The Russian Presidential Election 2018

[angelburst29]

May 7, 2017 marks the fifth anniversary of the day when Vladimir Putin became Russian President for the third time. According to experts, over the past 17 years the West has learned very well, "who Mr. Putin is," with many leaders worldwide considering him a very influential, but often unpredictable politician.

Anniversary of Presidency: What Putin Has Achieved and What is Yet to Come
https://sputniknews.com/russia/201705071053365998-anniversary-presidency-putin-achieved/

Who is Mr. Putin?

Head of the Civil Society Development Foundation Konstantin Kostin believes that the Western audience considers Putin unpredictable.

"Everyone understands that Putin is a determined politician. Thousands of articles have already been written about him. I've read more than twenty books published in the West, in which researchers tried to explain the motives behind Putin's behavior. I think the explanation lies in [different] values, while complaints about the unpredictability of the Russian President sound quite strange," Kostin said.

Experts also believe that in the near future the Russian leader will focus more on domestic issues.

When many countries pay more and more attention to internal problems, Russia will have to do the same "because success on the global stage won't be enough," the chairman of the presidium at the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy Fyodor Lukyanov believes.

The 2018 Presidential Election

The question of Putin's participation in the next presidential election, which will be held in 2018, remains open. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier noted that the issue is not yet on the Kremlin agenda.

However, various studies show that there are actually no alternatives to the current Russian leader.

According to a study of the Civil Society Development Foundation, about 70-75% of voters are likely to vote for Putin if he participates in the 2018 presidential election.

A study conducted by Romir revealed that 39% of respondents found it difficult to say whom they would vote for if Putin doesn't run for the fourth term. According to the survey, 17% said they wouldn't go to the polls, while 12% confessed that they would blemish their ballots. A similar picture was reflected in a VTSIOM poll.

With only one year left until the end of Vladimir Putin's third presidential term, Sputnik sat down with a number of Russian political analysts to talk about the Russian president's major achievements throughout his latest presidency and his possible steps in the year to come.

With One Year Still to Go, Here Are the Major Achievements of Putin's Third Term
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201703021051200594-president-putin-third-term/

The third presidential term of the Russian leader will be remembered for his successes in the foreign policy arena and for a number of unsolved issues in the country's domestic issues, namely in its economy, Russian political analysts told Sputnik.

Among President Putin's major achievements, they noted the breakdown of the US monopoly to interpret international law at its own discretion.
In addition, they said that the Russian leader is now perceived around the world as a value-oriented politician from the conservative wing.

However they added that the successes in his foreign policy have complicated the implementation of his electoral economic agenda.

The President, they suggested, will use his remaining year in office to work out a coordinated socio-economic program, facilitate the development of the Russian regions and to further rotate high-ranking personnel.

Nikolai Mironov, the Director of the Center for Economic and Political Reform points out the evident geopolitical emphasis of Putin's third presidential term. He also singled out some the key accomplishments as well as some complications of the president's foreign policy.

The reunification with Crimea, the re-tuning of Russia's foreign policy, attempts to find new partners are among the achievements. Quite complicated relations with the West and the US have forced the president to re-orient his policy towards the eastern partners," he told Sputnik.

"The ongoing Ukrainian conflict and attempts to establish peace in the area portray the president as a peacemaker and as a person who tries to defuse these conflicts while advancing national interests," he said.

Russian political analyst Dmitry Badovsky of the Moscow-based Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies Foundation also called the reunification with Crimea a "conceptual and emotional keynote" of the president's third term.

He further explained that the scale and the effect of this move gained geopolitical as well as domestic political strategic importance.

Meanwhile, President of the National Strategy Institute Mikhail Remizov noted in his conversation with Sputnik that during President Putin's third term Russia has become a major league political state, and earned the he right to define the rules of the game in global politics.

The decision over Crimea and the launch of Russia's campaign in Syria have broken the unspoken rules of the game in the world order, which have been in place since the end of the Cold War, and which gave US the monopoly on political interventions, re-drawing borders, the legitimatization and de-legitimatization of regimes around the word and on the interpretation of international law, he said.

He also said that the Russian leader is now perceived in the world as a value-oriented politician from the conservative wing.

