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Posts Tagged ‘Antony Blinken’

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Why Is the US So Unhappy That China Offered a Peace Proposal? – Antiwar.com Original

Posted by M. C. on March 9, 2023

It is interesting, though, that Europe may have less difficulty with all of these points in the Chinese position paper. Europe, too, has suffered US violations of sovereignty and US coups. Europe is also less opposed to China and Russia’s claim of the indivisibility of security.

https://original.antiwar.com/Ted_Snider/2023/03/08/why-is-the-us-so-unhappy-that-china-offered-a-peace-proposal/

by Ted Snider

On February 24, China published its “Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.” The US reacted very negatively very quickly. They reacted more negatively even than Ukraine.

What is it about the Chinese proposal that so unnerves the US? It is not even a fully developed settlement proposal ripe for negotiation. There was no hurry to take it off the table. It is merely a declaration of China’s position and a pledge that China is willing to assume “a constructive role in this regard.”

In a first response so comical it could only be intended for public consumption, the US discredited China as a broker because they are not neutral in the war in Ukraine and then scolded them for considering sending weapons to Russia.

Though neutrality may be a desirable stance for a peace broker, the US, who has many times in recent history demanded the role of broker without the requisite neutrality, has reserved the right to encourage or discourage peace talks in the war in Ukraine while being blatantly un-neutral in the war in Ukraine: far less neutral than China.

And as for considering sending weapons, the US has crossed the line of consideration by over $45 billion. That’s a lot more than “considering.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the US has “information that gives us concern that [China is] considering providing lethal support to Russia in the war against Ukraine.” He said that China is “strongly considering providing lethal assistance to Russia.” CIA Director William Burns repeated that claim, reporting that “We’re confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment.” The claim is reportedly based on information “gleaned from Russian government officials.”

However, at a March 2 White House press briefing, when National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked how serious the Biden administration thinks China is about sending Russia weapons, he responded, “We actually don’t know.” When asked at a previous press conference why the US had not shared any of the intelligence, Kirby answered that “I just don’t have any intelligence to speak to today.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen repeated the lack of knowledge. On March 5, she told reporters that the US had not provided Europe with the evidence: “So far, we have no evidence of this. . . .”

Even President Biden said, in a February 24 interview that “I don’t anticipate – we haven’t seen it yet, but I don’t anticipate a major initiative on the part of China providing weaponry to Russia.”

When the US finished attacking China, they at last turned to attacking China’s proposal.

See the rest here

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Blinken Accuses Beijing of “Considering” Arming Moscow Without Evidence | The Libertarian Institute

Posted by M. C. on February 21, 2023

diplomat
  1. One, such as an ambassador, who has been appointed to represent a government in its relations with other governments.
  2. One who uses skill and tact in dealing with others.

Skill and Tact! You will have to go back a century or two find competent secretary of state.

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/blinken-accuses-beijing-of-considering-arming-moscow-without-evidence/

by Connor Freeman

Amid simmering tensions between Washington and Beijing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. After the White House ordered the military to shoot down a Chinese balloon which floated over the continental United States, there was a major breakdown in diplomacy. Previously, US officials suggested Blinken would take advantage of the opportunity to help de-escalate the situation and reach some quasi-détente. Instead Blinken confronted Wang over the balloon incident and warned China against providing weapons to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine.

“This was an opportunity to speak very clearly and very directly about the fact that China sent a surveillance balloon over our territory, violating our sovereignty, violating international law. And I told him quite simply that that was unacceptable and can never happen again,” Blinken told NBC’s “Meet The Press.” Without providing further details on the meeting, Blinken said “I can tell you, no, there was no apology.”

After the Pentagon announced a Chinese balloon had entered U.S. airspace and that it posed no threat to Americans, Blinken canceled his long planned trip to China where he would have met with Wang and possibly President Xi Jinping.

Though the Department of Defense claims – without evidence – that it was a surveillance device, Beijing maintains that it was a meteorological balloon, for civilian purposes only, and that it entered US airspace as a result of abnormal weather. Last week, the Washington Post also reported that unexpected weather blew the balloon off course, adding US intelligence and military agencies had tracked the balloon since it was launched from Hainan Island, China’s southernmost province.

