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Report Details Tense Incidents Between Russia, West

Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin / AP
November 10, 2014

A report released by the European Leadership Network, a British nonprofit research organization, details nearly 40 tense incidents since Russia’s annexation of Crimea between Russian forces and the West, the New York Times reports.

According to the Times, "the incidents recalled encounters during the Cold War, when Russian long-range bombers routinely inspected Western defenses and when the United States and its NATO allies just as frequently conducted surveillance and exploratory flights along the Soviet periphery."

The findings seemed to add weight to remarks last weekend by Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, at an event in Berlin for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"Bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East against the backdrop of a breakdown in dialogue between the major powers is of enormous concern," Mr. Gorbachev said at the Brandenburg Gate in the German capital where President Ronald Reagan once urged him to "tear down this wall."

"The world is on the brink of a new Cold War," Mr. Gorbachev said. "Some are even saying that it’s already begun."

The report called on leaders in Russia and the West to "exercise military and political restraint" to prevent a new conflict.

Published under: Russia