 

[youlik]

It just an opinion but this Navalny looks to has the same pattern that Macron.Does not smell good.Time will say...

Я приношу извинения за мой английский. Из-за моей критики нынешней Российской власти у кого-то может сложиться впечатление, что я поддерживаю Навального. Это совершенно не так. Обратите внимание на мои ранние посты.
Известный чиновник из администрации президента России Сурков в одном из интервью сказал, что "Путина России послал Бог". C's сказали, что Путин не идеален, но это лучшее что есть у человечества. Я полностью разделяю эти мнения, но при этом призываю не забывать об той самой не идеальности.

Translation
I apologize for my English. My criticism of the current Russian government, someone might get the impression that I support Navalny. This is absolutely not true. Please note my earlier posts.
Known official from the Russian presidential administration Surkov in an interview said that "Putin's Russia sent by God." C's said that Putin is not perfect, but it's the best that humanity has. I fully share these views, but I urge you to not forget about the most are not ideal.

 

[Voyageur]

Read the following this morning from John Helmer concerning Dmitry Peskov (media and presidential spokesman) who appears to have perhaps overstepped his bounds and makes an appeal: http://johnhelmer.net/kremlin-purge-or-purgative-dmitry-peskov-advertises-the-skripal-accident/#more-18924


KREMLIN PURGE OR PURGATIVE — DMITRY PESKOV ADVERTISES THE SKRIPAL ACCIDENT

Kremlin insiders report that fear for survival is now sweeping the Kremlin and the ministries of the Russian government, as it is acknowledged by senior officials that President Vladimir Putin (lead image, left) will make “significant changes” when he announces the new government after his inauguration in six weeks’ time.

Putin, the sources have disclosed, has been unpleasantly surprised by two results of the Skripal poisoning case, after the intelligence and security services have briefed him on all they now know of the case. The first surprise for Putin, the sources claim, is the failure of command and control on the part of the civilian arm of government to respond to the British challenges after the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal was announced on March 4. The second is the behaviour of the state media and propaganda arm operated by Dmitry Peskov (centre), the presidential spokesman. “The Foreign Ministry hasn’t known how to act in London, whom to employ, whether to open its mouth, or keep it shut. The state propaganda organs have made this worse. Everything the government now says, truth though it may be, now looks unbelievable cover-up.”

The sources are guarded in their predictions. They believe Dmitry Medvedev will be reappointed prime minister. They expect that senior officials regarded as too fond of the west will go. {makes sense given the times}

Watch and read as Dmitry Peskov explains to his boss why he should not be dismissed, and in the process reveals to the British government how the spokesman makes the president look culpable in the Skripal affair — an affair Peskov calls an “accident” six times over. That’s a dramatic news-breaking term; Peskov fails to explain it.

Peskov, 50, comes from a Soviet Foreign Ministry family. He started there himself in 1990, rising slowly through the ranks to First Secretary. Eight years — all of his foreign posting time — he spent in Turkey. Peskov then started as a press officer in the Kremlin in 2000; he has been Putin’s spokesman at the presidency and the prime ministry. His present post, which also includes the power to direct the budgets and operations of the state media, commenced in 2012.

Last week Peskov summoned Russia Today Television (RT) for an unusually lengthy interview. Spoken in English, at 46 minutes it is far too long for most television viewers. With no independent count of the RT audience and a re-broadcast estimate of 28,000 for the video clip, Peskov was appealing to the president not to remove him. Watch the video here. The transcript can also be read in full.

Transcript and video here: https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco/422090-peskov-skripal-saga-uk/

Helmer than said:

Read these excerpts from an MI6 point of view, or from the perspective of the German Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) or the French Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (DGSE). They are asking themselves why Putin, with all that is now known to him of the movements, communications, and business activities of Yulia Skripal in Moscow and her father in England, would direct Peskov to say these things, but omit to explain the Russian evidence for the “accident”.

