(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Elena Drobinina, special to RBTH – November 28, 2013) Proposed rules would require foreign investors in Russian companies considered “strategic” to disclose their shareholders, but experts say the legislation is unlikely to affect investment levels. Russia’s Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) has proposed new legislation that will require foreign investors who wish to purchase […]
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SOCHI. Nov 28 (Interfax) – The role of Russian President Vladimir Putin in global politics can go unnoticed solely by a “politically short-sighted” person, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said when commenting on rumors that Putin was in the rating of most influential people of 2013 of the Time magazine. “The year’s events were indeed abundant and one thing can […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) – Some 78% of Russians believe their country has enemies. The number grew 15%, from 63% last year, Levada Center said presenting a poll held in 130 towns and cities in 45 regions. Only 13% claimed that Russia had no enemies and 9% could not answer the question. Not everyone is pleased with Russia’s policies, the […]
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MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) Russia has published a draft law that will bar foreigners from owning or renting land in the country without official permission, a Russian newspaper reported Wednesday. The publication of the document follows reported consultation between government ministries, security services and migration agencies. Experts have warned the move could affect the country’s investment climate. According […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimws.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – November 11, 2013) Terrorism and NATO’s expansion at Russia’s borders are the country’s two main security threats, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Saturday, hinting at a renewal of the armed forces’ strategic and doctrinal direction after years of failed reforms. During an interview broadcasted on Rossia 1, Shoigu cited Syria, Afghanistan, Mali […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yevgeny Shestakov, International Affairs Editor at Rossiyskaya Gazeta, special to RBTH – November 7, 2013) There are a number of reasons why the U.S. edition of Forbes magazine nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most powerful person in 2013. It is difficult to gauge the accuracy of those experts who say Putin’s […]
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(Russia in Global Affairs – eng.globalaffairs.ru – Andrey Bezrukov – October 26, 2013) Andrey Bezrukov is an expert in strategic planning and an associate professor at Moscow University of International Relations (MGIMO). Resume: While the American elites take time to debate and prioritize their national interests, there is no similar dialogue going on within Russian elites. As society at large […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 3 (Interfax) – The World Russian People’s Assembly sees Russia as the main guarantor of the multipolar world. “It is Russia that plays the role of key guarantor of the multipolar world, restraining the ambitions of those who claim the role of global domination,” it said in the final document of its congress held in Moscow. Also, there […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – October 29, 2013) State pollster VTsIOM released survey results Monday regarding last month’s Greenpeace protest in the Arctic that indicate more than a third of Russians believe the protest was a foreign plot and more than two-thirds disagree with the group’s message of needing to protect the environment from oil drilling. Armed […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH – October 29, 2013) At a NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels, the Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu offered the international community assistance in destroying Syrian chemical weapons and expressed his hope to resume Russia-NATO dialogue on ABMs in Europe. Last week, Brussels hosted a meeting of the […]
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(Interfax – October 29, 2013) Russia should fully use the dispute settlement opportunities provided by the World Trade Organization (WTO), Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “It is important to correctly use the opportunities provided by WTO membership, to use the allowed mechanisms and procedures to furthest possible extent, including the WTO dispute settlement body,” he said at a conference devoted […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – October 25, 2013) Turkey is interested in joining the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and India also wants closer ties with the organization, President Vladimir Putin said at the EurAsian Economic Community summit in Minsk on Thursday. But some political analysts saw the summit in Minsk, which for the first […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 24, 2013) Some post-Soviet states have “left the post-Soviet space” for good, others are interested in closer ties with Russia, and still others are uncertain about where they are headed, a situation that is further complicated by differences between national leaders and their populations on this point. But any effort to […]
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YEREVAN. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Russia is calling on the world community to work together on resolving issues in the sphere of human rights protection, Russian Foreign Ministry envoy on human rights, democracy, and supremacy of law Konstantin Dolgov said. “At the conference on the prevention of discrimination, xenophobia, and intolerance in Europe held in Yerevan, we called on our […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) – Namely the United States urged at some point to prevent organizations under its control from actions, which could undermine the security of another country or which are aimed at changing political regimes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Washington. Everyone who is currently attempting to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries should be […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Vladimir Goryachev and Christopher Brennan – October 24, 2013) The Investigative Committee said it had dropped the piracy charges against 30 people who were on board Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise ship, replacing them with accusations of hooliganism. If convicted of the new charges, the 28 activists and two journalists who were taken into custody in September […]
