Russia Begins Operations in Syria: End Game for the US Empire?

As Turkey and Saudi Arabia edge closer to sending ground forces into Syria at the behest of the United States, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has warned that an escalation of the conflict could lead to world war.

Russia’s PM Medvedev Warns of New War if US, Arab Troops Invade Syria
http://sputniknews.com/russia/20160212/1034614648/medvedev-syrian-permanent-war.html

During an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, Medvedev warned of dire consequences if the United States and its allies abandon Syrian peace talks in favor of deploying ground forces.

"All ground operations, as a rule, lead to permanent wars," he said. "Look at what is going on in Afghanistan and a number of other countries. I don’t even mention the ill-fated Libya.

"The Americans must consider — both the US president and our Arab partners — whether or not they want a permanent war."

All sides should instead focus on implementing peace talks.

"We must make everyone sit down to the negotiating table, and we can do it by using, among other things, the harsh measures that are being implemented by Russia, the Americans, and even, with all reservations, the Turks, rather than start yet another war in the world."

Any direct involvement by foreign players on behalf of the Syrian opposition will only worsen the violence.

"We may differ in our opinions of certain political leaders but it is not a good enough reason to begin intervention or to stir up unrest from within."

Moscow has long-stressed the need to support the legitimate government of President Bashar al-Assad in the fight against terrorism. Working alongside the Syrian Army, Russian airstrikes have had a severe impact on Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State.

"…We must sit down at the same table, but our partners avoid this," Medvedev said. "That is, there have been some occasional meetings, telephone conversations and contacts between our militaries. But in this situation we should create a full-scale alliance to fight this evil."

The Prime Minister also criticized Europe’s handling of the migrant crisis. The continent is facing an increased risk of terrorist attack because of its decision to open its borders, and this only highlights the need for international cooperation against terrorism.

"Some of these people — and it’s not just a few strange individuals or utter scoundrels, but hundreds and possibly thousands — are entering Europe as potential time bombs, and they will fulfill their missions as robots when they are told to," he said.

"We are not trying to rule the world or impose our regulations on it, though we are accused regularly of having such ambitions” he added. “That is not so — we are a pragmatic people who realise that no one can shoulder responsibility for the whole world, not even the United States of America."
 
Putin’s Prophetic 2007 Warnings in Munich All Coming True

http://sputniknews.com/analysis/20160212/1034619188/putin-warnings-coming-true.html

Nine years after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the world against irresponsible US policies spreading instability and threats of new wars around the world, those dangers today are greater than ever, US analysts told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — "I read the 2007 speech when [Putin] first delivered it and pretty much agreed with everything he had to say. Now the US/NATO confrontation against Russia has become even worse and more dangerous," University of Illinois Professor of International Law Francis Boyle said.

In his 2007 speech at the Munich Security Conference, Putin accused the United States of provoking a new nuclear arms race, expanding NATO in Europe and making the Middle East more unstable. Putin also said that Washington ignored the United Nations and relied on the unilateral use of force.

All these problems had become much worse since then, Boyle pointed out.

"With the deployment of NATO troops right up to the border of Russia for the first time, we are on the verge of a reverse Cuban missile crisis. And with both countries bombing in Syria, anything could go wrong there too," he warned.

Current growing tensions across the Middle East and throughout Eastern Europe generated by destabilizing US policies had already created conditions alarmingly similar to those in 1914 and 1939, Boyle observed, at the outbreak of the two world wars.

The Obama administration, like that of President George W. Bush, appeared determined to assert close US control over the countries sitting on the main hydrocarbon resources of the world in the Middle East and Central Asia, Boyle also noted.

"The Bush and Obama administrations have already targeted the remaining hydrocarbon reserves of Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia for further conquest or domination, together with the strategic choke-points at sea and on land required for their transportation," he stated.

This would give Washington control and domination of two-thirds of the world’s hydrocarbon resources and direct control of the fundamental energizer of the global economic system — oil and gas, Boyle continued.

"The factual circumstances surrounding the outbreaks of both the First World War and the Second World War currently hover like twin Swords of Damocles over the heads of all humanity," he concluded.

US historian and political commentator Patrick Smyth agreed that Putin’s 2007 speech had been confirmed by many developments of the past nine years.

"Putin… is undeniably superior as a statesman next to almost all his contemporaries. He chooses his ground well. The Munich conference was an excellent venue at which to challenge the Americans and NATO as to the European deployments and the Middle East crisis," he said.

Smyth praised Putin’s grasp of history — "which is the last thing American leaders want to cultivate in their citizenry" — and his ability to express fundamental international issues clearly and directly, as he did in his Munich speech.

Francis Boyle is a professor of international law and veteran author, historian and human rights advocate. He has sat on the board of Amnesty International and criticized it for having its policies influenced by the US government. Boyle’s books include "The Criminality of Nuclear deterrence" (2013), "Destroying Libya and World Order" (2013) and "World Politics and International Law" (2012).

Patrick Smyth is a US historian and analyst. He writes on foreign affairs for salon.com and his books include "Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century" (2013) and "Somebody Else’s Century: East and West in a Post-Western World" (2010).
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Russia Has Destroyed the CIA's Arms Smuggling Operation in Syria

http://russia-insider.com/en/russia-has-destroyed-cias-weapons-smuggling-operation-syria/ri12821

No wonder Washington is suing for peace

Let's cut to the chase: The closing of the Azaz corridor, a major supply artery for the "moderate rebels", should be viewed as a crippling military defeat for the United States.

As analysts have pointed out, US Secretary of State John Kerry repeatedly implored Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to keep the Azaz corridor open.

The New York Times now explains why Kerry was so anxious to keep the corridor open:

Mr. Kerry enters the negotiations with very little leverage: The Russians have cut off many of the pathways the C.I.A. has been using for a not-very-secret effort to arm rebel groups, according to several current and former officials. Mr. Kerry’s supporters inside the administration say he has been increasingly frustrated by the low level of American military activity, which he views as essential to bolstering his negotiation effort.
For at least the last three years, the CIA has been smuggling arms into Syria via Turkey and Jordan. Not anymore. The rebels are increasingly cut off from their arms suppliers -- and the US is now begging for peace.

This conflict is far from over, and despite reports of a tentative peace agreement, escalation still remains a very grim possibility.

