(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – February 6, 2015) It may not be the last chance for peace, but there hasn’t been a better time than this in the last few months. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande is sitting down with Russian President Vladimir Putin late on February 6 to hammer out […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 5, 2015) The Russian government has introduced draft legislation that would make it easier for Moscow to sign up professional soldiers and for commanders to force draftees to convert to that status and thus be available for dispatch to Ukraine, yet another indication Moscow is preparing for a massive invasion and […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – February 6, 2015) There is talk that the US is seriously considering sending “defence weapons” to Ukraine, as the fighting escalates and President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel head to Moscow for a last-ditch attempt to resuscitate the Minsk ceasefire agreement. We are sliding towards a […]
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[David Johnson still amidst distant travels, issues intermittent] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#20 :: Thursday 5 February 2015 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. Interfax: Putin proposes bill on removing NGOs from foreign-agents list. 2. Sputnik: Shelling […]
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[“Russians present in Ukraine in specialist roles: U.S. envoy” – Reuters – February 4, 2015] Reuters reports on clarifications by U.S. ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute that Russian troops in eastern Ukraine are in a command role and are operating sophisticated military equipment, while additional Russia military interventions do not appear imminent. ‘Back in August, we saw a spike in direct Russian intervention […]
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[“On Military Aid to Ukraine, the Administration Zig-Zags” – David J. Kramer – Wall Street Journal – February 4, 2015] David J. Kramer comments on the Obama administration’s shifting public postures regarding its Ukraine policy. … Wednesday, Ash Carter, the administration’s nominee for defense secretary, said that he is ‘very much inclined’ to send arms to Ukraine. One hopes that this is […]
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[“Obama’s Pentagon nominee suggests support for arming Ukraine” – Reuters – Phil Stewart, Andrea Shalal- February 4, 2015] Reuters reports on remarks by U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Ashton Carter regarding U.S. policy towards Ukraine and Russia, such as arms for Ukraine and continued economic pressure on Russia. President Barack Obama’s pick to become defense secretary told Congress on Wednesday he […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) – Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov believes a new constitutional arrangement in Ukraine could be a way to overcome the ongoing crisis. “There is the only solution, namely, a new constitutional arrangement of Ukraine. Attempts to build Ukraine’s ideology based on hatred or denial, like ‘Ukraine is not Russia’, won’t lead anywhere. It should be […]
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[David Johnson still amidst distant travels, issues intermittent] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#19 :: Tuesday 3 February 2015 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. The Guardian (UK): Shaun Walker, Donetsk opera house: tanks on the street but […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – February 3, 2015) With the fallout of Western sanctions felt by a vast majority of Russians, one in five think that Moscow should make concessions in its policies toward Ukraine, but nearly seven in 10 believe that their country should continue its course, a respected Russian pollster said Tuesday. A total of […]
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[“Prospects for NATO-Russia relations: Keynote address by NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow at the 2015 Leangkollen Conference, Oslo” – Alexander Vershbow – NATO transcript – Feb. 2, 2015] In his keynote address at the 2015 Leangkollen Conference, Oslo, NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow addressed the Ukraine conflict and challenges facing NATO-Russia relations. Vershbow holds that Russian aggression has undermined […]
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DJ: Still far away from home. A hurried issue of JRL. Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#18 :: Sunday 1 February 2015 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. Moscow Times: Russians Say They Fear Hunger, Unemployment and Nuclear […]
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[“Inside’s Putin’s Head: The Crisis in Russia and Ukraine and Worst-Case Putin Scenarios” – Gordon M. Hahn – gordonhahn.com – January 31, 2015] Gordon Hahn considers the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and economic repercussions on the stability and viability of Russia’s Putin regime. The … Russian-NATO proxy war in Ukraine along with the Russian-Western economic cold war could destabilize Russia’s […]
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[“Ukraine peace talks collapse, Kiev and separatists trade blame” – Andrei Makhovsky, Richard Balmforth – Reuters – January 31, 2015] Reuters covers a breakdown in attempted Ukraine conflict peace talks in Minsk, Belarus. Peace talks on Ukraine collapsed … Saturday … with no tangible progress towards a new ceasefire …. Ukraine’s representative, former president Leonid Kuchma, left the talks in Minsk … [saying] that separatist officials … undermined the meeting […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Kyiv – January 29, 2015) Ukraine’s latest round of mobilisation of army reserves faces massive draft-dodging, as the conflict in East Ukraine with Russian-backed rebels becomes increasingly bloody and protracted. Given escalating fighting in East Ukraine, the Ukrainian defence ministry on January 20 lauched its fourth wave of mobilisation of the […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, January 30, 2015) The Russian Defence Ministry has once again denied the claims of the Ukrainian military that Russian forces are fighting on the side of the militia. “It is difficult to