As tensions with the US and Russia continue to devolve, the Russian state run media has issued a warning—while mockingly calling out the US—for its citizens to stockpile food and supplies in preparation for war.
The post With a Mushroom Cloud Background, Russia State News Warns Citizens to Stockpile Food, Prep for War appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
William Blum’s research revealed Washington’s deplorable history, horrendous enough to make garden variety despots blush. Since WW II ended, its rap sheet:
“Attempted to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, most of which were democratically-elected.”
Terror-bombed “more than 30 countries.”
“Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.”
“Attempted to suppress a populist or nationalist movement in 20 countries.”
“Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries.”
Uses “torture (more) than any other country in the world…for over a century…not just performing the actual torture, but teaching it, providing the manuals, and furnishing the equipment.”
“It’s not a pretty picture,” said Blum. “It is enough to give imperialism a bad name.”
America is the unchallenged world champion rogue state, super-bully, intimidator and serial aggressor, raping and destroying countries to feed its military/industrial complex, enriching it at the expense of millions of lives lost and vast destruction – more coming for sure, an endless cycle of inflicting misery on people worldwide.
Washington spurns rule of law principles, mocks democratic values, wanting the world run according to its rules, no matter the human cost – governments maintaining their sovereign independence targeted for regime change.
On September 10, regional parliamentary and gubernatorial elections will be held in six of the Russian Federation’s 85 federal subjects.
Sergey Lavrov warned Washington (through its Moscow embassy) against interfering in them, saying:
“I do not know what plans the US embassy has, but there were many episodes when American diplomats were seen in illegal activities. The relevant services should take appropriate measures.”
According to the Vienna Convention, personnel in foreign embassies are forbidden from politicking abroad.
It’s common US practice for its “embassy staff to travel to different regions on the spot, conduct public inquiries: how they relate to the governor, in general to the federal center,” Lavrov explained.
“In such situations, we politely (tell Washington) to terminate these people’s contracts…”(I)t’s (an) American tradition” to interfere in the affairs of other countries.
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations “prescribes very specifically what diplomats can” and cannot do. “We will follow it and our laws.”
America operates by its own rules, systematically violating international law.
Update: As part of the 2+ hour discussion between presidents Trump and Putin, AP reports that the Russian president asked for "proof and evidence" of Moscow"s alleged interference in the 2016 election which Russia denies. The request was made after Trump confronted Putin about Moscow"s election meddling during their first face-to-face meeting in Germany on Friday, according to Rex Tillerson who was present in the meeting. The secretary of state told reporters afterward that Trump opened the conversation by “raising the concerns of the American people regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
Putin once again denied Russian involvement, Tillerson said, but Trump “pressed” him on the matter “on more than one occasion.”
"President Putin denied such involvement as I think he has in the past," he continued.
The Russians, speaking after the meeting, claimed that Trump accepted the denial - but Tillerson did not. Instead he said the issue may simply be an "intractable disagreement." Tillerson also said the Russians pushed Trump for proof and evidence of meddling, something which the president himself had doubted in public as recently as Thursday.
"The president at this point pressed him and felt like at this point, let’s talk about how do we go forward," Tillerson said.
Trump and Putin agreed to explore a “framework” around which they can work to better understand these types of cyberthreats, the U.S. diplomat said.
“The two leaders agreed that this is a substantial hindrance on the ability of us to move Russian-U.S. relationships forward and agreed to exchange further work ?regarding commitments of noninterference in the affairs of the United States and our democratic process as well as those of other countries,” Tillerson said. “So more work to be done in that regard.”
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in the meeting, said afterward that Trump accepted Putin"s assurances that Russia didn"t interfere in the election. But Tillerson, who has publicly called out Russia for election interference in the past, said he was "not dismissing the issue in any way" and did not echo that language.
The secretary of state acknowledged that Putin’s insistence that Russia did not interfere would leave the two countries at an impasse, at least for now. “It"s not clear to me that we will ever come to some agreed-upon resolution of that question between the two nations,” he said.
“So the question is, what do we do now?”
We are confident that the US press, which will not let this topic drop, will come up with some suggestions.
* * *
Earlier
Following their first ever, 2+ hour meeting which was originally supposed to last only 30-40 minutes, the question on everyone"s mind was what did the two discuss.
