian aid and economic support for Ukraine. And earlier this week, we also announced an additional sovereign loan guarantee of up to $1 billion to strengthen Ukraine's economic resilience. 7:24 President Biden: Well, I don't think he is remotely contemplating nuclear — using nuclear weapons. But I do think it's — I think he is focused on trying to convince the world that he has the ability to change the dynamics in Europe in a way that he cannot. President Biden Remarks on Russia and Ukraine February 15, 2022 YouTube Version Transcript Overview: President Biden gave an update on tensions between Russia and Ukraine, calling for diplomacy to resolve tensions. Clips 1:47 President Biden: The United States has put on the table concrete ideas to establish a security environment in Europe. We're proposing new arms control measures, new transparency measures, new strategic stability measures. These measures would apply to all parties — NATO and Russia alike. 2:14 President Biden: We will not sacrifice basic principles, though. Nations have a right to sovereignty and territorial integrity. They have the freedom to set their own course and choose with whom they will associate. 3:17 President Biden: And the fact remains: Right now, Russia has more than 150,000 troops encircling Ukraine in Belarus and along Ukraine's border. An invasion remains distinctly possible. That's why I've asked several times that all Americans in Ukraine leave now before it's too late to leave safely. It is why we have temporarily relocated our embassy from Kyiv to Lviv in western Ukraine, approaching the Polish border. 4:12 President Biden: The United States and NATO are not a threat to Russia. Ukraine is not threatening Russia. Neither the U.S. nor NATO have missiles in Ukraine. We do not — do not have plans to put them there as well. 4:26 President Biden: To the citizens of Russia: You are not our enemy. And I do not believe you want a bloody, destructive war against Ukraine — a country and a people with whom you share such deep ties of family, history, and culture. 5:52 President Biden: Today, our NATO Allies and the Alliance is as unified and determined as it has ever been. And the source of our unbreakable strength continues to be the power, resilience, and universal appeal of our shared democratic values. Because this is about more than just Russia and Ukraine. It's about standing for what we believe in, for the future we want for our world. 7:25 President Biden: And when it comes to Nord Stream 2, the pipeline that would bring natural gas from Russia to Germany, if Russia further invades Ukraine, it will not happen. 7:35 President Biden: While I will not send American servicemen to fight Russia in Ukraine, we have supplied the Ukrainian military with equipment to help them defend themselves. We have provided training and advice and intelligence for the same purpose. 7:50 President Biden: And make no mistake: The United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power. An attack against one NATO country is an attack against all of us. And the United States commitment to Article 5 is sacrosanct. Already, in response to Russia's build-up of troops, I have sent additional U.S. forces to bolster NATO's eastern flank. Several of our Allies have also announced they'll add forces and capabilities to ensure deterrence and defense along NATO's eastern flank. We will also continue to conduct military exercises with our Allies and partners to enhance defensive readiness. And if Russia invades, we will take further steps to reinforce our presence in NATO, reassure our Allies, and deter further aggression. 9:12 President Biden: I will not pretend this will be painless. There could be impact on our energy prices, so we are taking active steps to alleviate the pressure on our own energy markets and offset rising prices. We're coordinating with major enersy [sic] — energy consumers and producers. We're prepared to deploy all the tools and authority at our disposal to provide relief at the gas pump. And I will work with Congress on additional measures to help protect consumers and address the impact of prices at the pump. Hearing on U.S. Policy Toward Russia Senate Committee on Foreign Relations December 7, 2021 Overview: Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. policy toward Russia. She addressed President Biden's earlier call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that Russia would suffer severe consequences if it attacked Ukraine. Other topics included the use of sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, the cooperation of NATO and U.S. allies, Russia's use of energy during conflict, and the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Clips 10:42 Victoria Nuland: Since 2014 The United States has provided Ukraine with $2.4 billion in security assistance including $450 million this year alone. 30:55 Sen. Todd Young (R-IN): President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov have repeatedly indicated that they seek to deny any potential path to NATO membership for Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. Does the administration view this demand is a valid issue for negotiation? Victoria Nuland: No we do not and President Biden made that point crystal clear to President Putin today that the issue of who joins NATO is an issue for NATO to decide it's an issue for applicant countries to decide that no other outside power will or may have a veto or a vote in those decisions. Foreign Affairs Issue Launch with Former Vice President Joe Biden January 23, 2018 Clips 24:30 Former Vice President Biden: I'll give you one concrete example. I was—not I, but it just happened to be that was the assignment I got. I got all the good ones. And so I got Ukraine. And I remember going over, convincing our team, our leaders to—convincing that we should be providing for loan guarantees. And I went over, I guess, the 12th, 13th time to Kiev. And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from Poroshenko and from Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn't. So they said they had—they were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, I'm not going to—or, we're not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You're not the president. The president said—I said, call him. (Laughter.) I said, I'm telling you, you're not getting the billion dollars. I said, you're not getting the billion. I'm going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money. Well, son of a bitch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Today, The Two Mikes did their first overseas interview, speaking with Mr. Dimitri Makarov, a former Russian political/military analyst, and now a news reporter in Moscow. We had been seeking a talk with either President Putin or Foreign Minister Lavrov, but have yet to secure one. Still, Mr. Makarov spoke knowledgeably of both men, as well as the confrontation between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine. "Listening to Two Mikes will make you smarter!”- Gov Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.Sponsors:- Our Gold Guy - Talk to IRA about whether investing in gold is right for you. Let them know Two Mikes sent you at http://ourgoldguy.com - Freedom First Coffee - Drink the coffee of Patriots. Use code TWOMIKES for 10% off at http://freedomfirstcoffee.com

