Tag: Russia

Interfax: Medvedev believes unitary state in Ukraine has no future but choice is up to Ukrainians

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Dmitry Medvedev file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 15 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes that a unitary state in Ukraine has no future but says a decision must come from the Ukrainians themselves. “Ukraine is an independent country and Ukrainians should decide for themselves where to live,” he said in an interview with the channel CNBC, answering a question about the Kremlin’s expectations […]

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RIA Novosti: Medvedev: Russian Troops Movements Not Signal to Anyone

Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Dmitry Medvedev file photo

MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) – The return of Russian troops, who took part in summer exercises in southern Russia, to their permanent bases is part of Russia’s domestic policy and not a signal to anyone, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday. “All sorts of decisions that Russia takes, including decisions on our armed forces, are the responsibility of […]

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Interfax: Russia interested in reviving cooperation with Ukraine – Putin

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that mutually beneficial relations may still be restored with Ukraine and that it is possible to end the armed conflict in Ukraine’s southeastern regions. “Despite the current complicated period in Russian-Ukrainian relations, we are interested in having consistent, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with our Ukrainian partners. In practice, this […]

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Poroshenko Seeks Merkel’s Support as Russia Bristles

Germany, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Maidan Square file photo

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Tony Czuczka, Kateryna Choursina- October 16, 2014) German Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed the Kremlin for continuing to stoke the Ukraine conflict as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that he won’t be blackmailed over the crisis. “Russia must make the decisive contribution to de-escalation,” Merkel told parliament in Berlin today. “The situation in Ukraine remains extremely difficult […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#216 table of contents with links :: Thursday 16 October 2014

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#216 :: Thursday 16 October 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. Wall Street Journal: Putin Trip to Europe Sparks Flurry […]

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Russian Defense Budget to Hit Record $81 Billion in 2015

Budget, Military
Russian Nuclear Submarine file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 16, 2014) Russia’s national defense budget for 2015 will reach a record 3.3 trillion rubles ($81 billion), or 4.2 percent of its national GDP, the head of the State Duma’s defense committee, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency on Thursday. The 2015 budget represents an 812 billion ruble […]

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Russians Lose Faith in Banks as Ruble Falls and Sanctions Bite

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
VTB Bank Facade file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – October 16, 2014) Consumer confidence in Russia’s financial system is falling, with half of Russians saying they don’t trust banks and are using such services less, in a troubling signal for a system under pressure from Western sanctions and more sensitive than ever to outflows of depositors, a recent study showed. In […]

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Experts Divided Over Whether Sanctions Against Russia Are Working

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Voice of America – Andre de Nesnera – October 15, 2014) After several rounds of international sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March and support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, experts are divided over whether they are working. “It depends on what your understanding of the purpose of sanctions is,” said Matthew Rojansky with […]

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Interfax: Ukraine lustration law may help legitimatize political persecution – Russian diplomat

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukraine Map and Flag

(Interfax – October 16, 2014) Ukraine’s new lustration law may lead to political persecution in the country, but Europe has approved of this document, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s human rights commissioner, Konstantin Dolgov, has said. “I totally agree with remarks concerning the lustration problem. Indeed, the West prefers not to comment on this law. Effectively, it is the legitimization of […]

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Putin Immune to Economic Decline – So Far

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – October 16, 2014) Most of Russia’s indicators of economic health have plummeted this year. Inflation last month was at its highest level in three years, capital outflow this year is expected to exceed $100 billion, the ruble has lost almost 20 percent of its value since January, and economic growth is anaemic, […]

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RIA Novosti: HRW Calls on Russia to Guarantee Freedom of Expression

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television
Collage of Russian Newspapers

MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) – Russia should make every effort to guarantee freedom of expression, support media pluralism, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher told RIA Novosti, regarding the new law, which has reduced the possible share of foreign stockholders in Russian media. “An essential feature of freedom of expression in a democratic society is media pluralism, and Russia, […]

