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Will They or Won’t They? Ukraine Insists ‘No Reason to Panic’ as Russia Invasion Fears Grow

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Ukrainian officials have attempted to ease concerns about a possible Russian invasion, telling their citizens there is “no reason to panic,” despite the US and its NATO allies preparing to provide additional support.

On Monday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation is “under control,” while Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov affirmed Russia’s armed forces had not yet formed battle groups “which would have indicated that tomorrow they could launch an offensive.”

“There are risky scenarios. They’re possible and probable in the future,” Reznikov told Ukraine’s ICTV in an interview before adding that “as of today … such a threat doesn’t exist.”

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, sounded the same message, saying the military buildup “is not news.”

“As of today, we don’t see any grounds for statements about a full-scale offensive on our country,” Danilov said. (Read more from “Will They or Won’t They? Ukraine Insists ‘No Reason to Panic’ as Russia Invasion Fears Grow” HERE)

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If Trump Had Greenlighted Russia to Invade Ukraine Like Biden Just Did, He’d Be Accused of Corruption

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President Biden was actually operating from a coherent perspective in discussing Russia and Ukraine in Wednesday’s press conference: In every instance, as you go line-for-line in the transcript, his foreign policy—and the fact that he announced it to the world—is one where Russia has leverage over Biden and the president has a personal vendetta against the current Ukrainian government.

When asked whether sanctions would deter Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine, our commander in chief replied that Russia “will be held accountable if it invades,” but then clarified: “It depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do, et cetera.” Biden then juxtaposed a “minor incursion,” which would lead to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fight over how to respond, with Russia doing “what they’re capable of doing with the forces amassed on the border.”

In that case, Biden assured the audience—which surely included Putin and his top military leaders—“our allies and partners are ready to impose severe costs and significant harm on Russia and the Russian economy.” Biden then proceeded to ramble aloud his internal thoughts on Putin’s thinking before adding, in reference to Ukraine, “My guess is he will move in. He has to do something.” . . .

For years, the anti-Trump contingent used the Steele dossier and its claim that Russia held leverage over the president to fan the flames of a Trump-Russia conspiracy. But the Russia-leverage narrative extended beyond the discredited dossier and continued throughout Trump’s term.

For instance, in a May 2019 article titled, “Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy ‘Is One Where Russia Has Leverage Over Him,’ Former CIA Official Says,” Newsweek discussed a former CIA and defense official’s appearance on MSNBC. Appearing on the cable network’s “Morning Joe,” Jeremy Bash “argued that Trump’s international policies appear to be impacted by Russian ‘leverage over him’” the Newsweek article explained. (Read more from “If Trump Had Greenlighted Russia to Invade Ukraine Like Biden Just Did, He’d Be Accused of Corruption” HERE)

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Russian Diplomat Makes Threat of War Explicit After ‘Dead-End’ Talks

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A senior Russian envoy made an overt threat of war if U.S. and Western European leaders continue to resist Moscow’s demands for a practical contraction of NATO.

“Russia is a peace-loving country, but we do not need peace at any cost,” Ambassador Alexander Lukashevich said Thursday.

That threat marked a break in character from much of Moscow’s messaging, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has insisted that the military forces deployed near Ukraine’s borders do not represent a threat to Ukraine. Lukashevich’s statement was part of a flurry of Russian statements expressing dissatisfaction with the United States following a pair of meetings in which U.S. and NATO officials proposed to start risk reduction talks but rejected Russia’s demand that the alliance return to its 1997 borders.

“We are not going to entertain spheres of influence,” Ambassador Michael Carpenter told reporters following the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe meeting in which Lukashevich aired that threat. “We’re not going to entertain restrictions on the right of nations to choose their own alliances. We’re not going to entertain privileging the security requirements of one state over another.”

U.S. and European officials broadcast that position for weeks prior to the meetings this week in Geneva and Brussels. Russia’s demand struck officials from NATO member states as so extreme that some surmised Putin designed the offer to be rejected in order to create a “pretext for war.” Russian officials heard the refusal in person on Wednesday during a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, and that experience gave way to more explicit threats. (Read more from “Russian Diplomat Makes Threat of War Explicit After ‘Dead-End’ Talks” HERE)

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US Wants Russia to Pull Back Troops From Ukraine’s Border

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The American envoy to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said on Tuesday that the U.S. and its allies want Russia to take concrete actions to de-escalate tensions on Ukraine’s border, amid fears that Moscow is prepared to launch a large-scale invasion of the former Soviet state.

