THE GUARDIAN
"Manafort associate paid Trump inauguration $50,000 in Ukrainian cash"
Jon Swaine
31 AUGUST 2018
A Republican political consultant linked to Paul Manafort and Cambridge Analytica has admitted to funneling $50,000 from a Ukrainian oligarch to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration committee.
Sam Patten paid the money to an American “straw purchaser” on behalf of the unidentified oligarch, in return for four tickets to Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, according to a plea agreement made public on Friday.
The inauguration committee was not allowed to accept money from foreigners.
The disclosure came as Patten pleaded guilty to illegally lobbying in the US for pro-Russia politicians from Ukraine.
As part of his plea deal, he agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating links between Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Patten, 47, admitted causing the Ukrainian funds to be paid to the inauguration committee, and to then lying to a Senate committee investigating Russian interference in an attempt to cover this up.
He was not charged for these actions.
He pleaded guilty to one count of working as an unregistered agent for the oligarch’s Ukrainian political party, Opposition Bloc, which also employed Manafort, the former chairman of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Patten was released on bail by judge Amy Berman Jackson following a hearing in Washington.
The charge was brought by the US attorney’s office in the capital, which took over the case following a referral from Mueller’s office.
The court filings indicated that Patten had been in discussions with Mueller’s office for at least three months.
A spokesman for the US attorney’s office said the charge against Patten was a felony punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and also carried potential fines.
Stuart Sears, an attorney for Patten, declined to comment.
A spokeswoman for Thomas Barrack, the chairman of Trump’s inauguration committee, did not respond to requests for comment.
The filings recounted how Patten formed a consulting company in the US with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian political operative with alleged ties to intelligence services.
Kilimnik, identified as “foreigner A” in the filings, has also worked extensively with Manafort, who was a consultant to Opposition Bloc in Ukraine.
After discovering foreigners were barred from giving money to the inauguration, Patten enlisted another American to buy four tickets.
The oligarch paid $50,000 to Patten and Kilimnik’s company from an account in Cyprus.
Patten then wrote the American “straw purchaser” a $50,000 check and the American used these funds to buy the tickets the following day.
Patten then lied about this arrangement during testimony to the Senate intelligence committee in January 2018, he admitted on Friday.
He failed to provide requested documents, gave misleading evidence and then after his interview deleted files relating to his work for the Ukrainians.
In all, according to the court documents, Patten’s firm was paid about $1m for advising Opposition Bloc and lobbying US politicians on its behalf.
Patten worked to set up meetings for Kilimnik and the oligarch with state department officials and members of Congress, including senators on the foreign relations committee and House members on the foreign affairs committee.
Patten admitted that he knew he was required to register as an agent for a foreigner but failed to do so after the Ukrainian oligarch said “he did not want them to” until an unspecified future date.
Patten also drafted opinion articles for the Ukrainian oligarch and succeeded in having at least one published by a national American media outlet in February 2017.
The Ukrainian figure and media outlet were not identified in the charging documents.
A pro-Trump article was published by US News & World Report in February 2017 under the byline of SerhiyLyovochkin, an Opposition Bloc MP who was a senior official in Ukraine’s former pro-Kremlin administration.
Enxhi Myslmi, a spokeswoman for US News & World Report, said: “To our knowledge, no one at US News has been contacted by law enforcement regarding the publication of this piece.”
Lovochkin’s office declined to say if it believed he was the oligarch described in the court documents.
In an unsigned email, it said: “Mr Lovochkin was indeed invited to the inauguration and had the honor to attend."
"At the same time, he did not pay for that.”
Earlier this month, Manafort was convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud arising from the Mueller investigation.
During the trial, a former colleague testified that Manafort received payments from Lyovochkin and disguised them as loans to avoid paying tax.
Kilimnik is charged alongside Manafort in a separate criminal case brought in Washington by Mueller.
Patten also carried out work for Cambridge Analytica, the now-defunct consultancy that is under scrutiny for its work on Trump’s 2016 election campaign.
A page on Patten’s website that has since been removed said he “worked with one of London’s most innovative strategic communications companies to introduce new technologies and methodologies” during the 2014 US election.
During an interview last year with a British academic researcher, Patten said: “I’ve worked in Ukraine, Iraq, I’ve worked in deeply corrupt countries, and [the American] system isn’t very different.”
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ ... id=HPDHP17
RUSSIA
Re: RUSSIA
CNN
"US F-22 fighter jets intercept Russian bombers near Alaska"
By Zachary Cohen and Ryan Browne, CNN
13 SEPTEMBER 2018
Two US F-22 "Raptor" fighter jets intercepted two Russian TU-95 bombers on Tuesday, according to a statement released by North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The Russian bombers "intercepted west of mainland Alaska were accompanied by two Russian SU-35 'Flanker' fighter jets," NORAD said in a statement issued Wednesday.
"The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and at no time did the aircraft enter United States or Canadian airspace," the statement said.
It added that the intercept took place while the Russian bombers were in the US Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends about 200 miles off Alaska's western coast.
The incident marks the second time US F-22s have intercepted Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska this month.
The previous intercept occurred on Sept. 1.
However, during that earlier intercept, the Russian Tu-95s were not escorted by Russian fighter jets.
Two Russian Tu-95 bombers were also intercepted by F-22's off the coast of Alaska in May, nearly a year after the last encounter of this kind.
A US official previously told CNN that the military sees these flights as routine and said they pose no concern.
Russia is currently conducting a large-scale military exercise in the country's east, which Moscow has called the largest drill since before the end of the Soviet Union.
While the US military has cast doubt on the abilities of the new Russian weapons, a US Defense Intelligence Agency report from 2017 notes Moscow is in the midst of "a massive state armaments program" aimed at equipping its forces with "70% new or modernized equipment by 2020."
CNN's Brad Lendon contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-f-2 ... id=HPDHP17
"US F-22 fighter jets intercept Russian bombers near Alaska"
By Zachary Cohen and Ryan Browne, CNN
13 SEPTEMBER 2018
Two US F-22 "Raptor" fighter jets intercepted two Russian TU-95 bombers on Tuesday, according to a statement released by North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The Russian bombers "intercepted west of mainland Alaska were accompanied by two Russian SU-35 'Flanker' fighter jets," NORAD said in a statement issued Wednesday.
"The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and at no time did the aircraft enter United States or Canadian airspace," the statement said.
It added that the intercept took place while the Russian bombers were in the US Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends about 200 miles off Alaska's western coast.
The incident marks the second time US F-22s have intercepted Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska this month.
The previous intercept occurred on Sept. 1.
However, during that earlier intercept, the Russian Tu-95s were not escorted by Russian fighter jets.
Two Russian Tu-95 bombers were also intercepted by F-22's off the coast of Alaska in May, nearly a year after the last encounter of this kind.
A US official previously told CNN that the military sees these flights as routine and said they pose no concern.
Russia is currently conducting a large-scale military exercise in the country's east, which Moscow has called the largest drill since before the end of the Soviet Union.
While the US military has cast doubt on the abilities of the new Russian weapons, a US Defense Intelligence Agency report from 2017 notes Moscow is in the midst of "a massive state armaments program" aimed at equipping its forces with "70% new or modernized equipment by 2020."
CNN's Brad Lendon contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-f-2 ... id=HPDHP17
Re: RUSSIA
CNN
"Syria accidentally shot down a Russian military plane"
By Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne and Nathan Hodge, CNN
18 SEPTEMBER 2018
Syria inadvertently shot down a Russian military plane after an Israeli attack on Syrian positions, killing 15 people on board, Moscow said.
