RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#98 contents with links :: Tuesday 29 April 2014

St. Basil's file photo

… 1. RFE/RL: ‘Slap On The Wrist’: Congressional Critics Slam ‘Tepid’ Russia Sanctions.
2. www.mccain.senate.gov: STATEMENT BY SENATORS MCCAIN AND GRAHAM ON SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA AND THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE.
3. Washington Post editorial: Obama’s half-measures give Vladimir Putin little to fear. …

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Russia Recession Risk Seen Rising on Sanctions

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Andrianova and Andre Tartar – April 29, 2014) Russia faces a fifty-fifty chance of recession, the highest since Bloomberg started to track the measure, as the crisis in Ukraine raises the risk of further sanctions, according to a survey of economists. The probability of a recession over the next 12 months rose to 50 percent, […]

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24 NGOs in Russia Labeled as Foreign Agents in 2013

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – April 29, 2014) The Prosecutor General’s Office said it identified 24 nongovernmental organizations as “foreign agents” last year, in line with a law that rights groups say is intended to limit dissent in Russia. In particular, a report by Prosecutor General Yury Chaika singled out human rights group Public Verdict Foundation for […]

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Russian Internet ‘One Step Away’ From Chinese Firewall

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – April 29, 2014) Amid growing criticism of its increasingly tighter regulation of the Internet, Russia’s official media watchdog on Monday vowed to continue its fight in the “information war,” saying freedom of speech “does not mean everything is permitted.” The government made clear at an annual meeting of top officials of the […]

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Exxon’s $900 Billion Arctic Prize at Risk After Ukraine

Arctic Satellite Image and Map

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman – April 29, 2014) Exxon Mobil (XOM) Corp.’s dream of drilling in the Russian Arctic may risk running aground on the politics of Ukraine. The company plans to start drilling in August in the Arctic’s remote Kara Sea — the centerpiece of Exxon’s global alliance with Russian state-controlled OAO Rosneft. (ROSN) The partnership, which […]

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Ukraine’s Invisible Election

Maidan Square file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – KYIV – April 25, 2014) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said this week that Ukraine’s presidential election may be the most important in the country’s history. But you wouldn’t know it on the streets of Kyiv. With one month until polling booths open, the threat of war dominates headlines. Election leaflets are rare. Just one of the […]

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Yandex reacts to Putin comments about foreign influence as share price falls

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vsevolod Pulya, RBTH – April 28, 2014) The Russian search engine was actually registered in the Netherlands and received its first investments from foreign investors. Nevertheless, it believes that this is “common practice for any internet startup.” Russian search engine Yandex has responded to comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin about foreign influences […]

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Interfax: UK, US embassies interfered in Russian affairs by funding NGOs – top prosecutor

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Interfax – April 28, 2014) Six foreign embassies, including those of Britain and the USA, interfered in Russia’s internal affairs by funding NGOs in the country, Prosecutor-General Yuriy Chayka said in his report on the state of law and order in Russia, according to privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax on 28 April. “The study of sources of foreign funding of […]

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RIA Novosti: Most Russians Feel Safe From Military Threats – Survey

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – About 86 percent of Russians believe that the Russian armed forces can protect them from military threats, a state-run pollster said Tuesday. “The Russian army will protect our country if a military threat emerges – that’s the opinion of 86 percent of Russians. The number of respondents who gave a similar answer has grown […]

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RIA Novosti: Opinion: Civil War in Ukraine Could Start After Presidential Election

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Civil war in Ukraine could break out as soon as next month, the deputy director of research programs at Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy said Tuesday. “A civil war might kick off on May 26-27, as it is obvious that federalization supporters will not go anywhere and, apparently, will not be satisfied […]

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RIA Novosti: Moscow May Recognize Ukraine Election – Russian Foreign Ministry

Russian Foreign Ministry Building Tower file photo

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Russia may recognize the results of upcoming elections in Ukraine on certain conditions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday in an online interview with Russia’s Gazeta.ru. “It depends on what will precede them and how they are held,” Ryabkov said, responding to a question about whether Russia would recognize the results of […]

