How to build a bridge across the Bering Strait

Bering Strait Bridge from Russia to AlaskaA few months ago, news broke (yet again) that Russia planned to build a tunnel under the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska. Well, it looks like a tunnel isn’t the only option on the drawing board. 

Engineers are also considering how they could build a bridge across the Bering Strait.  Or, to be more… Read the rest

Russian Tu-95 bombers intercepted over Guam

Russian Tu-95 intercepted by US F-15C Eagle jet

Wow – Russia really is starting to strut its military stuff on the world stage again.

Two Tu-95 bombers flew to the US island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, paying a surprise visit to the US military base there. Shocked US pilots on the base were forced to scramble to intercept the Russian bombers.… Read the rest

Discussion: A New Cold War?

“A New Cold War” is the latest International Affairs Forum debate. 

“With talk of a new Cold War, and Russian President Vladimir Putin floating the possibility of aiming nuclear weapons at targets in Europe, how serious do you think the deterioration in relations is between Russia and the West? How should Western governments respond?” 

Among… Read the rest

Henry Kissinger in talks with Putin

Henry Kissinger

Last week Henry Kissinger led a delegation of US political big-hitters on an extremely low-profile mission to Russia. Kissinger and his team met with Vladimir Putin and an equally matched Russian delegation – led by former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov - to discuss some of the more pressing issues in US-Russia relations.

Make no mistake about… Read the rest

Russian Foreign Minister pulls Foreign Affairs article

Foreign Affairs banner

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has decided to pull an article from the next issue of the US-published Foreign Affairs journal.

Foreign Affairs banner“As a result of the excruciating and sluggish exchanges with the editors, the likes of which could only be found in diplomatic history, it was decided to give up trying to place Sergey Lavrov’s

Read the rest

CNN takes fake $100 bill story, and runs with it

Remember the story I posted a couple of weeks ago, about a member of Putin’s advance party to Kennebunkport trying to buy whisky with a fake $100 bill?

Well, it’s hit the mainstream – big time. A (rather deranged, it must be said) CNN presenter, has decided that the money came right from the… Read the rest

Allofmp3 dies, and is reborn

mp3sparks logo

The Russian government has finally bitten the bullet, decided it wants to be in the World Trade Organisation more than it wants to be seen as a haven of music piracy, and closed Allofmp3.com.

Allofmp3.com The site, Allofmp3.com, was quietly closed as the Kremlin sought to end criticism from the United States that Russia

Read the rest

Putin advance team caught passing fake $100 bill

Confederate DollarSo, Putin’s coming to visit George W Bush in Kennebunkport this weekend, and his advance guard are in town, checking out the place.

Now, Kennebunkport isn’t the most exciting place to be if you’re a Russian Secret Service agent , and, well, you know how these Russians, they like their liquor:

A Russian man

Read the rest

A map of the Russia-US anti-missile dispute

This beautiful map from Kommersant graphically demonstrates why Russia is concerned about the proposed US anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech republic.

If the US plan goes ahead as expected, high powered radars from Poland will be able to cover all of European Russia, and a good chunk of Siberia as well:

Russia anti missile mapRead the rest

Putin offers to work on joint missile shield

Dove missile

Dove missileSo, after spending the past few weeks ratcheting up the pressure, Putin has made an about turn and offered to work on a ‘joint’ missile shield with the United States.

Details of exactly how such a scheme would work are a little sketchy at the moment, to say the least, but it seems as… Read the rest

Russia tests new missile

MissileRussia test fired a new ICBM yesterday.  

As you would expect, the western press – particularly in the UK – are muttering darkly about the new Cold War and a renewed arms race (see the Express and Guardian, for examples).

I was more interested by the following comment from First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei… Read the rest

Georgia to send 2,000 soldiers to Iraq

Georgia is to more than double the size of its forces in Iraq, from 850 to 2,000.  The increase will make Georgia the fourth largest contributor of troops to the Coalition in Iraq, behind the US, UK and South Korea:

In a statement, President Mikhail Saakashvili said that Georgia wanted to do everything possible to help the

Read the rest

Russia surrounded by USA

If you’re a Russian, how does it feel to be surrounded by the USA? This map shows just how many US bases ring Russia.

How the Belarus oil story has grown

I picked up some incoming traffic from Matthew Yglesias’ blog today. Wondering what was going on, I wondered over to his site, to find the following story about the Russian decision to shut down the flow of oil through Belarus:

All of Europe gets cut off from crude oil supplies, apparently.

His source is… Read the rest

Russia to buy Alaska?

Laurence Jarvik links to a couple of reports that Russia should buy Alaska to solve America’s finacial difficulties.

I read the original Washington Post column by Steven Pealstein that proposed selling Alaska as a solution to America’s financial problems. (It also said that Alaska had a Soviet-style economy because of federal spending obtained by

Read the rest

Russian – Chinese Wargames

A joint Chinese-Russian military exercise is underway in the Russian Far East, the first between the two countries.  10,000 personnel are involved in an operation that is said to be one of humanitarian assistance:

[T]he scenario for these exercises – aid to a state suffering political violence – isn’t aimed against

Read the rest

Transcript of Basayev’s ABC interview

Chechenpress has just published a copy of the transcript of ABC’s interview with Shamil Basayev (note: site no longer exists, so link removed). It makes hideous reading, particularly Basayev’s delusional comments (whether he believes his own words or not, I’m not sure) about who is to blame for the deaths of those hundreds of… Read the rest

RIA Novosti’s Iraq office raided after interviewing Iraqi opposition

Hmmm, so after all the stink that the Russian government kicked up over the ABC decision to air their Shamil Basayev interview it certainly is… interesting… to note that RIA Novosti had no qualms about interviewing Abdulla al-Jenabi the leader of one of Iraq’s largest armed guerilla groups. 

Their decision to publish the interview… Read the rest

Russian submariners rescued

As28_crewAs I mentioned at the tail-end of yesterday’s post (here), the Russian Priz mini submarine stranded on the floor of the Pacific Ocean has been rescued.  All seven crewmembers are reported to be in good condition.  They’ll still need to undergo medical examiniation but, judging by this picture, they were fit enough to walk… Read the rest

Russian sub still trapped – rescue underway

Russian_sub2A Russian mini-submarine with a full complement of seven sailors remains trapped on the floor of the Pacific ocean for a second day.  The Russian Navy has reportedly begun its rescue mission, attaching cables to the submarine in an attempt to either lift it and/or tug it to shallower waters.   Interfax reports that Read the rest

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