Part Interview:

“[Sergei Skripal] is a Russian citizen, but he is not a Russian spy. He was handed in to Britain as a result of an exchange. So, why should Russia hand in a man that is of any importance or that is of any value? It’s unimaginable. If he’s handed in – so Russia quits with him. He’s of zero value or zero importance. Go ahead! So this is number one. Number two – words of President Putin: “We’re not as crazy as to even to think about something of that kind before presidential elections and before such an important global event as the football championship”. Number three. The first accusations came from politicians just a couple of hours after the accident. A couple hours after the accident we heard the first accusations against Russia that ‘highly likely, Russia was responsible of that attempt of murder.’ And now we see the words of experts from the OPCW that say that the preliminary examination of this agent will take about three weeks. Is it contradictory? Yes, it is. Well, in general, why to blame Russia? Maybe it’s a very rude comparison especially in this situation, I don’t think that anything can be ruder than the reality but, nonetheless, just imagine: Moscow city, a car accident, there’s a victim in the car accident. And we see what was the car. The car was a British-made car. Let’s say, a Range Rover. And just imagine, that myself or the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman makes a statement that a man was killed by a British-made car in a car accident in the centre of Moscow and highly likely Prime Minister of Great Britain may be responsible for that murder. Is it crazy? It is crazy.”

“We want to have a version. And we want to have a version as a result of Russia’s taking part in this investigation, at least receiving some data, receiving some information. You would probably notice that the briefing in the Foreign Ministry for ambassadors of various countries – we haven’t seen ambassador of Great Britain there. If Britain has questions in this case why wouldn’t the British ambassador come and hear the answers? As if they’re asking questions not willing to get any answers. As if they ask questions having judgements prior to that. This is extremely unfair. This is extremely contradictory with international law, international principles of behavior and diplomacy.”

“Everything that can be said as a theory is improper. You know, I’m not a politologist, I’m not a journalist to throw any theories of the incident. We have to be very responsible against this incident. This is really very dangerous for all of us – the usage of a nerve agent in Europe. This is a danger for all of us. This was an attempt of killing of the Russian citizen. By the way, I don’t know if Mr. Scripal still has a Russian citizenship, but his daughter definitely has. And Russia is the country that, of course, needs to receive the information about the state of health of its citizen that was assassinated on the British soil. This is completely unfair to mention any slightest possibility of Russia’s being involved in that.”

From things read and listened to, Peskov seems to have done a pretty good job, yet of course one can't know all the aspects and undercurrents - one can't know what they could have said over what was said and why on a given situation.

Unlike what Trump has done, it will be interesting to see what Putin does with his own house in six weeks, yet more so, what the West will do to agitate the foundations around him as surly the game keeps changing. Things seem to be ramping up in the Middle East - deliveries of hegemony military hardware in Jordan (and wherever else) with the addition of Johnny-war-boy Bolton. There is also the petro-yuan that is coming on stream, so Western desperation may be in full play.

 

[angelburst29]

From things read and listened to, Peskov seems to have done a pretty good job, yet of course one can't know all the aspects and undercurrents - one can't know what they could have said over what was said and why on a given situation.

Unlike what Trump has done, it will be interesting to see what Putin does with his own house in six weeks, yet more so, what the West will do to agitate the foundations around him as surly the game keeps changing. Things seem to be ramping up in the Middle East - deliveries of hegemony military hardware in Jordan (and wherever else) with the addition of Johnny-war-boy Bolton. There is also the petro-yuan that is coming on stream, so Western desperation may be in full play.

I can't believe - Trump is going along with this game - against Russia?!? There is not "one shred of evidence" that Russia or Putin had anything to do with what happened to Skripal or his Daughter, Yulia in the U.K. This situation is getting so blown out of proportion, that the whole thing isn't making any sense, any more? No one is giving any medical updates on the conditions of the two and if Russia is getting sever backlash (Diplomat expulsions) on just "promoted false accusations and lies", what action(s) can be expected, if Skripal and his Daughter succumb to their injuries? NATO fires - the first missile?

European countries and the US along with Canada have decided to expel Russian diplomats amid the Skripal case.

