Dear CCI Friends,

Although there is virtually no coverage in US media on the current situation brewing in Ukraine, I believe it warrants the attention and concern of all of us who are working to improve relations between our country and Russia.

As you know, following President Biden’s insulting language about President Putin in mid-March, the Kremlin recalled its Ambassador to the United States warning of the possibility of an irreversible deterioration in relations. Shortly thereafter, President Zelensky signed a decree on a strategy for the “de-occupation” of Crimea by Russia and the re-integration of the peninsula into Ukraine. In recent weeks, Ukrainian military forces have moved into place at the border of the Donbass, Russia has sent its military units to the border with Ukraine for “exercises,” and according to some observers including our friends in Yalta, Russia is increasing its military presence in Crimea.

All of these ominous occurrences are happening at a time when the United States has  no diplomatic relations with Russia nor is there any indication that either our President or our State Department desires any. Can it be that the official position of the United States is in favor of war?

At the holiest time of year for Western Christianity, I would suggest that all of us who adhere to any religion, philosophy or tradition based on a concept of tolerant and respectful co-existence with our neighbors commit our prayers and meditations for peace.

Happy Easter to you all.

Paula Day
CCI Advisor, responding earlier for Sharon

Dear CCI Friends,

The Ukraine-Donbass-Crimea situation looks extremely dangerous this weekend! THIS IS SERIOUS!

Why would we in the U.S. have shipped billions of $$ of equipment into Ukraine, put an American General on the ground, and set up for a serious war …  after Russia has been explicitly clear that they will protect the Donbass Russians and the Donbass region. This area has been Russian territory off and on since the 1700’s. Will it be another Georgia-South Ossetia war, where the United States bluffs and backs out? It doesn’t seem so. However, the potential for an all-out war between Russia and the United States is unthinkable, but may be on Biden’s drawing board.

He and his war makers are jeopardizing us all with this move.

I’ve looked on all TV channels and I see nothing being mentioned about this extremely dangerous situation this weekend. Amazing and unconscionable! I can’t believe this is happening.

Natylie Baldwin has graciously allowed CCI to publish her latest post.

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Russiagate Rolls On, Giving Biden Political Cover

Consortium News
March 20,2021
By Joe Lauria

The latest U.S. intelligence “assessment” this week sought to prepare the way for more sanctions against Russia and Iran and gave political cover for Joe Biden.

The highly politicized unclassified report was gobbled up without skepticism by corporate media, playing its dutiful role of passing disinformation onto the American public without question.

The opening paragraph says it all:

“The Intelligence Community rarely can publicly reveal the full extent of its knowledge or the specific information on which it bases its analytic conclusions, as doing so could endanger sensitive sources and methods and imperil the Intelligence Community’s ability to collect critical foreign intelligence. The analytic judgments outlined below are identical to those in the classified version, but this declassified document does not include the full supporting information and does not discuss specific intelligence reports, sources, or methods.”

That should be a red flag for anyone who calls him or herself a journalist. Demand some kind of proof before proceeding. But when it comes to national security reporting corporate journalists have time and again shown they are practicing something other than journalism.

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Dear CCI Friends,

You are invited to attend a briefing on U.S.-Russia policy organized by Katrina vanden Heuvel, life partner of Steven F. Cohen, who unfortunately left us this past September.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Beyond a New Cold War with Russia: Safeguarding Both U.S. National Security and Peace through Diplomacy

Thursday, April 1, 1pm – 2pm (EST)

Briefing Open to Congressional Staff and the General Public

Register here:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zLjNSqNRSvm1V79p0ijETA

Congressional staff and the general public are invited to attend this virtual briefing with an esteemed panel of experts to discuss relations between the two countries with the world’s largest nuclear arsenals. The panel will review the state of U.S.-Russia relations post-Trump and take a fresh look at how U.S. policy can utilize diplomacy to avert a new arms race, mitigate the chance of nuclear conflict, and revive a constructive U.S.-Russian relationship. The panel will also review key issues in U.S.-Russia relations and explore potential opportunities for Congressional engagement, including on cybersecurity, climate, Eastern Europe and NATO, and more. This briefing is sponsored by The American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord and Just Foreign Policy — for more information, contact hadiya@justforeignpolicy.org.

Esteemed panelists:

Fmr. Governor Jerry Brown, four-term former Governor of California, executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (full bio)

Joe Cirincione, former president of Ploughshares Fund, distinguished fellow at Quincy Institute (full bio)

Cynthia Lazaroff, documentary filmmaker, senior producer of “U.S. Russia Relations: The Quest for Stability” (full bio)

Dear CCI Readers,

Two reputable international journalists below give us excellent summations of the China Summit held last week in Alaska, including where the world stands after the Summit. Our U.S. media covered it quite differently than China or Russia, the latter obviously hoping to speak out to U.S. citizens who normally don’t get international coverage apart from the plainly biased reporting we see in our mainstream media.

It behooves us all to begin to read and to listen to responsible international voices to assure that we are receiving a balanced assessment of what is going on in our world. Further we need to respond to our journalists and Congress members immediately to request wider coverage of issues that may or will impact us all.

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