The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Russia

  • U.S ‘disappointed’ at Russia’s position on Syria attack

    The United States is “disappointed but not surprised” at Russia’s response to its strikes on a Syrian air base suspected of storing chemical weapons.

    At least six people are reported to have been killed in the U.S missile strikes early on Friday, the BBC reports.

    Syria’s ally Russia accused the U.S of encouraging “terrorists” with its unilateral actions.

    “I’m disappointed in that response,” said U.S Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.

    “It indicates their continued support for the Assad regime and, in particular, their continued support for a regime that carries out these horrendous attacks on their own people.

    “So I find it very disappointing, but, sadly, I have to tell you, not all that surprising,” he added.

    Moscow has promised to strengthen Syria’s anti-aircraft defences.

    It is also closing down a hotline with the U.S designed to avoid collisions between their air forces over Syria.

  •  U.S. attack killed nine civilians: Syrian state news agency

     U.S. attack killed nine civilians: Syrian state news agency

    Nine civilians including four children were killed in the U.S. missile attack on a Syrian airbase near the city of Homs on Friday, the Syrian state news agency said.

    The SANA report said the civilians died in villages near the airbase.

    It said seven more people had been wounded and homes in the area had been badly damaged.

    Earlier, Homs governor Talal Barazi said seven people had been killed in the attack. It was not immediately clear if these were separate casualty tolls.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said he had ordered missile strikes against the airfield from which a deadly

    chemical attack was launched, declaring he acted in America’s “national security interest” against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    The strikes drew sharp criticism from Russia, Assad’s ally.

    U.S. officials said the military fired dozens of cruise missiles against the base in response to the suspected

    gas attack in a rebel-held area this week, which Washington has blamed on Assad’s forces.

    The Syrian government has strongly denied responsibility and says it does not use chemical weapons.

     

    The governor of Homs province said earlier that the airbase was used to support Syrian army operations against Islamic State.

    NAN reports that the UN Security Council was expected to hold closed-door consultations on Friday about the U.S. strike on Syria following a request by Bolivia, an elected member of the council, a senior Security Council diplomat said.

     

  • Syria Deal: Russia suspends military deal with U.S.

    Syria Deal: Russia suspends military deal with U.S.

    Russia on Friday suspended a deal on military cooperation with the U.S. in Syria, in response to the U.S. bombing of Syrian state forces.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement  that the deal was designed to prevent possible military incidents between the two great powers, which support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war.

    Russia condemns the U.S. “illegitimate actions against the lawful Syrian government,” the Foreign Ministry said, referring to the U.S. bombing carried out in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian state military.

    “Russia denies that the Syrian state military used chemical weapons, and maintains that Syrian militants were responsible for a recent chemical weapons incident in the north-western province of Idlib,’’ the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

    U.S. President Donald Trump ordered missile strikes against the airfield from which a deadly chemical attack was launched, declaring he acted in America’s “national security interest” against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

    The strikes drew sharp criticism from Russia, Assad’s ally.

    U.S. officials said the military fired dozens of cruise missiles against the base in response to the suspected gas attack in a rebel-held area this week, which Washington has blamed on Assad’s forces.

    The Syrian government has strongly denied responsibility and says it does not use chemical weapons.

    The governor of Homs province said earlier that the airbase was used to support Syrian army operations against Islamic State.

    NAN reports that the U.N. Security Council was expected to hold closed-door consultations on Friday about the U.S. strike on Syria following a request by Bolivia, an elected member of the council, a senior Security Council diplomat said.

     

  • Brazil back on top of FIFA rankings

    Brazil dethroned arch-rivals Argentina and returned to the summit of football’s world rankings for the first time in almost seven years, the ruling body FIFA published on Thursday.

    World Cup qualifying wins over Uruguay and Paraguay put the resurgent Selecao top for the first time since the 2010 World Cup with 1,661 points in the latest list of FIFA.

    While Brazil have qualified as the first team for the 2018 tournament in Russia, Argentina are struggling and lost their last game in Bolivia as they slipped to second in the rankings with 1,603 points.

    Reigning world champions Germany remain third and Chile fourth, Colombia climbed two into fifth, France remain sixth.
    Belgium slipped two to seventh, Portugal and Spain stayed eighth and 10th while Switzerland rose from 11th to ninth.

    Poland were one of six teams to record highest ranking in 11th place and Macedonia were the biggest movers when they climbed 33 spots into 133rd.