Moscow Vows Response to Expulsion of Diplomats From European States, US, Canada 26.03.2018
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201803261062899536-poland-latvia-lithuania-estonia-expel-russia-diplomats/

"We express a decisive protest over the decision taken by a number of EU and NATO countries to expel Russian diplomats. There will be a mirror-like response. We will work it out in the coming days and give our response with regard to each country… We consider this step as unfriendly and not serving the tasks and interests of establishing the causes and finding the perpetrators of the incident that took place on March 4 in Salisbury," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, powerful forces in the US and the UK are behind the poisoning attack on ex-spy Skripal in Salisbury.

The following countries have announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats,
Poland — 41
Lithuania — 32
Latvia — 13
The Netherlands — 24
Ukraine — 135
France — 46
Denmark — 27
The Czech Republic — 38
Estonia — 19
Germany — 410
Italy — 211
Romania — 112
Finland — 113
Croatia — 114
Sweden — 115
Albania — 216
Spain — 217
Norway — 118
Hungary — 119
The US — 6020
Canada — 421
Hungary — 122
Macedonia — 1

"Fourteen out of 28 EU member-states have decided to expel diplomats from the Russian Federation as a measure of solidarity with London on the Skripal case… Additional measures, including further sanctions within the common EU framework, cannot be excluded in the coming days and weeks," European Council President Donald Tusk said.

Moscow will retaliate against a series of expulsions of Russian diplomats from European countries and will provide a mirror-like response with regard to each case in the coming days, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moscow has been ready for the decision of Western countries to expel Russian diplomats, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian Consulate in Seattle is working to minimize the effects of the US closure of the mission, the senior Russian consul said.

"The Slovak Republic unequivocally condemned the nerve agent attack in Salisbury [the United Kingdom], joined the decisions of the European Council on March 22, 2018, and reserved the right to take further steps in connection with this incident… After the careful consideration of the options, the republic's Foreign Ministry has decided to urgently summon the Russian ambassador to Slovakia on Tuesday, March 27, and ask him for an explanation of the incident," Slovakia's Foreign Ministry's spokesman Peter Susko said.

Four Russian diplomats who have been expelled from Germany over Russia's alleged involvement in the case of poisoning the former GRU colonel Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom must leave Germany within a week, the German Foreign Ministry said.

"Today we, just like other EU countries and countries outside of the European Union, have decided to expel two Russian diplomats. The Russian ambassador was informed today that Denmark is expelling two Russian diplomats," Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said.

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said "We have to do the utmost to show… solidarity with our allies," and to come up with "coordinated measures" as well as national measures.

"Today, Poland decided to declare four Russian diplomats persona non-grata," Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said.

Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser said that the Russian ambassador was given today a note on the expulsion of the military attache from the country.

"Based on what has been discussed at the European Council meeting, Hungary is expelling a Russian diplomat also conducting intelligence activities," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary said.

Ireland is ready to expel at least one Russian diplomat, according to Irish Times.

"In response to the cynical chemical attack in Salisbury, Ukraine, in a spirit of solidarity with our British partners and trans-Atlantic allies, and in coordination with the EU countries, has decided to expel 13 Russian diplomats… Our diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation have been de- facto frozen, as you know," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote in his Facebook.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry condemns the nerve gas attack in the UK on March 4 and informs that it reserves the right to take diplomatic action, including the expulsion of officials, pending an investigation into the matter.

Canada's decision to expel Russian diplomats has delivered another huge blow to bilateral relations, the Russian Embassy in Ottawa said in a statement on Monday.

According to the Russian Embassies in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the Ambassadors to these countries have been summoned earlier to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the respective nations.

Austria & Bulgaria Keep Channels Open for Dialogue - Austria will not expel Russian diplomats, as it intends to keep channels open for dialogue with Moscow, according to the cabinet spokesman. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that Austria would remain neutral and would work to restore relations between East and West.

"We will not take any measures at the national level, we will not expel diplomats. The reason for this is that we intend to keep open channels of dialogue with Russia. Austria is a neutral country and a kind of bridge between East and West. But we support the decision to recall the EU ambassador from Moscow," Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter.

Bulgaria, for its part, doesn't intend to expel Russian diplomats, the ministry said.

Turkey doesn't plan anti-Russian measures over Skripal case, according to the Prime Minister deputy.

Turkey doesn't plan anti-Russian measures over Skripal case, according to the Prime Minister deputy.

