(Voice of America – James Brooke – December 24, 2012) In the days of the Soviet Union, Moscow was a major player in the Arab world. But in the last two years, the Kremlin has repeatedly backed the losing sides in the Arab Spring. In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad is using Russian-made rockets, rifles and tanks to battle rebels. But […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, December 21 (RIA Novosti) – The West’s policy of dividing Syrian terrorists into “the bad” and “the not so bad” is dangerous, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. “Our colleagues at the UN Security Council refuse to condemn terrorist attacks,” he said in an interview with the RT television network. “They say terrorism is bad but at […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, December 20 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his opposition to military intervention in Syria on Thursday, emotionally citing the volatile situation in Libya as a sign of what would likely happen as a result. Libya “is disintegrating,” Putin said at a major press conference in Moscow, pointing to the fractious groups that have been struggling for […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – Dec. 20, 2012 – themoscowtimes.com/news/article/putin-pictured-in-hell-on-the-economist-cover/473430.html) The cartoon’s accompanying article, which is presented as a travel guide, says the quickest way to hell is by constantly committing major sins without giving in to feelings of remorse. President Vladimir Putin was pictured in hell on the cover of The Economist‘s last issue for 2012, floating along in a fiery […]
» Read more
[Did Russia Just Throw Assad Under the Bus? Not really. Watch what the Kremlin does, not what it says – foreignpolicy.com – Andrew S. Weiss – Andrew S. Weiss, director of the RAND Center for Russia and Eurasia, served on the National Security Council staff, the State Department’s Policy Planning staff, and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, December 12 (RIA Novosti) – The recognition by the United States of Syria’s opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people shows that Washington is gambling on a military victory by the coalition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. “I was somewhat surprised to learn that the US, through its president, has recognized the national […]
» Read more
(Interfax – Dec. 10) The majority of Russians are aware of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (86 per cent), but, just as 10 years ago, they do not tend to support any particular side and accuse the USA of stirring up the conflict in the region, sociologists have found out. Twenty-five per cent of Russians sympathize with both peoples, 31 per cent […]
» Read more
[Russia and Turkey: Cool pragmatism: They may disagree about Syria but Russia and Turkey keep close business relations – The Economist – Dec. 8, 2012 – click here for full article] The Economist reports on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent trip to Turkey, and its context. Russia has been siding with Syria’s Assad regime at the United Nations over sanctions,while […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Indira A.R. Lakshmanan – Dec. 7, 2012) The U.S. and Russia have agreed to support mediation among all sides in Syria’s civil war in a renewed bid to end the violence, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today. Talks on Syria in Dublin yesterday among Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and United Nations Special […]
» Read more
[‘Syria is not Libya’ – Lavrov – Russia Today – Dec. 5, 2012 – http://rt.com/politics/syria-russia-chemical-weapons-nato-lavrov-314/] Pro-Kremlin Russia Today covers Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statements of Russian policy on the civil war in Syria. Lavrov was attending a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels. Click here for article: http://rt.com/politics/syria-russia-chemical-weapons-nato-lavrov-314/
» Read more
[Is Russia About To Ditch Syria? The Truth Is That It May Not Matter – Forbes.com – Mark Adomanis – Dec. 4, 2012 – click here for full article] Forbes.com covers Russian policy on the Syrian civil war and Russian relations with embattled Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad: Russia has been hinting for months that it might be prepared to try […]
» Read more
[Putin visits Turkey amid differences over Syria – AP – Vladimir Isachenkov – Dec. 3, 2012 – click here for full article] AP covers Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Turkey, focusing on growing trade while also in the midst of concerns over the conflict in Turkey’s neighbor Syria, as well as questions about Putin’s health: The blossoming trade relationship […]
» Read more
[U.S. Senate forbids Pentagon to cooperate with Rosoboronexport – ITAR-TASS – RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW – Dec. 3, 2012 – http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c142/587557.html] Itar-Tass reports on U.S. Senate approval of sanctions against Russia for supplying weapons to Syria, in the form of a prohibition on the U.S. Department of Defence buying weapons from Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport. Meanwhile, Russia argues that it is […]
» Read more
[NATO aims to repair Russia ties despite Patriot row – Reuters – Adrian Croft – Dec. 2, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/02/us-nato-ministers-idUSBRE8B107820121202] Reuters reports on NATO foreign ministers seeking to improve NATO’s relations with Russia, even as Russia raises concerns over NATO-member Turkey receiving Patriot air defense missiles as a safeguard against attacks from Syria. NATO-Russian cooperation includes addressing the future of […]
» Read more
PARIS. Nov 28 (Interfax) – Russia has no plans to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at any cost, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “Russia has no special relations with President Assad. Such relations existed between the Soviet Union and his father, but they don’t exist between our country and the incumbent Syrian president,” Medvedev said at a press conference […]
» Read more
(premier.gov.ru – November 26, 2012) Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon. Question: Good afternoon. Mr Prime Minister, you plan to visit France soon, next week. We know that you had good relations with Nicolas Sarkozy. How would you assess your cooperation with the new President of France, Francois Hollande? Do you expect any changes? Dmitry Medvedev: I believe that our relations with […]
» Read more
(Russia airs concern over Turkey’s request for NATO missiles – Reuters – Steve Gutterman – November 23 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/23/syria-crisis-russia-nato-idUSL5E8MN5EV20121123) Amidst the ongoing Syrian conflict, Reuters covers Russia’s reaction to the prospect of NATO deploying Patriot missile defense systems to Turkey near the border with Syria: Russia emphasised its opposition on Friday to NATO’s potential deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey […]
» Read more
(The Caucasus Emirate Goes Global – Stratfor.com – Gordon Hahn – Dr. Gordon M. Hahn is Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. – www.stratfor.com/other-voices/caucasus-emirate-goes-global) Gordon Hahn writes on the influences of international Islamic terrorism upon unrest in the Caucasus: For a decade almost all observers ignored, downplayed, and obfuscated an ugly truth about […]
» Read more
LONDON. Nov 12 (Interfax) – The boom in shale production will turn the United States into the world’s biggest oil producer by 2020, overtaking current leaders Russia and Saudi Arabia, the International Energy Agency said in its latest World Energy Outlook. Only a year ago the IEA was saying that Russia and Saudi Arabia would be the only candidates for […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russia believes the West is reviewing its approach toward the Syrian opposition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Thursday. “I have the impression that over the past couple of weeks the Western stance on the Syrian opposition has been changing noticeably,” he said in an interview with RIA Novosti, […]
» Read more
“Russian Journalist Reports on Putin’s Meeting with Iraq’s Al-Maliki” – “Wing-span of 4.5 Billion Dollars — Meeting between Russian President and Iraqi Prime Minister Opened Deal to Supply Aircraft” – Kommersant – Andrey Kolesnikov – October 11, 2012 – no link available to English-language version Andrey Kolesnikov writes about a dinner meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamil Mohammed Hasan […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Sept 28 (Interfax) – Sixty-two percent of Russians are aware of the Innocence of Muslims scandalous film released in the United States. Thirty-three percent of them have heard a lot about the film, and 6% are monitoring the situation closely, the Levada Center told Interfax. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents learned about the film in the poll of 1,601 […]
» Read more
“Israel Might Strike Iran After U.S. Presidential Elections – Russian Analyst” – Interfax-AVN – Sept. 11, 2012 [click here to read original article] Interfax-VN cites Alexei Arbatov, former Duma member and current head of the International Security Center under the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), as suggesting that Israel might launch a war […]
» Read more