It is a jam-packed Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Stephen Wertheim, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment and Visiting Faculty at Yale Law School, to discuss the recent developments with Russia and Ukraine. Stephen  comes in to situate where the building Russia-Ukraine conflict is at, and what role the US has played in the increasing pressure. First, they look at negotiations between Tony Blinken and Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov, and contextualize them within Biden's statements that the use of force was not on the table, before discussing the role of NATO expansions, especially towards Ukraine and Georgia, in inflaming the rising tensions, and touching on the discourse on how not going into war could (but shouldn't) reflect our weakness or strength towards China.Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota's 5th Congressional District to discuss everything that's happening on Capitol Hill. Rep. Omar starts off by taking on the future of a Build Back Better breakup and the fool's errand of trying to pass anything without changing the filibuster, how to negotiate writing bills between the House and Senate, and why nobody, especially six specific members of the progressive caucus, could've seen the passing of BIF as working against BBB. They also touch on a potential upcoming leadership fight for Democrats, and Sam and Emma explore the absurdity of corporate dems' pitch for moderation. Lastly,  The David Feldman, of The David Feldman Show, joins for a “David Feldman” fun half, as he eulogizes Meat Loaf and the incredible influence he had in the sexual maturation of one David Feldman, and David Feldman covers the complete distortion of MLK's legacy by trusting the FBI's claims that he cared about “labor organizing” and “voting rights.” Hannity triggers Trump with the “W” word, Laura Ingraham laughs off vaccinated folks having lesser COVID effects, and Jen Psaki reminds us that now is the time for activists to step up and do the Biden Administration's work, while they shift their focus to… to… um... plus, your IMs! Purchase tickets for the live show in Boston on May 15th HERE: https://thewilbur.com/artist/majority-report/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here:  https://madmimi.com/signups/170390/join Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Check out today's sponsors: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Great company, great product and fans of the show! Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. And now Sunset Lake CBD has donated $2500 to the Nurses strike fund, and we encourage MR listeners to help if they can. Here's a link to where folks can donate: https://forms.massnurses.org/we-stand-with-st-vincents-nurses/ Support the St. Vincent Nurses today! https://action.massnurses.org/we-stand-with-st-vincents-nurses/ Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Matt's other show Literary Hangover on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/literaryhangover Check out The Nomiki Show on YouTube. https://www.patreon.com/thenomikishow Check out Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Subscribe to Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse Check out The Letterhack's upcoming Kickstarter project for his new graphic novel! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/milagrocomic/milagro-heroe-de-las-calles Check out Jamie's podcast, The Antifada. https://www.patreon.com/theantifada, on iTunes, or at https://www.twitch.tv/theantifada (streaming every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7pm ET!) Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Subscribe to AM Quickie writer Corey Pein's podcast News from Nowhere. https://www.patreon.com/newsfromnowhere  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Since the beginning of December, news outlets around the world have been covering a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. In this episode, get the full back story on the civil war that has been raging in Ukraine since 2014, learn what role our government has played in the conflict, and hear Victoria Nuland - one of the highest ranking officials in the Biden administration's State Department - testify to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee about the Biden administration's plans if Russia decides to use its military to invade Ukraine. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD231: Lights Out: What Happened in Texas? CD229: Target Belarus CD206: Impeachment: The Evidence CD186: National Endowment for Democracy CD167: Combating Russia (NDAA 2018) LIVE CD156: Sanctions – Russia, North Korea & Iran CD068: Ukraine Aid Bill CD067: What Do We Want In Ukraine? CD024: Let's Gut the STOCK Act Articles, Documents, and Websites Conflicted Congress. Insider. TurkStream. “Project: The Turkstream Pipeline.” Western Balkans Investment Framework. “Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline (IAP) Project Financing.” Amber Infrastructure Group. “About Us: Our People.” Three Seas. “Three Seas Story.” Three Seas. “Priority Projects.” State Property Fund of Ukraine. “Large Privatization.” State Property Fund of Ukraine. “How to buy.” State Property Fund of Ukraine. “Ukrainian Government Assets for Sale.” Stephanie. December 14, 2021. “Kiev mayor Klitschko warns of Russian invasion.” News in 24. Kenny Stancil. December 13, 2021. “Groups Move to Uncover Why Biden Held Huge Drilling Sale That DOJ Said Was Not Required.” Common Dreams. The Kremlin. December 7, 2021. “Meeting with US President Joseph Biden.” Maxine Joselow and Alexandra Ellerbeck. December 6, 2021. “Biden is approving more oil and gas drilling permits on public lands than Trump, analysis finds.” The Washington Post. Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies. November 23, 2021. “The US-Russia Confrontation Over Ukraine.” Consortium News. International Monetary Fund (IMF). November 22, 2021. “IMF Executive Board Completes First Review Under Stand-By Arrangement for Ukraine, Approves Extension of the Arrangement, Press Release No. 21/342.” Nathan Rott. November 17, 2021. “The Biden administration sold oil and gas leases days after the climate summit.” NPR. Anatol Lieven. November 15, 2021. “Ukraine: The Most Dangerous Problem in the World.” The Nation. John Vandiver and Alison Bath. November 12, 2021. “US Actions in Ukraine Backfiring as Risk of Russian Invasion Grows, Analysts Say.” Military.com Andrew E. Kramer. November 3, 2021. “Weapons Tracing Study Implicates Russia in Ukraine Conflict.” The New York Times. Anton Troianovski and Julian E. Barnes. November 2, 2021. “U.S.-Russia Engagement Deepens as C.I.A. Head Travels to Moscow.” The New York Times. Anton Troianovski and David E. Sanger. October 31, 2021. “Rivals on World Stage, Russia and U.S. Quietly Seek Areas of Accord.” The New York Times. David E. Sanger. October 25, 2021. “Ignoring Sanctions, Russia Renews Broad Cybersurveillance Operation.” The New York Times. Artin DerSimonian. October 19, 2021. “Ice breaking? Russia waives ban on Victoria Nuland.” Responsible Statecraft. Andrew E. Kramer. October 18, 2021. “Russia Breaks Diplomatic Ties With NATO.” The New York Times. Mark Episkopos. October 16, 2021. “Victoria Nuland's Mission to Moscow.” The National Interest. Reuters. September 10, 2021. “Russia and Belarus launch 'hot phase' of huge war games.” Antony Blinken. August 20, 2021. “Imposition of Sanctions in Connection with Nord Stream 2.” U.S. Department of State.](https://www.state.gov/imposition-of-sanctions-in-connection-with-nord-stream-2/) Paul Belkin and Hibbah Kaileh. July 1, 2021. “In Focus: The European Deterrence Initiative: A Budgetary Overview, IF10946.” Congressional Research Service. Henrik B. L. Larsen. June 8, 2021. “Why NATO Should Not Offer Ukraine and Georgia Membership Action Plans. War on the Rocks. NATO. April 26, 2021. “Boosting NATO's presence in the east and southeast.” David E. Sanger and Andrew E. Kramer. April 15, 2021. “U.S. Imposes Stiff Sanctions on Russia, Blaming It for Major Hacking Operation.” The New York Times. The White House. April 