The Russian military said Tuesday that the Russian maritime patrol aircraft was shot by by Syrian regime anti-aircraft artillery amid the Israeli attack on Monday, state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
Moscow blamed Israel for putting its aircraft in the line of fire, Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
"As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian servicemen were killed, which is absolutely not in keeping with the spirit of Russian-Israeli partnership," said Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Russian military, according to RIA-Novosti.
In a statement Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded to the accusations by blaming the Assad regime for the deaths of the Russian aircrew and claiming that the IDF had followed the usual procedures when carrying out an attack in Syria, including making use of well-established communication links with Moscow.
"Israel holds the Assad regime, whose military shot down the Russian plane, fully responsible for this incident," the statement said, adding that Iran and Hezbollah were also accountable.
According to the statement, Syrian anti-aircraft batteries "fired indiscriminately and from what we understand did not bother to ensure no Russian planes were in the air."
The incident presents Moscow with a diplomatic conundrum, as the country has a strong relationship with both Israel and the Syrian regime.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday Moscow was "extremely concerned" about the downing of the aircraft, but declined to comment on further steps the Russian government might take in response or on any potential impact on relations between Russia and Israel.
According to a handout from the Russian Ministry of Defense of a conversation between Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and his Russian counterpart, Army General Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu described the actions of the Israeli air force as irresponsible and said to Liberman that the fault for the downed plane and the deaths of its crew "rests entirely with the Israeli side."
"We reserve the right for further reciprocal steps," Shoigu said, according to the handout.
Anti-aircraft system 'sold to Syria by Russians'
Reports of Syrian air defense activity and a missing Russian aircraft spread across Russian and Syrian news media Monday.
Russian state news agency TASS reported that a Russian IL-20 military aircraft disappeared over the Mediterranean.
TASS, citing the Russian defense ministry, said the aircraft went off the radars during an attack by four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian targets in the north-western province of Latakia, where Russia has based much of its military presence, including aircraft.
Separately, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that air defense systems had intercepted a number of hostile missiles coming from the sea into Latakia city.
The Russian military said Israel notified the Russian side about the planned operation only a minute in advance, and that Israeli controllers would have seen the Russian plane, which was coming in to land, RIA reported.
In a highly unusual move, the IDF released details of its operation in Syria Monday, revealing that fighter jets targeted a Syrian Armed Forces facility, "from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon."
"These weapons were meant to attack Israel, and posed an intolerable threat against it," the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.
The IDF alleges that by the time Syrian anti-aircraft missiles had been launched, Israeli warplanes responsible for the overnight operation were already back within Israeli airspace.
The IDF also says that the Russian plane was not "within the area of operation" while the Israeli strike on Latakia was underway.
The aircraft was shot down by an anti-aircraft system the Russians sold to the Syrians several years ago, a US official with knowledge of the incident told CNN Monday.
The Syrian air defense network in western Syria is very densely populated with anti-aircraft missile and radar systems.
In February, the two-man crew of an Israeli F-16 ejected from their aircraft when a missile exploded near them, damaging their aircraft as they finished conducting a mission against Syrian forces.
An Israeli defense official told CNN earlier this month that Israel has struck Syria 200 times in the past 18 months to prevent the deployment of Iranian weapons in the region.
Demilitarized zone in neighboring Idlib
The incident occurred on the same day that Russia announced a joint agreement with Turkey to create a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib province, which neighbors Latakia, potentially thwarting a large-scale military operation and impending humanitarian disaster in the country's last rebel stronghold.
Speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Sochi on Monday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the creation of a 15-20 kilometer (approximately 9-12 miles) demilitarized zone will prevent a "humanitarian crisis" in the northwestern province.
All heavy military equipment tanks, ground-to-air missiles and mortars of all the opposition groups will be removed by October 10, the leaders said.
The zone, which will be patrolled by Turkish and Russian military units, will become operational from October 15.
Erdogan described the agreement as a "solution" to the issues in the region.
Speaking Tuesday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the downing of the Russian aircraft would not affect the Sochi agreement "in any way," adding that "this is an important, breakthrough agreement."
In recent weeks, Syrian and Russian planes have conducted scores of airstrikes in Idlib in the run-up to an anticipated offensive by Russian-backed Syrian forces to retake the last part of the country under armed opposition.
Last week, UN officials said that more than 30,000 people fled the province in anticipation of the government offensive.
Natalie Gallon, Andrew Carey, Mary Ilyushina, Judith Vonberg and Radina Gigova contributed reporting.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/syr ... id=HPDHP17
"Syria accidentally shot down a Russian military plane"
By Barbara Starr, Ryan Browne and Nathan Hodge, CNN
18 SEPTEMBER 2018
Syria inadvertently shot down a Russian military plane after an Israeli attack on Syrian positions, killing 15 people on board, Moscow said.
The Russian military said Tuesday that the Russian maritime patrol aircraft was shot by by Syrian regime anti-aircraft artillery amid the Israeli attack on Monday, state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
Moscow blamed Israel for putting its aircraft in the line of fire, Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
"As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian servicemen were killed, which is absolutely not in keeping with the spirit of Russian-Israeli partnership," said Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Russian military, according to RIA-Novosti.
In a statement Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded to the accusations by blaming the Assad regime for the deaths of the Russian aircrew and claiming that the IDF had followed the usual procedures when carrying out an attack in Syria, including making use of well-established communication links with Moscow.
"Israel holds the Assad regime, whose military shot down the Russian plane, fully responsible for this incident," the statement said, adding that Iran and Hezbollah were also accountable.
According to the statement, Syrian anti-aircraft batteries "fired indiscriminately and from what we understand did not bother to ensure no Russian planes were in the air."
The incident presents Moscow with a diplomatic conundrum, as the country has a strong relationship with both Israel and the Syrian regime.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday Moscow was "extremely concerned" about the downing of the aircraft, but declined to comment on further steps the Russian government might take in response or on any potential impact on relations between Russia and Israel.
According to a handout from the Russian Ministry of Defense of a conversation between Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and his Russian counterpart, Army General Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu described the actions of the Israeli air force as irresponsible and said to Liberman that the fault for the downed plane and the deaths of its crew "rests entirely with the Israeli side."
"We reserve the right for further reciprocal steps," Shoigu said, according to the handout.
Anti-aircraft system 'sold to Syria by Russians'
Reports of Syrian air defense activity and a missing Russian aircraft spread across Russian and Syrian news media Monday.
Russian state news agency TASS reported that a Russian IL-20 military aircraft disappeared over the Mediterranean.
TASS, citing the Russian defense ministry, said the aircraft went off the radars during an attack by four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian targets in the north-western province of Latakia, where Russia has based much of its military presence, including aircraft.
Separately, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that air defense systems had intercepted a number of hostile missiles coming from the sea into Latakia city.
The Russian military said Israel notified the Russian side about the planned operation only a minute in advance, and that Israeli controllers would have seen the Russian plane, which was coming in to land, RIA reported.
In a highly unusual move, the IDF released details of its operation in Syria Monday, revealing that fighter jets targeted a Syrian Armed Forces facility, "from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon."
"These weapons were meant to attack Israel, and posed an intolerable threat against it," the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.
The IDF alleges that by the time Syrian anti-aircraft missiles had been launched, Israeli warplanes responsible for the overnight operation were already back within Israeli airspace.
