MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) – U.S. President Barack Obama wants to continue the “reset” policy in Russian-American relations during his second term, said political analyst Nikolai Zlobin. “I think Obama would like to continue the ‘reset’ policy. I understand, the accent will be put in this reset on conventional arms reductions, nuclear weapons and the attainment of the global status […]
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Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2013 From: Robert Bridge <robertvbridge@yahoo.com> Subject: Letter to the editor re “Expect More Anti-Americanism in 2013” (JRL 2013-#12) Dear JRL, I can’t help but the see the incredible hypocrisy in the article entitled, “Expect More Anti-Americanism in 2013” (The Moscow Times, January 18), when this publication – Moscow’s only English-language daily – has practically declared itself […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines/Rossiyskaya Gazeta – www.rbth.ru – Fyodor Lukyanov – January 21, 2013 – http://rbth.ru/opinion/2013/01/21/washington_and_moscow_hope_for_reset_2_22039.html) Fedor Lukyanov is the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine and chairman of the Council of Foreign and Military Policy. The opinion is abridged and first published in Russian in Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Barack Obama is back in the White House. A second term […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – David Edwards – January 21, 2013) David Edwards is chief copy editor at The Moscow Times. An obscure Washington state politician once said her votes on proposed legislation were based on conscience, constituency and caucus in that order. She may be on to something. United Russia deputies in the State Duma who voted for […]
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(Voice of America – James Brooke – January 18, 2013) Russia’s new law banning American adoptions of Russian orphans is polarizing Russians into two camps: pro-West and anti-West. Russia’s parliament voted overwhelmingly last month to bar Americans from adopting Russian orphans. But the vote triggered this last week the largest protest Moscow has seen since President Vladimir Putin was inaugurated […]
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(Interfax – January 18, 2013) Over 70 per cent of Russians support the recently adopted law which bans adoption of Russian children by US families, Interfax news agency reported on 18 January, quoting a poll conducted by the pro-Kremlin All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM). Details of the poll were posted on the centre’s website on the same day (http://wciom.ru/index.php?id=459&uid=113548). […]
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(Interfax – January 18, 2013) Russia’s Justice Ministry has said that it has so far found no NGOs headed by or financed by citizens of the USA whose activities could be suspended under the “anti-Magnitskiy” law (also known as the Dima Yakovlev law). The law, better known for its controversial Article 4, which bans US citizens from adopting Russian children, […]
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WASHINGTON, January 17 (RIA Novosti) The United States government disagrees with a federal court’s decision to impose a $50,000-a-day fine on Russia for failing to comply with an earlier order to hand over religious texts to a New York-based Orthodox Jewish group, a US State Department spokeswoman said Thursday. On Wednesday a federal judge in Washington ordered Russia to […]
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Moscow, January 17, Interfax – Russian presidential representative for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy is perplexed by a U.S. court order on the so-called Schneerson collection, as he thought Russia and the United States had earlier settled the problem. “Russia earlier honored all agreements on this issue. The problem was discussed within the Gore-Chernomyrdin commission’s framework, and we reached quite […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anatoly Medetsky -January 18, 2013) The United States could become the world’s biggest crude producer this year, overtaking Russia, according to a BP report. The breakthrough would come on the back of rising U.S. output of biofuels and unconventional oil, the company said in its annual Energy Outlook 2030. Saudi Arabia would slide to the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm – January 18, 2013) Michael Bohm is opinion page editor of The Moscow Times. An increase in anti-Americanism stands out as one of the most dominant features of the Kremlin’s policy in 2012. Since the propaganda campaign worked so effectively on many Russians, we can expect even more state-sponsored anti-Americanism in 2013. The […]
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(Voice of America – James Brooke – January 16, 2013) James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR. During my two-week vacation in the United States, American friends again and again looked at me intently, and then asked: How do Russians see the new ban on Americans adopting Russian children? During the last three months […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – January 16, 2013) On the State Duma’s first day back to work this year, deputies sparred over whether to abolish a ban on adoptions of Russian children by American families, a measure passed late last year that has drawn fierce criticism. Members of the Just Russia faction submitted a bill that would […]
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WASHINGTON. Jan 15 (Interfax) – The U.S. administration cannot fathom Russia’s recent ban on the adoption of underage Russians by Americans but does not see it as a serious threat to U.S.-Russian relations in general, according to a senior American diplomat. Jake Sullivan, director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Office, said during an online conference that neither he personally […]
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[“They’ll Be in America While We’ll Be Left to Deal with the Authorities” – Moskovsky Komsomolets – January 15, 2013 – no public link to English-language version] Moskovsky Komsomolets covers adoptions of Russian orphans by Americans. According to the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Policy Olga Golodets, Russia has nearly 130,000 orphan children in need of a family, with fewer […]
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WASHINGTON, January 14 (By Carl Schreck for RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama’s nomination of veteran Washington lawmakers John Kerry and Chuck Hagel for his next national security team portend a pragmatic approach to US-Russia relations in his second term but few prospects for breakthroughs, analysts said. Obama has tapped Kerry for secretary of state and Hagel for defense […]
