Russia

NATO Supreme Commander Philip Breedlove has accused Russia of deliberately becoming an adversary of the West, and has warned that Russia poses an “existential threat” to the U.S. and the Western world.  U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter added fuel to the fire by accusing Russia of intimidating its neighbours, saying that he doubts Moscow is committed to strategic stability on nuclear weapons. Both of these anti-Russian views were given by Carter and Breedlove in testimony before two congressional committees on February 25, reflecting the growing anti-Russian mood in Washington and Europe.

On Thursday night the U.S. test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the last seven days, as a clear warning to Russia that America is prepared to use a nuclear missile against Russia in the future.  The Minuteman III missile was fired from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, racing across the sky at 15,000 mph before landing 30 minutes later at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the South Pacific.

As noted earlier, among the catalysts for the overnight leg higher in oil was a statement by Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino who triggered the headline-scanning algos yesterday when he said, during a television broadcast on TeleSur, that oil producing countries were discussing a March meeting site (which apparently is sufficient to instill confidence in future cuts), and that Venezuela, Russia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are planning to meet in July. He added that "There’s no capacity to continue putting oil on the market.

A US Commander has said that he believes NATO are prepared to “fight and win” a war against Russia in the very near future. US European Command (EUCOM) and NATO are ramping up their efforts to expand their military presence on Russia’s borders, US Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Philip Breedlove said on Thursday. Russia have warned that the increased military presence constitutes provocation towards war.

Presidents have more latitude in foreign affairs than in domestic policy, and the trend over the past two administrations has been for presidents to be more hawkish than their campaign pledges led voters to expect. George W. Bush promised a “humble foreign policy.” Instead, he gave us the Iraq War. Barack Obama was elected in part to end Bush’s wars. But he too pursued regime change, with Pyrrhic success in Libya and abortively in Syria.