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The following is behind a paywall, otherwise, I’d just link to it instead of copying it to the net. There was also a brief reference to it on the evening news last night, as Navalny’s condition seems to be improving.<\/p>\n
You may recall that, two years ago, Sergei Skripal, one of Russia’s top intelligence agents, was poisoned with novochik, a nerve agent, by one of Putin’s agents while Skripal was in the UK. He knew he’d been poisoned at Putin’s direction and went public with it.\u00a0 That stuff isn’t as subtle as Putin thinks it is.<\/p>\n
By Ivo Daalder<\/p>\n
August was busy for Russia this year. While dealing with growing popular protests in the east, Moscow has sought to distract attention by engaging in nefarious activities, both at home and abroad. It\u2019s prepared to intervene in neighboring Belarus , confronted U.S. military forces on land, at sea and in the air, stepped up its interference in the U.S. presidential elections and poisoned yet another opposition figure .<\/p>\n
None of these activities have gone unnoticed in Europe or the United States. But so far, the actions have been met with a few words of condemnation that together amount to little more than a collective shrug. When it comes to Russia, the West remains mostly divided \u2014 and no one has stepped up to lead the way to collective action.<\/p>\n
There are some signs that may be changing, however, with Germany seemingly poised to lead an effort toward a more effective response to Russia\u2019s continuing efforts to undermine security and stability in Europe and beyond.<\/p>\n
When Alexander Lukashenko, Europe\u2019s last dictator, blatantly stole the Aug. 9 presidential election in Belarus, Putin at first waited to see how developments would unfold. But with hundreds of thousands of Belarusians taking to the streets to demand Lukashenko\u2019s ouster and new elections, Putin made clear where he stood. He announced the creation of a special security force that could be deployed at the Belarusian leader\u2019s request, sent advisers to help Lukashenko control the opposition, and promised $1 billion in financial support, tying Belarus ever closer to Russia.<\/p>\n
So far, Europe and the United States have done little more than condemn the flawed elections, express concern about violence and warn Russia not to intervene. But they\u2019ve not imposed any new sanctions or put forward other measures to put teeth in these demands, implicitly conceding that Putin calls the shots.<\/p>\n
Last month also saw Russia flexing its military muscle . Russian fighters flew within 100 feet of B-52 bombers flying over the Black and Baltic seas and later penetrated deep into Danish airspace as they flanked the bombers. On the other side of the world, six Russian maritime patrol aircraft flew close to Alaskan airspace, scrambling U.S. fighters to intercept the planes. And in Syria, a Russian patrol rammed a U.S. armored vehicle, injuring seven U.S. soldiers.<\/p>\n
Not only are these actions dangerous, their aggressive nature emphasizes the Russian military\u2019s increasing confidence in challenging U.S. and allied militaries across the globe.<\/p>\n
Even though Moscow was caught red-handed interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the U.S. intelligence community reported last month that it was stepping up its activities in this year\u2019s election. Russia, it said , is using \u201ca range of measures\u201d to undermine former Vice President Joe Biden\u2019s candidacy and support the reelection of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
While Democrats have predictably condemned Moscow\u2019s blatant interference, Trump has dismissed the reports as a \u201choax,\u201d and some of his top appointees have told intelligence analysts to stop looking for Russian interference and focus on China and Iran instead. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to attack our democratic process.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s latest outrage is the poisoning of Alexei Navalny<\/em>, Putin\u2019s most severe and popular critic. After a comatose Navalny was flown to Germany for medical treatment last month, scientists there determined \u201cbeyond all doubt\u201d that he had been poisoned with the chemical nerve agent novichok \u2014 the same chemical Russia used to poison its ex-intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Britain two years ago.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible that the attack on Navalny will backfire on Putin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with fury to the poisoning, calling it an \u201cattempted murder\u201d and demanding the Russian government provide an explanation of this \u201ccrime intended to silence him.\u201d Berlin has consulted with its EU and NATO allies, and is taking the matter to the organization charged with enforcing the global ban on chemical weapons.<\/p>\n Inside Germany, pressure is rising to take stronger action \u2014 including suspending or even canceling Nord Stream 2, the controversial and nearly completed pipeline owned by Russia that will supply gas directly to Germany without having to transit Ukraine or Eastern Europe. Key government ministers have suggested that the project be halted absent a convincing explanation by Moscow of what happened to Navalny.<\/p>\n There is an opportunity to turn this newfound determination into effective action. Merkel should agree to at least suspend construction of the pipeline (though its cancellation would be better). With that decision in hand, she should propose to her European and American allies to impose biting sanctions on those responsible for the attempt on Navalny\u2019s life. And she should urge President Trump to reverse the announced withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany \u2014 a decision that weakens NATO and is widely seen as a strategic gift to Putin.<\/p>\n It\u2019s long past time to stand up to Putin. Moscow\u2019s latest escalations only underscore the urgency. Normally, the U.S. president would galvanize the Europeans into action. Given Trump\u2019s long-standing deference to Putin, that\u2019s not going to happen. It\u2019s now up to Merkel to take the lead. – article<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"