(Interfax – February 29, 2016) Moscow is ready to resume all types of cooperation with Washington but is losing trust in it as a reliable partner, a top Russian diplomat said on 29 February, according to privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax. “Moscow will be ready to resume cooperation at any time and through all channels, including within the presidential commission, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 1, 2016) The majority of Russians are not ready to restore relations with Turkey after it downed a Russian warplane in November 2015, a survey by the state-run VTsIOM pollster published Monday revealed. Some 63 percent of respondents think the Kremlin should not lift the anti-Turkish sanctions that were imposed by Moscow following the […]
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The truce in Syria brokered by Russia and the U.S. appears to be holding, despite reports from some parties of violations. However, the ceasefire does not extend to groups that are recognized by the UN as terrorist. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEY TIMOFEYCHEV, RBTH – March 1, 2016) Despite accusations of ceasefire violations coming from different sides […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 1, 2016) Russian Internet giant Mail.ru Group has topped a ranking of the most valuable companies operating in the Russian Internet segment for the first time, according to a rating released by the Russian version of Forbes magazine Monday. Mail.ru Group includes the mail.ru portal as well as the Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Baraulina, Anna Andrianova – February 29, 2016) Fitch Ratings Ltd. said it will probably stop issuing local ratings on Russian companies under new rules that make it impossible to abide by European Union and U.S. sanctions against Moscow. The rules create a dilemma for international firms because they run counter to the penalties imposed by […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 29, 2016) The head of Gazprom briefed Vladimir Putin on the company’s results in 2015, and discussed, in particular, gas supply figures for the domestic and European markets and the programme for connecting Russia’s regions to the gas network. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Miller, I have several questions to start our discussion, and then we […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Evgenia Pismennaya, Anna Andrianova – February 29, 2016) With Russia mired in the longest recession in two decades, there hasn’t been a lot of good economic news lately. But there’s one indicator that’s looking up, and it’s the one that matters most to Vladimir Putin: His hard-currency reserves. The central bank held $379 billion in foreign […]
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MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax) – Muscovites are bringing flowers to the Oktyabrskoye Pole metro station to commemorate a young girl, whose nanny was detained near the metro station on Monday with the girl’s head in her hands. There are lots of flowers, some with black ribbons, soft toys, chocolate, candies and candles near the entrance to the metro station. Pedestrians […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 29, 2016) The maintenance of Western sanctions is contingent upon Ukraine’s willingness to reform itself, according to former Ukrainian foreign minister Vladimir Ogryzko. If Ukraine does not act, the West will ultimately lift the sanctions; and Ukraine will have only itself to blame for its resulting isolation. In a commentary today, […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – The Daily Vertical: Brian Whitmore – March 1, 2016) So, don’t look now, but while we were all watching Syria, Moscow has stepped up its aggression in Ukraine. Pro-Moscow separatists have increased their attacks this week near Luhansk and have intensified their shelling of four villages near the front lines in the Donetsk region. The separatists […]
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Over 2,600 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and over 9,000 were wounded since the beginning of the Russian aggression in February 2014, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said. * * * … Russia-formed, equipped and financed army in a number of 40,000 under the command of Russian officers during their aggression against Donbas. * * * The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also noted that […]
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Over 100 Ukrainian Jews fled war-torn Ukraine and arrived in Israel on Tuesday, February 23. Many Ukrainian Jews have been leaving their country of birth due to violence and frequent anti-Semitic attacks. They were assisted by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), which has been spearheading a project of bringing Jews to Israel from countries engulfed by war. […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#42 Tuesday, 1 March 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]
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Analyst examines two possible divergent futures for the country. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – VLADIMIR MIKHEEV, SPECIAL TO RBTH – February 26, 2016) Today, the talk of the town – namely in Damascus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo and other Syrian cities and hamlets – is focused on renewed rumors concerning the possible next step in the resolution of the […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#41 Monday, 29 February 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]
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Subject: The Presidential Candidates’ Views on Russia Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 18:56:45 +0000 From: Melinda Wuellner <mwuellner@cfr.org> Council on Foreign Relations CFR has developed a tool that compares the U.S. presidential candidates’ positions on eleven different issues (immigration, trade, ISIS, Iran, and much more). Our team of journalists continuously updates this guide with an aim to offer independent, nonpartisan […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 29, 2016) Russia’s middle class has not yet felt the impact of the economic crisis, the Kommersant newspaper reported Monday citing a report by the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Most middle class Russians have retained their jobs and income levels, and many have even reduced their debt burden under […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, February 28, 2016) Many are inclined to believe that Russians strongly hold “abnormal” values; but in fact, sociologist Ella Paneyakh says, the values they hold are quite normal but they are only weakly attached to them. As a result, there often occur sudden and otherwise apparently inexplicable changes in the goals and […]
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Donald Trump is receiving foreign policy advice from a former U.S. military intelligence chief who wants the United States to work more closely with Russia to resolve global security issues … three sources … former foreign policy officials in past administrations, said retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who was chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency under … Obama … 2012-2014, […]
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The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov has chosen to make public himself a report that accuses him of creating a quasi-Islamic state within Russia and not obeying Russian laws. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YEKATERINA SINELSCHIKOVA, RBTH – February 26, 2016) The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has chosen to publish a report called “A National Security Threat” […]
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Russia’s powerful Investigative Committee has announced that it has solved the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov after a probe lasting almost a year. But who killed Nemtsov and why is the investigation seen as inconclusive? RBTH looks back at the most headline-grabbing murder of 2015. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YEKATERINA SINELSCHIKOVA, RBTH – February 26, 2016) […]
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(Kremlin.ru – February 26, 2016) Vladimir Putin took part in a meeting of the Federal Security Service (FSB) board to review the results of the Service’s work in 2015 and set its priority tasks for 2016. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, We are here today to review the results of the Federal Security Service’s work in 2015 and […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) – Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said there is no big influx of foreign labor migrants to Russia amid the economic problems. “We need to understand that the economic situation in the country is very difficult. Migrants are not so active now as they were when our national currency was rather strong,” Shuvalov said […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oliver Carroll – February 26, 2016) The driver’s voice teeters between depression and aggression. “What kinduva life do yoo call this?!” he shouts. “Weerrall peepul … peeeeepul, for sheeettin sake! … Fook, Ruussia, yoo make me want to cry!” We veer from side to side of the snow-covered track. Outside, the mercury pushes twenty under, […]
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