15, 2021. “FACT SHEET: Imposing Costs for Harmful Foreign Activities by the Russian Government.” The White House. April 15, 2021. “Executive Order on Blocking Property with Respect to Specified Harmful Foreign Activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.” Reutuers. April 13, 2021. “NATO, not Russia, will decide if Ukraine joins, Stoltenberg says.” Vladimir Isachenkov. April 9, 2021. “Kremlin says it fears full-scale fighting in Ukraine's east.” AP News. Civil.ge. January 20, 2021. “Secretary-designate Blinken Says NATO Door Shall Remain Open to Georgia.” Hans M. Kristensen and Matt Korda. January 12, 2021. “Nuclear Notebook: United States nuclear weapons, 2021.” The Bulletin. Andrew Feinberg. January 9, 2021. “Two years after his infamous phone call with Trump, Zelensky comes to Washington.” The Independent. David E. Sanger, Nicole Perlroth and Julian E. Barnes. January 2, 2021. “As Understanding of Russian Hacking Grows, So Does Alarm.” The New York Times. David E. Sanger, Nicole Perlroth and Eric Schmitt. December 14, 2020. “Scope of Russian Hacking Becomes Clear: Multiple U.S. Agencies Were Hit”. The New York Times. Mark Episkopos. November 11, 2020. “Ukraine's Power Play on Minsk.” The National Interest. Government Accountability Office. October 21, 2020. “Crude Oil Markets: Effects of the Repeal of the Crude Oil Export Ban, GAO-21-118.” Anthony B. Cavender, Thomas A. Campbell, Dan LeFort, Paul S. Marston. December 23, 2015. “U.S. Repeals Longstanding Ban on Export of Crude Oil.” Pillsbury Law. Robert Parry. July 15, 2015. “The Ukraine Mess That Nuland Made.” Truthout. Robert Parry. March 19, 2015. “Ukraine's Poison Pill for Peace Talks.” Consortium News. “Full text of the Minsk agreement” February 12, 2015. Financial Times. NATO. May 8, 2014. “Article 23.” Bucharest Summit Declaration Seumas Milne. April 30, 2014. “It's not Russia that's pushed Ukraine to the brink of war.” The Guardian. David Morrison. Updated May 9, 2014. “How William Hague Deceived the House of Commons on Ukraine.” HuffPost. US Energy Information Administration. March 15, 2014. “16% of Natural Gas Consumed in Europe Flows Through Ukraine.” Energy Central. Robert Parry. February 27, 2014. “Cheering a ‘Democratic' Coup in Ukraine.” Common Dreams. “Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call.” February 7, 2014. BBC News. Adam Taylor. December 16, 2013. “John McCain Went To Ukraine And Stood On Stage With A Man Accused Of Being An Anti-Semitic Neo-Nazi.” Insider. Brian Whelan. December 16, 2013. “Far-right group at heart of Ukraine protests meet US senator.” Channel 4 News. Guardian staff and agencies. December 15, 2013. “John McCain tells Ukraine protesters: 'We are here to support your just cause.'” The Guardian. International Monetary Fund (IMF). October 31, 2013. “Statement by IMF Mission to Ukraine, Press Release No. 13/419.” Carl Gershman. September 26, 2013. “Former Soviet States Stand Up to Russia. Will the U.S.?” The Washington Post. Amanda Winkler. November 14, 2011. “'60 Minutes' Exposes Congressional Insider Trading.” The Christian Post. Images USAID and Ukraine Privatization Fund Bills S.1605 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 Sponsor: Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] Audio Sources President Biden White House Departure December 8, 2021 President Biden briefly stopped and spoke with reporters as he departed the White House for an event in Kansas City, Missouri. He began by addressing the Omicron variant, saying that the Pfizer vaccine is showing encouraging results against the COVID-19 variant. When asked about Russian President Putin and Ukraine, President Biden said if Putin were to invade Ukraine, there “will be severe consequences.” He went on to say that putting U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine is currently “not in the cards.” close Report Video Issue Clips Biden: We hope by Friday, we're going to be able to say and announce to you that we're having meetings at a higher level, not just with us, but with at least four of our major NATO allies and Russia to discuss the future of Russia's concerns relative to NATO writ large. And whether or not we can work out any accommodations as it relates to bringing down the temperature along the eastern front. Biden: We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies if they were to attack under Article Five, it's a sacred obligation. That obligation does not extend to NATO, I mean to Ukraine, but it would depend upon what the rest of the NATO countries were willing to do as well. But the idea of the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia invading Ukraine is not in the cards right now. Biden: Meeting with Putin. I was very straightforward. There were no minced words. It was polite, but I made it very clear, if in fact, he invades Ukraine, there will be severe consequences, severe consequences. Economic consequences, like none he's ever seen or ever had been seen in terms of ease and flows. He knows his immediate response was he understood that and I indicated I knew he would respond. But beyond that, if in fact, we would probably also be required to reinforce our presence in NATO countries to reassure particularly those on the Eastern Front. In addition to that, I made it clear that we would provide the defensive capability to the Ukrainians as well. Hearing on U.S. Policy Toward Russia Senate Committee on Foreign Relations December 7, 2021 Victoria Nuland, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, testified at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. policy toward Russia. She addressed President Biden's earlier call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that Russia would suffer severe consequences if it attacked Ukraine. Other topics included the use of sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, the cooperation of NATO and U.S. allies, Russia's use of energy during conflict, and the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline 00:20 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): As we meet here today Russia is engaged in one of the most significant troop buildups that we have seen along Ukraine's border. To nyone paying attention, this looks like more than posturing, more than attention seeking. The Kremlin's actions clearly pose a real threat of war. 00:40 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): I want to be crystal clear to those listening to this hearing in Moscow, Kiev and other capitals around the world. A Russian invasion will trigger devastating economic sanctions the likes of which we have never seen before. 00:59 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): I proposed a suite of options last month in an amendment to the NDA. The Russian banking sector would be wiped out, sovereign debt would be blocked, Russia would be removed from the Swift payment system, sectoral sanctions would cripple the Russian economy. Putin himself as well as his inner circle would lose access to bank accounts in the West. Russia would effectively be cut off and isolated from the international economic system. Let me be clear, these are not run of the mill sanctions. What is being discussed is at the maximum end of the spectrum, or as I have called it the mother of all sanctions, and I hope that we can come together in a bipartisan way to find a legislative path forward soon, so that we can achieve that. 1:51 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): If Putin invades Ukraine the implications will be devastating for the Russian economy but also for the Russian people. 2:24 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): But is the Kremlin really ready to face a bloody, persistent and drawn out insurgency? How many body bags is Putin willing to accept? 