NEWSLINK: Russia and the G8: Increased Prominence in International Affairs

File Photo of G8 Heads of State Outdoors in 2013

[“Russia and the G8: Increased Prominence in International Affairs” – Valdai Discussion Club – Andrew Monaghan – February 18, 2014 – valdaiclub.com/russia_and_the_world/66904.html] Andrew Monaghan, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House, assesses Russia’s role and position on the world stage, as they follow up the Sochi Olympics by hosting the G8 summit in several months: Some suggest that Russia is in […]

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NEWSLINK: Fast food conquers Russia, brings obesity

File Photo of Russian McDbnald's Crew with U.S. Diplomat

[“Fast food conquers Russia, brings obesity” – ITAR-TASS – Lyudmila Alexandrova – February 18, 2014 – http://en.itar-tass.com/opinions/1676] ITAR-TASS tries to blame McDonald’s for Russian obesity: Russia’s first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opened on downtown Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square in late January 1990, causing unprecedented buzz among Muscovites who formed a multi-kilometer line to taste American fast food. International fast food came […]

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It’s Bolotnaya, But Not As We Know It

iPad file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW – February 07, 2014) They’re gearing up to march on Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square. Two years ago, protesters rallied there against electoral fraud in the wake of the disputed December 2011 State Duma elections. In May 2012, they clashed with police on the eve of President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration. And, on February 8, […]

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Russia to Send 32-Member Permanent Mission to WTO

WTO Logo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 5, 2014) More than a year and a half after joining the World Trade Organization, Russia has decided the size of its permanent mission to promote the country’s interests at the body’s headquarters in Geneva. The mission will be staffed by 27 representatives of the Economic Development Ministry and five specialists from the Foreign […]

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Russia proposes fresh round of U.S. trade talks

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Leaning Towards Barack Hussein Obama With Flags Behind Them

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – David Miller, special to RBTH – January 31, 2014) Russian officials are looking to open talks on reducing trade barriers with the country’s former Cold War adversary, despite facing a host of political disagreements in other areas. Russia has proposed a new round of trade negotiations with the United States, aimed at kickstarting […]

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Interfax: Russia to set up appraisal center for WTO issues

WTO Logo

(Interfax – January 29, 2014) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered to set up an autonomous non-profit organization, a center for appraisal of World Trade Organization issues, jointly with the National Research University Higher School of Economics and Sberbank (MOEX: SBER), the Russian government website reported on Wednesday. “To establish jointly with the federal state autonomous institution of higher […]

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Davos Discussions Disprove Russia’s Resurgence

File Photo of "World Economic Forum" Display at Davos from Past Session

(Pavel K. Baev – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 16 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – January 27, 2014) So much self-congratulating has been emanating from the Kremlin following the spectacular triumphs of Russian foreign policy since September 2013, that the court of President Vladimir Putin prefers to ignore the fact that the annual meeting of the World Economic […]

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Delivery companies drop service to Russia over new customs laws

Truck at Russian Border Crossing

(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – January 24, 2014) International shipping companies are canceling consumer package services in Russia, as a new range of customs requirements are likely to raise fees and extend processing times for goods ordered from online stores based abroad. The changes, ostensibly intended to simplify assessment of customs fees for consumer goods shipped from […]

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Interfax: Russia, U.S. plan to conclude several agreements on trade

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

DAVOS. Jan 23 (Interfax) – Russia and the U.S. plan to conclude a number of agreements concerning trade, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists following their meeting with a U.S. trade representative on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “There can be no talk of a project for a trade […]

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Davos to Raise Awkward Questions

File Photo of "World Economic Forum" Display at Davos from Past Session

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – January 20, 2014) Russian delegates at this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos could have to field uneasy questions about the country’s economic slowdown at a time when Western economies are regaining their confidence. Russia’s economic aid to Ukraine is also likely to surface during discussions at the Swiss alpine resort, in […]

