person:vladimir putin

  • Trump à Osaka : j’ai 5 stratégies alternatives pour le Venezuela, je peux en changer à tout moment,…

    Trump: Tenemos cinco alternativas diferentes para Venezuela
    http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/politica/trump-tenemos-cinco-alternativas-diferentes-para-venezuela_286867

    El presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, dijo que no quiere implicarse demasiado en Venezuela, en una aparente referencia a la vía militar, pero aseguró que tiene cinco estrategias diferentes para colaborar en la crisis del país. Indicó que podría cambiar en cualquier momento de táctica.

    En una conferencia de prensa al término de su participación en la cumbre del G20, en Osaka, Trump explicó que ha hablado de Venezuela con cada líder con el que se reunió esta semana, porque nadie quiere que lo que está ocurriendo allí se repita en sus propios países.

    «Demasiada gente está abandonando Venezuela, va a ser un pueblo fantasma», comentó Trump.

    Preguntado por si está pensando en cambiar su estrategia hacia Venezuela, dado que no ha conseguido sacar del poder a Nicolás Maduro, Trump respondió: «Tengo cinco estrategias diferentes, podría cambiar en cualquier momento».

    «Tenemos muchas cosas reservadas si tenemos que llegar a eso. No queremos implicarnos hasta el punto que usted puede estar pensando», afirmó, en una aparente referencia a la vía militar.

    «Pero tenemos muchas alternativas, tenemos cinco alternativas diferentes para Venezuela y veremos qué ocurre. (Venezuela) está yendo muy mal, y Maduro está yendo muy mal», agregó.

    Trump conversó sobre Venezuela durante sus reuniones bilaterales este viernes con el presidente de Rusia, Vladímir Putin, y el de Brasil, Jair Bolsonaro, y afirmó entonces que lograr una transición en ese país «lleva tiempo».

  • Russia Squeezing Embattled Venezuela for Tax-Free Gas Expansion - Bloomberg
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-20/russia-squeezing-embattled-venezuela-for-tax-free-gas-expansion


    Photographer: Wil Riera/Bloomberg

    • Venezuela offers Rosneft path to amplify natural gas dominance
    • Expropriation clause gives Moscow-based company a hedge

    Russia’s state-controlled oil giant, Rosneft PJSC, is extracting concessions from crisis-ridden Venezuela to enter the offshore natural gas market on the cheap, a potential headache for the U.S. and Europe.

    An accord signed by both Russia and Venezuela earlier this month will give Rosneft tax breaks to produce and export gas from the Patao and Mejillones fields off Venezuela’s east coast. The document, which also includes a “fair market price” in the event of an expropriation, makes changes to a bilateral agreement reached in 2009, according to a filing by the Russian government.

    The deal underscores how Russia is both propping up and gaining from the Nicolas Maduro regime at a time when the U.S. is sanctioning Maduro and China has cut its support. Venezuelan gas could eventually offer Russia new entry points into both Asia and Europe.

    China is backing away in terms of its financial exposure,” Andrew Stanley, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a telephone interview. “Whereas the Russians, over the past few years, they’ve gone in the opposite direction, they’ve kind of doubled down and seen this as an opportunistic plan.

    Since 2014, Rosneft has loaned about $6.5 billion to Venezuela in exchange for oil, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, has been repaying the loans by delivering barrels to Rosneft, and had an outstanding debt of about $1.8 billion in the first quarter, according to a company presentation.

    As a result of the changes signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rosneft and its suppliers will be exempt from value added and import taxes to develop the two gas fields, which are near to where Exxon Mobil Corp. is rushing to extract oil in neighboring Guyana. The agreement was filed online by the Russian legal information website, which publishes orders by the president and applied international treaties.

  • DP World wants to operate ports along Russia’s northern sea route - Reuters
    https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-forum-dp-wrld-idUSL8N23E3SZ

    DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, wants to run ports that Russia plans to build along the northern sea route in the Arctic to shorten shipping times between the east and west, its chief executive told Reuters.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has made developing the northern sea route (NSR) - which requires new ports and heavy icebreakers to move goods - one of his priorities, with supporters dubbing the route the northern Suez Canal.

    Dubai government-controlled DP World operates 78 marine and inland terminals, supported by more than 50 related businesses in over 40 countries.

    The firm agreed this week with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom and Nornickel, one of the world’s top nickel and palladium producers, a joint project to pursue the integrated development of the NSR.

    The deal is not legally binding and the parties will first study options for developing the route and may set up a joint venture later to develop freight transit via the NSR.
    […]
    Bin Sulayem said it was to early to talk of possible stakes in potential future joint ventures. “The (Russian) government will decide which land to give us and we will prepare the projects, we will attract the customers, we will work with industries how to attract, to produce something that we know.

    We are at early stages (to talk about any stakes), we will need to sit with the partners and see, but we will always abide by rules which are laid (by Russia).

    #Arctique #Route_maritime_du_Nord
    #Passage_du_Nord-Est

  • Venezuela, faute de nouveaux contrats et, surtout, d’argent pour honorer les anciens le conglomérat militaro-industriel Rostec réduit sa présence à quelques douzaines de personnes.

    Rusia retira asesores clave de defensa de Venezuela
    http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/politica/rusia-retira-asesores-clave-defensa-venezuela_284177

    La contratista estatal rusa de defensa Rostec, que ha entrenado a tropas venezolanas y asesorado en contratos de armas, ha reducido a solo una pocas docenas su personal en Venezuela, dijo al diario The Wall Street Journal una fuente cercana al ministro de Defensa ruso.

    La reducción gradual del personal ruso en el país, según personas allegadas con el caso, se debe a la falta de nuevos contratos y a que el gobierno de Vladimir Putin reconoció que Maduro no tiene dinero para continuar pagando por otros servicios de Rostec asociado a contratos anteriores.

    Aunque Rusia ha sido uno de los más grandes soportes internacionales de Maduro, la disminución de la presencia de Rostec demuestra los límites del alcance de Moscú en Venezuela.

    • Ça se complique : Rostec dément les informations du WSJ concernant un éventuel retrait de son personnel du Venezuela.

      Rostec desmiente retirada de especialistas militares rusos de Venezuela
      http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/mundo/rostec-desmiente-retirada-especialistas-militares-rusos-venezuela_28418

      La corporación estatal rusa Rostec, uno de los mayores productores mundiales de armas, aviones, helicópteros y otros equipamientos, desmintió hoy la retirada de los especialistas militares rusos de Venezuela anunciada anteriormente por el periódico estadounidense The Wall Street Journal.

      «Las cifras presentadas en el artículo de The Wall Street Journal respecto a la presencia de empleados de Rostec en Venezuela han sido exageradas decenas de veces. La composición de la representación no ha cambiado en años», afirmó el servicio de prensa de la entidad a medios rusos.

      The Wall Street Journal afirmó este domingo en un artículo, citando a una fuente rusa «cercana al Ministerio de Defensa», que Rusia redujo el contingente de especialistas de Rostec de 1.000 personas a varias decenas. 

      El rotativo informó que la retirada paulatina de asesores rusos se aceleró durante los últimos meses debido a la falta de nuevos contratos y de liquidez de las autoridades venezolanas para pagar los servicios establecidos previamente. 

      «Dado que los venezolanos no están pagando, ¿por qué Rostec debe quedarse allí y pagar la cuenta por sí sola?», señaló la fuente citada por el periódico estadounidense. 

