Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

UKRAINE

At a press conference in Germany, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo was questioned about the validity of a setback in US relations with the Ukraine. The United States has provided $390 million in security assistance and defense assistance to the country. The Secretary said the United States will continue to fight corruption there. He added that Europe understands deeply “the challenges of corruption in Ukraine.” Pompeo pointed out that this issue has been at the “center of the State Department’s mission set,” and is something the Department worked on last year and will work on again in 2020 by helping to ensure President Zelensky has the “opportunity to root out corruption inside of his own country.”

IRAN

Iran remains the bad boy on the block when it comes to nuclear issues. Its latest nuclear escalations reflect the regime’s intentions all along: to extort the international community into accepting its violence and terror while it undermines the sovereignty of its neighbors, according to the State Department. In a statement by Secretary Pompeo released this week, he said that members of the international community who are rightly concerned with Iran’s latest attacks and provocations should “imagine how Iran would behave with a nuclear weapon. The United States will never allow this to happen.”

Iran’s expansion of proliferation-sensitive activities raises concerns that Iran is positioning itself to have the option of a rapid nuclear breakout. Pompeo charged that Iran’s leaders are using nuclear extortion and that the world must serious steps to increase pressure.

SYRIA

A senior State Department official claimed Russia’s involvement in the Middle East, and Syria and Turkey in particular, was a desperate act. He added that while the Russians don’t think President of Syria won, they are “comfortable” he will survive. The Russians are trying to determine now to move forward in the region, according to the official. He pointed out that Moscow has “played a fairly large role in ensuring that this constitutional committee [in Geneva] would be set up indicates that they know that they cannot simply embrace Assad’s never say yes, never budge, simply they shall not pass policies. It’s not going to get half the population that’s fled their homes back; it’s not going to get the international community to open up its coffers; it’s not going to get the fighting in the end to stop. So therefore – and not going to get all of the armies that are now swirling around inside Syria to go home. So therefore, they’re willing to do this.”

CHINA

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The Uighur minority in western China continue to be threatened, arrested, tortured and harmed in other ways by the government in Beijing. In response to the ongoing harassment and ill-treatment of this minority Secretary Pompeo issued a strong statement condemning Beijing’s actions in the region. It said the “United States remains deeply troubled by multiple reports that the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has harassed, imprisoned, or arbitrarily detained family members of Uighur Muslim activists and survivors of Xinjiang internment camps who have made their stories public. In some cases, these abuses occurred shortly after meetings with senior State Department officials…The courage of Uighur advocates to speak out is vital to unearthing the truth about the PRC’s abuses of human rights, including repression of freedom of religion. We once again call on Beijing to cease all harassment of Uighurs living outside of China, to release all those arbitrarily detained, and to allow families to communicate freely without repercussions.” In a recent interview the Secretary pointed out that the world must recognize what is happening in China and stand up against the atrocities.

EUROPE

The European allies of the United States faced criticism by Secretary Pompeo for their lack of resolve in implementing economic sanctions against Iran and terrorist groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, and others. He did acknowledge that recently Europe is beginning to recognize that the Iranians are moving in the wrong direction. Referring to reports of Iran’s enrichment of uranium, fissile material, the Secretary noted that he believes “the Europeans will come to see this for what it is: a regime that is intent on using nuclear – nuclear material to blackmail, to try and extort money from Europe or from the West.” Washington is continuing to urge its European allies to support sanctions.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay