Russia

Photo: Peace protest at the White House. Credit: iacenter.org

Diplomacy for Ukraine Is Spelled M-i-n-s-k

A Memo to Congress

Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies

NEW YORK (IDN) — While the Biden administration is sending more troops and weapons to inflame the Ukraine conflict and Congress is pouring more fuel on the fire, the American people are on a totally different track.

A December 2021 poll found that a plurality of Americans in both political parties prefer to resolve differences over Ukraine through diplomacy. Another December poll found that a plurality of Americans (48 per cent) would oppose going to war with Russia should it invade Ukraine, with only 27 per cent favouring U.S. military involvement.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 February 2022

The Sad Story of Western Wrongs to Russia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Are the West's chickens coming home to roost? If the Western powers had gambled 2% of NATO's budget and met the Soviet Union's economic needs in President Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost era there would have been a much less de-stabilising transition and today, there would have been a recognisable democracy.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Russia; 08 February 2022

As Threats of War Loom Over Ukraine, the Illegality of NATO Is Laid Bare

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) — Russia understandably fears the eastward expansion of NATO. Recently NATO countries, led by the United States, have supplied arms to Ukraine. There is a threat that the tensions building up in the region will lead to war. Such a development would be catastrophic for the entire world. Against this backdrop, let us examine the question of NATO's illegality.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 05 February 2022

Photo: U.S. supports Zelensky's efforts to resolve conflict in Donbas. Source: ukrinform.net

America Is Reaping What It Sowed in Ukraine

Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies *

NEW YORK (IDN) — So what are Americans to believe about the rising tensions over Ukraine? The United States and Russia both claim their escalations are defensive, responding to threats and escalations by the other side, but the resulting spiral of escalation can only make war more likely. Ukrainian President Zelensky is warning that “panic” by U.S. and Western leaders is already causing economic destabilization in Ukraine.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 01 February 2022

Image source: Map of Ukraine conflict region. Courtesy of Adobe Stock. Source: RUSI

The West Needs to Understand Why Ukraine Is So Important to Russia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — “George, you have to understand that Ukraine is not even a country. Part of its territory is in Eastern Europe and the greater part was given to us.” These were the ominous words of President Vladimir Putin of Russia to President George W. Bush in Bucharest, Romania, at a NATO summit in April 2008. (This is the beginning paragraph of Fiona Hills’s article on January 24 in New York Times.)

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 25 January 2022

Image: Wikimedia Commons, Ministry of Defence

Behind Russia’s Security Concerns

Viewpoint by Alexey Gromyko*

This article was issued by the European Leadership Network on January 20, 2022.

MOSCOW (IDN) — The current discussions between Russia and NATO pivot on Russia’s requirement for the Alliance to provide legally binding security guarantees: specifically, that the alliance will not expand east, which will require revoking the 2008 NATO Bucharest summit decision that Ukraine and Georgia “will become members of NATO”.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 21 January 2022

Photo: Klovsky Palace, home to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. CC BY-SA 3.0

UN Can Help Defuse the Ukraine Conflict

Viewpoint by Boaventura de Sousa Santos*

This article was issued by Other News and is being republished with their permission.

COIMBRA, Portugal (IDN) — The difficult challenges facing today’s world—the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the escalating Cold War, the risk of a nuclear conflict, the increase in human rights violations and the exponential rise in the number of refugees and hungry people—more than ever demand active intervention on the part of the UN, whose mandate includes maintaining collective peace and security, as well as defending and fostering human rights.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 20 January 2022

Photo: First Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in October 2019. Credit: kremlin.ru

Russia Chooses St. Petersburg for Second African Leaders Summit

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) — With high optimism and high desire to strengthen its geopolitical influence, Russian authorities are gearing up to hold the second African leaders' summit in St. Petersburg scheduled early November 2022. The gathering, as expected, will focus on enhancing further constructive cooperation and advancing integration processes within the framework of the African Union and a number of sub-regional structures.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 12 January 2022

Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sign the statements on elevating bilateral ties to the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era and on strengthening contemporary global strategic stability, after their talks in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

21st-Century Chinese-Russian Partnership Unaffected by Historical Differences

Viewpoint by John P. Ruehl

This article was produced by Globetrotter. John P. Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. He is currently finishing a book on Russia to be published in 2022. Source: Globetrotter.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — The 21st century has seen the forging of “cooperative” relations between China and Russia, with the benefits of this new partnership outweighing the historical differences between these two countries that share a mutual goal to diminish the dominance of the United States in world affairs.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 12 January 2022

Kazakhstan Might Turn Out to Be Russia’s Next Ukraine

Viewpoint by James M. Dorsey*

SINGAPORE (IDN) – With Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s borders, it’s not only Ukrainians who worry about what President Vladimir Putin may have in store for them. It’s Kazakhs too.

For now, Kazakhs don’t have to be immediately concerned about Russian troop movements. What unsettles them is years of Russian rhetoric, spearheaded by Mr Putin’s repeated comments, stressing the ideological rather than the security aspect of the build-up against Ukraine and verbal assaults on Kazakhstan.