The Pentagon revealed … that Russia granted a U.S. request not to target American special operations forces deployed to northern Syria …. The Pentagon made the request to the Russians after a U.S. decision to send the special operations forces into Syria last year. * * * … Russia also outlined some areas, such as airfields, that it did not […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – February 16, 2016) Russians want their country’s military campaign in Syria to continue, according to a recent poll by the independent Levada Center pollster, the RBC news website reported Monday. The majority of Russians are convinced the war in Syria needs to continue, with 18 percent categorically backing Russia’s involvement in the conflict and 41 […]
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As Russian officials consider trying to forge an agreement with OPEC in order to help push up oil prices, they are missing an unfortunate truth – factors such as the discord within the oil producers’ body, the positions of Saudi Arabia and Iran and the strength of the dollar all mean that the price of oil is unlikely to bounce […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) – The agreement that Russia and OPEC nations Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela reached at meeting in Doha on Tuesday not to exceed January’s level of output applies to average figures for the year, not daily output, the Russian Energy Ministry said in a revised statement following the meeting. The meeting was between Russian Energy Minister […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – The Daily Vertical – Brian Whitmore – February 15, 2016) If there was ever any doubt that Russia is engaging in little more than a game of geopolitical extortion in Syria, there shouldn’t be any more. By targeting opponents of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow has effectively assured that Syria’s civil war will continue indefinitely. By indiscriminately bombing […]
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(Government.ru – February 11, 2016) Ahead of the Munich Security Conference, the Prime Minister answered questions from Editor-in-Chief Sven Afhüppe and international correspondent Mathias Bruggmann. Question: Mr Prime Minister, thank you for finding the time to meet with us. You will come to Munich to attend the Conference on Security. Handelsblatt will cover the proceedings and primarily your participation in […]
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(Government.ru – February 15, 2016) Dmitry Medvedev has given an interview to Time magazine correspondent Simon Shuster following the Munich Security Conference. Question: Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview with Time magazine. I would also like to thank you for your remarks today at the conference. This was a very interesting and eloquent speech. You made a […]
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(Government.ru – February 14, 2016) The Prime Minister spoke with Global Conversation presenter Isabelle Kumar on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference Question: Mr Prime Minister, thank you for joining the Global Conversation. The Syrian issue is a priority; it dominates the international agenda. It is now believed that we are approaching a turning point, although it remains to […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – February 12, 2016) The conflict in Syria may escalate into a “permanent” war to last for decades, if peace talks were to collapse or if foreign countries tried to intervene by deploying ground troops, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in comments published on the Cabinet website Thursday. Russia has been conducting […]
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The New York Times covers the impact of Russian military intervention on U.S. policymaking on Syria. … the United States has insisted there can be no military solution to the Syrian civil war, only a political accord between … al-Assad and the fractured, divided opposition groups that have been trying to topple him. … days of intense bombing that could […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Jonathan Tirone, Henry Meyer – February 10, 2016) The U.S. and Russia are seeking to revive Syrian peace talks as President Bashar al-Assad’s advance against rebels shifts the focus to the battlefield. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will meet with foreign ministers from Europe and the Middle East in […]
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As relations between Russia and Turkey deteriorate, the question of a possible armed conflict between the two countries is being discussed more frequently. RBTH asked Russian and Turkish military experts to comment on how likely this outcome would be and asked them to lay out the possible scenarios. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YEKATERINA CHULKOVSKAYA, RBTH – February […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – February 4, 2016) On Feb. 2, Turkish President Recep Erdogan urgently sought an audience with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. The Turkish ambassador in Moscow relayed the message, but has, it seems, yet to receive a response. It was the second time Erdogan has been rebuffed by Putin following Turkey’s downing of […]
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(RFE/RL – January 29, 2016) Russian President Vladimir Putin and the extremist Islamic State group are sworn enemies that might seem to have little in common. But both are engaged in efforts at state building that U.S. political scientist Francis Fukuyama says share two qualities: each seeks to create a political alternative to a modern liberal democracy, and each is […]
