From fly-bys and barrel rolls to an unprecedented level of submarine activity, Russian military aggression has escalated sharply in recent weeks. So has the Kremlin’s rhetoric
You’ve gotta love it when a Kremlin official gets caught telling the truth. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova this week called a NATO plan to station air, naval, and ground forces in six Eastern European countries — Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — part of a strategy to “contain” Russia. Well, yeah. That’s exactly […]
Can Russia afford its military adventures in Ukraine and Syria? Can the Russian economy continue to grind along if oil is less than $50 a barrel? Has Putin’s authoritarianism reached its lowest point, or can things get worse for Russia? Is there a scenario where civilians stop being targets for Russian and Syria airstrikes? Our […]
Staunton, June 7 – Fearful that a Russian victory in Ukraine would tempt Vladimir Putin to move against the Baltic countries whose defense would require the kind of military actions that NATO does not want to have to take, the Western powers have decided that they must stop Putin in Ukraine by non-military means, according […]
Staunton, May 24 — Since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its continuing subversion of other parts of Ukraine, many have asked whether one or another of the Baltic countries might be Vladimir Putin’s next target, given that his strategic goal is clearly the breaking apart of Europe and the United States and discrediting or even […]
Latvia has spotted Russian warships and a submarine off its coast. Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies. The previous issue is here. UPDATES BELOW Russia This Week: – What Happened to the Slow-Moving Coup? – Can We […]
Staunton, April 19 – Yury Dolinsky, a Russian analyst who specializes on the Baltic countries, says that most residents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, however much they say they are worried about the Russian threat, believe that their membership in NATO will keep Moscow from invading or force Moscow to withdraw if it does invade […]
Staunton, April 14 – Vladimir Putin believes that he can dominate the Baltic countries and destroy NATO not by a direct invasion which the Western alliance is prepared to counter but rather by threatening to use nuclear weapons against them and the Europeans, something that would lead the West not to come to their aid, […]
Over the last year, since the Russian theft of Crimea, I’ve unambiguously warned that Vladimir Putin means what he says and he will not shy away from confrontation with the West, even at the risk of major war. Opportunities to deter this resurgent Russia, which I counseled many months ago, were punted on by the […]
Staunton, February 23 – Many of yesterday’s liberals are in the wake of the annexation of Crimea supporters of Vladimir Putin’s “’patriotic’ rhetoric” about reversing the collapse of the USSR, but most of those believe that they can do so without sacrificing any of the benefits they had received from that and the developments that […]