      Rostec, en cambio, aseguró que al país caribeño continúan llegando periódicamente especialistas técnicos para reparar y dar mantenimiento a los equipos anteriormente suministrados. 

      «En días recientes, por ejemplo, concluyeron los servicios técnicos de mantenimiento de una partida de aviones», comentó el representante de la corporación.

  • L’avenir du #Venezuela va-t-il se décider à Sotchi ? Mike Pompeo y rencontre Vladimir V. Poutine et Sergueï V.Lavrov pour y parler du Venezuela (mais aussi de la Syrie et de l’Ukraine).
    Il y croisera aussi Wang Yi, Ministre des affaires étrangères chinois.

    En Sochi se decide si Maduro se va
    http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/columnista/sochi-decide-maduro_282012

    Quizás no nos hemos dado cuenta, inmersos en tantos dimes y diretes, en las protestas y persecuciones, pero mañana podría ser una fecha trascendental para la historia política venezolana: en Sochi, ciudad turística de Rusia, el secretario de Estado norteamericano, Mike Pompeo, se reunirá con el presidente de Rusia, Vladimir Putin, y con el canciller de ese país, Serguéi Lavrov.

    La vocera del Departamento de Estado, Morgan Ortagus, confirmó que el secretario de Estado llegaría el domingo 12 de mayo y permanecerá hasta este martes 14 “en una visita de trabajo para negociar todos los problemas bilaterales y multilaterales”.

    La agenda tiene como tema principal a Venezuela, aunque también se hablará sobre Siria y Ucrania.

    Pompeo y Lavrov tuvieron un primer acercamiento el 6 de mayo en Rovaniemi, Finlandia.

    Trascendió además que el canciller ruso conversará hoy con su homólogo chino, Wang Yi, también presente en Sochi, por lo que representantes de alto nivel de Estados Unidos, Rusia y China coincidirán entre hoy y mañana en un mismo espacio geográfico.

  • Russia’s Payback Will Be Syria’s Reconstruction Money – Foreign Policy
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/05/russias-payback-will-be-syrias-reconstruction-money


    Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad inspect a military parade during their visit to the Russian air base in Hmeimim in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia on Dec. 11, 2017.
    MIKHAIL KIMENTYEV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

    But international donors—and Bashar al-Assad—aren’t playing along yet.
    […]
    Almost four years later, with rebels having mostly abandoned calls for regime change and losing large swaths of their enclaves, Russia has achieved most of its short- and medium-term goals in Syria. A growing number of signs suggest Moscow is now shifting focus to another objective: The Kremlin would like Syria to provide it a financial windfall.
    […]
    Russian analysts say Moscow had originally envisaged a sect-based power-sharing arrangement, modeled on Lebanon, between the Syrian government and several opposition groups as the political panacea for the conflict. But Russia could neither convince the regime nor the rebels to compromise and abandoned the plan. Now it has reduced its ambitions and is focused on using its leverage with Assad to agree on a constitutional committee whose members have been appointed by the regime, the opposition, and representatives of Syrian civil society.

    Max Suckov, a Russia analyst, said Moscow would achieve little more in terms of a political settlement. “Russia is not very hopeful about a political settlement which satisfies all Syrian actors,” he said. “I think Russia has accepted that Syria will continue to be a centralized state, but that certainly makes it difficult to convince the EU to pay for reconstruction.”

  • Donald Trump, commentant un échange téléphonique d’une bonne heure : «  Poutine n’a aucune ntention d’intervenir au #Venezuela, si ce n’est qu’il souhaite qu’il s’y passe quelque chose de positif, position que je partage.  »

    Trump : Putin no quiere intervenir en Venezuela
    http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/trump-putin-quiere-intervenir-venezuela_281340

    El mandatario estadounidense aseguró que tuvo una “conversación muy positiva” con su homólogo ruso

    Donald Trump, presidente de Estados Unidos, contradijo este viernes la posición oficial de su gobierno al asegurar que su homólogo ruso, Vladímir Putin, no quiere intervenir en Venezuela, mientras el Pentágono debatía opciones militares ante la crisis política en este país.

    Después de hablar por teléfono durante más de una hora con Putin, Trump ofreció una lectura de una conversación sobre Venezuela que prometía estar cargada de tensión, dado que Washington y Moscú se acusan mutuamente de prolongar la crisis política en sta nación mediante acciones intervencionistas.

    Creo que es una conversación muy positiva, la que he tenido con el presidente Putin sobre Venezuela. Putin no está pensando en absoluto en implicarse en Venezuela, más allá de que quiere ver que ocurra algo positivo en Venezuela, y yo siento lo mismo”, aseguró Trump.

    Las declaraciones de Trump marcan un fuerte contraste con la posición expresada hasta ahora por la Casa Blanca y el Departamento de Estado, que han responsabilizado a Rusia y Cuba de la permanencia en el poder de Nicolás Maduro.

    John Bolton, asesor de Seguridad de la Casa Blanca, indicó que Maduro se aferra al poder por el apoyo de Rusia y Cuba, “las únicas fuerzas militares extranjeras en Venezuela”.

    Estados Unidos no tolerará ninguna interferencia militar extranjera en el continente americano”, advirtió Bolton.

    Las críticas a Moscú en relación con Venezuela, no obstante, han llegado hasta ahora casi siempre del entorno de Trump y no del propio presidente, que el martes pasado amenazó con sanciones a Cuba por su presunto respaldo militar a Maduro, pero no mencionó a Rusia.

  • Turkey’s Policy in the Balkans: More than Neo-Ottomanism

    There is a fundamental misperception with regard to Turkey’s relationship with the Balkans. Turkey is not external to the region, the way Russia is for instance. Its history and geographic location make it a part of southeast Europe. Millions of Turks have their family roots in what was once known as ‘Turkey-in-Europe.’ This includes the founder of the republic, the Salonika-born Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Ties run deep at the political, economic, and societal levels.

    All those connections have drawn Turkey to the Balkans, especially after the end of the Cold War. The notion that Turks are now coming back does not hold. Closer engagement in the region started under President Turgut Özal in the early 1990s. But back then, Turkey balanced between bilateralism and multilateralism. It invested in economic and security ties with friendly countries such as Albania, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria while adhering to NATO as its response to the wars in ex-Yugoslavia. What changed under the Justice and Development (AK) Party, notably over the past decade, is the switch to bilateralism. That is understandable given the cracks in relations between Ankara and the West. All the same, it is concerning since it is coinciding with the push against the EU and NATO by Russia, which leverages history, religious identity and anti-Western rhetoric to legitimize its actions.

    Pundits and politicians often use ‘Neo-Ottomanism’ to describe Turkey’s forays. The label can be often misleading. Yes, Turkish President Recep Erdogan praises the Ottoman Empire and its legacy, domestically and beyond Turkey’s borders. But so did his predecessors in office. Within the country, liberals and Islamist conservatives alike all rediscovered the Ottomans from the 1980s onwards in questioning the Kemalist political order. The government has been reaching out to Balkan Muslims through TIKA, the Turkish developmental agency, and the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) for decades.

    Neo-Ottomanism is therefore the packaging, not the substance. Turkey’s objective is not to recreate the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. That is far beyond the country’s resources and capacity. The region is gravitating in economic, social, institutional and political terms to the West. What we have instead is Erdogan using the Balkans to make a case that he is the leader of the wider (Sunni) Muslim community in Europe and the Middle East. The main audience is his electorate in Turkey and only secondly Muslims abroad. The pre-election rally he held in Sarajevo in the run-up to last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections is a case in point.