     

  • OPEC: Russia cuts oil production as prices stabilise

    OPEC: Russia cuts oil production as prices stabilise

    Oil steadied on Wednesday as Russia joined OPEC in cutting production to balance the market, although large supply in places such as the United States dragged on prices.

    The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organisation of oil-exporting developing nations that aims to ensure stable oil prices within global oil markets.

    Brent crude futures LCOC1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at 55.63 dollars per barrel at 0749 GMT (02:49 a.m. ET), up 5 cents from their last close.

    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 rose 5 cents to 52.86 dollars a barrel.

    Prices reversed earlier falls after reports that Russia cut its oil and gas condensate production by around 100,000 barrels per day (BPD) between December and January, down to 11.11 million BPD.

    Russia’s cuts are part of an effort led by the OPEC, of which Russia is not a member, to prop up the market and end a global fuel supply glut.

    As part of this, OPEC has said it will cut production by around 1.2 million barrels per day (BPD) in the first half of 2017.

    Russian flag
    Russia

    Other producers, including Russia, have pledged to cut another 600,000 bpd in output.

    A Reuter’s survey published on Tuesday showed that OPEC’s output fell by over 1 million bpd in January to 32.27 million bpd between December and January.

    “That’s a good start to cut production to bring the market back toward balance,’’ said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader.

    However, McKenna added that there were still some questions about whether or not OPEC will achieve its goals to cut even deeper and for the full period of the first half of 2017.

    Traders said a reported climb in U.S. crude inventories was also preventing oil prices from rising by much.

    “The release of the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) crude inventories at a much higher than expected 5.8 million barrels saw both Brent and WTI quickly give back gains,’’ Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst future brokerage OANDA in Singapore, said.

    The API data showed that commercial U.S. crude inventories now stood at 488 million barrels.

    Official U.S. storage data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due later on Wednesday.

  • Russia has compromising information on Trump – report

    Russia has compromising information on Trump – report

    U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was presented last week with classified documents containing allegations that Russian operatives claimed to have compromising information on him, U.S. news reports, said on Tuesday.

    A synopsis of the allegations was attached to the end of a report by U.S. intelligence agencies on Russian interference in last year’s presidential election, said broadcaster CNN, which first reported on them.

    The network based its story on information from multiple U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the briefings.

    The synopsis was presented last week to President Barack Obama, Trump and top members of Congress, according to CNN.

    It included graphic details about Trump’s activities with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel which were filmed by the Russian secret service in order to potentially blackmail him in the future, the New York Times reported.

    The document also alleges the Russians offered Trump various real estate deals in order to further the Kremlin’s goals, but Trump had declined them.

    The information in the 35 pages was compiled by a former British spy, whom CNN said, U.S. officials had found to provide credible information in the past.

    Trump, who was scheduled to hold a news conference on Wednesday about his plans for his financial holdings, reacted on Twitter: “fake news a total political witch hunt’’.

    Details of the report were “widely known among journalists and politicians in Washington,’’ the Times said.

    The FBI is investigating the credibility and accuracy of the allegations, which came mostly from Russian sources, but has not confirmed many essential details in the memos, CNN said.

    Intelligence chiefs briefed Trump with the information to make him aware that Russia’s claims were circulating among intelligence agencies, senior members of Congress and other top U.S. officials, CNN added.

    Website Buzzfeed, which published the entire document online, said that some of the information it contained was “unverified and potentially unverifiable’’ and that the report also included some “clear errors’’.

    Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, told news website MIC the report was “absolutely silly’’.

    “It’s so ridiculous on so many levels. Clearly the person who created this did so from their imagination or did so hoping that the liberal media would run with this fake story for whatever rationale they might have,’’ Cohen told MIC.

    Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said nothing in the report had been confirmed and pointed out that it was all based on unnamed sources.

    As American citizens “we should be concerned that intelligence officials leaked it to the press,’’ Conway said on a late night talk show on NBC.

    Brian Fallon, a Clinton campaign spokesperson, said on Twitter the material provided the only credible theory for why Trump refused to accept the intelligence community’s finding that Russia was behind cyber attacks that occurred during the campaign.

    Trump last week vowed to pursue good relations with Moscow despite the intelligence report that accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering interference in the election to undermine faith in the democratic process and damage his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

    After being briefed on the report, he blasted his critics as “fools,’’ tweeting, having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing only `stupid’ people, or fools, would think that it is bad.