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RIA Novosti: Moscow Says Has Every Right to Introduce Sanctions Against US, But Chooses Not to

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated with Flags Behind

VIENNA, October 16 (RIA Novosti) – Amid numerous US sanctions against Russia, Moscow has every right to begin introducing sanctions against the United States, but chooses not to follow this path, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister told RIA Novosti. “This is a reflexive, instincts-based reaction of Washington on what does not fit into the American idea of how, with whom, to […]

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Most Russians Think Western Sanctions Will Boost Nation’s Economy

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions
Truck at Russian Border Crossing

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – October 16, 2014) Despite an economic slump and rising inflation, the majority of Russians believe that Western sanctions and Russia’s retaliatory ban on food imports will actually help the economy, a poll published Thursday showed. Only 25 percent of respondents expect sanctions to damage the Russian economy, and only 26 percent expect […]

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Russian central bank plays it cool as ruble falls to historic low

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 16, 2014) The ruble dropped to another historic low on October 15, passing the RUB41 per dollar mark in morning trading, but analysts said Russia’s central bank is not panicking because ruble weakness is bolstering manufacturing growth and budget revenues. “The CBR is not panicking either in terms of the scale of its […]

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Interfax: Chief of staff says businessman’s arrest damaging Russia’s investment climate

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Oil, Gas, Energy
File Photo of Sergei Ivanov, adapted from defense.gov image

(Interfax – October 15, 2014) Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov has said that the house arrest of billionaire businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov is damaging Russia’s investment climate. In an interview with popular pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, which was quoted by Interfax news agency, Ivanov said that “I agree, this [the arrest of Yevtushenkov] is having a bad influence of the […]

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Fewer Russian Bureaucrats But Salaries Increased 30%, Study Shows

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Environs Aerial View

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 16, 2014) The number of Russian officials has decreased slightly from 2009, but their collective earnings have grown 31 percent to 682 billion rubles ($16 billion), a new study showed Wednesday. Russia had 1.45 million officials in 2013, compared with 1.5 million five years ago, the study conducted by the RBC news website said. […]

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Moscow Times: Ex-Soviet President Gorbachev Says ‘Disunity’ With Russia Weakens Europe

Europe, EU, History, Soviet Union
File Photo of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan at Table Signing Documents

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 16, 2014) Former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev has called on Russia and the West to put an end to their war of words and retaliatory sanctions over Ukraine and discuss a practical solution to the crisis. “How can you conduct a dialogue if you ‘punish’ the people in power who influence politics?” Gorbachev said […]

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Russia Can’t Be Blackmailed Over Ukraine, Putin Says

Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Sanctions, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – October 15, 2014) It’s futile for the U.S. and its allies to “blackmail” Russia over the Ukraine crisis, President Vladimir Putin said in a newspaper interview. Russia’s partners should remember the risks involved in disputes between nuclear powers, Putin said. He accused Barack Obama of adopting a “hostile” approach in naming Russia as a threat to […]

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Interfax: Most Russians think Putin is doing his job well – poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Interfax – Moscow, October 15, 2014) Russians support the president of the Russian Federation and more and more often see their trust in Vladimir Putin as a reflection of his successful handling of the problems facing Russia, sociologists have told Interfax. A poll conducted by the [Russian independent polling organization] Levada Centre among 1,630 people in 143 population centres in […]

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Conflict With Russia Reaches Ukrainian Stores

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Maidan Square file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Yana Polyanska, Claire Bigg – October 15, 2014) The standoff between Kyiv and Moscow has reached food stores in the Ukrainian capital, where Russian-imported goods are soon to be marked with special labels. The Kyiv city legislature has approved legislation ordering stores to enforce the new measure, which its initiator, lawmaker Ruslan Andriyko, says aims at warning […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#215 table of contents with links :: Wednesday 15 October 2014

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#215 :: Wednesday 15 October 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. Business New Europe: Ukraine’s lustration law bans up to a million […]

