KYIV. March 25 (Interfax) – Ukraine is not planning to restore its status as a nuclear nation, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. “Ukraine neither was, nor is planning to renew its nuclear status,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said at a Tuesday briefing. Such a position was clearly expressed by Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsa during his visit to the […]
» Read more
(jackmatlock.com – Jack Matlock – March 23, 2014) Jack Matlock is a career diplomat who served on the front lines of American diplomacy during the Cold War and was U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union when the Cold War ended. Igor Oleynik, CEO of International Business Publications in Washington, DC, has sent me a spoof letter from Putin to Obama. […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 25, 2014) The Kremlin’s anti-Western mythology is now so widespread that many in Moscow and some in the West accept it as a given and fail to understand how it reflects a specific political program and how dangerous and self-destructive it is for those who are putting it about, according to […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – G8 contacts between countries that were held as part of preparations for the G8 summit in Sochi continue today at the expert level but in other formats, the Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax. “Some meetings have been cancelled. Other meetings have been held in a broader format because they envision the participation […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov gave a boost to the ruble Tuesday by raising expectations the Russian currency would strengthen once the current foreign and domestic economic situations stabilize. The ruble strengthened by 46 kopecks (1.3 percent) against the dollar and by 76 kopecks (1.5 percent) against the euro Tuesday on the news. “If […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – Russia has rejected the claims of a Ukrainian delegate to the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague that Russia is allegedly threatening the security of nuclear sites in Ukraine. “This is a pure and simple attempt to shift the blame,” the Russian delegation said in a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – March 25, 2014) “I would never want to be member of a club that wanted me as a member,” Marco Grouch famously said. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov came out with pretty much the same defence after Russia was suspended from participating in the G8 meetings and international leaders due in Russia for the […]
» Read more
(opendemocracy.net – Janek Lasocki – March 24, 2014) Janek Lasocki is Advocacy Coordinator at the European Council on Foreign Relations. On Sunday 25 May, President Putin permitting, 36.5 million voters will go to the polls in Ukraine to vote for a successor to President Viktor Yanukovych, ousted after three months of protests, and over 100 dead The problems of holding […]
» Read more
(Interfax – March 25, 2014) The work on White Paper on events in Ukraine will be completed very soon, Russian Foreign Ministry Human Rights Ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov said. “Such a White Paper will appear very soon,” Dolgov told Interfax. At the same time, Dolgov said he could not specify the timeline of its release because “the work on the paper […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – March 25, 2014) The costly consequences of expanding Russia’s territory became clearer Monday when Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev revealed a Crimea to-do list for the government and its corporations. Russia will need to take care of entitlements and services ranging from retirement pensions to tax rebates to electricity supply in a peninsula […]
» Read more
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#65 :: 24 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 JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support […]
» Read more
The Charlie Rose Show covers unfolding events in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, including occupied Crimea. Rose talks with Stephen Sestanovich, Stephen Cohen and Ian Bremmer.
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Chris Weafer, Macro Advisors – March 24, 2014) “Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear the most” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment The threat is more important than existing sanctions. The sanctions announced so far do not directly cause any material disruption to the economy. But the actions taken […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 24 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday denounced as an act of anarchy the robbery of Russian passengers on board a train in Ukraine by ultranationalists last week. On Friday, a group of uniformed men boarded a train from Moscow in the southwestern Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia under the pretext of an ID check. “Passengers […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 24, 2014) Russians must recognize that Vladimir Putin is “an aggressor and instigator of war,” that he is making them into “victims and participants in state crimes,” that he will eventually lose to the democratic world, and that he, they and their country will suffer and be held accountable just as […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 24 (RIA Novosti) – The signing of a political pact between Ukraine and the European Union is a hasty step which points to the prospect of closer military ties between Kiev and NATO, a Russian foreign ministry source said Monday. “The political provisions of the association deal pave the way for further entrenchment of Ukraine into the foreign […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) – Moscow restaurants are introducing sanctions against U.S. President Barack Obama. Notices saying an “entry ban” has been imposed on Obama have been put up at the entrances to Dolma restaurants in central Moscow, an Interfax correspondent reported. The manager of a Dolma restaurant, Lasha Churgulia, said that, “the ban only applies to Obama for now.” […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – March 21, 2014) Vladimir Putin held a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council, during which a detailed discussion on the situation in Ukraine took place. Taking part in the meeting were Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergei Ivanov, […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – March 20, 2014) Vladimir Putin took part in the annual congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The topics on the congress’ agenda include de-offshorisation of the economy, making business more transparent, enhancing labour productivity, improving labour legislation, and creating a better investment climate. During the congress, representatives from the Agency for Strategic Initiative, Delovaya Rossiya […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) – An overwhelming majority of Russians (93%) support Crimea’s accession to Russia and only 4% have a negative opinion, the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said. In the opinion of 89% of Russians, Crimea means Russia. Some 65% of people who share this opinion say that Crimea is a historically Russian land, which had been […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG – Ben Aris in Moscow – March 24, 2014) The interim Ukrainian government signed off on the long-mooted Association Agreement with the EU at the weekend, setting the impasse with Russia in stone. However, the “Maidan” government baulked at signi ng the economic part of the deal. Is the new administration about […]
» Read more
(rbth.ru – March 24, 2014 – Nikolai Gorshkov, special to RBTH) Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has warned Russia than any attempt to annex areas of Eastern Ukraine will meet a very tough response, including a military one. EU in Brussels also spoke of measures beyond the already agreed, should Russia move into Ukrainian mainland. But does Russia have […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 23 (Interfax) – Russia has no plans to concentrate its troops on the Ukrainian border, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said. “The Russian Defense Ministry observes all international agreements on the restriction of the number of troops in the areas bordering on Ukraine,” Antonov said on Sunday, commenting on the reports published in some foreign media on […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – March 20, 2014) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has addressed Russia with a proposal to take part in developing a programme of structural reforms in Ukraine, the Russian RIA Novosti reported on 20 March, quoting Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The implementation of the programme will be a condition for allocating an IMF loan to Ukraine. Siluanov […]
» Read more
Reuters reports on statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe is close to reaching an arrangement to send observers to Ukraine: ‘We have already practically agreed a draft decision’ on an observer mission, Lavrov told President Vladimir Putin in televised remarks, adding that observers would be sent to western and central […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – By Albert R. Hunt – March 19, 2014) Albert R. Hunt is a Bloomberg View columnist. Michael McFaul, who recently stepped down as U.S. ambassador to Russia, says President Vladimir Putin is riding “an ugly nationalistic fervor that’s off the charts,” and is likely to escalate tensions with the U.S. and Europe over Ukraine. McFaul, who […]
» Read more
(Interfax – Moscow, March 20, 2014) The parliamentary majority does not share [LDPR party leader] Vladimir Zhirinovskiy’s view that Russia has to expand its borders by incorporating Donbass [industrial area of Ukraine around Donetsk] and some other regions of Ukraine. “I would like to comment on the LDPR leader and say that some of his calls and judgments are not […]
» Read more
(Interfax – March 21, 2014) Ukraine’s debt to Russia stands at $16 billion, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told President Vladimir Putin at a session of the country’s Security Council on Friday. “Ukraine has quite a significant debt to the Russian Federation, both state and corporate,” he said. “In my opinion, we cannot afford to lose this money since our […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – March 20, 2014) “Russia won’t deploy troops in eastern Ukraine unless there is a “massacre” of its citizens there, says Sergei Mironov, leader of pro-Kremlin Just Russia party and a Putin ally, reports Bloomberg. “It would be highly undesirable and I think it’s unlikely, unless we see large-scale massacres, if something awful happens and […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti) – The death toll from the unrest in Ukraine that led to the ouster of the country’s president last month has risen to 103, the country’s Ministry of Health said Thursday. Previous casualty figures stood at 102 dead and 1,419 injured. The ministry said on its website that 128 people injured in the conflict remain […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – March 21, 2014) During his triumphant speech on Crimea’s annexation earlier this week, President Vladimir Putin stressed that his policy was supported by an “absolute majority of Russians,” saying those who opposed it were “national traitors” acting on behalf of Western countries. While such a bold statement was embraced by some as […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) – The purpose of signing the political provisions for the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement is not to take care of the interests of the Ukrainian people. This is an attempt to score in a geopolitical game, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “In my opinion, this step was not dictated by the interests of the Ukrainian economy, […]
» Read more
In a Washington Post op-ed, Garry Kasparov argues that Putin’s motives in seizing Crimea are shaped more by greed than Russia’s national interests, and that assessments of possible future Kremlin actions should be based on pragmatic assessments of what Putin actually does: When Vladimir Putin formally annexed Crimea this week, he acted in defiance of the predictions of many pundits, […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Friday on the ratification of the treaty providing for the reunification of the Crimean Peninsula with Russia. The treaty had been already ratified by both houses of the Russian parliament. Under the decree, the Russian Federation will have 85 regions, up from the previous 83. The Republic […]
» Read more