​Czech PM: 'Unreported Spies' to be Expelled - The Czech Prime Minister says not Russian diplomats, but "unreported spies" will be expelled from the Czech Republic over the Skripal case.

"The use of a term ‘diplomat' [in the light of the issue of expulsion] is wrong. In fact, these are people who are called ‘unreported spies.' It seems that there are more of them in the Czech Republic than in any other country in Europe… Moreover, the Russian side has scandalously accused us, saying this Novichok poison is allegedly being manufactured here. This is a blatant lie," Andrej Babis wrote on his Facebook page.

Earlier, Czech PM Andrej Babis at the EU summit in Brussels had told reporters that he was considering the possible expulsion of several Russian diplomats from Prague in solidarity with Britain over the Salisbury case.

"Although it [the United Kingdom] is withdrawing from the European Union, we must do everything to ensure that Europe remains strong and united. In addition, the United Kingdom is a prominent member of NATO and, in terms of European and transatlantic security, an important partner for the Czech Republic. Thus, I repeat, we must support the United Kingdom," Babis said.

Government Official Arrested in Poland On Suspicion of Spying for Russia - Poland's security agents have detained a government official and suspect him of providing Russia with secrets about tactics Warsaw projected to use to try to block the construction of a gas pipeline, the Polish government said.

The official, who has been named only as Marek W., has been responsible for energy projects and allegedly was providing the Russians with information on how Warsaw intended to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Stanislaw Zaryn, spokesman for the minister responsible for the secret services.

Poland opposes the building of Nord Stream 2, which would connect Russia to Germany through a pipeline across the Baltic Sea and enable Moscow to pump more gas to its main markets in Western Europe while detouring states further east.

Warsaw states the pipeline would extend Gazprom's dominant claims on the gas market in central and eastern Europe, limit competition and increase Europe's dependence on Russian gas.

'Loyal-Lip Servicing' — Russian FM Spokeswoman - Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova characterized the expulsion of Russian diplomats from EU countries as being loyal lip service to the UK and accused London of imposing on Europeans a deterioration in relations with Russia.

"Now the ‘parade of sovereignties’ will start, the-loyal lip service of political support by EU countries for London," wrote the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on her Facebook page.

She noted that "everything that will happen now in the public-diplomatic sphere (reviews, expulsions, etc.) will be explained by the EU as 'solidarity' with London, as the EU's foreign policy requires."

"When London leaves the EU, amid its Brexit process, it will not be bound by the framework of a general line in foreign policy. It will be able to start a game for approaching or removal. But the countries remaining in the European Union will be bound by the mutual guarantee of anti-Russian solidarity, this has already been imposed by the British," she said.

The moves come a few days after the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats from the UK amid Theresa May accusing Moscow of Sergei Skripal's poisoning.

Commenting on the expulsion of Russian diplomats from various EU countries, Britain has welcomed the support displayed at a summit last week by other EU countries, but it is up to them if they decide to take further action against Moscow, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said.

"You saw at the European Council a very positive response from our partners who said they agreed with the UK's assessment. In terms of decisions which countries may choose to take when they're planning further action, that's obviously a matter for them," he told reporters.

At the EU summit in Brussels, the heads of European countries expressed their solidarity with the UK’s measures.

 

[Keit]

Regarding Peskov and the supposed rearrangement in Putin's team, or Peskov's failures. Personally to me it sounds like some sort of Sorcha Faal report.

It's true that I haven't actually investigated it deeper, but my impression is that it doesn't really matter what the quality of the PR is, and if Peskov maybe said something wrong, etc. The West is out for blood for a totally fabricated affair. It means that Russia could organize the most perfect "defence" and still be accused. Besides, it isn't Russia's responsibility to give any explanations at all.

But maybe I misunderstood something?

 

[Voyageur]

Regarding Peskov and the supposed rearrangement in Putin's team, or Peskov's failures. Personally to me it sounds like some sort of Sorcha Faal report.

It's true that I haven't actually investigated it deeper, but my impression is that it doesn't really matter what the quality of the PR is, and if Peskov maybe said something wrong, etc. The West is out for blood for a totally fabricated affair. It means that Russia could organize the most perfect "defence" and still be accused. Besides, it isn't Russia's responsibility to give any explanations at all.