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(Interfax – January 15, 2013) The impossibility to continue funding pseudo-human rights organizations was the true reason behind last weekend’s protests against the so-called Dima Yakovlev law in Russia, the country’s ombudsman for children’s rights Pavel Astakhov said. “The protests are not not against the fact that they [orphans] are allegedly doomed to some sort of existence or even death […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – January 14, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is the politics editor of The Moscow News “Children are [expletive] sacred,” one protester was overheard telling another at Sunday’s March against Scoundrels. That was one of the reasons that the march, widely expected to continue a trend of dwindling turnout for the spate of mass anti-government […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Yekaterina Kravtsova – January 15, 2013) A State Duma committee on Monday discussed an online petition opposing the “Anti-Magnitsky Law” passed late last year, but it appeared to delay until at least April any action that could result from the petition. The petition, published on the website of opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta last month, was […]
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GORKI, January 14 (RIA Novosti) – In terms of supply and demand Russia is an “adoptee’s market” with over 128,000 children waiting for adoption and only 18,000 families ready to take them, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said Monday. Of that number 105,000 are in so-called “children’s homes,” or orphanages, while the others, who are 14 and above, are in […]
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WASHINGTON, January 10 (RIA Novosti) – The US will continue its cooperation with Russia despite differences on a number of issues, such as the Russian adoption ban, US Department of State Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday. “Our overall approach remains to try to cooperate with Russia as much as we can on as many issues as we can that […]
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MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) A Russian news website has provoked a furor after publishing what it claimed was an appeal from a Russian teenage orphan whose adoption by a US family was prevented by a new law banning adoptions by Americans. The 1obl.ru news portal in the Chelyabinsk region published a story claiming a boy in a local […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 9 (Interfax) – The fact that Foreign Policy magazine has declared Russian President Vladimir Putin last year’s most influential figure in global politics, business and public affairs means “the so-called ‘Putin factor’ will play a significant role in the foreign policy of the United States for the next five years,” a Russian political scientist said. “Foreign Policy is […]
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(Interfax – January 9, 2013) The U.S. can help Russian children through cultural, educational, and medical assistance programs, Russian presidential children’s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov said. “With the termination of the adoptions agreement, we have to expand cooperation in the sphere of education, cultural exchange, education programs, and programs that make it possible to take in children for treatment,” Astakhov […]
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[How to Work with Russia on Syria – The National Interest – Paul J. Saunders – January 7, 2013 – http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/how-work-russia-syria-7935] Paul J. Saunders writes in The National Interest on U.S. policy towards Syria, and whether there is a window of opportunity for a negotiated resolution of the conflict, with a particular eye on the potential for Russia to cooperate […]
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MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) Opponents of a law banning US nationals from adopting Russian children were granted permission on Wednesday to hold a protest march in central Moscow on January 13, officials and rally organizers said. The ban is part of a wider response by Moscow to the Magnitsky Act, a US law that imposes travel bans and […]
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(Russia in Global Affairs – Igor Zevelev – 27 December 2012 – http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/number/A-New-Realism-for-the-21st-Century-15817) Igor Zevelev is Doctor of Political Science. Resume: Maintaining a balance between the Euro-Atlantic vector and the Asian-Pacific vector of Russian foreign policy should not be a game of U-turns one way or the other, but should rather be characterized by flexibility and readiness to adapt to […]
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(Radio Liberty Forced to Make Hard Choices in Russia – Wall Street Journal – Letter to the Editor – Steven Korn – January 7, 2012 – click here for full letter) In a Wall Street Journal letter to the editor, Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty president Steven Korn discusses changes in how RFE/RL tries to reach listeners in Russia, including […]
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[USA to reckon with ‘Putin factor’ after magazine power rating – pundits – BBC Monitoring/Ekho Moskvy Radio – January 4, 2013 – no open link exists to this product] Ekho Moskvy Radio addresses what it terms Foreign Policy magazine’s move to call Russian President Vladimir Putin the world’s the most powerful person, including the fact that the magazine actually listed […]
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(Russian politics: Herod’s law: Russian civil society is outraged by a law that bans Russian orphans from being adopted by American families – The Economist – January 5, 2013 – click here for full article) The Economist reports the Russian goverment’s move to ban U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans, adopted in response to U.S. legislation that provides for sanctions against […]
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(A revolution in space but calmer streets at home; Pundits predict a loss of momentum for the protest movement at home and see little scope for improvement in relations with the West – Russia Beyond the Headlines – Artem Zagorodnov – January 4, 2013 – click here for google cache version of article) Russia Beyond the Headlines takes a look […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Bryan Bradley – January 4, 2013) U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s opposition to Russia’s growing economic might in Europe wasn’t practical, Vydas Gedvilas, the head of Lithuania’s new parliament, said in an interview with Russian radio. The international influence of Russian businesses is an economic reality that European countries must separate from politics and deal […]
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WASHINGTON, January 4 (RIA Novosti) – The United States is still interested in missile defense cooperation with Russia, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Thursday. “In late November – early December, we had discussions again between Acting Under Secretary Rose Gottemoeller and [Russian] Deputy Foreign Minister [Sergei] Ryabkov on the missile defense issues. We remain committed to cooperating […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Elise Young – January 2, 2013) Kip and Kim Blackman call him Teo, a dark-haired, dark-eyed Russian orphan who is small for his 19 months and not yet walking or talking. Embracing him in a children’s shelter in Volgograd in October, they promised to bring him to Hedgesville, West Virginia, to meet their four biological children, […]