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Interfax: Medvedev: Reset for Russia-U.S. relations impossible for now

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Barack Hussein Obama and Dmitry Medvedev with Flags, Shaking Hands

(Interfax – October 15, 2014) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes a reset for Russia-U.S. relations will be impossible while sanctions are still in place, at least until the sides “go back to square one.” “No, of course not. It’s absolutely impossible,” Medvedev said in an interview with the channel CNBS answering a question whether a reset could happen while […]

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Business New Europe: Ukraine’s lustration law bans up to a million from holding office, Poroshenko escapes

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Verkhovna Rada File Photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 15, 2014) Ukraine’s new law on lustration came into force on October 15 on being published in government announcer Holos Ukrainy. According to Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who backed the law, it bans up to 1m Ukrainians from holding office. The bill principally targets officials who served during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, […]

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Interfax: Russian security chief says relations with USA resemble cold war

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated with Flags Behind

(Interfax – Moscow, October 14, 2014) The USA was involved in the collapse of the Soviet Union and tried to destroy Russia; Washington’s current attitude to Moscow resembles a cold war, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev has said. “President Barack Obama’s new administration started sending signals about the need to resume a mutually beneficial dialogue with Russia on a […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukraine Facing Overall Energy Crisis as Internal Conflict Affects Both Gas, Coal: Expert

Oil, Gas, Energy, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Blue Flame from Natural Gas

WASHINGTON, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine is not only facing a gas crisis this coming winter, but also a possible overall energy crisis due to disruptions in coal mining and transportation facilities, said Tatiana Mitrova, head of the Oil and Gas Department at the Russian Academy of Sciences Energy Research Institute (ERI RAS). “[It is] not just a potential […]

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De-Modernization and Degradation-A Net Assessment of Russia’s Domestic Situation Since the Start of 2014

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 181 – Pavel K. Baev – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – October 14, 2014) Considering Russia’s shocking transformation in the course of just half a year, it is easy to forget that last February the country was united in the joy of hosting the Sochi Winter Olympic games. The issues that dominated the political […]

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Five Important Things That Memorial’s Done (And Is Still Doing) For Russia

Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's
File Photo of Prison in Russia with Wall, Barbed Wire, Guard Tower

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – October 13, 2014 – Daisy Sindelar) Russia’s Justice Ministry has asked the country’s Supreme Court to liquidate Memorial, the country’s oldest and best-known human rights organization, which groups together more than 50 bodies nationwide. Founded in 1989 under the auspices of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, Memorial has led efforts to uncover communist-era repressions and fight discrimination […]

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Nagorno-Karabakh: the not-so-frozen conflict

Armenia
Map of Azerbaijan and South Caucasus Environs Including Portions of Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Iran, Caspian Sea

(opendemocracy.net – Neil Melvin – October 9, 2014) Neil Melvin is director of the Armed Conflict and Conflict Management Programme at SIPRI In recent months, the ‘frozen’ Karabakh conflict has been more fire than ice. With outside powers stoking the flames, what are the chances of finally securing peace? During the summer months, as international headlines were dominated by the […]

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Russia vows to reduce hazardous emissions to 70-75% of 1990 levels by 2030

Environment
File Photo of Smokestacking Spewing Cloud of Discharge

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Galiya Ibragimova, RBTH – October 14, 2014) Russia has announced its intention to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70-75 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. However, specialists interviewed by RBTH are divided on whether the plans are realistic, with some arguing that the pledge is incompatible with Russia’s energy strategy through 2035. […]

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Moscow Times: “WWF: Russia Only G8 Member With Growing Biocapacity”

Environment
Siberian Natural Scenery, with River, Trees, Hills

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – October 14, 2014) Russia is the only country among the world’s biggest economies whose biological resources not only exceed its environmental footprint but are continuing to grow, a new study said. WWF Russia on Monday presented a report on Russia’s biocapacity, or the capability of its ecosystems to produce resources useful for […]

