(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 7, 2016) Russians love to compare themselves and their country with others and especially with the United States and to ask why others have done better than they have, Vladislav Inozemtsev says; but in general, Russians focus on differences in economic, legal or belief systems rather than on the critical problem […]
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It took more than four months for the city’s medical examiner to announce the cause of death … not a heart attack … but rather ‘blunt force injuries.’ But the autopsy left the manner of death undetermined. … fuel[ing] speculation … Lesin might have been murdered, presumably by a financial or political rival …. *** police … continue to treat […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Carl Schreck – April 1, 2016) In the summer of 1985, a young commercial attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow sat down with two representatives of the California computer company Apple who were visiting the heart of the Soviet empire. One was an “older guy,” the attache, Mike Merin, recalls. The other was “this lanky, […]
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Carter Page brings a “real-world” resume-and says his close relations with Russian business are a strength. (Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Zachary Mider – March 30, 2016) A globe-trotting American investment banker who’s built a career on deals with Russia and its state-run gas company, Carter Page says his business has suffered directly from the U.S. economic sanctions imposed after Russia’s […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – March 30, 2016) Grandmaster Sergei Karjakin will become the first Russian since 2008 to compete in a title match of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) championship, after he defeated Fabiano Caruana of the United States in Moscow on Monday, according to an announcement on the FIDE website. Karjakin, playing the white pieces, […]
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Despite refusing to attend the final Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., Moscow remains committed to nuclear nonproliferation and securing radioactive waste. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – VLADIMIR MIKHEEV, SPECIAL TO RBTH – March 30, 2016) Russia will not be in attendance at the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit, taking place March 31-April 1 in Washington, D.C. […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ilya Khrennikov – March 30, 2016) Budweiser is enjoying an unlikely source of growth in Russia’s declining beer market, even as the all-American brand continues to struggle at home. In a country where brewing output has fallen more than 30 percent since 2008, the self-proclaimed King of Beers is growing sales at a double-digit pace, according […]
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(Interfax – March 28, 2016) The Russian privatization and sanctions against Russia were discussed during the meeting between Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev and UEc.S. Ambassador to Russia John Tefft in Moscow on March 28, along with other aspects of the Russia-U.S. trade and economic cooperation. “We have discussed a broad spectrum of the Russian-American economic ties, including both […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 29, 2016) Eight of the world’s top chess grandmasters have converged on Moscow to compete for the right to challenge reigning World Chess Federation (FIDE) champion Magnus Carlsen for the championship title, the FIDE website reported. Going into the final round on Monday, Sergei Karjakin of Russia and Fabiano Caruana of the United States […]
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(Interfax – March 29, 2016) Washington is not considering the possibility of exchanging Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who has been sentenced in Russia to 22 years in prison, for Russian citizens Konstantin Yaroshenko and Viktor Bout, currently serving prison terms in the United States for drug trafficking and arms dealing respectively, the U.S. Embassy in Russia has said. “No, we […]
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Vladimir Putin received in the Kremlin US Secretary of State John Kerry. Mr Kerry arrived for a meeting with the Russian President after his talks with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Secretary of State, colleagues, I would like to heartily welcome all of you here. We are always glad to host you as your […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Marc Champion – March 22, 2016) Marc Champion writes editorials on international affairs. He was previously Istanbul bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. He was also an editor at the Financial Times, the editor-in-chief of the Moscow Times and a correspondent for the Independent in Washington, the Balkans and Moscow. He is based in London. […]
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The East-West standoff over the Ukraine crisis has brought the threat of nuclear war in Europe closer than at any time since the 1980s…. said Igor Ivanov, Russia’s foreign minister from 1998 to 2004 and now head of a Moscow-based think-tank founded by the Russian government. … Russia and the United States have cut their nuclear arsenals [but] the pace […]
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(Interfax – March 21, 2016) The Russian Defense Ministry submitted proposals on the provision and monitoring of the cessation of hostilities in Syria to the United States on Feb. 25 through military diplomatic channels, Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Main Operative Department of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, has said. “This document specifies a mechanism of consultations […]
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After Russia annexed Crimea … Obama dismissed it as a regional power that acts ‘out of weakness.’ [ ] Russia is more … but a penchant for zero-sum statecraft and coercing neighbors lessens its stature. By cooperating more in the international arena, Russia could become a greater power. … Putin’s announcement of a military drawdown in Syria hints that Russia […]
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Writing in the New York Times, Anatol Lieven argues for greater U.S.-Russian engagement on Ukraine and Syria. If you believe many of the commentators and policy makers in Washington … Putin … is an expansionist on the march. … he annexed Crimea and fueled a destabilizing conflict in eastern Ukraine. … intervened in the Syrian civil war and rescued his […]
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In January of this year, a British judge, Robert Owen, said … Putin … was ‘probably’ a murderer. * * * Litvinenko’s widow, Marina … called on Prime Minister David Cameron to expel all Russian spies … and for a range of … sanctions … on several figures close to the murder … includ[ing Putin] himself. * * * In […]
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(U.S. Department of State – March 15, 2016) Testimony of Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Statement Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Washington, DC As prepared Thank you Chairman Corker, Ranking Member Cardin, members of this committee for the opportunity to join you today and for the personal investment so many of you have made […]
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MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) – Russia increased investment in US Treasuries for the third successive month in January, this time by approximately $4.8 billion, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve. Russian investment in UST grew $6.1 billion last year as a whole. Russia, which held $96.9 billion in UST at the end […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – March 11, 2016) Vladimir Putin wants to be seen as the peer of U.S. leaders and remains businesslike during top-level meetings, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview published in the April issue of U.S. magazine The Atlantic. Despite the Kremlin’s official rhetoric, Obama said Putin “understands that Russia’s overall position […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Josh Rogin – March 11, 2016) At a crucial moment in the U.S. relationship with Europe, President Barack Obama has chosen a No. 2 for NATO whom some Republican lawmakers see as the face of a wrongheaded approach to Russia. On Tuesday, the Obama administration informed NATO allies that it will recommend the undersecretary of state […]
