(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Tatyana Lisina, special to RBTH – June 17, 2013) Despite initial reluctance, Moscow might help the U.S. hunt down tax evaders. Russia appears to have finally yielded to American pressure to adopt a tax dodgers’ law known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Arguments advanced by Russian economists may have […]
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(RIA Novosti, WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013) A New York-based Orthodox Jewish group has said it is not satisfied with Russia’s recent decision to transfer a disputed collection of Jewish religious texts to the newly built Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow, a move proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the row. Moving the so-called Schneerson Library […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 18, 2013) The United States has returned to Moscow eight historical documents, taken out of Russian archives during the turbulent 1990s and recently recovered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The documents, including handwritten orders by Tsarina Catherine the Great and Russia’s last Tsar Nicholas II, and a personal letter by composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 17, 2013) Boris Nemtsov, Yulia Tymoshenko and Stanislav Shushkevich top “no confidence” rankings lists compiled after recent opinion polls taken in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Respondents in the polls, conducted by Integratsiya Foundation, were shown lists of opposition politicians in their respective countries and asked whether they trusted any of them, the foundation said in a […]
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(RIA Novosti – June 17, 2013) The revelations about eavesdropping on foreign delegations during a G20 summit in the UK in 2009 could seriously affect international relations, a Russian senator said on 17 June, although another believes they will have only a limited impact. “The Russia-US reset was called in 2009, while at the same time US intelligence was listening […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – June 17, 2013) George Orwell’s “1984” was, when it was published, purely a work of fiction. “There was, of course, no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment,” Orwell wrote. “You had to live in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in […]
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(Interfax – LOUGH ERNE, UK, June 18, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama have agreed to hold a Russia-U.S. summit in Moscow on September 3-4. “In order to nail down a constructive nature of our relations we are going to uphold regular contacts at the highest level and hold a Russian-U.S. summit in Moscow on […]
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(Interfax – June 17, 2013) Analysts believe that the leaders of Russia and the United States at their bilateral meeting in the framework of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland are likely to pay most of their attention to the Syrian conflict and preparations for the Geneva conference on Syria. “I believe with a probability of 60 percent or even […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 17, 2013) There would have been few technical difficulties for US spies wanting to listen to the secret communications of then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the 2009 G20 summit in London, a former head of Russia’s security services said Monday. A report detailing the surveillance of Medvedev by British and US intelligence organizations was […]
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(Interfax, combined report – June 17, 2013) The Russian Federal Protective Service is taking necessary measures to ensure confidentiality of communication between state leaders, the service told Interfax. “The Federal Protective Service is taking every necessary measure to provide the appropriate level of confidentiality of information for top-ranking officials of the country,” service spokesman Sergei Devyatov said on Monday. “Protection […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 17, 2013) Russia and the United States have signed a contract for the delivery of Russian Mi-17 helicopters for the Afghan army, a Russian government agency said Monday. The Russian state-owned defense firm Rosoboronexport and the US Department of the Army signed the contract on Sunday in Paris “as part of joint efforts to […]
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(RIA Novosti – Fyodor Lukyanov – Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, an authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments – June 14, 2013) The meeting between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a desert retreat near Palm Springs, California, last weekend caused hardly a stir […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 15, 2013) A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of an upcoming G8 summit in Northern Ireland should reduce the level of anti-Russian attitudes in the U.S. establishment, says Sergei Karaganov, a member of the Russian presidential Human Rights Council. “I think it will be efficient to the […]
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(Interfax – June 11, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he cannot see any fundamental ideological antagonisms between Russia and the USA, and could explain many existing divergences by differences in mentality, privately-owned Russian news agency Interfax reported on 11 June. According to the report, Putin made the statements while answering questions fielded by journalists of the state-owned […]
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(RIA Novosti – RIO DE JANEIRO, June 12, 2013) The head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that he has no information about US whistleblower Edward Snowden seeking asylum in Russia. “I haven’t heard about there being a formal [asylum] request from Snowden,” Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro. Russia will review the request […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) The United States will be hysterical if Russia grants political asylum to (name/post redacted), State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov tweeted on Tuesday. “By promising asylum to (name redacted), Moscow undertakes the protection of persons persecuted for political motives. The U.S. will be hysterical. They recognize it as their right,” he said. […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – June 10, 2013) The NSA Prism surveillance scandal is disconcerting for many reasons – all of which I won’t get into here. What is especially curious about it is how meek other Western governments and even rights organizations are sounding when they talk about it. Amnesty International noted that the […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) Relations between Moscow and Washington will develop in a step by step manner despite the existing “irritators”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “Well, I don’t see any challenges which are not insurmountable. I believe that after some pause and some irritators, which appeared rather officially in our relationship some time ago, both presidents […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has criticized the West’s “double standards” in dealing with foreign regimes it has branded as dictatorial, and defended Russia’s arms contracts with Syria. Speaking in a recent interview with America’s CBS network released on Monday evening, Lavrov said the West had a policy of double standards in […]
