Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi called for sanctions against Russia in light of reports that Moscow allegedly was involved in attacks by the Taliban * on the US military in Afghanistan. She said this on July 2 in an interview with MSNBC.

“We must impose sanctions against Russia and do it immediately,” said Pelosi.

Earlier, she said that Russia was "acting out" on the United States military, as it "did not forget the humiliation it experienced in Afghanistan." According to her, "this is absolutely outrageous." The representative of the Democratic Party also formally requested the heads of the National Intelligence Agency and the CIA to clarify a possible “collusion” between the Russian Federation and the Taliban.

Introducing sanctions against Russia because of its "conspiracy" with the Taliban was also suggested by Bob Menendez, a member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and representative of the Democratic Party. He outlined this aspect in the amendments to the country's defense budget. As planned by the Democrat, restrictive measures will extend to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and "other officials."

A spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, commenting on such a proposal by the US senator, said that in Washington at the moment, "a lot of hard to explain."

Media version

Recall, on June 26, The New York Times, citing anonymous U.S. intelligence officials, published an article claiming that Russia allegedly offered rewards to Taliban-related militants for attacks on the United States military and the coalition operating in Afghanistan.

According to the publication, Donald Trump was notified of this, but the presidential administration did not take any measures. However, the article does not provide any evidence. According to NYT, this information was received by US intelligence during interrogations of the captured "rebels."

On June 30, The New York Times again published material on the subject, which reported that US officials allegedly intercepted electronic data transferring finances from Russian intelligence to an account linked to the Taliban. The next day, another publication appeared on the newspaper’s website about alleged Russian ties with the Taliban, where, with reference to intelligence and Afghan officials, a “conspiracy mediator” was called “drug smuggler Rakhmat Azizi.”

On June 28, Donald Trump accused the publication of distributing "fake news", calling for disclosure of its "anonymous source." At the same time, the head of the White House doubted his existence. He wrote about this on his page on Twitter. Trump also called the NYT article custom-made and stressed that he was not informed about Russia's ties with the Taliban. The latter was confirmed in the National Intelligence Service of the United States.

A day later, Trump said that U.S. intelligence found the information about the alleged involvement of the Russian side in the attacks on the US military in Afghanistan unreliable, and therefore did not inform him of this data. Meanwhile, the White House noted that there is no single position in the US intelligence community regarding the veracity of media reports related to the activities of the Russian Federation in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon, in turn, said that it did not have evidence of a "conspiracy" between Russia and the Taliban, but "continued to study intelligence information." On June 30, the White House said that “unscrupulous intelligence officers” were behind the leaks in the media of unconfirmed data.

However, on July 2, the White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien said that Trump intends to take "serious measures" if information about the "conspiracy" of Moscow with the Taliban is "confirmed".

  • US military
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  • © Goran Tomasevic

Meanwhile, the Russian side has repeatedly stated that the data released by NYT reporters is not true. This was emphasized in the Kremlin, the Russian Embassy in the United States, as well as in the Russian Foreign Ministry. As noted in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the NYT article is a “simple stuffing”, “visually” showing “low intellectual abilities of propagandists from the American intelligence” who “have to come up with such nonsense.”

The Taliban also denied NYT’s publication on ties with Russia, stressing that inaccurate information is being disseminated in order to create obstacles to the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. This is stated in the statement of the organization.

Juggle Fakes

Democrats are "hooked on outright fakes" because they now "have nothing to replenish the so-called Russian dossier," said Andrei Sidorov, dean of the Moscow State University’s faculty of world politics, in an interview with RT.

“The Democratic Party is very clearly oriented towards the confrontation with Russia, as this helps it consolidate,” the expert said.

In turn, the director of the US Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, stated that reports of Russia's ties with the Taliban “look at least strange”, since the Russian Federation is interested in normalizing the situation in Afghanistan.

“This is primarily evidenced by the efforts of Moscow to stabilize the situation in this region. And to juggle fakes, as the anti-Trump and pro-democratic NYT does, a lot of intelligence is not needed. The main goal of the publication is to attract an audience, as well as create a negative background around Russia and Trump, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

According to Rogulev, US intelligence, democrats, and also the political elite opposed to concluding a peace agreement with the Taliban could be involved in the history of the publication of unconfirmed data by the American media.

“Intelligence is not the first time against Trump - this is a well-known fact. In addition, this contingent could cooperate with the Democrats and the elite, opposed to agreements with the Taliban and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. It turns out that they could come out against the head of the White House as a united front, ”the analyst said.

  • US President Donald Trump
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  • © Carlos Barria

Sidorov, for his part, suggested that such a fling could come from the former Assistant to the US President for National Security, John Bolton, whom Trump “removed from office after the discrepancies between politicians became apparent.”

“It is possible that this kind of information was planted by Bolton for the media. In his memoirs, he was afraid to write about it, but found a way to avenge the head of the White House. After all, the former assistant to the President of the United States on national security was strongly against negotiations with the Taliban, as well as against the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, ”the expert said.

New campaign

Analysts also noted that the Democrats considered articles in The New York Times as the basis not only for new accusations against Russia, but also for another wave of complaints against Donald Trump.

So, Nancy Pelosi, in an interview with MSNBC on July 2, recalled that the US president, as the Supreme Commander, must protect the country's military, and accused Trump of neglecting his job functions.

“His systematic disregard for the factual information obtained during the daily presidential briefings is a failure to fulfill obligations,” the speaker said.

Earlier, she also criticized Trump for allegedly not responding properly to information about Russia's ties with the Taliban. In addition, in a letter to the heads of the National Intelligence Agency and the CIA, she emphasized that "the president’s refusal to oppose the Russians also threatens the lives of people" in the Middle East region.

Democratic Senator Kamala Harris also criticized the American leader for not taking seriously the alleged Russian conspiracy with the Taliban.

According to her, this behavior of the current head of the White House once again proves that "this person is not suitable" for this post.

“We need a new president ... Let's just do what is necessary, that is, we will direct our efforts to the upcoming elections and elect a president who really understands the significance and importance of this post,” the senator emphasized.

  • Symbols of Democrats
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  • © Jessica Rinaldi

“All means are good”

Democrats are not interested in the veracity of the materials presented by The New York Times, for them “the opportunity to strike once again” on the current head of the White House is “important,” says Yuri Rogulev.

“All these messages give occasion to the representatives of the Democratic Party to take certain political steps and use them for their own purposes,” the expert said.

According to Rogulev,Now the main goal of the Democratic Party is to “accuse Trump” of inaction and failure to fulfill its obligations.

“There is a political struggle, and here for the Democrats all means are good. The military budget is being discussed, and in addition to it, the Democrats are trying to smuggle in package anti-Russian sanctions. This is a tricky move. Democrats hope that these amendments will be approved and legitimize their claims against Trump, as well as provide an opportunity to start a new investigation, ”the analyst said.

According to Andrei Sidorov, Democrats will continue to argue that Trump cannot be the president of the United States for the second time, because he does not want to protect the US military.

“This will not lead to impeachment, now they will not start a new procedure. But this is another image blow to Trump, which he does not need at the height of the political struggle, ”the expert said.

However, as Rogulev predicts, "in any scenario, the Democrats will not be able to prove Trump's guilt and especially Russia."

“The situation will not end with anything concrete, since everyone understands that the information is fake,” the expert concluded.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.