So, in addition to the previously discussed ceasefire agreement in Southwest Syria unexpectedly announced by the two nations, speaking at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Vladimir Putin said that during his first meeting with US President Donald Trump, the two discussed Syria, Ukraine, counterterrorism, and drumroll, the "fight against cyber crime."
"I had a very lengthy conversation with the President of the United States, there were a lot of issues such as Ukraine, Syria, other problems, some bilateral issues", according to Interfax news agency. "We again returned to the issues of fighting terrorism and cybersecurity," Putin added.
Elaborating after the meeting, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump repeatedly pressed Putin on the matter over the course of their meeting (see below for details).
Putin denied Russia’s involvement, and according to a parallel comment from Russia"s Sergey Lavrov, "Trump accepted Putin"s assurance of no election hacking."
Or as Interfax put it:
However, it appears Lavrov may have taken some artistic liberty, because according to NBC"s chief White House correspondent, one administration official has said Lavrov"s comment is "not accurate"
Pushback already from Trump administration: one official tells @NBCNews Lavrov"s "not accurate" w/this comment --> https://t.co/URIsFPQYWT
— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) July 7, 2017
Additionally, Tillerson also discussed the ceasefire deal in Syria:
"A cease-fire has been entered into," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters. This is the "first indication of the U.S. and Russia being able to work together in Syria," he said.
Until now, Putin and Trump had only spoken on the phone. They were not alone: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were also present at the talks.
* * *
Earlier, during the press photo session, Trump told the media that "President Putin and I have been discussing various things, and I think it"s going very well."
“We"ve had some very, very good talks, we are going to have a talk now and obviously that will continue,” Trump added, saying there are hopes of “a lot of very positive things happening.”
“It"s an honor to be with you, thank you,” Trump concluded, offering his hand to Putin.
"I’m delighted to be able to meet you personally Mr. President,” Putin countered. “And I hope, as you have said, our meeting will yield positive result."
“Spasibo [thank you],” the US leader added in Russian.
Addressing Trump, Putin then said that although the two leaders have “several times talked over the phone, including on some very important bilateral and international issues,” phone talks were “obviously not enough.” Meetings in person are “necessary” if the two countries want to resolve the “most pressing issues,” Putin added.
* * *
Finally, some additional details first from Rex Tillerson, courtesy of Bloomberg:
About the bromance between the two:
And the punchline:
And here is the conversation from the Russian side, in this case Sergey Lavrov, as reported by Interfax:
And the only line that matters on this side:
In summary: Putin denied hacking the US election, and "Trump accepted Putin"s assurance" at least according to the Russian side. We now await the howls of outrage from the US media.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a few choice words for the U.S. media during a press conference in Cyprus a few days after the NYT and WaPo unleashed a pair of dubiously sourced accusations about what was said between President Trump and the minister during a meeting in the Oval Office.
“I sometimes get the impression that many U.S. media outlets work according to a principle which was common in the Soviet Union. Back then, people used to joke that the newspaper Pravda Truth] had no truth in it, and the Izvestia [News] paper has no news in it. I get the impression that many U.S. media operate in the same way.”
U.S. media were barred from Lavrov"s meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, but that didn’t stop WaPo from reporting that Trump allegedly shared classified information with Lavrov about the source of intelligence that inspired the U.S. to ban travelers from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa from storing laptops in carry-on luggage. The report added that the decision to share that information jeopardized the source in the process. Meanwhile, the NYT reported that Trump said he fired Comey because the FBI director was a “nut job" and that the decision had eased pressures from the FBI"s investigation into collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Lavrov has denied that any classified information was shared during the meeting. Though it"s important to remember that, even if Trump did share classified intelligence, doing so wouldn"t be a violation of U.S. law.
But of course, WaPo has refused to provide evidence to corroborate its story, relying instead on anonymous sourcing and the public’s “trust” in the fourth estate, which unsurprisingly remains at historic lows.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advisor H.R. MacMaster, both of whom were in the Oval Office during the meeting, have both issued statements denying that any classified information was shared. Russian President Vladimir Putin has even offered to provide a transcript of the conversation, should the White House request it. To our knowledge, no request has been made.
