Russia Exploiting U.S. Election Year

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States of arming Syria’s rebels. It was the first time Moscow has specifically singled out America for violating international law. The accusation may foreshadow a more aggressive Russia while America is distracted with internal politics.

Although Russia appears to be backing the Assad regime, in reality Syria is little more than a pawn in Russia’s plan to return to great-power status. Syria is a bargaining chip for Moscow to extract concessions out of the West.

Lavrov’s accusations follow charges made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. On Tuesday, Clinton said she had information that Russia was delivering “attack helicopters [to Syria] which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically.”

Lavrov said Syria had a right to defend itself, and that selling air defense systems to Bashar al-Assad was within international law—as opposed to what America is doing with the opposition, which is a clear violation, he said.

Russia has also come under strong criticism from Arab countries for vetoing two United Nations Security Council resolutions that would have sanctioned Assad for his use of force.

Outside of Syria, Russia is aggressively on the move too.

On June 4, United Press International reported that Russia and Germany were in talks to double the capacity of the Nord Stream pipeline. Nord Stream is the pipeline that transports gas under the Baltic Sea directly to Germany before it is dispensed throughout Europe.

The Nord Stream pipeline controversially allows Russia to bypass gas deliveries to Ukraine and other Eastern European nations without cutting off the rest of Europe. As the Trumpet has reported, it is a tool that will allow Russia to batter specific Eastern European countries into submission without disturbing the Western European populace. Countries such as Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Romania will now be vulnerable to energy embargoes, since Russia is their primary supplier.

In Asia, Russia is securing its back door. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a joint press on June 6 that the strengthening relationship between Russia and China is not limited to the financial sector, but also includes international affairs and security. During a meeting with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on the same day, the Russian leader also vowed to expand military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, which has steadily accelerated in recent years. The strengthened relationship between the two Asian giants has provided each with a counterbalance against Western nations as they deal with the ongoing uprisings in Syria and Iran’s controversial nuclear enrichment program.

Back home in Russia, big changes are occurring too. With his reelection, Putin now wields more power than any Russian since the collapse of communism. On June 6, the Kremlin-controlled upper house of Russia’s parliament passed a measure that imposes serious fines and hundreds of hours of “community service” on protesters that don’t comply with Moscow’s rigid rules.

Russia is set to become much more aggressive in its actions. How do we know?

By understanding the first sentence of Vladimir Putin’s state of the nation address in 2005. He said: “The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.”

As Trumpet columnist Brad Macdonald wrote earlier this year, “That revelation was a rare, unadulterated glimpse into the supreme ambition of the man who rules Russia.”

Vladimir Putin’s supreme motivation is to reverse the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century—and restore Russia to the status of anempire. “It’s that simple,” says Mr. Macdonald.

But Putin is running out of time. Demographically, Russia’s population is in free fall. Its economy is lethargic. And its massive military is aging.

Russia has only a few years to act before it is too late.

America’s leaders, if they really understood President Putin, would be much more worried. Instead, most are now ensconced in what is shaping up to be the fiercest election year yet. Expect Russia to take full advantage of this American election cycle.

Read Russia and China in Prophecy to see what the Bible says is in store for these two rising superpowers.