6:03 Sen James Risch (R-ID): This is a clearly clearly bipartisan matter. 7:40 Victoria Nuland: First, let me review what we are seeing. Over the past six weeks, Russia has stepped up planning for potential further military action in Ukraine, positioning close to 100,000 troops around Ukraine's eastern and northern borders and from the south via the Crimean peninsula. Russian plans and positioning of assets also include the means to destabilize Ukraine from within, and an aggressive information operation and an attempt to undermine Ukrainian stability and social cohesion and to pin the blame for any potential escalation on Kiev, and on NATO nations including the United States. Russia's military and intelligence services are continuing to develop the capability to act decisively in Ukraine when ordered to do so, potentially in early 2022. The intended force, if fully mobilized, would be twice the size of what we saw last spring, including approximately 100 battalion tactical groups, or nearly all of Russia's ready ground forces based west of the Urals. We don't know whether President Putin has made a decision to attack Ukraine or to overthrow its government. But we do know he's building the capacity to do so. 10:42 Victoria Nuland: Since 2014 The United States has provided Ukraine with $2.4 billion in security assistance including $450 million this year alone 12:00 Victoria Nuland: Diplomacy remains the best route to settle the conflict in Donbas and address any other problems or grievances. The Minsk agreements offer the best basis for negotiations and the US is prepared to support a revived effort if the parties welcome that. 15:16 Victoria Nuland: You might have seen a press conference today that commission Chairwoman van der Laan gave in Brussels in which she made absolutely clear that the EU would also join in very consequential economic measures of the kind that they have not employed before. 23:26 Victoria Nuland: It's also important, I think, for President Putin to understand as the President conveyed to him today, that this will be different than it was in 2014. If he goes in you will recall then that our sanctions escalated somewhat gradually as he didn't stop moving. This time the intent is to make clear that the initial sanctions in response to any further aggressive moves in Ukraine will be extremely significant and isolating for Russia and for Russian business and for the Russian people. 24:51 Victoria Nuland: As you know, energy is the cash cow that enables these kinds of military deployments. So Putin needs the energy to flow as as much as the consumers need it. But more broadly, we have been counseling Europe for almost a decade now to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, including our opposition to Nord Stream 2 and our opposition to Nord Stream 1 and our opposition to to TurkStream and TurkStream 2 and to have come to find alternative sources of hydrocarbons but also to continue their efforts to go green and end their dependencies. 30:55 Sen. Todd Young (R-IN): President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov have repeatedly indicated that they seek to deny any potential path to NATO membership for Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. Does the administration view this demand is a valid issue for negotiation? Victoria Nuland: No we do not and President Biden made that point crystal clear to President Putin today that the issue of who joins NATO is an issue for NATO to decide it's an issue for applicant countries to decide that no other outside power will or may have a veto or a vote in those decisions. 32:22 Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH): Senator Portman and I offered an amendment to this year's NDAA in that vein to increase military assistance and raise the amount of assistance that could go to lethal weapons. 33:21 Victoria Nuland: But we will not be shy about coming to you as we as we need support and the bipartisan spirit here is really gratifying. 34:08 Victoria Nuland: At the NATO ministerial last week, there was a commitment among allies that we needed more advice and more options from our NATO military authorities with regard to the consequences of any move by Russia deeper into Ukraine and what that would mean for the eastern edge of the alliance and what it would mean about our need to be more forward deployed in the east. 34:44 Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH): Belarus now that it is seems to be totally within Russia's control also presents another front for the potential for Russia to invade Ukraine. Can you speak to whether we view what's happening in Belarus in that way? I know that Ukrainians view it that way because we heard that when we were in Halifax for the international security forum and met with some Ukrainian officials. Victoria Nuland: Well, as as you know, Senator, the situation in Belarus is just tragic and really concerning in many, many ways, which is why the administration along with the European Union in a multilateral way increased sanctions just last week, including blocking the sale to us or to Europe of one of the great sources of Lukashenko has money potash, etc, and sanction some dozens more Belarusians responsible for the violence and intimidation there and particularly now for the weaponization of migrants pushing you know, accepting them from third countries and then pushing them against the EU's border in a very cynical and dangerous way. But I think you're talking about the potential as Lukashenko becomes more and more dependent on the Kremlin and gives up more and more of Belarus is sovereignty, something that he told his people he would never do that Russia could actually use Belarusian territory to march on Ukraine and or mask, its forces as Belarusian forces. All of those -- Those are both things that that we are watching, and it was particularly concerning to see President Lukashenko would make a change in his own posture with regard to Crimea. He had long declined to recognize Russia Russia's claim on Crimea, but he changed tack a week ago which is concerning. 39:08 Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): If there's one thing that Vladimir Putin aught to understand is how unified we are. I mean, there are many things that divide us politically in this country. But when it comes to pushing back on Russian aggression, supporting countries like Ukraine that are trying to develop their freedom, free themselves from their legacy of corruption from their former involvement with the Soviet Union, we are very strongly united. 39:56 Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): What we impose on them and how and how harmful it would be to Russia, you know, unfortunately to Russian people. 40:36 Victoria Nuland: What we're talking about would amount to essentially isolating Russia completely from the global financial system with all of the fallout that that would entail for Russian business, for the Russian people, for their ability to, to work and travel and trade. 41:41 Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): I can't think of a more powerful way to punish Russian aggression than by rolling back what progress has been made, and if at all possible, prevent the Nord Stream 2 from ever being completed. Is that something that is being discussed with allies is that something's being contemplated? Victoria Nuland: Absolutely. And as if, as you recall from the July U.S.-German statement that was very much in that statement that if that any moves, Russian aggression against Ukraine would have a direct impact on the pipeline, and that is our expectation and the conversation that we're having. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): So again, direct impact is one thing, but I'm literally talking about rolling back the pipeline. Loosely define that but I mean, taking action that will prevent it from ever becoming operational. Victoria Nuland: I think if President Putin moves on Ukraine, our expectation is that the pipeline will be suspended. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI): Well, I certainly hope that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would take up legislation to go beyond just suspending it but from ending it permanently. 44:28 Victoria Nuland: I think we can, and I know this is close to your heart as well, need to do better in our Global Engagement Center and in the way we speak to audiences around the world and particularly on these kinds of subjects. 55:04 Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): But something different has happened in that country since what has been referred to as the Revolution of Dignity. I got the chance to be there on the Maidan during the midst of that revolution with you and Senator McCain. 58:56 Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): The Three Seas Initiative is a really important initiative linking essentially the ring of countries that are either former republics or satellite states of the Soviet Union together. They're begging for US participation in their projects necessary to make them more energy independent of Russia. Isn't this an opportunity for the United States to step up and take some of these customers away from Russia's gas station? Victoria Nuland: Absolutely, as we have been doing with our support for more LNG terminals around Europe for many years, as we are doing now in our support for, you know, green alternatives, not just in the United States, but in Europe as well. And many, many US companies are involved with that. But that particular belt of three C's countries is absolutely crucial, as you've said. 1:11:19 Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH): I visited to Maidan in 2014. The tires were still smoldering and the Revolution of Dignity changed everything. You know, Ukraine decided to turn to us and to the West, and to freedom and democracy. And it was a momentous decision. They chose to stand with us. And now it's our turn to stand with them. And we've done that over the years. I mean, if you look at what happened with regard to the Ukraine security assistance initiative, which I co authored. Over the past six years, the United States has transferred defense articles, conducted training with Ukrainian military. We have been very engaged. 1:12:05 Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH): This week we have the NDAA likely to be voted on and likely it will include an increase in that lethal defensive funding. 1:12:14 Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH): What defensive weapons has Ukraine ask for and what is the State Department willing to provide them under an expedited process? 1:18:44 Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA): My concern is this: if the United States and the West's response to a military invasion is sanctions, but no military response, obviously, we're providing military aid to Ukraine. And we've been generous in that way. But if we are not willing to help a Ukrainian military, that's 50,000 people matched up against Russia, I would think that China would conclude, boy, the West sure, I'm going to come to the aid of Taiwan, if we were to do something on Taiwan. Because China would conclude, we're much more militarily powerful than Russia is. And the status questions about Taiwan and sovereignty are a little bit murkier than those about Ukraine. And there's no NATO in the Indo Pacific, we have allies in the Indo Pacific but we don't have a NATO with a charter, with a self defense article. I think China would determine, if the West responds to a military invasion went as far as sanctions but no further, that the United States and other nations would be extremely unlikely to use military force to counter a military invasion of Taiwan. And I think Taiwan would likely conclude the same thing. So I'm very concerned about that. And I wonder, is that a fair concern that I have about how the Chinese and the Taiwanese would view the West's unwillingness to provide more significant military support to stop an invasion by Russia? Is my concern a fair one? Or is my concern overwrought? Victoria Nuland: Senator, in this setting, I would simply say that this is a moment of testing. And I believe that both autocrats around the world and our friends around the world will watch extremely carefully what we do, and it will have implications for generations. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA): And those and those implications could go far beyond Ukraine. Victoria Nuland: They could go well beyond Europe. Yes. 1:22:00 Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL): Then I would imagine that he's already been publicly messaging what his asks are. The first is that we would pull back NATO forces from anywhere near their western border. The second is to completely rule out the admission probably not just of Ukraine, but Georgia as a member of NATO. And the third is to stop arming Ukraine. Of those three conditions that he's publicly messaged already, would the United States agreed to any of those three? Victoria Nuland: All of those would be unacceptable. 1:41:11 Victoria Nuland: And in fact you could argue that in the Donbas he did take control of some 40% of Ukraine's coal reserves which were a major energy input 1:42:04 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): I hope the one thing that anyone in the world who is watching this hearing today takes away is that even on some of the most contentious issues of the day, on this one, there is overwhelming, broad, bipartisan support for Ukraine there is overwhelming bipartisan support for its territorial integrity, there is overwhelming bipartisan support for swift and robust action. And after conversations with some of the members of the committee, I look to galvanize that in some tangible way legislatively as we wait for the days ahead as to what may or may not happen. Ukrainian President Zelensky Meeting with Secretary Austin at the Pentagon August 31, 2021 Secretary Lloyd Austin: As you know sir, President Biden has approved a new $60 million security assistance package including Javelin anti-armor systems and more to enable Ukraine to better defend itself against Russian aggression. Secretary Lloyd Austin: Now this department is committed to strengthening our Strategic Defense Partnership. The US Ukraine strategic defense framework that Minister Tehran and I will sign today enhances our cooperation and advances our shared priorities, such as ensuring that our bilateral security cooperation continues to help Ukraine countering Russian aggression and implementing defense and defense industry reforms in support of Ukraine's NATO membership aspirations, and deepening our cooperation in such areas as Black Sea security, cyber defense and intel sharing. Russian President Putin Annual Call-In Program June 30, 2021 Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual call-in question and answer session with citizens from around the country. During this 70-minute portion, he answered questions on relations with Ukraine, the European Union, and the United States, reiterating that whatever sanctions are imposed against Russia, his country's economy will prevail. Clips Putin: I have already said that it is impossible and it makes no sense to try to restore the Soviet Union by a number of reasons and looking at the demographic processes in a number of former Soviet