(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – March 5, 2014) A cheaper ruble and more expensive oil could actually go a long way in improving Russia’s economy, possibly offsetting other potential aftershocks of the Ukraine crisis. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in interviews on Sunday identified the ruble’s slide as among Russia’s economic challenges that could get worse […]
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GORKI, March 4 (RIA Novosti) – The head of Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday that it will annul its discount on natural gas sales to Ukraine from April, a move that will further stretch Kiev’s teetering finances. Alexei Miller, who made the announcement while meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev outside Moscow, motivated the decision by pointing out […]
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Subject: JRL 2014-#44/ Matlock Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2014 From: Reuben F. Johnson – Warszawa, Rzeczpospolita Polska reuben.johnson@sambadoaviao.org I have the honour to refer to Item 1 of this issue of JRL. I have enjoyed reading JRL for years and almost never make any comments on the pieces that are published. We all have too much to read the way […]
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TUNIS. March 4 (Interfax) – Russia thinks that the European Union and the United States want to cancel agreements reached between Ukraine’s authorities and opposition on February 21. “They are trying to annul the February 21 agreement on settling the crisis in Ukraine that was signed by Ukraine’s president and opposition,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO. March 4 (Interfax) – Far from all moves of Western countries are legitimate, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the Western criticism of Russia. “We are often accused of taking illegitimate actions. And when I ask if they think [their actions] are totally legitimate, they say yes. They have to be reminded about the U.S. actions in Afghanistan, Iraq […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – March 4, 2014) President Vladimir Putin spoke publicly about the political turmoil in Ukraine on Tuesday for the first time since ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev amid violence between police and anti-government protesters. Putin echoed comments made by Yanukovych at a news conference in Rostov-on-Don last week, saying that the […]
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(Kremlin.ru – March 4, 2014) Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region [Complete English translation will be here http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/6763] The President of Russia met with media representatives to answer a number of their questions, in particular with regard to the situation in Ukraine. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues, How shall we do this? This is what I’d like to suggest: let’s […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#45 :: 3 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 […]
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(The Ukraine List (UKL) #468 – Dominique Arel – 2 March 2014) Chair of Ukrainian Studies, University of Ottawa – ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca The unimaginable is now before us: the Higher Chamber of the Russian parliament has authorized Russia to send troops “on the territory of Ukraine,” leaving open the possibility that the Russian army, currently occupying Crimea, may be dispatched elsewhere on […]
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KYIV. March 3 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian parliament plans to create a group of Ukrainian parliamentarians for negotiations with their Russian colleagues on Tuesday, Oleh Tyagnibok, leader of the Svoboda (Freedom) faction of the parliament, said. “At the conciliatory council, we decided to create a group of Ukrainian parliamentarians for negotiations with Russian parliamentarians. Obviously, such a group will be […]
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MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) – Russia does not want a war with Ukraine and is prepared to support all forces in that country that advocate stronger relations between Moscow and Kyiv, Russian State Secretary – Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said. “Russia does not want a war with Ukraine,” he said on Vladimir Solovyov’s Voskresny Vecher program aired by Rossiya […]
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MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) – Moscow expects the Federation Council’s consent to send Russian army servicemen to Ukraine to have a sobering effect on many forces in that country. “Speaking of the decision the Federation Council made yesterday, we expect this decision to sober up many and to demonstrate the seriousness of intentions of the Russian Federation,” Russian State Secretary […]
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(Interfax – March 2, 2014) A senior Russian diplomat has said that Russia does not want war with Ukraine and will support those in favour of stronger relations between the two countries, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 2 March. Another report quoted the diplomat, State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin, saying that Russia has to protect […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Sevastopol – March 3, 2014) Russia tightened its grip on Ukraine’s Crimea region on March 3, with Russian forces entering Ukraine’s navy headquarters in Sevastopol with the apparent intention of disarming the base. Despite western demands to withdraw, Russian military forces have secured full control of the peninsula without firing a […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Anatol Lieven – March 3, 2014) Anatol Lieven is a professor in the War Studies Department of King’s College London and a senior fellow of the New America Foundation in Washington DC. A new, updated edition of America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism, was republished in September 2012 by Oxford University Press. Russia and the […]