They expected the balloon to travel over to Guam, where the Marine Corps is opening new bases as part of Washington’s “Asia Pivot,” a policy launched during the Barack Obama administration to encircle China in preparation for a future war, the largest military buildup since World War II.

The balloon was shot down by a F-22 on February 4th, after which Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin was declined a call with his Chinese counterpart. On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin declared Washington’s actions have “had a grave impact on the efforts and progress made by China and the US in stabilizing bilateral relations” since President Joe Biden met with XI in Bali last fall. Beijing also said that at least 10 US high-altitude balloons have flown over its territory since last year.

Wang also pointed to the heavy American military presence in waters surrounding China, saying “US military vessels and aircraft conduct frequent close-in reconnaissance on China, including 657 sorties last year and 64 sorties in January this year in the South China Sea alone, which seriously undermines China’s national security and regional peace and stability.”

Blinken says he emphasized Washington’s “deep concern” over information he claims the US has that shows China is considering providing “lethal assistance” to Moscow as well. “We’ve been watching this very, very closely. And, for the most part, China has been engaged in providing rhetorical, political, diplomatic support to Russia, but we have information that gives us concern that they are considering providing lethal support to Russia in the war against Ukraine.”

“We see China considering this. We have not seen them cross that line,” he asserted. “We are concerned that this is something that China was not doing for many months but may be considering now,” adding if China crosses that line it could spark a “new Cold War.”

Blinken said the US is only sharing this intelligence with allies right now and implied it reveals a sudden shift in China’s posture regarding the war in Ukraine. In response to a question about how “lethal” support is defined, Blinken clarified “everything from ammunition to the weapons themselves.”

See the rest here

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NATO Exists To Solve The Problems Created By NATO’s Existence

Posted by M. C. on December 3, 2022

We’re at the most dangerous point in humanity’s abusive relationship with US unipolar domination, for the same reason the most dangerous point in a battered wife’s life is right when she’s trying to escape. The empire is willing to do terrible and risky things to retain control. “If I can’t have you no one can” is a line that can be said to a wife, or to the world.

Tell me again, what does the NA in NATO stand for?

Caitlin Johnstone

https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/nato-exists-to-solve-the-problems?r=iw8dv&utm_medium=android

NATO has doubled down on its determination to eventually add Ukraine to its membership, renewing its 2008 commitment to that goal in a meeting between the foreign ministers of the alliance in Bucharest, Romania this past Tuesday.

Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp writes:

The Romanian city was where NATO initially made the promise to Ukraine back in 2008, and at the time, US officials acknowledged that attempting to bring the country into the alliance could spark a war in the region.

“We made the decision in Bucharest in 2008 at the summit,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. “I was there … representing Norway as Prime Minister. I remember very well the decisions. We stand by those decisions. NATO’s door is open.”

In a joint statement, the NATO foreign ministers, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said that they “reaffirm” the decisions that were made at the 2008 Bucharest summit.

Antiwar.com @Antiwarcom

NATO Doubles Down on Pledge to Eventually Admit Ukraine NATO foreign ministers are holding a summit in Bucharest, where the alliance first made the promise in 2008 by Dave DeCamp @DecampDave #NATO #Ukraine #Russia news.antiwar.com/2022/11/29/nat…

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7:39 PM ∙ Nov 29, 2022

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It has become fashionable among the mainstream western commentariat to claim that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had nothing to do with NATO expansion, but as recently explained by Philippe Lemoine for the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology, that’s a completely false narrative that requires snipping past comments made by Putin out of the context in which they were made. Many western experts warned for years in advance that NATO expansion would lead to a conflict like the one we’re seeing today, and they were of course correct.

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US Biolabs In Ukraine? Victoria Nuland Spills The Beans

Posted by M. C. on March 9, 2022

Is there anything worse than bio-warfare labs? Is there anyone with more of them than US?

Bungler Blinken gets bluff called.

After all the “fact check” organizations assured us it was “Russian disinformation” and “fake news,” US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria “F the EU” Nuland admitted the existence of biolabs in Senate testimony and stated that the US was working with Ukraine to keep the “research” at those labs from falling into Russian hands. Also today: the bizarre Polish jet fighter saga, political persecution of a Jan. 6th protester, and Florida OKs off-label treatments for covid.