The IDF also says that the Russian plane was not "within the area of operation" while the Israeli strike on Latakia was underway.
The aircraft was shot down by an anti-aircraft system the Russians sold to the Syrians several years ago, a US official with knowledge of the incident told CNN Monday.
The Syrian air defense network in western Syria is very densely populated with anti-aircraft missile and radar systems.
In February, the two-man crew of an Israeli F-16 ejected from their aircraft when a missile exploded near them, damaging their aircraft as they finished conducting a mission against Syrian forces.
An Israeli defense official told CNN earlier this month that Israel has struck Syria 200 times in the past 18 months to prevent the deployment of Iranian weapons in the region.
Demilitarized zone in neighboring Idlib
The incident occurred on the same day that Russia announced a joint agreement with Turkey to create a demilitarized zone in Syria's Idlib province, which neighbors Latakia, potentially thwarting a large-scale military operation and impending humanitarian disaster in the country's last rebel stronghold.
Speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at talks in Sochi on Monday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the creation of a 15-20 kilometer (approximately 9-12 miles) demilitarized zone will prevent a "humanitarian crisis" in the northwestern province.
All heavy military equipment tanks, ground-to-air missiles and mortars of all the opposition groups will be removed by October 10, the leaders said.
The zone, which will be patrolled by Turkish and Russian military units, will become operational from October 15.
Erdogan described the agreement as a "solution" to the issues in the region.
Speaking Tuesday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the downing of the Russian aircraft would not affect the Sochi agreement "in any way," adding that "this is an important, breakthrough agreement."
In recent weeks, Syrian and Russian planes have conducted scores of airstrikes in Idlib in the run-up to an anticipated offensive by Russian-backed Syrian forces to retake the last part of the country under armed opposition.
Last week, UN officials said that more than 30,000 people fled the province in anticipation of the government offensive.
Natalie Gallon, Andrew Carey, Mary Ilyushina, Judith Vonberg and Radina Gigova contributed reporting.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/syr ... id=HPDHP17
Re: RUSSIA
AFP
"China, Russia warn US of consequences over sanctions"
Anna SMOLCHENKO
21 SEPTEMBER 2018
Moscow and Beijing lashed out Friday at Washington's new anti-Russian sanctions that also target China for the first time, warning the United States could face consequences.
The United States is "playing with fire", Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said, while Beijing voiced "strong indignation" over the move.
United in their resentment of America's global influence, China and Russia have sought in recent years to tighten up their ties and this month conducted week-long joint military drills, Moscow's largest ever war games.
On Thursday, China -- which is also locked in a trade war with Washington -- got caught up in the sanctions war against Russia as the United States announced a new raft of measures that would punish third countries for dealing with Moscow.
Stepping up pressure on Moscow over its "malign activities," the US State Department said it was placing financial sanctions on the Equipment Development Department of the Chinese Ministry of Defence, and its top administrator, for its recent purchase of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.
Beijing on Friday urged the United States to withdraw sanctions or "bear the consequences".
"The US actions have seriously violated the basic principles of international relations and seriously damaged the relations between the two countries and the two militaries," said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, adding Beijing had lodged an official protest with the United States.
"We strongly urge the US to immediately correct their mistake and withdraw their so-called sanctions, otherwise the US will have to bear the consequences."
US officials said it was the first time a third country has been punished under the CAATSA sanctions legislation for dealing with Russia, signalling Donald Trump's administration will risk relations with other countries in its campaign against Moscow.
- 'Undermining stability' -
Moscow said Washington was rocking global stability and said sarcastically that placing sanctions on Russia has become Washington's favourite "pastime."
"It would be good for them to remember there is such a concept as global stability which they are thoughtlessly undermining by whipping up tensions in Russian-American ties," said Ryabkov.
"Playing with fire is silly, it can become dangerous," he said in a statement.
The State Department also announced it was placing 33 Russian intelligence and military-linked actors on its sanctions blacklist.
All of them -- defence related firms, officers of the GRU military intelligence agency, and people associated with the Saint Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency disinformation group -- have been on previous US sanctions lists.
Twenty eight of them have already been indicted by Robert Mueller, who is investigating election meddling by Russia.
US officials said that the US could consider similar action against other countries taking delivery of Russian fighter jets and missiles.
Turkey is in talks to buy S-400 missile systems from Russia.
Ryabkov reiterated that none of the rounds of sanctions had managed to force Russia to change its course so far.
"It appears that it has become a sort of national pastime there," he added, noting the latest round of anti-Russian measures was the 60th since 2011.
For all of Russia's seemingly upbeat rhetoric the new measures can hurt the country's struggling economy.
Arms exports are an important source of revenue for the country and last year Russia sold more than $14 billion worth of arms overseas.
- Sanctions target only Russia? -
A senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted the ultimate target was Russia.
"CAATSA sanctions in this context are not intended to undermine the defence capabilities of any particular country," the official said.
CAATSA, or the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, was passed in 2017 as a tool that gives Washington more ways to target Russia, Iran and North Korea with economic and political sanctions.
China's EDD and its director Li Shangfu became targets after taking delivery over the past year of the jets and missiles from Rosoboronexport, Russia's main arms exporter already on the US blacklist for its support of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
The US official said Washington had spent "an enormous amount of time" seeking to discourage prospective buyers of Russian arms.
The new sanctions came as the United States and China are in the heat of a trade war.
The two countries will launch new tariffs on Monday, with Washington targeting $200 billion in Chinese exports and Beijing hitting $60 billion worth of American products.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rus ... id=HPDHP17
"China, Russia warn US of consequences over sanctions"
Anna SMOLCHENKO
21 SEPTEMBER 2018
Moscow and Beijing lashed out Friday at Washington's new anti-Russian sanctions that also target China for the first time, warning the United States could face consequences.
The United States is "playing with fire", Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said, while Beijing voiced "strong indignation" over the move.
United in their resentment of America's global influence, China and Russia have sought in recent years to tighten up their ties and this month conducted week-long joint military drills, Moscow's largest ever war games.
On Thursday, China -- which is also locked in a trade war with Washington -- got caught up in the sanctions war against Russia as the United States announced a new raft of measures that would punish third countries for dealing with Moscow.
Stepping up pressure on Moscow over its "malign activities," the US State Department said it was placing financial sanctions on the Equipment Development Department of the Chinese Ministry of Defence, and its top administrator, for its recent purchase of Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 surface-to-air missile systems.
Beijing on Friday urged the United States to withdraw sanctions or "bear the consequences".
"The US actions have seriously violated the basic principles of international relations and seriously damaged the relations between the two countries and the two militaries," said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, adding Beijing had lodged an official protest with the United States.
"We strongly urge the US to immediately correct their mistake and withdraw their so-called sanctions, otherwise the US will have to bear the consequences."
US officials said it was the first time a third country has been punished under the CAATSA sanctions legislation for dealing with Russia, signalling Donald Trump's administration will risk relations with other countries in its campaign against Moscow.
- 'Undermining stability' -
Moscow said Washington was rocking global stability and said sarcastically that placing sanctions on Russia has become Washington's favourite "pastime."
"It would be good for them to remember there is such a concept as global stability which they are thoughtlessly undermining by whipping up tensions in Russian-American ties," said Ryabkov.
"Playing with fire is silly, it can become dangerous," he said in a statement.
The State Department also announced it was placing 33 Russian intelligence and military-linked actors on its sanctions blacklist.
