News

Russia in Review

Oct. 02, 2015

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for September 25 – October 2, 2015

I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda.

Nuclear security:

  • On Wednesday the United States deposited its instrument of ratification for the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear at the United Nations in New York. (RTT News, 10.01.15).
  • On September 24, 2015, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration assisted Uzbekistan in completing removal of the last remaining HEU from the country. The fuel will be reprocessed at the Mayak Production Association in the Chelyabinsk region in Russia. The shipment included irradiated fuel if the IIN-3M/Foton reactor that was operated by the Foton Enterprise in Tashkent. (IPFM, World Nuclear News, 09.28.15).
  • On 28 September 2015 Russia formally launched a commercial MOX fuel fabrication facility at the Mining and Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk. There is no official information as to whether the plant will use weapon-grade plutonium, which Russia committed to eliminate under the PMDA agreement with the United States, but Rosatom officials indicated that the facility was built to process weapon-grade material and that the use of reactor-grade plutonium is unlikely, at least in the short term.  (IPFM, 09.28.15).
  • “The terrorists plan on killing several hundred million people. The west is drastically underestimating the power of ISIS. ISIS intends to get its hands on nuclear weapons,” said German journalist Jurgen Todenhofer who spent ten days embedded with Islamic State. (Daily Express/Washington Times, 10.28.15).

Iran nuclear issues:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “Interests of the United States and of the Russian Federation do coincide sometimes. And in this case (of Iran), I just told you that we have a special responsibility for non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, our interests certainly coincide.” (Kremlin.ru/CBS, 09.29.15).
  • U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday: “Our objective was to test whether Iran could change course, accept constraints, and allow the world to verify that its nuclear program will be peaceful. For two years, the United States and our partners -- including Russia, including China -- stuck together in complex negotiations. ” (New York Times, 09.29.15).

NATO-Russia relations:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday:  “The bloc thinking of the times of the Cold War and the desire to explore new geopolitical areas is still present among some of our colleagues. First, they continue their policy of expanding NATO. What for?” (Washington Post, 10.28.15).
  • Nearly 1,000 soldiers and around 100 pieces of military equipment have been deployed in Lithuania as part of the month-long Baltic Piranha military exercise taking place in the framework of NATO’s “assurance measures.”(Russia Today, 10.02.15).

Missile defense:

  • No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

  • No significant developments.

Counter-terrorism:

  • U.S. President Barack Obama convened a summit at the United Nations Tuesday aimed at countering violent extremism, arguing the world will ultimately beat back Islamist militants with "better ideas." Obama emphasized that the fight against the Islamic State "it is not going to won the battlefield." "This means defeating its ideology," he said. "Ideologies are not defeated with guns, they're defeated by better ideas." (Washington Post, 09.29.15).
  • Russia has slammed the holding of a U.S.-led counterterrorism summit of some 100 leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said on September 29 that the "initiative seriously undermines UN efforts." (RFE/RL, 09.29.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “We know for certain that today there are at least 2,000 and may be even more than 2,000 militants in Syria who are from Russia or other former Soviet republics and, of course, there is the threat of their return to Russia.” (Kremlin.ru/CBS, 09.29.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “All countries of the region should join their efforts in the fight against a common threat – terrorism in general and ISIS in particular… (terrorism) is a serious common threat to all of us; it is a common challenge to all of us….And we all face the task of joining our efforts in the fight against this common evil.” (Kremlin.ru/CBS, 09.29.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “ “We constantly send to our colleagues through special services’ channels the information necessary for the American special forces in order to make our contribution to ensuring security and safety, including safety of American citizens both in the United States and beyond. But I think that this level of coordination is insufficient today; we need to work more closely with each other.” (Kremlin.ru/CBS, 09.29.15).
  • The US State and Treasury Departments has announced 35 new terrorism designations. Two of the Islamic State’s so-called “provinces,” one in the Caucasus and the other in the Khorasan are now officially recognized as terrorist organizations by the USG. The Caucasus branch is headed by Rustam Asilderov, a former leader in the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate who defected to the Islamic State late last year. (Long War Journal, 09.29.15).
  • A major threat facing Russia in Syria is the possible return of Islamic State militants currently fighting there to Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said, adding that Moscow will work to prevent such a situation, and it should succeed in these efforts. (Interfax, 10.01.15).
  • The Barack Obama administration decisions on a series of proposed adjustments to its strategy against the Islamic State have been put on hold pending more information about Russia's intentions in Syria and President Obama's desire for clarification of the proposals themselves, according to senior administration officials. (Washington Post, 09.27.15).
  • The leader of Chechnya in Russia's North Caucasus, Ramzan Kadyrov, has announced the detention of three members of the Islamic State international terrorist organization, which is outlawed in Russia, on Chechen territory.  (Interfax, 10.02.15).
  • The Tyumen regional branch of Russia's Federal Security Service says Vitaly Makarov, a convert to Islam, was found guilty by a court of taking part in military operations in Syria in 2013-2014 with an illegal armed group loyal to the Islamic State group. (RFE/RL, 09.30.15).
  • An Austrian court on October 1 handed down jail sentences to three Chechen asylum-seekers -- a man, his wife, and his mother – after ruling that they tried to join Islamic State extremists in Syria. The 20-year-old man, his 21-year-old wife, and the man's 39-year-old mother were intercepted in Turkey.(RFE/RL, 10.01.15).
  • Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, a mainly Uzbek group that formally pledged allegiance to Al Nusrah Front on September 29, has claimed responsibility for an attack on the “Russian infidels” in the Latakia province. The claim could not be independently verified. (Long War Journal, 09.30.15).