  • Russia ‘tired’ of U.S hacking ‘witch-hunt’

    Russia on Monday said United States allegations that it ran a hacking campaign to influence the American presidential elections are “reminiscent of a witch-hunt.”

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow was tired of the accusations.

    He said a report released by U.S intelligence agencies detailing the allegations was groundless.

    The BBC reports that it was the first official reaction from Russia since President-elect Donald Trump received the report on Friday.

    The unclassified report contains allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the hacking of Democratic Party emails to damageTrump’s Democrat rival, Hillary Clinton, and influence the election.

    In his comments on Monday, Mr. Peskov said Russia “categorically denied that Moscow had been involved in any hacking attacks.”

    “Groundless accusations which are not supported by anything are being rehearsed in an amateurish, unprofessional way. We don’t know what information they are actually relying on.”

    The claims amounted to a “witch-hunt,” he added.

  • Russia, Africa and New Global Order

    SIR: The destruction of Aleppo, annexation of Crimea and alleged interference with the election that produced US President-elect, Donald Trump, are very visible signs of Russia’s drive to achieve global dominance.

    The world is becoming multipolar, coupled with the rise of populism in the West, and Russia seems to be in a position of enormous advantage to lead, change or destroy the world.

    Russia is emerging from the vestiges following the dissolution of the Soviet Union into independent states 25 years ago, towards establishing her relevance in global politics in a very brutal way, mainly by showing off its diplomatic and military might against the US and other regional powers, especially in the Middle East.

    Russia has been accused of intervening in the recent US election that saw the victory of Donald Trump. Also, of supporting right-wing populism in Europe in a manner that raises global suspicion. Donald Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Nigel Farage of Brexit, and such other politicians have all indirectly helped to promote Russia’s view of a world opposed to an established order, a subtle design for Russia to emerge as a new global power base.

    Israel’s recent face-off with the United Nations and interference of Donald Trump is another interesting dimension. In fact, Donald Trump has repeatedly and openly criticized the UN and its decisions calling it on twitter ‘a club for people to come together, talk and have a good time. So sad!’ It is known fact that Russia is interested in weakening the United Nations, NATO and the ability of the United States to impose economic sanctions on countries known to hold and cherish anti-West views. Russia has consistently indicated willingness to increase its nuclear capabilities and expansion of military dominance.

    Building a cultural harmony between the US and Russia may be the safest part to peace for the rest of the world, given the determination of Putin to exert himself in an aggressive way. The world should be genuinely interested and probably worried about the rise of Russia and her desire to control world policies at this time. With Putin and Trump as leaders of two powerful countries; both men known to hold extreme views on some pressing world issues, the rest of the world should be worried about the chance of peace especially for Minorities, Muslims and Blacks around the world.

    Mikhail Gorbachev supervised the fall of the Soviet Union and the fall of the iron curtain on December 26, 1991, exactly 25 years ago. The big question is ‘can Putin successfully initiate and execute another come back for Russia (Soviet) dominance?’ Will trump and Putin abandon the part of peace at some point? What would that mean for global peace?

    While Britain continues to struggle with her self-inflicted exit from the European Union; Germany, France and Italy battle with immigration crises and rising terror attacks, the West and of course the rest of the world must keep an eye on Putin’s Russia in 2017.

    For Putin, if he can successfully lead the world to defeat ISIS and promote economic freedom in mostly poor countries in Asia and Africa, then maybe he will have a legitimate claim to world leadership. Certainly, not through barrel bombs as is the case in Aleppo, Syria.

    For Africa, the world is still waiting anxiously for the rise of the black power. When this rise of Africa will happen no one knows for sure but certainly Africa must rise from economic slavery.

    Africa will rise when there is a full restoration of democracy and economic freedom to central and regional governments. Africa will rise when a regional power emerges and institutes a clear policy of Pan-Africanism.  Currently, there is no visible regional power in Africa that commands the trust, followership and confidence of fellow Africa countries.

    Since the fall of Gadhafi, there has not been a single African leader that has shown interest in forging a United African front for the purpose of negotiating a place for the continent on the global stage. Africa still remains largely divided and dependent on the West.

    African leaders must think about Africa first. Africa leaders must restore hope in the African economy and stem the rise in migration of the best of African brains to the West. Africa must build an inclusive educational system that teaches skills that are useful to the continent.

    With the emergence of Donald Trump and the rise of Putin, African leaders must begin to look inwards for an African model of economic growth where there can be counterpart funding of development projects within Africa.