All of them -- defence related firms, officers of the GRU military intelligence agency, and people associated with the Saint Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency disinformation group -- have been on previous US sanctions lists.
Twenty eight of them have already been indicted by Robert Mueller, who is investigating election meddling by Russia.
US officials said that the US could consider similar action against other countries taking delivery of Russian fighter jets and missiles.
Turkey is in talks to buy S-400 missile systems from Russia.
Ryabkov reiterated that none of the rounds of sanctions had managed to force Russia to change its course so far.
"It appears that it has become a sort of national pastime there," he added, noting the latest round of anti-Russian measures was the 60th since 2011.
For all of Russia's seemingly upbeat rhetoric the new measures can hurt the country's struggling economy.
Arms exports are an important source of revenue for the country and last year Russia sold more than $14 billion worth of arms overseas.
- Sanctions target only Russia? -
A senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted the ultimate target was Russia.
"CAATSA sanctions in this context are not intended to undermine the defence capabilities of any particular country," the official said.
CAATSA, or the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, was passed in 2017 as a tool that gives Washington more ways to target Russia, Iran and North Korea with economic and political sanctions.
China's EDD and its director Li Shangfu became targets after taking delivery over the past year of the jets and missiles from Rosoboronexport, Russia's main arms exporter already on the US blacklist for its support of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
The US official said Washington had spent "an enormous amount of time" seeking to discourage prospective buyers of Russian arms.
The new sanctions came as the United States and China are in the heat of a trade war.
The two countries will launch new tariffs on Monday, with Washington targeting $200 billion in Chinese exports and Beijing hitting $60 billion worth of American products.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rus ... id=HPDHP17
Re: RUSSIA
AFP
"Russia rails against Western 'blackmail', 'brute force'"
28 SEPTEMBER 2018
Russia's foreign minister on Friday accused the West of resorting to "political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force" to prevent the emergence of rival global powers.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Western powers wanted to "retain their self-proclaimed status as world leaders."
"These powers do not hesitate to use any methods including political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force," Lavrov told the assembly.
At the podium earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi denounced "blackmail" in what was an apparent attack on President Donald Trump over trade and declared that Beijing would remain a "champion of multilateralism."
Although he also did not mention Trump by name, there was little doubt about who Lavrov was referring when he denounced leaders who make "loud statements" that question the legal validity of international agreements and "declare the priority of self-serving unilateral approaches."
He said that "attacks" were being launched against the Middle East peace process, the Iran nuclear deal, trade agreements under the World Trade Organization and the Paris climate accord.
"We are observing an onslaught of belligerent revisionism against the modern system of international law," he said.
Relations between Western powers and Russia have been tense over the war in Syria, where Moscow is supporting President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
Lavrov said the international community and UN agencies must make the return of refugees to Syria "a priority" as Russia pushes for reconstruction aid for its ally.
Russia and the United States are at odds over the Iran nuclear deal, although key US allies France and Britain have also vowed to defend the agreement that Trump ditched in May.
Trump has also faced global outrage over the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, disregarding UN resolutions that declare the city's final status must be resolved through negotiations.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rus ... id=HPDHP17
"Russia rails against Western 'blackmail', 'brute force'"
28 SEPTEMBER 2018
Russia's foreign minister on Friday accused the West of resorting to "political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force" to prevent the emergence of rival global powers.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Western powers wanted to "retain their self-proclaimed status as world leaders."
"These powers do not hesitate to use any methods including political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force," Lavrov told the assembly.
At the podium earlier, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi denounced "blackmail" in what was an apparent attack on President Donald Trump over trade and declared that Beijing would remain a "champion of multilateralism."
Although he also did not mention Trump by name, there was little doubt about who Lavrov was referring when he denounced leaders who make "loud statements" that question the legal validity of international agreements and "declare the priority of self-serving unilateral approaches."
He said that "attacks" were being launched against the Middle East peace process, the Iran nuclear deal, trade agreements under the World Trade Organization and the Paris climate accord.
"We are observing an onslaught of belligerent revisionism against the modern system of international law," he said.
Relations between Western powers and Russia have been tense over the war in Syria, where Moscow is supporting President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
Lavrov said the international community and UN agencies must make the return of refugees to Syria "a priority" as Russia pushes for reconstruction aid for its ally.
Russia and the United States are at odds over the Iran nuclear deal, although key US allies France and Britain have also vowed to defend the agreement that Trump ditched in May.
Trump has also faced global outrage over the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, disregarding UN resolutions that declare the city's final status must be resolved through negotiations.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rus ... id=HPDHP17
Re: RUSSIA
MARKETWATCH
"Putin says Russia dumped Treasurys to avoid sanctions"
By Sunny Oh
Published: Oct 18, 2018 12:13 p.m. ET
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country had slashed its holdings of Treasurys to circumvent U.S. sanctions, according to the Associated Press.
Russian holdings of U.S. government bonds fell around $80 billion between March and May, according to the widely-watched Treasury International Capital report.
Justifying the decision, Putin said "we did that not because we wanted to undermine the dollar, but because of sanctions that have been introduced against us."
Investors had speculated earlier that the Moscow may have unwound its holdings to circumvent sanctions, but skeptics suggest Russia may have shifted its stock of U.S. government bonds to other countries to avoid scrutiny from Washington.
Reports of Russian selling coincide with the 10-year Treasury note yield's surge to 3.109% on May 17, from 2.732% on April 2, with some analysts arguing the sales may have been a contributing factor.
Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yield.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/putin ... ewer_click
"Putin says Russia dumped Treasurys to avoid sanctions"
By Sunny Oh
Published: Oct 18, 2018 12:13 p.m. ET
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the country had slashed its holdings of Treasurys to circumvent U.S. sanctions, according to the Associated Press.
Russian holdings of U.S. government bonds fell around $80 billion between March and May, according to the widely-watched Treasury International Capital report.
Justifying the decision, Putin said "we did that not because we wanted to undermine the dollar, but because of sanctions that have been introduced against us."
Investors had speculated earlier that the Moscow may have unwound its holdings to circumvent sanctions, but skeptics suggest Russia may have shifted its stock of U.S. government bonds to other countries to avoid scrutiny from Washington.
Reports of Russian selling coincide with the 10-year Treasury note yield's surge to 3.109% on May 17, from 2.732% on April 2, with some analysts arguing the sales may have been a contributing factor.
Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yield.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/putin ... ewer_click
Re: RUSSIA
THIS WOMAN ISN'T EVEN IN THE U.S. ...
SHE'S IN RUSSIA ...
SO THIS IS JUST SOME POLITICAL HORSE**** ...
MARKETWATCH
"DOJ charges Russian woman with interfering in midterm elections"
By Robert Schroeder
Published: Oct 19, 2018 2:45 p.m. ET
The Justice Department charged a Russian woman for her role in a conspiracy to interfere with the 2018 U.S. election, it announced Friday.
Elena Khusyaynova, 44, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The charges are the first criminal case prosecutors have brought against a foreign national for meddling in the upcoming midterms.
Prosecutors said Khusyaynova managed finances of an operation they said was designed to "sow discord" in U.S. politics by pushing arguments online about topics including immigration and gun control.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/doj-c ... ewer_click
SHE'S IN RUSSIA ...
SO THIS IS JUST SOME POLITICAL HORSE**** ...
MARKETWATCH
"DOJ charges Russian woman with interfering in midterm elections"
By Robert Schroeder
Published: Oct 19, 2018 2:45 p.m. ET
The Justice Department charged a Russian woman for her role in a conspiracy to interfere with the 2018 U.S. election, it announced Friday.
