MOSCOW. Jan 14 (Interfax) – Moscow is concerned about the Kyiv authorities’ steps toward turning a separating line in the southeastern part of Ukraine into a line of blockade against Donbas, Russia’s envoy to the OSCE Andrei Kelin said. “I want to stress that we absolutely don’t view this [separating] line as some borderline. We are really concerned by the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ladka Bauerova – January 12, 2015) Ukraine’s ambition to wean itself off gas supplies from a hostile Russia has never seemed so distant. Foreign explorers that are key to Ukraine’s future energy independence are fleeing the nation as a war against pro-Moscow insurgents in eastern regions sends the economy into freefall. Even government measures aimed at shrinking […]
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(RIA Novosti – Moscow, January 12, 2015) The Ukrainian authorities for a long time have been doing everything possible to restrict access to any information that runs counter to their position but Kiev can’t close down the Ukrainian language version of the international television channel Euronews because decision lies with the television channel itself, Petr Fedorov, vice-chairman of the Euronews Supervisory […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Andreas Umland – January 9, 2015) Andreas Umland is a DAAD Associate Professor of European Studies at the Political Science Department of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy [“Some of the most influential German correspondents on Russia and Ukraine sympathise with the appeal, but, for specifically professional reasons, did not add their signatures.”] On December 5, 2014, 60 prominent German personalities […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Elena Mazneva – January 13, 2015) Russia, the world’s biggest natural-gas exporter, probably cut 2014 fuel exports to the lowest in a decade as consumption in Europe and Ukraine declined. OAO Gazprom (GAZP), the state-run gas-pipeline export monopoly, supplied no more than 195 billion cubic meters of fuel from Russia to the European Union, Turkey and […]
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… 27. Bloomberg: Ukraine’s Effort to Cut Russian-Gas Reliance Sees Explorers Exit.
28. The Economist: The Economist explains. Why Europe no longer fears the Russian gasman.
29. Reuters: U.S. to back $2 billion in loan guarantees for Ukraine. …
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#7 :: Monday 12 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. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian 7th graders struggle to […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Blair A. Ruble – January 2015) Blair A. Ruble is vice president for programs; director, urban sustainability laboratory; and senior advisor, Kennan Institute, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. On the evening of December 30, 2014 — just as two dozen or so patrons were settling into their seats at a purposefully ramshackle basement […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 12 (Interfax) – Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, believes the Ukrainian military are deliberately targeting the Zasyadko mine. “The Ukrainian military generally opens random fire on the residential sector. But they are specifically targeting the Zasyadko mine,” Zakharchenko was quoted by the Donetsk News Agency as saying. Zakharchenko recalled that shelling had caused […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – January 8, 2015) The case President Petro Poroshenko’s government has made for international financial support got a boost from the financier and philanthropist George Soros, who urged Europe to put together a $50 billion rescue package for Ukraine. Both Soros’s detailed plan and the government’s fundraising efforts face an uphill struggle: The government […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#6 :: Friday 9 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. CNBC.com: Falling ruble? Say ‘da!’ to good deals on […]
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(RIA Novosti – January 6, 2015) The world is entering 2015. People hope for better, but are preparing for the worst. It is hard to be optimists when the year is beginning to the salvoes of the incessant civil war in Ukraine, to Kiev’s threats to settle the problem of the Donbass and Crimea militarily before the end of 2015, […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – IntelliNews – January 9, 2015) The EU will provide €1.8bn in macroeconomic assistance to default-threatened Ukraine, the European Commission announced on February 8. But the move might not be enough to save Ukraine from a sovereign default. The loan comes one day after a call by veteran financier George Soros for the EU to find €50bn for […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#5 :: Thursday 8 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. Business New Europe: Soros calls for EU to give Ukraine […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – January 5, 2015) Members: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia Prospective member: Armenia Potential members: Kyrgyzstan (likely), Tajikistan (unlikely) Population: 173mn (Russia, including Crimea, 146mn; Kazakhstan, 17mn; Belarus, 10mn) Total GDP: $2.7tn Share of world gas reserves: 20% Share of world oil reserves: 15% On January 1, the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty governing what […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – January 8, 2015) George Soros, the 84-year old financier and philanthropist, has called for the EU to pump $50bn into Ukraine, while predicting a Russian default. “Europe needs to wake up and recognise that it is under attack from Russia. Assisting Ukraine should also be considered as a defense expenditure by the EU […]
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MOSCOW. Jan 8 (Interfax) – The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s humanitarian convoy has crossed into Ukraine and headed for Donetsk and Luhansk, deputy head of the ministry’s National Crisis Management Center Oleg Voronov said. “Customs of the Matveyev Kurgan and Donetsk checkpoints in the Rostov region have cleared the humanitarian cargo. More than 60 trucks are moving towards Donetsk and […]
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… 2. Interfax: The Federal Migration Service may consider amnesty for illegal migrants.