    African countries must remove artificial borders and foster more collaborations on all fronts towards an independent and self-sufficient Africa.

     

    • Victor Ikem,

    ikemvctr@gmail.com

  • UN Security Council adopts Syria ceasefire plan

    UN Security Council adopts Syria ceasefire plan

    The UN Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution welcoming and supporting the efforts by Russia and Turkey to end violence in Syria and jumpstart a political process for the war-torn Middle East country.

    “The draft resolution has been unanimously adopted as resolution 2336,” President of the Security Council for December, Roman Marchesi (Spain) said, according to a document obtained by the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the UN.

    Also in the resolution, the Council “takes note of” the documents issued by Russia and Turkey about the agreements the two countries have brokered, including a nationwide ceasefire and a plan to convene political talks in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, between the Syrian Government and opposition groups, in January.

    The Council “looks forward to” that meeting in Astana, viewing it as “an important part of the Syrian-led political process” and “an important step ahead of the resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on Feb. 8, 2017”.

    Western members of the SecurityCouncil had sought changes to the draft resolution circulated by Russia and Turkey during consultations on Saturday morning to clarify the role of the UN and the meaning of the agreement brokered by Moscow and Ankara.

    The final text dropped an endorsement of the Syria cease-fire agreement brokered by Moscow and Ankara, and it changed the draft to call the Astana meeting “an important step ahead of the resumption of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on Feb. 8, 2017”.

    On Friday, Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow hoped the Security Council would take up a vote and unanimously adopt a draft resolution on Syria, which was based on talks and documents issued in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin had also announced on Thursday that the Syrian government and armed opposition groups had reached an agreement on a nationwide ceasefire in Syria and on readiness to start peace talks.

    Putin called on the Syrian government, armed opposition and all countries with influence on the situation in the Arab republic to support the reached agreements and to take part in the anticipated talks in Astana.

    A nationwide ceasefire between the Syrian government and opposition factions came into force at midnight on Friday.

    Russia and Turkey serve as guarantors of the ceasefire deal, which paves the way for negotiations between the warring parties.

    Russia and Turkey are on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, with Moscow along with Iran providing crucial military support to Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey has long served as a rear base and source of supplies for the rebels.

    Divisions in the Security Council between veto-wielding members of the Security Council – Russia and China on one side and the Western powers: the U.S. Britain and France who support the moderate opposition and demand that Assad steps down, on the other side — had blocked action to end the war.

    Russia and Turkey first sent the cease-fire agreement and the draft resolution to Security Council members on Thursday night.

    After closed discussions at the Council on  Friday morning, Churkin, Russia’s Permanent Representative, circulated a revised draft, urging Council members to support it and called for the vote on Saturday.

    The Security Council needs to participate “in this important process,” Churkin had said.

    The cease-fire agreement, if it holds, would mark a potential breakthrough in a conflict that began in 2011 with an uprising against decades of rule by Assad’s family and has left over 250,000 dead and more than 13.5 million people in need of urgent assistance, and triggered a refugee crisis across Europe.

  • Russia vows response to U.S expulsions

    Russia has promised to respond to the expulsion of 35 of its diplomats from Washington, amid a bitter dispute over alleged Russian interference in the recent United States presidential election.

    A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin’s reaction would cause the U.S “significant discomfort.”

    The foreign ministry said Russia’s response would be announced on Friday.

    The BBC reports that Russia has denied any hacking involvement and called the U. S action “ungrounded.”

    Under the U.S action taken on Thursday:

    35 diplomats from Russia’s Washington embassy and its consulate in San Francisco were declared “persona non grata” and given 72 hours to leave the U.S with their families

    Two compounds said to have been used by Russian intelligence services in New York and Maryland will be closed.

    Sanctions were announced against nine entities and individuals including two Russian intelligence agencies, the GRU and the FSB

    President Barack Obama had vowed action against Russia amid U.S accusations that it directed cyber-attacks on the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

    Emails stolen from her campaign manager and from the servers of the Democratic National Committee – some containing embarrassing information for Democrats – were released during the election campaign through the Wikileaks website.

    Moscow has made it clear it will hit back.

    The Kremlin has promised an “appropriate response” to the U.S sanctions; the Russian foreign ministry said there will be Russian “counter-measures.”

    In the tradition of the Cold War, tit-for-tat is the likely reaction. That would mean Russia expelling a similar number of American diplomats.