KIEV, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s membership in NATO is off the table for now, but its future in the military alliance will depend on Russia’s plan of action, the Ukrainian acting foreign chief said Monday. “I can say for sure that Ukraine is not going to raise the question of its NATO membership any time soon. It runs […]
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MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti) – Petro Poroshenko, who, with ballots still being tallied, is leading in Ukraine’s presidential race, has said that he intends to spearhead the creation of a new security framework that would replace the Budapest Memorandum. The Memorandum on Security Assurances was signed in Budapest on December 5, 1994 by Russia, Great Britain, the United States […]
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MOSCOW, May 26 (RIA Novosti), Nastassia Astrasheuskaya – Ukraine’s May 25 election, regardless of its outcome, will require the country’s new president to tackle large-scale reforms to reverse the public discontent that triggered the February protests, Dr. Nadiya Kravets of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University told RIA Novosti Monday. “Ukraine is in the process of fundamentally restructuring and […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – May 26, 2014) As Ukrainians cast their votes for a new president on Sunday, analysts said the election was unlikely to fully stabilize the situation in the strife-ridden nation – partly because it would be in Moscow’s best interest to keep its smaller neighbor mired in conflict. “Instability in Ukraine is a […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – May 26, 2014) Chocolate magnate Petro Poroshenko seems set to be declared the outright winner of Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election. But even before the confetti hits the floor, he’ll have to start tackling some daunting tasks to stabilize a country in the grips of economic, political, and geopolitical crises. Here are a few of […]
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KYIV. May 26 (Interfax) – The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (ODIHR/OSCE) has praised the way the voting process was organized in Ukraine and hopes the vote counting will be completed before June 7. We shall stay here until all the results have been counted and all complaints considered, […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 26, 2014) Ukraine wakes up this morning on May 26 to a totally different country; one with a legitimate president and a chance to finally start rebuilding from the ruins left following the ouster of Viktor Yanukovych. The so-called Chocolate King, Petro Poroshenko, stormed the Ukrainian presidential elections […]
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The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release May 25, 2014 Statement by the President on Elections in Ukraine On behalf of all Americans, I congratulate the people of Ukraine for making their voices heard by voting in their presidential election today. Despite provocations and violence, millions of Ukrainians went to the polls throughout the country, and […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Nicole Gaouette, Daryna Krasnolutska – May 24, 2014) The risk of Russia invading Ukraine is as high as at any time since the crisis began, with Kremlin agents stoking unrest in the east of the country preparing for elections tomorrow, according to Ukraine’s envoy to the U.S. Russia hasn’t taken any “practical steps” to ease tensions […]
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(Antony Penaud – May 23, 2014) Antony Penaud <antonypenaud@yahoo.fr> received a DPhil in applied mathematics from Somerville College, University of Oxford, UK, in 2000. In the last few years, he has noticed the development of anti-Russia campaigns in the Western media. The quasi-uniform reporting of the Ukraine crisis has led him to write this essay. He is French and lives […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. May 25 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will not agree to an abstract role in cooperation with the United States when Moscow is allowed “to simply sit alongside” and that mutual interests should be taken into account. “Instruments are good only when they are really applied. If we have set up some venues for […]
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MOSCOW/KYIV. May 25 (Interfax) – International observers monitoring the Ukrainian presidential elections, among them Russian, said the violations uncovered were few and not serious. “The most common violation we have noticed is that reports about the number of received ballot papers were not entered on some of the election commission’s reports before the start of the voting. Three observers had […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#117 :: 26 May 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 To subscribe to the JRL email version, email David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net 1. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#116 :: 25 May 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 To subscribe to the JRL email version, email David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net 1. The National Interest: […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#115 :: 24 May 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 To subscribe to the JRL email version, email David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net 1. Kremlin.ru: St Petersburg […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#114 :: 23 May 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 To subscribe to the JRL email version, email David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net 1. Wall Street Journal: […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. May 23 (Interfax) – The initial economic data for April, including industrial output, indicates that the probability that Russia will enter a recession in the second quarter is below 50%, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. In any case, he said, economic activity is expected to pick […]
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ASTANA. May 23 (Interfax) – Any new shocks to the global economy have the potential to reduce Russian GDP growth in 2014 to zero, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said. “If any shocks in the global economy occur, such as a drop in oil prices or further aggrava tion of the geopolitical situation, GDP could of course be near […]