imagine even one defence ministry in the world in which public statements are made on the principle of ‘every cock wants to crow’,” Russian Defence […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – January 29, 2015) Participants at a bne IntelliNews debate in London expressed frustration with the failure of Western sanctions over Ukraine to modify Russia’s behaviour so far, and some suggested it is time to try new tactics. “We are reinforcing all the bad traits in Russia,” said Erik Berglof, director of the Institute for […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Fyodor Lukyanov – January 26, 2015) The author is the editor in chief of Russia in Global Affairs and chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a non-governmental think tank. Despair reigns in the Donbass. The military activity with its resulting victims and heavy material losses will not […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – January 30, 2015) A recent state poll asking Russians about their fears has laid bare a telling change in attitudes: more than double the number of respondents said they feared a nuclear war compared to two years ago. Russia’s deteriorating relations with the West and the economic turmoil that followed sanctions imposed […]
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Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#17 :: Wednesday 28 January 2015 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. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with students at the Mining University. 2. Kremlin.ru: International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 3. Moscow Times: Russian Defense Ministry Releases […]
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(oilprice.com – Robert Berke – January 25, 2015) One of the greatest foreign policy blunders of the Obama Administration was the push by the U.S. for economic sanctions against Russia. That led to Russia fleeing into the arms of China for refuge. In response, Russia, Europe’s largest and most populated country, is now intent on moving its vast storehouse of […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – January 27, 2015) Russian-backed rebels claim they are close to encircling Ukrainian government forces in the exposed Ukrainian-held town of Debaltsevo, the easternmost Ukraine-held town in the conflict-torn Donbass region. The rebel forces, posting on an internet bulletin used for announcements, claim that they have occupied high ground surrounding the town, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexei Timofeichev, RBTH – January 27, 2015) During at visit to the National Mineral Resources University in St. Petersburg on Monday, Jan. 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the army fighting against pro-Russian rebels in southeastern Ukraine is “essentially no longer an army, it is a foreign legion – in this case […]
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Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#16 :: Friday 23 January 2015 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. Reuters: Ukraine death toll may be far higher than known 5,000: U.N. 2. Kyiv Post: No winners in battle for hearts […]
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KYIV. Jan 23 (Interfax) – Head of the Luhansk region state administration Hennadiy Moskal has asked the so-called “guerrillas” who blew up a coal train at the Krasna Mohyla station not to stage acts of sabotage on the Kyiv-controlled part of the Luhansk region. “A lion’s share of electric power for populated localities on our territory is generated by the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer, Irina Reznik – January 23, 2015) Vladimir Putin isn’t just angering leaders from Berlin to Washington. He’s irking some of his richest friends, too, by snubbing their pleas to end the conflict in Ukraine and ostracizing all but a handful of hardliners. The ruble’s plunge has heightened opposition to Putin’s backing of the rebellion […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#15 :: Thursday 22 January 2015 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. Bloomberg: Ukrainian Deaths Surge as Merkel Sharpens Rhetoric on Russia. 2. […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – January 22, 2015) Russia is determined to play a leading role in the new multipolar world that the United States relentlessly opposes and will not give up on Ukraine until a desirable outcome is reached, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists during an annual news conference Wednesday. Moscow wants to see Ukraine […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Bob Rigg – January 21, 2015) Bob Rigg is former senior editor with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and a former chair of the New Zealand National Consultative Committee on Disarmament. He is a freelance researcher and writer specialising in nuclear issues, the Middle East, Central Asia, and US foreign policy. In the renewed cold […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – January 20, 2015) Donetsk Airport has become a dystopian ruin, with its runways so cratered, only a helicopter could land. Yet both sides in the fight over it keep claiming to control it. Ukrainians consider it a symbol of their military resurgence since last summer’s painful defeats. Instead, it is coming to embody […]
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BERLIN. Jan 22 (Interfax) – Foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, the countries of the “Normandy format”, have supported the need to urgently withdraw heavy weapons from the line of engagement defined by the September 16, 2014 Minsk agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “The most important decision that was adopted today was outlined in a joint […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – January 21, 2015) “Ukraine 2015 investment case depends on peace, aid and unity,” says Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro Advisory, but of the three at the moment aid is probably the most important. Ukraine has only five weeks left of hard currency reserves in terms of import cover and […]
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(RIA Novosti – January 20, 2015) The current stand-off between Russia and the West is ideological, informational, political and diplomatic but “thank God not military”, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitriy Peskov said in an interview with the mass-circulation Russian weekly Argumenty i Fakty, which will be published on 21 January, RIA Novosti (part of the state-owned International News […]