But the US has been outplayed in Syria. Period. The CIA will have to go crawling back to Langley with its tail between its legs -- until it finds a new country to destabilize. Maybe Turkey?
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Russian Students Call on UN to Stop Obama's Aggression (Video)
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russian-students-call-on-un-to-stop-obamas-aggression-video/559314.html

Students at several Russian universities have released a video message in which they call on the United Nations to stop the “aggression” of U.S. President Barack Obama and demand that he be prosecuted for “the thousands of lives he has taken.”

“We urge the United Nations to take immediate action to stop the aggression of the U.S. president, and ask The Hague to investigate the actions of Barack Obama,” the students said in a video appeal to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, posted on YouTube on Thursday.

The video had gathered 35,000 views as of Friday afternoon. The video was first posted in Russian but a version with English subtitles was uploaded later.

The video clip features groups of young people representing a number of higher institutions around Russia including Stavropol State University, Kabardino-Balkarian State University, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, and the Higher School of Economics.

According to the students, the U.S. foreign policy is "the main threat to human civilization."

“We sincerely do not understand why the United States, represented by its president, assumed the role of the world's judge, why the U.S. doesn't bear responsibility for thousands of lives taken from the citizens of Libya, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria and other countries, the sovereignty of which the U..S has repeatedly violated,” said Yekaterina Kononenko, the second-year student of Astrakhan State University who uploaded the video.

When contacted on Wednesday, the universities whose students featured in the clip said that they weren't aware of this action and had nothing to do with it.

“We have practically no information, we are trying to get the details from our colleagues at the Nizhny Novgorod campus, as the video was filmed with its logo in the background,” the Higher School of Economics's press service said in the response to The Moscow Times' request.

According to information published on their social network profiles, some of the participants are members of the pro-Kremlin Molodaya Gvardiya youth group.

The spokeswoman for Molodaya Gvardiya Oxana Tkacheva confirmed to The Moscow Times that Kononenko was an active member of Astrakhan's Molodaya Gvardiya, but denied any involvement in the video.

“It was the students' initiative and they arranged everything themselves,” Tkacheva said.
 
Solid & Active: How Russian Policy Has Changed Since Putin’s Munich Speech

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160213/1034689540/putin-speech-russia-policy.html

Since President Putin’s famous speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, Russia has become far more assertive with regards to its foreign policy, forcing Washington to take heed of Russia’s opinion much more often, several political analysts told RIA Novosti.

The 52d Munich Security Conference is currently underway in the capital of the German state of Bavaria. Let’s have a look at the major developments that have been made in Russian foreign policy since President Putin's famous speech nine years ago.

Putin’s 2007 address not only outlined the basic concepts that underpin Russia’s foreign policy, but its security policy as well, Russian political analysts told RIA Novosti.

The major difference between its current policy and its previous course of action is that it has become a lot more assertive in the international arena, according to Dr. Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.

“For seven years, let’s say, from 2007 to 2014, Russia clearly moved from words to deeds,” he told RIA Novost,

“We are currently at an absolutely new stage, which is a very interesting but at same time a very dangerous phase,” he added.

Away From Unipolar World

Back in 2007, the Russian President stated that the United States sought to construct a unipolar world, in which the US intended to become a superpower standing above everyone else, i.e. to become a single center of authority and power.

“The unipolar world that had been proposed after the Cold War did not take place,” the Russian leader said in 2007. “However, one might embellish this term, in the end it refers to one type of situation, namely one center of authority, one center of force, one center of decision-making. It is a world in which there is one master, one sovereign. And in the end this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within. Moreover, this certainly has nothing in common with democracy. Because, as you know, democracy is the power of the majority in light of the interests and opinions of the minority.”

For the past years, the analysts say, it has become only too clear that the unipolar world, if it ever existed, has ceased to exist.

“It is a problem of the past. I think that the unipolar world did exist but it became obsolete due to some objective reasons,” says another expert, Sergei Oznobishchev, Director of the Institute for Strategic Assessments.

The expert added that the first evidence of the above emerged far before Putin’s Munich speech, in 2003, when the US operation in Iraq demonstrated the country's inability to solve global problems on its own.

“The phenomenon of a unipolar world had surely existed but it has vanished due to certain existing restrictions. These restrictions are forcing Washington into cooperation with Moscow, as well as Moscow – into cooperation with Washington. No matter how hard we try, we are unable to deal with the global challenges and existing threats on our own,” he added.

Taking Heed of Russia’s Opinion

Regardless of his criticism of the US back in 2007, President Putin had no intention of breaking up with Washington.

“In fact, he opened a serious conversation with the US back then, and suggested a serious reconstruction of the relations between Russia and the West,” noted Dr. Trenin.

“However, no reconstruction followed, even though there was a well-known attempt to “reset” Russia-US relations and there was a partnership in the sphere of modernization. However, each of the two failed to achieve any serious strategic purposes,” he added.

As a result, the expert added, Russia has recently moved from criticizing the unipolar world to acting in the context of a multi-polar one.

“It's a fight, in a full sense, against the global dominance of the US. It will go on for a while. We have entered an epoch of confrontation between Moscow and Washington, an epoch of estrangement.”

However, Russia is not confronting Washington for ideological reasons, thinks Vladimir Batyuk, the head of the Military-Political Research Center at the Institute of USA and Canada Studies.

“The world where the US unilaterally dominate does not comply with Russia’s national interests, that is why Russia is confronting such a mode. Apparently, it is serious and longstanding,” he said.

The expert is convinced that such a stance has already produced certain results: Washington has been forced to take heed of Russia’s opinion much more often.
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Anger With Kurds, Russia Led Turkey's Foreign Policy to 'a Dead End'

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160213/1034690922/turkey-policy-russia-kurds.html

Turkey's confrontation with Russia and Syria's Kurds has led it to pursue a dead-end foreign policy with only a few ways of extricating itself, according to a retired Turkish diplomat.

Turkey's foreign policy is built on a series of mistakes that have lead it to a dead end because of its decisions regarding Kurds and Russia, retired Turkish diplomat Unal Cevikoz told Sputnik Turkiye.

Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria in November, severely straining relations. It has also increasingly criticized the Syrian Kurds, who are backed by the US, as a "terrorist organization."

"[Its] Syrian policy has led Turkey to such a position, where its chances of making a serious positive breakthrough are practically nil," Cevikoz told Sputnik Turkiye.

According to Cevikoz, a key change would be to repair relations with Russia and to make a deal on refugees, which would see refugee camps built on the Syrian side of the border.