Cyber security:

  • Russian national Dimitri Belorossov was sentenced to 4-1/2 years in U.S. prison for using sophisticated malware known as "Citadel" to steal banking information from thousands of computers. (RFE/RL, 09.30.15).
  • Russia-linked hackers tried at least five times to pry into Hillary Clinton's private e-mail account while she was U.S. secretary of state, e-mails released on September 30 show.  (RFE/RL, 10.01.15).

Energy exports from CIS:

  • Russia pumped oil in September at levels not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia's oil output in September rose to an average of 10.74 million barrels a day, government data showed on Friday. Oil production increased 0.4% from August. However, Russian oil production could fall by up to 10 percent if world prices stay consistently low for a long period, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on Tuesday. (Reuters, 09.29.15, Wall Street Journal, 10.02.15).
  • Oil rose above $49 a barrel on Thursday as an emerging risk premium over the situation in Syria countered further signs of an economic slowdown in Asia and rising U.S. inventories. (Reuters, 10.01.15).
  • Russian gas giant Gazprom has exported 41.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to Europe and Turkey in the third quarter, up 23 percent from the year-earlier period, the company's head Alexei Miller said on Friday. (Reuters, 10.02.15).
  • Ukraine and Russia on Friday reached a preliminary deal on natural-gas supplies to the conflict-torn country until the end of March that, if implemented, will avoid potential cutoffs and shortages for Ukraine and the rest of Europe this winter. Ukraine will have to pay around $3 billion for Russian gas this winter, so the European Union's commitments to help Ukraine are crucial, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (Wall Street Journal, 06.25.15, Interfax, 09.30.15).

Bilateral economic ties:

  • There is no pressure for U.S. energy major ExxonMobil to leave Russia's Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, Yuri Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to Russia's far east, said. Exxon, which operates and owns a 30 percent stake in Sakhalin-1, in Russia's Far East, has been in a tax dispute with Russian authorities over the project. (Reuters, 09.25.15).

Other bilateral issues:

