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- NEWS: The World and Global Security Review: Vladimir Putin denies Russia role in DNC breach, asks: 'Does it even matter who hacked this data?'
Syria peace talks between US and Russia stall at G20by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
US officials had been hopeful of accord between Obama and Putin focusing on slowdown in airstrikes on rebels
Hopes that the US and Russia could reach agreement on a joint initiative to tackle Islamic State and stem the violence in Syria’s brutal civil war have suffered a setback after the US said Russia had stepped back on some issues it thought had been settled.
The US Department of State had previously said it was hopeful that the US president, Barack Obama, and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, would reach an understanding at the G20 summit taking place in China. But at the last minute a planned joint press conference between the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, was pulled.
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Voice of America |
Obstacles Remain as US, Russia Work to Finalize Syria Cease-Fire Deal
Voice of America There are hopes that U.S. President Barack Obama and Russia's Vladimir Putin will have a chance to talk informally on the sidelines of the G-20 meetings. But so far, nothing has been arranged. “We have grave differences with the Russians in terms of ... and more » |
September 4, 2016, 5:33 PM (IDT)
"We have grave differences with the Russians in terms of both the parties we support but also the process that is required to bring about peace in Syria," US President Barack Obama told reporters Sunday at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China.
The two powers, which support opposing sides, continued to negotiate a ceasefire in the face of obstacles, after the last one agreed in February broke down. Fighting in the five-year conflict has escalated in many areas, especially in the north since the Turkish invasion and the Aleppo region. US sources Sunday released a truce proposal for Aleppo that called on Assad’s army and its Hizballah and pro-Iranian allies to pull back from highways leading into the embattled city to make way for the passage of vital humanitarian assistance from Turkey and the North. This would necessitate the demilitarization of the Castello Road held by the Syrian army.
Both Washington and Moscow realize that even a partial deal between them wouldn’t last long because it would soon be violated by one or more of the combatants.
Why the red carpet has suddenly taken centre stage at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed resolving a decades long territorial dispute between their two neighboring countries at a time when they are eyeing firmer economic ties.
Leaders of the Group of 20 nations meeting this weekend in China plan to endorse a set of principles designed to guide governments in devising cross-border investment policies, similar to how global agreements govern trade.
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11 soldiers reported killed in Turkey by Zeynep Bilginsoy | AP
Eleven soldiers were killed and 28 wounded in Turkey’s east and southeast in clashes with Kurdish militants, state-run media said Saturday.
Exclusive: Putin Aide Vladislav Surkov Defied E.U. Sanctions to Make Pilgrimage to Greece by Simon Shuster / Mt Athos, Greece
A senior aide to President Vladimir Putin made a pilgrimage to one of Greece’s holiest places in May, despite being barred from the E.U. under sanctions imposed for the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Three sources independently confirmed to TIME that Vladislav Surkov, a close associate of Putin who was involved in the 2014 Crimean invasion, had travelled to the Holy Mountain of Athos, a place of pilgrimage for Orthodox Christians, around the same time as the Russian President. Putin’s visit to the holy site on May 28, along with a retinue of Russian priests, state officials, energy executives and wealthy patrons of the Orthodox Church, is the subject of a TIME feature.
The Kremlin’s response when asked about Surkov’s travels was prompt but very brief, consisting of just one sentence typed out on the letterhead of the Russian presidential administration. This information, the statement said, “does not correspond to reality.”
Surkov has been banned from traveling to both the U.S. and the European Union since 2014, when he helped to orchestrate the Russian annexation of Crimea. As an E.U. member, Greece is legally obliged to help enforce those sanctions. The Greek official who oversaw the Russian state visit is Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Amanatidis, who did not reply to written requests for comment.
Vladislav Surkov’s presence on this trip would seem unlikely to Kremlin watchers, and not only because it would constitute a breach of E.U. sanctions. While there are plenty of pious officials in Putin’s immediate circle—apparatchiks who switched from the Soviet dogmas of communism to the Orthodox tenets of faith as the political winds turned in Russia in the 1990s—Surkov has always kept his distance from them.
For more than a decade, Surkov has been known in Russia as the brains behind the throne—the chief architect of Putin’s system of bloodless authoritarianism (known in Surkov’s writings as “sovereign democracy”)—and, more recently, as his country’s lead negotiator with the U.S. in the stalled efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. But outside of his official functions, he has cultivated a reputation closer to that of a hipster savant, with a wide range of interests that are hardly in line with the traditions of Orthodoxy.