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Russia plans to enhance the surveillance technology it uses to observe the territory of the U.S. and Canada – but American officials have expressed concern over the plans. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI SHEVCHENKO, RBTH – March 14, 2016) U.S. officials want Washington to deny Russia the right to observe strategic infrastructure facilities in the U.S. from […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – March 10, 2016) U.S. President Barack Obama said that Ukraine “is going to be vulnerable to military domination by Russia no matter what” the United States does. In one of a series of interviews published on March 10 that formed the basis of an article in The Atlantic magazine, Obama said that Ukraine was clearly a […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – March 9, 2016) Originally many in the West tended to view Russia’s Syrian adventure as yet another one of “Moscow’s gambits.” Commentators described Ukraine and Syria in the same breath. But Russia is eager to demonstrate that the two projects could hardly be more different and that Moscow can be two things […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – March 7, 2016) The very strange U.S. presidential election bears some surprising similarities to the 1996 campaign in Russia — a momentous event that undermined a fragile democracy and led to the emergence of Vladimir Putin’s dictatorial regime. This precedent could be especially telling if Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump end up their […]
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MOSCOW. March 7 (Interfax) – Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has expressed grief over the death of former U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan. “It was with deep sorrow that I learnt the sad news and I can rightfully say: well done, Nancy! She said to Ronald Reagan: when you quit the post of U.S. president, you need to go as […]
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MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) – The Russian Foreign Ministry hails the return from the U.S. of the documents that disappeared from Russian archives, back in 1990s, and hopes that this experience in Russia-U.S. cooperation will be in demand in other areas too. “We are grateful to the American side for the cooperation in the discovery and repatriation to Russia of […]
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The U.S. has extended its economic sanctions regime against Russia. While the mass media kept quiet on the news, one or two outlets speculated about the possible reasons behind the decision as well as about the likely outcome of a coming EU vote on whether to follow suit. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – NIKOLAI SHEVCHENKO, SPECIAL TO RBTH […]
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Following big wins for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the contests for the Republican and Democratic nominations for the U.S. presidency on Super Tuesday, Russian media offered their interpretations of the leading candidates’ credentials. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ANNA SOROKINA, RBTH – March 3, 2016) Super Tuesday, the day on which 11 U.S. states hold their […]
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… From the beginning of its military operation in Syria, Moscow has operated on the now indisputable proposition that … rampant unrest in the Middle East and … mounting challenges to the unity of the European Union are inextricably linked. The wager was that Europe would eventually seize an offer of cooperation in Syria to constrict the migrant flow and […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – March 2, 2016) NATO’s top commander warned that Russia and Syria have turned the refugee crisis into a “weapon” against the West at a time when it lacks resources to counter a “resurgent, aggressive” Russia. U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, who commands the 28-member military alliance, said the flow of hundreds of thousands of migrants […]
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(Interfax – February 29, 2016) Moscow is ready to resume all types of cooperation with Washington but is losing trust in it as a reliable partner, a top Russian diplomat said on 29 February, according to privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax. “Moscow will be ready to resume cooperation at any time and through all channels, including within the presidential commission, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Baraulina, Anna Andrianova – February 29, 2016) Fitch Ratings Ltd. said it will probably stop issuing local ratings on Russian companies under new rules that make it impossible to abide by European Union and U.S. sanctions against Moscow. The rules create a dilemma for international firms because they run counter to the penalties imposed by […]
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Subject: The Presidential Candidates’ Views on Russia Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2016 18:56:45 +0000 From: Melinda Wuellner <mwuellner@cfr.org> Council on Foreign Relations CFR has developed a tool that compares the U.S. presidential candidates’ positions on eleven different issues (immigration, trade, ISIS, Iran, and much more). Our team of journalists continuously updates this guide with an aim to offer independent, nonpartisan […]
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Donald Trump is receiving foreign policy advice from a former U.S. military intelligence chief who wants the United States to work more closely with Russia to resolve global security issues … three sources … former foreign policy officials in past administrations, said retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who was chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency under … Obama … 2012-2014, […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – February 24, 2016) Dmitry Medvedev recently played a telling little head game. When the Russian prime minister said at the Munich Security Conference that Moscow and the West had “slid into a new Cold War,” he essentially created a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation. “If the West agrees that it is a new Cold War, then […]
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(Interfax – February 25, 2016) A representative of the defense attache’s staff from the U.S. Embassy to Moscow was invited to the Russian Defense Ministry on February 24, the Russian ministry said. “In furtherance of the agreement between the Russian and U.S. presidents on the cessation of hostilities in Syria, he was presented with a map of operative situation in […]
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House Armed Services Committee February 10, 2016 Hearing on Understanding and Deterring Russia: U.S. Policies and Strategies Oral remarks of Dr. Fiona Hill Fiona Hill is director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. She is also co-author of the second edition of “Mr. Putin: […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 24 (Interfax) – While Russia’s and the U.S.’ joint actions to advance the settlement of the Syria crisis are leading to a higher level of mutual confidence between Moscow and Washington, the main goal at the moment is to stop bloodshed in this country, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. “Undeniably, interaction to this or that extent […]
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