But maybe I misunderstood something?

I'm not sure I understand it either, yet the first part would not be unusual to move people around or bring new people in with a new term; it might be expected even. As for the UK thing, on the surface one would would agree, Russia does not owe the UK any explanation without evidence, yet there may have been ways to counteract that were not done in terms of legal protocols; don't know.

Lamenting on the home front (no surprise) was the Canadian media tonight being full-bore on Russia rolling out the most ridiculous interviews leading off with Harjit Sajjan, the Canadian Defense Minister http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1195352131739/ and words by the anti-Russian dark-mistress, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-russia-diplomats-sanctions-1.4593062 followed up by Ex PM Stephen Harper's Minister, John Baird (who was cheering on the Liberals) http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1195249731666/ , with Justin weighing in as they, too, were announcing Russian diplomats being kicked out of the country in support for the UK's May et al. Of course, this was on the heels of the US kicking people out. Nerve agents to Crimea were the talking points, and it was absurd.

 

[Ca.]

Телеканал ЗВЕЗДА
The radio amateur found a man who had poisoned Skripal and his daughter Video
Roman Zakharov 00:10 03/27/2018
https://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/content/201803270137-19bx.htm
According to the Ural radio amateur Valentine Degterev, an offense was committed by an employee of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Radio amateurs Valentin Degterev sure that he found a man who poisoned the British spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Julia.

According to Degterev, he was able to find footage on which the last moments before the attempt were captured. The radio amateur emphasizes that after Skripal entered the mall, a blonde followed him. Two minutes later the girl came out, while she had a mask on her neck, and she constantly looked back, checking to see if people were following her. After about 30 minutes of Sergei Skripal, his daughter found unconscious on the bench.

The radio amateur believes that it is the girl, recorded on the video, that has to do with poisoning. At the same time Valentin Degterev found a blonde in social networks.

"I have found with interest that an absolutely identical blonde works in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine," says Degterev.

The radio amateur compared the recording with the video cameras and believes that it was the Ukrainian woman who was on that fateful day in Salisbury. Degterev is sure that the reason for the poisoning of the British spy and his daughter was that Sergei Skripal was interfering with the interests in the arms business. The girl allegedly met with him in the shopping center and exchanged bags, one of which lay poisoned money, and in the other, according to the radio amateurs, the machine guns. This is indicated by the fact that the Violins had different bags before going to the shopping center and after.

The attempt on the Violins, according to Degterev, occurred on the initiative of Ukraine, from where the chemical substance "Novy" was brought.

According to The Sun, the version of a possible secret meeting proves that in the phone of Skripal and his daughter on the day of poisoning within four hours, GPS was disabled. The publication notes that, according to investigators, such actions are suspicious and, possibly, at that time a certain transaction actually happened.

Earlier it was reported that the web appeared a video of the possible time of an attempt on the British spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury. On the shots from the security cameras are Sergey Skripal and his daughter. Next to them are some women.

This video was filmed a few minutes before Fiddles were found on a bench near the shopping center unconscious. The video also features a young fair-haired girl in a medical mask that has been lowered from her face.

British spy Sergei Skripal was poisoned along with his daughter Julia on March 4 in Salisbury. London laid the blame for the incident on Moscow. In turn, the Russian side categorically denies all the accusations in this case. ■

tvzvezda
Published on Mar 24, 2018

https://youtu.be/LAB0ntF0q84?rel=0

“They are sent to spy on us!” – attendees of the EU summit in Brussels were scared by two young and beautiful journalists from Zvezda TV-Channel. Russian reporters Olga Borodneva and Alexandra Mamaeva were spied on all along the top-level meeting. While some journalists from the Western media on various pretexts refused to talk to them, others followed the Russian shooting team and did secret filming. Then they published all of it online, saying that Russia allegedly sent spies, disguised as journalists. Anyway, “special agents” themselves approached the situation with humour. Now a hashtag appeared #highlylikelyjournalists.

 

[Palinurus]

The following countries have announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats,
Poland — 41
Lithuania — 32
Latvia — 13
The Netherlands — 24
....

