MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has alternative routes to deliver oil to Europe if Ukraine decides to stop transit via its territory, but Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic will sustain losses, a spokesman for Russia’s oil transit monopoly Transneft said Friday. Russia delivers about 14 million tons of oil to European consumers via the Druzhba pipeline laid through […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 8, 2014) While the ban on many food imports imposed by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday has sparked fears of Soviet-era shortages among some sections of Russian society, political analysts told The Moscow Times that it will have little effect on the level of support for the government among the public. […]
» Read more
(Interfax – August 8, 2014) As of Friday morning, Lugansk is completely disconnected from power, the city does not have water, landline and cell service for six days already, the Lugansk city council press office said in a statement. “Yesterday gunfire continued on the territory of the regional center, in which 250,000 residents remain. During the armed clashes Lugansk sustained […]
» Read more
KIEV, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – The activists still occupying Kiev’s Independence Square are protesting the new Kiev authorities and the government’s military operation in eastern Ukraine, a Euromaidan representative said Friday. “Why are factories and plants being closed? Why is the war underway? Nothing has changed under the new government; there is still no work and corruption is flourishing,” […]
» Read more
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 8, 2014) Putinism, Igor Eidman says, is “a combination of the practice and ideology of the authoritarian regime of Putin, which operates on a corrupt bureaucratic oligarchy and is in many respects close to a fascist dictatorship,” with its “aggressive annexationist foreign policy, state-monopoly capitalism, force structures, and chauvinism and traditionalism” […]
» Read more
WASHINGTON, August 7 (RIA Novosti), Lyudmila Chernova – Russia’s food embargo is a smart move on Moscow’s part that is set to show the United States and its allies that Russia is not going to give in to Western pressure, an American economist and co-director of a US-based research center told RIA Novosti Thursday. “It is smart of Moscow to […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) – Russia’s response to the anti-Russian measures taken by the West was forced and further unwinding of the “sanctions spiral” is absurd and dangerous, Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said. “As to the measures taken by Russia on the countries that initiated or support anti-Russia sanctions, they are a response aimed at protecting our citizens […]
» Read more
… 33. NBCNews.com: Winging It: Putin Has No Master Plan for Ukraine Crisis, Officials Say.
34. Financial Times: Russia stirs fears of repeat Georgia war in Ukraine.
35. www.foreignpolicy.com: Emile Simpson, Give Putin a Way Out. With Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border, the talk of war is getting louder. But it doesn’t have to happen.
36. Foreign Policy Journal: Masha Mitaeva, Ukraine Crisis: Ceasefire Anyone? A Memo for Europe.
37. Reuters: Ian Bremmer, Putin’s Ukraine invasion threat is more than a bluff – but not his preference.
38. CNN.com: What is Putin’s endgame in Ukraine? …
MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax) – The countries from which Russia has just banned food imports supply over 10% Russia’s pork, fish and fruit, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov told a briefing. Russia consumes 2.345 million tonnes of beef, but the embargoed suppliers, the EU, United States, Australia, Norway and Canada supply 59,000 tonnes of this. The figures for pork are 3.415 […]
» Read more
The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release August 06, 2014 Remarks by the President at Press Conference After U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit [excerpt re Russia] Q Thank you, Mr. President. Russia said today that it is going to ban food and agricultural product imports. That was about $1.3 billion last year. At the same time, Defense Secretary […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that Russia is considering a potential ban on European and U.S. air carriers using trans-Siberian routes as a possible retaliatory step against Western sanctions targeting Russia’s low-cost airline Dobrolet. “The government of the Russian Federation is considering a number of retaliatory steps. But it does not mean that […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – August 7, 2014) Anti-Western sentiments in Russia have hit a fever pitch amid the ongoing conflict in neighboring Ukraine, a survey conducted by independent pollster the Levada Center revealed Wednesday. A mere 18 percent of respondents harbor favorable attitudes toward the U.S., a significant decrease from January’s 43 percent. The number of […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 7, 2014) President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has reached a record high of 87 percent, according to the results of a survey published Wednesday by the independent Levada Center pollster. In May, Putin enjoyed an approval rating of 83 percent, its highest since 2008, according to major U.S. pollster Gallup. Putin’s popularity at home […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.ru – Teneo Intelligence – August 7, 2014) Ukrainian forces have stepped up their campaign to retake the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk from separatists; Russia will likely respond with increased efforts to help the pro-Russian militias to stay in control. Yet, the new tactics will likely fall short of direct military invasion and instead take […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – August 7, 2014) The grounding this week of Russia’s low-cost airline, Dobrolyot, by European Union sanctions has exposed the vulnerability of Russia’s airline industry, which relies on aircraft leased from abroad that can be withdrawn at the push of a pen in Brussels or Washington. Russian airlines lease 90 percent of their […]
» Read more
KIEV, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked US Vice President Joe Biden for America’s consistentsupport to Ukraine, Ukrainian President’s press service said in a statement following Poroshenko’s phone conversation with Biden. “Petro Poroshenko expressed his gratitude for the United States’ continued backing of Ukraine,” the statement reads. “In his turn, Biden assured that the US would […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow hopes that economic pragmatism will guide political decisions taken by the West, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday after announcing a sweeping ban on food imports from countries that sanctioned Russia. “I sincerely hope that the economic pragmatism of our Western partners will prevail over ridiculous political ideas and they would start […]
» Read more
KIEV, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Andriy Parubiy said Thursday he had tendered his resignation and the country’s president had accepted it. “I consider it inadmissible to comment on my resignation while the war continues. I continue to aid the military, first of all to battalions of volunteers,” Parubiy wrote on […]
» Read more
… 33. Carnegie Moscow Center: Akio Kawato, Who Is in Charge of an End Game in Ukraine? A View From Tokyo
34. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, Moscow Needs a Plan B in Ukraine.