    But Turkish policy in the Balkans cannot be reduced to the promotion of Islamic solidarity. Erdogan’s main achievement is the fact that he has built relations with leaders from countries that are majority non-Muslim. In October 2017, for instance, he was welcomed in Serbia by President Aleksandar Vucic. The visit gave some credence to complaints by Bosniaks (Slavic Muslims) that Turkey loves to talk brotherhood in Bosnia but when it comes to investing money it goes for Serbia. Similarly, Erdogan has strong links to Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who hosted the EU-Turkey summit a year ago. Bulgaria and Serbia are interested in hosting an extension of the TurkStream gas pipeline, a joint Russo-Turkish venture. Greece’s Alexis Tsipras also received the red carpet treatment during his latest visit to Turkey where he discussed ideas on decreasing tensions in the Aegean.

    Despite its quest for strategic autonomy, Turkey is still partnering with Western institutions. In addition, Ankara has been supportive of the Prespa Agreement and newly renamed North Macedonia’s accession to NATO, its quarrels with the U.S. and other key members of the Alliance notwithstanding. Collectively, EU members Romania, Bulgaria and Greece account for the bulk of Turkish trade with southeast Europe, with the Western Balkans trailing far behind. Greece and Bulgaria see Turkey as key to stemming the flow of asylum seekers from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and further afield. They are highly supportive of the EU-Turkey deal on migration from March 2016, renewed last year.

    Does the authoritarian system built by Erdogan pose an ideological challenge in the Balkans? Perhaps yes. For instance, pressure on governments to close educational institutions and surrender, without due process, members of the Fethullah Gülen community, which is implicated in the coup attempt in July 2016, undermine the rule of law. At the same time, the authoritarian drift observed in the Balkans is an indigenous product. It is not imported from Vladimir Putin’s Russia nor from Turkey under its new ‘sultan’.

    https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/turkeys-policy-balkans-more-neo-ottomanism-22835

    #néo-ottomanisme #Turquie #Balkans

  • Russia Is Tricking #GPS to Protect Putin – Foreign Policy
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/03/russia-is-tricking-gps-to-protect-putin

    Researchers at a Washington-based think tank have noticed that a funny thing happens whenever Russian President Vladimir Putin gets close to a harbor: The GPS of the ships moored there go haywire, placing them many miles away on the runways of nearby airports.

    According to a new report by security experts with the group C4ADS, the phenomenon suggests that Putin travels with a mobile GPS spoofing device and, more broadly, that Russia is manipulating global navigation systems on a scale far greater than previously understood.
    […]
    The Russian emphasis on electronic warfare extends to Putin’s personal security detail, which has embraced GPS spoofing as a way to protect the Russian leader against drone attacks. But the use of that spoofing technology can also be tracked and provides an unprecedented look at the effectiveness and scale of Russian electronic warfare capabilities.

    Putin’s bodyguards are using what on its face is a counterintuitive approach to prevent assassination attempts by drone. The GPS spoofer that travels with Putin impersonates civilian GPS signals and provides the receiver with false coordinates for local airports. It chooses the coordinates of local airports because commercial drones typically come preprogrammed with safety mechanisms that make them automatically land or shut down when they enter the airspace of an airport.

    In theory, drones operating near Putin will shut down or automatically land when they come within range of the spoofer. Fear of assassination by drone is a realistic one: Last year, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro survived an attempt on his life that involved using drones to target him with explosives.

    But Russia’s use of spoofing technology is having some surprising side effects. In September 2016, Putin traveled to the Kerch Strait along with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to inspect progress on a $4 billion bridge to the Russian mainland and meet with workers. While the two Russian leaders were there, the automatic identification systems of nearby ships—systems that rely in part on GPS—started reporting their locations as the Simferopol Airport about 125 miles away.

    Two years later, Putin returned to Kerch to lead a convoy of construction vehicles across the newly constructed bridge. Again, ships in the area reported strange location information, showing up at the Anapa Airport in mainland Russia.

    #GPS-spoofing #AIS-spoofing

  • #russia’s #internet Crackdown
    https://hackernoon.com/russias-internet-crackdown-a03a762584a6?source=rss----3a8144eabfe3---4

    President Putin sees his country’s control of the internet as an important step for Russia’s technological autonomy away from his rivals the United States and China. For scores of protestors, however, this is a step too far.Photo by Tom Grimbert (@tomgrimbert) on UnsplashNew LawFor many, especially in the West, it comes as no surprise: Vladimir Putin, Russia’s autocratic leader, seems to be taking his rule, and policies, into an even greater authoritarian direction than in previous years, with his lawmakers trying to put through a new bill which, if successfully implemented, will reduce internet #freedom within the country.In retaliation to this, activists have begun a number of demonstrations against the new legislation. They see it as their government’s attempt to curb open criticism of (...)

    #cybersecurity #politics

  • #Venezuela : arrivée de 99 militaires russes, dont le chef d’état-major de l’armée de terre, suivis d’un chargement de 35 tonnes de matériel.

    (Vassili Tonkochkourov est chef d’état-major de l’armée de terre et non, comme indiqué dans l’article, ministre de la Défense, toujours Sergueï Choïgou)

    Llegaron a Maiquetía 99 militares rusos con 35 toneladas de cargamento
    http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/mundo/llegaron-maiquetia-militares-rusos-con-toneladas-cargamento_276068


    Foto : @FedericoBlackB

    Javier Mayorca, periodista venezolano, informó que 99 militares rusos, comandados por el mayor general Vasilly Tonkoshkurov, llegaron a Venezuela este sábado en la tarde por el Aeropuerto Internacional Simón Bolívar de Maiquetía, en el estado Vargas.

    Esta tarde llegó al aeropuerto de Maiquetía una comitiva de 99 militares rusos, al mando del ministro de la Defensa de ese país, mayor general Vasilly Tonkoshkurov”, dijo Mayorca en su cuenta de Twitter.

    EE UU discutió opción militar en Venezuela durante reunión con Rusia
    Asimismo, destacó que los militares fueron recibidos por Marianny Mata, directora de Asuntos Internacionales e Integración.

    Inmediatamente después (2:00 pm) llegó al mismo terminal un carguero ruso con 35 toneladas de materiales, pertenecientes al contingente que recién había desembarcado. En la comitiva de recepción también estaba personal de la embajada rusa y el GB Edgar Colina Reyes”, aseguró.

  • Whoever Predicts the Future Will Win the AI Arms Race – Foreign Policy
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/05/whoever-predicts-the-future-correctly-will-win-the-ai-arms-race-russi


    A screen shows visitors being filmed by AI security cameras with facial recognition technology at the 14th China International Exhibition on Public Safety and Security at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2018.
    NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

    The race for advanced artificial intelligence has already started. A few weeks ago, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the “#American_AI_Initiative,” with which the United States joined other major countries pursuing national strategies for developing AI. China released its “New Generation Plan” in 2017, outlining its strategy to lead the world in AI by 2030. Months after that announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared, “Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”Russian President Vladimir Putin declared,

    But it’s less clear how much AI will advance, exactly. It may only be able to perform fairly menial tasks like classifying photographs, driving, or bookkeeping. There’s also a distinct possibility that AI will become as smart as humans or more so, able to make complex decisions independently. A race toward a technology with such a range of possible final states, stretching from banal to terrifying, is inherently unstable. A research program directed toward one understanding of AI may prove to have been misdirected after years of work. Alternatively, a plan to focus on small and achievable advances could be leapfrogged by a more ambitious effort.