  • U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin ended their months-long silence this week with a face-to-face meeting that Secretary of State John Kerry called "genuinely constructive [and] very civil."  The meeting lasted for 90 minutes, which was 30 minutes more than originally planned. "Strange is it may seem, there were many common points," Putin told reporters. "There were also disagreements which we agreed to work together. I hope this work will be constructive."  During the meeting Obama pressed Putin over Ukraine’s sovereignty, and stressed the need to implement the Minsk accord in the next few months, according to a White House pool report. Both leaders came to the same conclusion: the Minsk peace deal is the way forward.  On Syria, Putin and Obama locked horns over the role left to Assad but evinced a “shared desire” to find a political solution. (Foreign Policy, 09.28.15, AP, 09.29.15, Telegraph, 10.01.15, Washington Post, 09.30.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “Russia – the President of Russia, its Government and all my colleagues – we are ready for these contacts at the highest level, at the level of governments, ministries, agencies. We are ready to go as far as our American partners.” (Kremlin.ru/CBS, 09.29.15).
  • U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday: “America has few economic interests in Ukraine. We recognize the deep and complex history between Russia and Ukraine. But we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated. If that happens without consequence in Ukraine, it could happen to any nation gathered here today. That's the basis of the sanctions that the United States and our partners impose on Russia. It's not a desire to return to a Cold War.” “We want a strong Russia that’s invested in working with us to strengthen the international system as a whole,” he said. (New York Times, 09.28.15).
  • U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday: “We continue to press for this (Ukraine) crisis to be resolved in a way that allows a sovereign and democratic Ukraine to determine its future and control its territory. Not because we want to isolate Russia -- we don't -- but because we want a strong Russia that's invested in working with us to strengthen the international system as a whole. ”(New York Times, 09.29.15).
  • U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday: “We see in our debates about America's role in the world a notion of strength that is defined by opposition to old enemies, perceived adversaries, a rising China, or a resurgent Russia; a revolutionary Iran, or an Islam that is incompatible with peace.”(New York Times, 09.29.15).
  • U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday: “The Ukrainian people are more interested than ever in aligning with Europe instead of Russia. Sanctions have led to capital flight, a contracting economy, a fallen ruble, and the emigration of more educated Russians.”(New York Times, 09.29.15).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

  • President Vladimir Putin expressed doubt he would run for office a fourth time in an interview with the U.S. journalist Charlie Rose. “I am not sure whether I should take full advantage of these constitutional rights. It will depend on the specific situation in the country, in the world and my own feelings about it," he added. (Moscow Times, 09.29.15).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired governor of the northwest Russian republic of Komi Vyacheslav Gaizer citing "loss of confidence" in the disgraced official who has been arrested on charges of fraud, a Kremlin spokesman said Wednesday. (Moscow Times, 10.01.15).
  • Russian opposition politician Sergei Levchenko has been elected as the governor of Siberia's Irkutsk region. (RFE/RL, 09.27.15).
  • Russians put the value of their lives at 4.5 million rubles ($68,854) on average, up from 3.8 million rubles last year, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta government daily said Wednesday, citing the results of a new survey. The lowest valuations were given in Makhachkala, Ulyanovsk and Saratov. (Moscow Times, 09.30.15).
  • Russia has reduced its budget-planning cycle to one year, rather than the previous three-year period, according to a law signed by President Vladimir Putin amid the country's economic turmoil and swings in oil prices. (Moscow Times, 10.01.15).
  • The new legislation allows Russians with total debt of more than 500,000 rubles ($7,600) and over three months of missed payments to file for bankruptcy from Oct. 1. (Moscow Times, 09.30.15).
  • A total of 738 tons of illegally imported food has been destroyed since the introduction of a decree in August ordering the disposal of banned Western imports, Russia's agricultural watchdog said Monday. (Moscow Times, 09.28.15).

Defense and Aerospace:

  • The newest nuclear-powered submarine The Alexander Nevsky (project 955 Borey) has completed its voyage from the Northern Fleet to the Pacific Fleet and arrived in the port of Vilyuchinsk, in the Kamchatka Peninsula. (Tass, 09.29.15).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

  • A member of a Ukrainian nationalist group has been sentenced in Russia to 24 1/2 years in prison for fighting with Chechen separatists against Russian troops in the mid-1990s. (RFE/RL, 10.01.15).

Foreign affairs and trade:

