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Welcome back to Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik, where we bring you news, politics and culture - without the red and blue treatment. I am John Kiriakou here with Michelle Witte.
We’re joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda.
Let’s start with this explosion in St Petersburg yesterday, which killed a man described as a “military blogger” and vocal supporter of the war in Ukraine and injured another roughly 30 people. A 23-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with the explosion - the prevailing theory seems to be that she presented this man Vladen Tartarsky, his pen name, with a bust that exploded, but from what I read Russian authorities are also considering whether a bomb might have been planted in the cafe ahead of time.
Talk to us about what we know of this bombing, who Tartarsky was, and who this woman is.
This of course feels reminiscent of Dariya Dugina’s assassination in a car bomb, but that was quickly blamed on Ukrainians, whereas so far, the woman under suspicion for this crime appears to be a Russian woman opposed to the war? What do you make of this?
And to return to Ukraine - the head of the Wagner group has said Russia has claimed Bakhmut, but he seems to be exaggerating a bit - Russia has claimed town hall, basically, but it seems fighting is far from over. What’s the state of the battle there?
Finland is set to formally join NATO tomorrow, bringing NATO to Russia’s border. Russia has said it will bolster its border defenses if NATO stations troops in Finland - has Russia indicated it will make any other changes and what do you expect?
I also want to ask about OPEC+ announcing production cuts starting in May and running until the end of the year. Saudi Arabia announced the cuts, saying they were a “precautionary measure” targeted toward stabilizing the oil market. I was not aware that there was volatility, just that prices had fallen. I’m curious - the WSJ’s morning report on these cuts focused on the higher oil prices bringing more money to Russia, but it also seems like higher prices might cause some problems for Moscow because of the oil price cap the EU is trying to impose. So what do you think OPEC+ is doing, and how is this going to affect price cap politics and Russia’s relations with its oil buyers?
The French president will be traveling to China tomorrow and meeting the Chinese leadership Wednesday, on a mission that is being described as ambitious and personal. Here’s how Politico EU put it: “French President Emmanuel Macron is jetting off on an ambitious diplomatic mission to woo Beijing away from Moscow. Officials in Washington wish him luck with that. France hopes to dissuade China's leader Xi Jinping from getting any cozier with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and wants the Chinese instead to play a mediation role over the war in Ukraine.” I think Politico’s editors might want to reconsider their suggestion here that Washington supports Chinese mediation in Ukraine. What do you make of this suggestion that Macron can use his personal relationship with Xi to coax him into challenging Russia on Ukraine, and that Western powers want China to mediate this conflict?
Senator Marco Rubio a few days ago was warning that "We won't have to talk about sanctions in 5 years because there will be so many countries transacting in currencies other than the dollar that we won't have the ability to sanction them."
Exaggeration? Or is this something the US needs to reckon with?
Assassination of Tatarsky, Russian Flag Raised Over Bakhmut, Finland Joins NATO, Macron in China and more...