republic, so it's unreasonable effort to do because we can face a lot of social problems that will be possible to resolve and some issues like the ethnic groups, in various regions, but what should we do about Russia itself without the geopolitical realities and about our internal development? Putin: Why is Ukraine not on the list of countries who are Russia's adversaries? Another question: are you going to meet with Zelensky? Well, why Ukriane is not on the list of adversaries? That's because I do not think that the Ukrainian people are our adversaries. I said it many times and I will say it again. The Ukrainians and Russians, that's one people, one nation. Putin: What I'm worried about is a fundamental thing. They are trying to open up military bases near or inside Ukraine. Making the territory of Ukraine, the territory that's close on the border with Russia a military platform for other countries is a threat to the security of Russia. And this is what worries us. This is what we have to think about. Discussion: Foreign Affairs Issue Launch with Former Vice President Joe Biden Council on Foreign Affairs January 23, 2018 Clips 00:06:15 Joe Biden: They cannot compete against a unified West. I think that is Putin's judgment. And so everything he can do to dismantle the post-World War II liberal world order, including NATO and the EU, I think, is viewed as in their immediate self-interest. 00:24:15 Haass: In the piece, the two of you say that there's no truth that the United States—unlike what Putin seems to believe or say, that the U.S. is seeking regime change in Russia. So the question I have is, should we be? And if not, if we shouldn't be seeking regime change, what should we be seeking in the way of political change inside Russia? What's an appropriate agenda for the United States vis-à-vis Russia, internally? 00:24:30 Biden: I'll give you one concrete example. I was—not I, but it just happened to be that was the assignment I got. I got all the good ones. And so I got Ukraine. And I remember going over, convincing our team, our leaders to—convincing that we should be providing for loan guarantees. And I went over, I guess, the 12th, 13th time to Kiev. And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from Poroshenko and from Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn't. So they said they had—they were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, I'm not going to—or, we're not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You're not the president. The president said—I said, call him. (Laughter.) I said, I'm telling you, you're not getting the billion dollars. I said, you're not getting the billion. I'm going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money. Well, son of a bitch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time. Confirmation Hearing: Defense Secretary Confirmation Hearing Senate Armed Services Committee January 12, 2017 00:20:15 Sen. McCain: For seven decades, the United States has played a unique role in the world. We've not only put America first, but we've done so by maintaining and advancing a world order that has expanded security, prosperity, and freedom. This has required our alliances, our trade, our diplomacy, our values, but most of all, our military for when would-be aggressors aspire to threaten world order. It's the global striking power of America's armed forces that must deter or thwart their ambitions. Too many Americans, too many Americans seem to have forgotten this in recent years. Too many have forgotten that our world order is not self-sustaining. Too many have forgotten that while the threats we face may not have purely military solutions, they all have military dimensions. In short, too many have forgotten that hard power matters—having it, threatening it, leveraging it for diplomacy, and, at times, using it. Fairly or not, there is a perception around the world that America is weak and distracted, and that has only emboldened our adversaries to challenge the current world order. Daily Briefing: Nuland Tape Press Conference February 6, 2014. Jen Psaki, State Department Spokesperson 0:19 Reporter: Can you say whether you—if this call is a recording of an authentic conversation between Assistant Secretary Nuland and Ambassador Pyatt? Jen Psaki: Well, I'm not going to confirm or outline details. I understand there are a lot of reports out there, and there's a recording out there, but I'm not going to confirm a private diplomatic conversation. Reporter: So you are not saying that you believe this is a—you think this is not authentic? You think this is a— Psaki: It's not an accusation I'm making. I'm just not going to confirm the specifics of it. Reporter: Well, you can't even say whether there was a—that this call—you believe that this call, you believe that this recording is a recording of a real telephone call? Psaki: I didn't say it was inauthentic. I think we can leave it at that. Reporter: Okay, so, you're allowing the fact that it is authentic. Psaki: Yes. Reporter: “Yes,” okay. Psaki: Do you have a question about it? Phone Conversation: Nuland-Pyatt Leaked Phone Conversation February 4, 2014 Nuland: Good. So I don't think Klitsch [Vitali Klitschko] should go into the government. I don't think it's necessary, I don't think it's a good idea. Pyatt: Yeah, I mean I guess, in terms of him not going into the government, just sort of letting him stay out and do his political homework and stuff. I'm just thinking in terms of, sort of, the process moving ahead, we want to keep the moderate Democrats together. The problem is going to be Tyahnybok and his guys and I'm sure that's part of what Yanukovych is calculating on all this. Nuland: I think Yatz [Arseniy Yatsenyuk] is the guy with the economic experience, the governing experience. He's the guy. What he needs is Klitsch [Vitali Klitschko] And Tyahnybok On the outside, he needs to be talking to them four times a week. You know, I just think Klitsch [Vitali Klitschko] Going in he's going to be at that level working for Yatsenyuk it's just not gonna work. Pyatt: We want to get someone out here with and international personality to come out here and help to midwife this thing. And then the other issue is some kind of outreach to Yanukovych. We'll probably regroup on that tomorrow as we see how things fall into place. Nuland: So on that piece, Jeff, I wrote the note, Sullivan's come back to me saying “you need Biden,” and I said probably tomorrow for an attaboy and get the deeds to stick, Biden's willing. Pyatt Great. Press Conference: Senator John McCain on Ukraine at the Atlantic Council C-SPAN December 19, 2013. 