Among other works ascribed to him in Moscow are lyrics for members of the Russian goth-rock band Agatha Christie, as well as a novel, Almost Zero, that is tinged with scenes of torture and characters mocking the Orthodox faith. His favorite American poet is the Beatnik bard Allen Ginsberg, whose works Surkov can recite from memory. In 2011, when a Russian photographer visited Surkov’s officein the Kremlin, he found a framed portrait of the rapper Tupac Shakur on his desk next to another one of President Barack Obama. There were, however, no Orthodox icons or other religious images in the room. And even while Surkov served as the government’s chief of religious affairs in 2012 and 2013, hardline Orthodox believers pointed to his intellectual pursuits as a sign of his supposed “Satanism.”
So his presence on the Holy Mountain would not just seem out of character. It would also signal a broader shift in the political class, says Alexander Dugin, one of the Kremlin’s favored ideologues, who was among Putin’s entourage on Mount Athos in May and confirmed that Surkov was also there. “The fact that even secular cynics like Surkov joined such a delegation shows that the Orthodox worldview has already spread deeper through the layers of the political elite,” Dugin says. “And that is a natural process.”
As TIME has reported, Athos is much admired by the more conservative wing of Putin’s circle, whose members often profess devotion to the Orthodox faith. The President himself has made a pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain twice, once in 2005 and once this year, visits that have been hailed as evidence of Russia’s return to leadership within the world of Orthodoxy. Supporters of this trend within the Russian elites tend to believe in the “imperial legacy of the Church,” says Sergei Chapnin, a religious scholar who edited the official journal of the Russian Orthodox Church until late last year. That legacy dates back to the age of the Russian czars, who saw themselves as the rightful heirs and guardians of the one true Christian faith, he says, “and that [view] is now being reanimated.”
This has been clear in Russia’s recent military incursions in Ukraine, as well as its bombing campaign in Syria, both of which Putin has tried to justify as a means of protecting Orthodox Christians. Within the political elites in Moscow, this shift has brought equally dramatic changes to the status quo. It is now common, for instance, for state officials to have an Orthodox dukhovnik, or spiritual guide, to offer them advice and take confessions of their sins.
Putin’s dukhovnik has long been rumored to be a prominent Moscow bishop named Father Tikhon, who enjoys a great deal of sway with the President. Just this week, the bishop helped arrange a visitto Moscow for a group of students from Eton, an elite British boarding school, and Putin granted them a long and private audience in the Kremlin. Olga Vasilyeva, a long-time friend and devotee of Father Tikhon, was appointed Minister of Education and Science last month.
On May 27, when Surkov is said to have visited Athos, he also seems to have sought the council of a spiritual guide. Father Makarios, a well-known resident of Athos who took his monastic vows nearly half a century ago, confirmed that Surkov came to see him. Driving into the courtyard of his cell that day in the company of a Russian tour guide, Putin’s adviser introduced himself as Vladislav, “a top Kremlin official,” says Father Makarios, whom TIME interviewed on Mount Athos two days after the visit.
At first, the monk did not realize just how powerful his guest might be. But the visit did not especially surprise him; Father Makarios knew that Putin was due to arrive on Mount Athos the following day. Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, had arrived the day before. Boats and helicopters were coming and going all week with Russian dignitaries and supplies. And in the last few years, it has become common for Father Makarios to receive wealthy and influential guests from the Russian-speaking world—including, he says, one senior member of the former government of Ukraine, whose violent ouster in 2014 set the annexation of Crimea in motion.
“In the last years we have too many Russian pilgrims,” says Father Makarios in accented English, sounding somewhat exasperated with all the new guests. As a rule, he says, their spiritual needs stand out from the rest of his guests, who are mostly Greek. “What I see different in them is that they try not to be responsible for their deeds,” he says of the Russian pilgrims. “That’s why they ask a lot of questions, so that the responsibility is on someone else.”
One Russian businessman has even built a house for himself on Father Makarios’s property, ensuring a comfortable place to stay during his frequent trips to see the monk. Other Russian pilgrims have come to Father Makarios with a written “catalogue of sins,” which he likes to take away and tear to shreds without reading a word. “They say, ‘Oh, my sins!’ And I say, ‘Your sins are gone. They’re finished. They belong in the past.’”
In Orthodox tradition, this type of absolution is typical of the bond between the believer and his spiritual guide. The value of this relationship, says Father Makarios, is the confidence it gives the faithful in tackling moral dilemmas. At least in the Greek branch of Orthodoxy, the dukhovnik tries to offer freedom from the moral paralysis that comes with excessive feelings of guilt. “All those who try to govern the flock do so with guilt, so they are easily governed,” says the monk. “That is what I try to help them overcome.”
But Surkov was an unusual case. Instead of asking for redemption he seemed intrigued by spirituality in general, Father Makarios says. “I felt good with this guy. He’s more than ten years close to the President, and he has bright eyes. This is very important, because [normally] you become a machine.” Asked whether they discussed any matters of state or Russian policy, the monk laughed and said he would not be qualified to give advice on issues like that.