As was posted here "the Netherlands is expelling two intelligence officers who work at the Russian embassy in The Hague". That's all.

I cannot be sure about it, but to the best of my knowledge we even don't have that many Russian diplomatic personnel in the whole country.

 

[angelburst29]

The following countries have announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats,
Poland — 41
Lithuania — 32
Latvia — 13
The Netherlands — 24
....

As was posted here "the Netherlands is expelling two intelligence officers who work at the Russian embassy in The Hague". That's all.

I cannot be sure about it, but to the best of my knowledge we even don't have that many Russian diplomatic personnel in the whole country.

The numbers they quoted "do seem to be deceiving and inaccurate" but it is my understanding, from other news reports - that the numbers include Diplomatic Staff that were assigned to the Diplomat being expelled and their Family members. So, the numbers do look inflated. Take for instance, "The US — 6020" the number includes the Diplomats that Obama expelled and closure of a Russian Compound in Maryland and a Consulate in San Francisco, California and now, Trump's closure of the Russian Consulate in Seattle, Washington and around 30 Diplomats, Family and Staff.

 

[Palinurus]

I wouldn't say inflated but rather grossly exaggerated.

From a Dutch source (26/27 March) I gathered the following:

USA - 60, plus closure of Seattle consulate
Ukraine - 13
Germany - 4
France - 4
Poland - 4
Czech Republic - 3
Lithuania - 3 diplomats, plus 44 other people
Netherlands - 2
Italy - 2
Denmark - 2
Latvia - 2
Sweden - 1
Croatia - 1
Hungary - 1
Romania - 1
Finland - 1
Estonia - 1

Your list seems to be all "sound and fury signifying nothing" and mainly destined for domestic consumption. FWIW.

 

[Ca.]

He's not implying the Russian government. But the corruption within Russia associated with the Deep State.

Day 158.7. If I Have Russian Spies, I Would Be Close To Fusion GPS
Mar 26, 2018

https://youtu.be/dO4V3kHtbr8?rel=0

Day 159.3 Diagramming SES - FBI/DEA/DOJ, DIA/NGA, NSA/NCIS
Mar 27, 2018

https://youtu.be/tI8w2c-EvM4?rel=0

Rich Russians Fleeing London From British Intel Services
Russia Insight Published on Mar 27, 2018

https://youtu.be/ECfe3jGtI7M?rel=0

There is nothing that supports the claims below.

Deep State Propaganda WSJ
2014
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A__n3w0YLNs
As the U.S. and the European Union step up economic sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, WSJ's The Foreign Bureau takes a look at the Russian oligarchs who are on the list, some of those who aren't, and why.

 

[angelburst29]

I wouldn't say inflated but rather grossly exaggerated.

From a Dutch source (26/27 March) I gathered the following:

USA - 60, plus closure of Seattle consulate
Ukraine - 13
Germany - 4
France - 4
Poland - 4
Czech Republic - 3
Lithuania - 3 diplomats, plus 44 other people
Netherlands - 2
Italy - 2
Denmark - 2
Latvia - 2
Sweden - 1
Croatia - 1
Hungary - 1
Romania - 1
Finland - 1
Estonia - 1

Your list seems to be all "sound and fury signifying nothing" and mainly destined for domestic consumption. FWIW.

Palinurus, you never cease to amaze me ... with your cross - referencing of information ... and of course, you are absolutely "correct" in your assessment that the numbers are extremely inflated "for domestic consumption"! In fact, I have "my suspicions" that Sputnik News might be reading your Posts because I just went back to the link I Posted above and made a surprising discovery ... they change the numbers, although the article remains the same.

