(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 14, 2014) One of the most accurate leading indicators of what Moscow is planning to do in Ukraine are the charges it makes that the West is about to do the same thing there. That pattern, well-established over the last year, makes the latest such suggestion – that the US supposedly […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – December 11, 2014) Ukraine has declared war on corruption, but the politicisation of the anti-corruption campaign and tiny salaries could lead to collateral damage. On paper at least, anti-corruption in Ukraine is not afraid of big-ticket arrests: on December 10, Serhiy Kostyuk, head of Ukraine’s biggest gas producer, state-owned […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – December 12, 2014) In order to put the country back on a sound financial footing, Ukraine’s finance ministry is proposing sweeping cuts, from cutting the years of mandatory schooling, to firing two-thirds of MPs, to hiking the pension age. According to leaked documents drawn up by the finance ministry, the new […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#256 :: Thursday 11 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Ukraine 1. Financial Times: IMF warns Ukraine bailout at risk of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – December 11, 2014) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev struck an optimistic note throughout a 1 1/2-hour news conference Wednesday, drawing attention to what he viewed as Russia’s crowning achievements of this year: the Sochi Olympic victory and the annexation of Crimea. Medvedev spoke about a wide array of issues, from the economy to […]
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(Interfax – December 10, 2014) Over half of Russians (52 percent) are confident that the Crimean independence referendum was an exclusive initiative of the Crimean administration, Levada Center told Interfax. A third (34 percent) suspect that “Russian authorities might have been behind the referendum.” Fourteen percent of 1,600 respondents polled in 130 populated localities on November 21-24 are undecided. However, […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#255 :: Wednesday 10 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php 1. AFP: Truce holds in Ukraine but next steps uncertain. 2. […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#254 :: Tuesday 9 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Ukraine 1. Russia Insider: Patrick Armstrong, Report Claims Rebels Get Few Weapons […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – December 10, 2014) Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk announced on December 9 that his new government would embark on a programme of sweeping reforms to “utterly transform” Ukraine’s economy. “Our answer is decentralisation, deregulation, de-bureaucratisation and responsibility of each government official,” he said when presenting his Action Programme at a government meeting on December 9. […]
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(RIA Novosti – December 9, 2014) Russia says separatist republics ready to restore common space with Ukraine Statements by leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics are an evidence of their readiness to restore the common economic, humanitarian and political space with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, as quoted by RIA Novosti (part of the […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has accused Kyiv of disrupting a video conference and the next round of talks of the Contact Group in Minsk. “The Contact Group was due to hold a video Skype conference today to discuss and agree upon the matters (relating to) the next round of talks in Minsk. However, […]
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(Interfax – December 8, 2014) Russians differ on whether Russia is currently in international isolation: 47 percent of the respondents surveyed by the Levada Center said they believe Russia is now in international isolation and 45 percent believe it is not. The poll, which surveys 1,600 respondents, was conducted in 134 populated areas of Russia on November 21-24. Over half […]
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(Window on Eurasia: Paul Goble – Staunton, December 9, 2014) Despite Vladimir Putin’s call for the federalization of Ukraine and Petro Poroshenko’s suggestion that he is prepared to oversee steps toward the decentralization of power in his country, nothing can be done toward either under the current crisis conditions, according to Moscow’s leading expert on Ukraine. Bogdan Bezpalko, deputy director […]
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MOSCOW/KYIV. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Militiamen of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic will not open fire on Ukrainian government forces as long as the Ukrainian army observes the ceasefire, DPR People’s Council Speaker Andrei Purgin told Interfax on Friday. “No shelling can be heard at the moment. Obviously, the truce is holding. Our forces have been ordered not to open […]
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KYIV. Dec 9 (Interfax) – The ceasefire regime declared in the army operation zone on December 9 will last indefinitely, Ukrainian General Staff Chief – Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko said. “Seeking to implement the peace plan we are introducing a ceasefire regime, the so-called regime of silence, at 10 a.m. on December 9,” the General Staff […]