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The future’s bright – the future’s Lidl

Kaliningrad Map, adapted and cropped from army.mil image with credit to Jim Kistler, USAWC

(opendemocracy.net – Ola Cichowlas – January 7, 2014) Ola Cichowlas is a British-Polish freelance journalist. She covers Russian regional politics and the arts in provincial Russia. As Russia and the EU fight it out for Ukraine, Ola Cichowlas reports on a more positive initiative on another border, where Russians from Kaliningrad can travel to Gdansk in Poland to sample the […]

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Exxon Russia Ambitions Show Oil Trumps Obama-Putin Spats: Energy

Polar Bear on Ice, Looking Back at Camera

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stephen Bierman – January 2, 2014) As Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin argue over human rights in Russia and the fate of fugitive U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, the countries’ biggest oil companies are preparing to drill for giant discoveries together in the Arctic Ocean. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM:US) and OAO Rosneft (ROSN) are set to […]

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Interfax: Azarov: full-fledged partnership with Russia prevents worst-case economic scenario

Map of European Portion of Former Soviet Union

KYIV. Dec 31 (Interfax) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Rybak have congratulated fellow citizens with the New Year and Christmas. The prime minister recalled the main socioeconomic and political events of the outgoing year and said that the year was complicated but certain achievements were still made. “We averted devaluation of the national currency […]

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Preparations for Russia’s G8 presidency will give priority to search for solutions to key intl issues

File Photo of G8 Heads of State Outdoors in 2013

MOSCOW. Dec 31 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the country’s government and Foreign Ministry until May 1, 2014 to complete negotiations on a Eurasian Economic Union Treaty with Belarus and Kazakhstan and draft a bill to ratify this document. The list of instructions that come as a follow-up to the president’s annual address to the Federal Assembly […]

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Interfax: Ukraine to resume association agreement talks with EU in early 2014 – foreign minister

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KYIV. Dec 25 (Interfax) – Ukraine will resume negotiations with the European Union on signing an association agreement after the New Year’s holidays, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said. “Two rounds of the negotiations have already taken place in Brussels. As you know, the Christmas and New Year’s political holidays begin in Europe today, and Ukraine will resume the negotiations […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian ex-finance minister sceptical about aid to Ukraine, other issues

Ukraine Map and Flag

(RIA Novosti – December 23, 2013) Russia’s former Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Kudrin has expressed concern that Ukraine may spend the funds provided by Russia only to cover its day-do-day expenses, in which case Kyiv will need more economic assistance in two years’ time. Kudrin was speaking at his end-of-year news conference at Russian state news agency […]

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Interfax: Kyiv-Moscow understandings won’t hinder Association Agreement Brussels is ready to sign – Ashton

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BRUSSELS. Dec 19 (Interfax) – High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission Vice President Catherine Ashton believes that the understandings between Ukraine and Russia reached in Moscow won’t hinder Kyiv’s further advancement along the road of European integration. At an extraordinary session of the European Parliament committee on foreign affairs in Brussels on Wednesday […]

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Interfax: Russia’s $15 billion loan for Ukraine may be secured by Ukrainian strategic facilities – Klitschko

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

KYIV. Dec 18 (Interfax) – A Ukrainian opposition leader is concerned that President Viktor Yanukovych might have agreed with Russia on a $15-billion loan secured by Ukrainian strategic facilities. “According to some well-informed sources, a loan agreement for $15 billion secured by Ukrainian property has been signed,” opposition UDAR party leader Vitali Klitschko said at a demonstration on Tuesday. He […]

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Five Stories From Put-Upon Small Business in Moscow

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – December 18, 2013) Before Mayor Sergei Sobyanin came to power in 2010, Guram Bolkvadze, a businessman from Georgia, owned 24 kiosks at bus stops across Moscow. Then one day, he was given just a few hours to get his goods out of the shops before the bulldozers came in and leveled 18 […]

