, there was a big round of tensions between russia and belarus because russia said belarus violated its ban on importing western foods. when the united states and european union and western countries put sanctions on russia, they said we're not going to import any russian foods and belarus violated that ban and that was a truly weird one where russia ended up doing these photo-ops where they burned up piles of good food and drove tanks over boxes of fruit and cheese and made a big show of crushing frozen geese. it was really weird. there was also that time when this was when russia was pushing to build a military base in belarus, even though belarus did not want russia to build a military base there. it's always something with these guys. and in the past, to press their advantage, russia has mostly resorted to threats. that's what they are best at. they have also used propaganda and information warfare to try to fight these weirdo fights that they have along its western border. again, they sometimes become war but they sometimes simmer and become war conflicts. the propaganda outlet flo

, there was a big round of tensions between russia and belarus because russia said belarus violated its ban on importing western foods. when the united states and european union and western countries put sanctions on russia, they said we're not going to import any russian foods and belarus violated that ban and that was a truly weird one where russia ended up doing these photo-ops where they burned up piles of good food and drove tanks over boxes of fruit and cheese and made a big show of crushing frozen geese. it was really weird. there was also that time when this was when russia was pushing to build a military base in belarus, even though belarus did not want russia to build a military base there. it's always something with these guys. and in the past, to press their advantage, russia has mostly resorted to threats. that's what they are best at. they have also used propaganda and information warfare to try to fight these weirdo fights that they have along its western border. again, they sometimes become war but they sometimes simmer and become war conflicts. the propaganda outlet flo

a number were in belarus. and all of them -- i'd like to see at some point maybe tom blanton and the archives are going to do that, sort of an honor roll of the people who were out there in the field that implemented it. but that's the way it came about. i remember in february or march after we passed the legislation bill perry, david hamburg and i and ash carter and dick lugar went and traveled to each of those countries and talked to the leaders there about what was coming, what they could expect and why it was important to their own countries to fully cooperate. so it was -- the implementation as well as the legislation itself. and it wasn't easy but it had to be done on a bipartisan basis and it was -- and the analysis that was furnished was absolutely key. >> senator lugar, share with us, when you joined sam at that famous luncheon and decided to back this, what made it so urgent? what did you see? >> well, i was a student of the subject and i had observed sam's work and admired that. adi mentioned, we ha

i understand conducting exercises but 100,000 troops in belarus, so much so that think they contactedause of the size. what is, and if you were advising president donald trump what is an appropriate action response to make sure that training exercises do not end up more than a training exercise? >> senator, thank you. that is a pod 13. and that means west and russia. so what distance it is pointed out is very clear. upon 17 is a bit alarming because a pod 13 is who do you listen to 10 to 20 trips? i heard 100,000. the russians have ordered 83 times, not 83.83 times the railcars that they ordered four eight pod 13. so that because of this exercise will be demonstratively bigger than pod 13. nations do not have a right to exercise irresponsibly on other borders and in configurations that represent offense of capabilities. part of the problem i saw in these exercises that we see, and nato exercises are scheduled, published, size, duration and objective is all published. the snap exercise as we see in russia, i think are a tool that actually we have used in the past. of conditioning and e

but 100,000 russian troops in belarus? so much so that i understand belarus notified, i believe it's nato, because of the size. what is an appropriate -- if you were advising president trump, what is an appropriate action, response, set of circumstances to make sure that the training exercise doesn't end up anything more than a training exercise? >> so, senator, thank you. that's a pod 17. it's a pod 13 and that means west in russian. so the -- what this is pointed out is very clear. sipod 17 is a bit alarming because sipod 13 was who do you listen to, 10 to 20,000 troops? sir, i've heard 200,000. what i do know is that the russians have ordered 83 times, not 83, but 83 times the railcars that they ordered for sipod 13. and so the size of this exercise will be demonstratively bigger than sipod 13. nations have a right to exercise. nations do not have a right, i think, to exercise irresponsibly on other borders and in configurations that represent offensive capability. part of the problem i saw as a sacker in these snap exe

belarus lost 25% of its population. nile and, opposers were i ated. and the catholic church was suppressed for nearly a fifth of all priests, over 3,000 were killed between 1939 and 1945, most in concentration camps. stalin 2 to 1932, engulfed ukraine and the heaviest losses were in ukraine. and stalin was determined to crush all evidence of ukranian ide ands with pole and's leadership it was devastated by a purge. millions of peasants were condemned to death by starvation. troops and secret police waged a war against peasants who refused to give up their grain. were or woman or child executed or deported to work camps. stalin's system of brutal secret police force, the communist run production and after a long search i can give testimony that the catholic church in ukraine that my maternal grandparents ere married had a dark secret. d killed 168 people in its basement as stalin's trucks drove the innocents to their death. historians continue to seek truths about what happened. their research includes information from the archives. >> my grandmother w

activity we are seeing an countries normally not on the front page of the new york times, moldova, belarus, montenegro, the kinds andperations to influence pushed the tide of elections there to be attempted in germany, the czech republic, the netherlands, french elections are coming up, although there seemed to be self-generated problems in the french elections, although one could information to the kinds of sources we are talking about as well. this is a pattern that has been continued for some. of time here at it is just now bit it is in our own backyard. failure said, it was a of imagination on our part not to see this given back if you go back to the 1980's and further, this is a feature of the kind of cold war activities that we and the soviet union were undertaking. putin is a former operative in the kgb. he continues to think like an operative. he himself is extremely proud of that skill set he acquired. he talks quite frequently of being a specialist in human resources. shies away from extolling the virtues of the techniques he learned to play dirty in the kgb in politics, and he s

i know the border between russia and belarus are broken countries. should we be looking at that as on the field of military rotation is sufficient for the time? past. fairly vocal in the i believe the real and perfect solution would be increased on permanent forces. but i do not think that's a realistic opportuty. i'm not rehat any ofou uldign of theoving forc out ofoustatesoure eaas rli, loedt w sullo a ratna rcesndreosio marials aesrut ceabolio >>hyhod ra-a-fe osr- coid mel1 w sultharabt - eupe w ghi fe t bef ofhenid at t hin trpsn ro? n.relo: iou p i ve saitfwa. arothmo destrti inhiwod veeefoht eopanthsas amic sdis e ri the aesme twh i cos . in ts rlha bn ug inure d oundof eranolerarbued eris ttanto att stus werenextriblliedo r roanlls,ndhe sareden omure,ndhaweo't epat fr eop a wt d' ne itoe mpce a sl io otr st coli tre >>s. sthyoprid exllt itn stonwi reectoure'engy s ilis mo hf tt t wod. a n gngo othruia, d kn y wl veom thgh o tngweig d oroto hpururea alesddsshehaens fntndce thk u. m chair i d vceo oswhha oneshatoeto e tt oth iesgaonf ss. ay ll b