(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 14, 2014) The Kremlin’s insistence that ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in southeastern Ukraine are acting on their own rather than under the direction of Moscow as seems to be the case could blow up in Vladimir Putin’s face by leading Russians in Russian regions to ask the same questions about […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – April 14, 2014) The West is imploring Russia to help de-escalate tensions in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russia armed men seized government buildings in multiple towns over the weekend, even as Russia continues to deny involvement in the confrontations. Amid the West’s calls for a peaceful resolution to the mushrooming unrest, Ukraine’s central […]
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US Department of State Evidence of Russian Support for Destabilization of Ukraine Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC April 13, 2014 On April 12, armed pro-Russian militants seized government buildings in a coordinated and professional operation conducted in six cities in eastern Ukraine. Many of the militants were outfitted in bullet-proof vests and camouflage uniforms with insignia removed […]
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US Department of State Dipnote April 13, 2014 Ukraine: Choosing Diplomacy Over Aggression By Douglas Frantz Douglas Frantz serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. This was no peaceful spring weekend for Ukraine. Coordinated, well-armed Russian-backed militants attacked government buildings in a professional operation in six cities in eastern regions. Many of the attackers were carrying Russian-origin weapons […]
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US Department of State Russian Fiction the Sequel: 10 More False Claims About Ukraine Fact Sheet Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC April 13, 2014 “No amount of propaganda can make right something that the world knows is wrong.” – President Obama, March 26 Russia continues to spin a false and dangerous narrative to justify its illegal actions in Ukraine. […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 11, 2014) Despite Moscow’s protestations that it wants a resolution in Ukraine, Yevgeny Kiselyev says, Vladimir Putin in fact doesn’t need or want “stabilization” there anytime soon and that is in fact pursuing a policy based on the Leninist principle that “the worse things are [in Ukraine], the better [for the […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – KYIV – April 12, 2014) Just a few weeks ago, Yehor Sobolev was warned not to expect Ukraine’s parliament to pass legislation that would require judges to be screened for corruption and political bias. But on April 8, lawmakers did just that when a so-called “judicial lustration” bill sailed through the Verhovna Rada following street rallies that […]
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… 26. New York Post: Mark Nuckols, Behind Putin’s Ukraine ‘unrest’ game.
27. The National Interest: F. Stephen Larrabee and Peter A. Wilson, Calling Putin’s Bluff.
28. NATO: Russia’s accusations – setting the record straight. Fact Sheet.
29. Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe: U.S. Helsinki Commission. Testimony …
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – April 11, 2014) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. Russian leaders often look uninformed – or desperate – when they try to justify abuses of power by claiming that the U.S. is guilty of similar infractions. Take, for example, President Vladimir Putin’s comparison of Russia’s selective legal assault […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – April 10, 2014) In recent weeks, the Russian government has articulated what might be called the Putin Doctrine, a blanket assertion that Moscow has the right and the obligation to protect Russians anywhere in the world. Speaking on Russian television last month, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said that “Russia is the country on which […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 68 – Vladimir Socor – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org -April 10, 2014) Moscow seems to be preparing the atmosphere for a possible military intervention in Ukraine’s eastern regions. Russia could, if it deemed expedient, intervene there with troops in some form or other, as it has just done in Crimea. But, more likely, Moscow would leverage […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – April 11, 2014) The Russian Culture Ministry raised eyebrows this week by replacing several respected figures in two departments involving the fine arts and theater. Many admit it was high time for these experts to be rotated out of their positions. But most also suggest that the actions were taken abruptly, without […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – April 11, 2014) The Justice Ministry has ordered the Russian branch of American Councils, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that administers student exchanges and other educational programs, to cease its operations indefinitely, in what appears to be part of an ongoing crackdown on NGOs funded by the U.S. and other foreign governments. American […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – April 11, 2014) The Kremlin’s human rights panel has denounced as illegal the dismissal of a philosophy professor from Russia’s top university for aspiring diplomats for writing an article criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine and likening it to Germany in 1938. The presidential human rights council said in a statement on its […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Tatyana Sudakova, special to RBTH – April 9, 2014) A new breed of children’s home is springing up around Moscow to replace the city’s orphanages. Here parentless children have the chance to get used to a family environment by living in comfortable modern surroundings with a “mother” who spends five days a week […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – April 11, 2014) Large companies in Russia are taking vigorous steps against corruption under the threat of prosecution abroad, even as the domestic legal system veers between stern threats and erratic enforcement. The issue came to a head Wednesday as multinational IT company Hewlett-Packard’s Russian subsidiary pleaded guilty in the U.S. to […]
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(Kremlin.ru – Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region – April 10, 2014) Vladimir Putin met with core members of the Russian Popular Front national public movement. In particular, the meeting addressed implementing the Russian Popular Front’s anti-corruption project, which includes monitoring purchases for state and municipal needs. Also, Russian Popular Front representatives talked about independent supervision over implementation of the presidential executive orders […]
