Russian President Vladimir Putin (click here) visited a Russian military air base in Syria on Monday and announced a partial pullout of Russian forces from the country.
Putin made a stopover at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia while en route to Egypt.
The base, in the heartland of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite minority, has served as the main foothold for the Russian military campaign in Syria.
Speaking to the Russian troops at the base, Putin said that he had ordered the military to withdraw a "significant part" of the Russian contingent in Syria. He added in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that "if the terrorists again raise their heads, we will deal such blows to them they have never seen."...
The trouble in Ukraine (click here) has left New Zealand in a critical position as it vies for selection to the United Nations Security Council, University of Otago politics professor Robert Patman says.
He said the heightened prospect of civil war in Ukraine, from Russia's incursion into Crimea, was ''the most challenging crisis for the world since the Syria situation''.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully had to move quickly to publicise New Zealand's stance on the issue, for favourable consideration in respect of Security Council selection in October, Prof Patman said....
Europe and NATO need to carry out their own investigation and bring about a resolve for the people of Ukraine.
December 11, 2017
An anti-corruption agency (click here) established in Ukraine two years ago was expected to be the driving force that would uproot the endemic graft that depleted the nation's resources and worried its Western allies.
But the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine instead has come under fire from allies of President Petro Poroshenko who are trying to curtail its operations and authority.
NABU chief Artem Sytnik told The Associated Press in a weekend interview that fear is behind the recent attempts by political and business elites to weaken the agency that was supposed to be a visible symbol of reform in Ukraine.
"The old and new elites are quite scared" after realizing "there are no untouchables anymore," Sytnik said....
Putin will take the wiff of corruption in Ukraine and turn it into a nationalist battle cry. To be frank, disarming Ukraine's national military and setting up oligarch militias under Yanukovych is about as corrupt as it gets. That is complete intimidation of citizens. The freedom Ukraine wanted was removed under Yanukovych's Ukraine dominated by oligarchs and oppressors.
July 25, 2017
By Steven Pifer
Following the visit to Kyiv by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (click here) earlier this month, President Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine would seek to meet the alliance’s membership criteria by 2020. On July 17, he stated that Ukraine would pursue a membership action plan....
...To be clear, Ukraine as a sovereign state has a right to choose its orientation and to join alliances. All member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe—including Russia—accepted that in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.
But NATO also has a say in who joins the alliance. It is difficult to see NATO saying yes to Ukraine in the foreseeable future.....
NATO is correct; Ukraine has yet to achieve a standard strong enough to be an ally of other countries already member states. NATO has to decide to investigate the corruption or abandon Ukraine as a failed state under it's current leadership. There maybe uncommon ground if President Petro Poroshenko is willing to move into agreements to purge the country of corruption while instilling a government worth consideration by The West.
