Russia held joint naval exercises with Venezuela late last year to demonstrate its growing strategic reach and political clout, particularly in Latin America, which many consider the traditional U.S. sphere of influence.Provocative? Yes. But Washington and Moscow have restrained the verbal squabbling. Many observers take that as a sign that both sides hope for improved bilateral relations under the new Obama administration.
RFE/RL's Russian Service recently spoke to a lawyer who helps Russian soldiers and their families fight for their rights. Soldiers' complaints testify to the depletion of human resources in the army and the inability of the Russian authorities to provide manpower in the "special military operation."
Almost half a century after the Cuban missile crisis, the Russiannavy is coming to the Americas. While the mood in Washington is far from panicked, neither is it mirthful. There is a sense ofdiscomfort and dissatisfaction with the voyage of the Russianflotilla and concern about where U.S.-Russian and hemisphericrelations are headed.