Interfax: Medvedev: Reset for Russia-U.S. relations impossible for now

File Photo of Barack Hussein Obama and Dmitry Medvedev with Flags, Shaking Hands

(Interfax – October 15, 2014) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes a reset for Russia-U.S. relations will be impossible while sanctions are still in place, at least until the sides “go back to square one.” “No, of course not. It’s absolutely impossible,” Medvedev said in an interview with the channel CNBS answering a question whether a reset could happen while […]

» Read more

Interfax: Russian security chief says relations with USA resemble cold war

File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated with Flags Behind

(Interfax – Moscow, October 14, 2014) The USA was involved in the collapse of the Soviet Union and tried to destroy Russia; Washington’s current attitude to Moscow resembles a cold war, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev has said. “President Barack Obama’s new administration started sending signals about the need to resume a mutually beneficial dialogue with Russia on a […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Ukraine Facing Overall Energy Crisis as Internal Conflict Affects Both Gas, Coal: Expert

File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

WASHINGTON, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine is not only facing a gas crisis this coming winter, but also a possible overall energy crisis due to disruptions in coal mining and transportation facilities, said Tatiana Mitrova, head of the Oil and Gas Department at the Russian Academy of Sciences Energy Research Institute (ERI RAS). “[It is] not just a potential […]

» Read more

De-Modernization and Degradation-A Net Assessment of Russia’s Domestic Situation Since the Start of 2014

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 181 – Pavel K. Baev – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – October 14, 2014) Considering Russia’s shocking transformation in the course of just half a year, it is easy to forget that last February the country was united in the joy of hosting the Sochi Winter Olympic games. The issues that dominated the political […]

» Read more

Five Important Things That Memorial’s Done (And Is Still Doing) For Russia

File Photo of Prison in Russia with Wall, Barbed Wire, Guard Tower

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – October 13, 2014 – Daisy Sindelar) Russia’s Justice Ministry has asked the country’s Supreme Court to liquidate Memorial, the country’s oldest and best-known human rights organization, which groups together more than 50 bodies nationwide. Founded in 1989 under the auspices of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, Memorial has led efforts to uncover communist-era repressions and fight discrimination […]

» Read more

Nagorno-Karabakh: the not-so-frozen conflict

Map of Azerbaijan and South Caucasus Environs Including Portions of Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Iran, Caspian Sea

(opendemocracy.net – Neil Melvin – October 9, 2014) Neil Melvin is director of the Armed Conflict and Conflict Management Programme at SIPRI In recent months, the ‘frozen’ Karabakh conflict has been more fire than ice. With outside powers stoking the flames, what are the chances of finally securing peace? During the summer months, as international headlines were dominated by the […]

» Read more

Russia vows to reduce hazardous emissions to 70-75% of 1990 levels by 2030

File Photo of Smokestacking Spewing Cloud of Discharge

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Galiya Ibragimova, RBTH – October 14, 2014) Russia has announced its intention to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70-75 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. However, specialists interviewed by RBTH are divided on whether the plans are realistic, with some arguing that the pledge is incompatible with Russia’s energy strategy through 2035. […]

» Read more

Moscow Times: “WWF: Russia Only G8 Member With Growing Biocapacity”

Siberian Natural Scenery, with River, Trees, Hills

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – October 14, 2014) Russia is the only country among the world’s biggest economies whose biological resources not only exceed its environmental footprint but are continuing to grow, a new study said. WWF Russia on Monday presented a report on Russia’s biocapacity, or the capability of its ecosystems to produce resources useful for […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: New Retaliatory Steps to Western Sanctions Not on Russia’s Agenda: Industry Minister

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is not going to introduce new measures in response to Western economic sanctions, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told reporters on Tuesday. “We are not interested in responding [to Western sanctions] with some unreasonable measures. It’s our [Western] colleagues who should be thinking about when they will lift [the sanctions], […]

» Read more

Gref: Central Bank ruble policy ‘optimal’

Russian Central Bank file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) – The Central Bank of Russia’s ruble exchange rate policy is “optimal,” Sberbank of Russia (MOEX: SBER) President and CEO German Gref said. “The policy that the Central Bank is pursuing is, in my view, optimal from the standpoint of managing the exchange rate. The economy is self-tuning, because the processes underway are very complex. Over […]

» Read more

Fears of a Russian credit crunch greatly exaggerated, say analysts

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 14, 2014) On paper, Russian companies have huge foreign debts, and no way of refinancing them because sanctions effectively close Western capital markets to Russian borrowers. But with much of Russian corporate foreign debt in fact hidden equity investments from offshore zones, the figures seem much worse than they are. International headlines are […]

» Read more

Interfax: Russia will protect itself from Western sanctions by long-term measures, says Lavrov

