Eurasia

US, NATO prepare to sharpen eastern defenses if Russia invades Ukraine

The United States will consider rotating additional U.S. troops through NATO member countries on Europe’s eastern flank, should Russia mount a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and NATO would also bulk up its presence in those countries with forces and armaments, U.S. and European officials said. The White House has repeatedly …

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Pentagon orders US soldiers out of Ukraine as war fears mount

U.S. Army National Guard troops on a training mission in Ukraine have been pulled out of the country amid growing concerns about a possible Russian invasion, the Pentagon said Saturday. About 160 members of the Florida National Guard, who have been in Ukraine since November, have been repositioned elsewhere in …

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Hungarian PM warns of refugee wave if Russia invades Ukraine

Hungary’s nationalist prime minister warned Saturday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could send hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees fleeing across the border into his country. Right-wing populist leader Viktor Orban, speaking in an annual address that this year kicked off his political campaign for Hungary’s parliamentary election on …

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Navy denies Moscow’s claim that US submarine was chased out of Russian waters

The U.S. Navy denied operating in Russian territorial waters on Saturday after Russia’s military claimed it chased away a Virginia-class submarine in the Kuril Islands after the American vessel refused an order to surface. A Russian navy destroyer used “appropriate means” against the U.S. submarine after the order was refused, …

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Biden warns Putin of ‘severe costs’ if Russia invades Ukraine

President Joe Biden told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said Saturday. It offered no suggestion that the hourlong call diminished the threat of …

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Macron’s Moscow Visit Fails to Break the Stalemate Over Ukraine

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in Brussels today for a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Their meeting follows a busy diplomatic week full of high-level meetings aimed at preventing the outbreak of war near the European Union’s borders. But with the week …

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Special Ops Are Better Than Drones for Counterterror Missions

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered a team of U.S. special operations forces to carry out a raid in northern Syria that is now stoking legal controversy. The mission targeted a residential compound where Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi had been holed up with his family and …

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A New Thaw in Israel-Turkey Ties Still Faces an Old Obstacle in Ankara

Recent signs of a thaw in ties between Israel and Turkey after a decade of frosty relations are yet another reflection of how the Middle East’s changing regional order is not only leading to the emergence of new relationships, but also to adjustments in old ones. The thaw is in …

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The potential impact of Ukraine-Russia conflict on the MENA region

The Black Sea basin has become a flashpoint due to Russia’s interventions in Georgia and Ukraine. This has implications not only for European security, but also for Mediterranean security as well. As the prospect of a larger conflict between Ukraine and Russia looms, close attention should be paid to its …

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Jihadi leader’s donation to IDP camps in Syria questioned as PR stunt

Some observers feel that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani’s donation of $1 million to displaced camp residents is more about public relations than benevolence. The latest public appearance of the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib again raised controversy. On …

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