Elena Khusyaynova, 44, was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States.
The charges are the first criminal case prosecutors have brought against a foreign national for meddling in the upcoming midterms.
Prosecutors said Khusyaynova managed finances of an operation they said was designed to "sow discord" in U.S. politics by pushing arguments online about topics including immigration and gun control.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/doj-c ... ewer_click
Re: RUSSIA
THE BOTTOM LINE IS SIMPLY THAT TRUMP HAS LOUSY JUDGMENT AND HE IS IN WAY OVER HIS LEVEL OF COMPETENCE ...
THE WASHINGTON POST
"Trump slams Fed chair, questions climate change and threatens to cancel Putin meeting in wide-ranging interview with The Post"
Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, Damian Paletta
28 NOVEMBER 2018
President Trump placed responsibility for recent stock market declines and this week’s announcement of General Motors plant closures and layoffs on the Federal Reserve during an interview Tuesday, shirking any personal blame for cracks in the economy and declaring that he is “not even a little bit happy” with his hand-selected central bank chairman.
In a wide-ranging and sometimes discordant 20-minute interview with The Washington Post, Trump complained at length about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. “Jay” Powell, whom he nominated last year.
When asked about declines on Wall Street and GM’s announcement that it was laying off 15 percent of its workforce, Trump responded by criticizing higher interest rates and other Fed policies, though he insisted that he is not worried about a recession.
“I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed,” Trump said.
“They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”
He added: “So far, I’m not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay."
"Not even a little bit."
"And I’m not blaming anybody, but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing.”
Sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Trump also threatened to cancel his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a global summit this week in Argentina because of Russia’s maritime clash with Ukraine.
Asked whether he thought Putin was within his rights to capture three Ukrainian ships and their crews Sunday in the Black Sea, Trump said he was awaiting a “full report” from his national security team Tuesday evening about the incident.
“That will be very determinative,” Trump said.
“Maybe I won’t have the meeting."
"Maybe I won’t even have the meeting.”
When asked whether Russia’s aggression is a cause for concern for the American people, Trump responded with a more forceful critique of Putin’s actions than those he has delivered in the past.
“I don’t like that aggression,” he said.
“I don’t want that aggression at all."
"Absolutely."
"And by the way, Europe shouldn’t like that aggression."
"And Germany shouldn’t like that aggression.”
Trump also dismissed the federal government’s landmark report released last week finding that damage from global warming is intensifying around the country.
The president said that “I don’t see” climate change as man-made and that he does not believe the scientific consensus.
“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers,” Trump said.
“You look at our air and our water, and it’s right now at a record clean.”
The president added of climate change, “As to whether or not it’s man-made and whether or not the effects that you’re talking about are there, I don’t see it.”
The comments were Trump’s most extensive yet on why he disagrees with the dire National Climate Assessment released by his own administration Friday, which found that climate change poses a severe threat to the health and financial security of Americans, as well as to the country’s infrastructure and natural resources.
Trump again questioned the CIA’s assessment that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to The Post, and said he considered Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s repeated denials in his decision to maintain a close alliance with the oil-rich desert kingdom.
“Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t,” Trump said.
“But he denies it."
"And people around him deny it."
"And the CIA did not say affirmatively he did it, either, by the way."
"I’m not saying that they’re saying he didn’t do it, but they didn’t say it affirmatively.”
Trump said he could visit with Mohammed on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, though no formal meeting has been scheduled.
The CIA has assessed that Mohammed ordered Khashoggi’s killing and has shared its findings with lawmakers and the White House, according to people familiar with the matter.
Intelligence assessments are rarely, if ever, ironclad, and Trump has repeatedly stressed that there is no evidence that would irrefutably lay the blame at Mohammed’s feet.
But the CIA based its overall assessment of Mohammed’s role on a number of pieces of compelling evidence, including intercepted communications; surveillance from inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Khashoggi was killed in October; and the agency’s analysis of Mohammed’s total control of the Saudi government.
Meanwhile, Trump said he had “no intention” of moving to stop special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“The Mueller investigation is what it is."
"It just goes on and on and on,” he said.
When pressed on whether he would commit to letting the probe continue until its conclusion, Trump stopped short of making an explicit pledge.
“This question has been asked about me now for almost two years,” he said, at which point counselor Kellyanne Conway chimed in, “A thousand times.”
Trump continued: “And, in the meantime, he’s still there."
"He wouldn’t have to be, but he’s still there, so I have no intention of doing anything.”
The president declined to discuss on the record the Mueller team’s accusation Monday that Paul Manafort had breached his plea agreement by lying repeatedly to investigators, or whether he would use presidential powers to help his former campaign chairman.
“Let me go off the record because I don’t want to get in the middle of the whole thing,” he said.
He added later: “At some point, I’ll talk on the record about it."
"But I’d rather not.”
Trump also floated the idea of removing U.S. troops from the Middle East, citing the lower price of oil as a reason to withdraw.
“Now, are we going to stay in that part of the world?"
"One reason to is Israel,” Trump said.
“Oil is becoming less and less of a reason because we’re producing more oil now than we’ve ever produced."
"So, you know, all of a sudden it gets to a point where you don’t have to stay there.”
Trump also called the killing of three U.S. troops in a roadside explosion in Afghanistan this week “very sad.”
He said he was continuing the military presence in Afghanistan only because “experts” told him the United States needed to keep fighting there.
The president said he was considering visiting troops in the region soon, perhaps before Christmas.
“At the right time I will,” he said of a war-zone visit, which would be his first as president.
During the interview, Trump’s sharpest criticism was reserved for his Fed chairman.
Though Trump said several times in response to a question about emerging cracks in the economy that he wasn’t “blaming anybody,” he clearly assigned blame to Powell for leading the Fed through several interest rate increases this year.
In Twitter posts Tuesday, issued shortly after his interview with The Post, Trump blamed GM chief executive Mary Barra for the company’s plant closures and layoffs and threatened to strip away any government subsidies for the auto giant.
Trump’s fury at GM and the Fed was similar to his outrage at Harley-Davidson this summer, after the Milwaukee-based motorcycle company announced it was moving some jobs overseas in part because it said it was caught in the midst of a trade war between the White House and foreign leaders.
The stock market has tumbled in recent weeks, unnerving Trump, who in turn has blamed Democrats, the Chinese government and the central bank for any perceived economic weakness.
Asked in the interview who should be held responsible — and reminded that one of his predecessors, Harry Truman, famously kept a sign at his desk that read, “The buck stops here” — Trump took no personal responsibility.
The Federal Reserve is the nation’s central bank and sets the direction for interest rates, or the cost of borrowing money.
Higher rates make it more expensive for consumers and businesses to obtain credit, which can put downward pressure on the economy.
During the interview, Trump’s description of the economy was at odds with its actual performance.
It has grown since he took office and the unemployment rate has fallen, but he suggested that as many jobs were returning to the United States from overseas as were being lost in layoffs.
In addition, Trump said the stock market was up 38 percent since he took office.
In fact, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 25 percent since he was sworn in, less than the increase during President Barack Obama’s first two years in office.
The United States has had very low interest rates for more than a decade, and Fed officials are slowly trying to bring them back up.
Many economists believe that higher interest rates are a way to combat inflation and prevent the economy from overheating.
Powell took over as chairman earlier this year.
Since then, the Fed has raised interest rates three times and is expected to increase them another time next month.