00:16:45 McCain: If Ukraine's political crisis persists or deepens, which is a real possibility, we must support creative Ukrainian efforts to resolve it. Senator Murphy and I heard a few such ideas last weekend—from holding early elections, as the opposition is now demanding, to the institution of a technocratic government with a mandate to make the difficult reforms required for Ukraine's long-term economic health and sustainable development. Decisions such as these are for Ukrainians to make—no one else—and if they request our assistance, we should provide it where possible. Finally, we must encourage the European Union and the IMF to keep their doors open to Ukraine. Ultimately, the support of both institutions is indispensable for Ukraine's future. And eventually, a Ukrainian President, either this one or a future one, will be prepared to accept the fundamental choice facing the country, which is this: While there are real short-term costs to the political and economic reforms required for IMF assistance and EU integration, and while President Putin will likely add to these costs by retaliating against Ukraine's economy, the long-term benefits for Ukraine in taking these tough steps are far greater and almost limitless. This decision cannot be borne by one person alone in Ukraine. Nor should it be. It must be shared—both the risks and the rewards—by all Ukrainians, especially the opposition and business elite. It must also be shared by the EU, the IMF and the United States. All of us in the West should be prepared to help Ukraine, financially and otherwise, to overcome the short-term pain that reforms will require and Russia may inflict. Discussion: Beyond NAFTA and GATT C-SPAN April 20, 1994 Arthur Dunkel, Director General of the UN 26:00:00 Dunkel: If I look back at the last 25 years, what did we have? We had two worlds: The so-called Market Economy world and the centrally planned world; the centrally planned world disappeared. One of the main challenges of the Uruguay round has been to create a world wide system. I think we have to think of that. Secondly, why a world wide system? Because, basically, I consider that if governments cooperate in trade policy field, you reduce the risks of tension – political tension and even worse than that.” Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Peter Oliver, journalist and RT correspondent in Berlin, joins the Misfits to talk about the ongoing OSCE meetings taking place in Stockholm amid growing tensions in Ukraine and the Baltic. We talk about how the meeting has gotten to an ominous start with threats bandied about by the United States and Russia, particularly on Ukraine, with Foreign Minister Lavrov warning that “the nightmarish scenario of military confrontation is returning” as NATO creeps closer to Russia's borders, and whether there is a behind the scenes effort to de-escalate the situations and the prospects for a peaceful resolution. John Kiriakou, co-host of The Backstory on Radio Sputnik, joins us to talk about a report alleging that over the past 14 years, the Central Intelligence Agency has secretly amassed credible evidence that at least 10 of its employees and contractors committed sexual crimes involving children, how the agency has been sexualized and scandals like these are commonplace, and the difficulty of prosecuting these crimes due to the veil of secrecy enveloping the organization.Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo, professor of public health at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, joins us to talk about the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which continues to spread around the world and has now been detected in the U.S., how boosters and testing could help in mitigating this new wave of the pandemic, and how resources should be distributed equitably in order to stop further spread of the disease. Monica Cruz, host and reporter with BreakThrough News, talks to us about housing and the cost of living and how it has steadily increased throughout the pandemic, with major cities globally becoming increasingly inaccessible to working people, the proposed new union election at Amazon in Alabama, ongoing organizing efforts in Staten Island, and a win for striking Kellogg's workers.Chris Garaffa, web developer, technologist, security and privacy consultant, talks to us about reports that China is becoming the world's largest data broker, what this means for privacy, how this impacts the growing tensions with the U.S., and Twitter removing “state linked information operations.”

I confess at this stage I couldn't think of much to say about the Russian elections that wasn't obvious, or hadn't been said, so instead I recorded a 'magazine' episode covering a range of other topics:Team Navalny's latest video (here), this time on the corruption of Foreign Minister Lavrov, and why the opposition needs a new big ideaThe Zapad-2021 exercises and their political significance (coverage by Mike Kofman here and Konrad Muzyka here)Three stories that went under-reported in Russia: on AUKUS, on Putin's health (my Spectator piece is here) and Sputnik VRumours that Sergei Shoigu is being sent to Siberia - in a good way.You can also follow my blog, In Moscow's Shadows, and become one of the podcast's supporting Patrons and gain question-asking rights and access to exclusive extra materials right here. 

Airdate May 16, 2021: Fareed speaks to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the American diplomatic plan for Israel and Gaza, the future of the Iran Nuclear deal, and what he said when he met this week with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Lavrov. Then, a panel discussing the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Peter Beinart, Noura Erakat and Dan Senor. Plus, Zachary Karabell on his new book about how business built America and what modern capitalism should look like. And lastly, as the Arctic region continues to defrost, creating a new political and economic horizon, Fareed examines Russia's intentions (and why they are worrying to the West).       GUESTS: Anthony Blinken, Noura Erakat, Peter Beinart, Dan Senor, Zachary Karabell                                            To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Photo: No known restrictions on publication.1896 MoscowThe New John Batchelor ShowRepresented by CBS News Radio@Batchelorshow Why is Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov touring the Gulf? Malcolm Hoenlein @Conf_of_pres@ThadMcCotter @theamgreatnesshttps://english.pravda.ru/world/147387-lavrov_gulf/

The Assad regime and Russia continue assault on Syria’s northwest, and Manchester City keep Premier League title. This is TRT World’s Daily News Brief for Monday, May 13th. Regime forces make advances in northwest Syria Syrian regime forces advance forward into parts of Idlib and Hama, the last areas controlled by the opposition and rebels. As Bashar al Assad’s forces push forward on the ground, ally Russia has been pounded the region with over 200 air strikes. The demilitarised zone has been rocked by violence since April 30, with dozens dead and 150,000 displaced. Social media sites blocked in Sri Lanka after fresh violence Sri Lanka has imposed a temporary and partial ban on social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp. The platforms were suspended after rioters attacked Muslim homes and shops following a dispute which started on Facebook. The country is still dealing with the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings which killed more than 250 people. Attackers kill 6 people at Catholic church in Burkina Faso Gunmen killed six people – a priest and five worshippers – in a Catholic church in Burkina Faso. According to the mayor of Dablo, nearly 20 to 30 attackers then set fire to the church, several shops and looted a health centre. This is the second attack on a church in two weeks. Pompeo to discuss Iran in Brussels US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will discuss Iran with European officials in Brussels. The talks follow Iranian President Rouhani’s decision to partially stop complying with the 2015 nuclear accord. Pompeo will meet Russia’s President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov in Sochi as planned but has cancelled the Moscow leg of his Russia trip. Manchester City wins Premier League title And finally, Manchester City retained the Premier League trophy after beating Brighton 4-1 on the final day of the season. The Guardiola team reached the title one point above Liverpool after an intense race as the top two finished with a record 195 points combined. "Liverpool was exceptional. I don’t mean to rub it in, it is what it is. They didn’t deserve to lose," City captain Vincent Kompany said. And that’s your daily news brief from TRT World ... For more, head to TRTWorld.com.