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RIA Novosti: Protesters in Ukraine’s Southeast Not Terrorists – Russian Official

Sergei Ryabkov file photo

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – People rallying in the southeastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Slaviansk are not separatists or terrorists, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Gazeta.ru Tuesday. “I can’t describe Slaviansk and Donetsk protesters as separatists,” Ryabkov said in an interview with the online newspaper Gazeta.ru. “These are people who demand that their ultimate rights be […]

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Media Minister Says No Barriers Against Independent TV Channel Dozhd

Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 29, 2014) Russia’s communications minister has said there is no reason why independent channel Dozhd cannot return to cable television packages, in a sign of hope for the cash-strapped station. Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikoforov said nothing was preventing Dozhd from being carried by cable television providers, and that the state was […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia Has Sufficient Data to Prove Arctic Claim – Scientist

File Photo of Polar Bear on Ice and Snow with Water Nearby

NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – In the past decade, Russian scientists have gathered enough scientific evidence to substantiate the country’s territorial claim for hydrocarbon-rich areas of the Arctic shelf, a leading Russian scientist said Tuesday. Valery Vernikovsky of the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics said a UN commission rejected Russia’s previous claim in the early 2000s […]

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Economics of disintegration in Ukraine

Ukraine Map and Flag

(opendemocracy.net – John Weeks – April 25, 2014) ‘Shock therapy’ was imposed on the post-Soviet world by the West, with catastrophic results. Now, we are planning on repeating that experiment in Ukraine. John Weeks is Professor Emeritus, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, and author of Economics of the 1%: How mainstream economics serves the rich, obscures […]

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RIA Novosti: Western Sanctions Unlikely to Damage Business Relations

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – Western sanctions against Moscow are unlikely to disrupt existing business ties with Russia, Renaissance Capital economist Oleg Kouzmin told RIA Novosti. “We do not think that sanctions would damage the existing business relations with Russia and its trading partners,” Kouzmin said. “Probably they may become an additional obstacle for attracting new foreign […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Economy Weathers Second Wave of US Sanctions

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti), Victoria Matsneva – The second wave of US sanctions has scared neither Russian officials nor businesses, affecting only the assets controlled by the already-sanctioned businessmen Gennady Timchenko and brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, as well as Bank Rossiya. None of the 17 companies targeted by the US sanctions trades its stock on exchanges and only […]

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From ‘Darth Vader’ To ‘The Wolf’: A Who’s Who Of Putin’s Sanctioned ‘Insiders’

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Carl Schreck, Luke Johnson – April 28, 2014) When the United States last month imposed visa and financial sanctions on wealthy businessmen seen as close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader laughed it off, saying: “I think I need to stay away from them.” Putin might have a harder time staying away from the group of senior officials […]

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Worlds apart on a wish list for peace

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Nikolai Gorshkov, special to RBTH – April 29, 2014) Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis in Ukraine cannot keep up with the rapidly deteriorating situation on the ground. After an initial burst of optimism that the diplomats might have negotiated a way out of the crisis, the great Geneva hope for peace in […]

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WHITE HOUSE TRANSCRIPT: Background Conference Call on Ukraine Sanctions

White House

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 28, 2014 Background Conference Call on Ukraine Sanctions Manila, Philippines 9:24 P.M. PHT MS. HAYDEN: Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining. We’re here to talk about the new sanctions that will be going out today on Russia. We have senior administration officials to speak with you on background. There […]

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U.S. Drip of Sanctions Risks Putin Backlash

Portion of U.S. Treasury Department Building Facade, North Side, with Sculpture of Alexander Hamilton

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Ilya Arkhipov and Kasia Klimasinska – April 29, 2014) The latest U.S. penalties against Vladimir Putin’s inner circle may provoke the Russian president into escalating the Ukraine crisis without crippling key sectors of his nation’s economy. The sanctions imposed by the Obama administration yesterday on seven officials and 17 companies won’t go unanswered, […]