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(Facebook – Michael McFaul – March 2, 2014 – https://www.facebook.com/russialist/posts/10203369527624843) “To my Russian friends especially, if you argued in 2003 that it was a mistake and illegitimate for the U.S. to invade Iraq (as many Americans did as well), then why are you invoking the Iraq war to justify a Russian repetition of such an illegitimate mistake in Ukraine? I […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, March 2, 2014) In connection with the situation around Ukraine the West cannot succeed in having Russia internationally isolated, the chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs, Aleksey Pushkov, has said. “As I see it, talk about Russia’s international isolation does not seem productive to me,” Pushkov told Interfax on Sunday [2 March]. The […]
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(RIA Novosti – March 3, 2014) A Ukrainian nationalist leader who allegedly called for the help of a Chechen warlord via the social network VKontakte is now being sought in Russia on charges of extremism, Russian investigators said Monday. Dmitry Yarosh, who heads the right-wing group Pravy Sektor, purportedly wrote on Saturday that reputed Chechen warlord Doku Umarov should help […]
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MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) – Russian leader Vladimir Putin told US President Barack Obama in a telephone conversation Sunday that Moscow reserved the right to protect its own interests and those of Russian speakers in the event of violence breaking out in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. The Kremlin press service said Putin responded to Obama’s expression of concern over […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#43 :: 1 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 […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Marc Champion – February 27, 2014) Marc Champion is a Bloomberg View editorial board member. Russian rhetoric on Ukraine can be infuriating, a continuous rewriting of history to disguise a fundamental disbelief in its neighbor’s right to become a fully independent country. For all that, Western leaders need to listen more carefully, because some of what […]
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SIMFEROPOL, March 1 (RIA Novosti) – The Crimean Prime Minister said Saturday that Russian troops are operating on the Ukrainian peninsula and made a personal appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin for more assistance. The Kremlin said in a subsequent statement that it would not ignore the request for help. Sergei Aksyonov, who was appointed prime minister after a parliamentary […]
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MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s upper house of parliament on Saturday approved a request from President Vladimir Putin to use armed force in Ukraine. Putin made the request because of what he said was a threat to the lives of Russian citizens and military forces located in naval bases in Crimea. The Federation Council voted unanimously in support […]
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MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) – Armed men dispatched from Kiev to the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea attempted an overnight storm of the local Interior Ministry, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday. “As a result of this perfidious provocation several people were injured,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “This confirms that certain well-known political circles in Kiev […]
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WASHINGTON, February 28 (RIA Novosti) – A veteran US diplomat linked with a possible ambassadorial posting to Moscow has said the United States and Russia must refrain from adopting confrontational positions on Ukraine and should instead cooperate on assisting the country achieve stability. Steven Pifer, who served as US Ambassador to Ukraine for two years up until 2000, was named […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 28, 2014) Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich on Friday said the country’s economy could accelerate to a growth rate of 4 percent next year, in stark contrast to the dour expectations of the Economic Development Ministry. The ministry sees the Russian economy struggling to rise above 3 percent growth for the next two decades. […]
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(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI, February 28, 2014) For perhaps the first time since the Olympic Park project was conceived and the first stones were laid in 2007, the hub of sports facilities and venues on the Black Sea coast in Sochi looked deserted. What was once occupied by phalanxes of excavators, road rollers and trucks […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 27, 2014) Kremlin strategists now recognize that the themes of stability and modernization will not allow them to connect with the rising generation in Russia as such ideas did in the last election with slightly older people, but they have not yet figured out what themes they will try to use, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Katerina Azarova – February 28, 2014) Sunshine and pancakes: If you ask me, it doesn’t get any better than that. That’s what Moscow is all about this week, because it’s Maslenitsa time! The delicious, gluttonous week of sweet and savory pancakes before Lent is finally upon us, and you should definitely take advantage of all […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Fyodor Lukyanov, special to RBTH – February 26, 2014) Fyodor Lukyanov is Chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defence Policies and Editor in Chief of the journal Russia in Global Affairs. Like 10 years ago following the “Orange Revolution”, there’s been a dramatic shift in power in Ukraine and a formerly stable […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – February 28, 2014) U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has told new Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk in a telephone conversation that the interim government in Kiev has Washington’s full support. The White House said in a statement that Biden congratulated Yatsenyuk on his appointment on Thursday and said that the U.S. will […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 28, 2014) Russia’s anti-gay laws and attempts by the ousted Ukrainian president to quash opposition protests were among the world’s most grievous human rights violations to emerge over the past year, the U.S. State Department said in its annual report. The review of 200 countries and territories around the globe said a chemical attack […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Sandrine Rastello and Terry Atlas – February 28, 2014) The International Monetary Fund has extensive experience lending to Ukraine in recent years. It’s not a track record favoring the country as it seeks aid to stave off default. Twice since 2008, the IMF froze loans to the former Soviet republic after governments at the time balked […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 27, 2014) An increasing share of Russians say they are nostalgic for the Soviet system with the number indicating that they support for democracy and free markets or the political system they now live under has fallen in recent years, according to the results of a new poll by the Levada […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Igor Dunayevsky, special to RBTH – February 27, 2014) Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexey Ulyukayev on Russia’s plans to attract U.S. investors and boost mutual trade. Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev paid a visit to the Washington, DC on Feb. 24-26 to discuss possibilities for increased bilateral trade and investment […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Gasyuk, special to RBTH – February 26, 2014) Foreign policy experts and former foreign service officers weigh in on what’s needed in the next U.S. ambassador to Russia. Spaso House, the neoclassical villa that is the longtime home of American ambassadors to Russia, awaits a new occupant to warm the frosty bilateral […]
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(Interfax – February 27, 2014) Most Russians are following the events in Ukraine, and nearly half of them are sure that the recent protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities have been influenced by the West, as is seen from a public opinion poll of 1,603 people the Levada Center sociological service conducted in 130 populated areas of 45 regions […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – February 27, 2014) Michael McFaul officially relinquished his position as U.S. ambassador to Russia on Wednesday morning, leaving one of the U.S.’ most vital diplomatic posts empty amid political upheaval in neighboring Ukraine. McFaul, known for his active presence on Twitter, wrote goodbyes to Russian users of the microblogging service throughout the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – February 27, 2014) [Graphics here http://www.bne.eu/storyf5807/Paper_trail_leads_to_massive_ corruption_at_heart_of_Ukraine] With former president Viktor Yanukoych and most of his cronies on the run, the full extent to which they have looted Ukraine is now coming to light as activists and journalists sift through documents abandoned in the haste of flight. Document scraps […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – February 27, 2014) The surprise combat inspection of the country’s western and central military command will involve all wings of the Russian armed forces with over 150,000 personnel taking part. Although not connected to the drills, the developments in Crimea are being closely monitored by the Russian Defence Ministry. On Wednesday, February 26 […]
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(RIA Novosti – February 27, 2014) The head of the powerful Investigative Committee said Thursday that preventing corruption during a planned privatization of state assets will be a top priority for his agency this year. The government recently announced plans for an ambitious three-year program running up to 2016 to privatize a wide array of state property, from energy to […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – February 27, 2014) [Charts here http://www.bne.eu/storyf5775/Emerging_middle_class_delays_major _purchases_lots_of_catchup_left] Winds of uncertainty are blowing again and many in emerging markets have put off big-ticket purchases as a result. However, a survey from Credit Suisse released in February found some of these markets have progressed and diverged to such an extent that […]
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(RIA Novosti – February 27, 2014) Steady weakening of the ruble will contribute to inflation, but may also boost revenues to the Russian treasury by $10 billion, a senior finance official has predicted, according to a report in a daily newspaper Thursday. Since the federal budget for 2014 assumed an exchange rate of 33 rubles to the dollar, a weaker […]
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Subject: Comment on Johnson’s Russia List #36/Tennison&Ferguson Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 From: Al Weeks <Aweeks11@comcast.net> Two postings on JRL, one by Ms. Tennison, the other by Mr. Ferguson, raise some issues that in my opinion, neither writer coped with realistically. For her part, Sharon Tennison argues that post-1991 Russia has performed what she calls a “miracle” in its recovery […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 27, 2014) Less than two weeks ahead of the deadline set by the Kremlin for the abolishment of major state-funded news agency RIA Novosti, its employees say they still lack details about what will happen to their jobs or when the company will cease its work. The wire service is set […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#41 :: 27 February 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 […]
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[poll originally posted in late 2013] We would like to hear your opinion about unfolding events in Ukraine and welcome your participation in the following poll. Visitors can vote for up to three choices, and generally can vote once each day. There also as an option to “fill in the blank.” After you have made your choice(s) and/or added a […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#40 :: 26 February 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 […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – February 26, 2014) As Russia ally and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych fled and a new government took over in Kiev this weekend, Russia awoke to unpaid debts and a question: how to deal with its neighbor’s government not only politically, but economically. “The main channel of influence on the Russian economy […]
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KYIV. Feb 26 (Interfax) – Ukraine will be ready to resume a full-fledged bilateral dialogue in the Ukrainian-Russian Interstate Commission’s institutions as soon as the new Ukrainian government is formed, says a report posted on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry website on Tuesday. “We reaffirm our loyalty to Ukrainian-Russian relations on a brand new, truly equal and neighborly basis, which has […]
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