(Business New Europe MOSCOW BLOG – bne.eu – Ben Aris – August 28, 2014) “Russia invades Ukraine” screamed a banner headline in the Huffington Post on August 27 after it was reported that 100 Russian tanks had crossed the border into Ukraine. Let’s get one thing straight at the outset. Russia did not invade Ukraine on Wednesday. An invasion is […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – August 27, 2014) When literature came under state control: 80 years since the First Congress of Soviet Writers When the First Congress of Soviet Writers opened on Aug. 17, 1934 in Moscow, it marked a watershed in Soviet literature. The artistic freedom that had characterized the turbulent 1920s was now gone, replaced by forced […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#190 :: Friday 29 August 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 on the verge of financial collapse. […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Liz Fuller – August 26, 2014) Veteran opposition politician Raul Khajimba has been elected de facto president of the largely unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia by the slenderest of margins — just 559 votes. He received 50.57 percent (50,494 votes) of the total 99, 869 ballots cast, defeating three rival candidates. Voter turnout in the early election, which was necessitated by […]
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MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government is to go ahead with plans to privatize a 19.5 percent stake in oil major Rosneft in 2015, likely in two stages, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Thursday. “The [government] plan is being upheld and preliminary operations have already begun. We are talking about the sale of the entire […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#189 :: Thursday 28 August 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. Euromaidan PR: Daniel Centore, Ukraine for Dummies – Part 1: […]
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Subject: RE: Response Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 From: Anders Aslund <AAslund@PIIE.COM> Dear David, Thank you for your inordinate attention you have given to my personal words to you. I appreciate your kind consideration. At the same time, I am surprised that anybody can object to me calling your list biased in favor of Putin. Whenever you get a chance, […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 26, 2014) Independent Russian experts say that there is no basis for the claim by Boris Titov, presidential plenipotentiary for the rights of entrepreneurs, that the level of corruption in the Russian Federation has fallen. Instead, they say, all measures point to corruption still being a major obstacle for the country’s […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 26, 2014) Three of every four Russian university students would prefer to work abroad rather than in Russia, Newsru.com reported Monday, citing a survey conducted by Career.ru. The survey revealed that 77 percent of Russian students found the prospect of overseas employment more appealing than working at home. Those most hopeful for overseas jobs […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Lossan, RBTH – August 25, 2014) Low price-per-barrel for Urals crude oil is putting pressure on the Russian budget On Aug. 18, Reuters reported that the price for Russia’s benchmark Urals oil fell to $98 a barrel – its lowest level since May 2013. Even as recently as July, Urals crude was […]
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MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Ministry of Finance expects an average oil price of $90-95 per barrel in 2015, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told RIA Novosti on Tuesday. “The price for oil in 2015 will be $90-95 per barrel,” Moiseyev said. The Ministry of Economic Development earlier predicted an average oil price of $100 per barrel over […]
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MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti) – The West ought to fundamentally change its approach towards the Ukrainian crisis, making Ukraine a ‘neutral buffer’ between Russia and NATO instead of westernizing it, asserts John J. Mearsheimer, American professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. “The United States and its European allies now face a choice on Ukraine. They can […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 26 (Interfax) – Militiamen of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) claim that up to 7,000 Ukrainian army servicemen have been trapped in three “pockets” in Ukraine’s eastern regions. “We have managed to drive the adversary into three “pockets”. One of them is located outside of Ilovaysk, the second one near Lutuhyne, and the third one near Stepanivka […]
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(Interfax – August 26, 2014) Eighty percent of Russians are monitoring the political events evolving in Ukraine; 32 percent of them are doing so on a regular basis and 48 percent learn the news from time to time, the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) said. The interest in the Ukrainian events has been high (over 70 percent) since February, […]
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MINSK. Aug 26 (Interfax) – The association agreement signed between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine could cost Russia billions and force it to introduce protective measures, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Due to Ukraine adopting zero duties on EU imports (which is to take effect almost immediately after the ratification of the agreement and will affect 98% of the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – August 26, 2014) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has dissolved parliament and called snap elections for October 26, in a move he says aims to “reload” Ukraine’s political elite. The move was widely anticipated and could help Poroshenko and his allies in the Rada clear the political decks and move […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 26 (Interfax) – No serious breakthroughs are expected with regard to a peace settlement in eastern Ukraine at the possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Minsk because Poroshenko is guided by the U.S. stance, the Russian Federation Council international affairs committee said. “Washington is not represented at this meeting in Minsk […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris – August 26, 2014) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian peer Vladimir Putin are due to sit down in Minsk on August 26 for their first formal meeting since the fighting in eastern Ukraine kicked off. Expectations for a peace deal are low, but what exactly can each side put on the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexander Korolkov, special to RBTH – August 25, 2014) Currently in the headlines for its use by both sides in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the Grad BM-21 multiple launch rocket system has a history that goes back all the way to the early 1960s, when it succeeded the legendary Katyusha rocket battery. […]