The issue of Syrian asylum seekers has remained a contentious issue in Turkey, which hosts over 2.5 million refugees.

Cevikoz added that Turkey's decision to consider the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) a terrorist organization has led to tensions with the United States.

"Turkey has put itself in a dead end. Realizing this, it is intensely trying to revive contacts with its former allies and find support from NATO and the US. But neither NATO nor the US will clash with Russia [over this]," Cevikoz told Sputnik Turkiye.

He added that the Kurds constitute an important part of the Syrian population, and that developing a policy on Syria without taking the Kurdish factor into account would be impossible. Turkey's own internal conflict with the Kurds is connected to this, according to Cevikoz, and the country will continue to clash with Kurds in other countries until there is a peaceful solution.
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War of Words: US Wages Information Campaign Against Russia

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160213/1034718253/us-russia-information-war.html

The success of the ongoing Russian airborne campaign in Syria has prompted Washington to launch an information war against Moscow.

While Moscow proposed that all warring sides in Syria declare a ceasefire starting on March 1, the US continues to insist on an immediate cessation of hostilities, claiming that Moscow is stalling in order to allow the Syrian army to complete its ongoing offensive.

Also, on February 10 US warplanes carried out an airstrike against the Syrian city of Aleppo, with Washington immediately blaming Russia for the deed.

According to Araik Stepanyan, executive secretary of the Presidium of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, faced with the success of the Russian airborne campaign in Syria the US resorted to information warfare.

"We need to understand that an information war was declared against Russia, so such statements shouldn’t come as a surprise," Stepanyan told Radio Sputnik. "The fact that these statements are easy to refute matters little for the US leadership because its goal is to create an information phantom for the electorate. They’re well versed in the art of fooling the masses; the creed of their propaganda is ‘the more terrifying the lie is, the more people believe in it’."

Stepanyan added that the US had to resort to this strategy because its own campaign in Syria has so far failed to produce any meaningful results. He also mentioned the recent incident when TV Channel France 2 showed footage of Russian airstrikes in Syria as the work of the US-led international coalition, remarking that apparently the US can now claim credit for Russia’s successes.

"These are all elements of hybrid warfare, its integral component — psychological warfare," he concluded.
 
Turkey Shells Aleppo, Says "Massive Escalation" In Syria Imminent As Saudis Ready Airstrikes

Source: Zerohedge

Even as all sides - including the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and select rebel groups - pretend to be working towards a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to the five year conflict in Syria, actions speak louder than words, and to put it as succinctly as possible, everyone is still fighting.

In fact, the fighting is more intense than ever. Russia and Hezbollah are closing in on Aleppo, the country’s largest city and a key urban center where rebels are dug in for what amounts to a last stand. If the city is liberated by the government (and yes, “liberated” is more accurate than “falls” because occupied territory belongs to the Syrian government, not to Sunni extremists), Assad will have regained control of the country’s backbone in the west.

That would effectively mean the end of the rebellion and the Gulf monarchies, not to mention Turkey, are not happy about it. “The main battle is about cutting the road between Aleppo and Turkey, for Turkey is the main conduit of supplies for the terrorists,” Assad said in an interview with AFP on Friday.

That supply line has been severed and now, it’s do or die time for the rebels’ Sunni benefactors in Ankara, Riyadh, and Doha. Either intervene or watch as Hezbollah rolls up the opposition under cover of Russian airstrikes, restoring the Assad government and securing the Shiite crescent for the Iranians.

As we documented extensively this week, the Saudis and the Turks are now set to invade. Assad has promised to “confront them”, which of course means that the IRGC and Hassan Nasrallah's army are set to come into direct contact with Turkish and Saudi troops, setting the stage for an all-out sectarian war that will almost invariably end up pitting NATO against the Russians. Note that this is different from Yemen, where Tehran fights via proxies rather than directly against the Saudi military.

On Saturday the stakes were raised when Turkey said Saudi Arabia is set to send warplanes to Incirlik.

As a reminder, access to Incirlik was the carrot Erdogan used last summer to convince NATO to acquiesce to Ankara’s brutal crackdown on the PKK. “Let me wage war against my political rivals, and you can use our airbase,” is a fair approximation of Erdogan’s proposition.

Now, it appears the Saudis are set to use the base as a staging ground for strikes in Syria.

As RT reports, “Saudi Arabia is to deploy military jets and personnel to Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in the south of the country.”

Of course the excuse is the same as it ever was for everyone involved: the fight against ISIS.

"The deployment is part of the US-led effort to defeat the Islamic State terrorist group," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. "At every coalition meeting, we have always emphasized the need for an extensive result-oriented strategy in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group,” he added.

Cavusoglu was speaking to the Yeni Safak newspaper after addressing the 52nd Munich Security Conference where over 60 foreign and defense ministers are gathered (see here for more from the meeting).

"If we have such a strategy, then Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch a ground operation,” he added.

Remember that Ankara’s primary concern in the country is ensuring that the YPG (i.e. the Kurdish opposition that Erdogan equates with the PKK and thus with “terrorism”) doesn’t end up declaring a sovereign state on Turkey’s border. That, Erdogan fears, may embolden Kurds in Turkey who are already pushing for more autonomy.

In short: somehow, Turkey and Saudi Arabia need to figure out how to spin an attack on the YPG and an effort to rescue the opposition at Aleppo as an anti-ISIS operation even though ISIS doesn’t have a large presence in the area.

How they plan to do that is anyone’s guess, but the following tweets should tell you everything you need to know about where this is headed. (see original article)

As you can see, Turkey has begun shelling Aleppo in what is indeed a very serious escalation that will likely prompt a Russian response.

"Shelling was reported at Menagh air base, a former Syrian Air Force facility that Kurds seized from Islamist rebels just days ago, and at three other positions between the airport and Turkish border," The Independent reports. "The air base has been a key target for several parties in the Syrian civil war since 2012, being besieged by rebels for almost a year until it was seized by a coalition including an early form of Isis and the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra in August 2013 [and] it remained in rebel hands until Thursday, when Kurdish PYD fighters capitalised on the diversion caused by Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Russian air strikes attacking rebel areas to the south to seize Menagh."

PM Davutoglu says the shelling was in line with "rules of engagement."

