By Andrew Higgins
Moscow — When President Vladimir V. Putin (click here) in July ordered American diplomatic missions in Russia to slash their staff by 755 employees, the State Department said it would need time to assess the “impact of such a limitation and how we will respond to it.”
Part of that response has now become clear: To make up for the loss of security guards axed in the Russian-mandated staff cuts, Washington has hired a private Russian company that grew out of a security business co-founded by Mr. Putin’s former K.G.B. boss, an 82-year-old veteran spy who spent 25 years planting agents in Western security services and hunting down their operatives.
Under a $2.8 million no-bid contract awarded by the Office of Acquisitions in Washington, security guards at the American Embassy in Moscow and at consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok will be provided by Elite Security Holdings, a company closely linked to the former top K.G.B. figure, Viktor G. Budanov, a retired general who rose through the ranks to become head of Soviet counterintelligence.
A State Department official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the department’s rules, said that Elite Security and individuals associated with it had been “vetted” with “relevant national and local agencies” and would not increase the threat risk....
Russian and American (click here) soldiers in Torgau, near the Elbe River on April 25, 1945
It would appear "The Spirit of Elbe" (click here for Arlington National Cemetery Facebook entry) is only available to the US - Russian relationship when it is convenient to Russian politics.
2 November 2017
...Wyden's remark (click here) was a “direct provocation” that “further damages already strained US-Russia relations,” the embassy said, reiterating that Moscow has never interfered in US domestic policy.
It called on Washington to focus on cooperation, in the spirit of the milestone meeting of the Soviet and American troops on the Elbe River on April 25,1945, during which the American and Russian soldiers embraced each other.
“And we won in that War against the Nazi plague. We won, because our peoples were together. We hope that in our bilateral relations “the spirit of the Elbe,” the spirit of cooperation, including military, will prevail,” the embassy said, noting that both countries need to join efforts in the fight against international terrorism.
“We must find a possibility to pool our efforts,” it said.
What Russian diplomatic hubris doesn't recognize in attacking Senator Wyden, is the very real and dangerous airing of grievances in the Cold War.
...For their part, (click here) the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials’ bellicose rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international relations. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable....
But, in modern time, the current President of Russia has sought to heal wounds with Europe.
7 April 2010
By Allen Hall
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (click here) today paid tribute to 22,000 Polish officers murdered on the orders of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1940.
It would appear "The Spirit of Elbe" (click here for Arlington National Cemetery Facebook entry) is only available to the US - Russian relationship when it is convenient to Russian politics.
2 November 2017
...Wyden's remark (click here) was a “direct provocation” that “further damages already strained US-Russia relations,” the embassy said, reiterating that Moscow has never interfered in US domestic policy.
It called on Washington to focus on cooperation, in the spirit of the milestone meeting of the Soviet and American troops on the Elbe River on April 25,1945, during which the American and Russian soldiers embraced each other.
“And we won in that War against the Nazi plague. We won, because our peoples were together. We hope that in our bilateral relations “the spirit of the Elbe,” the spirit of cooperation, including military, will prevail,” the embassy said, noting that both countries need to join efforts in the fight against international terrorism.
“We must find a possibility to pool our efforts,” it said.
What Russian diplomatic hubris doesn't recognize in attacking Senator Wyden, is the very real and dangerous airing of grievances in the Cold War.
...For their part, (click here) the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials’ bellicose rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international relations. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable....
But, in modern time, the current President of Russia has sought to heal wounds with Europe.
7 April 2010
By Allen Hall
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (click here) today paid tribute to 22,000 Polish officers murdered on the orders of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1940.
Mr Putin was the first Russian politician to stand by the mass grave in the lonely forest near Smolensk.
For over half a century Moscow laid the blame for the killings on the Nazis - but this was one war crime that they did not commit....
Such gestures of peace to improve relations globally as well were a sincere expression of a new Russia, a burgeoning economic Russia. It is these images of the vacillation of Russian leadership that causes such pause with the issues of Crimea and Ukraine.
In all sincerity, rather than Russia continuing to look as though it has a problem with "Identity Schizophrenia," it needs to drastically change it's INTERNAL POLITICS to reflect the true nature of peace and future hopes of economic growth and acceptance.
Defaming US Senator Wyden in public is hardly Russia putting it's best foot forward. However, it may be that US Senator Wyden may consider such words a compliment.
I remind, the land the USA Embassy is built on is sovereign USA land. Russia has no place in "changing the guard" so to speak. It is still yet another Russian invasion.
Defaming US Senator Wyden in public is hardly Russia putting it's best foot forward. However, it may be that US Senator Wyden may consider such words a compliment.
I remind, the land the USA Embassy is built on is sovereign USA land. Russia has no place in "changing the guard" so to speak. It is still yet another Russian invasion.