The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said the U.S. expects Russia to pull back the forces it has massed on Ukraine’s border and commit to engaging with the Minsk agreements, the 2014 diplomatic protocol intended to end fighting in eastern Ukraine.

“We want to see the full implementation of the Minsk agreements with Russia pulling back its forces. But if Russia pursues confrontation, there will be serious consequences,” Smith told reporters during a briefing from Brussels, ahead of a meeting of the NATO-Russia council and set for Wednesday.

The Minsk agreements are a step-by-step guide written between 2014 and 2015 aimed at resolving war in Ukraine’s east, where Ukrainian government forces are battling Russian-backed separatists.

Kyiv and Moscow recommitted to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine in December, in what was viewed as a welcome confidence-building measure amid Russia’s massing of more than 100,000 troops on the Ukraine’s border and ahead of the diplomatic meetings in Europe. (Read more from “US Wants Russia to Pull Back Troops From Ukraine’s Border” HERE)

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Russia Reacts With Fury to Blinken’s Jab at Troops in Kazakhstan

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Tensions are rising between the US and Russia, after the Kremlin on Saturday slammed a comment by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Kazakhstan might have a hard time getting rid of Russian troops now deployed there.

Blinken on Friday challenged Russia’s justification for sending forces into Kazakhstan after days of violent unrest in the Central Asian country.

‘One lesson of recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it’s sometimes very difficult to get them to leave,’ Blinken said.

Russia’s foreign ministry called Blinken’s remark ‘typically offensive’ and accused him of joking about tragic events in Kazakhstan. It said Washington should analyze its own track record of interventions in countries such as Vietnam and Iraq.

‘If Antony Blinken loves history lessons so much, then he should take the following into account: when Americans are in your house, it can be difficult to stay alive and not be robbed or raped,’ the ministry said on its Telegram social media channel. (Read more from “Russia Reacts With Fury to Blinken’s Jab at Troops in Kazakhstan” HERE)

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Report: Ukraine Invasion ‘Likely’ as Biden Prepares for Call With Zelensky

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Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday he believes it is “very likely” that Russia will invade Ukraine as President Biden prepared for another call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the tense standoff.

“I fear that Putin is very likely to invade. I still, frankly, don’t understand the full motivation for why, why now he’s doing this. But he certainly appears intent on it unless we can persuade him otherwise,” Schiff (D-Calif.) said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“And I think nothing other than a level of sanctions that Russia has never seen will deter him, and that’s exactly what we need to do with our allies,” he added.

Biden said he warned President Vladimir Putin during their phone call on Thursday that he will be hit with “severe sanctions” if an attack is launched against Ukraine.

“I made it clear to President Putin that we will have severe sanctions, we will increase our presence in Europe, with NATO allies,” Biden told reporters last Friday. (Read more from “Report: Ukraine Invasion ‘Likely’ as Biden Prepares for Call With Zelensky” HERE)

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Battle Galactica: Warning Over Russian ‘Plot’ to Launch Pearl Harbor-Style Attack Against US in Space and Destroy Satellites

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Russia is plotting to launch a Pearl Harbor-style attack on the US in space and destroy its satellites, an expert warns.

Geopolitical expert Brandon J Weichert told The Sun that Russia and China have both “weaponized” space over the past decade, fueling fears of a potential conflict involving the US.

He said: “There is a new space occurring where the US is competing against its old Cold War rival, the Russians, and a new rival the Chinese.

“We in the US have taken the dominant American position for granted.

“Both Russia and China realize that they cannot compete against the US in a fair fight militarily so what they are both doing is reorganizing their militaries to fight and win a space war against the Americans.” (Read more from “Battle Galactica: Warning Over Russian ‘Plot’ to Launch Pearl Harbor-Style Attack Against US in Space and Destroy Satellites” HERE)

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Russia Says U.S. Is Lowering Threshold for Use of Nuclear Weapons

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As the US and Russia are preparing to hold security talks in January, Russian officials continue to criticize Washington’s military posture. On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov accused the US of lowering the threshold for the possible use of nuclear weapons.

“We in Moscow are committed to raising the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. An opposite trend has been seen in the United States over the recent years, with the means for nuclear destruction appearing to be perceived more and more as a battlefield weapon. This is a dangerous trend,” Ryabkov said, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.