Lavrov also pointed out that the WaPo report contradacts an earlier U.S. media report about the source of the intelligence that led to the laptop ban. WaPo reported that the sensitive information allegedly relayed by Trump had been provided by a U.S. partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the U.S. government.
But months ago, the Daily Beast reported that intelligence leading to the ban was based on information about an ISIS plot gathered during the Yemeni raid that left one Navy SEAL dead just days after Trump’s inauguration.
Three intelligence sources told The Daily Beast that the ban on carry-on electronics aboard U.S.-bound flights from 10 airports in North Africa and the Middle East was the result of information seized during a U.S. raid on Al Qaeda in Yemen in January.
So which is it?
In the "he said, she said" world of unconfirmed, unsourced political intrigue, on Friday the US went to sleep with fresh news of the latest diplomatic snafu by Trump, when the NYT reported that during his president with the Russian Foreign minister Lavrov on May 10, Donald Trump said that Comey is a "nut job" and that his firing "eased pressure" from the ongoing Russian investigation.
The exchange in question:
"I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”Mr. Trump added, “I’m not under investigation.”
Predictably, the alleged exchange was the only thing on the media"s mind during Lavrov" spress conference on Saturday, in which the Russian Foreign Minister refuted claims that he had discussed the firing of the former FBI director Comey with President Trump.
"We did not touch on that topic at all," Lavrov told reporters on Saturday according to Russia"s RIA press agency.
Which in retrospect appears strange since not even the White House disputed the NYT"s version of events, and instead WH press secretary Sean Spicer simply doubled down the attack on Comey saying that "by grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia’s actions, James Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia."
Of course, without the dissemination of an verbatim transcript of what was said, there is no way of confirming either side of the story. That said, in light of the ongoing allegations of Trump"s alleged escalating diplomatic verbal blunders, it may not be a bad idea for Trump to do what Obama vowed, and indeed become the most transparent administration ever by sharing all the source material that have become such a vast headache for his administration.
After an "icy" (pardon the pun) meeting between Rex Tillerson and Russia Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov last week in Moscow, Vladimir Putin has just released the first public photos of a giant, top-secret military base recently built on the arctic island of "Alexandra Land." According to media reports, the base is believed to be fully-armed with missile systems and nuclear-ready fighter jets.
A virtual tour of the facility can be viewed here.
Per The Sun, Russian economists figure the arctic outpost could hold the key to the Kremlin unearthing almost $25 trillion of oil and gas buried deep beneath the snow. And with that kind of money on the line, it"s only natural that the base would be heavily fortified with nuclear ready fighter jets and reindeer-riding specials forces.
More than 150 troops will be based at the clover-shaped compound - which is decked out in the red, white and blue of the Russian flag.
And more worryingly, Moscow"s defence minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed nuke-ready Su-34 fighter jets will be deployed at a nearby air base.
The 150,000 sq ft (14,000 sq m) facility is designed to house 150 personnel, on 18-month tours of duty, and includes living quarters, a cinema, a chapel, a gymnasium, a billiards room and an orangery.
Meanwhile, in a heaping dose of the obvious, Defense Secretary James Mattis confirmed: "Russia is taking aggressive steps to increase its presence there."
We"re still awaiting confirmation of whether the gallons of vodka required daily to operate such a facility will be imported or distilled on the premises.
Echoing the numerous initial comments from various US intelligence probes, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told British ITV that "we have no evidence the Russians are actually involved in trying to undermine our democratic processes..."
However, careful to toe the propaganda line, Johnson quickly retorted..."But what we do have is plenty of evidence that the Russians are capable of doing that,” he insisted adding that Russians “have been up to all sorts of dirty tricks."
.@BorisJohnson reflects on the conduct of Russia ahead of his visit to meet Sergey Lavrov #Peston pic.twitter.com/SdbHT5FJFS
— Peston on Sunday (@pestononsunday) March 12, 2017
Remarkably, Johnson made these statements just weeks before his visit to Russia, during which he will meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. His visit would be the first made to Moscow by a British Foreign Minister in five years. When asked what the UK’s approach to Russia should be now, he said that Britain needs to take “a twin-track approach” towards Russia. “As the prime minister has said, we’ve got to engage but we have to beware,” Johnson stated.