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(RIA Novosti – April 10, 2014) The allegations that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) declined to provide its American counterparts with comprehensive information about Tamerlan Tsarnayev, one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, is another manifestation of “anti-Russian hysteria”, Igor Korotchenko, the editor in chief of the Natsionalnaya Oborona (National Defence) magazine and a member of the public council […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Volodymyr Verbyany – April 11, 2014) If they can do it in Kiev, we can do it in Donetsk. That’s what Roman Romanenko says as he organizes the occupation of this eastern Ukrainian city’s seat of government, which he and hundreds like him seized to protest Kiev’s new leadership. Clad in fatigues and a blue beret, […]
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BRUSSELS. April 10 (Interfax) – Russia’s permanent envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov believes the evaluations given by the West to the events taking place in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine clearly indicate double standards in the approach to the crisis in Ukraine. “We see what is going on in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#81 :: 11 April 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. RIA Novosti: […]
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ANKARA, Turkey, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – The US guided-missile destroyer Donald Cook and French intelligence warship Dupuy de Lôme have entered the Black Sea, the Turkish newspaper Sabah reported Friday. According to the US military command, the dispatch of the Donald Cook destroyer was a move to reassure the country’s NATO allies in the region amid heightened tensions due […]
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MOSCOW. April 11 (Interfax) – The U.S. Department of Energy has barred Russian scientists from its leading physics laboratories, Kommersant wrote on Friday. “Visits of Russian citizens to Department of Energy facilities, including the Brookhaven National Laboratory, have been suspended indefinitely,” the newspaper quoted a letter sent to scientists collaborating with the U.S. leading research center on April 7. U.S. […]
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(Interfax – April 10, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that he believes that US congressmen, who uphold an anti-Russian position, for example over events in Ukraine, are thus trying to undermine US President Barack Obama’s positions, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 10 April. “A huge number of facts point to the idea that those who […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 11, 2014) Burger King Worldwide reached out Thursday to quash reports that the fast food chain’s Russian franchise operator would expand to Crimea, which Russia recently annexed from Ukraine. On Wednesday, Burger King Russia CEO Dmitry Medovy told news agency Itar Tass: “We are planning to open in Crimea, but I cannot say […]
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MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti), Luidmila Chernova – Russia’s exclusion from the G8 is a knee-jerk reaction provoked by short-sighted interests, which will ultimately lead to economic problems, according to Andrew McKillop, a former chief policy analyst at the European Commission Directorate General for Energy. “It’s a purely political stance, provoked by only political short-term interest, and has nothing to […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Tatyana Zykova, special to RBTH – April 10, 2014) Despite talk in Europe of reducing dependence on Russian fuel and promises of help from the U.S., for the foreseeable future Russia remains the only country that can supply the EU with an increasing supply of cheap gas. The European Commission in Brussels is again […]
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MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – US and EU energy companies would not tolerate the delays in payment by Ukraine that Russia has faced, an economist at the London Vanguard investment firm told the Voice of Russia radio station Friday. “Historically, since the end of the USSR, Ukraine has repeatedly failed to pay for its Russian gas. This is an […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Valery Kalnysh – April 10, 2014) Valery Kalnysh is editor of the Kommersant Ukraina newspaper Ukraine has never seen such an unusual election campaign; part of it – Crimea – is no longer Ukrainian; there are Russian tanks on its eastern frontiers, and separatism is rampant in the eastern regions In such a complicated situation the number of […]
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VLADIVOSTOK, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has not been involved in recent protests in southeastern Ukraine and always respects its neighbor’s territorial integrity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. “We are being accused that we have some kind of special agents there. There aren’t any. We don’t have any troops there either. We have no military personnel there […]
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MOSCOW. April 10 (Interfax) – A member of the Human Rights Council, a Kremlin advisory body, has defended Moscow’s decision not to renew a contract to broadcast Voice of America in Russia. “Russian officials were not proactive in this situation. In this information war, which hasn’t been unleashed by Russia, it’s Moscow that’s been behaving in a gentlemanly way, and […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH – April 10, 2014) The START III Treaty on arms reduction came into force in 2011 and is not due to expire until 2021. How effective is the agreement as a measure to limit the strategic offensive capabilities of Russia and the U.S., and do recent political differences threaten […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – April 11, 2014) Russian Armed Forces may replace the SS-18 Satan, the world’s heaviest intercontinental ballistic missile, earlier than planned due to a standoff with Ukraine, where the missile was initially assembled and is serviced, defense experts said Thursday. But while scrapping the missile and other joint projects mean “minor inconveniences” for […]
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DONETSK. April 11 (Interfax) – Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said that the country’s new authorities have no plans to abolish the July 3, 2012 law that regulates Ukraine’s language policy. “No one is going to abolish the Kolesnychenko-Kyvalov law,” Yatsenyuk said during a visit to the Donetsk region on Friday. “It is a law that advocates the interests […]
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MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – The de-escalation of the crisis in Ukraine is completely possible, but attempts to legitimize the country’s new leadership must stop first, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday. “We believe that the de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis is completely possible, but to do so it is necessary to stop imposing facts and stop the […]
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… 10. Washington Post editorial: Russia will respond only to increased sanctions over Ukraine.