"A Kurdish official confirmed the shelling of Menagh air base in the northern Aleppo countryside, which he said had been captured by the Kurdish-allied Jaysh al-Thuwwar group rather than the Kurdish YPG militia," Reuters says, adding that "Both are part of the Syria Democratic Forces alliance." That group, you're reminded, was the subject of intense scrutiny late last year as we documented in our classic piece "Full Metal Retard: US Launches "Performance-Based" Ammo Paradrop Program For Make-Believe 'Syrian Arabs.'" It's the same group the US has been paradropping weapons to.

To sum up, Turkey is deliberately attempting to reverse gains made by the US-backed Kurds in an area that is under siege by the Russians and Iran. Or, more simply: utter chaos.

Here's what happened according to pro-AKP (i.e. take it with a grain, or maybe a whole shaker full of salt) Anadolu Agency:

The Turkish military responded to an artillery attack on an army base close to the Syrian border on Saturday, a military source said. According to the unnamed source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, the Akcabaglar base in Kilis province was shelled by the forces of the “PYD/PKK” -- referring to a Syrian Kurdish group and its affiliate PKK, which has waged war on Turkey since 1984.

The shelling came from Azaz in Aleppo province, which has been the scene of recent heavy fighting. Turkish forces reacted within rules of engagement that provide for an immediate response to any border threat, the source said. There was no further description of the form of response or detail on when the incident occurred.

In a separate incident, the army also responded to mortar fire from Syrian government troops on a Turkish police station in Calibogazi, Hatay province, at 2.55 p.m. local time (1255GMT). Again, there was no information on the type of response.
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In Russian with Multi Language Subtitles Available

SYRIA LIH RUSSIA TURKEY 02/13/2016 SUMMARY OF COMBAT OPERATIONS IN SYRIA
Published on Feb 10, 2016

https://youtu.be/JiVJHjsiw-c

Syria war 13 February 2016 Erdogan will finish badly
Published on Feb 13, 2016

https://youtu.be/qaMRz6Wkgvk
Russian airstrikes restore Syrian military balance of power.
Russia's airstrikes on Syria struggle to spur progress on the ground.

The Syrian Arab Army Recently achieved a major victory in Aleppo, and is on the offensive all over Syria liberating terrorist occupied territories and preparing for an even wider offensive.
Once again, whatever hangs in the future for Syria on both the political and military fronts depends on the new Battle of Aleppo. The city and its outskirts, with the influx of internal refugees, may be harboring up to three million people by now.

It’s always about Aleppo.
Here’s what’s going on, essentially, on the ground. West Aleppo is controlled by Damascus, via the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
Some of the northern parts are controlled by the Kurds from the PYD – which are way more engaged in fighting ISIS/ISIL/Daesh than Damascus. The PYD also happens to be considered an objective ally by the

Obama administration and the Pentagon, much to the disgust of Turkey’s ‘Sultan’ Erdogan.
East Aleppo is the key. It is controlled by the so-called Army of Conquest, which includes Jabhat al-Nusra, a.k.a. Al-Qaeda in Syria, and the Salafi outfit Ahrar al-Sham. Other eastern parts are controlled by the “remnants” (copyright Donald Rumsfeld) of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), who refused to collaborate with the Army of Conquest.

Across the Beltway, all of the above are somewhat considered “moderate rebels.”
The most important recent development in the Aleppo battlefield is that the SAA – with key Russian help – has killed Jabhat al-Nusra leader Abu Suleiman al-Masri, a.k.a. Mahmud Maghwari, an Egyptian who’s been on Cairo’s kill list for ages.

Additionally, several hundred Iraqi Shi’ite fighters, under the supervision of superstar Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, have been transferred from Latakia to Aleppo.
And a roughly 3,000-strong, battle-hardened, armored Hezbollah brigade is also coming.

What is shaping up is a kind of southern offensive. These forces will all be converging not only towards Aleppo but, in a second stage, will have to clear the terrain all the way to the Turkish-Syrian border, which is now a de facto Russian-controlled no-fly zone.

The supreme target is to cut off the supply lines for every Salafi or Salafi-jihadi player – from “moderate rebels” to ISIS/ISIL/Daesh. That’s the meaning of Moscow’s insistence on the fight against all brands of terror, with no distinction. It does not matter that ISIS/ISIL/Daesh is not the main player in and around Aleppo.

The Russia-Syria-Iran-Iraq-Hezbollah coalition in Syria – also linked with the “4+1” intel center in Baghdad – stands a great chance of winning the next Battle of Aleppo if they fulfill three conditions.
1) Russian air cover coordinating with on the ground intel for all operations (that’s a given); 2) Popular support (that’s also a given; the Sunni urban population in Aleppo, mostly businessmen, support Damascus); 3) Experienced ground troops numbering at least 15,000 (on the way, considering the input from Iraq and Hezbollah).
During the Russian airstrikes the Syrian Army freed 217 settlements. Syrian Army offensive. Kurdish Peshmerga also offensive and pressing ISIS positions.
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It offers a new Syrian army and its allies Brive northern Aleppo
Published on Feb 12, 2016
New progress of the Syrian army and its allies Brive Aleppo, northern
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsffmtCfg5A
 
The Russian Navy has dispatched a new warship equipped with cruise missiles to the Mediterranean, with reports saying that it is bound for Syria.

Russia sends new cruise missile ship Zeleny Dol to Syria: Report
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/02/13/450151/Russia-Zeleny-Dol-Syria-Trukhachev-Medvedev/

The Russian Defense Ministry’s head of Black Sea Fleet’s information department said on Saturday that the Zeleny Dol Buyan-M class corvette, armed with Kalibr anti-ship missiles, departed for the Mediterranean to join the country’s permanent naval task force there, Russia's Sputnik news agency reported.

“Today, the Zeleny Dol missile corvette and the Kovrovets minesweeper of the Black Sea Fleet left [the Crimean port of] Sevastopol to begin carrying out tasks as part of Russia’s permanent naval task force in the Mediterranean,” Vyacheslav Trukhachev said.

The Russian official added that the patrol ship will conduct tasks in the Mediterranean for the first time.

The Russian news agency further quoted a security source in Crimea - where the Black Sea fleet is based - as saying that the corvette will join the Russian warships operating off the coast of Syria in the coming days.

“The goals of the ship are not public but considering that it is carrying long-range cruise missiles, its participation in the military operation should not be excluded,” the source said.