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(RIA Novosti – June 10, 2013) The USA will not be able to hinder integration processes in the post-Soviet space, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Aleksey Pushkov has said. He was speaking at a news conference in Moscow on 10 June, as reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on the same day. Pushkov said: […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 10, 2013) Resolving differences between Russia and the United States over missile defense is key to developing bilateral relations, a senior Russian lawmaker said Monday. “Missile defense has become a key issue: If we find a common language here, we could speak of a beginning of new positive dynamics in US-Russian relations,” Alexei Pushkov, […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 10, 2013) The US administration does not regard Russia as a rival in security matters but views Moscow as a partner with whom it can jointly resolve global issues, the US ambassador to Russia said on Monday. “We do not consider Russia as a rival to the United States either in security or in […]
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(Interfax – June 7, 2013) U.S. missile defense shields will not be able to stop Russia’s new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which was test launched successfully on June 6, from reaching its target, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in his lecture as part of the Civil University project on Friday. “We closely watched last night’s events. They were […]
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(Interfax – KAZAN, June 6, 2013) The Federal Security Service is cooperating with the U.S. security services in the investigation of the Boston terror attack, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov said. “We are cooperating very actively with our FBI and CIA colleagues, responding to their requests and assisting in the arrangement of necessary procedures on the Russian territory,” he said on […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 7, 2013 – Anatoly Medetsky) The right species of foreign agent can get incentives to prosper and propagate in Russia, as shown by a deal announced Thursday. A unit of state-controlled lender Sberbank said it agreed to loan 1 billion rubles ($33 million) to an agricultural company for expanding its herd of U.S. bovines. […]
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(RIA Novosti – Kirkenes, Norway, June 4, 2013) Russia is ready to cooperate with the USA in a variety of spheres; the key is for them to be peaceful, Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has said. “We are prepared for various forms of cooperation. The only thing is that – which is very important – it has to be peaceful […]
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(Interfax – June 1, 2013) Unilateral deployment of strategic missile defence elements may lead to the polarization of forces in the Asia-Pacific region, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoliy Antonov has said, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 1 June. “The strategic situation in the Asia-Pacific region is burdened by the missile defence factor. We are concerned by the unilateral deployment […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 3, 2013) Russia-US relations could be improved through collaboration in Afghanistan, despite having suffered a difficult phase recently, a senior Russian MP and foreign affairs spokesman said on Monday. Mikhail Margelov, head of the international affairs committee at the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, made his comments after a meeting with […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Pavel Koshkin, RBTH – June 3, 2013) U.S. congressmen and the Russian Federal Security Services hope to boost joint collaboration against global jihad and Islamism in time for the Sochi Winter Olympics. During a recent visit to Russia by U.S. congressmen, Moscow and Washington seemed to find an agreement over the need for […]
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(Interfax – St. Petersburg, May 30, 2013) UAV operators are a legitimate enemy target in wartime, Russian Constitutional Court Chairman Valeriy Zorkin believes. “A drone operator should have no illusions about his own security and impunity while controlling a UAV from a suburb of the US capital via satellite. He is a legitimate enemy target according to the legal views […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 28, 2013) There will be no quality change in Russia-U.S. economic cooperation until businessmen of the two countries realize they really need each other, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “Sure, last year’s trade turnover of $32 billion is ridiculous not only considering the scope of the U.S. and, also, Russian economy but also considering […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 28, 2013) The U.S. side has voiced quite concrete and serious proposals on the missile shield issue in Europe, however Moscow thinks they are not enough, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said in an interview with Echo of Moscow (Ekho Moskvy) radio station. “We offer to conclude (an agreement) on legally binding obligations of non-direction […]