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America’s War?

Posted by M. C. on February 21, 2022

By Eric S. Margolis

World War III? Or a bad, expensive joke?

Russia has declared a nuclear test alert.  The Ukraine crisis is beginning to become very scary.

When the old Soviet Union broke up, I and other moderates called for the former Moscow-dominated states of East Europe to become neutral.  Otherwise, East-West conflict would, I warned, be inevitable (see my book ‘War at the Top of the World’).

Instead, the rabidly anti-Russian US war party drove NATO east to the former Soviet borders, making a major confrontation near certain.

We are there today, playing Russian roulette with nuclear weapons.

Washington is beating the war drums and sounds borderline hysterical, warning ‘the Russians are coming.’  Moscow scoffs at the whole business, saying President Joe Biden is trying to divert attention from the big economic and political mess in the US.

Nothing like a jolly little war to distract public opinion at a time when rightwing forces are fast gaining ground in the US and now, of all places, in placid Canada.

The trucker’s blockade that shut down the Canada-US border cost Ottawa billions in lost trade, seriously damaged the image of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and showed that less than 100 ZZ Top look-alike truckers could hold Canada to ransom. 

It was also a vivid rehearsal for what the hard right may have in store for November elections.  The mob assault on the Capitol on 6 January was only a trial run.

Meanwhile, back in darkest Ukraine, pro- and anti-government factions are trading occasional shells while the US government in Washington claims war is imminent.

The facts on the ground do not support such alarmism.  Russia may have up to 150,000 troops positioned around Ukraine (similar to the same strategic advantage that Germany enjoyed over Poland in 1939) but all these units are so far positioned inside Russia.  Most of the NATO troops rushed to the east are from outside their home territory. 

Crimea and Ukraine were ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and then Crimean Tatars, until annexed by Russia’s Catherine the Great in 1783.  They remained an integral part of the Russian Empire until the 1920’s, and, after a brief bout of independence after WWI, until the Communist era.

But one must remember that in the 1930’s, Josef Stalin and his ‘Jewish Himmler,’ Lazar Kaganovitch, murdered some six million Ukrainians by starvation or shootings in an effort to eradicate Ukrainian nationalism and independent farming.  This was likely the worst atrocity in Europe until 1944 – done by the key US/British wartime ally.  Small wonder the invading Germans in WWII were initially greeted as liberators.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, an ally of billionaire George Soros, now claims that Moscow will stage a false flag operation to justify invading Ukraine.  It’s true, Russia just about invented such ploys in the 1919-1920 period when Moscow’s secret police rounded up and crushed the anti-communist opposition.  KGB has always loved such deft operations. 

But who is Blinken to make such allegations?  British media revealed that George W. Bush and UK PM Tony Blair discussed painting US aircraft in UN colors, then buzzing Iraqi anti-aircraft units to provoke a false flag attack on the UN, justifying a US-British attack against Iraq.  In fact, the entire Iraq invasion was based on a farrago of lies, double-dealing and torture.

Right on cue, former US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland (born Nudelman), remerges to press for war against Russia.  She spent US$5 billion engineering the overthrow of Ukraine’s former elected government which leaned towards Moscow.

As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

Eric S. Margolis [send him mail] is the author of War at the Top of the World and the new book, American Raj: Liberation or Domination?: Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World. See his website.

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The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity : Biden’s Ukrainian Albatross

Posted by M. C. on January 24, 2022

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2022/january/23/bidens-ukrainian-albatross/

Written by Daniel McAdams

Then-Secretary of State Colin Powell is given credit for popularizing the “Pottery Barn” rule of foreign policy. Though he denies using that exact phrase, in arguing against what became the disastrous 2003 US attack on Iraq Powell made the point that, as in Pottery Barn, “if you break it, you own it.”

Bush and his neocons – ironically with the help of Colin Powell himself – did indeed break Iraq and the American people as a result “owned” Iraq for the subsequent 22 years (and counting). It was an idiotic war and, as the late former NSA chief Gen. Bill Odom predicted, turned out to be “the greatest strategic disaster in American history.”