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The weak ruble is a signal to buy shares … or more caviar

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Kuzmin, special to RBTH – December 18, 2013) The ruble’s value decreased 11 percent in 2013, making it a good time for foreign investors to invest or spend more money in Russia. With the Russian ruble devalued by 11 percent, experts say there are opportunities for foreign investors to earn money on […]

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Construction of New Pipeline from North Siberia to China Kicks Off

China Map

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – December 18, 2013) Construction of a major pipeline kicked off Tuesday in an effort that will likely bring more oil from Siberia to China. Governor Lev Kuznetsov made a show at the starting ceremony in his Krasnoyarsk region, braving the rubber-bullet injury he suffered during a robbery of his southern French villa […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia Condemns Pressure on Ukraine to Turn Towards Europe

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MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) ­ Russia is surprised by blatant attempts to pressure Ukraine into signing an association agreement with the European Union, Russia’s foreign minister said Wednesday. Sergei Lavrov said that pressure was continuing despite Kiev’s clear choice to develop closer ties with Moscow. He spoke a day after President Vladimir Putin agreed to cut the price of […]

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Interfax: SUMMARY: Gazprom slashes gas price for Ukraine by third, looks at new model of relations

File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) – Russia’s Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) and Naftogaz Ukraine, in the presence of the two countries’ presidents on Tuesday, signed addenda to January 19, 2009 contracts on the purchase-sale, delivery and transshipment of natural gas for 2009-2019. Discount President Vladimir Putin said after the signing that the documents would enable Gazprom to supply gas to Ukraine at […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Putin Meeting with President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Kremlin.ru – December 17, 2013) Vladimir Putin met with President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych in the Kremlin. The meeting between the two heads of state was held prior to the session of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Mr Yanukovych, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Moscow. This is a regular meeting scheduled to […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Putin speech at a meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission

Vladimir Putin file photo

(Kremlin.ru – December 17, 2013) PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Mr Yanukovych, colleagues, I have just had a very detailed discussion of practically all areas of our cooperation with President Yanukovych. Russia and Ukraine are strategic partners not on paper but in actual practice. We share a centuries-old friendship and the bond of having spent a long time living together […]

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Ukraine, Russia deal is a bandage not a remedy

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Lilit Gevorgyan, IHS Global – December 18, 2013) Any form of aid is probably going to be a bandage on Ukraine’s economic troubles rather than a serious remedy. These troubles are a result of a toxic combination of domestic macroeconomic policy failures and unfavorable external demand for Ukrainian undiversified exports, which are heavily dependent […]

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A divided Ukraine: Between Russia and the EU

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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Gevorg Mirzayan, special to RBTH – December 16, 2013) The crisis over the country’s future intensifies as protesters backing closer ties with Europe bring the barricades back to Kiev’s Maidan Square. Opinion in Ukraine has split in two over whether the country should sign an Association Agreement offering trade and political links with […]

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Interfax: EU is in “tactical” split over Ukraine – Russian MP

Alexei Pushkov file photo

MOSCOW. Dec 17 (Interfax) – The European Union is divided over the issue of signing the Association Agreement with Ukraine, but the EU is unanimous in its call for the resignation of Ukraine’s current leadership, Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, told Interfax on Monday. “The impression is that a certain split is obvious within the […]

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Interfax: Lavrov denies Russia pressed Ukraine to opt against EU deal

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BRUSSELS. Dec 17 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied that Russia pressed Ukraine to opt against signing a planned association agreement with the European Union. “We gave an honest warning, we didn’t blackmail anyone: the Commonwealth of Independent States treaty on the free trade zones has the reservation that, when a situation emerges that poses risks to […]

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Yanukovych backed into corner as EU suspends talks

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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG – December 16, 2013) Some 100,000 protestors rallied on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in central Kyiv for the third Sunday in a row this weekend, maintaining the pressure on the increasingly embattled President Viktor Yanukovych. They were treated to a speech by US Senator John McCain and a gig by Ukrainian rock […]

