RIA Novosti: Study Suggests Russian Medal Count to Be Boosted by Home Advantage

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti) – A new study on the scientific basis of the home advantage in sports suggests that the Russian medal count at the Sochi Games opening Friday might be boosted by psychological effects. “Game location has a powerful influence on performance outcomes in sport,” British scientists Mark S. Allen and Marc V. Jones wrote. The study, […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Opening of International Olympic Committee session in Sochi

Sochi 2014

(Kremlin.ru – February 4, 2014) Vladimir Putin spoke at the opening of the 126th session of the International Olympic Committee, held in Sochi ahead of the Winter Olympic Games. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Ladies and gentlemen, friends, President Bach, I am truly happy to welcome you to Sochi, which is hosting the XXII Winter Olympic Games. We are only […]

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Putin Rolls Out His English for IOC Opening in Sochi

Sochi 2014

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – February 5, 2014) President Vladimir Putin concluded the 126th session of the International Olympic Committee in Sochi on Tuesday evening just as he delivered Russia’s appeal to committee voters in Guatemala in 2007 before they chose a city for the Winter Games: in English. “Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen! I declare the […]

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Olympic Facilities Still Not Ready

Sochi 2014

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – SOCHI – February 4, 2014) As thousands of foreign journalists begin to flock into Sochi, questions regarding their accommodation remained unanswered, the president of Russia’s National Olympic Committee said. While touring the new Sochi Media Center, designed to accommodate journalists who are not accredited for the Games, Alexander Zhukov said Monday that there were still […]

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Interfax: No shortages of snow likely at Winter Olympics – expert

Sochi 2014

MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) – No shortages of snow are likely in Sochi, said Roman Vilfand, chief of the weather monitoring service, Hydrometcentre. “The snow is thick and firm enough. No problems are likely to arise with the snow, at least through the first 20 days of February,” Vilfand said. Vilfand’s deputy in charge of hydrometeorological support for the Games, […]

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Putin Arrives in Sochi Ahead of Winter Olympics Curtain-Raiser

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Christopher Brennan – February 4, 2014) President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Winter Olympic city of Sochi on Tuesday to play host to visitors three days before the opening ceremony. After arriving in Sochi, Putin visited Sochi National Park and an animal breeding and rehabilitation center that was built using budget funds set aside for […]

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Sochi Spotlights Weakness as Caucasus Remains Restive

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – February 4, 2013 – Ilya Arkhipov and Stepan Kravchenko) The Sochi Olympics, designed to trumpet the strength of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, also shines a light on its weaknesses. As skiers, hockey players and figure skaters arrive this week at the games that cost about $50 billion, the North Caucasus region remains unruly more than 14 years […]

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RIA Novosti: Terrorist Attack Possible at Sochi Olympics – Experts

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

MOSCOW, February 3 (RIA Novosti) – Holding this month’s Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi and developing resorts in the neighboring North Caucasus region risk increasing tensions in the already unstable area, a research group has warned in a report. The International Crisis Group presented a new study Monday titled “Too Far, Too Fast: Sochi, Tourism and Conflict […]

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Under the Radar: Eight Things to Watch for in Sochi

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – James Ellingworth, special to RBTH  – January 30, 2014) Tired of reading about men’s hockey and security threats? Here are a few issues you might have missed. The build-up’s been going on for seven years, and with the Sochi Olympics now just days away, newspapers around the world are bursting with previews and […]

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Putin chooses Olympic Games venue himself – television

(Interfax – February 3, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had personally chosen the venue of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. “I am especially pleased to see what is going on here because I chose this venue personally. I came here by UAZ [car] in 2001 or 2002, we drove around, came to the bank of that river and […]

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With Sochi Locked Down, Worries Arise of an Attack Elsewhere

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – February 3, 2014) Amid unprecedented security measures by the authorities to secure Sochi for the Winter Olympics, observers have expressed concerns that other cities in Russia have been left unprotected, with law enforcement personnel and technical equipment needed to prevent terrorist attacks having been concentrated in the Olympic capital. Some Russian regions, […]

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Comment on the Economist editorial entitled “The triumph of Vladimir Putin” (JRL 2014-#21)