The report comes as on Saturday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned against any ground intervention in Syria by countries in the US-led coalition allegedly fighting Daesh Takfiri group, saying it would unleash another war.

“Don't threaten anyone with a ground operation,” he said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, stressing that Moscow is doing its utmost to pave the way for a lasting peace in the conflict-stricken country.



Saudi Arabia sends troops and fighter jets to military base in Turkey ahead of intervention against Isis in Syria (Photos - Video)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-sends-troops-and-fighter-jets-to-military-base-in-turkey-ahead-of-intervention-against-a6871611.html

Saudi Arabia is sending troops and fighter jets to Turkey's Incirlik military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria.

The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed the deployment in a statement to the Yeni Şafak newspaper on Saturday, days before a temporary ceasefire is due to come into force.

“Saudi Arabia declared its determination against Daesh (the Arabic term for Isis) by saying that they were ready to send both jets and troops,” he said.

“At every coalition meeting we have always emphasised the need for an extensive result-oriented strategy in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group.

“If we have such a strategy, then Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch an operation from the land.”

He confirmed that planes and military personnel were being sent to Incirlik, in Adana near the Syrian border, but said numbers had not been confirmed.

Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, said Russia's intervention would not help Assad stay in power in an interview published today.

“There will be no Bashar al-Assad in the future,” he told a German newspaper.



Russia official urges int’l union to confront ‘US dictatorship’
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/02/13/450047/Russia-US-dictatorship-Aleksandr-Bastrykin

The director of Russia’s top law enforcement agency has called for the establishment of an international coalition to battle what he referred to as the US-imposed “dictatorship” on the rest of the world.

Director of Russia’s Investigative Committee Aleksandr Bastrykin said on Friday the world is in urgent need of a new system of checks and balances that would equally represent every nation across the global political spectrum.

The formation of a global coalition of countries could serve as “a feasible pole to counter the dictatorship imposed by the Americans together with their Western allies,” he said during a round table discussion in Moscow.

Bastrykin said Washington’s geopolitical dominance is founded on its financial might, which is based on “the uncontrolled and non-guaranteed” injection of the dollar currency into the global economy.

“It is against common logic to financially support the country that is using these same resources against our interests,” he said, adding the international coalition should ascertain the gradual exclusion of the US dollar from their foreign currency reserves.

The Russian official said Washington and its allies are waging a “hybrid war” against Moscow, ranging from what he referred to as price dumping on energy markets, along with “currency wars” in the shape of the unrestrained expansion of the US dollar.

Bastrykin also said a number of international institutions and groups — such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community, the BRICS and the Collective Security Treaty Organization — have already established the basic elements for shaping a future global alliance.

Russia is at odds with the West, particularly the US, over a series of issues, including the crisis in Ukraine, where Western countries accuse Russia of fanning the flames of conflict.

Last Wednesday, NATO — which is mostly made up of Western European countries — approved a plan to strengthen military presence in their so-called eastern flank, which means Eastern European countries near Russian borders.



US sends extra Patriot missiles to S Korea amid rising tensions with North
https://www.rt.com/news/332360-us-patriot-missiles-korea/

The US military has deployed additional Patriot missile systems in South Korea, citing Pyongyang’s recent rocket launch.

The Seoul HQ of the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Saturday that the deployment of additional assets is part of an emergency readiness exercise being carried out in cooperation with the South Korean military.

Patriot missiles can be used to intercept enemy aircraft and missiles at a range of up to 96 kilometers.

The deployment comes as the US is considering the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korea. THAAD is an advanced antimissile system with capabilities surpassing those of Patriot missiles.



Another Day, Another Billion for Color Revolutions Near Russia's Borders
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160213/1034707630/state-department-democracy-spending.html

Last week, the Obama administration proposed its final, 2017 fiscal year budget proposal to Congress. Among the proposed outlays is a State Department request for nearly a billion dollars to counter "Russian aggression" and "promote democracy" in the former Soviet Union. In other words, Washington thinks the region needs more color revolutions.

On Tuesday, the State Department and USAID held a special joint briefing, laying out a $50.1 billion spending request for 2017, including $953 million in "critical support for Ukraine and surrounding countries in Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia to counter Russian aggression through foreign assistance and public diplomacy."



"We Are In A New Cold War": Russia PM Delivers Stark Warning To NATO
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-13/we-are-new-cold-war-russia-pm-delivers-stark-warning-nato

It was just two days ago when Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev warned that if Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar invade Syria in a transparent attempt to shore up their Sunni proxy armies currently under siege by Moscow’s warplanes and Hezbollah, a “new world war” would be inevitable.

He also indicated that such a conflict would likely drag on for “decades.”

“Do they really think they would win such a war very quickly? That's impossible, especially in the Arabic world,” Medvedev said. “There everyone is fighting against everyone... everything is far more complicated. It could take years or decades."

On Saturday, Medvedev was back at it with the hyperbole (or at least we hope it’s hyperbole) in Munich where more than 60 foreign and defense ministers are gathered for the 52nd Munich Security Conference.

In his speech, the PM challenged NATO’s military maneuvers in the Baltics as well as the alliance’s general approach towards relations with The Kremlin.

“The political line of NATO toward Russia remains unfriendly and closed,” he said in a speech to the conference. “It can be said more sharply: We have slid into a time of a new cold war.”

“NATO on Wednesday approved new reinforcements for eastern Europe, including stepped-up troop rotations on its eastern flanks and more naval patrols in the Baltic Sea,” Bloomberg notes. “In response, the Kremlin dismissed the alliance’s argument that the move was merely defensive.”

“Russia’s rhetoric, posture and exercises of its nuclear forces are aimed at intimidating its neighbors, undermining trust and stability in Europe,” NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg told the conference earlier. “We strive for a more constructive and more cooperative relationship with Russia.”

All of this comes on the heels of a year in which NATO made a concerted push to place new weapons and troops near Russia’s borders and prepare allies for a rapid deployment in the event Moscow invaded a neighboring state. The Kremlin says those fears are unwarranted, but the West points to Crimea and Ukraine as examples of “Russian aggression.”

“Russia has a simple choice: fully implement Minsk or continue to experience economically damaging sanctions,” Kerry said in Munich on Saturday, referencing the fragile ceasefire agreement that has at various times fallen apart in Ukraine. “Russia can prove by its actions that it will respect Ukraine’s sovereignty just as it insists for respect for its own.”