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(Interfax – May 22, 2014) The Right Sector has been officially reg istered by the Ukrainian Justice Ministry as a political party, its information coordinator Boryslav Bereza said. “The Right Sector Party has officially been registered. Now we are a legitimate political force, which means we can stand for election and get elected at every level,” he wrote on Facebook […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – May 23, 2014) As fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops intensified in eastern Ukraine on Thursday with 11 killed near Donetsk, ordinary citizens were gearing up for Sunday’s presidential election. The race has had a polarizing effect on many residents of Ukraine, with widespread disagreement on whether it will stabilize the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – May 23, 2014) Ukraine goes to the polls this weekend in a crucial presidential vote that will end the political vacuum that has been the root cause of the turmoil plaguing the country since former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country in February. There is little doubt about who will win. Ukrainian oligarch […]
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ST. PETERSBURG, May 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is working on the development of promising new energy sources, but in the next 30 years while power consumption is growing existing sources of energy will essentially re main the same, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday. “Of course, we are already thinking about promising sources of energy: renewable energy, hydrogen energetics, […]
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MOSCOW. May 23 (Interfax) – If the United States imposes further sanctions against Russia, these will be followed by retaliation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “We would like to warn the U.S. once again against making hasty decisions in this sphere. Regrettably, the danger remains of additional sanctions being imposed. What we have been watching over the past […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. May 23 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Western sanctions imposed over Crimea so far concern the people from his close entourage, and that he would have started a legal action if he were in their shoes. “But for now all these sanctions boil down to picking someone close to me from my personal entourage, and […]
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MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti) – The West should not rush to impose further sanctions against Russia as they could have an extremely negative effect on the global financial system, Chair of the Government Department at Harvard University Timothy Colton told RIA Novosti. “The West should think twice, think very carefully about extending the sanctions, because it could end up […]
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ST. PETERSBURG, May 23 (RIA Novosti) – The future of US-Russia relations largely depends on the development of the situation in Ukraine, Chair of Harvard University’s Department of Government Timothy Colton told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “A lot depends on what happens in Ukraine. If things start to settle down – gradually, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Margaret Talev, Jonathan Allen – May 23, 2014) Turmoil in Ukraine has sparked a boomlet of lobbying in Washington, with an almost five-fold increase in the number of companies and organizations weighing in with lawmakers and officials. The subject is so sensitive that the lobbyists even more than usual want to be heard and not seen. […]
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ST. PETERSBURG, May 23 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – Russia’s poor infrastructure is a fundamental problem for local businesses and needs to be improved, former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday. “We need to make structural changes. The main problems are with infrastructure. We have […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in St. Petersburg – May 23, 2014) The mood is muted at the Kremlin’s annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which runs May 22-24. The threat of international sanctions is hovering over the heads of Russia n and foreign delegates in attendance at Russia’s premiere investment forum, and the impact of these […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nabi Abdullaev – ST. PETERSBURG, May 23, 2014) As Russia’s resource export- and consumer- driven economic growth fizzles, dozens of top Russian officials, businesspeople and foreign CEOs put their heads together in St. Petersburg on Thursday in a quest for new drivers to boost the country’s economy. No silver bullet was thrown on the table […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Sergei Mikheyev, special to RBTH – May 22, 2014) Sergei Mikheyev is director of the Political Environment Center of Russia Though many of the presidential candidates in the upcoming elections in Ukraine are taking care to position themselves firmly as anti-Russian, the truth of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainian […]
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ST. PETERSBURG, May 23 (RIA Novosti) – The situation that has appeared in Ukraine is very important for Russia but is only a technical issue for the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday. “In regard to Ukraine, you know what the problem is. For us it is extremely important, but in America questions on Ukraine were decided on […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. May 23 (Interfax) – Russia will evaluate the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine based on the monitoring conducted by the OSCE mission and using modern technologies, but will not send its monitors due to the absence of safety guarantees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “It’s very easy in our age of electronic mass media,” Lavrov told reporters […]
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… 6. Wall Street Journal: Ian Birrell, Ukraine and the Shame of Europe. From the left to the right, Kiev’s putative friends found reasons to think that Putin isn’t such a bad fellow.
