Etiket arşivi: Russia

Türkiye’s Support for Ukraine and Membership in BRICS

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September 16, 2024

The year 2023 was a tough one for Ukraine. Its spring offensive failed. The US military aid started coming after months of delay. Mobilization became unpopular in Ukrainian society. In brief, it became increasingly clear that a Ukrainian victory against Russia was not in the cards.

Some Western observers presented the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian province of Kursk in early August 2024 as an important military achievement. In an article on September 5, Anatol Lieven said that while legally and morally justified, the attack has failed in all its objectives.[i] In brief, the battlefield developments of the past two years have not supported President Zelensky’s expectations of a future victory over Russia.

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The Incremental Cost of the Wars in Ukraine and Gaza

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April 30, 2024

The world remains focused on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the Iran-Israel confrontation. The former defines relations between Russia and the West and unfortunately, there is no path yet for a negotiated solution. The latter two are more of a challenge for the US, with Russia and China watching on the sidelines. How the Gaza conflict would evolve is likely to impact Washington’s standing in the world. In brief, these are not great times for global powers to stand up together against other global threats such as ISIS, a radical group that has proved its outreach on numerous occasions.

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The Forbidden Word “Ceasefire”

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February 26, 2024

On February 17, Chancellor Scholz addressed the Munich Security Conference. Mentioning the tragic death of Alexei Navalny, he declared that to all intents and purposes, President Putin has brought the economy, education, science, and culture in Russia under his control, and anyone who actively works for freedom and democracy has to fear for their life. He said:

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The War in Ukraine Two Years On

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February 19, 2024

On February 16, 2023, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died at a penal colony above the Arctic Circle, marking a dark day for Russia. A Le Monde article was titled “Navalny’s death buries the last hope for a free Russia”. In 2020, Navalny was poisoned in Siberia by what German laboratories later confirmed to be the nerve agent Novichok. His return to Moscow on January 17,  2021, knowing that he would immediately be detained, was a remarkable display of courage and patriotism. Someday, in Moscow, Russians will pay him their respects before his statue.

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Russia, China, and the War in Gaza

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January 25, 2024

On October 7, 2023, a comment by Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the conflict, which has continued for 75 years, cannot be resolved by force and can be settled exclusively by political and diplomatic means, by engaging in a full-fledged negotiation process based on the well-known international legal framework stipulating the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with a capital in East Jerusalem that co-exists with Israel in peace and security.

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Looking Back at the Year 2023

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December 18, 2023

For most of the past year, the war in Ukraine and Washington’s strategic competition with China dominated the global agenda. Then came the October 7 Hamas onslaught against Israel creating yet another maelstrom of uncertainty for the Middle East and beyond, leading me to say in an earlier post that at present Washington and its European allies are neither at war nor in peace. Today, Western countries do not have troops on the ground fighting in Ukraine, but they are deeply involved in the conflict providing Kyiv with huge sums of military assistance and military advice. They are not at war with Hamas, but they are politically involved. In brief, one may say with some exaggeration, that today Washington and its European allies are fighting a one-and-a-half war.

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The West, Neither at War nor at Peace

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November 4, 2023

On November 29, the statement issued by the NATO-Ukraine Council at the level of Foreign Ministers said that allies remain steadfast in their commitment to further step up political and practical support to Ukraine as it continues to defend its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, and will continue their support for as long as it takes.[i]

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Growing Resistance to a New Cold War

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September 11, 2023

The major headline of the past week was the agreement of G20 countries on the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration. The Western media generally reported that the leaders underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter in its entirety; they must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state; and that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. However, there was some disappointment because the Declaration avoided any mention of Russia. The Bali G20 Leaders’ Declaration of 15-16 November 2022, mentioned Russia by name whereas the New Delhi Declaration only mentions the fundamental principles of the UN Charter, although who the addressee is amply clear.[i]

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A Marathon with No Finishing Line?

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August 28, 2023

The following are a few takeaways from the American press, in chronological order, about battlefront developments in Ukraine.

On April 5, 2022, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin appeared before the House Armed Services Committee for the first time after Russia invaded Ukraine.

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Time to Revive the Grain Deal is Narrowing

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August 21, 2023

“The Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports”, shortly referred to as the “Black Sea Grain Initiative” was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, by Türkiye, Russia, and Ukraine.[i]

The second document signed in Istanbul on the same day was the “Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Federation and the Secretariat of the United Nations on promoting Russian food products and fertilizers to the world markets.” [ii]

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