  • Syria and Iraq
    • During a 90-minute meeting in New York Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that their armed forces should hold talks to avoid coming into conflict in Syria after a Russian military buildup there over the last several weeks. A senior U.S. official said that after the meeting between Obama and Putin, the U.S. president came away with a clear sense of what Russia intends to do with its buildup of weapons, equipment, and forces in Syria. “We have clarity on their objectives,” he said. “Their objectives are to go after ISIL [IS] and to support the government. “The official said the United States does not view Russia's military buildup as necessarily destructive to a positive outcome in Syria, but rather that will depend on Russia's actions going forward. On the biggest issue that divides them in Syria - the status of embattled leader Bashar Assad - Obama and Putin left their discussions Monday exactly where they started. (AP, 09.29.15, RFE/RL, 09.29.15, Reuters, 09.29.15).
    • Speaking after his meeting with Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin told reporters Russia was pondering what more it could do to support Syrian government and Kurdish forces against Islamic State militants. “We are mulling over what we would really do extra in order to support those who are in the battlefield, resisting and fighting with terrorists, ISIS [Islamic State] first of all," Putin said, ruling out deploying Russian ground troops. "There is [an] opportunity to work on joint problems together," Putin said of his talks with Obama, which a U.S. official described as "businesslike." “We hope for his (Assad’s) active and flexible position, for his readiness to compromise for the sake of his country and his people,” Vladimir Putin said. (Financial Times, 10.01.15, Reuters, 09.29.15).
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “We are not stepping into the vacuum of American leadership, we are trying to prevent the creation of a power vacuum in Syria… challenging American leadership is not at stake…. “Minor airstrikes (against ISIS), including those by the United States aircraft, do not resolve the issue in essence; in fact, they do not resolve it at all. The work should be conducted on the spot after these strikes and it should all be strictly coordinated.” (Kremlin.ru/CBS, 09.29.15).
    • U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said the United States and Russia agree on "some fundamental principles" for Syria. Kerry spoke after Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin met on Monday. He said there was agreement that the extremist Islamic State group "needs to be taken on" and that "there needs to be a managed [political] transition" in Syria. On Wednesday, Kerry said that the U.S. and Russia have agreed on “specific steps" that could nudge forward a Syrian political process. Speaking alongside Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that while he and Mr. Kerry disagreed on some aspects of a political transition, “we all want Syria democratic, united, secular" and inclusive of all groups.  Privately, some U.S. officials say they believe Vladimir Putin is inclined to cooperate with the U.S. to ease Assad from power. (RFE/RL, 09.29.15, Wall Street Journal, 09.30.15, AP, 09.29.15.)
    • In advance of a meeting with President Obama on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin labeled U.S. support for rebels in Syria as illegal, and mocked as ineffective a U.S. program that has been unable to train and arm rebels. "The initial aim was to train 5,000 to 6,000 fighters, then 12,000, but it turns out that only 60 were trained and only four or five are actually fighting," Putin said. "All the others simply ran away with their American weapons to Islamic State." (Washington Post, 09.26.15).
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday that the West was making an "enormous mistake" by not cooperating with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the fight against the Islamic State militant group. (Washington Post, 10.28.15).
    • U.S. President Barack Obama told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday: “The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the conflict. But we must recognize that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.  ”(New York Times, 09.29.15).
    • US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has instructed his staff to open a communication channel with Moscow in order to coordinate anti-Islamic State efforts by Russia and the US in Syria, according to media reports.  Subsequently, U.S. and Russian defense officials held an hour-long video conference Thursday. The two sides conferred over radio frequencies and the language pilots should use to communicate with one another, and said they were likely to speak again. There is still no progress regarding the opening of a Russia-NATO hotline, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov. (Interfax, 10.02.15, Washington Post, 10.02.15, Sputnik, 09.30.15).
    • Russia's upper house of parliament  voted unanimously on Wednesday to grant President Vladimir Putin the right to use the country's armed forces in Syria. The airstrikes began on September 30th to the north and northeast of the city of Homs. The head of Syria's main opposition group says Russian air strikes on September 30 killed 36 civilians, including five children, a claim Russia immediately denied. In the second day of air raids in Syria, Russian warplanes hit the Army of Conquest on October 1st. On the third days of strikes on October 2nd the Russian Defense Ministry said that it had bombed seven targets in Syria in overnight air raids, including a command post and a training camp near the northwestern city of Raqqa that would be the first strike in an area widely recognized as being under the control of the Islamic State. (New York Times, 10.01.15, RFE/RL, 10.01.15, New York Times, 10.01.15, RFE/RL, 09.30.15, Wall Street Journal, 10.02.15, New York Times, 09.02.15).
    • In private, Russian officials say the Kremlin’s plans for strikes in Syria emerged over the last several months, fueled by setbacks Assad’s forces and by the continuing deep-freeze in relations with the U.S. and Europe over Ukraine. The Kremlin is preparing for a major campaign that could last at least several months, officials said. The military presence, though, will remain in Syria much longer, according to a senior diplomat. (Bloomberg, 10.02.15).