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KYIV. Dec 9 (Interfax) – Ukraine’s membership in the European Union is the Ukrainian government’s final goal, said Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. “Our ultimate goal is membership in the European Union. If it is to be attained Ukraine will have to go through serious trials, implement radical reforms, change Ukraine and make it a European state,” Yatsenyuk told the government […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#253 :: Monday 8 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php 1. TASS: Over 75% of Russians feel happy – poll. 1a. […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#252 :: Sunday 7 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php 1. Ivan Katchanovski: Dmytro Bulatov. 2. Channel One TV (Moscow): Putin says […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – December 8, 2014) After many had written off Europe’s attempts to find a peaceful way out of the Ukrainian imbroglio following the chilly G20 summit in Brisbane on December 1, the talks got a new impetus on December 6 when French President Francois Hollande made an impromptu […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Isis Almeida – December 4, 2014) Ukraine’s plan to diminish its energy dependence on Russia is adrift in the Bosporus Strait. The nation, which gets half its gas from Russia, wants to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Black Sea and held talks with Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG) to import U.S. cargoes. The only […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#251 :: Friday 5 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Ukraine 1. Russia Direct: Dmitry Polikanov, These are the major highlights […]
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BASEL. Dec 5 (Interfax) – There is information that foreign forces have pushed for Kyiv’s economic siege on southeastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “I really do not want to suspect anyone but there is information that such an aggressive treatment of the aforementioned territories has been encouraged from abroad,” Lavrov said at a press conference on Friday […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – December 5, 2014) Kyiv has started talks with Russia as well as with Russian-backed rebels in East Ukraine in order to source electric power and coal, as Ukraine’s national grid faces a critical shortage of fuel, Ukraine’s new energy minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn said on December 4. Demchyshyn said that Ukraine is […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – December 5, 2014) [Video here http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/brawl-erupts-in-ukraine-parliament-video/512625.html] A dispute at a session of Ukraine’s newly elected parliament has prompted lawmakers to resort to a more direct method of resolving political disagreements – a shoving match. The run-in among two dozen or so deputies over the distribution of legislative committee chairs between fractions seemed […]
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(Interfax – December 5, 2014) The administration of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) says it is ready for negotiations with Ukraine on economic issues, but a political union is impossible. “The issue of giving Donbas autonomous status as part of Ukraine is out of date. We are now saying that a political union with Ukraine is impossible. However, we […]
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DONETSK. Dec 5 (Interfax) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) says the date of the next negotiations between the militia and Kyiv has not been determined yet. “The working group composed of our and Ukrainian military meets weekly when the need arises. The new meeting of the group has not been scheduled yet and the date of the meeting […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#250 :: Thursday 4 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php 1. BBC: Anatol Lieven, How can the West solve its Ukraine […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – December 3, 2014) Vladimir Putin has been on quite a roll for about a year now. But December 1, 2014, just might turn out to be the day the tide finally turned against him. Ever since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March sparked the worst East-West showdown since the Cold War, Moscow has […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – December 3, 2014) Ukraine remains Europe’s most corrupt country, and one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index compiled by international NGO Transparency International. The rating shows almost no improvement with the situation before a revolution promising a crackdown on corruption was victorious […]
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(Oilprice.com – James Stafford – December 2, 2014) A month after Ukrainian general elections, there is still no new government, and elite power circles are playing a very dangerous game with the country’s most important ministry-energy. It’s a game from which Ukraine will not recover for decades in the best-case scenario. The past week has seen a flurry of media […]
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KYIV. Dec 4 (Interfax) – Kyiv-controlled areas of the Luhansk region have been shelled 55 times in the past 24 hours, the press service of Luhansk region state administration head Hennadiy Moskal said on Thursday. “The towns of Stanitsa Luhanska, Shchastya, Trekhizbenka, Chornukhyne, Zolote and Olkhove have been shelled. No local civilians were killed or wounded,” the press service reports. […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Daisy Sindelar – December 02, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin rarely makes an uncalculated gesture or concedes defeat. So his announcement on December 1 that Russian energy giant Gazprom was pulling out of plans to build the South Stream natural gas pipeline to southeastern Europe took many by surprise. Russia had long sought a direct route […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#249 :: Wednesday 3 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Ukraine 1. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Sergei Karaganov, 2014: Interim Results. 2. New York […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – December 3, 2014) Ukraine still has to pay for more than 1bn cubic meters of natural gas that it needs in December, worth some $385m, outgoing energy minister Yury Prodan said on December 2, as a cold spell hit the country. Power generators are introducing rolling outages to cut consumption because […]