Kerry also lambasted Russia for what he calls “repeated aggression” in Ukraine and Syria.

“Kerry said Russia is defying the will of the international community with its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine and its military intervention in Syria on behalf of President Bashar Assad,” AP wrote earlier this morning, adding that “He [also] repeated allegations that Russian airstrikes in Syria have not been directed at terrorists but rather at moderate opposition groups supported by the U.S. and its European and Arab partners.”
 
Obama Administration Opening 2-Front Campaign on Syria
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kurdish-fighters-capture-military-air-base-northern-syria-36853962

The Obama administration opened a two-front campaign on Syria on Thursday with a push to end one war there and step up another.


The United States, Russia and more than a dozen other nations with interests in the Syria conflict, including Iran, gathered to try to agree on a cease-fire in the for the civil war that might resuscitate stalled peace talks.

Amid deep differences between the U.S. and Russia over the timing and conditions of the truce — and a bitter argument over who is to blame for bombing civilian areas around Aleppo, a rebel stronghold — the International Syria Support Group opened talks with no sign of an imminent breakthrough.

At the same time in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter rallied new support for the fight against the Islamic State group in largely the same territory.

The Russian Ministry of Defense rejected a Pentagon claim that Russian aircraft hit two hospitals in Aleppo and contended that U.S. aircraft had operated over the city Wednesday.

Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Russian jets hit targets near Aleppo, and that two U.S. A-10 ground attack jets had flown from Turkey to attack Aleppo.

U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, the Baghdad spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, called the Russian claim "a fabrication" and said the incident was an example of Russia's "indiscriminate" use of force.

The spat complicates Kerry's efforts with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to overcome deep differences between the two powers over a proposed cease-fire.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance agreed Thursday to deploy NATO airborne command and control aircraft in order to free up similar U.S. aircraft for the air campaign in Syria and Iraq.


The Death Toll From Syria’s War Is Actually 470,000, New Research Claims
http://time.com/4216896/death-toll-syria-war-470000/

The five-year-old war in Syria has claimed 470,000 lives, according to new research that almost doubles previous estimates about the human cost of the conflict.

The Guardian reported details of a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, due to be launched in Beirut on Thursday, that says life expectancy in Syria has dropped to just 55.4 years. Before the conflict Syrians could expect to live to the age of 70.

Syria’s population was about 21 million when an uprising against the regime of Bashar Assad began in 2011. Antigovernment protests were quelled by a brutal crackdown, sparking a civil war that is now fought by numerous armies, including several radical Islamist groups, and draws funding from myriad foreign powers.

Since the war started, 11.5% of Syrians have been killed or injured, the report says, according to the Guardian. Some 13.8 million Syrians have lost their means of earning a living. Altogether 45% of the prewar population has been forced to move — including more than 4 million who have fled the country and 6.36 million displaced within Syria.

The U.N.’s human-rights office has estimated that more than 250,000 have died, but gave up recording the fatalities from the war in mid-2014 because it couldn’t get hold of reliable data.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research estimates from fact-finding conducted on the ground in Syria that 400,000 people have been killed by the conflict itself, with another 70,000 dying because of the war’s knock-on effects — inadequate health care and medicine, the spread of disease through unsanitary conditions for the displaced people, and lack of access to food or clean water.



US calls Assad 'deluded' to think he'll win Syrian war
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/calls-assad-deluded-win-syrian-war-160213043504485.html

Syria's Bashar al-Assad is "deluded" if he thinks his forces will retake all of the country from rebel fighters, the US said, after the president claimed in an interview that victory was just a matter of time.

While vowing to win the war, Assad said the involvement of regional players in the conflict would mean "the solution will take a long time and will incur a heavy price".

"We have fully believed in negotiations and in political action since the beginning of the crisis, however, if we negotiate, it does not mean that we stop fighting terrorism," Assad told the AFP news agency in an interview published on Friday.

"The two tracks are inevitable in Syria: first through negotiations and second through fighting terrorism."

Assad's comments came as world powers agreed on a "cessation of hostilities" on Friday in an attempt to halt the nearly five-year Syrian war that his killed an estimated 250,000 people and driven millions from the country.

The agreement falls short of a formal ceasefire, since it was not signed by the main warring parties - the opposition and government forces.



Saudis Say Assad Must Go, Deploy Jets to Turkey: Joint Turkish-Saudi Assault on Syria Now Imminent
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/saudi-jets-deploy-turkey-joint-turkish-saudi-assault-syria-now-imminent/ri12828

There will be no peace in Syria.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced yesterday that for The Kingdom, the removal of Assad is "crucial," adding without any sense of shame that the Syrian leader is the "single most effective magnet for extremists and terrorists in the region".

This is not a rogue statement made by a renegade government: It's a policy that has been approved, and most likely dictated, by the United States. And now the Saudis have parked their F-15s at a Turkish airbase used by the US military to strike targets within Syria.

Of course, both Turkey and Saudi Arabia insist that their strikes will be aimed at ISIS -- perhaps one of the most cynical, laughable claims made since the start of the Syrian conflict. As Slavoj Žižek argues, "The so-called 'war on terror' has become a clash within each civilisation, in which every side pretends to fight Isis in order to hit its true enemy."

The US will likely avoid direct involvement, but Washington is already hard at work behind the scenes: Even with many supply lines cut, the CIA is working overtime to resupply the "moderate" rebels with weapons.

With each passing day, the possibility of a direct military confrontation between Russia and the US (or at least its allies) seems more and more likely. The first F-15 to be shot down by a Syrian or Russian jet (or anti-air system such as the S-400), could mark the beginning of all-out war. Which is exactly what Washington appears to want.



What's the World Coming to? Polish Generals Say US, Europe 'Need Russia'
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160213/1034719022/polish-generals-putin.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin deeply analyzes his foreign policy moves – this is why he achieves his goals, says Polish General Marek Dukaczewski. His colleague, General Waldemar Skrzypczak, agrees, saying that both Europe and the United States need Russia to help resolve key global security issues.

Speaking to Polish news broadcaster TVN 24, Dukaczewski, a former head of Polish military intelligence and counterintelligence, and Skrzypczak, a former deputy defense minister, seemed to indicate that it was time for Warsaw to adopt a more amicable posture vis-à-vis Russia.