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KYIV. Jan 21 (Interfax) – Ukrainian servicemen are in control of the 29th roadblock but the 31st roadblock has had to be abandoned because of a high risk to personnel. Both roadblocks are located in the area of Krymske in the Luhansk region, not far from the Bakhmutka road. “We have had to retreat from the 31st roadblock for saving […]
» Read more(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Daryna Krasnolutska, Rainer Buergin – January 22, 2015) German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed Russia for undermining neighboring Ukraine’s sovereignty and cited “many setbacks” in peace efforts as the death toll in the conflict jumped. As Ukraine’s army suffered its worst casualties in two weeks, an attack Thursday in Donetsk killed eight civilians and the government accused […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#14 :: Wednesday 21 January 2015 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 Russia 1. Sputnik: Putin Says Russia Should Boost Economic Sovereignty. 2. […]
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(US Embassy Moscow – January 20, 2015) Thank you for that introduction, Alex. I am grateful for this opportunity to speak to members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. I am sure you already know them and work closely with them, but let me start by introducing my team. First, there is Deputy Chief of Mission Lynne Tracy […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – January 21, 2015) New year, new you: An expression that has taken on a special meaning for those living in Russia, where a plethora of new laws – many with a direct impact on the daily lives of citizens and residents – entered into effect on Jan. 1. The Moscow Times has […]
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GORKI. Jan 20 (Interfax) – Agreements to ship electricity to Crimea and Ukraine are beneficial to both parties, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Gazprom (MOEX: GAZP) CEO Alexei Miller. He also said that work must continue in this area. “I think that this is a form of support, in this […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Veronika Silchenko – DONETSK, Ukraine – January 20, 2015) Despair and a bitter sense of having been abandoned by both Russia and Ukraine reign among residents of the rebellious Ukrainian city of Donetsk after two weeks of renewed heavy shelling between pro-Russian separatists and the central government in Kiev amid a tattered cease-fire. “They want […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#13 :: Tuesday 20 January 2015 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 Ukraine 1. Euromaidan Press: Olena Bilozerska, The day Euromaidan turned violent, one […]
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(Business New Europe MOSCOW BLOG – bne.eu – Ben Aris – January 16, 2015) “Russia’s GDP is likely to plunge in 2015. Indeed, it would be prudent to expect a slump on the order of 10%. In many ways, Russia’s financial situation is eerily similar to the fall of 2008, when then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called his country a safe haven […]
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(Interfax – January 19, 2015) The text of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s message to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was published on Sunday night. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax about the message earlier. “The latest events in southeastern Ukraine – the resumed bombardments of populated areas in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk – give us a deep sense […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#12 :: Monday 19 January 2015 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. Der Spiegel: Gorbachev Interview. ‘I Am Truly and Deeply Concerned’ […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Ben Aris in Moscow – January 16, 2015) With European growth faltering, and mounting fears of a total meltdown of the Russian economy that no-one wants, the European Union’s commitment to sanctions on Russia is wavering. At least eight EU countries are reported to be against renewing EU economic and financial sanctions when they […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Iannis Carras – January 15, 2015) Iannis Carras is an economic and social historian of the 18th century Balkan and Russian worlds. He is active in Greek NGOs and has been a parliamentary candidate in the Athens region for the Greek Green Party. In hardship, people turn to religion for help. Ukraine today is no exception. But is […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#11 :: Friday 16 January 2015 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. www.thedailybeast.com: Jay Michelson, Russia’s “Trans Driving Ban” Doesn’t Really Target […]
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… 1. TheBlaze.com: Paul Gregory, The West Has Putin in a Box But Refuses to Pull the Trigger.
2. CNN.com: Robert Legvold, Why the new Cold War matters.
3. Reuters: Russia’s forests overlooked in climate change fight. …
… 4. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Bear’s bad year? Russia faces grim economic outlook in 2015. Their two-week holiday at an end, Russians are once again confronted with low oil prices, a weakening ruble, and rocketing interest rates. And the Kremlin has yet to follow through on promised remedies.
5. Moscow Times/Vedomosti: Alexander Morozov, Russia Will Stick With Putin Till the Bitter End.
6. Interfax: World Bank expects Russian GDP to fall 2.9 percent in 2015, edge up in 2016.
7. Moscow Times/Reuters: Highlights of Gaidar: Russia’s Top Officials Talk Oil, Spending and Ruble. …
(Interfax – January 15, 2015) The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has acknowledged escalation of gunfire exchanges between the militia and the army in southeastern Ukraine but thinks the truce has not been disrupted, Russian Envoy to the OSCE Andrei Kelin said. “What is going on [in southeastern Ukraine] is the extremely unpleasant and dangerous significant escalation […]
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