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has ruled out sending Russian ground troops into Syria to fight Islamic State. Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov said the objective of the vote was to authorize the use of the Russian Air Force alone and that "the use of armed forces in a ground operation is ruled out.” The head of the Chechen Republic has asked the Russian president to send Chechen units to fight Islamic State in Syria. (RFE/RL, 09.30.15, RFE/RL, 09.29.15, Russia Today, 10.02.15).
    • Russia has a mixture of 28 ground-attack aircraft and multi-role fighters stationed in Syria and recently began flying large fixed-wing drones over the country. In addition to the fixed-wing aircraft, there are also 14 helicopters. Russia’s Air Force fleet in Syria includes over 50 warplanes and helicopters, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said. There are two sites in Syria of particular concern to Moscow: its  naval base at Tartus and the listening station at Latakia.  (Financial Times, 09.27.15, Washington Post, 10.01.15, Russia Today, 10.01.15, RFE/RL, 10.02.15).
    • U.S. officials suggested that Russian military assets in Syria might be acceptable if they were used solely to fight the Islamic State.  “We have clarity on their objectives,” the official said, referring to the Russians, according to the report. “Their objectives are to go after ISIL and to support the government.” . (Foreign Policy, 09.28.15).
    • On Wednesday morning a Russian military official turned up at the US embassy in Baghdad with information and a demand. Russia would begin air strikes in Syria within the next hour, he said — and he insisted the US keep its aircraft out of Syrian airspace that day. (Financial Times, 10.01.15).
    • Accusing Russia of "pouring gasoline on the fire," Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter vowed that U.S. pilots would continue their year-long bombing campaign against the Islamic State in Syria, despite Moscow's warning to keep American planes away from its operations. "I think what they're doing is going to backfire and is counterproductive," Carter said. (Washington Post, 10.01.15).
    • Lt. Gen. Robert P. Otto, the US Air Force's deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, told reporters in Washington that it appeared the Russian forces were using "dumb bombs" in Syria instead of weapons guided by lasers or satellites.  (Washington Post, 10.01.15).
    • "The key is to defeat ISIS, and then there can be an election in Syria and the chips fall where they may. There is no immediate, obvious successor to Bashar al-Assad," said Senate Intelligence ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), urging "cooperation" with Moscow in the fight. (Washington Post, 09.01.15).
    • “It is very bold,” said Mac Thornberry, the Republican chair of the House armed services committee of Vladimir Putin’s actions in Syria. “It really does go back to that old line that people attribute to Lenin: Probe with a bayonet and if you encounter mush, continue. If you hit steel, stop. That’s what Putin is doing.” (Financial Times, 10.02.15).
    • U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump appeared to endorse Russia's air raids in Syria and said he would send thousands of Syrian refugees home if he is elected in November 2016. (RFE/RL, 10.01.15).
    • More Iranian troops have arrived in Syria for an upcoming ground operation to accompany Russian airstrikes, U.S. defense officials said. (Fox News, 10.01.15).
    • Asked whether Russia's military expansion in Syria was designed to deflect international attention from its actions in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sounded indignant, calling it an ''absurd interpretations of what is going on."  (New York Times, 10.02.15).
    • Saudi and other Arab officials warned the Obama administration this week that Russia's military intervention in Syria risked fueling a new flood of funds and fighters into the ranks of extremist groups Islamic State and al Qaeda and could aid their efforts to claim even more territory in the Middle East. (Wall Street Journal, 10.02.15).
    • More than two-thirds of Russians oppose sending troops to Syria to prop up President Bashar al-Assad's government, while a majority approve of Moscow's use of diplomatic and political channels to help its embattled ally in the Middle East, according to Russia’s Levada independent pollster. (RFE/RL, 09.29.15).
    • Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Tuesday that Russia is critical to the success of any solution in Syria. “It is impossible to achieve peace without Russia involved," Mr. Renzi said Greece's newly re-elected prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, made a similar point . "If we wanted to discuss about the perspective of global stability and security, I think that it is a mistake to exclude Russia from these discussions," Mr. Tsipras said. (New York Times, 09.30.15).
    • Iraq has announced an agreement on "security and intelligence cooperation" with Russia, Iran, and Syria to counter the threat from the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The Iraqi military's joint operations command said on September 26 that the agreement came "with increased Russian concern about the presence of thousands of terrorists from Russia undertaking criminal acts” with the IS group. Russia has already sent its military experts to the recently established Baghdad center coordinating air strikes and ground troops in Syria, a Russian official close to the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Iraq would be receptive to requests by Russia to conduct reconnaissance flights in Iraqi airspace to spy on Islamic State militants, an Iraqi defense ministry spokesman said on Monday. (RFE/RL, 09.27.15, Reuters, 09.30.Wall Street Journal, 09.28.15).
  • Other:
    • Russia and Estonia on Saturday exchanged two prisoners who had been convicted of espionage, carrying out the swap on a bridge at a border post between the countries. Eston Kohver, who last month was sentenced to 15 years in a Russian prison for spying, was handed over to Estonia authorities in exchange for Alexei Dressen, a former Estonian security officer who was serving a 16-year sentence in Estonia for giving state secrets to Russia. (New York Times, 09.27.15).
    • The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Polish ambassador to Moscow on September 25 after graves of Soviet soldiers were vandalized in a Polish village. (RFE/RL, 09.26.15).
    • Russia's ambassador to Poland has backtracked from an accusation that Poland bore some blame for the outbreak of World War II, saying his words were misinterpreted. (RFE/RL, 09.28.15).

