John Helmer — PUTIN ENDORSES NETANYAHU FOR RE-ELECTION – SHOIGU AND LAVROV REACT

Putin apparently conflicts with the Stavka (Russian General Staff) and Foreign Ministry.

(Xi is facing similar pressure from the PLA (People's Liberation Army) over what it perceives as Western aggression in the South China Sea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.)

Dances with Bears
PUTIN ENDORSES NETANYAHU FOR RE-ELECTION – SHOIGU AND LAVROV REACT
John Helmer

John Helmer — Putin Corrects Mistakes By Biting His Tongue On Telephone With Assad And Netanyahu

Last week President Vladimir Putin triggered the most serious crisis of his presidency, as the Defence Ministry and the Russian General Staff (Stavka) declared that Putin’s explanation for the downing of the Ilyushin-20 electronic reconnaissance aircraft by Israeli fighters was false, and worse –capitulation to Israel.

Sources in Moscow report the military’s loss of confidence in the Commander-in-Chief has not been seen in public since President Boris Yeltsin countermanded orders for Russian military aid to Serbia under NATO bombing between March and June 1999, dismissing Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov on the US demand.

“[Putin] has blundered with Erdogan, with Netanyahu,” commented one Moscow source. “In making all his concessions, one after another, Putin has been watched very carefully. His civilian advisors – [Foreign Policy Advisor Yury] Ushakov in particular – are making mistakes. They expect[ed] the show of strength in Syria would have changed US and European attitudes, and they would listen. They didn’t. So the Russian military have reminded Putin – we told you so.”

On Monday morning, following an unprecedented Sunday briefing at the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced measures which Putin has repeatedly dismissed over many years. The new Russian war policy puts a stop to Putin’s assurances to the US, the European NATO powers and Israel that he was resisting the recommendations of his General Staff. Putin’s resistance ended on Monday morning. Shoigu and the Stavka ended it....

Dances with Bears
Putin Corrects Mistakes By Biting His Tongue On Telephone With Assad And Netanyahu
John Helmer

US to match?

The logical conclusion of the US-Israeli project lies in the removal of the Russian bases from Syrian territory. Neither the US nor Israel can countenance a military presence superior to Israel’s in the entire Middle East region. The actual Russian deployment to Syria may not be big, but Israel is very well aware that Russia has vast strategic depth, which it cannot hope to match.

The bottom line is that so long as Russia has a strategic presence in the Middle East, Israel cannot regain its military dominance in the region. And time doesn’t work in Israel’s favour, either. Iran is rising and Turkey remains unfriendly. The sooner things get done, the better for Israel – preferably while Trump remains in office.

Clearly, Bolton has thrown down the gauntlet. The tragic incident of September 17 cannot be viewed in isolation.

Setting the stage for WWIII?

The Russian general staff will view it this way.

Strategic Culture Foundation
Syria: Bolton Throws Down the Gauntlet

Melkulangara Bhadrakumar | Former career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service

See also

Strategic Culture Foundation
The Path to World War III
Philip Giraldi, former CIA counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer, now Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest and founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

RT — ‘Ask your grandads’: Russian defense minister warns Germany against ‘strength & unity’ strategy

Sergei Shoigu delivers serious smackdown. 

The Russian defense minister has reminded his German counterpart that approaching Moscow from a “position of unity and strength” is not the wisest idea, citing the bitter history of WWII that should’ve made Berlin more prudent.

“We are open for dialogue. We are ready for a normal cooperation, but not at all from a position of strength,” Sergey Shoigu told Rossiya 24 TV station. “I certainly hope that the time when we could be talked to, as someone once said, as a second- or third-class country has now irretrievably passed.”

Referring to the original question from the host, Yevgeniy Popov, who noted the recent call by the German Defense Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, to engage in dialogue with Moscow only from a “position of unity and strength,” Shoigu reminded his counterpart that, while Russia seeks peace, it will not tolerate being coerced.

“After everything Germany has done to our country, I think, they should not talk on the issue for another two hundred years,” Shoigu said. “Ask your grandparents about their experience of talking to Russia from the position of strength. They will probably be able to tell you.”...

Sounds like the Russian leadership is finally getting fed up.

RT

‘Ask your grandads’: Russian defense minister warns Germany against ‘strength & unity’ strategy

TASS — Russia will always counter US 'neocolonialist strategy,' defense minister [Sergei Shoigu] vows

The US has already tested this strategy in Iraq and Libya, according to Sergei Shoigu

MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Russia will always counter the US neocolonialist strategy aimed at weakening legitimate governments in other countries, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with the Italian daily Il Giornale published on Wednesday.

"The issue at hand is the neocolonialist strategy, which the US has already tested in Iraq and Libya and which boils down to supporting any, even the wildest ideologies to weaken legitimate governments," the minister said.

According to Shoigu, Russia, "which advocates equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with any countries as part of the multipolar world concept, will always be an obstacle to the implementation of such strategies."

The minister explained that the key stages of the neocolonialist strategy are weakening the legitimate leadership, staging the use of weapons of mass destruction or humanitarian disasters and the use of military force to create "controlled chaos." All that, he said, creates favorable conditions for draining countries of their wealth to the US economy by transnational corporations.

Threat to US dominance

Washington considers Russia as a threat to its global dominance, according to Shoigu.
"Russia has been regaining its strength so it is now considered to be not an ally but a threat to the United States’ global dominance," he said. At the same time, in Shoigu’s words, the West "continues its military build-up near our borders" while accusing Moscow of making aggressive plans.

In this regard, the Russian defense minister pointed out that NATO had increased the number of troops deployed to the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria from 2,000 to 15,000, with the possibility of a further increase to 60,000. Shoigu also mentioned a statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made on Tuesday that by 2020, the alliance planned to have "30 mechanized battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 combat vessels ready to use within 30 days or less." "All this is happening right near Russia’s western borders," Shoigu stressed....

Hardly confined to Iraq and Libya.

TASS
Russia will always counter US 'neocolonialist strategy,' defense minister vows

TASS is the Russian News Agency. It is owned by the Russian Federation.

See also

The Vineyard of the Saker
Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergei Shoigu’s interview with Italy’s Il Giornale full version
Scott

Statement by the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation General of the Army Sergei Shoigu

Report on improved readiness, training and modernization of the Russian armed services to meet the increasing US and NATO threat encroaching on the borders of the Russian Federation.

The Vineyard of the Saker
Statement by the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation General of the Army Sergei Shoigu
The Saker