Sergei Lavrov file photo

(Interfax – October 14, 2014) Russia will use long-term measures to protect itself from Western sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “We will certainly adopt all the measures needed to protect ourselves from unlawful restrictions. You are aware of the resources that are being allocated for these purposes. Beyond any doubt, it will be a long-term program,” he […]

» Read more

Interfax: Europeans may have ancestors in Siberia – Russian Academy of Sciences

Siberian Natural Scenery, with River, Trees, Hills

(Interfax – October 14, 2014) A comparison of genomes of ancient Europeans and people living in contemporary countries has shown that a Siberian tribe is an ancestor of modern Europeans, said Olga Posukh, senior research fellow of the human molecular genetics laboratory of the Cytology and Genetics Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian branch. “A certain genetic component of […]

» Read more

Interfax: EU will review Russia sanctions in late October – head of EU Delegation

EU Map

MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) – The European Union plans to review its sanctions against Russia at the end of October, the Head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas, said when answering a question from Interfax on the sidelines of the European Business Association forum in Moscow on Tuesday. The results of such a review will depend on […]

» Read more

Moscow Times: Crimea to Hold First Census Since Russian Annexation

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 14, 2014) Russia’s statistics agency on Tuesday launched a sweeping census of the population in the Crimea region, which the country annexed from Ukraine in March. Residents will be asked to field 33 questions on their age, ethnicity, spouse and children, native language and housing and income, the regional branch of the State Statistics […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Lavrov: Window of Possibility for Ukrainian Crisis Settlement Now Open

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – The window of possibility for finding a solution to the civil conflict in Ukraine is now open, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday. “Today, the window of possibility to overcome the Ukrainian crisis is open. Practical measures are being agreed upon and implemented on the basis of ceasefire agreements reached on the initiative […]

» Read more

Russia signs raft of deals with China

China Map

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 14, 2014) Russia and China signed a raft of 40 agreements encompassing trade, energy, finance and technology, following a meeting between Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, on October 14 in Moscow. The agreements demonstrate how Russia is looking for other options, after sanctions imposed on Russia in […]

» Read more

Russia Plans Giant State Oil Services Company to Replace Western Firms

Oil Worker file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin- October 14, 2014) President Vladimir Putin has approved the creation of a state-owned oil exploration drilling corporation that will replace Western oil service companies forced to reduce operations in Russia by sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine, a news report said Monday. In a time of “sharply escalating international tensions,” a national oil service […]

» Read more

Honored Burials, Mass Grave for Theater Greats

Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – October 13, 2014) Yury Lyubimov once told me about meeting the great director Vsevolod Meyerhold. This happened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1987. I paid Lyubimov a visit to talk about his old friend, the playwright Nikolai Erdman, but the conversation, naturally and fortunately, took plenty of detours. The story in Lyubimov’s words […]

» Read more

Letter from America

File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated Before Russian and U.S. Flags

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – October 13, 2014) I spent the last past week in DC trying to gauge better the Western response function to the crisis in Ukraine and with Russia. Herein are a few big picture take-outs from my discussions with a range of academics, journalists and policy types. First, the contrast […]

» Read more

A new nuclear arms race?

Russia ICBM on Mobile Launcher

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Bratersky, special to RBTH- October 13, 2014) The current breakdown in bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia has brought a return to rhetoric and attitudes previously associated with the Cold War. When a group of Russian high schoolers were shown an artificial launching site during an excursion to a Cold War-era […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Lavrov: Moscow Opposes Following ‘Primitive Scenario’ of Confrontation With West

Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow opposes confrontation with the West as a joint international effort is required to counter threats to global stability, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. “Despite the hostile behavior of the Western partners, we still oppose sliding into the primitive scenario of a direct confrontation between Russia and the West. Russia is ready […]

» Read more

Putin Deals China Winning Hand as Sanctions Power Rival

China Map

(Bloomberg – boomberg.com – Henry Meyer, Evgenia Pismennaya – October 13, 2014) Defying his former enemies in the U.S. and Europe may force Vladimir Putin to aid the ascent of his biggest rival in the east. Isolated over Ukraine, Russia is relying on China for the investment it needs to avert a recession, three people involved in policy planning said, […]

» Read more

Justice Ministry Moves to Liquidate Renowned Human Rights Group Memorial

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – October 13, 2014) Russia’s Justice Ministry has filed a claim with the Supreme Court seeking the liquidation of the Russian Memorial Society, an independent human rights group. Critics say the move exemplifies the Kremlin’s ongoing stifling of non-governmental organizations. The Russian Memorial Society, which was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by […]

» Read more

Russians account decline in ruble exchange rate to international developments – poll

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Interfax – October 12, 2014) Over half of Russians (61 percent) admit that fluctuations in the exchange rate of the ruble have a certain impact on their lives while 13 percent don’t notice any impact, a Public Opinion fund poll indicates. In the opinion of 62 percent of respondents a stronger ruble is better for the Russian economy and only […]

