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U.S. Foreign Policy News | Russia & Europe

13 May 2022

The Bizarre, Unanimous Dem Support for the $40b War Package to Raytheon and CIA: "For Ukraine"

Except for two missing members, all House Democrats — including all six members of the "Squad" — voted for this gigantic war package, one of the largest the U.S. has spent at once in decades.

Rand Paul Blocks Senate Vote on $40 Billion Ukraine Aid

First phone call between Russian and US defense chiefs since start of Ukraine conflict

13 May 2022

WATCH: US pours billions into Ukraine proxy war while keeping public in the dark

From The Grayzone: The US House has approved another $40 billion for the proxy war in Ukraine, all while the realities on the ground are being concealed. Seth Harp, an investigative journalist, contributing editor at Rolling Stone and US Army veteran who recently reported from Ukraine, on the hidden realities of the dangerous conflict.

10 May 2022

WATCH: Worse than war? Andy Mok, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization

There is little doubt that the world we knew just three years ago is no more, and it keeps being transformed faster than ever. Even the nature of change is changing. How is this seen from China, a country with a 5,000-year-long view of history and yet a very adaptive approach to dealing with shifting grounds? To discuss that, RT's "World's Apart" is joined by Andy Mok, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization.

WATCH: Killing Russian Culture

RT documentary. The gist of what is going on with Russian culture in the West is reflected in a newspaper headline: ‘The show can’t go on’. Sports and the arts – areas in which Russia has traditionally excelled – are now under attack. Russian singers, artists, and directors find their names crossed out from concert schedules and festival shortlists. The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra cut ties with conductor Valery Gergiev, and pianist Denis Matsuev found his name crossed out from Carnegie Hall posters. This cancel culture has affected all disciplines in which Russian national teams compete – even reaching Beijing, where the Paralympians went for the 2022 Winter Olympics. After all their hard work and training, the athletes were told they were banned from the Games. How will athletes and artists survive the canceling of Russian culture?

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9 May 2022

Biden revives World War II arms act for Ukraine

President Joe Biden on Monday signed the Lend-Lease Act of 2022 into law. The Act, previously used to arm the Allies of World War II, will expedite American arms shipments to Ukraine, and has been warmly welcomed in Kiev.

Map of NATO's Expansion Towards Russia

8 May 2022

G7 leaders impose new sanctions on Russia over Ukraine war

The Group of Seven leaders have committed to phasing out dependency on Russian energy as they announced fresh sanctions as part of an “unprecedented” package of coordinated sanctions.

The G7, which unites the world’s seven wealthiest nations, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – has escalated a campaign against Russian elites who support President Vladimir Putin

U.S. targets Russian TV stations in new sanctions

8 May 2022

WATCH: RT Weekly News Recap

[The woman interviewed at the 2 minute mark, Natalia Usmanova, was also interviewed by many western news agencies who excluded her statement that the Ukrainian military were not letting civilians evacuate from Mariupol's Avozstal factory.]

WATCH ABC News interview with the same woman, Natalia Usmanova

Germany's Der Spiegel removes clip in which Azovstal evacuee criticized Ukraine

Russian envoy says Reuters 'censored' Mariupol evacuee's comments

6 May 2022

WATCH: CrossTalk on Ukraine - Ever more escalation

American assistance to Ukraine continues apace. So much so it begs the question: At what point will Russia consider the US to be a co-belligerent in this conflict? The fact is Washington is at war with Russia, and Moscow is being forced to respond.

6 May 2022

Biden told officials media reports about U.S. intel sharing with Ukraine are counterproductive

President Joe Biden reportedly told CIA Director William Burns, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that intel leaks “distract from our objective”. one official said. The other official said Biden conveyed that the leaks should stop.