    China, the United States, and Russia are each negotiating this fraught landscape differently, in ways responsive to their unique economic and military situations. Governments are motivated to pursue leadership in AI by the promise of gaining a strategic advantage. At this early stage, it’s tough to tell what sort of advantage is at stake, because we don’t know what sort of thing AI will turn out to be. Since AI is a technology, it’s natural to think of it as a mere resource that can assist in attaining one’s goals, perhaps by allowing drones to fly without supervision or increasing the efficiency of supply chains.

    But computers could surpass humans in finding optimal ways of organizing and using resources. If so, they might become capable of making high-level strategic decisions. After all, there aren’t material limitations restricting the intelligence of algorithms, like those that restrict the speed of planes or range of rockets. Machines more intelligent than the smartest of humans, with more strategic savvy, are a conceptual possibility that must be reckoned with. China, Russia, and the United States are approaching this possibility in different ways. The statements and research priorities released by major powers reveal how their policymakers think AI’s developmental trajectory will unfold.

    China is pursuing the most aggressive strategy, focusing on developing advanced AI that could contribute to strategic decision-making. The U.S. approach is more conservative, with the goal of producing computers that can assist human decision-making but not contribute on their own. Finally, Russia’s projects are directed at creating military hardware that relies on AI but leaves decisions about deployment entirely in the hands of generals. In all three situations, the forms of AI these governments are investing their resources in reveal their expectations of the technological future. The country that gets it right could reap huge benefits in terms of military might and global influence.

  • Despite Putin’s Swagger, Russia Struggles to Modernize Its Navy - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/02/21/world/europe/21reuters-russia-military-insight.html

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f08c-xdQeP4

    President Vladimir Putin calls improving the Russian navy’s combat capabilities a priority.

    The unfinished husks of three guided-missile frigates that have languished for three years at a Baltic shipyard show that is easier said than done.

    Earmarked for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the frigates fell victim to sanctions imposed by Ukraine in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, prompting Kiev to ban the sale of the Ukrainian-made engines needed to propel them.

    With Moscow unable to quickly build replacement engines for the Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates, construction stopped. Russia is now cutting its losses and selling the three ships to India without engines.

    The navy’s problems stem largely, but not exclusively, from the Ukrainian sanctions. There are also problems, for different reasons, with new equipment for the army and air force.

    The picture that emerges is that Russia’s armed forces are not as capable or modern as its annual Red Square military parades suggest and that its ability to project conventional force is more limited too.

    • L’annonce du contrat avec l’Inde (20/11/2018) ne dit pas un mot des turbines…

      India signs contracts to purchase 4 Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates from Russia
      https://thedefensepost.com/2018/11/20/india-russia-4-admiral-grigorovich-project-11356-frigates


      Russia’s Admiral Grigorovich (Project 11356) frigate at Yantar Shipyard

      India has signed contracts to purchase four Admiral Grigorovich-class (Project 11356) stealth frigates from Russia, Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said on Tuesday, November 20.

      Contracts were signed for the construction of Project 11356 frigates for the Indian Navy. This is yet another important event in developing Russian-Indian military and technical cooperation,Tass- reported the Federal Service as saying.

      The agreement for four ships was first brokered in 2016.

      India’s Ministry of Defence signed a $950 million deal with Russia to purchase two Admiral Grigorovich frigates which will be built in Russia’s Baltic Coast Yantar Shipyard, Janes reported on October 29. As of last month negotiations over price and transfer of technology were still ongoing for the two ships to be built in Goa Shipyard.

      The new agreement between Russian state exporter Rosoboronexport and Goa Shipyard Limited for two ships is for $500 million, although a government official said that includes only the “_foreign content,” including material, design and assistance, Hindustan Times reported. The final cost of the two ships has yet to be determined, according to the report.

      According to the Indian defense ministry, the deal includes transfer of technology and the frigates will be outfitted with India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system.

      Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates are armed with A-190 100mm artillery guns, strike missile and air defense systems, including Kalibr and Shtil complexes and torpedo tubes, according to Tass. They can perform against surface ships and submarines as well as air targets.

      The ships will be delivered to India beginning in 2026.

      BrahMos is a supersonic medium-range liquid-fuelled ramjet-powered cruise missile that can be launched from sea, land and air. It is a two-stage missile, with a solid-fueled first stage to bring it to supersonic speed. Surface-launched missiles can carry a 200-kg warhead, while the air-launched variant can carry a payload of 300 kg.

      It is manufactured in Hyderabad by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroeyenia.

  • Volte-face de la France sur le gazoduc #Nord_Stream qui s’aligne ainsi sur la politique états-unienne et risque de provoquer la fureur de l’Allemagne

    France and Germany Face Off Over Russian Pipeline – Foreign Policy
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/07/france-and-germany-face-off-over-russian-pipeline-nord-stream-putin-m

    Though Berlin badly wants it built, Paris is set to side with the EU on new rules intended to contain Moscow.

    The United States has spent years trying to derail a controversial Russian gas pipeline in Europe. France may have just found a way to kill it—and possibly strangle Paris’s newfound rapprochement with Berlin at the same time.

    This Friday in Brussels, the Council of the European Union will vote on a seemingly arcane directive meant to apply European Union market rules to energy projects that start in a third country—like the #Nord_Stream_2 #pipeline from Russia. In a surprising about-face, first reported in the German press, France has now decided to back the directive. That risks angering Germany—which really wanted to build the pipeline with Russia—and potentially dooming the $11 billion energy project, a priority for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    • La France se démarque de l’Allemagne sur le projet gazier Nord Stream 2
      https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2019/02/08/la-france-se-demarque-de-l-allemagne-sur-le-projet-gazier-nord-stream-2_5420


      Gazoduc Nord Stream 2
      Infographie Le Monde

      Paris soutient une initiative européenne susceptible de gêner l’achèvement du gazoduc entre la Russie et l’Allemagne

      Pas de changement de cap, mais certainement un changement de ton. Jusqu’à présent très discret dans le dossier sensible du gazoduc Nord Stream 2, entre la Russie et l’Allemagne, Paris a pour la première fois adopté, jeudi 7 février, une position officielle laissant apparaître son scepticisme vis-à-vis de ce projet qui divise profondément l’Europe.
      Confirmant des informations du quotidien allemand Süddeutsche Zeitung, le Quai d’Orsay a indiqué que la France s’apprêtait à soutenir, à Bruxelles, l’adoption d’une directive qui fragiliserait la structure du projet, alors même que près de 600 km de tuyaux ont déjà été posés au fond de la Baltique, soit la moitié de la distance totale.

    • version Sputnik

      Macron attaque l’Allemagne sur le gazoduc Nord Stream 2 - Sputnik France
      https://fr.sputniknews.com/international/201902071039945277-Macron-Allemagne-gazoduc-NordStream2

      C’est confirmé. La France va faire faux-bond à l’Allemagne sur le Nord Stream 2. La rumeur courait que Paris soutiendrait une directive européenne mettant en péril le gazoduc que Berlin soutient. Interview de Philippe Sébille-Lopez, analyste indépendant sur les questions énergétiques et de politiques étrangères au cabinet Géopolia.

      « Nous ne voulons pas renforcer notre dépendance vis-à-vis de la Russie, nous ne voulons pas nuire aux intérêts des pays de l’UE comme la Pologne et la Slovaquie. »

      Telles seraient les explications données par une source du Süddeutsche Zeitung, au sein des « cercles gouvernementaux » français, pour justifier un retournement de position de la France vis-à-vis du Nord Stream 2.