35. www.chathamhouse.org: John Lough, The West Needs an ‘Off Ramp’ for Putin in Ukraine.
36. Washington Post: Danel Drezner, The most annoying tic in the American foreign policy machine
37. Stars and Stripes: Leaders call for NATO to boost military presence in east. …
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – August 6, 2014) The recent Western sanctions, the harshest in decades, are meant to stun Russia’s economy. But one person’s loss is another one’s gain – and this is also true for companies and countries in a globalized world. Following the U.S.’s example, the European Union last week imposed broad economic sanctions […]
» Read more
(Interfax – August 5, 2014) The concerns voiced by US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki about the Russian military exercise at the Ashuluk range in Astrakhan Region are unfounded, a Russian Defence Ministry official spokesman told journalists on Tuesday [5 August]. “People at the Russian Defence Ministry have relished the latest pronouncements by the official spokesperson for the US foreign […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines Press Digest – rbth.ru – Sofia Savina, special to RBTH – August 5, 2014) RBTH presents a selection of views from leading Russian media, featuring news of possible restrictions on the use of Russian airspace by European airlines in response to sanctions, U.S. concern over large exercises by Russia’s air force on the Ukrainian border, and […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Alexei Pushkov, a senior Russian lawmaker and chairman of the State Duma foreign affairs committee, on Wednesday lambasted American media outlets, saying the fifth pillar of US democracy has devolved into a State Department spin-off. “The US media are dead. Now they are just subdivisions of the US State Department,” Pushkov said in a […]
» Read more
KIEV, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – A Ukrainian military spokesman officially confirmed Wednesday that foreigners are taking part in a special operation in eastern Ukraine, but denied that the Kiev government receives military hardware and weapons from abroad. “It is untrue that foreign weapons are being used [in the military operation]. But it is true that representatives of other nations […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Spokesperson for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Michael Bociurkiw said Wednesday he believes it is not correct to refer to the independence supporters in eastern Ukraine fighting against government forces as “separatists.” “Well, usually we use the term ‘rebel groups’ or groups opposed to the government. It’s quite a neutral term. There […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is ready to help Russian human rights advocates to set up a humanitarian corridor which would allow the safe transit of sick children from Ukraine, Raisa Lukutsova, the head of the Russian Red Cross, said Wednesday. “They said that they are studying this issue and will […]
» Read more
(Interfax – Moscow, August 5, 2014) Russian human rights ombudsman Ella Pamfilova has recommended to Ukrainian journalists to turn attention to the creation of a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian servicemen and said she expects Kiev to open corridors to evacuate sick children, who are staying in the zone of the armed conflict in the southeast of the republic. “We can […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian Army has used Uragan multiple-launch rocket system and a cruise missile in the country’s east for the first time, RIA Novosti correspondent reported. On Tuesday, self-defense forces in the city of Horlivka in Donetsk Region said they noticed a cruise missile flying in about 40 meters above the ground. Shortly after, the missile […]
» Read more
KYIV. Aug 6 (Interfax) – The situation in Donetsk remained tense at 1 p.m. local time (2 p.m. Moscow time) on Wednesday but no more shooting can be heard and critical public services are running as usual, the Donetsk city council said. Specialists from Donetskgorgaz are repairing gas pipelines “damaged as a result of artillery fire in the Petrovsky and […]
» Read more
KYIV. Aug 6 (Interfax) – The situation in Luhansk remained critical as of the morning of August 6 as the city remained without power, water supply and landline and mobile communications, the press service for the Luhansk city council has reported. According to the press service, shooting continued in the city in the early hours of Wednesday. The majority of […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 4, 2014) With tensions between Russia and many Western countries mounting, some people think that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being unfairly painted in a bad light. In fact, they feel so strongly about this that they have come up with their own Twitter hashtag to make their case. Tagging their tweets with #blameputin, […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – Moscow, August 4, 2014) Moscow believes that Western countries will continue to exert pressure on Russia by means of sanctions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said. “I think, there is a real threat which one should not underestimate: that the itch of sanctions won’t end with this [i.e. the current sanctions]. They will scratch it […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Happiness index in Russia has remained at 78 points for the past three months despite the increasing sanctions burden, according to the country’s opinion research agency VCIOM. A public opinion poll conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) showed Tuesday that the “satisfaction with life” index has remained unchanged at 78 points […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Aug 5 (Interfax) – The figures of social wellbeing of Russian citizens are at record levels for the third month in a row and the index of assessing economic situations reached historical maximums in July, the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) said on Tuesday. Sociologists calculated the index of Russian satisfaction with life, which rose to a record […]
» Read more