“The Fed is doing exactly what it should be doing, which is to prevent overheating and boom- bust-type conditions in the future,” former Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn said.
Brad DeLong, an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said the Fed was responding in part to economic conditions Trump had helped foster, such as last year’s tax cut, which led to what some had projected would be a short-term economic growth spurt.
“The Federal Reserve cannot be expected to do otherwise than raise interest rates,” DeLong said.
“This is what Trump bought when he made his Fed appointments."
"So why is he surprised?”
Trump’s selection of Powell to lead the central bank was driven largely by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Powell’s appointment was very unusual, as he is not an economist.
He had served in a past Republican White House but was first tapped to serve as a Fed governor by Obama.
During his initial tenure at the Fed, Powell was seen as largely supportive of the slow-but-steady interest rate increase strategy used by then-Chair Janet L. Yellen.
Trump considered reappointing Yellen to the post, and she impressed him greatly during an interview, according to people briefed on their encounter.
But advisers steered him away from renominating her, telling him that he should have his own person in the job.
The president also appeared hung up on Yellen’s height.
He told aides on the National Economic Council on several occasions that the 5-foot-3-inch economist was not tall enough to lead the central bank, quizzing them on whether they agreed, current and former officials said.
Discussing his decision to tap Powell, Trump said Monday: “Look, I took recommendations."
"I’m not blaming anybody.”
philip.rucker@washpost.com
josh.dawsey@washpost.com
damian.paletta@washpost.com
Brady Dennis, Anne Gearan and Shane Harris contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ ... id=HPDHP17
THE WASHINGTON POST
"Trump slams Fed chair, questions climate change and threatens to cancel Putin meeting in wide-ranging interview with The Post"
Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, Damian Paletta
28 NOVEMBER 2018
President Trump placed responsibility for recent stock market declines and this week’s announcement of General Motors plant closures and layoffs on the Federal Reserve during an interview Tuesday, shirking any personal blame for cracks in the economy and declaring that he is “not even a little bit happy” with his hand-selected central bank chairman.
In a wide-ranging and sometimes discordant 20-minute interview with The Washington Post, Trump complained at length about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. “Jay” Powell, whom he nominated last year.
When asked about declines on Wall Street and GM’s announcement that it was laying off 15 percent of its workforce, Trump responded by criticizing higher interest rates and other Fed policies, though he insisted that he is not worried about a recession.
“I’m doing deals, and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed,” Trump said.
“They’re making a mistake because I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”
He added: “So far, I’m not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay."
"Not even a little bit."
"And I’m not blaming anybody, but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing.”
Sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Trump also threatened to cancel his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a global summit this week in Argentina because of Russia’s maritime clash with Ukraine.
Asked whether he thought Putin was within his rights to capture three Ukrainian ships and their crews Sunday in the Black Sea, Trump said he was awaiting a “full report” from his national security team Tuesday evening about the incident.
“That will be very determinative,” Trump said.
“Maybe I won’t have the meeting."
"Maybe I won’t even have the meeting.”
When asked whether Russia’s aggression is a cause for concern for the American people, Trump responded with a more forceful critique of Putin’s actions than those he has delivered in the past.
“I don’t like that aggression,” he said.
“I don’t want that aggression at all."
"Absolutely."
"And by the way, Europe shouldn’t like that aggression."
"And Germany shouldn’t like that aggression.”
Trump also dismissed the federal government’s landmark report released last week finding that damage from global warming is intensifying around the country.
The president said that “I don’t see” climate change as man-made and that he does not believe the scientific consensus.
“One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers,” Trump said.
“You look at our air and our water, and it’s right now at a record clean.”
The president added of climate change, “As to whether or not it’s man-made and whether or not the effects that you’re talking about are there, I don’t see it.”
The comments were Trump’s most extensive yet on why he disagrees with the dire National Climate Assessment released by his own administration Friday, which found that climate change poses a severe threat to the health and financial security of Americans, as well as to the country’s infrastructure and natural resources.
Trump again questioned the CIA’s assessment that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a contributor to The Post, and said he considered Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s repeated denials in his decision to maintain a close alliance with the oil-rich desert kingdom.
“Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t,” Trump said.
“But he denies it."
"And people around him deny it."
"And the CIA did not say affirmatively he did it, either, by the way."
"I’m not saying that they’re saying he didn’t do it, but they didn’t say it affirmatively.”
Trump said he could visit with Mohammed on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, though no formal meeting has been scheduled.
The CIA has assessed that Mohammed ordered Khashoggi’s killing and has shared its findings with lawmakers and the White House, according to people familiar with the matter.
Intelligence assessments are rarely, if ever, ironclad, and Trump has repeatedly stressed that there is no evidence that would irrefutably lay the blame at Mohammed’s feet.
But the CIA based its overall assessment of Mohammed’s role on a number of pieces of compelling evidence, including intercepted communications; surveillance from inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where Khashoggi was killed in October; and the agency’s analysis of Mohammed’s total control of the Saudi government.
Meanwhile, Trump said he had “no intention” of moving to stop special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“The Mueller investigation is what it is."
"It just goes on and on and on,” he said.
When pressed on whether he would commit to letting the probe continue until its conclusion, Trump stopped short of making an explicit pledge.
“This question has been asked about me now for almost two years,” he said, at which point counselor Kellyanne Conway chimed in, “A thousand times.”
Trump continued: “And, in the meantime, he’s still there."
"He wouldn’t have to be, but he’s still there, so I have no intention of doing anything.”
The president declined to discuss on the record the Mueller team’s accusation Monday that Paul Manafort had breached his plea agreement by lying repeatedly to investigators, or whether he would use presidential powers to help his former campaign chairman.
“Let me go off the record because I don’t want to get in the middle of the whole thing,” he said.
He added later: “At some point, I’ll talk on the record about it."
"But I’d rather not.”
Trump also floated the idea of removing U.S. troops from the Middle East, citing the lower price of oil as a reason to withdraw.
“Now, are we going to stay in that part of the world?"
"One reason to is Israel,” Trump said.
“Oil is becoming less and less of a reason because we’re producing more oil now than we’ve ever produced."
"So, you know, all of a sudden it gets to a point where you don’t have to stay there.”
Trump also called the killing of three U.S. troops in a roadside explosion in Afghanistan this week “very sad.”
He said he was continuing the military presence in Afghanistan only because “experts” told him the United States needed to keep fighting there.
The president said he was considering visiting troops in the region soon, perhaps before Christmas.
“At the right time I will,” he said of a war-zone visit, which would be his first as president.
During the interview, Trump’s sharpest criticism was reserved for his Fed chairman.
Though Trump said several times in response to a question about emerging cracks in the economy that he wasn’t “blaming anybody,” he clearly assigned blame to Powell for leading the Fed through several interest rate increases this year.
In Twitter posts Tuesday, issued shortly after his interview with The Post, Trump blamed GM chief executive Mary Barra for the company’s plant closures and layoffs and threatened to strip away any government subsidies for the auto giant.
Trump’s fury at GM and the Fed was similar to his outrage at Harley-Davidson this summer, after the Milwaukee-based motorcycle company announced it was moving some jobs overseas in part because it said it was caught in the midst of a trade war between the White House and foreign leaders.
The stock market has tumbled in recent weeks, unnerving Trump, who in turn has blamed Democrats, the Chinese government and the central bank for any perceived economic weakness.
Asked in the interview who should be held responsible — and reminded that one of his predecessors, Harry Truman, famously kept a sign at his desk that read, “The buck stops here” — Trump took no personal responsibility.