Asked by his interviewer about what might be done to end Russia's so-called 'aggression' in Ukraine, Dukaczewski posed a counter question:

"Madam Interviewer, my colleague rightly drew attention to the fact that the world is a complex place. Why didn't we receive the reaction we had hoped for on the Ukrainian issue? Because the Americans have problems with Islamic State [Daesh] and with Iran. Without Russia neither the first nor the second question can be resolved. The French too have problems, for which they need Russia."

"It turns out that at the moment we are not talking about Crimea. We are not saying that Crimea should be given back to Ukraine. We are not even talking about Donbass and Donetsk. Right now, we are talking about whether Russia will help us solve the problem of Iran. Russia is arming Iran, and arming Syria. It is building up areas inaccessible to other countries. Russia is building up its position – and wants to be a strategic, rather than a local player."

With his interviewer commenting on the ongoing discussions in Europe about the removal of anti-Russian sanctions, possibly by the end of this year, General Skrzypczak noted that "of course, already today, on the sidelines, it is being said that sanctions should be limited or, as you've said, removed altogether, possibly next year. In turn, the Russians will look to revive their [economic] power, and their role in the world."

The question," General Skrzypczak suggested, "is whether the world needs Russia. I believe that the world does need Russia, very much, and so too does the United States, because Russia is taking upon itself a great burden with regard to what is happening in the Middle East. That is, it is taking part in the operation against the Islamic State."
 
Large scale US Military Convoy in Germany supplies Combat Exercises against Russia, Public deceived
Published on Feb 12, 2016
_https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwJo0lXjjk482VdpsGP37yQ

The recent large-scale transports of US military supplies and heavy weaponry in convoys over the German Autobahn have been purposefully hidden from the public. Eyewitness footage shows dozens of trucks on their way to barracks where most likely joint combat exercises against Russia were held. None of this was reported past local media and even there the total number of vehicles was understated, an entire second convoy denied and heavy weaponry hidden in photos.

SOURCE: https://www.compact-online.de/compact...

Germany still remains under US Occupation since 1945 with dozens of fully equipped military bases in Germany. Transports, training and exercises are often directly funded with German taxpayer money.

Barack Obama publicly stated in 2009 in front of soldiers at the Ramstein Military Outpost that "Germany is an occupied country and will continue to be so"
Click to expand...
 
Week Eighteen of the Russian Intervention in Syria: a dramatic escalation appears imminent
http://thesaker.is/week-eighteen-of-the-russian-intervention-in-syria-a-dramatic-escalation-appears-imminent/

This column was written for the Unz Review.

The situation in Syria has reached a watershed moment and a dramatic escalation of the war appears imminent. Let’s look again at how we reached this point.

During the first phase of the operation, the Syrian armed forces were unable to achieve an immediate strategic success. This is rather unsurprising. It is important to remember here that during the first weeks of the operation the Russian did not provide close air support to the Syrians. Instead, they chose to systematically degrade the entire Daesh (Note: I refer to *all* terrorist in Syria as “Daesh”) infrastructure including command posts, communication nodes, oil dumps, ammo dumps, supply routes, etc. This was important work, but it did not have an immediate impact upon the Syrian military. Then the Russians turned to two important tasks: to push back Daesh in the Latakia province and to hit the illegal oil trade between Daesh and Turkey. The first goal was needed for the protection of the Russian task force and the second one hit the Daesh finances. Then the Russians seriously turned to providing close air support. Not only that, but the Russians got directly involved with the ground operation.

The second phase was introduced gradually, without much fanfare, but it made a big difference on the ground: the Russians and Syrians began to closely work together and they soon honed their collaboration to a quantitatively new level which allowed the Syrian commanders to use Russian firepower with great effectiveness. Furthermore, the Russians began providing modern equipment to the Syrians, including T-90 tanks, modern artillery systems, counter-battery radars, night vision gear, etc. Finally, according to various Russian reports, Russian special operations teams (mostly Chechens) were also engage in key locations, including deep in the rear of Daesh. As a result, the Syrian military for the first time went from achieving tactical successes to operational victories: for the first time the Syrian began to liberate key towns of strategic importance.

Finally, the Russians unleashed a fantastically intense firepower on Daesh along crucial sectors of the front. In northern Homs, the Russians bombed a sector for 36 hours in a row. According to the latest briefing of the Russian Defense Ministry, just between February 4th and February 11th, the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic performed 510 combat sorties and engaged 1’888 terrorists targets. That kind of ferocious pounding did produce the expected effect and the Syrian military began slowly moving along the Turkish-Syrian border while, at the same time, threatening the Daesh forces still deployed inside the northern part of Aleppo. In doing so, the Russians and Syrian threatened to cut off the vital resupply route linking Daesh to Turkey. According to Russian sources, Daesh forces were so demoralized that they forced the local people to flee towards the Turkish border and attempted to hide inside this movement of internally displaced civilians.

This strategic Russian and Syrian victory meant that all the nations supporting Daesh, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the USA were facing a complete collapse of their efforts to overthrow Assad and to break-up Syria and turn part of it into a “Jihadistan”. The Americans could not admit this, of course, as for the Saudis, their threats to invade Syria were rather laughable. Which left the main role to Erdogan who was more than happy to provide the West with yet another maniacal ally willing to act in a completely irresponsible way just to deny the “other side” anything looking like a victory.

Erdogan seems to be contemplating two options. The first one is a ground operation into Syria aimed at restoring the supply lines of Daesh and at preventing the Syrian military from controlling the border. Here is a good illustration (taken from a SouthFront video) of what this would look like:

According to various reports, Erdogan has 18’000 soldiers supported by aircraft, armor and artillery poised along the border to execute such an invasion.

The second plan is even simpler, at least in theory: to create a no-fly zone over all of Syria. Erdogan personally mentioned this option several times, the latest one on Thursday the 11th.

Needless to say, both plans are absolutely illegal under international law and would constitute an act of aggression, the “supreme international crime” according to the Nuremberg Tribunal, because “it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” Not that this would deter a megalomaniac like Erdogan.

Erdogan, and his backers in the West, will, of course, claim that a humanitarian disaster, or even a genocide, is taking place in Aleppo, that there is a “responsibility to protect” (R2P) and that no UNSC is needed to take such clearly “humanitarian” action. It would be “Sarajevo v2” or “Kosovo v2” all over again. The western media is now actively busy demonizing Putin [...].

The big difference, of course, is that Yugoslavia, Serbia, Iraq and Libya were all almost defenseless against the AngloZionist Empire. Not so Russia.