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WASHINGTON, January 3 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) The US Senate has unanimously approved a resolution condemning a new Russian law banning US citizens from adopting Russian children and calling on President Vladimir Putin and the Russian leadership to reconsider the measure on humanitarian grounds. In its resolution, approved in a vote late Tuesday, the Senate affirmed that all […]
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(Bloomberg editorial – bloomberg.com – January 2, 2013) On New Year’s Day, a law took effect in Russia banning U.S. families from adopting children there. Not only is this use of orphans to score a political point repugnant, it also reflects a worrying defensive and isolationist trend in President Vladimir Putin’s foreign and domestic policies. The adoption ban was rushed […]
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New year’s greetings from US Ambassador Michael McFaul and his wife http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnZD_xtCfD4 [please note: a smaller frame is being provided, to accommodate users on mobile devices; click here for larger version over on youtube itself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnZD_xtCfD4]
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(RIA Novosti – December 28, 2012) Russian experts believe that the law, signed by President Vladimir Putin on 28 December, which bans the adoption of Russian children by US nationals, is unlikely to cause widespread protests in the country but will damage Russia’s reputation in the world. The so-called Dima Yakovlev law will come into force on 1 January 2013. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 29 (Interfax) – Russia’s top criminal investigation agency has promised to be unrelenting in seeking action against American couples that have abused children adopted from Russia. “The Investigative Committee is determined to take all possible measures within its powers to protect Russian children from criminal encroachments, regardless of where such crimes have been committed, and to take exhaustive […]
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WASHINGTON, December 27 (By Maria Young for RIA Novosti) – Somewhere in Texas, there’s a pink room full of toys and books, waiting for a little girl who may never come home. “We’re pretty heartbroken, honestly,” said Donna Thomas in an interview with RIA Novosti on Thursday. She and her husband Robert are in the process of adopting a five-year-old […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) – In the future, amendments could be made to the law on measures against people responsible for human rights abuses against Russian citizens, which Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Friday, Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said. “The practice will show in the future whether some adjustments should be made, and if yes, we will do […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Nicole Gaouette & Flavia Krause-Jackson – December 28, 2012) Russia’s move to prohibit Americans from adopting Russian orphans is the latest threat to the Obama administration’s flagging attempt to “reset” relations between the two Cold War rivals. President Vladimir Putin today signed a bill to ban U.S. adoptions of Russian children that the country’s parliament approved […]
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MOSCOW, December 27 (RIA Novosti) Russian Children’s Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov has sent a report to President Vladimir Putin offering justifications for a bill that would ban US adoptions of Russian children. “The right of a state to outlaw foreign adoptions is supported by the majority of international acts in this area,” Astakhov wrote in his Twitter account. “The […]
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(Interfax – December 26, 2012) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov hopes that the damage done by the Magnitsky Act to Russian-U.S. relations will not be irreparable. “Hopefully, we will turn this page, the damage done to our relations will not be irreparable, and we will be able to make further progress. Although, certainly, this burden will weigh us down,” […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 24 (Interfax) – The adoption of the Magnitsky Act in the United States was inevitable, Senators set a trap for U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believes. “I don’t think this (the adoption of the Magnitsky Act) was the first thing Obama did when he was re-elected. This was inevitable,” he said in an interview […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax) – Russia will start preparations for launching procedures to invalidate the Russian-U.S. agreement on cooperation in adoption in the near future, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax on Wednesday. “We will proceed from realities. We understand the motives that both the State Duma deputies and Federation Council members were guided by in adopting this […]
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(Dmitri Trenin – www.opendemocracy.net – Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center; Counselor of the Commission on Euro-Atlantic Security – December 24, 2012) A year is a very long time in politics. Over the past year Russia’s relations with the West have deteriorated, not helped by events in Syria and the Magnitsky Act. A new beginning and a desire […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Kristen Blyth – December 24, 2012) “‘Don’t leave…’ Those were the last words I heard my mother say to me before strangers in white came to take me,” Caroline Baker (not her real name) remembered. “A man picked me up as I screamed for my mother. I grabbed the frame of the front door to […]
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[Vladimir Putin gives big news conference in tough debate with journalists – ITAR-TASS – RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW – December 21, 2012 – http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/606821.html] Itar-Tass covers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent marathon press conference. Putin reportedly claimed he had not read a recent Duma bill banning U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans, and allowed that the Duma was responding emotionally to the […]
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[Russian lawmakers back adoption ban in row with U.S. – Reuters – Alissa de Carbonnel – December 21, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/21/russia-adoptions-idUSL5E8NL4FK20121221] Reuters covers the Duma’s support for a ban on U.S. citizens adopting Russian children, as well as a ban on U.S. nonprofits funding Russian democratization nonprofits, in retaliation for Congressional efforts to hold Russian human rights abusers accountable: Russia’s […]
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