Attacking and destroying Iraq – and executing its leader – not only had no value in any conceivable manner to the United States, it had negative value. In taking responsibility for Iraq’s future, the US government obligated the American people to pick up the tab for a million ransacked Pottery Barns.

There was no way out. Only constant maneuvering and manipulation to desperately demonstrate the impossible –  that the move had any value or even made any sense.

So it is with Ukraine. In 2014 the Obama/Biden Administration managed to finish what Bush’s neocons started a decade before. With the US-backed overthrow of the Ukrainian government that year, the US came to “own” what no one in their right mind would ever seek: an economic basket case of a country with a political/business class whose corruption is the stuff of legend.

Rather than admit what a colossal blunder the whole thing had been, the US foreign policy establishment doubled down.

“Oh, this might be a neat tool to overthrow our own election: let’s pretend Trump is Putin’s agent!”

In fact Trump was impeached because a certain Col. Alexander Vindman – himself of Ukrainian origin and doing the bidding of a Ukrainian government installed by Washington – solemnly testified to Adam Schiff and his Democrat colleagues in charge of the House that Trump was clearly Putin’s puppet because his lack of enthusiasm for continuing to “own” Ukraine went against “the Inter-Agency Consensus.”

We “own” Ukraine and there is no way back – at least if the US foreign policy establishment has its way.

That is why our hapless State Department today continues to peddle the fiction that Russia is about to invade – and thus “own” – Ukraine. US foreign policy is one of projection: accuse your rivals of doing what you yourself are doing. No sane country would want to “own” Ukraine. Except the Beltway Think Tank class, thoroughly infused with military-industrial complex money.

That is why the US government, though its Embassy in Kiev, is bragging about the arrival of $200 million in lethal aid, all pointed directly at Russia.

That is why the US State Department is maintaining the fiction that Russia is about to launch a ground war to occupy Ukraine by dramatically announcing an “evacuation” of all “non-essential personnel” from its Embassy in Kiev.

It’s just too bad that we don’t share the opinion of who are really “non-essential” State Department personnel in Kiev: the last person out could be asked to turn off the lights.

By overthrowing an elected government in Kiev in 2014, the US government disenfranchised millions of voters in eastern Ukraine who voted for the overthrown president. Those voters unsurprisingly came to view the US-installed regime as illegitimate and sought self-rule under the concept of self-determination. As ethnic Russians, many of these successfully sought Russian passports.

Russia has been clear for a long time about Ukraine: it will not allow an armed invasion of eastern Ukraine that would result in the deaths of thousands of Russian citizens. Were the shoe on the other foot, the US – and any country – could be expected to react the same way.

The US is nearly the last country on earth that still holds to the WWII-era concept of war for territorial gain. Russia wants to “own” Ukraine like most people want to “own” a 2003 Saturn. That is why despite neocon/neo-liberal hype, magnified by the lock-step US media, Russia is not about to invade Ukraine.

This fantasy is being pushed by those who desperately need to continue to gin up enthusiasm for a thoroughly idiotic and counterproductive imperial enterprise.

Biden while vice president sowed the regime change winds in Ukraine. Now his inept Administration will reap the whirlwind of that continuing train wreck and eventual dissolution of the country. No matter what Antony Blinken peddles to the contrary.

Even the comedian Zelensky knows this is a really bad joke.

Copyright © 2022 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.
Please donate to the Ron Paul Institute

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United States to Give Extra $200 Million in Military Aid to Ukraine | The Libertarian Institute

Posted by M. C. on January 24, 2022

But “they” are the aggressor. Stinger missiles, can’t you shoot an airliner down with those?

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/united-states-to-give-extra-200-million-in-military-aid-to-ukraine/

by Dave DeCamp

The U.S. is giving Ukraine an additional $200 million in military aid that was approved by the Biden administration in December, a senior State Department official confirmed with reporters on Wednesday. The additional military aid was announced while Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Kyiv.

The official didn’t detail what military equipment would make up the new aid package. Since 2014, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with over $2.5 billion in military aid. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. started giving Ukraine lethal weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles and armed patrol boats.