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Interfax: Ukraine chooses European integration – Prime Minister Azarov

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KYIV. Dec 16 (Interfax) – Ukraine has made a final choice in its foreign policy vector – integration with Europe, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said. “As we are told, the door to the European Union is open for us, same as the door of the Customs Union. That is very good, because we have a choice and we will […]

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Russia Beyond the Headlines/RIA Novosti: Moscow willing to negotiate with Ukraine

Maidan Square file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – December 13, 2013 – Nikolay Surkov, RBTH) Putin says there’s room for avoiding a confrontation between the European Union and the Eurasian Union. Seeking to ease tensions and move the discussion on Ukraine in a constructive direction, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Russia is ready to negotiate on any type of customs […]

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Ukraine’s government withdraws riot police from Maidan as protestors dig in for the long haul

Maidan Square file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – December 12, 2013) Following the Ukrainian government’s failure to retake Kyiv’s central square Maidan from protestors on the night of December 11, riot police withdrew the next day and demonstrators rebuilt biggest and better barricades using bags of packed snow, corrugated steel and iron bars. There is also clearly some last minute horse trading […]

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Russia Backs Off Ukraine Union After Lenin Statue Falls

Monument in Ukraine

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Kateryna Choursina, Daryna Krasnolutska & Ilya Arkhipov – December 9, 2013) Russia cast doubt that Ukraine may soon join its customs bloc, a plan that have sparked the ex-Soviet republic’s biggest protests in almost a decade and fueled calls for President Viktor Yanukovych to resign. Riot police and stick-wielding protesters squared off in central Kiev a […]

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NEWSLINK: The Stakes in Ukraine: The U.S. should warn Putin not to stoke violence in Kiev.

Monument in Ukraine

[The Stakes in Ukraine: The U.S. should warn Putin not to stoke violence in Kiev. – Wall Street Journal editorial – December 9, 2013 – http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304014504579246330793547224] The Wall Street Journal covers the protests in Ukraine, noting that even with divisions within the country, the majority of Ukrainians want a closer relationship with Europe and a Ukraine with greater democratization: Ukraine […]

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Interfax: Putin, Yanukovych did not discuss Ukraine’s accession to Customs Union – Kremlin spokesman Peskov

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych met in Sochi on Friday to discuss the agenda of the bilateral interstate commission, which is to hold a session in Moscow on December 17, and they did not discuss Ukraine’s possible accession to the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax. “Special […]

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Interfax: Ukraine determined to continue efforts toward Euro-integration – Azarov to Westerwelle

EU Map

KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has assured German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle that Ukraine is determined to continue its efforts on the path towards European integration, noting, however, that extremists and neo-Nazis are obstructing this process. Azarov and Westerwelle met during the 20th session of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Kyiv on Thursday, and the […]

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Interfax: Georgia has diversified export markets, does not fear new Russian embargo – finance minister

Tblisi, Georgia, File Photo with Building with Tower on Hillside and City Buildings in Valley in Distance

TBILISI. Dec 3 (Interfax) – Georgia has diversified its export markets to an extent that, if Russia once again imposes a ban on Georgian imports, this would not be as strong a blow to local producers as it was in 2006, Georgian Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri believes. “Russia is no longer number one trade partner for Georgia, and our markets […]

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Business New Europe: Spectre of revolution haunts Ukraine

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – December 3, 2013) Ten years on from the Orange Revolution that rolled back a rigged election, Ukraine again appears in the throes of revolution, after mass protests in Kyiv against the government’s failure to sign a deal for closer ties with the EU and ensuing police violence led to […]

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Interfax: WTO will remain, but still no progress seen in talks – Russian minister