As RT reports, despite constantly saying there was solid proof that Russia had meddled in the affairs of other countries, such as by bringing down French TV stations and interfering in US elections, he failed to provide any concrete evidence to back his accusations.
Johnson also implicated that Russia was involved in the situation in Montenegro, where a group of Serbian nationalists was arrested in October of 2016 suspected of planning to carry out armed attacks on the day of the country’s parliamentary elections.
The British Telegraph newspaper later reported that the group was sponsored and controlled by the Russian intelligence officers and had actually tried to stage a coup targeting its Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic with “the support and blessing” of Moscow.
However, the paper’s report turned out to be based mostly on the assumptions of unidentified sources and Montenegrin Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime, Milivoje Katnic, confirmed that, despite the participation of several suspected “nationalists from Russia,” there was no “evidence that the state of Russia is involved in any sense.”
In the meantime, Russia’s ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, expressed hope that Johnson’s visit will contribute to the resumption of a pragmatic dialogue between the two countries based on mutual respect, the Sunday Express reported. While the ambassador admitted that the British foreign secretary’s visit would come “at a time when our official bilateral relationship is at the lowest point after the Cold War,” he said that Russia hopes “it [the visit] means that our British partners are interested in resumption of political dialogue.” At the same time, Yakovenko also said Russia does not “need a cozy relationship with Britain, just one based on mutual respect and national interest.”
“The rhetoric does matter, but without a positive agenda, it becomes an end in itself,” he added. The ambassador also reiterated that “Russia poses a threat to no one, including the Baltic States” and has no intention of influencing the political processes of any foreign countries. “It sounds ridiculous that Russia could influence the Western nations’ domestic affairs. Certainly, we have our views to air on various issues of public interest,” he said.
The ambassador also criticized Johnson’s most recent statements, saying that the anti-Russian campaign in the UK “should be toned down, and whatever evidence there is to support accusations against Russia, it should be made public.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Russian counterparty, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at a G20 summit in Germany in the pair’s first meeting since Tillerson became secretary of state, and comes as a possible Russia-US rapprochement is in the spotlight. Moscow and Washington have much to discuss, Lavrov told Tillerson at their first meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Thursday.
"Mostly, it includes issues addressed by the two presidents during their phone conversation. I think that we could identify parameters of our future cooperation on each of those topics," he stated.
More importantly, Lavrov once again focused on current developments in Washington in which Trump administration links to Russia are under the spotlight, and said that these are US domestic affairs, in which Moscow has no interest in meddling.
"You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries," Lavrov told reporters when asked if "turbulence" in the American capital has ramifications for US-Russia relations.
Lavrov meets with US Secretary of State Tillerson in Germany https://t.co/HGtXiPsfkP pic.twitter.com/4LtaUVy2S0
— RT (@RT_com) February 16, 2017
He spoke days after U.S. President Donald Trump asked for the resignation of his key national security adviser Michael Flynn amid questions about his conversations with Russian officials. He added the two countries had "plenty of issues" to discuss."
Earlier comments from the Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that Syria and sensitive bilateral issues would be discussed at the meeting, RT reported.
The US State Department told reporters the upcoming conversation with Lavrov “obviously will be a very important one,” adding that Tillerson is likely to use the occasion to seek “ways for pragmatic and constructive cooperation in areas where our interests overlap.” Areas of mutual interest might include “counter-ISIS [Islamic State] and counterterrorism” efforts, State Department officials said at a special briefing.
The officials also said that Tillerson would not soften Washington"s stance on Ukraine, a crisis which remains largely unresolved. The secretary of state would “push for full implementation of the parties’, including Russia’s, commitments under the Minsk agreement for the Donbass.”
Ukraine and the issue of economic sanctions look like becoming a stumbling block for future dialogue between Moscow and Washington. President Donald Trump has claimed that Crimea – a region that was reunited with mainland Russia following a 2014 referendum – was “taken” by Moscow, prompting a measured but swift response from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Crimea is part of the Russian Federation,” Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday.
It will be the first time Lavrov has met the newly-appointed Tillerson. It comes as US-Russia relations are under particular scrutiny following the election of President Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to mend ties with Moscow.