Jim Jatras discusses NATO’s expansion into Latin America via Brazil and the big picture of what he sees happening in Venezuela, considering Russian and Chinese broader interests. We also examine NATO in light of its 70th anniversary and Foreign Minister Lavrov’s comments on the “reluctance of the United States and its western allies to agree […]

Jim Jatras discusses NATO’s expansion into Latin America via Brazil and the big picture of what he sees happening in Venezuela, considering Russian and Chinese broader interests. We also examine NATO in light of its 70th anniversary and Foreign Minister Lavrov’s comments on the “reluctance of the United States and its western allies to agree […]

In today's podcast we discuss some answers to two Russian claims. No, Russia and America won't be linking up in a cyber alliance. And no, no one at the G20 meetings actually bought the line about election hacking retailed there by President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov. NotPetya recovery continues. Android infestations in the wild. US power plants warned to be alert for cyberattack. Criminals compromise self-service food kiosks; others phish with official-looking Australian emails as bait. Ben Yelin from UMD CHHS reviews license plate reader laws. ISIS adopts misspelling as a form of OPSEC.

Today’s Guest Brian Glyn Williams is today’s special guest for our discussion about Syria. Brian is a professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and a former Counterterrorism Center, Central Intelligence Agency officer.   Brian’s Website:  http://www.brianglynwilliams.com/ Brian book, “Counter Jihad: America's Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria” https://www.amazon.com/Counter-Jihad-Experience-Afghanistan-Foundation-ebook/dp/B01MAXUKIO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494194559&sr=8-1&keywords=brian+counter+jihad   In the News The new jobs numbers are out. Unemployment falls slightly to 4.4% after the economy adds 211,000 new jobs. The labor force participation rate, at 62.9 percent, changed little in April and hasshown little movement over the past year. The employment-population ratio, at 60.2percent, was also little changed over the month but was up by 0.5 percentage point sinceDecember. Don’t rely on social media memes. Bureau of Labor Statistic:  https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm   After 3 years in captivity, 82 girls kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram were released in Nigeria.  Over 100 girls are believed to remain in captivity by the group.  It is unclear at this time if the Nigerian government or any other organization negotiated for the release.  You may remember the Bring Back Our Girls campaign in 2014.  Here are some remarks during that time from former First Lady Michelle Obama.     The Department of Defense announced today the death of a U.S. Navy sailor who was serving  in support of a Somali National Army-led operation with the U.S. Africa Command.Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, 38, of Falmouth, Maine, was killed during an operation against al-Shabaab on May 5 in a remote area approximately 40 miles west of Mogadishu.He was assigned to an East Coast based special warfare unit. In International News Three unexploded bombs from World War II were discovered in Hannover, Germany on Sunday and 50,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes as a precaution while the bombs were defused.  There are at least four other times in the last seven years in which unexploded ordnance from World War II were discovered in Europe.   Emmanuel Macron won the French election on Sunday, beating Marine Le Pen whose platform was anti-EU in nature and called for tougher policies to combat terrorism in France.  Macron is 39 years old and will be the youngest leader in France since Napoleon.      Dialog continues between the U.S. and Russia regarding the conflict in Syria.  U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with the russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on Saturday about efforts to de-escalate the ongoing conflict with an eye toward further dialog during talks in Geneva.   To learn about the events in the MIddle East over the last several years that led to the current situation in Syria, be sure to keep listening as our guest today is Professor of Islamic History, Brian Williams who is going to explain it all.   In Tech News The newest version of the Raspberry Pi is now able to integrate Google’s voice application which essentially can turn the small computer into an inexpensive Google Home type device.  A little background information:  the Raspberry Pi is a small single-board computer frequently used by tech enthusiasts to build anything from lighting systems to small robots.  The device was originally developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in order to promote the teaching of basic computer science.     Check out the Raspberry Pi website for more details:  https://www.raspberrypi.org/     Samsung Galaxy S8 owners have the option to buy a physical keyboard accessory.  The keyboard might resemble the physical tactile feel that some of us used to know on our BlackBerry devices.  The accessory slips over the bottom part of the phone where you would normally find your virtual keyboard and is priced at $59.99.   ZDNet has a good write-up on the keyboard:  http://www.zdnet.com/article/samsung-keyboard-cover-for-galaxy-s8-plus-a-physical-keyboard-when-you-need-it/   Also, be sure to listen to Michael Fisher’s review of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on last Monday’s show.   http://www.factfruit.com/may-1st-2017-top-news-headlines-interview-michael-fisher-themrmobile-youtube/  

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by political analysts Alexander Mercouris and Mark Sleboda to analyze why Russia and the United States failed to come to an agreement on Syria at the G20 Summit.Obama and Putin met for about 90 minutes on the sidelines of the summit, in addition to a meeting between Secretary of State Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov. President Obama says that “gaps of trust” exist between the U.S. and Russia and that has hampered any kind of agreement on Syria. What really happened at the G20? Is it just a trust issue?Obama has become the first U.S. President to visit Laos where he will attend the ASEAN Summit. Is Obama trying to lure Laos into a closer relationship to counter China? Becker is joined by writer and columnist Patrick Lawrence, whose latest book is “Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century”, to discuss the meaning of Obama's historic visit.Could the U.S pivot to Asia be undermined by tension with the Philippines? Obama has scrapped a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, but does the real problem lay in the Philippines wanting an independent foreign policy? Bernadette Ellorin, chairperson of BAYAN-USA, talks about what the rise of Duterte means for the future of U.S.-Philippines relations.