File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

BALI. Dec 3 (Interfax) – The ninth WTO ministerial conference in Bali will not resolve all the problems of the Doha Round, but even if it ends in failure the World Trade Organization “will not disappear – if only because there is no alternative to it,” Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said in an interview with Interfax before the […]

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By Dashing Their Hopes, Yanukovich has United Ukrainians, Krylov Says

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 2, 2013) By his actions over the past two weeks, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has done something many in Ukraine thought impossible and many in Russia feared: he has given Ukraine a national idea and united Ukrainians of all nationalities behind it and against himself, according to a Russian nationalist theorist […]

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Ukraine does a U-turn on Europe

EU Map

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Gevorg Mirzayan, special to RBTH – December 2, 2013) Yanukovych declines a deal with the EU as economic realities hit home. President Viktor Yanukovych’s last-minute rejection of a planned Association Agreement with the European Union was unexpected and shocking for most of Ukraine’s public, who are imbued with the idea of European integration. […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukraine Vows to Speed Up EU Integration, Wants ‘Equal Partnership’

EU Map

KIEV, December 1 (RIA Novosti) ­ Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Sunday his country will continue efforts towards European integration but insisted that Kiev should be accepted as an equal partner. “I will do everything possible to advance the process of Ukraine’s rapprochement with the European Union, but without any serious losses for this country’s economy or deterioration of the […]

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Moldova, Georgia Brace For Russian Retaliation After EU Pact

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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Claire Bigg – November 29, 2013) Georgian and Moldovan leaders were all smiles as they finished initialing their Association Agreements with the European Union, a key milestone in their bid for membership of the 28-nation bloc. Despite the happy faces and handshakes, however, the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, deepened fears of harsh retaliation from […]

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EU deal remains Ukraine’s priority, but more time needed – president

EU Map

(Interfax – November 29, 2013) The signing of an association agreement with the EU remains Ukraine’s priority, President Viktor Yanukovych has said. The Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted him at 1122 gmt on 29 November as telling its correspondent following the EU’s Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius: “This document is a priority. However, there remain very many important conditions needed for […]

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Interfax: Duma Chairman Naryshkin: West applied unprecedented pressure on Ukraine to sign EU deal

Russian Duma Building

KAZAN. Nov 29 (Interfax) – State Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin claims the West applied strong pressure on Ukraine to sign an association agreement with the European Union. “We all have witnessed unprecedented pressure on Ukraine on the part of Western countries and institutions: highest-ranking European bureaucrats in fact regularly attended not only Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada sessions but also sessions of […]

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Moscow Times: Economic Logic Pushed Ukraine to Russia

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky – November 29, 2013) For Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, it was not pressure from Russia that provoked Ukraine’s flip-flop on the association deal with the European Union. Azarov has said he bowed to the strong sentiment within the country for making up with Moscow, as exports to that key market declined. “I […]

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Interfax: Russia “has nothing to do” with Ukraine’s U-turn on Europe – Putin’s spokesman

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(Interfax – Sochi, November 27, 2013) Whether or not Ukraine signs an association agreement with the EU is an internal matter to be addressed exclusively by Kiev, the Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitriy Peskov, said on Wednesday [27 November]. At the request of journalists, he was commenting on remarks by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who had said that during his […]

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Why Lego Succeeded While Jysk Failed in Russia

Truck at Russian Border Crossing

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Kristian Magnus – November 28, 2013) Two customs officers halted the truck loaded with toy bricks at the border. Two millimeters. That was the extent of the error in the documents, causing the Lego truck to run into the brick wall of Russian bureaucracy. The truck was not granted entry into Russia until the documents […]

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Interfax: Ukrainian public split over EU/Customs Union options – poll

EU Map

KYIV. Nov 26 (Interfax) – Ukraine is split practically 50/50 over the accession to the European Union or the Customs Union. Europe is favored by 39% of Ukrainians, and 37% prefer the Customs Union, said the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Some 76% of the Ukrainians polled in the middle of this November said they were ready to take part […]

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