Contents tagged with USA
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Loans and visa-free regime for Ukraine can be considered 'advanced fees' for implementation of Minsk Agreements
The billion-dollar loan guarantee received from the United States, as well as the provision of a tranche from the IMF and the promise of a visa-free regime with the EU, can be considered an “advance fee” for Ukraine for the implementation of the political part of the Minsk agreements. This was the opinion expressed by Director of the Ukrainian Institute of Strategies of Global Development and Adaptation (UISGA) Victor Levitsky.
“Many people talked about ‘Putin’s insidious plan’ to make Europe …
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An American reconnaissance plane flew over Russian warships near the Syrian shores
An anti-submarine warfare plane from the US Navy P-8A Poseidon made a reconnaissance flight on Friday morning in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where Russian ships from the permanent task force in the region are supposedly deployed. Another US reconnaissance plane approached the coast of the Crimea.
According to Interfax, which refers to websites that track the movement of military aviation, the Poseidon, tail number 168 761, circled for more than two and a half hours over the eastern …
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US officials begin to see cracks in Russia's Syria strategy
Experts believe that Moscow's chances to benefit from intervention in Syria via the lifting of European sanctions has been reduced due to the collapse of the ceasefire.
According to some representatives of the U.S. government, the cracks in Moscow’s strategy began to emerge on Wednesday, September 21st during the United Nations Security Council high level meeting when Russia changed its explanations about the attack on a humanitarian convoy that resulted in 20 deaths.
The Russian officials …
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US House approves sending lethal weapons to Ukraine
The US House of Representatives has unanimously approved supplying lethal defensive weapons systems to Ukraine. This was stated in the House bill named ‘On the support of stability and democracy in Ukraine’, which had previously been supported by the Foreign Affairs Committee. This was reported on the website of the lower chamber of the US Congress.
The Embassy of Ukraine in the US reported that the document was initiated by the Co-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of …
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Biden: Kyiv shouldn't give the EU a reason to lift sanctions on Russia
The Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, called on Ukraine to speed up the reform process, warning that some European countries are waiting for a reason to remove the sanctions against Russia.
“We know that there are at least five countries that will refuse to participate in the continued extension of sanctions against Russia, should Ukraine give the European Union a reason to do so,” Biden said in his speech before the Foreign Affairs Council in New York on the 21st of September. …
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CIA: Putin is concerned over possible unrest in Russia
The Head of the CIA unit that watches Russia, Peter Klement, stated that the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, is concerned that instability and unrest will prevail in Russia, the Voice of America reported. Klement believes that Putin is likely to present his candidacy for elections in 2018 and will initiate a more severe style of governance because of that concern.
Klement made particular mention of reports regarding the possible major reorganization of the Russian Special …
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US to look into miscommunication with Russia over incident in which coalition planes bombed Syrian positions
Washington and Moscow are trying to make sense of the circumstances of the military operation in which dozens of Syrian servicemen were killed. A few days have passed since the U.S. Air Force’s botched air strike and there is still no clear understanding of who those targets were and why Russia didn’t warn the United States about the presence of Syrian soldiers in the strike area, information that only came to light after the operation was concluded.
U.S. representatives stated that they …
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Newt Gingrich claims the US would sell weapons to Ukraine if Trump becomes president
If Donald Trump is elected U.S. President, the issue on the provision of lethal weapons to Ukraine could be unlocked and an option of arms sales with deferred payments could be offered, the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, stated in an interview with European Pravda. Gingrich made the assertion response to the question on how U.S. policy toward Ukraine will change in case of Trump’s victory.
“We can say for sure that President Trump will unlock the issue on …
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Samantha Power criticizes Russia for calling emergency Security Council meeting
US Permanent Representative to the UN Samantha Power heavily criticized the Russian initiative to hold an emergency Security Council conference on Saturday to discuss an incident connected with the air raid on Deir ez-Zor, during which 62 Syrian soldiers were killed. The US claims that positions of the so-called Islamic State were targeted, and the deaths of the Syrian soldiers was an accident. Power has told reporters that Russia's actions are a ruse, the real purpose of which is to distract …
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Panetta: The time has come for the US to send weapons to Ukraine
The former U.S. Secretary of Defense from Obama’s administration (2011-2013) and the former head of the CIA (2009-2011), Leon Panetta, said that the U.S. should provide weapons to Ukraine to deter Russia. He made this statement in his speech at the plenary session of the annual Yalta European Strategy meeting.
In his opinion, the provision of arms to Ukraine would be a symbolic step, and would be a sign to Russia that its continued pressure on Ukraine is not acceptable. "I consider it …