(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Russia has managed to overcome sanctions and export controls imposed by the West to expand its missile production beyond prewar levels, according to U.S., European and Ukrainian officials cited by NYT. “With revenue from high energy prices, Russia’s security services and ministry of defense have been able to smuggle in the microelectronics and other Western materials […]
» Read more
“Vladimir Putin is often accused of trying to restore the old Soviet Union. But his meeting with Kim Jong Un suggests he might be focusing on restoring ties with like-minded former Soviet allies instead.” “… Both the Russian and North Korean delegations at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, near the Chinese border, included officials responsible for munitions, suggesting an urgent Russian interest […]
» Read more
7 Things to Know G-20 leaders began arriving in New Delhi on Sept. 8 for their annual gathering as negotiators struggled to bridge differences over the war in Ukraine in the group’s joint statement. While it remains unclear whether a final consensus can be reached, China appears to have dropped its initial opposition to language on Ukraine and Russia, according […]
» Read more
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) 6 Things to Know The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Ukraine’s current counteroffensive will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol, thus, remaining unable to disrupt the land bridge from Russia to Crimea, WP reported, citing “people familiar with the classified forecast.” The assessment is based on Russia’s proficiency in defending occupied territory, which […]
» Read more
6 Things to Know In the past month of fighting Russian armed forces made a net gain of 14 square miles, according to the estimate by the Belfer Russia-Ukraine War Task Force. Their research shows that the period saw Russian forces gain 43 square miles of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine’s net gain was 29 square miles, according to the Aug. 1, 2023 issue […]
» Read more
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Russian intelligence services may have known in advance of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plan to stage a mutiny, but it nonetheless materialized to pose the greatest military and security threat to Vladimir Putin’s rule since the end of the second Chechen war. The mutiny itself lasted only 36 hours, never spread to Moscow and ended with its chief […]
» Read more
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org) Ukraine’s military command claimed, as of June 15, to have retaken approximately 40 square miles of territory in the course of its counteroffensive, even as its soldiers encountered what U.S. military officials described as fierce resistance by Russian troops. The latter have reportedly managed to destroy at least four Leopard-2 tanks, 3 Leopard 2R engineering vehicles […]
» Read more
“Western and Ukrainian officials have said Moscow’s stockpile of missiles was dwindling. But the assaults this week raise questions about that.” “The 96-missile barrage fired across Ukraine on Tuesday was Russia’s biggest aerial attack of the war …. Whether… long planned, as Ukrainian commanders say … a deadly response to Kyiv’s recapture of … Kherson … [it] raises questions about […]
» Read more
“Russia’s war against Ukraine seems to have taken a modest turn in Ukraine’s favor … [O]ne sign is … Putin’s new threats and his scramble for arms from his own client states. Russia expected its February blitzkrieg to end in … quick victory, but … has bogged down … Ukraine is now pressing a[] [southern] offensive … aimed at busting […]
» Read more
“… Kim desperately needed to replace the narrative of weakness after failing to make a widely expected deal with the United States at the Hanoi summit with a narrative of strength, both domestically and internationally. Last week’s summit with Putin allowed Kim to show stature internationally and discuss alternatives to the U.S.-proposed big deal on denuclearization. But he failed to […]
» Read more
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Simon Saradzhyan – April 25, 2019 – russiamatters.org/blog/north-korea-russia-knows-it-can-only-play-second-fiddle-china-and-us) This week’s summit between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un—the first between the Russian and North Korean leaders—has proved to be as underwhelming as expected. While the two spent twice as much time talking face-to-face as had been planned, they neither announced any major agreements nor appeared […]
» Read more
(Kremlin.ru – April 25, 2019 – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/60370) Following his talks with Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin answered media questions. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, I suggest that we go straight to questions and answers. I will try to answer your questions. Go ahead, please. Question: Mr […]
» Read more
“… some 13,000 North Korean workers [were] left in Russia by October …. Some Western diplomats view Moscow’s implementation of … sanctions as overly liberal. … allowing [Pyongyang] to continue earning foreign currency and sourcing vital supplies in Russia and undermining U.S. attempts to strong-arm the country into giving up [WMD]. … Russian customs data show North Korea imported about […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Jan 14 (Interfax) – Washington does not fully realize the need to positively respond to North Korea’s steps in the direction of denuclearization and normalization of relations, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said. “The way the South Korean administration is building its line – step by step, in parallel, by reciprocal steps – is a good example to the […]
» Read more
“The Trump administration worked to move ahead on its top diplomatic priority – the denuclearization of North Korea – but ran head-on into opposition to its plans from Russia, which called for the easing of United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang. The proposal by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the U.N. Security Council ran directly counter to the U.S. demand […]
» Read more
VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 12 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that nuclear powers should take part in the discussion of international security guarantees for North Korea. “What kind of guarantees could that be? International. We have such a format as six-nation talks. The international community can give such guarantees, including those supported with the involvement of nuclear powers in these […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. July 14 (Interfax) – Russia supports the efforts made by U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on settling the situation on the Korean Peninsula and supports them in its contacts with North Korea and other countries of the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “It has been a very deep crisis with very […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. June 12 (Interfax) – The meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is a historical event, but it would not give instant results, to that end negotiations should move to the six-party format, Alexei Chepa, the deputy chair of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, told Interfax on Tuesday. “It is a historical […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. June 1 (Interfax) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed at their meeting on Pyongyang to hold a bilateral summit in 2018, the North Korean state-run news agency KCNA said in a statement on Friday. Kim “warmly welcomed the visit of Foreign Minister Lavrov and his party to the DPRK and had […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) – The differing approaches of Washington and Pyongyang to the settlement process on the Korean Peninsula and the bilateral summit may jeopardize the very fact of the summit and its outcome, Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said on Facebook. “The problems that emerged shortly before the pivotal meeting between the U.S. and North […]
» Read more
NEW YORK. Feb 7 (Interfax) – Russia has started sending North Korean labor migrants home consistent with the latest resolution of the UN Security Council, Russian Ambassador in Pyongyang Alexander Matsegora told the Russian press in New York. “That would affect the Russian economy, especially the Far East, rather seriously. […] Yet we are strictly and unwaveringly complying with the […]
» Read more
“Among the most disturbing aspects of the North Korean nuclear problem today is the lack of a common perspective between Washington and Moscow. More than any other government, Russian authorities have been reluctant to acknowledge the emergence of a genuine nuclear and missile threat from North Korea to the United States. This perceptual gap is more than a mere irritant. […]
» Read more
(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – MAXIM TRUDOLYUBOV – August 11, 2017) Maxim Trudolyubov, Senior Fellow with the Kennan Institute and editor-at-large with Vedomosti, has been following Russian economy and politics since the late 1990s. He has served as an opinion page editor for Vedomosti and editor and correspondent for the newspaper Kapital. As North Korea’s nuclear missile program advances, U.S. […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – May 18, 2017) Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru. The idea of a grand bargain between the U.S. and Russia is less popular in Washington than ever before. And yet one of the biggest foreign […]
» Read more
“… relations between the United States and #Russia are as hostile as they were during the #ColdWar. Russia has dropped its long-term policy of ‘No First Use’ of #nuclear weapons and is rebuilding its nuclear arsenal. It is threatening its neighbors with these deadly weapons and indirectly threatening the U.S. Responding to this challenge, the U.S. has begun rebuilding its […]
» Read more
Subject: Crises in the Second Nuclear Age Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2017 From: STEPHEN CIMBALA <sjc2@psu.edu> Crises in the Second Nuclear Age By Stephen J. Cimbala and Paul Bracken Stephen J. Cimbala is Professor of Political Science at Penn State Brandywine. Paul Bracken is Professor of Management and Professor of Political Science at Yale University. Nuclear weapons coincided with the […]
» Read more
MOSCOW, December 2 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to implement UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, the government’s legal information website said Monday. All North Korean ships must now consent to an inspection before being allowed to enter a Russian port. Russian state and commercial organizations are also forbidden from helping North Korea […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Ilyashenko, special to RBTH – November 17, 2013) The author is a political analyst for the Voice of Russia Radio. Russia’s relations with South and North Korean are critical to the country’s stability and interests. Vladimir Putin had two reasons to visit Seoul on November 12 and 13: security and security. And […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Ekaterina Shatalova and Nicholas Brautlecht – October 15, 2013) Vladimir Putin is inching closer to his goal of turning Russia into a major transit route for trade between eastern Asia and Europe by prying open North Korea, a nuclear-capable dictatorship isolated for half a century. Russia last month completed the first land link that North Korea’s […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yuri Paniyev, special to RBTH – June 18, 2013) With the G8 summit in full swing in Northern Ireland, the world’s leaders try to tackle financial and international challenges including tax evasion, the Middle East stand-off, the Syrian crisis and the North Korea nuclear problem. G8 leaders began their two-day summit at the […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Lankov, special to RBTH – April 15, 2013) In early April, North Korea’s top leadership was shaken up top military officers retired, civilian bureaucrats have taken over and a reform-minded premier has been reinstated. Korean historian Andrei Lankov argues that, while it is too soon to confidentially say North Korea is […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Ekaterina Zabrovskaya, Yelena Kim, RBTH – April 10, 2013) Regardles of the fact that Russian