(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 29, 2014) Russia’s deputy foreign minister on Monday called for a joint effort between Moscow and Washington in fighting the radical group Islamic State, but appeared to play down fears of a high number of Russians in the group. “The Americans say terrorism represents a direct threat to their national security. I think the […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Liz Fuller – September 7, 2014) September 7 marks the first anniversary of the death from poisoning of Doku Umarov, the Chechen field commander who abandoned the cause of an independent Chechen Republic Ichkeria in 2007 and instead proclaimed a Caucasus Emirate (IK) encompassing the entire North Caucasus. While Umarov’s death has had only minimal impact on the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – September 4, 2014) Members of the Islamic State, a violent group of extremists presently terrorizing Iraq and Syria, have released a video threatening President Vladimir Putin and vowing to wage war in Russia’s restive North Caucasus. Message to Putin A video released by Al Arabiya and reportedly filmed in a seized airport in […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Margaret Talev – July 23, 2014) The downing of a Malaysian passenger aircraft in Ukraine may stiffen Obama administration resistance to providing heavy armaments to rebels — or even besieged governments — seeking U.S. help in hotspots around the world. In the wake of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) disaster, President Barack Obama has raised the risk […]
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MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama will have a phone conversation on issues related to the situation in Ukraine, Iraq, and Syria in the next few days, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told reporters. “Putin and Obama plan to have a phone conversation in the next few days. It will focus […]
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MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart, John Kerry, are due to meet in Paris on Thursday to discuss Syria and Ukraine, two countries that both have recently held presidential ballots amid what is largely described as a civil war. The two foreign policy officials have a long history of talks, having […]
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MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) – Russia is ready to continue working together with the United States on the settlement of the Syrian crisis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bodanov said. “We are prepared to carry on the coordinated work with our American partners on the basis of the earlier agreements. The entire Geneva negotiating process was launched on the basis […]
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[“Russia, NATO plan joint operation on Syria’s chemical weapons” – Reuters – Gabriela Baczynska and Adrian Croft – February 14, 2014 – reuters.com/article/2014/02/14/us-syria-crisis-russia-nato-idUSBREA1D0Y120140214] Reuters covers plans for a NATO-Russian joint naval operation in the Mediterranean to protect a U.S. ship playing a role in the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons. The mission would be a cooperative step even as Russian […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax) – Attempts to explain all of Syria’s current problems by President Bashar al Assad’s tenure hold no water and only reflect Washington’s obsession with the idea of Syrian president’s overthrow, chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexei Pushkov said in remarks about U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech at the Davos international economic […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Fyodor Lukyanov, special to RBTH inShare0 – January 27, 2014) Fyodor Lukyanov is the chairman of the board of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. The stakes are high for both the U.S. and Russia as Geneva II gets underway. The Geneva II conference is the most intriguing diplomatic event since the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Ilyashenko, special to RBTH – January 21, 2014) Syria’s opposition group’s inability to come to a united understanding threatens to delay the start of the peace conference. In making any predictions about GenevaII, the Syrian peace conference that opens on January 22 in Montreux, Switzerland, no degree of caution would be supererogatory. […]
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(Interfax – January 10, 2014) Russia and the United States share the opinion that it is necessary to hold the international conference on Syria in the time scheduled, on January 22, and consider military resolution in the Syrian conflict to be not viable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said following the Russian-U.S. consultations on Syria. “The necessity to activate efforts aimed […]
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MOSCOW, January 7 (RIA Novosti) The first consignment of chemical weapons has left the Syrian port of Latakia on a Danish cargo vessel, the international chemical weapons watchdog said on Tuesday. “The removal of the first consignment of priority chemicals from the Syrian Arab Republic took place today,” the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Margot Light – January 5, 2014) Margot Light is Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics and Political Science. 2013 produced several foreign policy successes for President Putin, increasing Russia’s prominence on the international stage. At home, the Volgograd suicide attacks brought the year to a sad and […]
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(RIA Novosti – Fyodor Lukyanov – December 2, 2013) Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal the most authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments. One can only marvel at how quickly things change. Just a short while ago, Russia seemed to be retreating on all diplomatic fronts. An attack on […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, November 18, 2013) Moscow fears that the Syrian opposition would receive weapons through humanitarian corridors, should they be created, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. The Syrian opposition earlier spoke of the need to open humanitarian corridors through the territories under Syrian government control as a condition for taking part in the Geneva-2 international conference […]
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VLADIVOSTOK. Nov 18 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has described the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces’ demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must go as a precondition for its participation in the Geneva II conference as unrealistic and going against the Geneva communique. “The opposition, primarily that represented by the National Coalition, said it would […]
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MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) Russia considers unfounded US skepticism over the sincerity of Syria’s declaration of its chemical weapon stockpiles, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday. US envoy to the United Nations Samantha Power said earlier this week that Washington was closely reviewing Syria’s declaration of its chemical weapons stockpiles, in light of a history of “years […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 5, 2013) The Syrian crisis, which gave Vladimir Putin a much-celebrated diplomatic victory, now threatens Russia’s territorial integrity not because Russian citizens are among the combatants in Syria but because Moscow’s mishandling of the Circassian issue in the Middle East is radicalizing the Circassian republics of the North Caucasus. Circassian activists […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) – Russia will make a decision on the degree of its financial contribution to the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons in the near future, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “The Russian material contribution was considered during these consultations. We don’t yet have a reason to publicly announce its parameters, but we are about to make […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) – Russian political scientists believe that U.S. business magazine Forbes decided to place Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at the top of its Most Powerful People rating largely thanks to his influence and the effectiveness of his initiative aimed at tackling problems linked to the conflict in Syria “The reasons why Putin was chosen to head this […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) – The situation in Syria provides proof that Russia’s efforts to settle the conflict politically are correct, contrary to their American partners’ claims, said Russia’s ambassador to Syria, Azamat Kulmukhametov. “Our American partners kept saying that we are on the wrong side of history. However, our entire policy and the latest developments in Syria, as well […]
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MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday that a meeting of 11 nations on resolving the Syrian conflict resulted in a call for regime change, a challenge that upsets plans for a peace conference in Geneva. The final document adopted at the London meeting on Tuesday “again sets regime change in Damascus as the […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) – Russian citizens are aware of the Russian-U.S. agreements concerning Syria, which are supported by UN resolutions, and think the deal has helped prevent a military operation against Syria, sociologists from the Russian Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said. Some 68% of the respondents showed an interest in Syrian events, among them, 15% constantly monitor the developments […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer – October 25, 2013) President Vladimir Putin is turning to Barack Obama for help protecting the costliest Winter Games ever from attacks by Islamic extremists, including hundreds of battle-hardened jihadists now fighting in Syria. About 400 Russian nationals, mainly from the North Caucasus, are currently battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, RBTH – October 17, 2013) As Lavrov’s achievements in the negotiations regarding the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria put him in the spotlight, RBTH takes a look at the man beyond his political persona. The agreement on the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, which was reached on September 14, 2013, […]
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(Interfax – October 17, 2013) The Geneva II international conference on Syria has been rescheduled once again due to the Syrian opposition’s reluctance to reach agreements, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper said on Thursday. The end of November or even December is now being discussed as a possible date for the conference instead of the middle of November previously announced by Russian […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, October 17, 2013) An international peace conference on Syria backed by Russia and the United States will take place on November 23-24, a senior Syrian governmental official said Thursday. The Geneva-2 conference will proceed despite leading Syrian opposition groups’ continuing reluctance to participate, Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil said at a press conference in Moscow. The […]
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(Interfax – BRUSSELS, October 15, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called the Russian-U.S. understandings on Syria’s chemical weapons a renaissance of diplomacy aimed not at building coalitions but at reaching common goals. Speaking at the Brussels-based Royal Institute for International Relations (Egmont Institute), Lavrov suggested that the world has switched to a polycentric from a bipolar system of […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Gasyuk, Nora FitzGerald, special to RBTH, October 8, 20-13) There is a long journey ahead to audit and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons program, analysts agree, and there are many concerns and inevitable delays in the days and weeks ahead. Yet the international community is closer than it has ever been to eradicating […]
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(Interfax – October 8, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed the Syrian leadership’s response to the Russian-US proposal for eliminating the country’s chemical weapons, adding that he hoped this work would continue in the pace and spirit it had started in. He also expressed satisfaction with the position his US counterpart Barack Obama had taken on Syria. Putin was […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, October 2, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was content with the situation development regarding chemical weapons liquidation in Syria. “Judging by what work related to the Syrian chemical weapons liquidation is currently being held, we have grounds to think that we are on the right path,” Putin said when answering questions at the Investment Forum […]