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(Interfax – Ufa, October 22, 2013) The voice of Russian Muslim figures should be heard better both on the international arena and in the international Islamic community, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “Tensions between the West and the Islamic world are increasing today. And someone is trying to gamble on this theme by adding firewood to this fire. We are […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yulia Ponomareva, RBTH – October 17, 2013) As Lavrov’s achievements in the negotiations regarding the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria put him in the spotlight, RBTH takes a look at the man beyond his political persona. The agreement on the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons, which was reached on September 14, 2013, […]
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(RIA Novosti – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief, The Moscow News – October 22, 2013) Perhaps one of the saddest aspects of the suicide bombing in Volgograd this week assuming we were forced to pick one such aspect is the amount of young people caught up in it. Among the wounded is a toddler. On top of that, that […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer and Ilya Arkhipov – October 22, 2013) Russian investigators probed yesterday’s suicide bombing that killed six bus passengers in Volgograd as the southern region was placed on high alert hours before President Vladimir Putin met Muslim clerics. The suspected female suicide bomber arrived from the capital of the mainly Muslim region of Dagestan, disembarking […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Sam Skove – October 18, 2013) When Nuri Katz, founder of investment firm Apex Capital, heads for the customs gate, he gets to decide which of his three passports to use – a privilege that his Russian clients would pay up to 5 million euros to enjoy. Katz is in the citizenship-by-investment business. Select […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, October 17, 2013) Russia wants to begin drafting a deal on visa-free travel with the EU early next year, a senior Russian diplomat said in an interview published Thursday. That deal, however, requires the EU to make a “political decision to begin negotiations on drafting the agreement,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov told RIA Novosti. The […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – September 27, 2013) As U.S. and Russian officials enter the umpteenth month of wrangling over how to address the Syrian civil war, and politicians from the former Cold War foes maintain their hostile rhetoric, one of the countries’ last bilateral agreements is turning one year old, and its success is showing that […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) [Complete transcript here http://eng.kremlin.ru/transcripts/6007] VLADIMIR PUTIN: And one more question for our American friend and colleague. What will the United States do about the budget deficit, the debt that has reached an incredible size? It is the largest debt in the United States’ post-war history. How will the situation unfold moving forward? This […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Yakovenko, special to RBTH – September 24, 2013) Alexander Yakovenko, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, talks on Syria. It is widely agreed that the latest proposal to put Syrian chemical weapons under international control and subsequently destroy them has drastically changed the terms of debate on the conflict. The New York […]
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(RIA Novosti – SOCHI, September 23, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday named Russia’s priorities during its presidency in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of former Soviet states. The CSTO Council, the organization’s supreme ruling body comprising leaders of the six member states, gathered in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. Kyrgyzstan handed […]
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(Interfax – STOCKHOLM. September 21, 2013) The Kremlin chief of staff has argued that foreign military intervention can neither democratize countries ruled by dictatorial regimes nor resolve domestic conflicts. “There hasn’t been any more democracy and freedom where military recipes were used, let’s not be hypocritical about that,” Sergei Ivanov said at the Global Strategic Review 2013 conference in Stockholm […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novgorod Region, September 19, 2013) Vladimir Putin took part in the final plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. The theme of the club’s anniversary session is Russia’s Diversity for the Modern World. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, friends, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that the place for your discussions, for our meetings is well […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 19, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has reiterated that Ukraine cannot combine its associated membership in the European Union with integration in the Customs Union. During a meeting with the participants in the 15th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia- Pacific News Agencies (OANA), he said such statements by the Ukrainian administration on its […]
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(RIA Novosti – Karin Zeitvogel – WASHINGTON, September 18, 2013) Russia has climbed 10 places since 1995 in a global ranking of economic freedom, while the United States has fallen 13 spots over the same period, according to a report from a Canadian public policy think-tank released Wednesday. Russia ranked 101st out of 151 nations, up 10 places from […]
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Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 Subject: Russian strategy: new article in International Affairs From: Andrew Monaghan <a.c.monaghan@gmail.com> Please find below a link to a new article just published in the current edition of International Affairs journal. http://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/ia/archive/view/194090 The article reflects on the nature of strategy and explores how this can be applied to Russian strategic thinking and planning. This is […]
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Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2013 Subject: New book: Strategic Cooperation: Overcoming the Barriers of Global Anarchy From: Michael Slobodchikoff <mslobodchikoff@troy.edu> Michael O. Slobodchikoff Lecturer of Political Science Troy University Troy, AL TITLE: Strategic Cooperation: Overcoming the Barriers of Global Anarchy AUTHOR: Michael O. Slobodchikoff PUBLISHER: Lexington Books (2013) ABSTRACT: Power inequalities and mistrust have characterized many interstate relationships. Yet most […]