pundits are concerned by growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, most argue that a full-scale war will not break out. Although the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised diplomatic missions to leave the country by April […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – April 10, 2013) The White House has urged Moscow to do more to restrain saber-rattling North Korea, but despite historically strong ties with its nuclear-armed neighbor, Russia does not have special influence that could help defuse growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, experts said Tuesday. “Russia doesn’t have any exclusive ways to […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 10, 2013) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused North Korea of blatantly violating a UN Security Council resolution and warned that Moscow will consistently seek to calm the situation down. “Certainly, it is unacceptable when a state – in this particular case the DPRK, a UN member – openly and blatantly violates a UN Security […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – April 9, 2013 – Fyodor Lukyanov) Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments. The world is once again looking toward the Korean Peninsula with apprehension, though at this point it should be used to Pyongyang’s routine threats to wipe its enemies off […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yevgeny Shestakov, special to RBTH – April 9, 2013) Yevgeny Shestakov is international politics editor at Rossiyskaya Gazeta. International politics analyst Yevgeny Shestakov considers Russia and the U.S. should not resolve their differences via international conflicts like the Syria crisis. Events in civil war-torn Syria have demonstrated the lamentable inability of Russia and […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 9, 2013) Russian citizens recently interviewed by the Levada Center said they now have a better opinion of South Korea than North Korea, expressing concern over Pyongyang’s recent belligerent rhetoric and plans. Forty-nine percent of respondents to the March survey said they had a positive attitude toward North Korea, and 26% spoke of the country negatively. […]
» Read more
(RIA Novosti – Alexey Eremenko – MOSCOW, April 9, 2013) Radioactive fallout from South Korean nuclear plants blown up by enemy saboteurs could be, for Russia, the worst consequence of a possible Korean war should one happen, Russian analysts said. “You could have five or six Chernobyls take place over a relatively small territory,” said Alexander Zhebin, who heads […]
» Read more
(Interfax – MOSCOW, April 8, 2013) North Korea does not want to become another target for the U.S. after Syria and therefore it needs reliable security guarantees, a North Korean diplomatic source said in reply to a question from Interfax concerning reasons for Pyongyang’s increasingly militant rhetoric in relation to the U.S. and South Korea of late. “Washington has often […]
» Read more
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Andrei Ilyashenko, special to RBTH – April 1, 2013) Andrei Ilyashenko is a columnist on the Middle East issues for several Russian media and military magazines. For Moscow and Beijing the consequences of North Korea’s posturing in recent months could turn into a major security issue. North Korean propagandists recently posted a YouTube […]
» Read more
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Gopal Ratnam & Stepan Kravchenko – March 18, 2013) The Obama administration’s decision to slow work on missile defenses in Eastern Europe has raised hopes of arms control advocates that Russia might respond by agreeing to renewed talks on reducing both nations’ nuclear arsenals. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said March 15 that the Pentagon will […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) – If South Korean reports on North Korean preparations for the next nuclear test are correct, this would indicate that North Korea want to strike a deal with the United States as an equal and receive a nuclear status similar to that of India, head of the Korean Studies Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – A Russian deputy foreign minister has slammed the U.S. State Department for what he argued is too much attention to “routine matters” in Russia’s foreign policy. “It’s surprising that routine matters should be attracting such close attention, including public attention,” Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax on Thursday in comments on a statement by a State Department […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – North Korean nuclear tests endanger regional and global security, Carnegie Moscow Center Nuclear Non-Proliferation Program Coordinator Pyotr Topychkanov said. “If Japan and South Korea obtain convincing evidence to support the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea, violations of the non-proliferation regime may start in the region. For instance, Japan may be prompted to acquire […]
» Read more
(Ambassador Michael McFaul – Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – February 8, 2013 – Michael Mcfaul is the U.S. Ambassador in Russia) A year ago, I arrived in Moscow to represent my country as the U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation. This is a good moment to reflect on the state of U.S.-Russian relations and my role in developing […]
» Read more
MOSCOW. Feb 6 (Interfax) – Negotiations on peace and security could help build confidence between North Korea and the other participants in the six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Russian Ambassador to Pyongyang Alexander Timonin said. “As follows from the North Korean Foreign Ministry’s and the State Defense Committee’s recent statements, Pyongyang also does not object to […]
» Read more
(Interfax – January 24, 2013) The North Korean National Defense Commission said on Thursday that North Korea could carry on satellite launches and nuclear tests. This means to retaliate against the United States and indicates that Pyongyang intends to exchange nuclear program concessions for security guarantees from Washington, Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee First Deputy Chairman, political expert Vyacheslav […]
» Read more