» Read more

Chances of Ebola epidemic reaching Russia are slim, say researchers

Ebola Virus, adapted from image at nih.gov with credit NAID

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Gleb Fedorov, RBTH – October 13, 2014)  Russia has an effective antibacterial system that helps avoid uncontrollable outbreaks of viruses similar to Ebola, says one of the country’s leading epidemiologists. Research by a Boston university also indicates that the chances of the Ebola virus spreading to Russia are currently minimal. According to a study published […]

» Read more

RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#214 table of contents with links :: Tuesday 14 October 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#214 :: Tuesday 15 October 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  JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  Ukraine 1. The National Interest: Paul Saunders, How Russia Sees the Ukraine […]

» Read more

Putin orders troops on Ukraine border to pull back, as separatist leader reported gunned down

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 13, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered thousands of troops stationed near the Ukrainian border to pull back to base, in an apparent move to reduce tension as cracks appeared in the uneasy ceasefire between government forces and rebels in East Ukraine’s Donbass region. At the same time, a leader of the Donbass […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Six Months of Fratricide War in Donbas

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Six months have passed since the start of a massive mop-up operation in southeastern Ukraine. The operation has claimed the lives of 3,000 to 5,000 people, including civilians, soldiers and militia members, as well as the passengers of the Malaysian Boeing that crashed in the sky above Donetsk on July 17. HOW IT ALL […]

» Read more

Russia Spending $6 Billion Not Enough to Stop Ruble Rout on Oil

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Vladimir Kuznetsov – October 13, 2014) The ruble extended its longest losing streak in more than a year as $6 billion of Russian currency interventions failed to stem the depreciation amid tumbling oil prices. The ruble weakened 0.6 percent versus the dollar-euro basket to 45.3423 by 5:15 p.m. in Moscow, taking its seven-day decline to 2.3 […]

» Read more

Poll: Russians use Internet to find out news, watch movies and connect with friends

File Image of Stylized Eye Surrounded by Binary Code

(Interfax – October 13, 2014) The Internet usage index in Russia is 66 percent, the same as a year ago, and 46 percent of users go online daily, the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said. Most active users are persons aged 18 to 24, people with higher education (66 percent in each of these two categories), prosperous people (58 […]

» Read more

Down with Lenin!

File Photo of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin

As they are toppled one after another in cities across the country, statues of Lenin are becoming an endangered species in Ukraine. But Lenin the political symbol is still alive and kicking. (opendemocracy.net – LEONID RAGOZIN – October 13, 2014) Inside a granite pyramid on Red Square, in front of the Kremlin wall, lies the mummy of a short bald […]

» Read more

Poroshenko fires commanders of Ukraine’s failed “anti-terrorist operation”

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 13, 2014) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has fired key commanders of Kyiv’s failed so-called “anti-terrorist operation” against Russian-backed rebels in the Donbass region of East Ukraine, including defence minister Valery Heletei. “It’s time to replace the Defence Ministry’s chief,” Poroshenko was quoted as saying on October 12. Heletei had become the target of […]

» Read more

In Western Ukraine, Attitudes Cooling Toward IDPs

Maidan Square file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Vitaliy Syzov, Halyna Tereshchuk, Claire Bigg – October 09, 2014) Irina Yaremko, a real estate agent in Lviv, says owners letting their flats through her agency now request that potential tenants from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions be immediately rejected. KYIV — When heavy fighting erupted in her hometown of Horlivka, in eastern Ukraine, Yulia and her husband […]

» Read more

Ukraine: An Apprehensive Bird’s View

Ukraine Map and Flag

Subject: Ukraine: An Apprehensive Bird’s View Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 From: Sergei Roy <SergeiRoy@yandex.ru> Ukraine: An Apprehensive Bird’s View By Sergei Roy [Former Editor-in-Chief, Moscow News] The world’s political, military, and media antennae are now mostly catching signals from the Middle East, specifically from the area around ISIS. Briefly, my take on the current situation is this: ISIS is […]

» Read more

RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#213 table of contents with links :: Monday 13 October 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#213:: Monday 13 October 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  JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  Ukraine 1. Kyiv Post: From blankets to buckwheat, candidates use bribes to win […]

» Read more

RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#212 table of contents with links :: Friday 10 October 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#212:: Friday 10 October 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  JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  1. Reuters: Special Report: Flaws found in Ukraine’s probe of Maidan massacre. […]

» Read more

Russia’s Oil Field Actions to Take Edge Off U.S. Sanctions

Oil Well file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman, Elena Mazneva – October 10, 2014) U.S. and European Union moves to pressure Russia by threatening its oil output overlook one detail: a mass of conventional resources across Siberia, according to Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi. Russia will distribute more oil and gas deposits found in traditional areas during the Soviet era, dulling the […]