Ryabkov warned the US attitude towards nuclear weapons risks leading to an incident similar to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, something he said must not happen. Russian leaders have repeatedly warned the US against deploying missiles to Ukraine that could target Moscow and are seeking guarantees that Washington would refrain from such a provocation. (Read more from “Russia Says U.S. Is Lowering Threshold for Use of Nuclear Weapons” HERE)

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Russian Citizens Are Now Being Prepped for Nuclear War; Russia Is Now Claiming the U.S. Is Preparing a ‘Chemical Weapons’ Attack in Ukraine

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By The Daily Beast. The rhetoric on Kremlin-funded state television is amping up the sense of urgency around Russian President Vladimir Putin’s NATO “ultimatum.” Olga Skabeeva, the host of state TV show 60 Minutes, said Tuesday: “The level of anxiety has reached its maximum. We’re 20 days away from the expiration of the ultimatum and the stakes are rising, even though it seems they couldn’t be any higher.”

One day after Moscow submitted a draft of its Russia-U.S. security treaty, containing demands that NATO roll back its military deployments in Europe and deny membership to Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov threatened that Moscow would raise the stakes if the West didn’t treat its demands seriously. On Monday, he told Interfax that Russia needs answers “urgently, because the situation is very difficult.”

Pro-Kremlin propagandists and state-media experts filled in the blanks with what kind of escalation should be expected. On Sunday’s edition of News of the Week, state-TV host Dmitry Kiselyov explained: “Russia… prepared and handed over to the Americans its written proposals on strategic stability, or, more simply, on the prevention of nuclear war, since we are already at a critical point, to be honest… It’s simple. The U.S. and NATO must roll back from our borders, otherwise we will, figuratively speaking, ‘roll up’ to their borders and create symmetrical, unacceptable risks… If you put a gun to our head, we will respond in kind… The whole point is that the development of the Ukrainian territory by the [Western] bloc is not only Ukraine’s business. This is a complete breakdown of the global balance, which poses an existential threat to Russia. In other words, for Russia it is a matter of life and death… We simply will not allow it, regardless of the cost to us, and regardless of the cost to those responsible for it.” (Read more from “Russian Citizens Are Now Being Prepped for Nuclear War” HERE)

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Russia Is Now Claiming the U.S. Is Preparing a ‘Chemical Weapons’ Attack in Ukraine

By The Daily Beast. After the Kremlin’s ultimatums to NATO appeared to fall flat earlier this week, Moscow ratcheted up the crazy on Tuesday with new claims of U.S. mercenaries supposedly preparing a “chemical weapons” attack and a threat of unspecified “military-technical” action.

“Tanks with unidentified chemical components have been delivered to the cities of Avdeyevka and Krasny Liman for the completion of the provocations,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told a meeting of defense officials as President Vladimir Putin looked on.

Shoigu claimed the Defense Ministry was aware of 120 representatives of private U.S. military contractors currently training Ukrainian forces, according to RIA Novosti.

At the same meeting, Putin took things even further and warned of “military-technical” action against the West, deploying language the Kremlin has often used to deliver stern warnings in its conflicts with the U.S.

“If our Western colleagues continue the obviously aggressive stance, we will take appropriate retaliatory military-technical measures and react harshly to unfriendly moves,” he said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. (Read more from “Russia Is Now Claiming the U.S. Is Preparing a ‘Chemical Weapons’ Attack in Ukraine” HERE)

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FBI Lawyer Found Guilty of Forgery in Trump-Russia Probe Restored to ‘Good Standing’ Despite Still Being on Parole

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A former senior FBI lawyer who was found guilty of forgery in the Trump-Russia probe has been restored to “good standing” status by the District of Columbia Bar Association despite not fully completing his probation sentence, RealClearInvestigations reported Thursday.

The bar had a record of repeatedly accommodating Kevin Clinesmith, a now convicted felon who pleaded guilty in August 2020 to falsifying a document that was the basis for a surveillance warrant against former Trump campaign official Carter Page.

After receiving a 12-months probation sentence, which he first agreed to, Clinesmith was expected to have his attorney designation stripped. However, the D.C. Bar did not pursue that course of action, despite long-standing precedent surrounding lawyers committing crimes in legal matters.

The bar did not proactively pursue disciplinary action against him either, until five months had passed since he pleaded guilty and RealClearInvestigations had raised media awareness of the scandal. Following the public attention, the bar then conducted a review of Clinesmith’s case, temporarily suspending him in the meantime.

The court that presides over the bar association granted Clinesmith a mild penalty of suspension with time served in September. He was prohibited from practicing law for one year until August 2021, after which he became an “active member” in “good standing” again. However, the bar never confirmed whether Clinesmith had fulfilled his probation time or met the community service requirement before reinstating his title, records obtained by RealClearInvestigations indicate. (Read more from “FBI Lawyer Found Guilty of Forgery in Trump-Russia Probe Restored to ‘Good Standing’ Despite Still Being on Parole” HERE)

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