KIEV, March 19 (RIA Novosti) – The head of Ukraine’s security advisory body said on Wednesday the country will deploy more troops along the border with Russia and introduce visas for Russians in a bid to “enhance border security.” Moscow and Kiev are on the brink of conflict following last month’s overthrow of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych and subsequent dispute […]
» Read more
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti, March 21) – Russia is collecting facts on lawless extremists and neo-nationalists in Ukraine as well as on the violence that has racked the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. “We are scrupulously collecting all of the facts that show the lawlessness of neo-nationalists and extremists and would like to complete this work as quickly […]
» Read more
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – March 20, 2014) Propaganda works. Or at least it’s working for the time being. In concluding his speech to a joint session of parliament this week, Vladimir Putin claimed that 92 percent of Russians favored the annexation of Crimea. The number was inflated, but not by much, according to Lev Gudkov, director of […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti) – Making Ukraine a federal state is the only way to stabilize situation in the country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday. “We want to understand, who exactly will represent legitimate authorities in Kiev. In this regard we have a proposal: first of all, a constitutional reform should be held, so that interests […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) – Viktor Yanukovych’s indecision caused sufferings to Ukrainian people, who were entitled to peacefully protest against the authorities’ arbitrary rule, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “The [Ukrainian] authorities’ impotence, President Yanukovych’s personal weakness and indecision doomed the people of Ukraine to great sufferings. The people who took to the streets had the right to peacefully […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – March 18, 2014) The Russian parliament voted Tuesday to appoint Ella Pamfilova to the post of Human Rights Ombudsman. President Vladimir Putin formally nominated 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 of people whose rights have been violated. […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti) – Representatives of the self-defense forces of Crimea have occupied Ukraine’s navy headquarters in the Crimean city Sevastopol, organizing the orderly departure of the Ukrainian military forces inside. Crimea’s self-defense forces broke through barricades surrounding the facility Wednesday morning, raising the Russian federal and navy flags in place of their Ukrainian equivalents. Some small altercations […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – James G. Neuger, Ian Wishart and Jonathan Stearns – March 20, 2014) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union won’t rush to impose economic sanctions on Russia for the annexation of Crimea, reflecting concerns that trade curbs would damage Europe’s tentative recovery. Germany, which is Russia’s biggest EU trading partner, expects the 28-country bloc to […]
» Read more
Subject: Crimea Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 From: Sergei Roy <sergeiroy@yandex.ru> The other day I received a letter from a German friend concerning Ukraine. I could not leave a letter from an old friend unanswered, though I do very little writing these days. My reply expresses rather clearly, though not fully, my take on what goes on there. Best wishes, […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – March 19, 2014) Gorki, 19 March: Crimea’s becoming part of the Russian Federation may temporarily damage Russia’s investment image, but in the long run Russia will only benefit [from it], the director-general of the Strategic Initiatives Agency (ASI), Andrey Nikitin, has said. “I think that those who fell for these scare stories and will leave Russia or […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – March 20, 2014) Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, currently under house arrest in connection with a criminal case against him, has written an op-ed for the New York Times in which he calls for sanctions on officials and businessmen connected to President Vladimir Putin. Saying that previous U.S. and EU sanctions in response […]
» Read more
Subject: Ukraine crisis and the need to educate on Russia Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 From: Paul Grenier <psgrenier@gmail.com> ‘Spare the Ukraine, Spoil the Russians’ A Primer on Political-Philosophical Reconciliation By Paul Grenier Former Russian simultaneous interpreter, author most recently of Terror, Torture and Human Solidarity. After advanced study in Russian affairs, international relations and geography at Columbia University, Paul […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, March 20 (RIA Novosti) – US financial officials have contacted investment funds with Russian assets and advised them to inform clients about potential risk associated with the crisis in Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported Thursday. The commission began counseling investment companies weeks ago, advising them to clearly communicate risks with investors and warning them to have a clear […]
» Read more
MOSCOW/VIENNA. March 20 (Interfax) – Moscow may draft its own “blacklist” of American officials as part of a response that will “mirror” the sanctions imposed by the United States on Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “If Washington restarts measures to escalate tensions and confrontation, as well as attempts to tell us what we should do using the […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) – The sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union and the United States do not have international legal grounds, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “Unilateral sanctions have never done any good. They are not legal. And they do not have international legal grounds,” Lavrov said at a State Duma sitting on Thursday. “The UN […]
» Read more
(Interfax – March 20, 2014) Moscow’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has said that Russian servicemen did not raid a Ukrainian military unit’s base in Simferopol. “There was absolutely no storming of a Ukrainian military facility by Russian servicemen about which the permanent representative of Ukraine spoke today,” Churkin said at the UN Security Council. “Having the support of the entire […]
» Read more