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RIA Novosti: New Retaliatory Steps to Western Sanctions Not on Russia’s Agenda: Industry Minister

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Russia & the West
World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is not going to introduce new measures in response to Western economic sanctions, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told reporters on Tuesday. “We are not interested in responding [to Western sanctions] with some unreasonable measures. It’s our [Western] colleagues who should be thinking about when they will lift [the sanctions], […]

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Gref: Central Bank ruble policy ‘optimal’

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Russian Central Bank file photo

MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) – The Central Bank of Russia’s ruble exchange rate policy is “optimal,” Sberbank of Russia (MOEX: SBER) President and CEO German Gref said. “The policy that the Central Bank is pursuing is, in my view, optimal from the standpoint of managing the exchange rate. The economy is self-tuning, because the processes underway are very complex. Over […]

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Fears of a Russian credit crunch greatly exaggerated, say analysts

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 14, 2014) On paper, Russian companies have huge foreign debts, and no way of refinancing them because sanctions effectively close Western capital markets to Russian borrowers. But with much of Russian corporate foreign debt in fact hidden equity investments from offshore zones, the figures seem much worse than they are. International headlines are […]

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Interfax: Russia will protect itself from Western sanctions by long-term measures, says Lavrov

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Russia & the West
Sergei Lavrov file photo

(Interfax – October 14, 2014) Russia will use long-term measures to protect itself from Western sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “We will certainly adopt all the measures needed to protect ourselves from unlawful restrictions. You are aware of the resources that are being allocated for these purposes. Beyond any doubt, it will be a long-term program,” he […]

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Interfax: Europeans may have ancestors in Siberia – Russian Academy of Sciences

Far East, Siberia, APEC, History, Soviet Union, Science, Technology, Engineering
Siberian Natural Scenery, with River, Trees, Hills

(Interfax – October 14, 2014) A comparison of genomes of ancient Europeans and people living in contemporary countries has shown that a Siberian tribe is an ancestor of modern Europeans, said Olga Posukh, senior research fellow of the human molecular genetics laboratory of the Cytology and Genetics Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian branch. “A certain genetic component of […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukraine’s Parliament Speaker Signs Law on Special Status of Donbas Regions

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Verkhovna Rada File Photo

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov has inked a law on special status of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and sent it to President Petro Poroshenko for signing, the Verkhovna Rada said on its website on Tuesday. The parliament approved the law introducing self-administration in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukrainian Nationalists’ Long Ascent to New Heights of Power

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukraine Map and Flag

[Graphics here: en.ria.ru/analysis/20141014/ 194044957/Ukrainian-Nationalists-Long-Ascent-to-New-Heights-of-Power.html] MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti), Ekaterina Blinova – From the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to the front lines of the civil war, far-right neo-fascist groups have made their presence felt on and off the battlefield; these groups started to influence the country’s national consciousness following the country’s “Orange Revolution”, and gained an unprecedented level of political […]

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Interfax: EU will review Russia sanctions in late October – head of EU Delegation

Europe, EU, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
EU Map

MOSCOW. Oct 14 (Interfax) – The European Union plans to review its sanctions against Russia at the end of October, the Head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Ambassador Vygaudas Usackas, said when answering a question from Interfax on the sidelines of the European Business Association forum in Moscow on Tuesday. The results of such a review will depend on […]

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Moscow Times: Crimea to Hold First Census Since Russian Annexation

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukraine Map and Flag

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 14, 2014) Russia’s statistics agency on Tuesday launched a sweeping census of the population in the Crimea region, which the country annexed from Ukraine in March. Residents will be asked to field 33 questions on their age, ethnicity, spouse and children, native language and housing and income, the regional branch of the State Statistics […]

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Poroshenko will play up crisis easing ahead of elections