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(Interfax – October 2, 2013) Over half of polled Russians (59 per cent) are against an international military operation in Syria similar to the one that was carried out in Libya, the Russian news agency Interfax reported on 2 October, quoting an opinion poll carried out by the independent pollster Levada Centre amongst 1,601 Russian adults between 20 and 24 […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, October 1, 2013) Russia announced Tuesday it will carry out its own investigation into chemical weapons attacks in Syria as an international disarmament inspection team, reportedly comprising one Russian, arrived in the Middle Eastern nation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow wanted to establish who was behind the August poison attack and criticized Western […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, September 26, 2013) Americans think Russian President Vladimir Putin was far and away the most effective world leader in dealing with the Syrian chemical weapons crisis, with US President Barack Obama trailing him in a distant second place, a new poll shows. Nearly half of 1,000 American adults polled 49 percent said Putin […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) [Complete transcript here http://eng.kremlin.ru/transcripts/6007] VLADIMIR PUTIN: And one more question for our American friend and colleague. What will the United States do about the budget deficit, the debt that has reached an incredible size? It is the largest debt in the United States’ post-war history. How will the situation unfold moving forward? This […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 26, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with a US newspaper published Thursday that homemade sarin nerve agent was used in a chemical weapons attack in Damascus on August 21, an attack that the United States maintains was carried out by the Syrian regime. Lavrov gave an interview to The […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Yakovenko, special to RBTH – September 24, 2013) Alexander Yakovenko, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, talks on Syria. It is widely agreed that the latest proposal to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control and subsequently destroy them has drastically changed the terms of debate on the conflict. The New York […]
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(RIA Novosti – NEW YORK, September 25, 2013) Russia insists that all chemical weapons in Syria, including chemical arms components possibly held by Syrian opposition forces, should be destroyed, the Russian foreign minister said. Speaking after a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in New York early on Wednesday, Moscow time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 24, 2013) Russian Public Chamber member Sergei Markov said the world community must forge a mechanism for dealing with situations similar to the one in Syria. “One should make use of the energy of this crisis and work out a model of dealing with such conflicts,” Markov told the Open Rostrum roundtable in the State Duma. […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yevgeny Shestakov, special to RBTH; Yevgeny Shestakov is Editor of the international politics desk at Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – September 23, 2013) Reporting from last week’s Valdai Club meeting as part of Foreign Minister Lavrov’s press retinue, Yevgeny Shestakov canvasses expert Russian opinion both on and off the record on the nation’s […]
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(Interfax – VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, September 23, 2013) Syria may still be in danger of a military strike from abroad if it fulfills its commitment to scrap all its chemical weapons because there may be “some other pretext” for war, the Kremlin’s top aide said. Sergei Ivanov, president Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff, said in a program on Saturday on Russia’s […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 24, 2013) Any arguments presented by the West that it was President Bashar al-Assad’s regime that carried out a chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21 can be overturned, which is being done today, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “Strong objections can be presented in response to all of the arguments […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 24, 2013) The United Nations Security Council may permit armed intervention in Syria only if that government refuses to fulfill obligations, such as removing chemical weapons stockpiles, a senior Russian government official said Tuesday. Washington and Moscow are expected to clash at the UN General Assembly later this week over the terms of a […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) SVETLANA MIRONYUK: Thank you. Mr President, Mr Rühe wants to respond. Mr Rühe, please go ahead. VOLKER RÜHE: President Putin, I go along with you, what you said on Iraq. And we were as critical; the French were, also. It was not a NATO it was an American decision. But Libya was […]
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(Interfax – VLADIVOSTOK, Russia. September 21, 2013) The Kremlin’s chief of staff, in comments on a recent find in Syria, has dismissed suspicions that a Cyrillic inscription on a splinter of a rocket that apparently carried a chemical charge was evidence that the Syrian government was the perpetrator of last month’s chemical attacks near Damascus. “A marking in Cyrillic has […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) MODERATOR SVETLANA MIRONYUK: They say that Senator McCain followed your example and published an article of his own in Pravda newspaper. He probably remembers from the Soviet years that Pravda was a well-known publication and the most popular newspaper in the country. True, a lot of time has passed and things have changed […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – September 20, 2013) [View entire 3-hour event here http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-PtsodE-ZkY&feature=m-ch-fea] At the 10th-anniversary meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin lapped up praise for his recent New York Times op-ed on the Syria crisis and his “achievement” of averting a U.S. military strike. Putin addressed a wide array of […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) Vladimir Putin took part in the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. The theme of the club’s anniversary session is Russia’s Diversity for the Modern World. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that the place for your discussions, for our meetings is well […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 19, 2013) The estimates of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to which the disposal of Syrian chemical weapons would require approximately one year and cost about $1 billion, are fairly accurate, Chairman of the Council on the Foreign and Defense Policy Fyodor Lukyanov said. “It is probably close to the truth. What foreign countries are saying […]
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