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Stratfor: The United States Opts for Ineffective Sanctions on Russia

White House

(Stratfor.com – George Friedman – April 29, 2014) The United States announced new sanctions on seven Russian government officials April 28. A long-used tactic, sanctions can yield unpredictable effects or have no effect at all, depending upon how they are crafted. It is commonly assumed that sanctions are applied when a target country’s actions are deemed unacceptable. The sanctioning nation presumably chooses […]

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Statement by Senators McCain and Graham On Sanctions Against Russia and the Situation In Ukraine

U.S. Capitol at Twilight With Washington Monument, National Mall, Washington, D.C., Environs and Sunset in Background

(mccain.senate.gov – Washington, D.C. – April 28, 2014) U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the following statement on the Obama Administration’s latest round of sanctions against Russia and the situation in Ukraine: “The Obama Administration’s latest round of sanctions is days late and dollars short. While a unified U.S. and European response to Russia’s aggression […]

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‘Slap On The Wrist’: Congressional Critics Slam ‘Tepid’ Russia Sanctions

File Photo of U.S. Capitol Dome

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – WASHINGTON – April 28, 2014) A fresh round of U.S. sanctions against top Russian officials amounts to little more than a “slap on the wrist” and will do little to halt the unrest in Ukraine, Republican lawmakers said. Members of Congress in recent days had called for the Obama administration to impose sanctions on key economic players in Russia, such […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#97 contents with links :: Monday 28 April 2014

St. Basil's file photo

… 37. Washington Post: Jackson Diehl, Ukraine’s wake-up call for NATO.
38. Bloomberg: Russian Billions Scattered Abroad Show Trail to Putin Circle.
39. Wall Street Journal editorial: The Russia Problem. Putin’s Kremlin is not a status quo power with a few historical grievances.
40. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Is Putin at Risk of Being Overthrown by a Coup? …

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Russia Beyond the Headlines: Who controls the Arctic?

Polar Map Showing Permafrost Areas, Adapted From NOAA.gov Graphic

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrey Gubin, special to RBTH – April 23, 2014) Andrey Gubin is the head of research programs at the Asia-Pacific Center of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies. International competition for control over Arctic resources is only a matter of time, says researcher Andrey Gubin. The Arctic has recently gained a new significance […]

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Creative Unions Seen to Back Kremlin Views

Kremlin and Moscow Environs Aerial View

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – April 28, 2014) Last week, the State Duma gave its final approval to a bill introducing criminal penalties for “spreading lies” about the Soviet Union’s role in World War II. The legislation, under which offenders face up to five years in prison, has prompted renewed allegations that the Kremlin is imposing a […]

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RIA Novosti: Anti-Semitism at a minimum level in Russia, says report

File Photo of Torah Scrolls

(RIA Novosti – April 28, 2014) Russia remains one of a group of countries with a minimum level of anti-Semitism, said the head of the European Jewish Congress, Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, commenting on the results of the annual report on the level of anti-Semitism in the world for 2013. Russia remains one of a group of countries with a minimum […]

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Is Putin at Risk of Being Overthrown by a Coup?

Stylized Artist's Depiction of Shadowy Figures in Dark Coats and Dark Hats, One Carrying a Briefcase

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 28, 2014) Many in Russia and the West have speculated that the combination of Vladimir Putin’s policies against Ukraine, Moscow’s increasing isolation internationally, and deteriorating economic conditions at home will eventually lead to a Maidan-style challenge to his rule. That is possible, of course, but a man identified as a former […]

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Russian Billions Scattered Abroad Show Trail to Putin Circle

File Photo of Man Placing Stack of Large Bills into Inside Pocket of Suitcoat

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer, Irina Reznik – April 28, 2014) Outside a Moscow stadium one night in 2006, deputy central bank chief Andrei Kozlov was walking to his car after playing soccer when two men opened fire, pumping bullets into his head and neck and killing his driver. Days before the murders, the man leading Russia’s fight against […]

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Ukraine may stop importing Russian gas by 2016 – Poroshenko

Petro Poroshenko file photo, with additional men in background, adapted from image at state.gov

BEREZHANY, Ternopol region. April 27 (Interfax) – Ukraine will start receiving reverse gas as early as October 2014, and will stop importing Russian gas after 2015, said independent parliamentary deputy and presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko. “We have negotiated an agreement and we will start receiving reverse gas from Slovakia in October, giving up Russian gas,” he told residents of the […]

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Big Foreign Business Turns Blind Eye to Ukraine Sanctions

Truck at Russian Border Crossing

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – ALABUGA, Tatarstan, April 28, 2014) As Western politicians huffed and puffed about slapping additional sanctions on Russia, captains of big global business in the country showed no jitters as they met with top Russian officials Friday. Moreover, the only person to mention Russia’s clash with the West over Ukraine at a meeting […]

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RIA Novosti: Opinion: Shooting of Kharkiv Mayor Proves Ukraine Election Untimely

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

MOSCOW, April, 28 (RIA Novosti) – An assassination attempt on Kharkiv mayor Gennady Kernes is further proof that it is impossible to hold elections in Ukraine at the moment, presidential candidate Oleh Tsarev told RIA Novosti Monday. “I think that the fact that politicians are being shot here is abnormal, it once again proves that at the moment it is […]

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Russian authorities are considering possibility of closing NATO Information Office in Moscow – newspaper

NATO meeting file photo

(Interfax – April 28, 2014) The Russian authorities are considering the possibility of closing the NATO Information Office in Moscow, Kommersant reported on Monday. “It’s a probable response because we are not managing to find a common language with NATO in the current situation,” a source told Kommersant. Sources close to the presidential administration told Kommersant no final decision on […]

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Russia Beyond the Headlines: Understanding Ukrainian nationalism through the prism of Bandera

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Oleg Nemensky, special to RBTH – April 26, 2014) Who are the Banderovites and how are events in Western Ukraine 70 years ago linked to today’s Ukrainian conflict? Why is the role of Ukrainian nationalismin the overthrow of former president Viktor Yanukovych so controversial and why are many observers concerned about its influence […]

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Interfax: Foreign investors not put off by Western sanctions – Russian deputy PM

Igor Shuvalov file photo

(Interfax – Vladivostok, April 26, 2014) Many foreign investors that have long been working in Russia are not planning to leave the country and intend to make new investments in the Russian Federation despite Western sanctions, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said. “These are investors who have been working in Russia for many years and usually describe how […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#96 contents with links :: Sunday 27 April 2014

St. Basil's file photo

… 27. New York Times: Sanctions Revive Search for Secret Putin Fortune.
28. Institute of Modern Russia: Mikhail Khodorkovsky: “No dictator will turn us, independently-thinking individuals, into enemies”
29. Atlantic Council: Russian Ex-Prime Minister: Widen Sanctions on Putin’s Elite Allies. Kasyanov Urges West to Urgently Sanction Hundreds of Russian Legislators, Ministers.
30. Financial Times: John Lloyd, Russian liberals warn of painful landing after pro-Putin euphoria. …

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TRANSCRIPT: John Kerry Remarks on Ukraine

John Kerry file photo

US Department of State Remarks on Ukraine John Kerry, Secretary of State State Department Press Briefing Room Washington, DC April 24, 2014 It has now been a week since the United States, the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine met in Geneva. We did so after a phone call between President Putin and President Obama, in which both leaders expressed a desire […]

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In the army now: A matter of honor or a difficult duty?

File Photo of Russian Military Conscripts Boarding Train with Gear

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Tatyana Rusakova, RBTH – April 25, 2014) Despite far-reaching reforms to the armed forces in recent years, attitudes toward military service among Russia’s young remain largely negative – though polls suggest that many older Russians do not share this view. What options does the army have to avoid being chronically understaffed in the […]

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Moscow Times: Putin Says CIA Created the Internet, Cites Foreign Influence at Yandex

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – April 25, 2014) President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the Internet was a CIA project and that Russia’s most popular search engine Yandex had been subject to Western influence when it started out. The president told a media forum that the Internet “emerged as a special project of the U.S. CIA and […]

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How opposition media survive in Russia

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Eremenko, RBTH – April 25, 2014) During his annual live TV call-in show on April 18, President Vladimir Putin promised that authorities will stop pressuring the liberal Dozhd TV channel. Dozhd (“Rain”) is now hoping to get picked up again by the cable providers that dropped it at the beginning of the […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia’s Rating Cut Expected, Not Affecting Investors – Minister

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev said Friday that a recent downgrade in Russia’s financial rating was expected and partially due to politically motivated decisions, but is not affecting investors’ behavior. International ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Russia’s rating to BBB- from BBB Friday and kept its outlook negative, amid the ongoing […]

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Water War With Ukraine to Devastate Crimean Harvest

File Photo of Water Facet with Drop of Water Coming Out

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – April 25, 2014) “The harvest will be partially or fully lost across 120,000 hectares of farmland that should be irrigated [by water from the canal],” Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov said Thursday, PRIME reported. Russia will compensate farmers for some of these losses, but not all, he said. The North Crimea Canal funnels […]

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Interfax: Moscow’s decision on Crimea helped avoid casualties like in Ukraine – premier

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

(Interfax – Khabarovsk: April 25, 2014) Russia’s decision on the situation in Crimea has made it possible to avoid a heavy toll and developments like in eastern Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev believes. While Medvedev was talking to the employees of the Khabarovsk shipbuilding plant, he was addressed by Pavel Shapoval, a resident of Crimea who has been working […]

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Difficulties foreseen for May 25 presidential elections

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Concorde Capital – April 25, 2014) “The election process is ongoing and there are no laws to stop it,” says Andriy Mahera, deputy head of the CEC, as cited by KyvPost on April 25. “If the process of voting does not happen in some constituencies it will not affect the validity of election, and […]

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RIA Novosti: International Criminal Court to Examine Ukraine Riots

Maidan Square file photo

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague will begin a preliminary examination of the deadly anti-government riots in Ukraine that began in November, the ICC said in a statement Friday. “The Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, has decided to open a preliminary examination into the situation in Ukraine in […]

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RIA Novosti: West Advancing Dividing Lines Toward Russian Borders – Lavrov

Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – The West is not only maintaining dividing lines in Europe, but is moving them toward Russian borders, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. He said that Russia’s strategic goal is to create a single economic and humanitarian space from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, in which all countries in the European […]

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Interfax: Lavrov: Geneva deal stipulates simultaneous de-escalation, equal commitments of Kyiv, southeast

Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) – The Geneva deal stipulates equal commitments of the Ukrainian sides in the vacating of illegally occupied buildings in the southeastern regions and Kyiv, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “Instead of disarming the Right Sector and other radicals, the Americans claim that everything that the Ukrainian authorities are doing is lawful but the buildings remain […]

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Interfax: Russian peacekeepers may come to Ukraine only with UN authorization – MP Ozerov

UN Building file photo

MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) – Peacekeepers may be deployed in Ukraine only with the UN Security Council permission, while the Federation Council has exercised its powers regarding the Armed Forces and allowed the Russian president to send troops to that country, Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov said in an interview with Interfax. There will be no […]

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RIA Novosti: No Plans to Send Peacekeepers to Ukraine – Putin Aide

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is not discussing on a practical level sending an international peacekeeping force to Ukraine, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov told journalists Friday. Responding to a comment on a suggestion by Russian politicians to send an international peacekeeping force to Ukraine, Ushakov said it “wasn’t discussed on a practical level.” Earlier on Friday, Valeriy […]

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