» Read more

Interfax: Putin hopes for adjustment of Ukraine’s association agreement with EU

EU Map

MINSK. Oct 10 (Interfax) – The delay in the enforcement of the economic bloc of Ukraine’s association agreement with the EU makes it possible to adjust the provisions of the document whose implementation could considerably harm the economy of the Customs Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “Kyiv and Brussels heeded our arguments and decided to postpone the enforcement of […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: U.S. Lethal Aid to Ukraine Could Spark Proxy War With Russia: Scholar

Ukraine Map and Flag

WASHINGTON, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – A proxy war between the United States and Russia could erupt in Ukraine should Washington decide to provide lethal assistance to help Kiev in its crackdown on independence supporters in the east, a scholar from National Defense University (NDU) told RIA Novosti. “Policy-wise it could lead to slow march into a proxy conflict with […]

» Read more

Kiev Stores Ordered to Stamp Russian Products With Special Markings

Maidan Square file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 10, 2014) Kiev’s municipal council has ordered stores in the capital to label Russian-imported goods with additional markings to warn consumers they could be supporting the “aggressor” by buying the products, media reports said. According to the ruling approved by the city’s legislature, Russian made-goods will also have to be displayed on separate shelves […]

» Read more

Bad Roads – a Domestic Russian Problem So Bad Putin Can’t Ignore but Can’t Fix

Moscow Traffic file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 10, 2014) The state of Russia’s road system, which now ranks 136th out of 144 countries evaluated, is so bad that even Vladimir Putin, who recently has been given to upbeat statements about the country, has had to change his tone. But his comments in Novosibirsk yesterday suggest that he won’t […]

» Read more

Interfax: DPR denies Ukraine’s accusations of ceasefire violations

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW. Oct 10 (Interfax) – The administration of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said the accusations made against the DPR by Ukraine, which is accusing the DPR of ceasefire violations, are ungrounded. “These accusations are ungrounded. In the course of all these days since the Minsk memorandum was signed, the Ukrainian military opened fire on the city’s residential quarters from […]

» Read more

RIA Novosti: Former Soviet Leader Gorbachev Out of Hospital, Back at Work

File Photo of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan at Table Signing Documents

MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev told RIA Novosti on Friday that he has left hospital and is back at work. “Now I am out of hospital,” Gorbachev said. Answering a question about how he is feeling, the former Soviet leader stated that “well” would be an overstatement. “If I could reach the party assessment […]

» Read more

TRANSCRIPT: Nuland Remarks at the Aspen Institute

Victoria Nuland file photo

US Department of State October 9, 2014 Remarks at the Aspen Institute Victoria Nuland Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Berlin, Germany Assistant Secretary Nuland: It’s wonderful to be here with all of you at the Aspen Conference. Thank you to Aspen. Thank you to Microsoft for your support, this fantastic space. Thank you Rudy, and congrats to […]

» Read more

Interfax: Most Russians unaware of ISIL, others see it as threat to peace, Russia – poll

Map of Iraq

MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) – Only 13% of Russians are aware of the existence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and 54% learned about it during a poll held by the Public Opinion Foundation. Another 26% of 1,500 respondents polled in 43 regions on September 28 had heard something about the ISIL, and 7% failed to […]

» Read more

Bill Proposes Softening NGO ‘Foreign Agent’ Law

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 9, 2014) A legislative commission has approved a bill reducing fines for non-governmental organizations that fail to register with the Justice Ministry as so-called “foreign agents,” the government said in a statement Wednesday. The bill, conceived after the Ministry received complaints from the country’s human rights commissioner, proposes halving the minimum penalty for officials […]

» Read more

Russia Releases Opposition Activist Charged With Violence Against Police

Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – October 9, 2014) Russia has released from custody opposition activist Sergei Mokhnatkin, who gained prominence among fellow activists for what he said was an attempt to protect a woman from police brutality at a protest rally, and who has been charged with violence against police. Mokhnatkin’s attempt to protect the woman had […]

» Read more

Most Russians Believe Foreigners View Country Favorably, Poll Shows

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 9, 2014) A poll published Wednesday revealed that a majority of Russians believe their country is perceived as “interesting” abroad, while few believe foreigners think Russia is “authoritarian.” The poll’s results, which showed that most Russians believe the country is viewed favorably abroad, may be a surprise to some in light of the West’s […]

» Read more

Russia Can’t Escape Historical Retrospection in Crisis

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Blooomberg – bloomberg.com – Ye Xie and Elena Popina – October 9, 2014) As Russia starts burning through foreign reserves in a bid to defend the ruble, flashbacks to the country’s 1998 devaluation and default are inevitable. While the government is in a much stronger position today to fend off the crisis than it was then — foreign reserves are […]

» Read more
1 215 216 217 218 219 317