11. The Heritage Foundation: Author of Russian Reset Admits Policy Is Dead.
12. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, The West Can ‘Win’ Ukraine, But It’s Going To Cost A Lot Of Money.
13. www.thenation.com: Alec Luhn, Will the IMF Bailout Turn Ukraine Into Another Greece? …
(RFE/RL – April 9, 2014) A top U.S. diplomat says the United States is helping Ukraine comb through a “treasure trove” of documents recovered from the government of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in order to prosecute corrupt officials. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said Department of Justice officials were helping to “exploit” […]
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(US Department of State – April 9, 2014) Testimony Victoria Nuland Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Statement Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) Washington, DC April 9, 2014 As prepared Thank you, Chairman Cardin and Co-Chairman Smith, for inviting me to testify before you today on the situation in Ukraine. It is […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Peter Hobson – April 10, 2014) U.S. fast food giant Burger King plans to expand its chain into Crimea, filling the vacuum left when McDonald’s pulled out of the peninsula last Friday, citing unspecified supply issues. Burger King currently has no outlets in Crimea, which has been at the center of tensions between Russia and […]
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MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – The creation of a Ukrainian Federation could help the country preserve its current borders, Oleg Tsarov, a Ukrainian member of parliament and presidential candidate, told RIA Novosti on Thursday. “Look what happened in the parliament yesterday. They beat up the head of the Communist faction right before my eyes. It is a blatant example […]
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MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – Recent statements by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on the situation in Ukraine as well as the alliance’s double standard on Crimea have hindered a de-escalation of tensions in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday. “Several times over the last few months we have heard nothing constructive in comments by the […]
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MOSCOW, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – Right Sector, a Ukrainian ultra-nationalist movement and illegally armed militia, now has a smartphone application which allows it to organize its tactics, according to the Vocativ news website. The Right Sector app can be downloaded on the Google Play market for Android devices and was released last week, according to the Google Play store. […]
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(RIA Novosti – Novo-Ogarevo, April 9, 2014) Russia has not yet received a clear explanation from the USA about the activities of employees of the Greystone company in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists on Wednesday [9 April]. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the fact that additional forces of the Ukrainian army, which include representatives […]
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(The Heritage Foundation – heritage.org – Daniel Kochis – April 9, 2014) President Obama’s former Ambassador to Russia and self-described author of the Russian reset policy Michael McFaul today admitted the obvious: the reset is dead. In a radio interview with the Flint Report in Montana, McFaul stated, “The reset ended, the reset ended a long time ago.” McFaul is […]
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BRUSSELS. April 9 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian crisis is caused by two factors – internal and foreign, Russian ambassador to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov believes. “Unfortunately, during the relatively short history of Ukrainian independence – 23 years – the Ukrainian people did not have leaders that it deserved. Actually all four presidents that were in power one after the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Daria Marchak and Jake Rudnitsky – April 10, 2014) Ukraine is reducing gas imports and halting payments for natural gas imports from Russia over price “aggression” before the world’s biggest exporter of the fuel cuts supplies, raising the risk of disrupted flows to Europe. Ukraine won’t buy gas to pump into underground storage for the heating […]
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BERLIN, April 10 (RIA Novosti) – The outflow of capital from Russia is not tied to events in Ukraine, but to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the ruble, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Thursday. “The outflow of capital is not mainly tied to Crimea, the outflow, of course, is connected with the events that happened in […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO. April 9 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia is ready to join four-sided talks on Ukraine, if they are meant to urge those who are in charge in Kyiv to take care of the country but not demand cheap gas from Russia. “This is our position: we want to see clear purposes for the […]
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(RIA Novosti – Beijing, April 0, 2014) Russia does not intend to switch energy exports from the western to the eastern direction because of an escalation of tension over Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Arkadiy Dvorkovich said on Wednesday [9 April] after a meeting with the co-chairs of the Russia-China energy cooperation committee . “At the moment we have no intention […]
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Re: Response to Roy (JRL #79) Date: Wednesday April 9 From: Stephen D. Shenfield (sshenfield@verizon.net) I am responding to Sergei Roy’s riposte in JRL #79 to my comments in JRL #77 on his essay in JRL #76. I should say first that it was not my purpose to review Roy’s article as a whole, but only to make a few […]
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