The Federal Reserve is the nation’s central bank and sets the direction for interest rates, or the cost of borrowing money.
Higher rates make it more expensive for consumers and businesses to obtain credit, which can put downward pressure on the economy.
During the interview, Trump’s description of the economy was at odds with its actual performance.
It has grown since he took office and the unemployment rate has fallen, but he suggested that as many jobs were returning to the United States from overseas as were being lost in layoffs.
In addition, Trump said the stock market was up 38 percent since he took office.
In fact, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 25 percent since he was sworn in, less than the increase during President Barack Obama’s first two years in office.
The United States has had very low interest rates for more than a decade, and Fed officials are slowly trying to bring them back up.
Many economists believe that higher interest rates are a way to combat inflation and prevent the economy from overheating.
Powell took over as chairman earlier this year.
Since then, the Fed has raised interest rates three times and is expected to increase them another time next month.
“The Fed is doing exactly what it should be doing, which is to prevent overheating and boom- bust-type conditions in the future,” former Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn said.
Brad DeLong, an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said the Fed was responding in part to economic conditions Trump had helped foster, such as last year’s tax cut, which led to what some had projected would be a short-term economic growth spurt.
“The Federal Reserve cannot be expected to do otherwise than raise interest rates,” DeLong said.
“This is what Trump bought when he made his Fed appointments."
"So why is he surprised?”
Trump’s selection of Powell to lead the central bank was driven largely by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Powell’s appointment was very unusual, as he is not an economist.
He had served in a past Republican White House but was first tapped to serve as a Fed governor by Obama.
During his initial tenure at the Fed, Powell was seen as largely supportive of the slow-but-steady interest rate increase strategy used by then-Chair Janet L. Yellen.
Trump considered reappointing Yellen to the post, and she impressed him greatly during an interview, according to people briefed on their encounter.
But advisers steered him away from renominating her, telling him that he should have his own person in the job.
The president also appeared hung up on Yellen’s height.
He told aides on the National Economic Council on several occasions that the 5-foot-3-inch economist was not tall enough to lead the central bank, quizzing them on whether they agreed, current and former officials said.
Discussing his decision to tap Powell, Trump said Monday: “Look, I took recommendations."
"I’m not blaming anybody.”
philip.rucker@washpost.com
josh.dawsey@washpost.com
damian.paletta@washpost.com
Brady Dennis, Anne Gearan and Shane Harris contributed to this report.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ ... id=HPDHP17
Re: RUSSIA
MARKETWATCH
"Oil prices rally by 4% as Russia, Saudis signal output curbs"
By Barbara Kollmeyer and Myra P. Saefong
Published: Dec 3, 2018 3:45 p.m. ET
Oil prices settled with a 4% gain on Monday as optimism ahead of an OPEC meeting grew after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman agreed to extend output cuts on the sidelines of the weekend G-20 summit.
Also boosting crude, Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province announced surprise output curbs.
Meanwhile news that U.S. and China agreed steps to thawing of trade tensions was lifting perceived riskier assets across the board.
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery surged by $2.02, or 4%, to settle at $52.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract rose about last 1% last week, but for the month of November tumbled 22%, the biggest monthly fall since October 2008, amid concerns about a global crude glut.
Global benchmark February Brent crude jumped $2.23, or nearly 3.8%, to $61.69 a barrel.
January Brent, which expired on Friday, also marked a 22% drop for November, and the biggest monthly percentage drop in 10 years.
Russia’s Putin made the announcement in a press conference late Saturday, after a meeting with Bin Salman, though he said there was no final decision on volumes.
The comments come ahead of the Thursday-Friday OPEC meeting in Vienna, which will likely decide whether output cuts are needed.
Oil prices have dropped by a third since early October.
“We estimate that a cut in OPEC and Russia production of 1.3 [million barrels a day] will be required to reverse the ongoing counter-seasonally large increase in inventories and bring stocks back to their 5-year average level,” analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote in a note dated Monday.
The analysts also said they expect an announcement of an OPEC cut later this week to extend the rally in Brent that began late Sunday, “likely above the mid-$60 [a barrel] level.”
Meanwhile, in a surprise move, Qatar said Monday that it will pull out of OPEC by Jan. 1, 2019, as it focuses on boosting natural-gas production.
On Nymex, January natural gas fell 5.9% to $4.339 per million British thermal units.
The contract climbed 41% in November—the largest monthly rise in nine years.
Jay Hatfield, portfolio manager of InfraCap’s MLP ETF believes that Qatar has decided to leave OPEC “because the Saudis led a trade embargo against them.”
“We do not think that OPEC is at risk for a break up as the Saudis effectively control OPEC and usually take the brunt of cut backs so there is no incentive for any country to leave,” he added.
Another big boost for crude came after Sunday’s unprecedented announcement by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who said she has ordered oil companies in the Canadian province to cut production by nearly 9% next year.
Canada is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world.
“This is due to the local oversupply that has pushed the price of Canadian oil (Western Canada Select) to below $20 per barrel at times."
"Perhaps OPEC should therefore consider inviting Canada to its meeting on Friday,” said analysts at Commerzbank, in a note to clients on Monday.
A bilateral agreement between the U.S. and China to launch trade negotiations triggered a rally across a broad swath of assets on Monday, with Dow industrials futures up over 500 points, and the German DAX 30 index up 2.5% for its best one-day gain so far since April.
The U.S. postponed plans to lift tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods and China agreeing to buy more U.S. goods.
If those talks fail the U.S. will go ahead with increasing the tariffs to 25% from the current 10%.
In other energy trading, January gasoline tacked on 2.1% to $1.431 a gallon, while January heating oil rose 3.2% to $1.888 a gallon.
The December contracts for both products, which expired at Friday’s settlement, saw monthly losses of around 18%.
Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies will be released on Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern time, a day later than usual because of Wednesday’s national day of mourning following the passing of former President George H.W. Bush on Friday.
CME Group said Sunday that U.S.-based equity and interest rate futures and options products will be closed Wednesday in observance.
All other markets on CME Globex, which would include energy and metals futures, will remain open for regular trading Wednesday.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude ... 2018-12-03
"Oil prices rally by 4% as Russia, Saudis signal output curbs"
By Barbara Kollmeyer and Myra P. Saefong
Published: Dec 3, 2018 3:45 p.m. ET
Oil prices settled with a 4% gain on Monday as optimism ahead of an OPEC meeting grew after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman agreed to extend output cuts on the sidelines of the weekend G-20 summit.
Also boosting crude, Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province announced surprise output curbs.
Meanwhile news that U.S. and China agreed steps to thawing of trade tensions was lifting perceived riskier assets across the board.
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery surged by $2.02, or 4%, to settle at $52.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract rose about last 1% last week, but for the month of November tumbled 22%, the biggest monthly fall since October 2008, amid concerns about a global crude glut.
Global benchmark February Brent crude jumped $2.23, or nearly 3.8%, to $61.69 a barrel.
January Brent, which expired on Friday, also marked a 22% drop for November, and the biggest monthly percentage drop in 10 years.
Russia’s Putin made the announcement in a press conference late Saturday, after a meeting with Bin Salman, though he said there was no final decision on volumes.
The comments come ahead of the Thursday-Friday OPEC meeting in Vienna, which will likely decide whether output cuts are needed.
Oil prices have dropped by a third since early October.
