NEWSLINK Time/Bill Bradley: Five Steps for Peace in Ukraine

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

In Ukraine, lives continue to be lost, families are split, property is destroyed, the economy is decimated, ethnic divisions proliferate, and political unity remains non-existent. The human tragedy grows every day. The U.S., Europe, and Russia seem deadlocked, unable to understand the other’s point of view.

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NEWSLINK Ukrainian PM Blasts Separatists: ‘We Will Never Talk to Terrorists’

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk rejected criticisms from Russia on Wednesday that the embattled government in Kiev is failing to work toward reconciliation with separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk.

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#115 :: Thursday 11 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#115 Thursday 11 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]

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IMF will still lend to Ukraine if private creditors go unpaid

International Monetary Fund Logo Over Ukraine Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – June 10, 2015) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it will continue lending to Ukraine, even if the country fails to make payments to private creditors. “We have a policy of lending into arrears which allows us to continue lending to a member state when it has arrears with private creditors, […]

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How the Soviet Union Wrecked Russia’s Military-Industrial Complex

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – June 11, 2015) While Russia’s tussle with Ukraine may seem an unfair match, Ukraine does have one simple advantage – it makes a number of important vehicles and components that Russia needs to equip its military. After Moscow’s annexation of Crimea last year, Kiev brought its leverage to play and placed a […]

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IMF Offers Ukraine a Poisoned Chalice

International Monetary Fund Logo Over Ukraine Flag

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – June 10, 2015) A top International Monetary Fund official is offering Ukraine a generous gift: continued loans, even if it stops paying private creditors. It is, however, a trap of sorts. Accepting the deal risks undermining Ukraine’s ability to borrow on the open market and strengthening its dependency on the IMF. “If at […]

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Interfax: Economic growth may resume in Ukraine in 2016 if reforms continue – PM Yatsenyuk

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

KYIV. June 11 (Interfax) – Hopefully, the Ukrainian economy will resume growth in 2016 if reforms continue in the country, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said. “Any simple recipes or quick solutions do not exist. But, hopefully, if everything goes according to our plan, 2016 should become the first year of economic growth,” Yatsenyuk was quoted as saying by the […]

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Interfax: DPR Defense Ministry and JCCC record damage in Krasny Oktyabr after shelling

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

DONETSK. June 11 (Interfax) – Representatives of the Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) have arrived in the locality of Krasny Oktyabr, which came under fire recently, an Interfax correspondent has reported. A large number of craters left by shells have been found in its residential areas. “Four houses […]

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Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk Digs In To Complex Decommunization Process

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Yulia Ratsybarska – DNIPROPETROVSK, Ukraine – June 10, 2015) As Ukraine pushes forward with the controversial process of decommunization, the east-central city of Dnipropetrovsk has its work cut out. The huge Petrovsky Metallurgical Plant — to take one example — is named after Bolshevik revolutionary Grigory Petrovsky, who oversaw the state security agency in the early […]

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Russian Soldier Captured in Ukraine Under Pressure, Offered Asylum

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – June 11, 2015) Yevgeny Yerofeyev – who identified himself as a Russian army captain when he was captured last month in the rebel Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine – is “under very serious pressure” to cooperate with investigators looking into his case, his lawyer Oksana Sokolovskaya said Wednesday, news agency Interfax reported. […]

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Putin Is No James Bond Villain

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – June 9, 2015) Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars on foreign-language propaganda, all that President Vladimir Putin has achieved outside Russia is the status of a Bond movie villain. He may enjoy it, especially since there’s no 007 in sight to tackle him, but his variety of pop stardom is growing into […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#114 :: Wednesday 10 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#114 Wednesday 10 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]

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Ukraine Seeks New Russia Gas Deal as Military Tensions Rise

Gas Flame file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Elena Mazneva – June 9, 2015) Ukraine needs to negotiate a new natural-gas deal with Russia just as the conflict between the two countries risks escalating again. A gas-price agreement with Russian exporter OAO Gazprom expires at the end of the month and Ukraine requires fuel to replenish stockpiles before the winter. At the same time, […]

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Interfax: Ukraine starts water supplies to Luhansk Republic

Faucet and Water Drop

LUHANSK. June 10 (Interfax) – A week after the authorities of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) complained to the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ukraine has agreed to partially resume water supplies to the republic, says Alexander Drobot, head of the LPR Reconstruction Management Center (RMC). “The OSCE did not […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#113 :: Tuesday 9 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#113 Tuesday 9 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]

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Ukraine defending Europe, world order, says Yatsenyuk

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Interfax – June 9, 2015) Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has called for unity of the European Union and the United States needed “to defeat the aggressor.” He made the statement at a forum of the American Jewish Committee during a working visit to Washington DC, the Ukrainian government press service has reported. “We are positive that we can regain […]

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Ukraine’s labour reforms threaten workers’ rights

Verkhovna Rada File Photo

(openedemocracy.net – Vitaly Dudin – June 5, 2015) Vitaly Dudin is a legal analyst at Ukraine’s Center for Social and Labor Research, which was created in 2013 as an independent not-for-profit institution dedicated to the analysis of socio-economic problems, collective protests, labour relations and conflicts The oligarchs have joined forces to railroad a new labour code that strips Ukrainian workers of […]