    • À l’instant, il y a 10 minutes, dépêche Reuters, accord de dernière minute (pas d’autre précision).

      L’UE approuve de nouvelles règles sur Nord Stream 2 | Reuters
      https://fr.reuters.com/article/topNews/idFRKCN1PX1IY-OFRTP

      Un projet franco-allemand de révision de la directive européenne sur le gaz, qui vise notamment à réglementer le gazoduc Nord Stream 2, a remporté le soutien des pays de l’Union européenne, a-t-on appris de sources diplomatiques.

      Cette décision devrait compliquer, sans pour autant remettre en cause, la construction de ce gazoduc conçu pour relier la Russie à l’Allemagne à travers la mer Baltique.

      Une proposition franco-allemande de dernière minute pour amender la formulation de la nouvelle réglementation a été approuvée par la plupart des autres membres de l’EU.

      La France et l’Allemagne ont toutes deux des entreprises engagées dans le projet.

      La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel a confirmé qu’un accord avait été conclu et en France, une source à l’Elysée à affirmé qu’il s’agissait d’un bon accord qui assurait la souveraineté de l’Europe en matière d’approvisionnement en énergie.

    • Faire monter la pression pour une éventuelle contre-partie ?

      Opposition éphémère de Paris au Nord Stream 2 : une simple fronde contre Berlin ? - Sputnik France
      https://fr.sputniknews.com/international/201902081039958142-allemagne-france-nord-stream

      La France est en réalité intéressée par le Nord Stream 2, c’est juste un esprit de fronde qui a poussé Paris à préconiser la modification des règles énergétiques en Europe restreignant le gazoduc, estime un expert russe.
      La France et l’Allemagne sont parvenues vendredi à un accord sur la régulation du projet du gazoduc Nord Stream 2, Paris s’alignant finalement sur la position de Berlin. L’expert russe en matière énergétique Stanislav Mitrakhovitch a donné sa vision de ce conflit à la chaîne de télévision RT.

      « Il faut comprendre que la France n’a pas planifié de s’opposer de façon fondamentale au Nord Stream 2, il s’agissait de faire preuve d’un certain esprit de fronde de Paris vis-à-vis de Berlin, lié à des processus internes dans l’UE. En principe, si l’on prend ce projet séparément, la France y est intéressée car des entreprises françaises y prennent part et l’essentiel est que la société Engie y travaille. Je pense que toute cette histoire, soulevée hier par la presse, est très probablement liée aux divergences franco-allemandes sur le thème de l’UE », a-t-il indiqué.
      Les questions de ce genre doivent, selon lui, être débattues au sein du Conseil de l’UE et être adoptées à l’unanimité ou à la majorité des voix.

      « Si l’Allemagne était contre et que certains pays, comme l’Autriche, la Hongrie ou d’autres, le soutenaient, les protestations françaises se seraient noyées… », a ajouté l’expert.

      La France et l’Allemagne sont parvenues à un compromis sur le gazoduc Nord Stream 2 qui permettra à Berlin de rester le principal négociateur avec Moscou sur ce projet, selon un projet de document cité vendredi par l’AFP. Plus tard, la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel a confirmé qu’un accord avait été conclu sur Nord Stream 2.

    • TVB, pas même un papier de cigarette entre la France et l’Allemagne dit Mme Merkel,…
      Néanmoins, ça reste dans un grand flou.

      Nord Stream 2. Accord européen sur le compromis franco-allemand pour le transport du gaz
      https://www.ouest-france.fr/europe/ue/nord-stream-2-accord-europeen-sur-le-compromis-franco-allemand-pour-le-

      Selon plusieurs sources diplomatiques, le mandat donné à la présidence roumaine reflète un texte de compromis déposé par la France et l’Allemagne.

      « Il y a effectivement eu un accord qui n’a été possible que grâce à l’étroite coopération entre la France et l’Allemagne, sous la présidence roumaine de l’UE. Je vois très souvent le président français, il y a une étroite coopération, sur tous les sujets européens », a réagi la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel lors d’une conférence de presse à Berlin.

    • Nord Stream 2 : Paris se félicite que l’Allemagne ait « beaucoup évolué » | Connaissance des Énergies
      https://www.connaissancedesenergies.org/afp/nord-stream-2-paris-se-felicite-que-lallemagne-ait-beaucoup

      (AFP)
      La France s’est félicitée vendredi que l’Allemagne ait « beaucoup évolué » sur le projet de gazoduc Nord Stream 2 (NS2), en acceptant de voter une directive qui va le « soumettre à un contrôle européen », a indiqué l’Elysée.

      Un compromis a été trouvé entre la France et l’Allemagne sur la directive gaz, qui donne à l’Union euroépenne (UE) le pouvoir de contrôle des grands projets d’infrastructures gazières.

      L’Allemagne a accepté le texte, la France acceptant en échange que ce soit le régulateur allemand qui soit chargé de son application à NS2, « mais sans (en) atténuer le contrôle », souligne Paris. La France espère maintenant une adoption rapide de la directive.

      « L’Allemagne comptait bloquer cette directive, mais elle a beaucoup évolué car elle a compris qu’elle n’avait pas une minorité de blocage et que la directive aurait été adoptée sans elle », a commenté la présidence française.

      « La directive pourrait amener non pas à supprimer ce projet mais à le contrôler strictement et à le reconfigurer », selon Paris, qui craint l’accroissement de la dépendance de l’UE au gaz russe.

      « Si elle est adoptée, la Commission imposera sans doute un certain nombre de garanties pour que le projet se fasse, dont des garanties de transit d’une partie du gaz par l’Ukraine et la Slovaquie. Cela va sans doute le décaler un peu », estime la présidence française.

      La directive impose en effet que Nord Stream 2 respecte le critère qui oblige à dissocier fournisseur et producteur, ce que le projet actuel avec Gazprom ne respecte pas.

      « Il y a deux solutions : soit il faut reconfigurer le projet de manière très importante, avec un très fort impact sur le délai, soit le régulateur allemand présente une demande de dérogation en démontrant que le projet renforce les règles de concurrence et la sécurité énergétique. La solution serait que du gaz continue de transiter en partie par l’Ukraine », dont les revenus liés au transit du gaz représentent jusqu’à 2% du PIB.

      A trois mois des élections européennes, « C’est aussi un message sur l’indépendance énergétique de l’UE » et sur la capacité de l’Europe à se protéger, relève l’Elysée.

      « On ne peut pas dire qu’on est pour la protection européenne des influences extérieures et en même temps ne pas prendre en compte la préoccupation de pays comme la Pologne et la Slovaquie. Sinon ils auraient été fondés à nous dire, vous les Français et les Allemands, la souveraineté européenne, c’est quand ça vous arrange. On ne veut pas entretenir de tels discours », a commenté Paris.

      #troisième_paquet_énergie

  • ¿Qué se juega Rusia con su apoyo a Nicolás Maduro?
    http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/bbc-mundo/que-juega-rusia-con-apoyo-nicolas-maduro_269373


    Aunque lejos territorialmente, Venezuela y Rusia han sido cercanos aliados en los últimos años
    GETTY IMAGES

    La corresponsal de la BBC en Moscú hace una análisis del apoyo de Rusia a Nicolás Maduro. Y aunque la retórica del Kremlin ha sido contundente y, en momentos, su respaldo hacia el gobernante chavista parece hasta incondicional, tiene límites

    A medida que la presión política y económica se intensifica sobre Nicolás Maduro, quien cree que hay una persona en la que puede confiar: Vladimir Putin.