“We estimate that a cut in OPEC and Russia production of 1.3 [million barrels a day] will be required to reverse the ongoing counter-seasonally large increase in inventories and bring stocks back to their 5-year average level,” analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote in a note dated Monday.
The analysts also said they expect an announcement of an OPEC cut later this week to extend the rally in Brent that began late Sunday, “likely above the mid-$60 [a barrel] level.”
Meanwhile, in a surprise move, Qatar said Monday that it will pull out of OPEC by Jan. 1, 2019, as it focuses on boosting natural-gas production.
On Nymex, January natural gas fell 5.9% to $4.339 per million British thermal units.
The contract climbed 41% in November—the largest monthly rise in nine years.
Jay Hatfield, portfolio manager of InfraCap’s MLP ETF believes that Qatar has decided to leave OPEC “because the Saudis led a trade embargo against them.”
“We do not think that OPEC is at risk for a break up as the Saudis effectively control OPEC and usually take the brunt of cut backs so there is no incentive for any country to leave,” he added.
Another big boost for crude came after Sunday’s unprecedented announcement by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who said she has ordered oil companies in the Canadian province to cut production by nearly 9% next year.
Canada is the fourth-largest oil producer in the world.
“This is due to the local oversupply that has pushed the price of Canadian oil (Western Canada Select) to below $20 per barrel at times."
"Perhaps OPEC should therefore consider inviting Canada to its meeting on Friday,” said analysts at Commerzbank, in a note to clients on Monday.
A bilateral agreement between the U.S. and China to launch trade negotiations triggered a rally across a broad swath of assets on Monday, with Dow industrials futures up over 500 points, and the German DAX 30 index up 2.5% for its best one-day gain so far since April.
The U.S. postponed plans to lift tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods and China agreeing to buy more U.S. goods.
If those talks fail the U.S. will go ahead with increasing the tariffs to 25% from the current 10%.
In other energy trading, January gasoline tacked on 2.1% to $1.431 a gallon, while January heating oil rose 3.2% to $1.888 a gallon.
The December contracts for both products, which expired at Friday’s settlement, saw monthly losses of around 18%.
Weekly data on U.S. petroleum supplies will be released on Thursday at 11 a.m. Eastern time, a day later than usual because of Wednesday’s national day of mourning following the passing of former President George H.W. Bush on Friday.
CME Group said Sunday that U.S.-based equity and interest rate futures and options products will be closed Wednesday in observance.
All other markets on CME Globex, which would include energy and metals futures, will remain open for regular trading Wednesday.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude ... 2018-12-03
Re: RUSSIA
BLOOMBERG
"Russia Threatens to Target U.S. Allies If Trump Exits Treaty"
Stepan Kravchenko
5 DECEMBER 2018
(Bloomberg) -- Russia will target countries hosting U.S. missiles if Washington goes ahead with plans to pull out of a landmark Cold War arms treaty, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said Wednesday.
“If the INF treaty is destroyed, we won’t leave it without a response,” he said in a presentation to foreign military attaches in Moscow, according to an official transcript.
“You as military professionals must understand that the target for Russian retaliation won’t be U.S. territory but the countries where the intermediate-range missiles are deployed.”
His comments came hours after the U.S. said it would pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 60 days if Russia doesn’t stop alleged violations.
Moscow says it’s complying with the deal.
Gerasimov accused the U.S. of seeking to shift the blame for its demise to Russia.
While the INF treaty restricts the U.S. and Russia, many other countries are producing these missiles and “apparently our American partners consider the situation has changed so much that the U.S. has to have such weapons,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said, according to the Interfax news service.
“What’s our response?"
"It’s simple - in that case, we’ll also do it.”
The U.S. has said it has no plans to deploy land-based nuclear missiles in Europe once it pulls out of the treaty.
In the past, Russia has threatened to target European countries that hosted U.S. missile defenses.
Earlier Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said it’s deployed laser weapons, one of several systems Putin touted as a new generation of armaments during his annual address in March.
The Peresvet laser, named after a 14th century Orthodox monk who fought in single combat against a Tatar champion at the Battle of Kulikovo, was deployed by the army on Dec. 1, the ministry said in an emailed statement.
Putin in March described the new arms as Russia’s response to the U.S. decision in 2002 to pull out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and develop its global defense shield.
While Peresvet’s technical specifications are secret, military experts say it can be used against drones, missiles and aircraft.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told NATO allies on Tuesday that the U.S. is setting a two-month deadline for Russia to return to compliance with the INF treaty before carrying out President Donald Trump’s threat in October to withdraw from the accord.
Russia denies breaching the treaty, which bans deployment of ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 kilometers (311 miles) to 5,500 kilometers, and has said it wants to hold talks with the U.S. on preserving the agreement.
“The U.S. has presented no evidence that the Russian side in any way violates or fails to comply with the terms of the agreement,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow.
The INF treaty is “one of the key pillars of strategic stability” and Russia’s ready to discuss any problems with the accord without “baseless accusations and ultimatums,” she said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stepan Kravchenko in Moscow at skravchenko@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rus ... id=HPDHP17
"Russia Threatens to Target U.S. Allies If Trump Exits Treaty"
Stepan Kravchenko
5 DECEMBER 2018
(Bloomberg) -- Russia will target countries hosting U.S. missiles if Washington goes ahead with plans to pull out of a landmark Cold War arms treaty, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said Wednesday.
“If the INF treaty is destroyed, we won’t leave it without a response,” he said in a presentation to foreign military attaches in Moscow, according to an official transcript.
“You as military professionals must understand that the target for Russian retaliation won’t be U.S. territory but the countries where the intermediate-range missiles are deployed.”
His comments came hours after the U.S. said it would pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 60 days if Russia doesn’t stop alleged violations.
Moscow says it’s complying with the deal.
Gerasimov accused the U.S. of seeking to shift the blame for its demise to Russia.
While the INF treaty restricts the U.S. and Russia, many other countries are producing these missiles and “apparently our American partners consider the situation has changed so much that the U.S. has to have such weapons,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said, according to the Interfax news service.
“What’s our response?"
"It’s simple - in that case, we’ll also do it.”
The U.S. has said it has no plans to deploy land-based nuclear missiles in Europe once it pulls out of the treaty.
In the past, Russia has threatened to target European countries that hosted U.S. missile defenses.
Earlier Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said it’s deployed laser weapons, one of several systems Putin touted as a new generation of armaments during his annual address in March.
The Peresvet laser, named after a 14th century Orthodox monk who fought in single combat against a Tatar champion at the Battle of Kulikovo, was deployed by the army on Dec. 1, the ministry said in an emailed statement.
Putin in March described the new arms as Russia’s response to the U.S. decision in 2002 to pull out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and develop its global defense shield.
While Peresvet’s technical specifications are secret, military experts say it can be used against drones, missiles and aircraft.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told NATO allies on Tuesday that the U.S. is setting a two-month deadline for Russia to return to compliance with the INF treaty before carrying out President Donald Trump’s threat in October to withdraw from the accord.
Russia denies breaching the treaty, which bans deployment of ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 kilometers (311 miles) to 5,500 kilometers, and has said it wants to hold talks with the U.S. on preserving the agreement.
“The U.S. has presented no evidence that the Russian side in any way violates or fails to comply with the terms of the agreement,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow.
The INF treaty is “one of the key pillars of strategic stability” and Russia’s ready to discuss any problems with the accord without “baseless accusations and ultimatums,” she said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stepan Kravchenko in Moscow at skravchenko@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rus ... id=HPDHP17