Russia

Photo: Scott Ritter, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer. Source: Wikipedia Commons.

US Intelligence Officer Warns of 'A Slaughter, A Massacre'

Viewpoint by Ahmed Adel

This article was published in Blitz, a weekly newspaper with a distinctive difference, established in 2003 and published in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

CAIRO (IDN) — A former US Marine Corps intelligence officer has not only warned that Russia is escalating its special military operation in Ukraine but that this will result in "a slaughter, a massacre" for Ukraine. His statement comes as a lot of speculation is circulating following the appointment of Valery Gerasimov as commander of the overall Ukraine campaign, with the pre-eminent idea being that there was a "reshuffle".

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 22 January 2023

Image: Nuclear Armageddon. Source: The National Interest

Neutral Countries Should Mediate Between Russia and Ukraine

Viewpoint by Jeffrey D. Sachs

This article was published in The Economist and is being republished with the author's permission.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Neither Russia nor Ukraine is likely to achieve a decisive military victory in their ongoing war: both sides have considerable room for deadly escalation. Ukraine and its Western allies have little chance of ousting Russia from Crimea and the Donbas region, while Russia has little chance of forcing Ukraine to surrender. As Joe Biden noted in October 2022, the spiral of escalation marks the first direct threat of “nuclear Armageddon” since the Cuban missile crisis 60 years ago.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 19 January 2023

Photo: The "Good Defeats Evil" sculpture, located at UN Headquarters in New York, depicts an allegorical St. George slaying a double-headed dragon—symbolic of a nuclear war vanquished by historic treaties between the Soviet Union and the United States. UN/Ingrid Kasper

The Ukraine War Should Alert Us to The Need to Ban Nuclear Weapons

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In the year 2000, President Vladimir Putin, having just won his first election, made his own contribution to solving the nuclear weapons imbroglio. He said in a speech that Moscow was prepared to drastically reduce its stockpile of nuclear missiles. Putin's call was not just for further cuts than the US suggested ceiling of 2,500 for each side but for reductions far below Moscow's previous target of 1,500. (At present, Russia has around 6,000 warheads and the US 5,400.)

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 15 January 2023

Security Disorder: Is There a Way Out?

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

BONN (IDN) — Putin's war against Ukraine has not only damaged the cooperative security architecture but destroyed it permanently. The Helsinki Act of 1975, the Paris Charter of 1990 and the NATO-Russia Founding Act of 1997 created a basis for security cooperation in Europe – even "a new era of democracy, peace and unity" as the Paris Charter titled euphorically. At least that's how state leaders saw it at the decade after the end of the Cold War.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 13 January 2023

Photo: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine & Eurasia Laura Cooper speaks to the media during a briefing at the Pentagon, Jan. 6, 2023. Credit: Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jack Sanders, DOD

US $3 Billion US Military Package Looks to Change Battlefield Dynamics

By Jim Garamone, DOD News

This article was issued by U.S. Department of Defense.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — DOD officials unveiled the more than $3 billion package of military capabilities to help Ukraine drive the Russian invaders from their soil.

"The war in Ukraine is at a critical point right now, and we have to do everything we can to help the Ukrainians continue to resist Russian aggression," Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, said.

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 06 January 2023

Photo: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Syria's Bashar Assad in Aleppo in February 2011. Source: DAILY SABAH

Russia Mediates Turkish-Syrian Reconciliation Process

Erdogan Avenges the American Betrayal

Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar*

This article was produced in partnership with Indian Punchline and Globetrotter.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The curtain is coming down on the brutal 11-year-old Syrian conflict, which former US President and Nobel Laureate Barack Obama initiated as the Arab Spring swept through West Asia two decades ago. The United States has suffered yet another big setback in West Asia as the year 2022 draws to a close. The unfolding Turkish-Syrian reconciliation process under Russian mediation is to be seen as a saga of betrayal and vengeance.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 31 December 2022

Photo: A Ukrainian soldier firing a Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon. Credit: AP

The Ukraine War: Paving the Road to a World War with 'Peace Plans'?

Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies*

NEW YORK (IDN) — On December 27, 2022, both Russia and Ukraine issued calls for ending the war in Ukraine, but only on non-negotiable terms that they each know the other side would reject.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Kuleba proposed a "peace summit" in February 2023 to be chaired by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, but with the precondition that Russia must first face prosecution for war crimes in an international court.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 28 December 2022

Photo: People take shelter inside a subway station from missile attacks in Kiev, Ukraine on October 11, 2022 when sirens sound across Ukrainian cities as Russian strikes continue. Credit: IC

Winter Stalemate of Russia-Ukraine Conflict 'Not Sign of Peace'

Neither Side is Willing to Compromise

By Global Times Staff Reporters

BEIJING (IDN) — In the 10th month of the Russia-Ukraine conflict when military operations are scaling down in the freezing winter, observers see a slim chance of negotiations for peace in the near future as neither side is ready to compromise to figure out a common ground for talks.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Russia; 19 December 2022

Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Ukraine-NATO-Warsaw-Institute. Source: President.gov.ua

A NATO-Ukrainian Proposal for European Security

By Vladimir Socor *

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — The Ukrainian Presidential Office envisages a system of international security guarantees vis-a-vis Russia that would answer Kyiv’s post-war requirements. The guarantees would be provided by willing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, albeit, at the moment, short of NATO membership, this would potentially clear Ukraine’s path to membership in due course.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 17 December 2022

Photo: Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda who co-opted into Russia’s conflict. Source: Mail&Guardian

Lusaka Demands Probe of Zambian Student Killed on Battlefield in Ukraine

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LUSAKA (IDN) — Zambian officials are seeking an explanation of the death of Lemekhani Nathan Nyirenda, a former student of nuclear engineering in Moscow, who died in September fighting on the side of the Russian army.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian paramilitary Wagner group, acknowledged that they recruited the Zambian student from a Russian prison but claimed he volunteered for the job.