Out of the many, many interesting quotes we got from Vice President Joe Biden during his famously candid Wall Street Journal interview (which sounded like it was done in a cocktail lounge), was the following appraisal of the United States believes that Russia must feel about the possibility of Iran becoming armed with nuclear weapons:  "I can see Putin sitting in Moscow saying, 'Jesus Christ, Iran gets the nuclear weapon, who goes first?' Moscow, not Washington." Logically and rationally, of course Biden is correct here.  Russia and Iran may be enjoying a brief honeymoon in their relations, but over history there are still some serious unresolved conflicts, involving everything from regional political disputes, pan-Islamic anger over Chechnya ...

We are less than a week away from the 1st anniversary of the Russian invasion of Georgia, and the accusations are flying.  The Georgians say that Russia is attempting to seize more land, sending troops into the nearby village of Kveshi, outside of South Ossetia.  The Russians have responded to reports of mortar fire, talking in no uncertain terms about their intentions to use force if the "provocations" continue.  Meanwhile, although Joe Biden reassured that Georgia would not be sacrificed in the name of reset diplomacy, Washington also declined to provide Tbilisi with requested "defensive" weaponry - perhaps the result of a negotiation with the Kremlin during the July summit (see what Zbig Brzezinski said about ...

Below is just a taste of a very interesting and intensely argued op/ed published in Vzglyad by author Kirill Benediktov responding to the much-ballyhooed Joe Biden comments.  The translation comes via RealClearWorld's Compass Blog - I recommend reading it in full.And yes, goddamit we are going extinct. We must have the courage to acknowledge this - Russians are dying as a nation. Maybe for some ethnic groups, which are part of our multi-ethnic state, it is not true, but Russian women give too few births, while Russian men are dying too early - too little and too early for the people to survive. I do think about this "15-year factor" that Biden measures us by. No matter what sources he used - the National Intelligence Council or some other secret institution. But even according to open-source UN projections, in 2025, Russia will live only 116 ...

TODAY: Russia warns against US joining monitoring in Georgia; Lavrov unfazed by Biden's comments. US says Russia could still join NATO.  Ambassador to Britain claims no legal basis for British Council activities in Moscow. Moldova election kicks off.  Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has said that Georgia's movements on the frontier with South Ossetia and Abkhazia are 'categorically inflating political and military hysteria'.  A high-ranking diplomat has said that including the US in monitoring missions in Georgia would be 'extremely harmful' and would raise 'the likelihood of border provocations,' as well as endangering the reset.   Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has downplayed Joe Biden's 'Bush-like' comments as 'not normative', saying that US voters who ...

TODAY: EU to extend Georgia monitoring mission; Kyrgyz opposition turns to Moscow.  China-Russia relations strain over river proposal.  Activist shot in face following threats.  Moscow Patriarch Kirill appeals for unity in Ukraine.  Putin song.White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has apparently played down the suggestion that US Vice President Joe Biden made a U-turn on the reset.  Reuters analyzes the change in posture of an arguably more modest Mikheil Saakashvili?  South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity has argued that the US, Ukraine and Israel bare grave responsibility for rearming Georgia 'to the teeth'.   The EU has extended a cease fire monitoring mission in Georgia for one more year, but the idea of other countries joining ...

TODAY: Biden's comments on 'withering' Russia cause consternation; Clinton steps in to smooth over reset cracks.  Medvedev interview; 'bear' needs to appear more friendly.  Russia threatens sanctions on firms helping Georgia re-arm; acknowledges Black Sea violation.  In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Joe Biden has suggested that pragmatism led Russia to accept better relations with the US, unreservedly citing the country's numerous problems (including its 'withering economy') as reason for the thaw.  Russia has voiced its perplexity at the criticisms, and awaits 'clarification', with a foreign policy adviser asking, 'who is shaping the U.S. foreign policy, the president or respectable members of his team?'  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has adopted a ...

My apologies for the Sunday silence - I'm told that spending a day away from the internet in the summer is good for my health.  At any rate, as many readers already know, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton spent an hour on Meet the Press on Sunday, part of which was spent taking care of some janitorial duties after VP Joe Biden's stupendously honest comments to the Wall Street Journal on Russia (we wish more diplomats would occasionally speak so colloquially).  Clinton's aim was clearly to make sure nobody's feelings got hurt in the Kremlin.The full transcript of the Meet the Press interview is here ("We want a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia."), and some links to ...

So much for the reset, writes Steve LeVine, as Joe Biden visited both Kiev and Tbilisi stating that Washington will continue to support their drive for NATO membership if that is the route they choose to take.  He does a very good job explaining why Biden said what he said, pointing out that the political reality of the situation certainly doesn't mean that they are going to become NATO members soon (for example, Washington rejected Saakashvili's requests for arms).  Almost nothing is guaranteed to raise the hackles of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin more than the suggestion that Georgia should be permitted to join NATO; a close second would be the same formulation for Ukraine. Russia regards both nations as its own. Indeed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin responded by saying that Georgia is "remilitarizing" after being pummeled by Russia ...

TODAY: Russia says no to Georgia rearmament; Biden firm on support for Georgia, asserts that democracy and prosperity key to reintegration of rebel territories.  Incumbent president of Kyrgyzstan looks set to win; the opposition claims electoral fraud; Ukraine to expel Russia diplomat.  Anti-graft cases rake in money.  US Vice-President Joe Biden has adopted a more aggressive tone on Russia, stating that the Kremlin used a 'pretext' to invade Georgia, and has asserted that renewed relations with Russia 'have not...will not, and...cannot' imperil the relationship Georgia has with the US.  To see a video of Biden's standing ovation met address, see the BBC.  Biden has called upon Russia to honor last summer's ceasefire agreement, including ...

TODAY: Biden in Georgia expresses support for freedom and territorial integrity; Russia-NATO Council meeting pragmatic.  Body of missing Russian activist  Andrei Kulagin found, second murder in a week.  Nobel laureates plead for justice for Estemirova; Russia says no to UN probe into her death. Mikheil Saakashvili wasted no words in condemning Russia in his meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden.  Biden pledged his support by sending out an 'unequivocal, clear message to all who will listen and some who don't want to', in an apparent tacit reference to the Kremlin.  'We refuse to recognise that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are not part of Georgia', Biden told the BBC.  Resurrected discussions of the expulsion ...