(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 […]
» Read more
[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 […]
» Read more
[“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 […]
» Read more
[“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 […]
» Read more
[“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 […]
» Read more
[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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
[“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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
[“Ukraine needs America’s help” – Washington Post – Steven Pifer, Strobe Talbott – January 29, 2015] Steven Pifer and Strobe Talbott, in a Washington Post op-ed, address the unfolding conflict in Ukraine and U.S. options. The new year has brought more misery …. Separatist fighters, supported by Russian troops, have launched attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk. Diplomatic efforts have made no progress toward […]
» Read more
[“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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
(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, […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
[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. […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
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
[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. […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
[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 […]
» Read more
[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’ […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
[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 […]
» Read more
… 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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
… 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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
[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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
[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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
… 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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
(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 […]
» Read more
… 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? …
(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, […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
… 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. […]
» Read more