“Our” version is that Russia’s “peace efforts” are merely an attempt to keep Assad in power at all costs, and that his departure must still be a precondition for peace. “Their” version is that there can be no solution without Assad, and that his fate should be decided in elections. Meanwhile a parallel, but potentially complementary, UN peace effort is making little progress, and the blood continues to flow in Ghouta.
Ukraine prepares to mark 30 years since Chernobyl shook the world (AFP/Yahoo)
Ukraine is preparing to mark 30 years since the Chernobyl disaster, the world’s worst nuclear accident whose death toll remains a mystery and which continues to jeopardise the local population’s health.
Interview with Odd Arne Westad: How the Cold War can explain our current standoff with Russia
Sean Illing (Vox): You have an unconventional view of the Cold War. What do you think it was about, and when do you think it began?
Russia’s military rejects U.S. criticism of new Baltic encounter (Reuters)
Russia’s military rejected criticism by U.S. European Command on Sunday that a Russian jet had made aggressive maneuvers near a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, a second incident in the region between the Cold War-era foes in the past week.
Reuters: Ukraine president says expects delivery of U.S. weapons in weeks
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday he expected the first shipment of weapons from the United States in the next few weeks.
New Ukraine finance minister wants wriggle room in IMF talks (Reuters)
Ukraine could ask the International Monetary Fund to revise the criteria under which it disburses loans to Kiev, the new finance minister, Oleksandr Danyliuk, said in a newspaper interview published on Saturday, without providing specific.
Eleanor Goldfield: From Russia With Absurdity
Whatever comes of this Red Scare will rest squarely on our shoulders as American citizens. Not the Russians, not the Brits, but us.
Dedication of the “Elbe River” Memorial: April 25, 2016
The American University in Moscow is hosting the unveiling ceremony of the “Elbe River Linkage” memorial in Moscow on April 25, 2016. It will feature a reconstruction of the Elbe River linkage; speeches by Russian and American military, veterans and public figures; a music program and an open air reception. For more information see the attached link.
Peter van Buren: What Mueller Has and What He’s Missing
So far there’s little of the former and a lot of the latter. Absent more evidence, skepticism remains a healthy stance.
Ukraine Just Got a New PM. What It Needs Is Reform (Matt Rojansky)
In the quarter century since Ukraine’s post-Soviet independence, a revolving clique of no more than a few dozen top figures has occupied key political posts, notwithstanding two popular revolutions, a swinging pendulum of privilege among the country’s major industrial clans, and constant geopolitical ping-pong between East and West.
PODCAST Stephen F. Cohen: Russiagate as Historical Amnesia or Denialism
Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-American Cold War. Russians pride themselves on an awareness of “living history”- memories of past events whose recurrence or consequences continue to influence current politics. The phenomenon known as “Russiagate” suggests that many Americans have less such awareness or memories, though this may be partly generational.
Ukraine conflict: Daily reality of east’s ‘frozen war’ (BBC)
War in eastern Ukraine is now routine for the people still living there, and there is little cause for optimism, despite a ceasefire and a strong desire for peace.
UN News: In Geneva, UN chief urges new push to free world from nuclear weapons
Warning that nuclear weapons pose catastrophic risks to human life and the environment, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called on the international community to make a reinvigorated push to rid the world of such weapons.
Russia: We don’t expect any oil price rise after Doha (CNBC)
All eyes are on Doha this weekend where a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers is being held to discuss freezing oil production output at current levels, but the finance minister of major oil exporter Russia poured cold water on any hopes for a deal.
Nina Tannenwald: Is Nuclear War No Longer Taboo?
For the past 70 years, the nations of the world have more or less agreed that the role of nuclear weapons is to discourage aggression: owning them is one thing, but using them is beyond the pale.
The Toxic Coddling of Petro Poroshenko (Lev Golinkin)
Lev Golinkin, author of the acclaimed memoir A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka, writes in Foreign Policy this week that the West is doing Ukraine no favor by turning a blind eye toward the corruption of Ukraine’s President, Petro Poroshenko.
Julian Borger: Nuclear risk at its highest since Cuban missile crisis, says ex-energy secretary
Nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz says world has been lucky to avoid accidental weapon launch – and risk is growing
Notable Book: Friedrich Parrot’s Journey to Ararat with a new introduction by Pietro Shakarian
A newly released critical edition of Friedrich Parrot’s Journey to Ararat features new maps, and rare historical documents from Armenia and Estonia. It also includes a new introduction by Pietro A. Shakarian, an Associate Editor at the Gomidas Institute. Writes Shakarian: “180 years after Pushkin published his observations of Mount Ararat from Armenia, the Holy Mountain continues to awe and inspire travelers with its grandeur and magnificence. Ararat, said to be the resting place of Noah’s Ark and known to Armenians as Masis, is today a regular tourist destination for intrepid mountain climbers the world over. However, this was not always the case. At one time, the summit of Ararat was considered unconquerable, a supposition set to rest by one man: Dr. Friedrich Parrot.”
Katrina vanden Heuvel: On Russia, we need more reason and less frenzy
Bots are not bombs. Facebook ads are not the equivalent of planes flying into the World Trade Center.
PODCAST: President Poroshenko’s Problems and the Crisis of the US ‘Ukrainian Project’ (Stephen F. Cohen)
TheNation.com.) Cohen reminds listeners that the new Cold War is preventing Washington and Moscow from cooperating on issues of vital national security, now mounting threats of terrorism (including nuclear terrorism) in Europe, and that Ukraine remains the political epicenter of the new Cold War.
Nation contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Previous installments are at