    El Kremlin ha acusado al líder de la oposición, Juan Guaidó, de encabezar "un intento ilegal de tomarse poder" con el respaldo de Estados Unidos.

    Moscú ha dicho que hará «todo lo que sea necesario» para apoyar a Maduro como el «presidente legítimo» de Venezuela.

    Pero el apetito ruso por proteger las relaciones con Caracas podría ser más limitado de lo que su retórica sugiere.

    Por mucho tiempo, Moscú ha sido un aliado clave de Maduro, como también lo fue de su predecesor, Hugo Chávez, ambos férreos críticos de Washington desde su propio continente.

    «La relación es simbólicamente importante. Se trata de decir: ’no estamos solos, hay otros que son muy críticos de Estados Unidos y de la política de Occidente», explica Andrei Kortunov del Consejo de Asuntos Internacionales Rusos.

    Eso explica en parte por qué, en años recientes, Moscú ha expandido su cooperación con Caracas. Sus ventas de armas han aumentado, sus créditos se han extendido e incluso dos aviones bombarderos fueron movilizados en diciembre pasado como una muestra de su apoyo a la nación sudamericana.

    El respaldo ruso a Maduro en la actual crisis también se ve impulsado por el temor que generan potenciales levantamientos populares, en particular aquellos que puedan estar apoyados abiertamente por Occidente.

    «Políticas sociales impopulares, una población empobrecida y crisis económica en un contexto en el que se lucha contra todo el mundo y políticos… corruptos. ¿Adivinen a qué país nos estamos refiriendo?», señalaba, la semana pasada, el periódico ruso independiente Novaya Gazeta.

    Ese medio de comunicación intentaba presentar los paralelos con Rusia que cree que el Kremlin ve -y teme- en Caracas.

  • Trump lifts sanctions on firms linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska | World news | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/us-lifts-sanctions-oleg-deripaska-russia

    Trump lifts sanctions on firms linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
    • Democrats in Congress opposed move to lift restrictions
    • Deripaska is ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin


    The Trump administration has lifted sanctions on three companies, including the aluminum giant Rusal, linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Democrats had led a push in Congress to continue the restrictions.

    Earlier this month, Senate Republicans blocked an effort to keep the sanctions on Rusal, En+ Group and JSC EuroSibEnergo.

    Some lawmakers from both parties have said it is inappropriate to ease sanctions on companies tied to Deripaska, an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, while special counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.

    Deripaska had ties with Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager. Manafort pleaded guilty in September 2018 to attempted witness tampering and conspiring against the United States.

    Trump administration officials and many Republicans who opposed the effort to keep the sanctions in place said they worried about the impact on the global aluminum industry.

    They also said Deripaska had lowered his stakes in the companies so he no longer controlled them, a sign the sanctions were working.
    […]
    After the Treasury announcement, Rusal said Jean-Pierre Thomas had resigned as chairman and director of the company as part of the deal to lift the sanctions. Shares in Rusal jumped more than 5% in early trading in Hong Kong on Monday.

  • Trump Can’t Do That. Can He? – Foreign Policy
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/16/trump-cant-do-that-can-he-nato-russia-congress

    On NATO withdrawal and other issues, it turns out presidential powers are constrained by norms but not laws.

    If U.S. President Donald Trump decides to withdraw from NATO tomorrow, Congress might be unable to stop him.

    That’s the conclusion a group of top lawmakers and some legal experts have reached, as Trump over the past two years has repeatedly bashed the alliance and extended olive branches to Russian President Vladimir Putin—even while his administration has taken some steps to support NATO.

  • Macron n’ira pas à Davos mais réunira des patrons à Versailles
    https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2019/01/11/macron-n-ira-pas-a-davos-mais-reunira-des-patrons-a-versailles_5407882_82344

    Macron n’ira pas à Davos mais réunira des patrons à Versailles
    Cette année, le président ne se rendra pas au Forum économique mondial « en raison d’un agenda chargé », a fait savoir l’Elysée.

    Un Davos sans Donald Trump… ni Emmanuel Macron. Le président français a fait savoir, vendredi 11 janvier, qu’il ne participera pas au Forum de Davos qui rassemble tous les ans en janvier en Suisse le gotha de l’économie mondiale, « en raison d’un #agenda_chargé  ».
    Si le chef de l’Etat avait fait un long discours au Forum de Davos l’an passé, les présidents français ne participent pas systématiquement à ce rendez-vous en Suisse, qui aura lieu cette année du 21 au 25 janvier.

    agenda chargé (hum !) ou protection de son image ?
    • vis-à-vis de l’intérieur, plutôt mal vu, en cette époque jaune, de pavaner dans un séminaire de puissants,
    • et de l’étranger, se taper la honte du donneur de leçon pris les doigts dans la confiture.

  • Macron, Hitler, Marx, Staline, Trump, Lincoln, Jean-Baptiste et Le Monde... (quand l’Absente tue le game !)

    Branle bas de combat ! #Le_Monde aurait osé « la #caricature de trop » ! Comme l’explique brillamment #André_Gunthert sur son « carnet de recherches d’image sociale », cette #Une, grandiloquente et #en_même_temps irrévérencieuse, « vient clore l’impressionnante dégringolade du président Macron »
    http://imagesociale.fr/6975
    seenthissé par @colporteur : https://seenthis.net/messages/747820

    Le récit, commencé en fanfare et qui se clôt sur un champ de bataille, est illustré en couverture du magazine par un photomontage du graphiste Jean-Baptiste Talbourdet

    Mais bien qu’elle contienne toutes les références nécessaires, je ne partage pas les conclusions de cette note, qui prête à l’auteur #Jean-Baptiste_Talbourdet une intension volontairement malveillante sans l’avoir questionné.

    Suite, donc, à cette couverture pour le moins « audacieuse », une shitstorm s’est installée, sur les limites de la représentation du #Chef de l’#État, on croirait presque à un blasphème tant la bronca est générale. #Luc_Bronner, directeur de la rédaction du Monde, oppose un petit justificatif, et c’est là, selon moi, que se joue une couardise dommageable pour tou-te-s :
    https://www.lemonde.fr/m-le-mag/article/2018/12/29/a-nos-lecteurs-a-propos-de-la-une-de-m-le-magazine-du-monde_5403549_4500055.
    Il avait tous les éléments pour faire une démonstration historique avec un filage magistral et ... non, il se réfugie derrière une rapide référence de l’Histoire de l’Art, en bon #sachant, et prend pour exemple... d’autres couvertures du Monde ! En bref, il lâche le choix politique pour une excuse graphique, esthétisante... alors qu’elle-même est issue d’une tradition politique !