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SELIGER, Russia. Aug 27 (Interfax) – Only talks between the Ukrainian government and eastern Ukrainian regions can make it clear whether the eastern territories are willing to remain part of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov argued on Wednesday. “We are now convinced that everything possible must be done to ensure that they sit down at the negotiating table and […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#188 :: Wednesday 27 August 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. Financial Times: The right stomach for sanctions. Muscovites seem happy to sacrifice […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexandra Trifonova, Nikolai Litovkin, RBTH – August 26, 2014) The issuing of provisions of Russian humanitarian aid in Lugansk has begun after the controversial arrival of the aid convoy from Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says another convoy is planned and insists that on this occasion delivery terms will be fully negotiated. […]
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MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti), Antonina Ivanova – The talks on Ukraine in the Belarusian capital of Minsk that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said would decide “the fate of the world and Europe” did not yield any breakthrough solutions to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The talks were attended by the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, senior European Union officials, […]
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(jackmatlock.com – Jack Matlock – August 26, 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. This article is part of Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Carnegie Forum: Rebuilding U.S.-Russia Relations – perspectives.carnegie.org/us-russia/?utm_source=hero&utm_medium=carnegiewebsite&utm_campaign=USRussia082014 In his interview with Thomas Friedman […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Schastye, Ukraine – August 27, 2014) Irregular and regular Ukrainian forces have already captured “scores” of Russian Federation forces, a battalion commander tells bne, after Ukrainian media played videos of interviews with some captured members of Russia’s elite Pskov airborne division. Ukraine now appears to possess damning evidence of Russia’s involvement […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko, Ivan Nechepurenko – August 27, 2014) A slew of reports about Russian paratroopers slain or captured in Ukraine have reignited fears of a Russian invasion in the war-torn country, but confusion reigned supreme, indicating that the stories are above all part of the propaganda battle. The reports came ahead of a long-awaited meeting […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – August 27, 2014) There was little concrete progress in bringing about a ceasefire in the conflict ravaging eastern Ukraine, following a two-hour tete-a-tete between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko behind closed doors at a regional summit held in the marble-clad presidential palace in the Belarusian […]
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… 6. Reuters: Slim chance of progress as Russian and Ukrainian leaders meet.
7. Moscow Times: Ukraine Compromise on the Table in Minsk.
8. Carnegie Moscow Center: Balazs Jarabik, Minsk Freeze: Can Ukraine Handle a Compromise? …
… 29. Moscow Times: Alexey Eremenko, On Independence Day, Ukraine’s Existence Questioned.
30. www.opendemocracy.net: Rodric Braithwaite, Review: Serhii Plokhy, ‘The Last Empire.’ When the Soviet Empire collapsed, Ukraine was the key.
31. Financial Times: Susan Glasser, Putin profits politically from wars and western apologists. The west is told what it wants to hear and turns a convenient blind eye. …
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 26, 2014) After months of a bloody struggle over the fate of Ukraine, all sides in the conflict will attempt to initiate a tangible diplomatic resolution to the crisis during high-profile talks in the Belarussian capital Minsk on Tuesday, to be attended by the Russian and Ukrainian presidents as well as […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 26, 2014) The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that the ten Russian paratroopers captured by Ukrainian security services in the country’s east are indeed Russian, but said they crossed the border by mistake. Ukrainian security services earlier on Tuesday claimed they had detained ten Russian servicemen in the eastern Donetsk region […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – August 25, 2014) With multi-billion dollar energy deals between Moscow and Beijing recently being pushed through, China, the world’s second-biggest economy, is benefiting the most from the spiraling tension between Russia and the West over the violence in Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban earlier this month compared the European Union’s sanctions […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – August 25, 2014) Opposition candidate Raul Khadzhimba has claimed victory in the August 24 presidential poll in the breakaway Georgian republic of Abkhazia. Khadzhimba’s campaign staff said he had taken around 60% of the vote in the first round of voting in the unrecognized state. The head of Khadzhimba’s campaign, Artur Mikvabiya, told Russia’s […]