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Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 From: PONARS Eurasia / IERES <ieresgwu@gwu.edu> Subject: REMINDER – PONARS Eurasia Policy Conference – September 23-24, 2013 IERES – The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies We are pleased to invite you to the annual PONARS Eurasia Policy Conference September 23-24, 2013 GW Elliott School of International Affairs 1957 E Street NW Washington DC […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 18, 2013) Russia should be preserved within its current borders at any cost, said 93% of citizens polled by the Public Opinion Foundation in September. Some 57% of 1,000 respondents polled over the phone said there was a threat to Russian territorial integrity. Such answers were mostly given by citizens older than 60 (69%), vocational school […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Vyacheslav Morozov, special to RBTH – September 18, 2013) Although Russia is involved in many other multilateral groups, the UN gives the country status and influence. Russia’s attitude towards the United Nations is defined by two key concerns: status and influence. Being a permanent member of the UN Security Council is crucial for […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 14, 2013) The Russian president’s office has denied allegations that it has paid public relations firm Ketchum $23 million from the state treasury for embellishing Russia’s image abroad. “Ketchum doesn’t get any money from the presidential administration. We continue to cooperate with them but there is no direct state spending on this cooperation,” President Vladimir Putin’s […]
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(Interfax – BRUSSELS, September 13, 2013) Russia is not planning to put pressure on any state or drag it forcibly into any association because of its relations with the EU’s Eastern Partnership, Russian envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told Interfax on Friday. “Our partners, primarily European parliamentarians, are unfortunately deeply misled on this. It is not about Russia’s […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Bishkek, September 13, 2013) PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member countries, heads of state of observer countries, high representatives and summit guests, The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has been working for more than a decade now and has achieved some big results. It has established its place as an influential international […]
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(Interfax – NOVO-OGAREVO, September 11, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin said he saw elements of stabilization in the world economy and that he was not expecting a crisis. This is the first time the budget is being drafted by the programming principle, Putin said at a meeting on budget projections for the period 2014-2016. “The second specific aspect is that […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris – September 11, 2013) How much does the rest of the world hate Russia? Answer: a lot. This excerpt below is part of an internal memo by a major US bank, which will remain nameless, to clients on the results of the Moscow mayoral elections at the weekend. What is supposed to […]
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(Kremlin.ru – St Petersburg, September 6, 2013) Vladimir Putin took part in the second working session of heads of delegations of G20 countries, invited countries, and international organisations. The summit participants discussed investment and job creation, among other issues. The discussion then continued in working breakfast format with the participation of invited heads of state and international organisations. * * […]
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(Kremlin.ru – St Petersburg, September 5, 2013) Among other things, the latest global economic trends and financial regulation issues were discussed during the first working meeting themed Growth and Financial Stability. The G20 summit’s work officially began with Vladimir Putin’s welcome speech as he addressed the invited heads of state and government. * * * Speech at working session of […]
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(Kremlin.ru – St Petersburg, September 6, 2013) Vladimir Putin summed up the results of the G20 Summit and answered journalists’ questions. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Ladies and gentlemen, friends! To start with, I’d like to say that in the five years of its existence the G20 has really become an effective mechanism for elaborating and coordinating common approaches to […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – September 6, 2013) A military strike in Syria would have a destructive effect on the global economy, sending oil prices up, China warned in a gesture of support to President Vladimir Putin, the host of the Group of 20 summit that began in St. Petersburg on Thursday. “Military action would have a […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Nathan Gray – September 6, 2013) While Syria lurked in the background of the G20 leaders’ summit, which opened on Thursday, official discussions had their focus firmly on economic issues. The conflict in Syria, however, did occasionally come to the foreground. President Vladimir Putin himself raised the topic at the end of his opening address, […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, September 4, 2013) The veterans of the Russian human rights movement, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, Lev Ponomarev and Svetlana Gannushkina, have given up on taking part in a meeting with US President Barack Obama in St Petersburg since its date is constantly being changed. “They have changed all this business several times: at first 5 September then 6 September, […]
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(RIA Novosti – September 4, 2013) Russian experts believe that President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Moscow is ready to act decisively if the use of chemical weapons in Syria is proved beyond doubt is a diplomatic manoeuvre ahead of the G20 summit in St Petersburg, Russian RIA Novosti reported on 4 September. “This is a diplomatic manoeuvring. Russian diplomats are […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, September 3, 2013) Russia’s image among citizens of other countries has taken a beating in recent years, with people in 39 countries around the world more likely to have negative opinions of Russia than positive ones, a survey published here Tuesday showed. The slump in other countries’ perception of Russia comes as Moscow takes a […]
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(Interfax – August 28, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin said important decisions are expected to be made in the sphere of investment stimulation at the G20 summit scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg. “A roadmap for the financing of long-term investment has been created. It will be implemented during the years of Australia’s chairmanship [of the G20]. The principles […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, August 28, 2013) About one million foreigners are officially registered with the migration authorities in Moscow and 1.5 million in surrounding areas as of Tuesday, a senior migration official said. “We have a centralized database of foreign nationals. Today we have obtained the most recent figures: there is about a million of foreign nationals in Moscow […]
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