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If Moscow plays its cards correctly, it will be able to strengthen its positions not only in Iran but also throughout the entire Middle East. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – GEVORG MIRZAYAN – January 29, 2016) The lifting of sanctions against Iran has generated an entire wave of speculation about the upcoming reformation of the Middle East. However, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – January 20, 2016) The top U.S. and Russian diplomats began talks in Zurich Wednesday to try to bridge divisions over which belligerents in Syria’s five-year civil war should be labeled “terrorist,” an issue that threatens to hold up the start of peace talks. John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov need to strike a deal […]
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The Los Angeles Times covers unfolding evens in the Syrian civil war, including Russian involvement. … Moscow’s air onslaught appears to be gaining effectiveness as Russian commanders grow more familiar with the conflict and with the capabilities of allied Syrian ground forces, observers say. … Russia’s involvement has also led to a new calculation by Syria’s neighbors …. Click here […]
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The arrival of the Russian Air Force in Syria has upset the figures on the board of the “Great Chess Game” in the Middle East and has given hope to supporters of al-Assad for personal survival, although perhaps not a quick conclusion to the war. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – DMITRY VINOGRADOV, SPECIAL TO RBTH – January 12, […]
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(Interfax – January 11, 2016) The Russian Aerospace Forces aviation group has carried out dozens of air strikes in support of the offensive conducted by 11 detachments of the Syrian democratic opposition fighting against terrorists in Syria, head of the Main Operative Department of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi told reporters on Jan. 11. “Russian […]
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(Interfax – January 12, 2016) It is premature to discuss if Russia should grant asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. “I think it is quite premature to discuss this. We granted asylum to Mr. Snowden, which was far more difficult than to do the same for Mr al-Assad,” he said in an interview with […]
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(RFE/RL – Carl Schreck – December 29, 2015) In December 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama fielded a question about Russia while addressing a group of American business leaders in Washington. President Vladimir Putin’s incursion into Ukraine and “backward-looking” policies, Obama said, are “isolating Russia completely internationally.” If it was Russian expansionism last year that triggered this isolation, it was Putin’s […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – December 15, 2015) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the Editor-at-Large of Vedomosti, an independent Russian daily Measuring the success of Russia’s largest and most recent “cross-border” projects-Ukraine and Syria-is extremely difficult. What could be considered Russia’s ultimate goals there? We often assume that Russia has fixed, clearly […]
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On Dec. 18 in New York, members of the International Syria Support Group agreed on the principles of reaching a political settlement to the crisis in Syria. Later, after five hours of discussions, the group’s decisions on Syria were unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council. But what questions are still hindering progress? (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, December 17, 2015) Russian commentators across the political spectrum, from the most liberal to the most nationalistic, agree that Vladimir Putin achieved a significant victory for his policies in Syria and Ukraine in the course and as a result of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Moscow. One Moscow analyst […]
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The skies over Syria became more crowded last week after the UK voted to join air strikes against ISIS forces. But can countries with very different attitudes to the conflict agree on common aims? (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – FYODOR LUKYANOV, SPECIAL TO RBTH – December 10, 2015) The author is chairman of the Presidium of the Council […]
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The acrimony between Moscow and Ankara over the downing of a Russian bomber in Syria has cut Russians off from Turkish produce, and reduced their vacation options to boot.
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – DMITRY BABICH, SPECIAL TO RBTH – December 8, 2015) Dmitry Babich is a political analyst at Sputnik International. In recent years, Russia and the European Union have developed a taste for stressing what divides them, particularly the “differences in values” which presumably make us two worlds apart. But there is at least one […]
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(Interfax – December 7, 2015) Moscow welcomes the intentions of the United States and other members of the anti-terrorist coalition that it leads to help seal the Syrian-Turkish border with the purpose of stopping oil trafficking and other illegal businesses. “What the Syrian-Turkish border is like has been known for a long time, the same as the Turkish-Iraqi border. It […]
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