3. Vox.com: How Putin could lose power. (interview with Mark Galeotti)
4. CBC.ca: Don Murray, In Ukraine’s Donetsk, the ‘death clutch’ of a forgotten war. Both Russian and Ukrainian economies in tatters, half a million people displaced. …
[“In Ukraine’s Donetsk, the ‘death clutch’ of a forgotten war: Both Russian and Ukrainian economies in tatters, half a million people displaced” – CBC.ca – Don Murray – January 5, 2015] The CBC and free-lance reporter Don Murray examine the conflict in Ukraine, some of its underlying issues and its human costs: * * * Tens of thousands more Ukrainians are still trapped in […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 12, Issue 2 – Roger McDermott – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – January 6, 2015) President Vladimir Putin has introduced a new Military Doctrine in the context of the Ukraine crisis, deteriorating relations with the United States, the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as shifts within the international security environment. […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Aliaksandr Kudrytski – January 6, 2015) Ukraine deployed new military aircraft, heavy weapons and vehicles to bolster troops fighting separatists in the country’s east as it continues peace talks with rebels and Russia’s government. The reinforcements, which included fighter jets, armored personnel carriers and artillery, follow a September truce in which the government paused an assault […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Donald N. Jensen – January 6, 2015) Donald N. Jensen is a resident fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations in the Nitze School of International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Over the past three months, the Kremlin has appeared to shift its strategy from further military advances to negotiations. The reasons for […]
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… 8. Kyiv Post: Talks on Ukraine in Normandy format to continue on Jan. 9.
9. Reuters: War-torn Ukraine sees highest inflation in 14 years.
10. www.opendemocracy.net: Andrii Ianitskyi, The high price of democracy in Ukraine. Ukraine is almost bankrupt. The budget for 2015 is unrealistic. Root and branch reform has stalled. There is a war still going in the east of the country. Where now? …
(by Kirk Bennett) Kirk Bennett is a former Foreign Service Officer who served in both Moscow and Kyiv. The opinions and characterizations in this piece are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent official positions of the United States Government. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, and with increasing vehemence as the crisis has deepened, thoughtful people […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Andrii Ianitskyi – January 5, 2015) Andrii Ianitskyi was born in Sevastopol in 1983 and since 2007 has been living in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. He graduated from the Sevastopol branch of Moscow State University in 2007 and became a qualified journalist before working as a journalist and editor in the business media, for companies including Ukrainian News, […]
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[“Russia ‘may face chaos’ if extra sanctions imposed: Germany” – AFP – January 4, 2015] AFP covers a German official’s assessment of the potential impact of additional sanctions on Russia: Tougher sanctions may destabilise the situation further in Russia and plunge the country into chaos, German deputy chancellor Sigmar Gabriel warned … ‘Whoever wants that will provoke a much more dangerous situation […]
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[“Decoding Vladimir Putin’s Plan: Many say Russia’s leader is trying to strengthen his country’s position in the world” – US News and World Report – Joshua Kucera – January 5, 2015] US News and World Report considers what one could infer about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s true intentions and policies, in the light of Russia’s posture towards Ukraine and the West. […]
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KYIV. Jan 5 (Interfax) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko believes that peace will be restored to the country’s eastern regions when the Ukrainian border is reliably secured and the Kyiv authorities manage to regain control over these territories. “This goal can be achieved by diplomatic efforts… This is the central topic of today’s talks of the group in charge of […]
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… 9. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Any Russian Protests Ahead Likely to Be About Economic Issues Rather than Political Ones, Experts Say.