Moscow Vows Response to Expulsion of Diplomats From European States, US, Canada 26.03.2018
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201803261062899536-poland-latvia-lithuania-estonia-expel-russia-diplomats/

The following countries have announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats,
Poland — 4
Lithuania — 3
Latvia — 1
The Netherlands — 2
Ukraine — 13
France — 4
Denmark — 2
The Czech Republic — 3
Estonia — 1
Germany — 4
Italy — 2
Romania — 1
Finland — 1
Croatia — 1
Sweden — 1
Albania — 2
Spain — 2
Norway — 1
Hungary — 1
The US — 60
Canada — 4
Hungary — 1
Macedonia — 1
Australia — 2

Also, note the last number in each of the Countries listed in my first Post: (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-etc.)
Poland — 4 (1)
Lithuania — 3 (2)
Latvia — 1 (3)
The Netherlands — 2 (4)
Ukraine — 13 (5)
France — 4 (6)
Denmark — 2 (7)
The Czech Republic — 3 (8)

Isn't learning - F-U-N!

 

[Palinurus]

More fun and a few intriguing hypotheses here (Alexander Mercouris The Duran):

https://www.sott.net/article/381195-On-the-expelling-of-Russian-diplomats-mere-tokenism-in-Europe-childish-petulance-in-Washington

Just one snippet to wet the appetite:

US expulsion looks like a delayed reaction to Russia's huge expulsion of US diplomats last July

<...>

Why this disproportionately large number of expulsions in the US, which is so much greater than that any of the expulsions carried out by the US's allies?

There are various theories about this, including one which I consider farfetched, which is that the expulsions were supposedly forced on President Trump by his advisers as some sort of 'punishment' for his decision to ignore General McMaster's advice not to telephone President Putin to congratulate him on his election victory.

In my opinion there is a far more likely explanation, which is that the expulsion is belated US reaction to Russia's gigantic purge of US diplomats and staff from the US embassy and consulates in Russia last summer.

This purge attracted extraordinarily little attention, even though it was by far the biggest single expulsion of diplomats and embassy and consular staff to have happened in modern history.

<...>

That this is a heavy blow to the US is highlighted by one interesting fact. It turns out that the number of personnel working at US embassies and consulates in Russia was almost three times greater than the number of personnel working at Russian embassies and consulates in the US.

That begs the question of what all these extra US personnel were doing there? Perhaps US embassies and consulates are less efficient than Russian ones. However I suspect that the Russians believe that many if not most of these extra people were actually engaged in intelligence gathering and "democracy promotion" activities.

Many people have commented on the quiet atmosphere in which the recent Russian Presidential election was conducted. Compared to the last Presidential election in 2012 there were no significant anti-Putin protests, no violent or embarrassing incidents, and Navalny's call for a boycott was ignored.

No one so far as I know has made the connection between the quiet atmosphere of the election and the gigantic purge of US embassy and consular staff which took place in the summer of 2017.

Nor has anyone connected the quiet atmosphere of the election to the effect of Russia's 2012 Foreign Agent law, which requires Russian NGOs which receive foreign funding and which engage in political activities to register as foreign agents.

Perhaps there is no connection between the quiet atmosphere of the election and those two things.

However if such a connection does exist - and I suspect it does - then it is not difficult to see why Washington's powerful 'democracy promotion' lobby might have found President Putin's triumphant re-election even more infuriating than it might otherwise have been.

If so then that might explain why the US appears to have seized on the Skripal affair to carry out such a disproportionately large number of expulsions.

In that case it is at least possible that the wave of expulsions in Europe and elsewhere were coordinated by the US in order to give cover to its expulsions.

article continues...

 

[little beaver]

Hi to all,im coming from a country that expoluted one of russian diplomat,of course it was by the preasure of US and EU.And it the evening news yesterday thay anaunce that we gonna bought fighting plains from ISRAEL!!!The plains are 30y old,uff i must laugh hehe,who that plains gonna help and for what!?But their is some countries like SLOVENIA that says we not gonna expolute any russian diplomats before GB proves that russians have something to do with poisoning!!Im glad that is still countries that think with their own mind and not with the mind of US,GB AND ISRAEL.

 

[Palinurus]

Hello little beaver and to the forum.

It's customary around here to formally introduce yourself in the Newbies board. Just click on New topic. No personal information is required, we just like to know how you found this forum, how long you have been reading it, what moved you to now start posting and whether you've read any books of the recommended literature list.

This will allow us to give you a proper welcome with all the perks it entails.

Would you be uncertain as to what to post in your intro, then you may watch some of the other intro posts in that board to see how others have done it.