U.S. intel helped Ukraine sink Russian flagship Moskva, officials say

US denies it helped sink Russian flagship

US Officials Say Their Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals

Pentagon denies sharing intel with Ukraine to ‘kill’ Russian generals

WATCH: Donbass: I'm Alive! Mariupol survivors of Ukrainian attacks find shelter

New RT documentary “It’s the Azov battalion. They forced people out of their houses and into basements. Then tanks started shooting from here, from there,” a Mariupol resident shared her story with the film crew. Over 400,000 people in Mariupol had to go underground because they couldn’t leave the city. The film tracks stories of people who had to survive in Mariupol under Ukrainian shelling. Sheltering in cellars and watching Ukrainian tanks firing at residential buildings. They have all gone through hell and back. Now they’re happy to be alive and hope for a new beginning. (Apr 26, 2022, 50 mins,)

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WATCH: Fast Forward to Fascism - Ukrainian nationalism in the making

New RT documentary examining what happened in Ukraine before Russia invaded in February, and how what's happening today is a result of consistent & systematic planning to form an ideology to dehumanize Russians. Ukrainian nationalists have been taught how to lead a war on social media, eventually launching a guided communication battle against the Russian people. The film examines the 2014 coup and actions of Ukrainian neo-Nazi groups like Azov, Aidar and Pravy Sektor and their continued glorification of Stepan Bandera who was a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator. Yet, in 2010, Bandera was pronounced a national hero, with torch-lit marches in his honor ever since. (Apr. 29, 2022, 27 mins,)

5 May 2022

The world isn't lining up behind the West against Russia

Countries representing more than half of the world’s population declined to condemn Russia’s invasion at the UN and the momentum toward Moscow’s international isolation seems to have slowed.

...Customers of Russian arms, oil and agricultural products have clear incentives to avoid Putin’s ire, but that's only part of the story, as many in the global south see the Western response as hypocritical.

...At a time when the world seems to be breaking into geopolitical blocs — with the U.S. on one side and China and Russia on the other — many leaders would rather be on the sidelines than stuck in the middle -- historical "baggage" linked to Western imperialism doesn't help either.

28 Apr 2022

The real Zelensky: from celebrity populist to unpopular Pinochet-style neoliberal

Ukrainian academic Olga Baysha details Volodymyr Zelensky’s embrace of widely loathed neoliberal policies, his repression of rivals, and how his actions fueled the current war with Russia.

"What about neoliberal reforms initiated by Zelensky? You can judge on their popularity by opinion polls – up to 72% of Ukrainians did not support his land reform, the flagship of Zelensky’s neoliberal program. After his party approved it despite people’s indignation, Zelensky’s rating fell from 73 percent in Spring 2019 to 23 percent in January 2022."

"In early February 2021, first three oppositional television channels were shut down. Another oppositional channel was banned in the beginning of 2022, before the beginning of the war. After the war broke out, in March, dozens of independent journalists, bloggers, and analysts were arrested; most of them are of leftist views. In April 2022, television channels of right-wing leaning were shut down as well. Moreover, Zelensky signed a decree obliging all Ukrainian channels to broadcast a single telethon, presenting only one pro-governmental view on the war" (emphasis added).

"In March 2022, 11 oppositional parties were banned"

"Answering the question of a French reporter on March 5, 2022 — the tenth day of the Russian invasion — on how his life had changed with thee beginning of the war, Zelensky replied with a smile of delight: â€œToday, my life is beautiful. I believe that I am needed. I feel it is the most important meaning in life to be needed.""

5 May 2022

U.S. intel helped Ukraine sink Russian flagship Moskva, officials say

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet sank on April 14 after being struck by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles, according to U.S. officials.

US Officials Say Their Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals

Pentagon denies sharing intel with Ukraine to ‘kill’ Russian generals

5 May 2022

US Ambassador: It's a Russian 'conspiracy theory and disinformation' that Ukraine has 'bombed their own buildings, attacked their own people'

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield the Security Council: "Russia has even claimed that Ukraine is attacking itself. That they bombed their own buildings, attacked their own people, and assaulted their own democracy. These lies defy all logic, evidence, and common sense. Russia is spreading pure disinformation. The truth is well known. Russia is the only perpetrator of this war. So, it’s hard to understand while some Council members continue to call on “all parties” to desist.

2 May 2022

Want to contact CIA from Russia? Agency points to darknet

The CIA says Russians disaffected by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine may be trying to get in touch with U.S. intelligence — and it wants them to go to the darknet.

The agency on Monday began a new push to promote its presence on a part of the internet accessible only through specialized tools that provide more anonymity. The CIA has a darknet site that has the same features as its regular homepage but accessible only through the Tor internet browser, which has encryption features not available on most regular browsers.