 

Russia's neighbors:

  • Ukraine
    • Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have begun meeting in Paris with the leaders of France and Germany in an effort to solidify a fragile peace agreement in eastern Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande were also expected to query Putin about the Russian air strikes in Syria in a growing debate over exactly which groups Moscow is targeting. (RFE/RL, 10.02.15).
    • Hours after Moscow unleashed air strikes on Syria on Wednesday, a senior Russian-backed separatist leader, 1,500 miles away in Ukraine’s breakaway east, made a striking statement. “This could mean the end of the war” in east Ukraine, said Denis Pushilin, chair of the parliament in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic. He was referring to an agreement reached by ceasefire negotiators for all sides to withdraw small-caliber weapons from the front lines, to which his enclave and the neighboring Lugansk separatist republic had signed up. The agreement will take 39 days to carry out. It covers the withdrawal of tanks, mortars and artillery of less than 100 millimeter caliber to a distance of 15 kilometers. (RFE/RL, 09.30.15, Financial Times, 10.01.15).
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday that: “We're confident that only through full and faithful implementation of the Minsk agreements of February 12th, 2015, can we put an end to the bloodshed and find a way out of the deadlock.” Washington Post, 10.28.15).
    • Russia is closing its airspace to Ukrainian airlines starting October 25 in reprisal for a ban that Ukraine imposed last week on Russian carriers. The measure is in response to a decision by Ukrainian authorities on September 25 to ban Aeroflot, Transaero, and other Russian air companies from flying into Ukraine, also starting on October 25.(RFE/RL, 09.28.15).
    • President Petro Poroshenko has said the conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine costs about $5 million a day. International sanctions on Russia must stay in place or be strengthened if Moscow fails to fully implement February's cease-fire accord, Poroshenko said. (Wall Street Journal, 09.29.15, RFE/RL, 09.28.15).
    • U.S. President Barack Obama authorized a deal to send $20 million of sophisticated radar equipment to Ukraine. The Pentagon had been discussing the radar for months, but it wasn't until a high-profile meeting between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin that Obama decided to finalize the deal. (International Business Times, 10.01.15).
  • Other:
    • Since the start of this year, the fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the vicinity of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has reached its highest level of intensity since the signing of the 1994 cease-fire. Not only have exchanges of fire become more frequent; both sides are now reportedly using mortars and other heavy weaponry, not just automatic rifles. They are also increasingly targeting civilian settlements, according to the OSCE's Minsk Group that seeks to mediate a political solution to the conflict, a tactic that the Minsk Group co-chairs have branded "an unacceptable escalation." (RFE/RL, 10.02.15).
    • U.S. President Barack Obama and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed nuclear non-proliferation and the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly September 29. Nazarbayev on September 28 had urged UN members to abandon nuclear weapons by 2045 as "the main goal of humankind in the 21st century." (RFE/RL, 09.29.15).
    • The U.S. Embassy in Tashkent says an unidentified assailant has tossed "two improvised incendiary devices on to embassy grounds.” (RFE/RL, 09.29.15).

Back issues of Russia in Review are available here.If you wish to either unsubscribe from or subscribe to Russia in Review, please e-mail Simon Saradzhyan at simon_saradzhyan@hks.harvard.edu.

For more information on this publication: Please contact US-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
For Academic Citation:Russia in Review.” News, , October 2, 2015.