    #Hubert_de_Jenlis, en bon chevalier de #Macron, pense porter un coup de grâce par la preuve irréfutable d’un #plagiat de #Lincols_Agnew qui portraitise #Hitler :
    https://twitter.com/HubertdeJenlis/status/1079143667724627968

    Hors, cet portrait a servi pour illustrer un essai ô combien intéressant paru dans le Harpers en juillet 2017 : The Reichstag Fire Next Time, The coming crackdown par #Masha_Gessen :
    https://harpers.org/archive/2017/07/the-reichstag-fire-next-time
    Le portrait, donc, est signé #Lincoln_Agnew et fait partie d’un diptyque où on retrouve donc Hitler :

    Illustrations by Lincoln Agnew. Source photographs: Adolf Hitler © Hulton Archive/Getty Images; crowd saluting Hitler © Visual Studies Workshop/Getty Images

    Mais aussi #Trump, #Putin, #Obama, #Bush :

    Source photographs: Donald Trump © JB Lacroix/WireImage; Vladimir Putin © Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images; Barack Obama © Ron Sachs-Pool/Getty Images; George W. Bush © Luke Frazza/AFP/Getty Images; protest © Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto/Getty Images; drone © Erik Simonsen/Getty Images

    Ce qui semblait de toute évidence être une copie se révèle, si on prend le temps de lire l’article, puis de chercher les sources d’inspiration de Lincoln Agnew, être un hommage, dans le fil d’une tradition de représentation de la #Puissance et du #Pouvoir de figures d’autorité, dans la _#Droite ligne de #Gauche_ de l’#iconographie #Russe.
    Et il se trouve que Agnew lui-même s’inspire de #Gustav_Klutsis qui portraitise #Marx, #Engels, #Lenine et #Staline de la même manière en... 1933 !

    Gustav Klutsis, Raise Higher the Banner of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin ! 1933

    (L’année même de l’incendie du du Reichstag dont il est question plus haut.) Portrait qu’on peut retrouver dans la superbe exposition de nov 2017 à février 2018 au musée #Tate : Red Star Over Russia at Tate Modern
    https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/red-star-over-russia
    Il est vraiment intéressant de regarder la vidéo faite par le Tate Modern pour l’exposition : https://youtu.be/Kd_GHlMkwpQ

    qui revient sur

    the story behind graphic designer #David_King's collection of 250,000 artworks, photographs and documents from the Soviet Union.

    Et cette histoire, derrière la collection, c’est le point de départ sur une #Disparition, une #Invisibilisation. Celle de Léon #Trotski. C’est donc l’histoire de la construction de l’image de la Puissance, du Pouvoir, et la représentation de l’Homme Fort, et comment celle-ci écrase tout sur son passage. Pas grand chose à voir donc avec un parti politique particulier, mais bien plus avec une #oppression_systémique, la plus rependue au monde...

    L’affiche de l’expo est peut-être même la première inspiration de la série, et il est troublant de la mettre à côté du portrait de Macron tant les deux visages se répondent ! Elle est datée de 1923 et signée #Strakhov (Braslavsky) Adolf Yosypovych :

    Elle est issue d’une campagne de propagande pour... l’émancipation féminine ! Et ... combien avez-vous vu de #femmes dans cette suite de portraits, jusqu’à présent ? Hein ?!

    Quel dommage ! Quel dommage que les gonades qui s’expriment contre la pseudo-insulte faite au Chef de la France soient quasiment, uniquement, masculines ou assimilées. Quel dommage aussi que pour défendre un choix, d’autres gonades masculines n’osent aller au bout de la filiation. Je n’irait pas jusqu’à dire quel dommage que si peu soient encore #Charlie, mais ceci dit, ça a quand même son sens. L’année 2018 a vu augmenter, terriblement, la pression du #patriarcat, du #masculinisme même, et la #répression, partout : cette fin d’année est maculée de sang sous les coups frénétiques d’un service régalien qui ne fait que protéger un président fantoche dont quasi plus personne ne veut. Et quand, enfin, arrive une occasion de justifier le maintien de leur chef au Pouvoir, la meute de déchaine, écrasant, une fois de plus la continuité des leçons de l’Histoire, de sa contextualisation globale nécessaire, et participe ainsi, encore plus, au #confusionnisme plutôt qu’à l’#éducation_populaire...
    Quelle misère !

    Épilogue : Toute #oppression crée un état de #guerre.
    #Simone_de_Beauvoir, in Le Deuxième #sexe, t.2, L’expérience vécue

  • Scoop: Netanyahu rejected Russian plan to work with U.S. on Syria, Iran
    Axios - 20 déc 2018
    https://www.axios.com/russia-proposal-syria-israel-iran-united-states-c6d0bde9-583a-4dab-8a38-b2a21

    More than three months ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s national security adviser Nikolai Patrushev gave his Israeli counterpart a document. It contained an unofficial proposal for a deal between the U.S. and Russia on Syria and Iran intended to start a wider dialogue between Washington and Moscow to improve relations, two Israeli officials with direct knowledge tell me.

    Why it matters: The Russian proposal would have tied a U.S. withdrawal from Syria to an Iranian exit from the country, and provided the U.S. and Israel more influence over a future political settlement in Syria. However, it also called for a freeze on U.S. sanctions on Iran — something Netanyahu found unacceptable. Ultimately, the U.S. gave up much of its leverage in Syria with President Trump’s surprise announcement Wednesday of a unilateral withdrawal.

    Background: Last month, I reported that Netanyahu told a closed door hearing at the Knesset that Russia proposed a deal for pushing Iranian forces out of Syria in return for relief from some U.S. sanctions against Iran. We now know that Netanyahu’s comments referred to a document called the “Patrushev Paper.”

    The Patrushev Paper was given to Israel in a meeting that took place in Moscow on Sept. 13 — four days before the downing of a Russian military plane in Syria that kicked off a deep crisis between Israel and Russia.
    The two Israeli officials told me Russia’s proposal was that Israel would act as a facilitator between the U.S. and Russia and encourage the White House to start a dialogue with the Kremlin on Syria and Iran as an opening for a wider bilateral discussion.
    “They asked us to open the gates for them in Washington,” one Israeli official told me. (...)

    #Israel #Russie #Syrie #USA #Iran

  • China y Rusia presionan al gobierno para recibir a tiempo 900.000 b/d
    http://www.el-nacional.com/noticias/economia/china-rusia-presionan-gobierno-para-recibir-tiempo-900000-b-d_262900


    Pdvsa exporta a Estados Unidos 500.000 barriles diarios de crudo, fundamentalmente hacia su filial Citgo.
    Archivo

    Pdvsa solo despacha la mitad del crudo comprometido que adeuda a Moscú y a Pekín, mientras intenta cubrir las exportaciones a Estados Unidos, informaron fuentes del sector

    Petróleos de Venezuela redujo a la mitad los envíos de crudo –900.000 barriles diarios– pactados con China y Rusia como pago de la deuda externa que contrajo el gobierno con los dos países, aseguró una fuente cercana a la empresa.

    Los acuerdos originales disponen enviar 600.000 y 300.000 barriles al día de petróleo a Moscú y Pekín, respectivamente, pero actualmente los despachos llegan a 300.000 y 150.000 barriles. Esto pone a prueba la paciencia de los acreedores y presionan a Pdvsa para que cumpla sus compromisos a tiempo y en las cantidades convenidas”, precisó la fuente.

    Hace dos semanas el jefe de la petrolera rusa Rosneft, Igor Sechin, visitó el país y se entrevistó con el presidente Nicolás Maduro para manifestar su queja por los incumplimientos, informó la fuente.

    Agregó que además del interés geopolítico, el viaje sorpresa de Maduro a Rusia la semana pasada buscó “calmar las cosas y comprometer más producción de Pdvsa”. “Pero eso no significa dinero fresco para el país”.

    La fuente sostuvo que la petrolera nacional afronta una situación muy comprometida debido a la deuda –70 millardos de dólares– con sus proveedores y los tenedores de bonos de deuda externa, fundamentalmente de Estados Unidos.