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukraine Map and Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Teneo – October 14, 2014) Signs of easing tensions will likely dominate the news this week, but progress on crisis resolution will likely be overstated and is unlikely to motivate a relaxation of EU/US sanctions against Russia.Signs of easing tensions will likely dominate the news this week, but progress on crisis resolution will likely […]

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Defense Minister: Kyiv’s Least Secure Job

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Maidan Square file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Glenn Kates – October 13, 2014) With more than 3,500 people killed in ongoing fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops, it is perhaps fitting that the position in Kyiv with the least job security appears to be post of defense minister. President Petro Poroshenko nominated National Guard commander Stepan Poltorak as his new defense minister on October […]

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Ukrainian National Guard marches on presidential administration

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Maidan Square file photo

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 14, 2014) Soldiers from Ukraine’s National Guard have marched on the presidential administration in Kyiv demanding demobilisation, in the first sign of open unrest in Ukraine’s armed forces since the failure of the so-called “anti-terrorist operation” in the Donbass region of East Ukraine. Around 350 soldiers serving in Ukraine’s National Guard – which […]

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RIA Novosti: Lavrov: Window of Possibility for Ukrainian Crisis Settlement Now Open

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – The window of possibility for finding a solution to the civil conflict in Ukraine is now open, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday. “Today, the window of possibility to overcome the Ukrainian crisis is open. Practical measures are being agreed upon and implemented on the basis of ceasefire agreements reached on the initiative […]

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Russia signs raft of deals with China

China
China Map

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 14, 2014) Russia and China signed a raft of 40 agreements encompassing trade, energy, finance and technology, following a meeting between Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, on October 14 in Moscow. The agreements demonstrate how Russia is looking for other options, after sanctions imposed on Russia in […]

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Russia Plans Giant State Oil Services Company to Replace Western Firms

Oil, Gas, Energy
Oil Worker file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin- October 14, 2014) President Vladimir Putin has approved the creation of a state-owned oil exploration drilling corporation that will replace Western oil service companies forced to reduce operations in Russia by sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine, a news report said Monday. In a time of “sharply escalating international tensions,” a national oil service […]

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Honored Burials, Mass Grave for Theater Greats

History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – October 13, 2014) Yury Lyubimov once told me about meeting the great director Vsevolod Meyerhold. This happened in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1987. I paid Lyubimov a visit to talk about his old friend, the playwright Nikolai Erdman, but the conversation, naturally and fortunately, took plenty of detours. The story in Lyubimov’s words […]

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Letter from America

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated Before Russian and U.S. Flags

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – October 13, 2014) I spent the last past week in DC trying to gauge better the Western response function to the crisis in Ukraine and with Russia. Herein are a few big picture take-outs from my discussions with a range of academics, journalists and policy types. First, the contrast […]

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A new nuclear arms race?

Nuclear, Missile Defense
Russia ICBM on Mobile Launcher

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Bratersky, special to RBTH- October 13, 2014) The current breakdown in bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia has brought a return to rhetoric and attitudes previously associated with the Cold War. When a group of Russian high schoolers were shown an artificial launching site during an excursion to a Cold War-era […]

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RIA Novosti: Lavrov: Moscow Opposes Following ‘Primitive Scenario’ of Confrontation With West

Europe, EU, Russia & the West, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW, October 13 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow opposes confrontation with the West as a joint international effort is required to counter threats to global stability, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday. “Despite the hostile behavior of the Western partners, we still oppose sliding into the primitive scenario of a direct confrontation between Russia and the West. Russia is ready […]

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Putin Deals China Winning Hand as Sanctions Power Rival

China, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
China Map

(Bloomberg – boomberg.com – Henry Meyer, Evgenia Pismennaya – October 13, 2014) Defying his former enemies in the U.S. and Europe may force Vladimir Putin to aid the ascent of his biggest rival in the east. Isolated over Ukraine, Russia is relying on China for the investment it needs to avert a recession, three people involved in policy planning said, […]

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