Kremlin and Saint Basil's

Subject: Comment on the Economist editorial entitled “The triumph of Vladimir Putin” (JRL 2014-#21) Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2014 From: Ben Aris <editor@bne.eu> [Editor, Business New Europe] I have to comment on the Economist editorial entitled “The triumph of Vladimir Putin” (JRL 2014-#22) as it is a classic example of Russian bashing that is full of mistakes, half-truths, omissions and […]

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A Week Before Games, Sochi Still Lacking Final Touches

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI – January 31, 2014) With a week to go before the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games, one would expect the Olympic Park to be filled with the bustle and buzz of arriving athletes, journalists and spectators. What might be less predictable is the noise and tumult created by excavators, […]

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Sochi: New beginnings when the party is over

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – January 29, 2014) Alexander Yakovenko, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, ponders how the Olympics will affect international diplomacy and tackles some of the misunderstandings surrounding the Games. In little more than a week, the Winter Olympic Games start in Sochi, but the prospects after this landmark event are visible now. I am […]

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Rain or Shine, Putin Takes the Blame

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI – January 28, 2014) It has been raining in Sochi for two weeks. The rain isn’t expected to disrupt the Winter Olympics, which open Feb. 7 on the snow-covered mountains looming over this subtropical Black Sea resort. But the rain is the subject of urban legend. Both good and bad weather […]

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Interfax: Security level of daily life in Sochi totally in line with global standards – official

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Interfax – January 28, 2014) The security of daily life in Sochi ahead of the Winter Olympics is ensured in line with the global standards, Russian Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Natural Disasters Vladimir Puchkov said. “The Olympics is a global event that determines our country’s prestige. Ensuring the security of the Olympics is the most important task for […]

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VIP turnout at Sochi: Trouble, but not a tragedy

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Gevorg Mirzayan, special to RBTH – January 28, 2014) Russian opponents failed to organize a boycott of the Sochi Olympics. Refusal of a number of world leaders to visit the opening ceremony will not lead to its collapse. Gevorg Mirzayan is a correspondent for Expert magazine and a research fellow at the U.S. […]

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Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia goes for Olympic gold

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dominic Basulto, special to RBTH – January 28, 2014) Sochi is ready for its Olympic debut. When the world tunes in to watch the 2014 Winter Games, it will see futuristic, state-of-the-art stadiums nestled next to the Black Sea, breathtaking views from world-class ski resorts in the snow-capped Caucasus mountains, and a sprawling […]

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A Russian-American snowboarding love story

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ilya Trisvyatsky, special to RBTH – January 25, 2014) Vic Wild is an American-born snowboarder who now holds Russian citizenship and will compete for Russia in the Sochi Olympics. Born in Washington State, he decided to change his citizenship after falling in love with a Russian sportswoman. There will be several naturalized athletes […]

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Interfax: Some 60 foreign leaders to attend Olympics opening ceremony in Sochi – Kremlin aide

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) – Sixty heads of state and government have confirmed their plans to take part in the opening ceremony of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said. “A very large number of leaders have given their consent. We have counted about 60 heads of state and government,” Ushakov told journalists on Friday. […]

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U.S.-Russian Sochi Cooperation ‘Subject to Mistrust’

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – January 23, 2014) As the U.S. expressed concern over the safety of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and offered to send its own warships to assist in case of a terrorist threat, observers said that cooperation between U.S. and Russian security agencies on the matter is not much more than […]

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Interfax: Terror threat at Sochi Olympics not greater than at other Olympics – Medvedev

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Interfax – January 23, 2014) The security threats facing next month’s Winter Olympic Games in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi are not much more serious that those at the Olympic Games in other countries. “Frankly, I don’t think that the threat is greater at the Sochi Olympics than at other Olympics in other countries. We live in a […]

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RIA Novosti: US Offers Russia Security Support for Sochi Olympics

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti) ­ American military assets have been offered to bolster security for the upcoming Sochi Olympic Games scheduled to open in less than three weeks, the Pentagon said Monday. “Air and naval assets, to include two Navy ships in the Black Sea, will be available if requested,” press secretary Rear Admiral John F. Kirby said in […]

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Security Concerns Mount As Sochi Olympic Opening Nears