    Moscú se ha convertido en un financista de emergencia del Ejecutivo venezolano. El gobierno ruso y Rosneft le han otorgado préstamos y líneas de crédito por 17 millardos de dólares desde 2006, que se cancelan con petróleo.

    Al regreso del viaje a Rusia, donde conversó con el presidente Vladimir Putin, Maduro anunció la firma de más pactos petroleros y auríferos por 6 millardos de dólares con empresas de ese país.

    En 2007, el presidente Hugo Chávez suscribió un acuerdo con China, que creó el Fondo Conjunto Chino-Venezolano, mediante el cual desde esa fecha hasta 2017 el gobierno ha recibido 50 millardos de dólares en préstamos, pagaderos también con crudo.

     “Rusia y China ya no dan dinero fresco a Venezuela sino períodos de gracia a la deuda vigente con la única intención de que les paguen, pues el gobierno ha demostrado ser un maula reiterativo. En esa misma dirección van las inversiones en proyectos petroleros y mineros”, aseveró la fuente.

    Maduro prometió el 19 de octubre que incrementará la exportación de petróleo a Pekin a 1.000.000 de barriles diarios “llueva, truene o relampaguee”.

    José Toro Hardy, ex director de Petróleos de Venezuela, considera que la situación del auxilio financiero ruso-chino es “muy delicada por las limitaciones del gobierno para responder a los compromisos debido al declive de la producción petrolera”, que en octubre alcanzó 1.117.000 barriles al día, según reportes de las fuentes secundarias a la Organización de Países Exportadores de Petróleo, lo cual evidencia una reducción de 739.000 barriles con respecto al promedio de 2017 de 1.856.000 barriles por día.

    El experto destacó que Venezuela necesita los ingresos fiscales de sus exportaciones petroleras a Estados Unidos, pues son las únicas que representan el pago en efectivo y parte de ese volumen lo resta a China y Rusia, de los que no recibe ni un dólar.

    Se trata de 500.000 barriles al día destinados a Citgo, filial de Pdvsa en Estados Unidos, y las petroleras Valero y Tesoro. “La presión de Rusia para que Venezuela le pague pone en riesgo la propiedad de Pdvsa de Citgo, de la cual Rosneft tiene 49,9% de las acciones en garantía de un préstamo por 1,5 millardos de dólares contraído el año pasado”.

    Toro Hardy afirmó que sobre Citgo pesan las demandas por incumplimientos contra Pdvsa como Cristallex y Conoco, con las que llegó a acuerdos de pago. Pero eso no impide otras querellas de empresas que en el futuro exijan a la filial de Pdvsa en pago, y a esto se suma que el gobierno puso como garantía el 51,1% restante de Citgo a los tenedores de bonos.

  • Ukrainian leader says Putin wants his whole country, asks for NATO help | Reuters
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-idUSKCN1NY1K5

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday of wanting to annex his entire country and called for NATO to deploy warships to a sea shared by the two nations.
    […]
    Ukraine’s border service said it would only allow Ukrainian citizens to travel to Crimea via its land border with the annexed territory, while the head of the Ukrainian navy said Kiev would try to get Turkey to close the Bosphorus Strait to Russian ships.

    There were further signs that Russia was pressing ahead with its plans to fortify Crimea and turn it into what Kremlin-backed media have called a fortress.

    Russia on Thursday deployed a new battalion of advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile systems in Crimea, its fourth such battalion, TASS news agency cited a spokesman for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet as saying.

    Citing a Crimean security source, Interfax news agency also reported Russian plans to build a new missile early-warning radar station in Crimea next year that would be able to track ballistic and cruise missiles from a long distance.

    Russia was also working on a new technical system to allow it to better track shipping around the peninsula in order to protect its maritime borders, Interfax said.

    En tous cas, il y en a qui n’ont peur de rien : demander à la Turquie de fouler au pied la #convention_de_Montreux, il faut oser !

  • Russia’s Gazprom says offshore part of TurkStream is complete | Reuters
    https://uk.reuters.com/article/turkey-russia-gas-pipeline-idUKL8N1XU3N5

    Construction of the offshore part of the TurkStream pipeline that will carry Russian gas across the Black Sea to Turkey has been completed, Russian gas producer Gazprom said on Monday.

    TurkStream is part of Moscow’s efforts to bypass Ukraine as a gas transit route to Europe, which imports around a third of its gas needs from Gazprom.

    Projects of this kind and this project in particular are not directed against the interests of anyone. Projects of this kind are purely creative,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said as he and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attended an official ceremony in Istanbul.

    Work will now focus onshore and is on track to be completed by the end of 2019, he said.

    Gazprom is building the TurkStream in two lines, each with a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic metres of gas per year. The first will supply Turkey and the second southern Europe.

    Turkey is almost completely reliant on imports to meet its energy needs. A crippling currency crisis which has seen the lira plummet has increased costs, prompting energy companies to hike consumer prices.

    Turkey’s state pipeline operator Botas will build the 69-km section of TurkStream which will carry natural gas from the coast to its distribution centre in Luleburgaz in northwestern Turkey, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez told private broadcaster NTV, adding he expected this to be completed in 2019.

    A 145-km section of pipeline from the distribution centre to the border will be constructed by Botas and Gazprom, he said.

  • Opinion | Will Deep-Fake Technology Destroy Democracy? - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/opinion/deep-fake-technology-democracy.html

    Both images are the result of digital manipulation, and what, in its most ominous form, is called deep fakes: technology that makes it possible to show people saying things they never said, doing things they never did.

    This technology has great potential both as art and snark: One set of deep fakes has cleverly inserted Nicolas Cage into a half-dozen movies he wasn’t involved with, including “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” You can watch that and decide for yourself whether Mr. Cage or Harrison Ford makes for the best Indiana Jones.

    But, as always, the same technology that contains the opportunity for good also provides an opening for its opposite. As a result, we find ourselves on the cusp of a new world — one in which it will be impossible, literally, to tell what is real from what is invented.

    But deep-fake technology takes deception a step further, exploiting our natural inclination to engage with things that make us angriest. As Jonathan Swift said: “The greatest liar hath his believers: and it often happens, that if a lie be believed only for an hour, it hath done its work, and there is no further occasion for it.”

    Consider the image of Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the Parkland High School shooting in February who has become a vocal activist. A manipulated photo of her tearing up the Constitution went viral on Twitter among gun-rights supporters and members of the alt-right. The image had been digitally altered from another photo appearing in Teen Vogue. That publication’s editor lamented: “The fact that we even have to clarify this is proof of how democracy continues to be fractured by people who manipulate and fabricate the truth.”

    That fake was exposed — but did it really make a difference to the people who wanted to inhabit their own paranoid universe? How many people still believe, all evidence to the contrary, that Barack Obama is a Muslim, or that he was born in Kenya?

    Now imagine the effect of deep fakes on a close election. Let’s say video is posted of Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat running for Senate in Texas, swearing that he wants to take away every last gun in Texas, or of Senator Susan Collins of Maine saying she’s changed her mind on Brett Kavanaugh. Before the fraud can be properly refuted, the polls open. The chaos that might ensue — well, let’s just say it’s everything Vladimir Putin ever dreamed of.

    There’s more: The “liar’s dividend” will now apply even to people, like Mr. Trump, who actually did say something terrible. In the era of deep fakes, it will be simple enough for a guilty party simply to deny reality. Mr. Trump, in fact, has claimed that the infamous recording of him suggesting grabbing women by their nether parts is not really him. This, after apologizing for it.

    #Infox #Fake_news #Manipulation_images