Nor did he have any photos or other physical evidence of Surkov’s visit. To help rule out a case of mistaken identity, I showed Father Makarios pictures of all the senior officials who travelled with Putin to Athos—about a dozen in all. Studying these photos, the monk shook his head and asked to see others. Only when shown a photo of Surkov did he say, “Yes, that’s him, Vladislav.” A third source, who asked to remain anonymous, also says he saw Surkov on Mount Athos that day.
What remains a total mystery is how Surkov could have entered Mount Athos in circumvention of E.U. sanctions. Although Amanatidis, the Greek deputy minister, did not respond to TIME’s queries about Surkov, he told this reporter in May that Putin and his delegation were treated like any other foreign guests. “The spiritual bonds between Russia and Greece are very deep,” he told me. “But that doesn’t in any way mean that this treatment is special for Putin.”
Yet the Greek authorities were seen to show some leniency in welcoming the Russian visitors. When Dugin, the pro-Kremlin ideologue, arrived at the airport in northern Greece along with a crew of Russian TV reporters and cameramen, Greek police pulled him out of the line at passport control.
Dugin’s role in the Russian military intervention in Ukraine had gotten him placed on a U.S. blacklist in 2014, freezing his U.S. assets and denying him visas, all in retaliation for his alleged recruitment of paramilitaries to fight against the Ukrainian military. But the E.U. stopped short of issuing a similar ban against Dugin, so he was surprised by the behavior of Greek police.
After a night in detention, he learned that some E.U. officials, apparently in Hungary, had put him on a list of “undesirables,” which had raised the red flag at the airport. “This is all a reaction to Crimea, against the people in Russia who especially supported the return of Crimea,” Dugin says. “But each [E.U.] country can choose to act on these recommendations as it likes.” After some pressure from Dugin’s contacts in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Greek authorities apparently chose to let him pass.
They could not legally have done the same for Surkov. His name is on the E.U.’s most restrictive list of Russian officials involved in the annexation of Crimea. So it seems remarkable that he would choose to violate those sanctions for the sake of what appears to be a pilgrimage.
But even if he did join the Russian delegation in May, it would not quite make him a full-fledged member of what Dugin refers to as the Athos Club. “He is cut from a totally different cloth,” Dugin says. Many of the people who traveled with Putin to Athos this time were relative newcomers to the Orthodox faith. “These were people who saw that this had become the trend in the Russian elite,” he says. “Now we’re seeing, layer by layer, the return of the elites to their Orthodox roots.”
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Washington Post |
Syrian troops advance near Aleppo in attempt to impose siege
Washington Post BEIRUT — Syrian pro-government forces backed by airstrikes launched a wide offensive in the northern city of Aleppo on Sunday, capturing areas they lost last month and almost besieging rebel-held neighborhoods, state media and opposition activists said. Syria Regime Advances South of Aleppo, Threatens New SiegeBreitbart News Syrian army recaptures fallen military base in AleppoXinhua Syrian troops advance near Aleppo, trying to impose siegeThe Times of Israel (blog) Tasnim News Agency (press release) -Mehr News Agency - English Version -Business Standard -vestnik kavkaza all 13 news articles » |
New York Times |
Politics|Tensions Deepen Between Donald Trump and RNC
New York Times Donald J. Trump spoke on Thursday in Wilmington, Ohio. His senior staff members are said to be clashing with the staff of the Republican National Committee. Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times. The Republican National Committee had high ... 'There's just been something in the atmosphere'Washington Post A Leaked Script Reveals What Trump's Black Church Appearance Is Really AboutSlate Magazine Donald Trump to Address Black Detroit Church SaturdayABC News Detroit Free Press- McClatchy Washington Bureau-WND.com -Philly.com all 410 news articles » |
Reuters |
Turkish tanks roll into Syria, opening new line of attack
Reuters A wall along the border between Turkey and Syria is pictured near the southeastern town of Deliosman in Kilis province, Turkey, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo. 2/2. left. right. Syrian civilians, with Turkish Army tanks in the ... IS conflict: Turkey sends more tanks into SyriaBBC News Turkey Launches Fresh Incursion Into SyriaWall Street Journal Turkish tanks cross into Syria in 'new phase' against ISWHIO The Guardian -News1130 -Daily Mail -Irish Times all 66 news articles » |
Reuters |
Turkish tanks roll into Syria, opening new line of attack
Reuters A wall along the border between Turkey and Syria is pictured near the southeastern town of Deliosman in Kilis province, Turkey, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo. 2/2. left. right. Syrian civilians, with Turkish Army tanks in the ... IS conflict: Turkey sends more tanks into SyriaBBC News Turkey Launches Fresh Incursion Into SyriaWall Street Journal More Turkish Tanks Roll Into Syria to Support Anti-IS RebelsVoice of America Bloomberg -TIME -Jerusalem Post Israel News -Slate Magazine all 134 news articles » |
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Newsweek |
Turkey Launches New Attack Against ISIS, Kurds in Syria
Newsweek Turkey and its rebel allies opened a new line of attack in northern Syria on Saturday, as Turkish tanks rolled across the border and Syrian fighters swept in from the west to take villages held by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). The incursion ... Turkey expands its intervention in northern SyriaThe Boston Globe Turkey moves tanks into Syria in fight against ISISPBS NewsHour |
Daily Mail-Telegraph.co.uk-The National-Yeni Şafak English
all 229 news articles »
Financial Express |
US, Russia Close on Syria Deal, but Obama Says Not There Yet
New York Times HANGZHOU, China — The United States is skeptical an agreement with Russia to decease violence in Syria can work but will keep pursuing it nonetheless, President Barack Obama said Sunday as negotiators from both countries edged toward a deal. The Latest: Erdogan wants common US approach on terrorismWashington Post Obama: No deal in place with Russia over Syria conflictUSA TODAY U.S., Russia Near Deal to Impose New Cease-Fire in SyriaBloomberg Wall Street Journal -U.S. News & World Report -STLtoday.com -Tribune-Review all 39 news articles » |
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey will never allow the formation of an "artificial state" in northern Syria, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Sunday, referring to the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters whose advance Ankara is now aiming to stop.