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(Interfax – May 28, 2013) Russian and US experts continue to conduct dialogue on the problem of missile defence (ABM), however the positions of the two countries on the issue still differ very much, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a news conference in Moscow on 27 May, as reported by Interfax news agency on the same day. “We […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, May 28, 2013) Russia and the USA have not yet succeeded in aligning their positions on a number of important parameters for an international conference on Syria, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. “There remain issues and aspects of this major international crisis on which the positions of Russia and the USA have not converged,” Ryabkov said […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, May 28, 2013) Russia is not willing to negotiate further bilateral nuclear cuts with the United States until other nuclear powers join the process, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “We cannot endlessly negotiate with the United States the reduction and limitation of nuclear arms while some other countries are strengthening their nuclear and missile […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – John Freedman – May 27, 2013) John Freedman has been the theater critic of The Moscow Times since its inception in 1992. Natalya Druzhinina is the director of development for the Yekaterinburg Young Spectator Theater. She is also an artistic and executive director of the Real Theater festival, which is organized biannually by the Young […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – May 27, 2013) After the Boston bombings last month and ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi next February, U.S. authorities are expanding their work with the Interior Ministry by granting the Russians access to some FBI information. The development, which came during a visit by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to the […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Mark Galeotti, special to RBTH – May 27, 2013) New York University’s Professor of Global Affairs Mark Galeotti reflects on the long-term consequences of the recent spy scandal and whether it will affect U.S.-Russia cooperation on security during the 2014 Olympics. The Moscow spy case, with its cheap wigs, compasses and cash, initially […]
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(RIA Novosti – BOCHAROV RUCHEI, May 24, 2013) Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama will meet at a G8 summit in June and during the US president’s visit to Russia in September, a Kremlin aide said on Friday. “The first meeting will be in Lough Erne [Northern Ireland] on the sidelines of the G8 Summit and then [during] Obama’s visit […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, May 23, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s message to his US counterpart Barack Obama is not a direct response to the American leader’s letter, but instead contains Russia’s formulation of the aims and points of reference relating to bilateral and international issues. “I wouldn’t say that this message is a response to Obama’s message in the primary […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 23, 2013) The 2012 international religious freedom report of the U.S. State department has been done superficially and does not reflect the objective situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “We are to conclude that the U.S. State Department has again presented a contorted and politicized picture of the situation in the religious freedom sphere in the […]
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(Interfax – ST. PETERSBURG, May 21, 2013) Thirty-three orphans, including 12 disabled children, who were supposed to be adopted by U.S. nationals, will be unable to join their would-be parents because of this year’s Russian ban on the adoption of Russian children by Americans, the office of the St. Petersburg commissioner for children’s rights said on Tuesday. The commissioner, Svetlana […]
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(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, May 20, 2013) Russia is among several countries around the world including Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, and China that imposed restrictions on freedom of religion last year, according to an annual report released Monday by the US State Department. “This report is a clear-eyed, objective look at the state of religious freedom around […]
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(RIA Novosti – NEW YORK, May 21, 2013) Russian police reforms have proved so successful that, in some areas, Moscow outperforms New York on safety, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has boasted while on a visit to the United States. Kolokoltsev made the claims during a meeting in New York late on Monday with New York City Police Commissioner Raymond […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 16, 2013) In thinking about Russia’s future, most of the country’s opposition figures remain trapped in the old debate about whether Russia is fundamentally European or really Asiatic, but, one Moscow commentator argues, it is time to recognize that “the successful Russia of the future” can and must be a country […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) A Kremlin aide has claimed that proposals by U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for cooperation between American and Russian intelligence services “haven’t been brought down to the executive level” by the White House. “These impulses, these signals from above somehow haven’t been brought down to the executive level on […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, May 15, 2013) In a letter handed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a month ago, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed concluding a legally-binding agreement on exchanging information related to missile defense to guarantee the absence of a mutual threat, Kommersant reported on Wednesday. Obama proposed “developing a legally-binding agreement on transparency, which would include exchange of information […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, May 16, 2013) The way in which media controlled by the Russian government have played up the recent spy case makes one feel that the country has “returned to the 1980s model of the USSR,” an Russian opposition figure says, but the briefest of reflections leads to the conclusion that the regime […]
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(Interfax – May 13, 2013) The resumption of the 2+2 format of engagement with the United States involving the foreign and defense ministers is topical but no concrete understandings to this end have been reached yet, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said. “Considering that the dialogue is intensifying and very many questions that are being discussed along the […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, May 8, 2013) The first visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry to Russia has not been a breakthrough, nor has it led to a new “reset” in relations between Moscow and Washington, according to experts interviewed by RIA Novosti. According to them, in the run-up to a meeting between the presidents of Russia and […]
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