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(RFE/RL – rferl.org –  Robert Coalson – January 21, 2014) Security forces in the Black Sea Russian city of Sochi are looking for a woman from the North Caucasus whom they believe might be planning a terrorist attack during next month’s winter Olympic games. Officials are distributing photos of 22-year-old Ruzanna Ibragimova, reportedly the widow of an alleged North Caucasus […]

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Upsurge in Terrorism in Russia ‘Not Just about Sochi’ and Won’t End with Olympiad, Analyst Says

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, January 20, 2104) Most commentaries in Moscow and the West have argued that the recent terrorist actions in Volgograd were undertaken to disrupt the Sochi Olympics, a suggestion that some in the Russian capital have invoked to justify even tighter security for that competition. But even if those behind the attacks are […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Interview to Russian and foreign media

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Speaking with Flag Behind Him and Microphones in Front

(Kremlin.ru – January 19, 2014) Ahead of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the Russian President gave an interview to reporters from BBC, ABC News, CCTV, Rossiya-1, Channel One, and Around the Rings. The interview was recorded in Sochi on January 17. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: It seems to me that you know everything about the coming Olympics and I […]

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Russia Beyond the Headlines: Putin says Sochi visitors will see a new Russia

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Nikolay Surkov, RBTH – January 20, 2014) Russia will welcome all participants and guests of the Sochi Olympics irrespective of their sexuality, President Vladimir Putin has said to domestic and foreign media President Vladimir Putin is promising that Sochi’s Olympic Games will be a success and the world will see what a great […]

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‘Not a Single Complaint’ About Sochi Preparations

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – January 17, 2014) Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Thursday that there had been no misuse of funds allocated for the upcoming 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, with only 99 billion rubles from the overall price tag of 214 billion rubles taken out of the state budget. News reports had earlier put […]

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RIA Novosti: US Team Looks to Continue Resurgence at Sochi Olympics

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

WASHINGTON, January 13 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) ­ The United States is a serious contender to top the medals table at the Winter Olympics in Sochi next month after a record-setting performance in Vancouver four years ago, but its prospects on Olympic snow and ice weren’t always so promising. Following a dismal performance at the 1988 Winter Games […]

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The Price of One Day in Russia’s Summer Capital

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – SOCHI, January 14, 2014) Standing on Sochi’s Kurortny Prospekt, the city’s main avenue, Sochi’s status as the Nice of Russia is immediately clear; it is not only the site of the upcoming Winter Olympics, but also a place for national celebrities to see and be seen. It is perhaps due to this […]

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Ahead of Olympics, Russians Urged to Help Prevent Attacks

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – moscowtimes.com – January 14, 2014) Less than a month before the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian investigators appealed to civilians on Tuesday to be more vigilant and help avert the threat of “terrorist” attacks. Insurgents who want to create an Islamist state in the North Caucasus mountains have threatened to attack the Games, and suicide bombers killed […]

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U.S. Cautions Sochi Travelers Amid Threats

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – January 13, 2014) The U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert for Americans traveling to Sochi for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics as security threats continue to emerge in southern Russia, which is set to host the Games next month. Over the weekend, police defused two handmade bombs in the North […]

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Interfax: Sochi air becomes twice as clean – Kozak

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

SOCHI. Jan 10 (Interfax) – According to the information of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, the environmental situation has improved in Sochi amid the preparations for the Olympics. “Air and water in Sochi have become cleaner today than they were in December 2007,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak told reporters in Sochi on Friday. The data […]

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Sochi’s New Power Grid Still Unfinished

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – NOVO-OGAREVO, January 10, 2014) Workers in Sochi are still building the city’s new power grid less than a month before the Winter Olympics get under way, the energy minister has said. Generators and other facilities are in place but the grid, with a web of 900 kilometers of power cable and 500 substations, is unlikely […]

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U.S. Private Security Firm On Standby in Case of Emergency During Olympics

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 9, 2014) A U.S. crisis-response firm will have five aircraft on standby during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in the event that an emergency requires an evacuation. The private Global Rescue firm, which had announced in November that it would assist the U.S. ski and snowboard teams during the Olympics, will stand by […]

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Ruble Strengthens as Russia Readies for Olympics Amid Oil Gain

Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Vladimir Kuznetsov – January 8, 2014) The ruble strengthened after the resumption of trading in Moscow as oil gained and investors bet next month’s Winter Olympics will support Russia’s currency. The ruble appreciated 0.4 percent to 38.4873 against Bank Rossii’s target basket of dollars and euros by 2:03 p.m. in Moscow. The yield on Russian government […]

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In the Shadow of Sochi: The North Caucasus in 2013

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 2 – Paul Goble – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – January 7, 2014) Russian officials have repeatedly complained over the last 12 months that analysts in both Russia and the West will link, appropriately or not, everything that takes place in Russia before February 2014 with the Sochi Olympiad. There may be some justification […]

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Mitt Romney Says Sochi Games Likely to Be Safe

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 6, 2014) Former U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Russia should not have been chosen to host the Olympics considering its role in global politics but the upcoming games in Sochi are likely to be as safe as any other. Romney, who led the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, told Fox […]

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Putin’s Caucasian Games

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Bloomberg editorial – Bloomberg.com – January 3, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly intends next month’s Winter Olympics in Sochi as a showcase for the country’s re-emergence as a global power. Given his recent diplomatic coups in Syria and Ukraine, maybe he thinks that he has plenty to show off. Yet this week’s twin suicide bombings in Volgograd, which killed […]

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Putin Urges Increased Security Across Russia After Bombings

Large Mother Russia Statue Near Volgograd

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman – January 2, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin called for increased security across the world’s largest country after a pair of suicide bombings killed more than 30 people before the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in February. Authorities have detained more than 700 people as officers, including teams with search dogs, investigate the attacks on […]

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Russia Bombings Raise Specter of Olympics Terrorist Attacks

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer and Ben Priechenfried – December 31, 2013) Two bomb attacks in southern Russia before the country hosts the Winter Olympics are raising concerns that militants active in the region will target the games to gain international attention. The main threat is attacks by Muslim separatist groups in the North Caucasus that are at war […]

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50 Days Before Games, Main Sochi Stadium Still Not Open

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – December 26, 2013) With Sochi quickly becoming a focus of world attention as the finish line for preparations approaches for the Winter Games, the venue that will host the opening ceremony of Russia’s largest international event in decades has still not been officially opened for use. Fisht Olympic Stadium, which will host […]

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VIDEO: U.S. Ambassador McFaul Says No Boycott Of Sochi Olympics, Addresses U.S.-Russian Relations, Ukraine, Adoptions, other issues

Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

Ambassador Michael McFaul, U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation, addresses U.S.-Russian Relations, Ukraine, the Sochi Olympics, adoptions and other matters, in this video by RFE/RL’s Russian Service. McFaul is interviewed in Russian, with English subtitles. The video was dated December 17, 2013.

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U.S. Ambassador Says No Boycott Of Sochi

Ambassador Mike McFaul file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – December 17, 2013) U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has spoken of the current state of bilateral relations, the upcoming Sochi Olympics, and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine in a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with RFE/RL’s Russian Service. McFaul, speaking at RFE/RL’s Moscow Bureau, quashed rumors of a possible U.S. boycott of the Winter Olympics. He confirmed […]

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RIA Novosti: Obama to Skip Sochi Games in Apparent Snub Over Anti-Gay Law

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) ­ US President Barack Obama dealt a sharp reprimand to Russia over its anti-gay laws on Tuesday by including two openly homosexual athletes in the official delegation to the Winter Olympics in Sochi and declining to attend the Games himself. The White House announced that Billie Jean King, a gay former tennis champion, and Caitlin […]

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ANNOUNCEMENT: New White Papers [re: Terrorism, Caucasus, Sochi Olympics, Boston Marathon bombing]

File Photo of Sochi Olympics Banner Near Highway in Warm Weather with Vehicle and Cyclicsts Nearby

Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 0 From: GORDON HAHN <gordon-hahn@sbcglobal.net> Subject: New white papers ANNOUNCEMENT The Geostrategic Forecasting Corporation has posted the first of its white papers: Gordon M. Hahn, The Caucasus Emirate Comes to America: The Boston Marathon Bombing (Chicago, Ill.: GFC, October 2013 Gordon M. Hahn, The Caucasus Emirate Threat to the Sochi Winter Olympics (Chicago, Ill.: GFC, […]

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