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Regarding Ukraine, Putin’s Actions Undercut Putin’s Arguments, ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’ Says

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 9, 2015) Russian actions in Crimea and the Donbas “have weakened Russian arguments about the change of power in Kyiv” at the time of the Maidan and thus cost Moscow support in European and other Western capitals, according to a lead article in “Nezavisimaya gazeta” today. In his interview with “Corriere […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Remarks by President Obama in Press Conference after G7 Summit (excerpts)

File Photo of G7 Leaders and other Officials Around Round Table at the Hague, with Flags

(The White House – Office of the Press Secretary – Elmau Briefing Center, Krün, Germany, June 8, 2015) PRESIDENT OBAMA: With respect to security, the G7 remains strongly united in support for Ukraine. We’ll continue to provide economic support and technical assistance that Ukraine needs as it moves ahead on critical reforms to transform its economy and strengthen its democracy. […]

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NEWSLINK Interfax-Ukraine: Gazprom: gas transit through Ukraine to end after 2019, come what may

Gas Flame file photo

Gazprom has no plans to continue using Ukraine as a transit country for gas exports after 2019, Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told journalists. “When the transit contract with Ukraine expires, there will be no prolongation, no conclusion of a new transit agreement under any circumstances. In light of the economic, commercial, technological, investment and political risks for gas transit, there […]

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NEWSLINK Christian Science Monitor: NATO and Russia aren’t talking to each other. Cold war lessons forgotten?

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

Several times during the cold war, miscommunication almost led to nuclear conflict. Now, amid tensions over Ukraine, Russia and the West are showing a new failure to communicate.

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#112 :: Monday 8 June 2015

St. Basil's Domes

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#112 Monday 8 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]

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NEWSWATCH Washington Post: At G-7 meeting, Obama’s primary task is confronting his Putin problem

File Photo of G7 Leaders and other Officials Around Round Table at the Hague, with Flags

[“At G-7 meeting, Obama’s primary task is confronting his Putin problem” – Washington Post –  Steven Mufson – June 6, 2015] The Washington Post covers U.S. policies towards Russia and Ukraine amidst the latest meeting of the G-7: The G-7 meeting is a symbolic moment. After the Cold War, the annual gathering of the leaders of the world’s major industrial nations […]

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NEWSLINK Wall Street Journal/Anne Applebaum: Ukraine’s Most Hopeful City: Lviv; In Lviv, the conflict with Russia can feel far away

File Photo of Street in Lviv

Lviv has the ambience of Prague or Krakow, but without the prices or the crowds. Ukrainians can’t go to Crimea anymore, and visas are tough. But in Lviv, you can eat a good meal for a few euros, go to the opera or just sit in the parks and watch people for free.   Click here for “Ukraine’s Most Hopeful […]

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A break in the clouds over Ukraine’s future

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – KYIV BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – June 8, 2015) It’s not exactly blue-sky news, but after a little over a year in office, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had a few things to boast about in his recent annual speech before the Rada lower chamber of Parliament. Reforms have started and the first green […]

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NEWSWATCH Wall Street Journal: Defense Chief: Subversion, ‘Big Lie’ Are in Russia’s Arsenal. Ash Carter favors more military exercises, better intelligence sharing

Ashton Carter File Photo

[Wall Street Journal – Defense Chief: Subversion, ‘Big Lie’ Are in Russia’s Arsenal. Ash Carter favors more military exercises, better intelligence sharing – GORDON LUBOLD – June 6, 2015] The Wall Street Journal covers remarks by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter after a European trip to discuss Russia and the crisis in Ukraine. Mr. Carter made clear at the end of an […]

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No Peaceful End in Sight for Ukraine, Analysts Say

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – June 8, 2015) Diplomacy will be essential to ending the ongoing Ukraine conflict, but more than a year into it the key stakeholders in the crisis lack the political will to compromise with one other and to commit to a peaceful resolution, analysts told The Moscow Times amid reports of fresh fighting […]

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To Thomas Graham: We Should Understand Russian History Differently

Balaklava harbour, the cattle pier, Crimea, Ukraine, 1855; adapted from image at loc.gov; Fenton, Roger, 1819-1869, photographer;

(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – Ivan Kurilla, Professor of History Volgograd State University – June 5, 2015) In a recent Financial Times op-ed (“Europe’s Problem is with Russia, not Putin”) Thomas Graham, a managing director at Kissinger Associates and former senior director for Russia on the US National Security Council, makes far-reaching conclusions about contemporary Russia and international security by drawing on the position Russia […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#111 :: Friday 5 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#111 Friday 5 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#110 :: Thursday 4 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#110 Thursday 4 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by a […]

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NEWSLINK Kyiv Post: Poroshenko warns of ‘full-scale’ war, prods to speed up reforms

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

Ukraine will stick to the Minsk II peace agreement, even though Russia might launch a “full-scale” invasion in the eastern Donbas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said during an address to Parliament on June 4 almost a year after he came to power. He was inaugurated on June

