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ST. PETERSBURG. March 13 (Interfax) – Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin is apprehensive about possible Western sanctions against Russia and said limitations in the banking sector have already begun. “I can say quite definitely: credit line limits for Russia are being closed,” said Kudrin, who is currently a member of the Presidential Economic Council.
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#55 :: 13 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
(The White House – Office of the Press Secretary – For Immediate Release – March 12, 2014) We, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission, call on the Russian Federation to cease all efforts to
Subject: Statement of Concerned Scholars Regarding the Conflict in Ukraine Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 From: Juliet Johnson, Prof. <juliet.johnson@mcgill.ca> Dear David, I’m writing to bring to your attention to the “Statement of Concerned Scholars Regarding the Conflict in Ukraine.” My colleague Maria Popova and I wrote this statement, and since Sunday afternoon 340 academics
(The White House – March 12, 2014 – Office of the Press Secretary) For Immediate Release Oval Office 3:30 P.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA: It is a pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Yatsenyuk to the Oval Office, to the White House. I think all of us have seen the courage of the Ukrainian people in standing
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 13, 2014) Foreigners perceive Russia as “unpredictable and aggressive” and it will take Moscow years to improve on this image, the head of a state agency for overseas cooperation has said. The head of Rossotrudnichestvo, Konstantin Kosachyov, whose agency was established in part to improve Russia’s image abroad, offered
(Business News Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – March 13, 2014) Pretty good summary herein of the main developments in Ukraine: [http://russialist.org/germanyeuukraine-fine-grained-response-likely-to-crimean-referendum/] A couple of things I would add: First the Kerry-Lavrov meeting today is important, as Kerry seemed to be playing hard to get earlier in the week, perhaps letting his
(Business News Europe – bne.eu – Teneo Intelligence – March 13, 2014) In response to the Crimean referendum, the EU will likely move to level two of its sanctions menu. Asset freezes and travel bans will be applied only gradually, amid German unwillingness to escalate to broader economic measures. No quick fix to the crisis
MOSCOW. March 13 (Interfax) – Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), provided the personal files of Ukrainian special service officials to the CIA during his tenure as head of the Ukrainian Security Service in 2006-2010, Oleksandr Yakimenko, who has recently left the post of head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said.
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – March 13, 2014) The U.S. and European Union moved closer to imposing sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, as a discrepancy in a U.S. interpretation of President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric about the Ukrainian crisis opened itself up to Russian attacks. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#54 :: 12 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – March 12, 2014) Overworked and understaffed, Russia’s fledgling Intellectual Property Rights Court is watching nervously as its case load continues to climb. “Compared to analogous courts in Europe, we have a very high case load … and an increase in workload leads to the risk of a
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – March 11, 2014) Russia’s largest television stations broadcast all over the country, bringing the same faces to Muscovites, Siberians and Caucasus natives alike. However, a new series is taking this a step further, representing Russia’s ethnic diversity in one sitcom family and confronting the controversial topic of
MOSCOW, March 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has risen 5 percent in the past week amid the ongoing crisis over the Crimean parliament’s plan to secede from Ukraine and join Russia, according to a survey published Wednesday by a state-run pollster. According to the Public Opinion Foundation, 53 percent of
MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian parliament has tentatively decided to select the country’s new human rights ombudsman next week. Russian President Vladimir Putin formally nominated Ella Pamfilova, an outspoken Kremlin critic, for the post last month. The position, established in 1994, has powers to sue state agencies and the parliament on behalf
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – March 12, 2014) RIA Novosti, Russia’s largest state-owned news agency, is undergoing the final stages of its liquidation three months after President Vladimir Putin decreed its dismantlement and mandated the creation of Rossia Segodnya, a global news agency to be headed by a Kremlin loyalist. New details
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vsevolod Pulya, RBTH – March 12, 2014) For many people in Russia, the current crisis in Ukraine is not just a political issue, but also a deeply personal one. The situation in Ukraine is particularly painful for many ordinary Russians because the two countries are connected not only
MOSCOW. March 12 (Interfax) – The convicted Left Front activist, Konstantin Lebedev, who is serving a prison term for organizing the mass disturbances in Moscow in May 6, 2012, told Moscow City Court that he and the other co-accused, Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev – were planning to stage a “micro-Maidan.” “We were prepared for
(RIA Novosti – March 12, 2014) One of Ukraine’s largest television providers has announced it will suspend broadcasts of several major Russian channels, the UNN Ukrainian news agency said Wednesday. The TV provider Volya, with about 20 percent of the market, said it was notifying subscribers across the country about the service changes, UNN reported.
(Interfax -MOSCOW. March 12, 2014) The State Duma will confirm the guarantees of restoring the rights for the Crimean Tatar people in the event of Crimea’s reunification with Russia, lower house chairman Sergei Naryshkin said. “I would like to reassure them that in the event that the Crimean population decides during a free democratic referendum
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Sevastopol – March 12, 2014) The standoff in Crimea between Russian and Ukrainian forces is seeing torn loyalties add to the pressure on Ukraine’s penned-in units, epitomized by the position of Sevastopol’s illustrious Nakhimov naval college. Head of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, 53-year-old Vice Admiral Aleksandr
(Interfax – MOSCOW. March 12, 2014) The United States is not ready to cut cooperation with Russia on important and strategic issues concerning disarmament and non-proliferation and the situation in Ukraine does not affect this, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s department on security and disarmament, Vladislav Antonyuk, said at a meeting of the
(Paul Goble* – Staunton, March 12, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters in Moscow and the West are explaining and justifying his invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea in various ways and celebrating the divisions and weaknesses of the West that it has highlighted, but in every case, they are treating it as a geopolitical
(opendemocracy.net – Agnia Grigas – March 12, 2014) Crimea is under the control of Russia’s military forces and its Moscow-backed government is voting to secede from Ukraine. Where might President Vladimir Putin seek territorial expansion next? Agnia Grigas served as an advisor in the Lithuanian government. She consults for multinational corporations investing in emerging markets
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#53 :: 11 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Diana Bruk, special to RBTH – March 7, 2014) Russian women don’t see the point of feminism – and maybe they have a point. Diana Bruk is a Russian-American journalist based in New York. It would probably surprise no foreigner who has ever visited Russia that a 2004
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Chris Weafer, Macro-Advisory – March 11, 2014) “Sanctions and boycotts would be tied to serious political dialogue” Daw Aung San Suu Kyi We have cut our growth forecast to 1% for 2014, and revised some other macro forecasts partly because of the uncertainty and disruption caused by the Ukraine
(stratfor.com – Geopolitical Weekly – Eugene Chausovsky – March 11, 2014) Just days before the Ukrainian crisis broke out, I took an overnight train to Kiev from Sevastopol in Crimea. Three mechanics in their 30s on their way to jobs in Estonia shared my compartment. All ethnic Russians born and raised in Sevastopol, they have
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Bakhchysarai – March 11, 2014) Given the collapse of Kyiv’s power on the Crimean peninsula, the Tatar population remains a bulwark of resistance to the plans of Crimea’s Kremlin-backed secessionist leadership to join Russia. bne visited the heartland of Crimean Tatars at Bakhchysarai and spoke to
SIMFEROPOL. March 11 (Interfax) – The Crimean parliament has passed a resolution on guarantees of the restoration of the Crimean Tatar people’s rights and their integration into the Crimean Community, which proposes broadening the rights of the deported ethnic group considerably in the autonomous republic’s new constitution. Eighty-one Crimean parliamentary deputies voted in support of
MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – The World Bank announced Tuesday that it will provide up to $3 billion to support reforms in Ukraine, which is struggling to put its economy back on track amid political turbulence. The lender said that restoring economic stability, strengthening the banking sector, reforming the energy sector, tackling corruption, enhancing
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Oleg Sukhov – March 11, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin on Monday that Russia and the West were continuing to butt heads over the Ukraine situation after the U.S. submitted “unsatisfactory” proposals based on the notion that there was a “conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”
MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych warned on Tuesday that “dark forces” are working to foment civil war in the troubled former Soviet nation. During a short address in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovych insisted that he not only remains Ukraine’s president, but that he is also still
ROSTOV-ON-DON. March 11 (Interfax) – Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, said that the socioeconomic situation will deteriorate in Ukraine under the current government and that he does not bear responsibility for Crimea’s “separation from Ukraine.” “The socioeconomic situation will seriously deteriorate soon, which will deal a direct blow to the people of Ukraine. Those who have
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#52 :: 10 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
SIMFEROPOL. March 10 (Interfax) – The units of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry quartered in Crimea are off-the-line and do not obey orders of Kyiv, Crimea’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev told Interfax on Monday. “Almost all military units of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry located in Crimea are under control, joint patrolling of storages with
(opendemocracy.net – Paul Rogers – March 6, 2014) The dangerous stand-off with Russia over Ukraine is also a display of the west’s skewed perceptions and moral vanities. Paul Rogers is professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is openDemocracy’s international-security editor, and has been writing a weekly column on
SIMFEROPOL, March 10 (RIA Novosti) – Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov said Monday that preparations for the the southern Ukrainian region to become part of Russia are already underway. Crimea was flooded with Russian troops following the fall of the government in the capital, Kiev, last month and a referendum to decide whether the region
(Interfax – March 9, 2014) Crimea’s deputy prime minister, Olga Kovitidi, described as predatory the terms of an agreement Kyiv is ready to accept from the International Monetary Fund. The tentative agreement with the IMF which the Ukrainian authorities signed with the IMF on March 2, says that the country’s entire gas pipeline system will
KYIV. March 9 (Interfax) – The price of Russian gas exported to Ukraine could stand at $368.5 per 1,000 cubic meters in the second quarter of 2014, said Ukraine’s Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Prodan. “We expect Russia to export gas to us at $368.5 per 1,000 cubic meters,” he told reporters in Kyiv
MOSCOW, March 9 (RIA Novosti) – The movement of troops in western Ukraine, reported by the country’s media, was held as part of military exercises and is not related to events in the breakaway region of Crimea, the acting defense minister said on Sunday. Crimea, the autonomous, largely pro-Russian republic, was taken over by thousands
MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax) – The new administration of Ukraine has made attempts to reach agreements with Crimea, but the arguments of the people of Crimea were not heard, Volodymyr Konstantynov, chairman of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, said in the Russian State Duma deputies on Friday. “Then [after attempts to
MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti) – Fugitive Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych will make an official statement Tuesday in Rostov-on-Don, sources close to the once powerful leader told RIA Novosti on Monday. It will be the second public appearance by Yanukovych in the southern Russian city since he fled Ukraine for Russia last month as opposition
KYIV. March 10 (Interfax) – The United States will support any president the Ukrainian people will elect, U.S. Ambassador in Kyiv Jeffrey Payette said at a news conference on Monday. The U.S. will support anyone, who will win during the democratic elections and who will be elected by the Ukrainian people, the ambassador said. The
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dan Pototsky, RBTH – March 10, 2014) Hackers have taken down several Russian media website in the past week and alleged attacks on defense infrastructure in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. On March 7, the website of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, one of the largest Russian dailies, the paper
(RFE/RL– rferl.org – Halyna Tereshchuk and Claire Bigg – March 8, 2014) LVIV, Ukraine — As millions of women across the world looked forward to celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8, Tetiana Turchina was in no mood for flowers, chocolate, and festivities. The young Ukrainian woman watched with dismay as Russian troops took control
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#51 :: 9 March 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – DONETSK, Ukraine – March 8, 2014) Just a month ago, few people were talking about more autonomy for Donetsk — less still about it joining Russia. But with Russian troops in Crimea and the Black Sea peninsula soon to vote on joining Russia, some in Donetsk are agitating for
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Volodymyr Verbyany, Daryna Krasnolutska & Stepan Kravchenko – March 9, 2014) Pro-Russian forces advanced in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, ignoring Western calls to abandon a military takeover in the run up to a separatist referendum slated for March 16. Russian forces took control of the province’s Chernomorskoye border base today, detaining Ukrainian
(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – March 6, 2014) According to the state-owned All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion, 73 percent of Russians are against intervention in Ukraine. All the leading opposition forces in Russia have condemned the military invasion and the planned annexation of Crimea. The Institute of Modern Russia publishes
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