Earlier reports said the Biden administration was considering giving Ukraine more stinger missiles, mortars, and more Javelin missiles. Another plan under consideration is giving Ukraine military aid that was meant for the now-defunct U.S.-backed Afghan government that would include Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters.

With the constant U.S. claims of a Russian invasion, Washington is eager to give Ukraine weapons. On top of the $200 million, the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes another $300 million for military aid to Ukraine. A group of Senate Democrats recently introduced a bill that would authorize an additional $500 million for Ukraine if the president determines Russia is being hostile towards its neighbor.

This article was originally featured at Antiwar.com

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State Dept. to Americans: Only Watch Pro-War News!

Posted by M. C. on January 21, 2022

https://mailchi.mp/ronpaulinstitute/rtdemon?e=4e0de347c8

Dear Friends:

I just finished doing an interview on RT International about a new US State Department report on “Russia’s Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem.” I expect the black SUVs to be rolling into my driveway here in Lake Jackson any minute. I wish that were a joke, but these days you never know. An American foreign policy expert friend of mine who for many years wrote a column in a publication that the US government deemed “Russia-connected” got a visit from the FBI (in black cars) warning him of serious consequences should he continue to share his views on that particular outlet. So much for that old US embrace of the free press and media pluralism!

So tonight, as is par for the course, on the eve of renewed US/Russia talks in Geneva the US side feels compelled to drop a stink bomb on the party, like a dog marking his territory. This one comes in the form of a new report on how evil and dangerous are RT and Sputnik, two Russia-affiliated alternative news outlets.

I had a half hour to plow through the 30-ish page report before I went live, so I tried to hone in on any legitimate criticism. Had RT and Sputnik been making up false stories? Nope. No mention of that. Are they reporting in any manner outside of accepted journalistic practices? Nope. Have they been peddling disproven conspiracy theories, like four years of US mainstream media fake conspiracies about Russiagate? Nope. 

So, as our older readers might remember that old ad slogan, “where’s the beef”?

 Well…Antony Blinken’s State Department is furious  because according to one study Americans who watch RT don’t seem as susceptible to US government’s pro-interventionist propaganda. As the State Department report puts it: One recent study reported that American consumers exposed to RT content are more likely than those not exposed to prefer that the United States withdraw from its global leadership position, even when the consumers are aware that RT is funded by the Russian government.
Oh noes! Some Americans dare to not prefer a “global leadership position” for the US government! Some Americans may not prefer the largest military budget on the planet, troops in 150 foreign countries, endless US-backed color revolutions, the murder of foreign leaders, and 20 year occupations in wars that are lost by everyone except the US military-industrial-Congressional-think tank-complex!

 But if the State Department thinks it is dealing with just a handful of Ron Paul supporters, they are victims of their own circular thinking and mirror-imaging. As I said in the interview, according to a December, 2021 YouGov/Koch Institute poll, some 73 percent of Americans actually prefer that the US government “withdraw from its global leadership position.”

Are 73 percent of Americans “anti-American” as defined by the State Department? Maybe the State Department is wrong instead of the 73 percent of Americans who pay their salaries!

The other big beef the State Department has with RT and Sputnik is that they accuse the networks of taking a position in favor of Russian government positions on foreign policy. Whoa, they got me there. Good thing the US media is always out there opposing Washington’s endless interventionism! If we non-interventionists didn’t have the mainstream media – and especially US government-funded VOA and RFE/RL – on our side, I don’t know what we’d do!

Of course all US mainstream media networks – including those catering to conservatives like Fox News – take the US government position on foreign policy, with extremely few exceptions. Even the otherwise very watchable Tucker Carlson will criticize US government aggressive policies toward Russia not because they are dumb policies…but because that aggression should be focused on China!!!!

The American media, like the US government it serves, is obsessed with enemies. Enemies sell. Enemies get views and clicks. That’s all that counts. They condition Americans to think of the entire rest of the world as desperate to destroy our way of life and drain our precious bodily fluids.

As Ron Paul said in his latest column, “It’s all fun and games until the missiles start flying.”

The State Department report also points to the close ties between Russian media figures and the Russian government. Seriously? Have they watched the US mainstream media lately? As Australian writer Caitlin Johnstone put it not long ago, “The CIA Used To Infiltrate The Media. Now The CIA Is The Media.” Additionally, US journalist Matt Taibbi gives us a partial list of US intelligence agents who went on to serve their masters in the US mainstream media.