7. Bloomberg: Mark Champion, Ukraine Can Kneel or Starve.
8. RFE/RL: Robert Coalson, The Costs Of Russia’s Ukraine ‘Victory’ ….
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Marc Champion – May 21, 2014) Marc Champion writes editorials on international affairs. He was previously Istanbul bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. He was also an editor at the Financial Times and the editor-in-chief of the Moscow Times. He is based in London. Now that the prospect of a hot war in Ukraine has […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 21, 2014) If Vladimir Putin had wanted to occupy part or all of Ukraine, he would have installed a different group of leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk, Yegeniya Albats says, a comment that provides an important clue to the Kremlin leader’s more general strategy with regard not only to Ukraine but […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – May 22, 2014) Russia’s aggressive policies in Ukraine since the fall of 2013 have resulted in some remarkable gains for Moscow. Kyiv’s European-integration plans have been derailed. The strategically important Crimean Peninsula has been annexed. And the destabilization caused by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine threatens to continue casting doubt over the legitimacy of the government in […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 22, 2014) For months, Moscow officials and commentators have complained about what they say is a double standard on the part of the West, arguing that Western governments and writers are condemning Russia for doing in Ukraine exactly what the US and the West more generally have done elsewhere. Such complaints […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – May 22, 2014) The 18th annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum launches Thursday with enthusiasm about Russia’s economy running low – the country is ambling into a recession, and Russia’s squabble with the West has prompted a mass pullout of foreign forum participants. This year’s edition of the forum, titled “Sustaining Confidence […]
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(Moscow Times – Christopher Brennan – May 22, 2014) In an unexpected move, Moscow authorities have reportedly approved a request by controversial political party The Other Russia to hold a freedom-of-assembly rally in the city center this month. Party member Alexander Averin announced via his LiveJournal page on Wednesday that city officials had sanctioned a “Strategy 31” event that the […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – COMMENT – Ben Aris in Moscow – May 21, 2014) Hitler has followed me to Russia and won’t leave me alone. The cover of the Daily Mail on May 21 has a shock-sensation banner headline: “Charles: Putin is behaving like Hitler.” Before I go any further let me say for the record that Hitler […]
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(Jack Matlock, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991 – jackmatlock.com – May 18, 2014 – http://jackmatlock.com/2014/05/granville-on-poker-with-putin/#more-723 – reviewing “[PDF] The Folly of Playing High-Stakes Poker with Putin: More to Lose than Gain over Ukraine” by Johanna Granville) Dr. Johanna Granville, a professor at the American University of Bulgaria who has resided in Western Ukraine for the last two years, has written […]
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… 18. Reuters: Factbox: Leading candidates in Ukraine’s May 25 presidential race.
19. Interfax-Ukraine: Presidential polls must, will be held in all Ukrainian regions – premier.
20. International New York Times editorial: A Critical Election in Ukraine.
21. Washington 19. Interfax-Ukraine: Presidential polls must, will be held in all Ukrainian regions – premier.Post editorial: Russia’s interference in Ukraine’s national election must carry consequences.
22. Reuters: Russia says Ukraine election may aggravate crisis. ….
(Interfax – May 20, 2014) The payment systems Visa and MasterCard will continue operating in Russia, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told Interfax on Tuesday. “We can’t abandon these systems since over 90 percent of those who use payment systems work with them,” he said. He did not say how the problem would be resolved with security deposits that Visa and […]
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KIEV, May 20 (RIA Novosti) – The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service did not detect any Russian troops within ten kilometers of Ukraine’s eastern border during aerial inspections on Monday, a spokesman for the service said Tuesday. “An aircraft inspection of 820 kilometers of the border was conducted yesterday. We did not detect any wrongdoing, any convoys crossing the border. […]
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MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has started a pullback of its troops from temporary bases near the Ukrainian border, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Tuesday. “It seems to me that maybe a few days will be enough and if you ask me when you start this process I would like to confirm openly that it has been […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitriy Romendik, RBTH – May 19, 2014) After a series of high-profile scandals at the Bolshoi Theater led to a change in leadership, fans of opera and ballet have been left wondering which direction the theater will now take. The Bolshoi has now announced the details of its repertoire for the 2014-2015 season, […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ryan Chilcote, Olga Tanas and Henry Meyer – May 20, 2014) Ukraine should settle a substantial part of its natural-gas debt and set a payment schedule before Russia will start price negotiations amid a dispute that may affect Europe, according to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. “It should be a substantial sum that would clearly indicate their […]
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MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) – Russian Armed Forces units taking part in routine military exercises at ranges in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions have been ordered by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to return to their permanent bases, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a press release. “Following the completion of the exercises, which were conducted in field conditions at […]
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MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) – Confirmation that Russia has plans to claim any part of Ukraine is propaganda and the comparison with the situation with Crimea is inappropriate, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday. “In regard to the type of hypotheses that Russia would like get some extra land is nothing more than propaganda. I don’t even want […]
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