Russia begins repositioning its U.S. relationships following the release of the Intelligence Community’s report on election interference and remarks from President Biden.
Russia orders Anatoly Antonov, ambassador to the US, to return to Moscow to “analyze what needs to be done” in regards to the Russia-US relationship.
In a more concerning move for Republicans, Russian company Rusal halts all investments in a Kentucky project that was made possible by Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell.
In January 2019, Democrats tried placing sanctions on Rusal. Braidy Industries (now Unity Aluminum) wanted Russian funding for an aluminum-rolling mill in Kentucky, Paul and McConnell’s state. The senators lobbied fellow Republicans to block the sanctions.
Rusal’s deputy CEO, Oleg Mukhamedshin, suggests the timing is a coincidence. He claims the halt in funding is due to Unity executives failing to meet financial goals agreed upon by both companies.
Rusal is co-owned by Paul Manafort associate Oleg Deripaska and was later identified as a proxy for Putin’s election interference efforts. The company invested at least $75 million to Braidy Industries / Unity Aluminum by the end of 2019. It wouldn’t be surprising if McConnell and Paul received kickbacks.
Another Deripaska business partner donated $3.5 million to McConnell’s PAC between 2015 and 2017.
It’s not relevant to this story in particular, but Deripaska is also friends with Leon Black, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s partners and someone Donald Trump has known since at least 1996.
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Photo: Gage Skidmore