In purely military terms, Russia has taken a number of crucial steps: she declared a large scale “verification” of the “combat readiness” of the Southern and Central military districts. In practical terms, this means that all the Russian forces are on high alert, especially the AeroSpace forces, the Airborne Forces, the Military Transportation Aviation forces and, of course, all the Russian forces in Crimea and the Black Sea Fleet. The first practical effect of such “exercises” is not only to make a lot of forces immediately available, but it is also to make them very difficult to track. This not only protects the mobilized forces, but also makes it very hard for the enemy to figure out what exactly they are doing. There are also report that Russian Airborne Warning and Control (AWACS) aircraft – A-50M – are now regularly flying over Syria. In other words, Russia has taken the preparations needed to go to war with Turkey.

At the same time, the Russians have also launched a peace initiative centered around a general ceasefire starting on March 1st or even, according to the latest leaks, on February 15th. The goal is is transparent: to break the Turkish momentum towards an invasion of Syria.
It is obvious that Russian diplomats are doing everything they can to avert a war with Turkey.

[...] [...]

The latest news strongly suggests to me that the White House has taken the decision to let Turkey and Saudi Arabia invade Syria. Turkish officials are openly saying that an invasion is imminent and that the goal of such an invasion would be to reverse the Syrian army gains along the boder and near Aleppo. The latest reports are also suggesting that the Turks have begun shelling Aleppo. None of that could be happening without the full support of CENTCOM and the White House.

The Empire has apparently concluded that Daesh is not strong enough to overthrow Assad, at least not when the Russian AeroSpace forces are supporting him, so it will now unleash the Turks and the Saudis in the hope of changing the outcome of this war or, if that is not possible, to carve up Syria into ‘zones of responsibility” – all under the pretext of fighting Daesh, of course.

The Russian task force in Syria is about to be very seriously challenged and I don’t see how it could deal with this new threat by itself. I very much hope that I am wrong here, but I have do admit that a *real* Russian intervention in Syria might happen after all, with MiG-31s and all. In fact, in the next few days, we are probably going to witness a dramatic escalation of the conflict in Syria.
 
angelburst29 said:
The Russian task force in Syria is about to be very seriously challenged and I don’t see how it could deal with this new threat by itself. I very much hope that I am wrong here, but I have do admit that a *real* Russian intervention in Syria might happen after all, with MiG-31s and all. In fact, in the next few days, we are probably going to witness a dramatic escalation of the conflict in Syria.
Click to expand...

On the 12th of February, oil prices surged (12 per cent) due to renewed production cut talks. Right away this indicated to me, just like in Iraq originally when oil was low and then it started to surge, a war footing was gathering.

It seems there is no stopping these fools and psychopaths in the West to escalate conflict, which is their modus operandi.

Sorry for this short rant, yet what a goddamn shame for this planet and humanity. :mad:

May cooler heads prevail.
 
sToRmR1dR said:
Solid & Active: How Russian Policy Has Changed Since Putin’s Munich Speech
http://sputniknews.com/world/20160213/1034689540/putin-speech-russia-policy.html

Since President Putin’s famous speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007, Russia has become far more assertive with regards to its foreign policy, forcing Washington to take heed of Russia’s opinion much more often, several political analysts told RIA Novosti.

The 52d Munich Security Conference is currently underway in the capital of the German state of Bavaria. Let’s have a look at the major developments that have been made in Russian foreign policy since President Putin's famous speech nine years ago.

Putin’s 2007 address not only outlined the basic concepts that underpin Russia’s foreign policy, but its security policy as well, Russian political analysts told RIA Novosti.

The major difference between its current policy and its previous course of action is that it has become a lot more assertive in the international arena, according to Dr. Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.

“For seven years, let’s say, from 2007 to 2014, Russia clearly moved from words to deeds,” he told RIA Novost,

“We are currently at an absolutely new stage, which is a very interesting but at same time a very dangerous phase,” he added.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


‘In Munich, Medvedev Tried to Reveal a Real World to Western Politicians’
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160213/1034707767/medvedev-munich-conference-speech.html

Feb. 13, 2016 - The speech Russia's Prime Minister made in Munich was aimed at revealing the real world to the Western politicians instead of the distorted reality they are dwelling in, based on the stereotypes and myths of the Cold War, which they themselves created, according to Alexey Mukhin, Director of the Centre for Political Information.

Dmitry Medvedev’s speech was measured and expertly intertwined with Putin’s famous Munich speech of 2007, which reversed the course of relations between Russia and the West, Alexey Mukhin told RIA Novosti, in his analysis of the Prime Minister’s address.

The relations have become healthier since then, he added.

The political analyst also noted that it was not the Russian politicians who have referred to the term the “Cold War” in the present-day environment.

“It was Barack Obama, who was the first to use this term, and with the help of this political magic he revived a huge volume of stereotypes, including the old time myths of the global standoff between socialism and capitalism, which had been left sleeping until then, but are now actively working in the public consciousness, distorting reality,” said Mukhin.

In this sense, Medvedev’s speech reveals the striving of the Russian side to provide a more truthful assessment of reality.

Meanwhile, the expert says, Western politicians are being kept captive by the stereotypes of the Cold War and are dwelling in the world they themselves invented.

Divorced from reality, they make odd decisions, harmful to both themselves and the political systems they represent.

This is confirmed by the example of the European Union and the state the European politicians have plunged it into, step by step taking inconsistent and wrong decisions, imposed from the outside.

“The most interesting thing is that Dmitry Medvedev, as Vladimir Putin did back in 2007, tried to reveal the true, real world to Western politicians. We don’t know whether they will understand it or even take notice of it. The Russian leadership however has done its work and this mission may be considered accomplished,” the political analyst finally states.


Medvedev's Speech at the Munich Security Conference Panel Discussion
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/medvedevs-speech-at-munich-security.html

Fort Russ - 13th February, 2016 (Full Speech)


Putin’s 2007 Munich Speech English subtitles

Vladimir Putin's legendary speech at Munich Security Conference (1/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlY5aZfOgPA

Vladimir Putin's legendary speech at Munich Security Conference (2/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZewZnZ13X-Q

Vladimir Putin's legendary speech at Munich Security Conference (3/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf90nezYKwY

Vladimir Putin's legendary speech at Munich Security Conference (4/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyBzNR-x6l8
 
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