With Russia and Islamic State complicating the conflict in Syria, the role of Iran in this quagmire has been largely overlooked, even though it has supported President Bashar al-Assad since almost the moment his brutal crackdown on demonstrators turned mass protest into a civil war.
In Uzbekistan, the zero hour has finally come. For the first time in 25 years of independence, Uzbeks awake to a country not ruled by Islam Abdughanaevich Karimov. The new era has suddenly arrived, but what will change?
In a country whose government kept silent for nearly a week after announcing that its only post-Soviet leader was in the hospital with an undisclosed ailment, it's tough to read the tea leaves about who might come to power in the wake of President Islam Karimov.
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Russia says Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed with Japan's prime minister to draw up proposals this year to end a row over disputed islands.
U.S. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of endorsing "foreign interference" in the presidential election after he said recent leaks of Democratic e-mails were a "public service."
Russia is pushing ahead with plans to try to raise over $11 billion through the sale of nearly one-fifth of state oil company Rosneft before the end of the year, President Vladimir Putin said.
The confrontation occurred at a routine political event just days after thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to call for Nicolás Maduro’s ouster.
U.S. Strategy on Syria Is a Non-Issue in Washington and on Campaign Trail by MARK LANDLER and MARK MAZZETTI
The Obama administration is engaged in an increasingly desperate effort to broker a deal with Russia for a cease-fire that would halt bombing on Aleppo.
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More Turkish tanks have entered northern Syria in an operation targeting positions held by so-called Islamic State, Turkish media reports say.
World leaders meet at the G20 summit in China to discuss policies to bolster the world economy.
(Reuters) - Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who the government said on Friday had died aged 78 after suffering a stroke, saw himself as the protector of his Central Asian nation against the threat of militant Islam. To his critics, he was a brutal dictator who used torture to stay in power.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China needs to be a more responsible power as it gains global influence and avoid flexing its muscles in disputes with smaller countries over issues like the South China Sea, U.S. President Barack Obama told CNN in an interview to be aired on Sunday.
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to work together to resolve once and for all an island row that has marred ties for more than seven decades.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities have arrested more than 30 people on Margarita island for heckling President Nicolas Maduro, activists said on Saturday, in what appeared to be a rare public confrontation with the unpopular leader.
HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that talks with Russia will be key in reaching any deal to end hostilities in Syria, but negotiations are difficult and grave differences remain between Washington and Moscow.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A decision by a Kurdish opposition group to take up arms against Iranian authorities has senior officials in Tehran worrying that Saudi Arabia is seeking to undermine its stability in a deepening of their regional rivalry.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI on Friday took the unusual step of releasing to the public documents related to its yearlong investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state. The documents include a summary of her July interview with FBI agents as well as a detailed chronology of steps that investigators took in deciding whether criminal charges were warranted....
OBAMA LEGACY: Quiet but big changes in energy, pollutionby By SETH BORENSTEIN and JOSH LEDERMAN
HANGZHOU, China (AP) -- Mostly unnoticed amid the political brawl over climate change, America has undergone a quiet transformation in how and where it gets its energy during Barack Obama's presidency, slicing the nation's output of polluting gases that are warming Earth....
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and their allies recaptured areas in southwestern Aleppo on Sunday which rebels seized last month, after heavy bombardments and repeated attempts to drive the insurgents back, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally denied his government played any part in the recent U.S. Democratic National Committee hack during an interview published Friday, while dismissing what he described as attempts to distract the public from the information contained in the thousands of DNC emails that were subsequently leaked online.
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