10. US News and World Report: Joseph Kucera, Decoding Vladimir Putin’s Plan Many say Russia’s leader is trying to strengthen his country’s position in the world. …
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#1 :: Friday 2 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. AP: Russians Optimistic for 2015 Despite It All. 2. […]
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(RFE/RL – January 2, 2015) Thousands have fled eastern Ukraine since the conflict erupted in April. Some have since returned. Other people chose to stay and tough it out. From teachers to pensioners to families with children, residents of rebel-held towns are struggling to get on with their lives amid the chaos and uncertainty. RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service continues to publish […]
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(UN News Centre – un.org – Dec. 31, 2014) Amid continuing fighting and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today announced it is launching an initiative aimed at ferrying aid to the country’s internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as other vulnerable citizens trapped by the ongoing hostilities. The latest figures from the UN human rights office, OHCHR, […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Anna Arutunyan – December 31, 2014) Anna Arutunyan is an independent journalist and author of ‘The Putin Mystique.’ She lives in Moscow. I joined the crowds of people protesting against the sentence handed down to opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg on 30 December. Surrounded by Muscovites preparing for the long New Year’s holiday, we were […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#266 :: Wednesday 31 December 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 Ukraine 1. http://en.ukraina.ru: Ukrainian MP counts 217 Kremlin agents in the […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Volodymyr Verbyany and Kateryna Choursina – December 30, 2014) Ukraine may have to leave the fate of Crimea to future generations, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said, a day after the president said the country can’t afford to take back its rebel-held areas by force. The government in Kiev and its allies have condemned the March annexation […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 31, 2014) Hollywood film producer Oliver Stone has said he wants to make a four-hour documentary telling the “dirty story” of the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in what he believes was a “coup” organized with the help of the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency. “A dirty story through and through, but […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, December 30, 2014) Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev believes that the world was on the brink of a major disaster in 2014. In an interview with Interfax he said this concerned not just relations between Russia and Ukraine, Russia and the European Union, but events in global politics as a whole. As for relations between Ukraine and […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#265 :: Monday 29 December 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 1. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russians still ‘happy’ despite economic difficulties, say sociologists. […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 29 (Interfax) – The resolution of the crisis in Ukraine is quite possible in 2015, but only if Kyiv and southeastern Ukraine reach agreements without outside influence, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “As to the crisis in Ukraine, its resolution is not only possible, but quite realistic,” he said in an interview with Interfax, responding to a […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Glenn Kates – December 29, 2014) It’s May 2 in Odesa and a doctor is trying desperately to rescue pro-Russian protesters — more than 40 of whom will die — trapped in the Ukrainian city’s labor-union building. “As a doctor I rushed to give help to the one who could be rescued, but I was stopped […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#264 :: Saturday 27 December 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 1. Russia Direct: The Russian media forecasts a gloomy 2015. 2. BBC: […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#263 :: Tuesday 23 December 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 1. Richard Sakwa: Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands. 2. The Daily […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#262 :: Monday 22 December 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 1. The Guardian: Ian Traynor, US campaign behind the turmoil in […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#261 :: Saturday 20 December 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 1. New York Times: Putin Cites Claim About U.S. Designs on Siberia […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#260 :: Friday 19 December 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 1. Interfax: Russian Labor Ministry reports natural population growth in 2014. […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#259 :: Thursday 18 December 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 1. AP: 80 Percent of Russians Back Putin Even as Ruble […]
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Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#258 :: Wednesday 17 December 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 Ukraine 1. Sputnik: Medvedev: ‘Russia Has Experienced Tragic Events in Ukraine as Our Own Pain’ 2. www.rt.com: ‘Dating that will never end in […]
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Russian President Putin commented on ecomomic blockade of Donbas, humanitarian aid to Ukraine’s southeast and Poroshenko’s commitment to restoring peace in the country. MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is looking to restore peace in his country, but many senior officials are opposed to this idea, Russian President Vladimir Putin Said Thursday. “Naturally, the president of […]
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[“In 2015, Vladimir Putin may witness his empire’s death knell” – Strobe Talbott – Reuters – Dec. 16, 2014] Strobe Talbott predicts that a third Chechen War could break out in 2015, sounding the death knell for Russia’s current geographic configuration. Indeed, Talbott comments that Russia could break apart by the end this century, and that the policies of Russian President […]
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[“Poroshenko best chance for Ukraine at present — Lavrov” – ITAR-TASS – Dec. 17, 2014] Russian government-backed news agency TASS reported on comments to French television by Russian Foreign Ministery Sergei Lavrov, indicating that Russia can work with current Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. President Petro Poroshenko is the best chance for Ukraine at present, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in […]
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