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(opendemocracy.net – David Marples – August 22, 2014) David Marples is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Canada. For summer 2014 he is Visiting Professor at the Slavic and Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University, Japan. [DJ: Just to clarify: One word in this article has been tweaked so that spam filters do not reject this […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax) – Russia is ready for complete openness in its actions in issues relating to the delivery of humanitarian aid to south-eastern Ukraine and urges against speculation on this topic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow. “We have an absolutely open approach here and we are ready for complete transparency, as […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax) – Russia is ready to take part in settling the Ukrainian crisis in any format, provided this “does not substitute the substance,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “Basically, we are prepared – as was repeatedly stressed by President Putin – for any format, as long as there is a result and movement from the military […]
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Subject: RE: 2014-#184-Johnson’s Russia List/Russian lies Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 From: Anders Aslund <AAslund@PIIE.COM> David: Why do you run so many obvious Russian lies, such as this one? RIA Novosti: Shelling Kills Hundreds in Besieged Luhansk in East Ukraine. Frankly, I have stopped reading your list as I see little but Putin propaganda in it. I am sure many […]
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(Interfax – August 25, 2014) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that peace in the zone of the armed operation will not be achieved at the expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty or territorial integrity. “Steps to peace cannot be unilateral. They should not be taken at the expense of the sovereignty, territorial integrity or independence of Ukraine,” he said at festivities […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 24, 2014) Vladimir Putin’s Crimean Anschluss which was intended among other things to highlight or promote divisions among Ukrainians about the status of their country has had exactly the opposite effect: It has boosted the share of supporters of independent statehood from 83 percent to 90 percent, the highest ever. In […]
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(Interfax – Donetsk – August 24, 2015) The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk people’s republic [DNR], Oleksandr Zakharchenko, rules out the possibility of Ukraine’s federalization and insists on DNR’s independence. “We want to live independently. Federalization (of Ukraine) doesn’t suit us,” he told journalists at a news conference in Donetsk. In Zakharchenko’s opinion, the self-proclaimed republic has sufficient economic […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Daisy Sindelar – August 21, 2014) It’s a risky business, attempting to predict the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine. But this weekend’s Kyiv visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stirred hopes that a resolution to the Ukraine-Russia standoff and the bloody fighting in Donbas may finally be near. We look at five of the key factors in play. […]
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WASHINGTON, August 21 (RIA Novosti), Leandra Bernstein – The last thing Russian President Vladimir Putin would do is getting involved by the West into a military invasion of Eastern Ukraine, a senior fellow at the Foreign Police Center on the US and Europe told RIA Novosti. “I don’t think [Putin] would invade Ukraine. I think it’s the last thing he […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 21 (Interfax) – Up to 100,000 Ukrainian citizens have applied for refugee status or temporary asylum in Russia since the conflict broke out in Ukraine’s southeastern regions in April, first deputy head of the Russian Federal Migration Service Yekaterina Yegorova told Interfax on Thursday. “The latest information available indicates that 99,364 people have already requested refugee status or […]
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MOSCOW, August 21 (RIA Novosti) – A New York-based media rights watchdog has hit out at Ukrainian authorities over their ban on Russian television broadcasts in the country and has urged Kiev to immediately restore unrestricted access to information, a statement published on its website Thursday said. “We are concerned by Ukraine’s ban on Russian television channels and call on […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#185 :: Sunday 24 August 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. Anders Aslund: RE: 2014-#184-Johnson’s Russia List/Russian lies 2. JRL Helpful Guide to […]
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… 15. Reuters: Merkel says tightening Ukraine-Russian border is key to peace deal.
16. Reuters: Ukraine’s Poroshenko sees removal of Russian ‘mercenaries’ as key to peace.
17. Interfax: Poroshenko: Ukrainian must remain only official language in Ukraine.
18. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Dmitri Trenin, Russia’s New National Strategy ….
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 20, 2014) “It is time to acknowledge the responsibility of the successful minority before the 90 percent of [Russian] citizens, whose hopes for a better future were deceived” following the collapse of the Soviet system, and for that minority to make changes “in the interests of the majority which suffered these […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – James G. Neuger, Patrick Donahue – August 18, 2014) NATO will stop short of basing substantial combat forces in eastern Europe to avoid a complete rupture in relations with Russia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. A North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit next month will settle on other ways of protecting the alliance’s eastern flank, including previously […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Kira Egorova, Anna Kuchma, RBTH – August 19, 2014) On August 14, the Ukrainian parliament passed a law enabling Kiev to introduce sanctions against Russian companies, meaning that if measures are introduced against Gazprom, the transit of Russian gas through Ukrainian territory will be blocked. What threats does the European economy face if […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Kira Tverskaya, special to RBTH – August 19, 2014) Economists point out that the Russian government’s recent food ban is likely to backfire as restaurants and consumers look for new sources for favorite products Moscow’s home cooks and restaurateurs alike have spent the past two weeks scrambling to find new sources for the […]
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