Commander of the U.S. European Command, Air Force General Tod D. Wolters during the official Baltic Air Policing hand-over, take-over ceremony in Lithuania. Wolters is also NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe. (Photo: U.S. Air Force photo/ Tech. Sgt. Matthew Plew).
USNI News: EUCOM Commander: Russia Not Likely to Invade Ukraine Soon
While the current build-up of Russian forces near Ukraine rivals the 2014 annexation of Crimea – when Russia openly backed separatists trying to sever ties to Kyiv – the United States’ top commander in Europe today described the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine in the coming weeks as between “low and medium.”
Testifying Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee, Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters said whether the threat will continue to increase after that “depends on the disposition of the forces.”
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Update: Low to medium risk of Russian invasion of Ukraine in next few weeks -US general (Reuters)
WNU Editor: Air Force General Tod D. Wolters may believe that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is unlikely, but he still has to warn Moscow .... US commander warns NATO is ready to respond to aggression (Defense News).
As to what is my take. Russia will not invade Ukraine unless something stupid happens.
Update #2: I agree .... Why Russia may not be planning the invasion that Ukraine fears (Sarah Rainsford, BBC News)
2 comments:
M EDT
WASHINGTON — It was one of the more tantalizing, yet unresolved, questions of the investigation into possible connections between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign: Why was a business associate of campaign chairman Paul Manafort given internal polling data — and what did he do with it?
A Treasury Department statement Thursday offered a potentially significant clue, asserting that Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian and Ukrainian political consultant, had shared sensitive campaign and polling information with Russian intelligence services.
Kilimnik has long been alleged by U.S. officials to have ties to Russian intelligence. But the statement in a broader Treasury Department sanctions announcement was the first time the U.S. government had so directly drawn a connection from the Trump campaign to the Kremlin’s intelligence services. The revelation was all the more startling because it went beyond any allegation made in either special counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 report or in an even more damning and detailed document released last year by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Both those investigations were unable to determine what Kilimnik did with the data and whether he shared it further.
WATCH: All of the Mueller report’s major findings in less than 30 minutes
The issue resurfaced Thursday because Kilimnik was one of 32 people and entities sanctioned by the U.S. government for interference in the 2020 election. Officials say Kilimnik sought to promote the bogus narrative that Ukraine, not Russia, had interfered in the 2016 election.
Kilimnik was a key but mysterious figure in Mueller’s investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. A business associate of Manafort’s who worked closely with him, even managing his firm’s office in Kyiv, Kilimnik is mentioned by name 156 times in the Mueller report. He was also indicted alongside Manafort on witness tampering allegations, but has not appeared in the U.S. to face those charges. The FBI has issued a $250,000 award for information leading to his arrest.
A key episode examined by Mueller involved Manafort’s decision to share campaign polling data with Kilimnik — something prosecutors say Manafort lied about when questioned. Investigators scrutinized a series of secretive encounters between the men, including one in August 2016 at the Grand Havana Club in New York.
There, according to statements provided by Mueller, Manafort briefed Kilimnik on internal campaign data and messaging and they discussed battleground states.
The exchange of polling data was an eye-catching data point, especially since it suggested Russia could have exploited such inside information to target influence campaigns aimed at boosting Trump’s election bid in 2016.
I finally understand! Fred Lapides is the Controlled Unclassified Information authority. By the authority vested in him by his keyboard, he has declared himself the classification authority.
Mueller knew this 3 years ago so why no charges?
Can you classify a Gallup Poll? Lapides can!
Can you classify a Pew poll? Lapides can!
Lapides, who gives Quixote a run for his money and then leaves poor Quixote in the dust, relies on former newspapers like the NYT and WaPo.
The New York Times' 'Russian Bounties' Story Just Unraveled
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