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(Interfax – December 3, 2014) Ukrainian former President Leonid Kuchma believes Ukraine should be realistic about its capabilities and should come close to meeting the standards of the EU and NATO before speaking about membership in these structures. “We can head anywhere. We have indeed taken the course in the direction to the EU and NATO, but we should be […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – December 1, 2014) It should have been a great day in Ukraine’s effort to transform itself into a modern liberal democracy in the EU mould. The freshly elected Ukrainian parliament held its first session on November 27, completing the process of political transition from the kleptocratic autocracy of Viktor […]
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KYIV. Dec 3 (Interfax) – Human Rights Watch, an international human rights organization, claims that Ukraine is using cluster bombs in the hostilities in the Donbas region. “As for the cases that we have investigated, there were clear indications that Ukraine is to blame for the use of this weapon,” Human Rights Watch’s Executive Director Kenneth Roth told a press […]
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(Interfax – December 3, 2014) The Ukrainian gas transport system’s role has grown with Russia’s decision to stop the construction of the South Stream pipeline, says Ukrainian Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yury Prodan. “Surely, if there is no South Stream, our gas transport system’s role is increasing,” Prodan told journalists in Kiev on Tuesday. Ukraine has objected to the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – James M. Gomez, Kateryna Choursina, Aliaksandr Kudrytski -Dec. 2, 2014) Thirteen floors above a snow-covered complex on the outskirts of Kiev, in a half-built high-rise, Egor Popov wondered aloud when the warren of dusty rooms would be ready for move-in: maybe next year, probably not. Presales on the 1,210-unit Sun Gate’s fourth wing, still a concrete-and-brick […]
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… 30. RFE/RL: Crash Course: The Ruble’s Volatile Two Decades.
31. Wall Street Journal editorial: The Ruble of Discontent. Russia’s falling currency could create political trouble for Vladimir Putin. …
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – December 1, 2014) Russia’s overall losses due to Western sanctions over Ukraine amount to $40 billion, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said. A further $90-100 billion will be lost because of the 30-percent drop in oil prices. According to Russian experts, rising inflation and a falling ruble could […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, December 2, 2014) Many in Ukraine and elsewhere think that falling oil prices or increased Western sanctions or more sensible people in his entourage will convince Vladimir Putin to change course and end his aggressive policies, but they are wrong because none of these things will affect Putin’s pursuit of his goals, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Pat Davis Szymczak, special to RBTH – November 28, 2014) Pat Davis Szymczak is the founder and editorial director of Oil&Gas Eurasia, a monthly, bilingual trade publication devoted to the application of western technology to Russian and CIS oil and gas fields. If relations between Russia and the EU break down over Ukraine, […]
» Read more[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#247 :: Monday 1 December 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist me JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Ukraine 1. Der Spiegel (German): Summit of Failure. How the EU Lost […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#246 :: Sunday 30 November 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist me JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php 1. The Atlantic: Jeffrey Taylor, Russia Is Finished. The unstoppable descent […]
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KYIV. Dec 1 (Interfax) – The leaders of a joint center for control and coordination of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine have travelled to the Donetsk Airport where the situation has aggravated over the past 24 hours. “This morning, Ukrainian and Russian leaders from the joint center have travelled to the area. The Ukrainian side is represented by Lt. Gen. […]
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(jackmatlock.com – Jack Matlock – November 30, 2014) Jack Matlock is a career diplomat who served on the front lines of American diplomacy during the Cold War and was U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union when the Cold War ended. I was invited to speak at the Eighth European-Russian Forum tomorrow in Brussels. Because of a bureaucratic glitch, I am […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#245 :: Wednesday 26 November 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist me JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Ukraine 1. Russia Direct: Pavel Andreev, Is Russia no longer on the […]
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KYIV. Nov 26 (Interfax) – A total of 28,000 people have been let go as a result of the reduction in costs of keeping Ukrainian public officials, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said. Opening the government meeting on Wednesday, Yatsenyuk also said that some 500 officials had been fired based on the results of the second stage of lustration. “Some […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, November 25, 2014) The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR] has suggested that a mixed Russian-European peacekeeping contingent should be sent to eastern Ukraine. “We urge the United Nations to send a mixed peacekeeping contingent including Russian and European peacekeepers,” the deputy speaker of the supreme council of the DPR, Denys Pushylin [Denis Pushilin], told […]
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