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Interfax: OSCE SMM publishes special report on Wednesday fighting near Maryinka

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

KYIV. June 4 (Interfax) – The Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/SMM) has published a separate report concerning the fighting that erupted near the town of Maryinka in the Donetsk region on Wednesday morning. Between 10:00 p.m. on June 2 and 5:30 a.m. on June 3, SMM observers working in the area controlled […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#109 :: Wednesday 3 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#109 Wednesday 3 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]

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Moscow Times: MH17 Was Not Shot Down by Russian Missile – Russian Defense Firm

File Photo of Buk-1 SAM

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – June 3, 2015) The Russian maker of an anti-aircraft missile widely thought to be behind the destruction of a civilian airliner over east Ukraine last summer presented evidence Tuesday that suggested that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the attack. Almaz-Antey, Russia’s largest defense contractor, announced its findings as the basis for a […]

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Interfax: Russia air defence firm denies its MH17 claims based on fake satellite photos

Ukraine Air Crash Scene with Uniformed Security Personnel, Flames, Smoke

(Interfax – June 2, 2015) The evidence presented by Russian air defence systems manufacturer Almaz-Antey to show that flight MH17 was shot down by a Ukrainian missile was based only on preliminary data from the Dutch investigation, said Yan Novikov, the company’s general director, as reported by privately-owned Russian military news agency Interfax-AVN on 2 June. Novikov was commenting on […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#108 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#108 :: Tuesday 2 June 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part […]

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NEWSLINK New York Times: Vladimir Putin Hides the Truth

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

Last week Mr. Putin added a new and especially cruel twist to his formula of deception by decreeing that the deaths or wounds of Russian soldiers in “special operations” can be classified as military secrets, even in peacetime. In the past, the list of state secrets applied only to personnel losses in wartime.

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Symbols of Ukraine’s Strength Hide Tensions in Kharkiv

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Glenn Kates – KHARKIV, Ukraine – June 01, 2015) Beside an overpass eight kilometers from the center of Kharkiv lies a newly dug network of trenches lined with bark so fresh the sap still oozes out. Regional Governor Ihor Raynin told RFE/RL of state-of-the-art fortifications being built here to guard against an invasion from Russia, 30 […]

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Transnistria: West Berlin of the post-Soviet world

Verkhovna Rada File Photo

(opendemocracy.net – Sergei Markedonov, Associate Professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities – May 27, 2015) How to play hardball: Ukraine’s parliament has revoked the agreement between Russia and Ukraine on the movement of Russian troops through Ukrainian territory to Transnistria. Fresh intrigue is afoot in the Transnistrian ‘frozen’ conflict. On 21 May, Ukraine’s parliament the Verkhovna Rada […]

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Interfax: LPR observes almost 30 attacks by Ukrainian army over past week

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

LUHANSK. June 2 (Interfax) – The intensity of Ukrainian strikes on the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) has grown lately, according to Igor Yashchenko, deputy chief of staff of the LPR militia corps. “The Ukrainian army shelled LPR populated localities 29 times over the past week. We observed twelve attacks by mortars, 13 by grenade launchers, two […]

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Russia and Ukraine Trade Turnover Falls by Two-Thirds

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

Russian trade turnover with Ukraine fell by around 60 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to a recent study by researchers at the World Trade Center Moscow, news agency RBC reported Wednesday. Russian exports to Ukraine fell 63.5 percent, from $8.1 billion to $2.9 billion, while imports of Ukrainian goods fell 60 percent from $4 billion to 1.6 billion between January and April […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#107 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Friday, May 29, 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#107 :: Friday 29 May 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php Support for JRL is provided in part by […]

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Will Ukraine’s bondholders force a default on purpose?

International Monetary Fund Logo Over Ukraine Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 26, 2015) Will Ukraine’s private bondholders force the country to default on its debt on purpose by refusing to negotiate on the restructuring, or “haircut”, that Kyiv is demanding on $10bn worth of debt? It’s not such a crazy question, because it has happened before. In 2009, Morgan […]

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Russia and Ukraine Trade Turnover Falls by Two-Thirds

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – May 28, 2015) Russian trade turnover with Ukraine fell by around 60 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, according to a recent study by researchers at the World Trade Center Moscow, news agency RBC reported Wednesday. Russian exports to Ukraine fell 63.5 percent, from $8.1 […]

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Ukraine Creditors Said to Offer Coupon Cuts, Debt Extensions

International Monetary Fund Logo Over Ukraine Flag

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Natasha Doff – May 28, 2015) Ukraine’s creditors including Franklin Templeton put forward a restructuring proposal that includes maturity extensions of up to 10 years and reductions in interest payments of about $500 million. The offer, submitted on May 9 by a group owning about $8.9 billion of Ukraine’s debt, involves amortizing the bonds over a […]

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What Putin Got Wrong

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – May 28, 2015) Since the Ukraine crisis erupted, Vladimir Putin has befuddled his foes with hybrid-war tactics, poisoned discourse with a sophisticated disinformation campaign, and alarmed the West with a series of provocative moves aimed at probing NATO’s defenses. The Russian president has kept his opponents off balance and on the defensive; and […]

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