Category: Russia

I emailed Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward regarding his new book War:

Dear Bob,

You have misquoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on page 88 of your new book, and significantly altered the meaning of his statement.

Lavrov’s full quote was: “Those who mechanically repeat the points made in Bucharest and insist that ‘third countries’ have no right to express their position on the issue of NATO enlargement are playing with fire. I am convinced that they cannot be unaware of this.” Statement by Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, at the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, December 2, 2021.

Here is your version from page 88 of War, to compare to the original above: “‘Third countries’ — meaning, the United States — ‘have no right to express their position on the issue of NATO enlargement and are playing with fire,’ Lavrov warned, ‘I am convinced that they cannot be aware of this.’”

Continue reading “Bob Woodward Badly Misquotes Russian FM Lavrov in His New Book”

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Pushback with Aaron Maté

The Senate Intelligence Committee’s final report on alleged Russian interference focuses on “a wide range of Russian efforts to influence the Trump Campaign and the 2016 election.” Does the report advance our understanding of the Trump-Russia story? Mattathias Schwartz, contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, joins Pushback.

Guest: Mattathias Schwartz, contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.

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Pushback with Aaron Maté

Claims that Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny has been poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok are threatening a new standoff between Russia and NATO states, with calls for punitive measures against Moscow, including cancelling the Nordstream 2 German-Russia pipeline.

Navalny’s opposition activism is “marginal in Russian politics — it’s not currently a threat to the Kremlin,” says Fred Weir, a veteran Moscow correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. “Navalny is little more than a nuisance [to the Kremlin]. And I can’t believe that Putin would rocket him to the top of the world political agenda through a botched attempt to assassinate him, or even an effective one. It just does not make sense to me.”

Weir also discusses the flaws of Russia coverage in Western media, including the recent case where Russians were accused of staging a fake left-wing website to deceive U.S. audiences.