The Independent reflected on the crisis in Ukraine in a recently published article titled “Now try diplomacy: For all the violence of the past year, Ukraine and Russia need each other”.
The author, though, questions “but are they brave enough to negotiate peace?”, claiming that it is important to keep in mind that this war is taking place “in the backyard of a major nuclear power,” which until recently perceived Ukraine as an integral part of itself, the newspaper notes.“The prospect of Ukraine’s accession to the EU and to Nato were felt as body blows to Russia’s amour propre, the latest strokes of a post-Cold War Atlantic policy in which Russia felt humiliated at every turn. In a perfect world, Ukraine should be perfectly free to make its own geopolitical choices. But the world is far from perfect and, as Kiev understands, Ukraine’s relationship with Russia is far more substantive than its relationship with the EU,” the article reads. It also further argues that Ukraine needs Russia, since “no Western country is contemplating or has ever contemplated sending Kiev lethal military aid, let alone troops to bolster Kiev’s army, this is not a war Ukraine can win. Russia is huge, and has no trouble projecting its force deep inside Ukraine. Ukraine is small and weak. If this goes on, Ukraine will simply be crushed.” Later on, the author calls for peace negotiations. “While making its abhorrence of Mr Putin’s brutal policies abundantly clear, the West should be straining every diplomatic muscle to bring the two sides to the negotiating table. A far wider peace depends on it,” the article concludes.The journal Foreign Policy reports on “Why Putin Is the Big Winner in Greece’s Elections”. It claims that the election of a left-wing Greek leader could boost Vladimir Putin’s fight against recent Western sanctions. “Greece’s election of a self-proclaimed radical leftist could hand an unexpected win to Russian President Vladimir Putin by exacerbating divisions within Europe over how to respond to Moscow’s latest aggressive moves in Ukraine,” the article reads.A meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of European countries, who are expected to discuss new sanctions against Russia, is scheduled for next Thursday. It is a moment of difficult choice for Europe – in the political sense, and for Russia – in the economic sense, the article says. Foreign Policy magazine reminds that it was the Russian ambassador who first paid a visit to the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras. “But the latest effort to put the squeeze on Moscow comes at a tricky time politically for Europe and financially for Russia. The surprising victory Sunday by the left-wing Syriza party in Greece widens the existing fissures in Europe regarding Russia. [...] on Tuesday Greece rejected the European Council’s decision to consider “further restrictive measures” against Russia.That complicates an already delicate dance in Brussels. Before the Russian-supported Mariupol attack on January 24, European leaders were torn between easing pressure on Moscow, as advocated by EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, and ratcheting up financial sanctions, as European Council President Donald Tusk has argued. Elizabeth Rosenberg, a former employee of the US Treasury, who is now working at the Center for a New American Security, said that “the full impact of earlier rounds of sanctions, such as the limits on energy-sector technology trade, has yet to be felt [by Russia], which means that Western financial pressure on Russia will steadily escalate over time even without a fresh slate of sanctions”, the article quotes. Rosenberg considers it unlikely that Russia will be cut off from the SWIFT system at this point, but if the aggression of Russia in Ukraine continues, it may be considered as an option, the expert quoted by Foreign Policy believes.The Daily Beast tells the story of a Russian news agency serving as a tool of espionage and claims that an alleged Moscow spy ring in New York City sometimes took orders from a Kremlin-run news agency, in an article “This Russian News Agency Doubled As a Spy Machine”.“A pair of accused Russian spies tried to gather intelligence about U.S. financial markets, and potentially how to disrupt them, by feeding questions to journalists at the Russian state-owned news agency Tass” as learned by the Daily Beast. TASS, the agency in question, has a long history of giving cover to Russian spies, current and former intelligence, according to sources of publication. In particular, Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB Major General, who led the Soviet intelligence operations in the United States, said in an interview with the Daily Beast that during the Cold War “at least half if not more [of Tass employees] were involved in the intelligence business.”The Independent reflected on the crisis in Ukraine in a recently published article titled “Now try diplomacy: For all the violence of the past year, Ukraine and Russia need each other”. The author, though, questions “but are they brave enough to negotiate peace?”, claiming that it is important to keep in mind that this war is taking place “in the backyard of a major nuclear power,” which until recently perceived Ukraine as an integral part of itself, the newspaper notes.
“The prospect of Ukraine’s accession to the EU and to Nato were felt as body blows to Russia’s amour propre, the latest strokes of a post-Cold War Atlantic policy in which Russia felt humiliated at every turn. In a perfect world, Ukraine should be perfectly free to make its own geopolitical choices. But the world is far from perfect and, as Kiev understands, Ukraine’s relationship with Russia is far more substantive than its relationship with the EU,” the article reads. It also further argues that Ukraine needs Russia, since “no Western country is contemplating or has ever contemplated sending Kiev lethal military aid, let alone troops to bolster Kiev’s army, this is not a war Ukraine can win. Russia is huge, and has no trouble projecting its force deep inside Ukraine. Ukraine is small and weak. If this goes on, Ukraine will simply be crushed.” Later on, the author calls for peace negotiations. “While making its abhorrence of Mr Putin’s brutal policies abundantly clear, the West should be straining every diplomatic muscle to bring the two sides to the negotiating table. A far wider peace depends on it,” the article concludes.
The journal Foreign Policy reports on “Why Putin Is the Big Winner in Greece’s Elections”. It claims that the election of a left-wing Greek leader could boost Vladimir Putin’s fight against recent Western sanctions. “Greece’s election of a self-proclaimed radical leftist could hand an unexpected win to Russian President Vladimir Putin by exacerbating divisions within Europe over how to respond to Moscow’s latest aggressive moves in Ukraine,” the article reads.
A meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of European countries, who are expected to discuss new sanctions against Russia, is scheduled for next Thursday. It is a moment of difficult choice for Europe – in the political sense, and for Russia – in the economic sense, the article says. Foreign Policy magazine reminds that it was the Russian ambassador who first paid a visit to the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras. “But the latest effort to put the squeeze on Moscow comes at a tricky time politically for Europe and financially for Russia. The surprising victory Sunday by the left-wing Syriza party in Greece widens the existing fissures in Europe regarding Russia. [...] on Tuesday Greece rejected the European Council’s decision to consider “further restrictive measures” against Russia.
That complicates an already delicate dance in Brussels. Before the Russian-supported Mariupol attack on January 24, European leaders were torn between easing pressure on Moscow, as advocated by EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini, and ratcheting up financial sanctions, as European Council President Donald Tusk has argued. Elizabeth Rosenberg, a former employee of the US Treasury, who is now working at the Center for a New American Security, said that “the full impact of earlier rounds of sanctions, such as the limits on energy-sector technology trade, has yet to be felt [by Russia], which means that Western financial pressure on Russia will steadily escalate over time even without a fresh slate of sanctions”, the article quotes. Rosenberg considers it unlikely that Russia will be cut off from the SWIFT system at this point, but if the aggression of Russia in Ukraine continues, it may be considered as an option, the expert quoted by Foreign Policy believes.
The Daily Beast tells the story of a Russian news agency serving as a tool of espionage and claims that an alleged Moscow spy ring in New York City sometimes took orders from a Kremlin-run news agency, in an article “This Russian News Agency Doubled As a Spy Machine”.
“A pair of accused Russian spies tried to gather intelligence about U.S. financial markets, and potentially how to disrupt them, by feeding questions to journalists at the Russian state-owned news agency Tass” as learned by the Daily Beast. TASS, the agency in question, has a long history of giving cover to Russian spies, current and former intelligence, according to sources of publication. In particular, Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB Major General, who led the Soviet intelligence operations in the United States, said in an interview with the Daily Beast that during the Cold War “at least half if not more [of Tass employees] were involved in the intelligence business.”