Instructions in English and Russian on how to access the darknet site appeared Monday on the CIA’s social media channels. The agency hopes Russians living abroad can share the instructions with contacts inside the country.

1 May 2022

Biden Establishes a Ministry of Truth

The Department of Homeland Security has announced the formation of the Disinformation Governance Board—charged, according to Politico, with “countering misinformation related to homeland security, focused specifically on irregular migration and Russia.” In a twist too implausible for fiction, the abbreviation is DGB, one letter off from KGB.

Is the West at war with disinformation or dissent?

US support of Neo-Nazis in Ukraine since 2014

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29 Apr 2022

Lavrov: Russia Not Threatening Anyone With Nuclear War

The Russian foreign minister has called on all big five nuclear powers to commit to ruling out nuclear war.

Lavrov also said that Russia does not consider itself to be at war with NATO, but “unfortunately, NATO, it seems, considers itself to be at war with Russia."

"NATO and European Union leaders, many of them, in England, in the United States, Poland, France, Germany and of course European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrell, they bluntly, publicly and consistently say, ‘Putin must fail, Russia must be defeated.’ When you use this terminology, I believe you think that you are at war with the person who you want to be defeated.”

WATCH: CrossTalk: West’s war on Russia

RT show - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says he will move heaven and earth to assist Ukraine. At the same time, the EU’s foreign policy chief exclaims relations with Russia should be rebuilt. Talk about a united messaging problem! This is akin to saying ‘to save Ukraine, the West must destroy it.’

With guests Earl Rasmussen, John Laughland, and Alex Mihailovich.. (April 29, 2022, 50 mins,)

29 Apr 2022

China names US goals in Ukraine

“While the international community is calling for the end to hostilities, the US keeps adding fuel to the fire and shows readiness to fight until the last Ukrainian,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian insisted, referring to the ongoing financial aid and deliveries of weapons from Washington to Kiev.

“Their actual goal isn't achieving peace, but making sure that the conflict drags on. As [the Americans] say it themselves, they're looking to weaken Russia,” he said.

“As for whether the US brings peace or war, security or chaos – I suppose we all know the answers to those questions,” the spokesman added.

30 Apr 2022

Crisis in Ukraine result of US desire to build unipolar world – Russia

Days earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "And it’s very important, even in this moment of difficulty, to keep alive the values of multilateralism. We need a world that is multipolar, with multilateral institutions"

29 Apr 2022

Kremlin accuses US of ‘expropriation’

Washington’s plan to expand its authority to “seize and forfeit” the assets of so-called Russian “oligarchs” to provide financial aid to Kiev is nothing but “expropriation” that tramples on the very right to private property, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.

“This is a very dangerous precedent,” he warned, adding that such an action would be a “grave violation of any legal norms.”

Biden endorses proposal to direct seized Russian assets to support Ukraine

Pentagon Says the US Is Training Ukrainian Forces in Germany

29 Apr 2022

Ukraine cracks down on ‘traitors’ helping Russian troops

Ukrainian authorities are cracking down on anyone suspected of aiding Russian troops under laws enacted by Ukraine's parliament and signed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Feb. 24 invasion. Offenders face up to 15 years in prison for acts of collaborating with the invaders or showing public support for them.

Washington Post: At least 11 [Ukrainian attacks inside Russia] appear to have occurred since the fighting began Feb. 24, most of them since late last week. Most seem to have involved shelling or triggered Russian antiaircraft weaponry. A handful were suspicious explosions at Russian military facilities near the border.

WATCH: Fast Forward to Fascism - Ukrainian nationalism in the making

New RT documentary examining what happened in Ukraine before Russia invaded in February, and how what's happening today is a result of consistent & systematic planning to form an ideology to dehumanize Russians. Nationalists have been taught how to lead a war on social media, eventually launching a guided communication battle against the Russian people. The film examines the 2014 coup and actions of neo-Nazi groups like Azov, Aidar and Pravy Sektor and their continued glorification of Stepan Bandera who was a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator. Yet, in 2010, Bandera was pronounced a national hero, with torch-lit marches in his honor ever since. (Apr. 29, 2022, 27 mins,)

WATCH: Donbass: I'm Alive! Mariupol survivors of Ukrainian attacks find shelter