KIEV, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian troops have reached the eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk and are getting ready to take them by storm, Ukraine Security Council representative Andriy Lysenko said Tuesday. “The main anti-terrorist operation forces, including territorial battalions, have reached these areas [outskirts of Donetsk and Luhansk]. It doesn’t mean that any storm has already started. […]
» Read more
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#169 :: Tuesday 5 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. RIA Novosti: NATO Claims Russia Gathered 20,000 Troops on Ukraine […]
» Read more
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – August 5, 2014) On the front line in the Donbas both sides appear to be squaring up for the final push. Ukrainian forces have reportedly now encircled Donetsk, and all but encircled Luhansk, with the area now controlled by separatists shrinking by at least half since the latest offensive […]
» Read more
BRUSSELS, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow said Tuesday Russia had beefed up its troops along its border with Ukraine by some 20,000 soldiers. “Russia broke intl law w/ [with] no justification, invaded #Ukraine, backs separatists, now has ±20,000 troops on Ukraine’s E. border,” Vershbow wrote on his Twitter page. NATO has never looked for pretext […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 5, 2014) When the U.S. government announced its first round of sanctions against President Vladimir Putin’s friends over the Ukraine conflict in May, it made no bones about their aim: Increase the cost for them of Putin continuing his course and they will influence him to back off or, ultimately, throw […]
» Read more
… 4. Wall Street Journal: Conflict in East Ukraine Claims Civilian Lives in Rebel-Held Cities. Warfare Spreading into Rebel-Controlled Cities Risks Alienating Residents.
5. Reuters: Ukrainian city stocks up as a long siege looms. …
Subject: The collapse of the Soviet Union: What was it — the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century or simply a major disaster? [Adomeit’s second note] Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 From: Hannes Adomeit (hannes.adomeit@t-online.de) The collapse of the Soviet Union: What was it — the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century or simply a major disaster? Hannes […]
» Read more
Subject: AW: 2014-#166-Johnson’s Russia List [Adomeit’s first note] Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 From: Hannes Adomeit (hannes.adomeit@t-online.de) From a senior German Russia expert: I completely agree with the observation expressed in yesterday’s issue of the senior U.S. official and the senior U.S. academic about JRL’s loss of impartiality. The bias is also amply reflected in the inclusion of those poisonous […]
» Read more
Subject: language, again Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 From: Harley D. Balzer <balzerh@georgetown.edu> Patrick Armstrong issued a major attack on Aslund’s characterization of Putin’s comment about the destruction of the Soviet Union. He states: So it is now perhaps time to see what it was that Putin actually said. Here it is: first in Russian, “Прежде всего следует признать, что […]
» Read more
Subject: “Krupneyshaya katastrofa” translation Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2014 From: Serge Markov <semar1@comcast.net> On the matter of Putin’s 2005 characterization of the fall of the Soviet Union, any educated native Russian speaker will tell you that krupneyshaya katastrofa can be rendered either as “a major” or as “the greatest catastrophe” depending on context. Methinks the context of Putin’s address favors […]
» Read more
Subject: Debate over Putin quote on the Soviet collapse Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 17:29:30 -0400 From: Steve Shabad <steve.shabad@verizon.net> As a Russian-English translator for my entire adult life (almost half a century), I feel compelled to weigh in on the debate between Anders Aslund and Patrick Armstrong over the famous Putin quote on the fall of the Soviet Union. […]
» Read more
(Interfax – August 4, 2014) Twenty per cent of Russians think that the number of people leaving forever will grow in the coming years, 24 percent are certain it will decrease, and 56 percent failed to respond, the survey showed. When asked why fellow citizens leave Russia, 9 percent said “in search of better life and better financial position”, 2 […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – August 4, 2014) President Vladimir Putin’s decision to annex Crimea and his treatment of the eastern Ukrainian insurgency have rallied nationalist support and altered Russia’s political landscape, politicians and analysts told The Moscow Times. The ongoing political crisis between Russia and the West over the armed conflict in Ukraine has pushed nationalist-leaning […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – August 4, 2014) The impact of the EU’s latest and harshest sanctions on Russia will be felt most keenly in the country’s economic sectors that are largely dependent on state-of-the-art Western technology, ranging from the extraction of hydrocarbons to civil aircraft production, analysts said. The European Union late last week officially approved […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) – Russian scientists hope that the western sanctions, imposed on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, will not impede the implementation of space projects, according to the director of the Lebedev Physical Institute Astro Space Center, Nikolai Kardashev. The scientist specifically hopes the sanctions will not affect the Millimetron space observatory mission – a high-sensitivity […]
» Read more
The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release August 01, 2014 Press Conference by the President [excerpt] James S. Brady Press Briefing Room THE PRESIDENT: Look, this is a common theme that folks bring up. Apparently people have forgotten that America, as the most powerful country on Earth, still does not control everything around the world. And […]
» Read more