Has the State Department not noticed how many senior US Administration officials of both parties went on to senior and high-paid positions with US mainstream media outlets? Surely they need to get out more.

As with everything coming out of the US Administration (and the ones before it), US foreign policy is best defined as one of projection. They claim that others are doing precisely that which they themselves are doing. This report is no different.

But we should all reserve some righteous anger for our own government believing us to be so stupid and ignorant that a few minutes of watching RT – or maybe even reading Caitlin Johnstone or Matt Taibbi or Glenn Greenwald – will turn us into Manchurian candidates out to do the bidding of a 1950s era global menace waiting to turn us all into slithering communist salamanders. Shame on them!

On a personal note, I’ve shared my opinions on RT for at least ten years and have never once been asked what I was going to say before the interview. That is the opposite of what happens every time (rare as it may be) I am invited to a US mainstream outlet. My policy has always been that I am very happy to share the philosophy of non-interventionism with any news outlet that will have me. (Guess how many times the US mainstream media invites me…).
Sincerely yours,

Daniel McAdams
Executive Director
Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity
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Ukraine Needs Clear Communication, Not Weapons, From the U.S.

Posted by M. C. on December 20, 2021

But the U.S. can do its part by incentivizing Kyiv to operate through the prism of reality rather than fantasy. Giving Ukraine the false hope of unconditional U.S. backing does the country no favors.

https://reason.com/2021/12/08/ukraine-needs-clear-communication-not-weapons-from-the-u-s/

Daniel DePetris

With approximately 100,000 Russian forces stationed near Ukraine’s eastern border and reports that Moscow might be planning an incursion as soon as next month, a casual observer can be forgiven for thinking war in Eastern Europe is just around the corner. U.S. officials are taking the threats of a Russian operation extremely seriously.

A session between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week did little to calm bilateral tensions over Ukraine. Neither did a two-hour video conference on Tuesday between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which at first glance appeared to be more of an airing of grievances than a conflict-resolution strategy session. At present, the U.S. and Russian positions on Ukraine are nearly irreconcilable, even as both pay lip service to a diplomatic process that has made little progress beyond a shaky ceasefire.  Putin wants assurances Ukraine will not be swallowed up in the Western orbit, insisting on “legal guarantees” to this effect (a point he reiterated during his video call with President Joe Biden on December 7). Washington, meanwhile, demands Russia withdraw its forces from Ukrainian territory, sever support to the separatists in the Donbas, and hand back full control of the Ukrainian border to Kyiv.

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In Indonesia Visit, Blinken Vows US Will Expand Military Power in Region to Counter China – News From Antiwar.com

Posted by M. C. on December 16, 2021

…including the extension until 2026 of a maritime cooperation pact that calls for more naval drills between the US and Indonesia.

Indonesia? Likely to counter those naval drills China has with Panama.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/12/14/in-indonesia-visit-blinken-vows-us-will-expand-military-power-in-region-to-counter-china/

by Dave DeCamp

During a visit to Indonesia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would expand military and economic partnerships in Asia to counter China.

In a speech titled “a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” Blinken outlined the Biden administration’s strategy to counter China, emphasizing strengthening cooperation with regional countries.

“Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships,” Blinken said. “We’ll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power — diplomacy, military, intelligence — with those of our allies and partners.”

Even though an increased US military presence in the region makes a conflict with China more likely, Blinken claimed the strategy was meant to preserve peace and to defend the so-called “rules-based order,” which essentially means the US-led global order. He also claimed the US does not want countries to choose between Washington and Beijing but slammed China for what he called “aggressive actions.”

During the visit, Blinken signed three memorandums of understanding with Indonesia’s foreign minister, including the extension until 2026 of a maritime cooperation pact that calls for more naval drills between the US and Indonesia.

China denounced Blinken’s comments and said the US was intentionally stoking conflict in the region. “[The US] should be a promoter of dialogue and cooperation in the region instead of a saboteur that drives wedges between regional countries and undermines regional solidarity and cooperation,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.

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