Russia in Review

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for April 18-25, 2014

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

Nuclear security agenda:

A Kazakhstani court has sentenced members of a nuclear-smuggling ring to multiyear prison terms for their roles in an attempted sale of cesium. A Kazakhstani uranium-enrichment facility and an associate were given four-year prison sentences by a Karaganda region court. Two other individuals were sentenced to three years behind bars. The engineer pilfered the cesium-137 from a storage facility in the early 1990s and for years kept the material hidden in a tightly sealed container at his workplace. (GSN, 04.23.14).

Iran nuclear issues:

No significant developments.

NATO-Russia cooperation, including transit to and from Afghanistan:

The Pentagon has signaled that it doesn't want the US sanctions against Russia over Ukraine to include Russia's state-owned arms exporting firm Rosoboronexport as that would mean a halt to supplies of Russian MI-17 helicopters for the Afghan Air Force under a US-Russian deal. (Voice of Russia, 04.23.14).

Missile defense:

The United States has begun fielding Standard Missile 3 Block 1B interceptor that is planned in the short-term to be deployed in Romania and the Mediterranean. (GSN, 04.24.14).
The Pentagon is postponing plans to request congressional approval for a multiyear production contract for Standard Missile 3 Block 1B interceptor intended for fielding in Romania. (GSN, 04.22.14).

Nuclear arms control:

Russian nuclear inspectors visited the U.S. amid heightened tensions between the two nations to verify that 18 nuclear missile launch facilities had been demolished as part of a 2011 arms-control treaty, Air Force officials said Monday. (AP, 04.21.14).
Russian officials are grousing at how long Washington is taking to certify a new spy plane for arms-control verification flights in the United States. The advanced Russian surveillance aircraft reportedly is a cause of concern for Pentagon military brass and the intelligence agencies, who worry that its digital sensors will provide Moscow with too much explicit detail about U.S. military capabilities. (GSN, 04.23.14).
The U.S. Air Force has suggested it is looking into extending the operational life of its strategic nuclear missile for several more decades. (GSN, 04.24.14).

Counter-terrorism cooperation:

Friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are asking that their cases be tried outside of Massachusetts. (RFE/RL, 04.24.14).

Cyber security:

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called the Internet a CIA project and made comments about Russia’s biggest search engine Yandex, sending the company’s shares plummeting. (AP, 04.24.14).
A state-run Internet search engine will be launched in Russia this spring, Alexei Basov, vice president of state telecoms company Rostelecom, said Wednesday. (The Moscow Times, 04.23.14).
An international center to combat cyber threats will be created in the near future under the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a military alliance of former Soviet states, CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha said Tuesday. (RIA Novosti, 04.22.14).

Energy exports from CIS:

Russia's Gazprom has slapped Ukraine energy firm Naftogaz with an additional $11.4 billion gas bill, more than five times its previous claim, ratcheting up pressure on Kiev. (Reuters, 04.24.14).
France's Total expects the biggest share of its oil and gas output to come from Russia by 2020 and plans to stay there for the long haul despite recent tensions with the West over Ukraine, a top executive said. (Reuters, 04.24.14).
Geopolitical tensions over Ukraine shouldn't have an impact on the flow of natural gas from Russia to Europe as this remains crucial for both sides, the head of French power utility GDF Suez said Thursday. (Wall Street Journal, 04.24.14).
In talks in Ankara on Monday, Gazprom agreed to boost capacity in the Blue Stream pipeline that transports gas across the Black Sea to northern Turkey. (Financial Times, 04.22.14).

Bilateral economic ties:

No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

President Obama has concluded that even if there is a resolution to the current standoff over Crimea and eastern Ukraine, he will never have a constructive relationship with President Putin, aides said. As a result, President Obama will spend his final two and a half years in office trying to minimize the disruption President Putin can cause, preserve whatever marginal cooperation can be saved and otherwise ignore the master of the Kremlin in favor of other foreign policy areas where progress remains possible. (New York Times, 04.19.14).
Washington has reportedly chosen John Tefft, a former U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania, Georgia and Ukraine, as a new ambassador to Russia. (The Moscow Times, 04.21.14).
Secretary of State John Kerry attested Tuesday to the massively complex challenges Washington faces in Ukraine, Russia, Iran and the Middle East, declaring "it was easier" during the Cold War. (AFP, 04.17.14).
President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin may be in an international standoff, but President Obama said today that he would jump in and save Putin from drowning if he had to. “I absolutely would save Mr. Putin if he were drowning,” Obama said. (ABC, 04.24.14).
Russia's main anti-drugs agency has recommended that its officers refrain from traveling to the more than 100 countries that have extradition treaties with the United States, the agency's press service said Tuesday. (The Moscow Times, 04.22.14).
Russia is in a race against time to adapt its laws to the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, and save its banks from financial sanctions. (The Moscow Times, 04.24.14).
Citigroup said its chief executive Mike Corbat had withdrawn from an investment summit hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin as other US chiefs look to avoid the conference in St. Petersburg on May 22. (Financial Times, 04.25.14).
Visa Inc, the world's largest credit and debit card company, said U.S. sanctions on Russia were hurting its card transaction volumes and that revenue growth would slow further this quarter, sending its shares down 5 percent after the bell. (Reuters, 04.24.14).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has shelved a plan to boost government spending to revive the stalling economy, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The decision came at a closed-door session Tuesday night at which the economy ministry, supported by Mr. Putin's economic adviser, argued for a rise in spending. Mr. Putin's decision suggests the Kremlin believes the situation isn't yet bad enough to dip into the $175 billion Russia has saved in its rainy-day funds, or even to set aside a smaller amount of the petrodollars the leading global oil exporter gets. (Wall Street Journal, 04.23.14).
Russia won't change its economic growth strategy because of Western sanctions but will try to lower its dependence on imports, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday. Mr. Medvedev said Russia may post growth similar to that of the European Union. (Wall Street Journal, 04.22.14).
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia should step up its presence in the Arctic and challenge other nations in exploring the world's largest untapped natural reserves, days after it started shipping its first oil from the region. (AP, 04.23.14).
President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday simplifying procedures for obtaining citizenship for Russian speakers living outside the country and those who already live in Russia but have either no Russian citizenship or no citizenship at all. (The Moscow Times, 04.21.14).
The Russian central bank unexpectedly increased its benchmark interest rate 50 basis points to 7.5 percent. The move came hours after Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency, cut Russia’s sovereign debt rating to BBB-, one notch above junk, and warned it faced a further downgrade in the event of tighter sanctions. Alexey Ulyukayev, Russia’s economy minister, described the downgrade as “expected” and “partly politically motivated”. (Financial Times, 04.25.14).
Russia's economy may slide into recession in the second quarter of this year, a Finance Ministry official said on Monday. (Wall Street Journal, 04.22.14).
The proportion of "grey capital" outflow from Russia in 2012-2013 reached 20 percent to 40 percent, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. (RIA Novosti, 04.22.14).
Russia plans to make its Glonass satellite navigation system more competitive by constructing 50 new ground stations in 36 countries, Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said. (The Moscow Times, 04.23.14).
The founder and CEO of top Russian social-networking site VKontakte says he has left Russia. (RFE/RL, 04.22.14).

Defense:

No significant developments.

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

Former State Duma deputy Mikhail Glushchenko has admitted to conspiring in the 1998 assassination of fellow parliamentarian Galina Starovoitova. (The Moscow Times, 04.25.14).
The trial has begun of the former mayor of Makhachkala, the capital of Russia's restive North Caucasus republic of Dagestan. Said Amirov is charged with involvement in plotting an attack against an unnamed Dagestani official using a missile launcher and of organizing the 2011 murder of Investigative Committee official Arsen Gadzhibekov. (RFE/RL, 04.24.14).
A local court in Moscow extended the house arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by another six months Thursday despite the prosecutor's call for him to be held in detention before his trial. Also Moscow’s Babushkinsky District Court has found Aleksei Navalny guilty of slander. (RFE/RL, 04.22.14, Wall Street Journal, 04.24.14).

Foreign affairs and trade:

Russia's space agency chief said that Russia did not need Western space technology, and pledged further cooperation with China amid concerns that additional U.S. sanctions could cripple the space industry and collaborative projects like the International Space Station, or ISS. (The Moscow Times, 04.24.14).
Russia says new allegations that Syrian government forces have used toxic chemicals against rebels are false. (RFE/RL, 04.25.14).
Britain's Royal Air Force scrambled a pair of Typhoon fighter jets on Wednesday to identify two Russian military aircraft that were flying in international airspace north of Scotland, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said. (Wall Street Journal, 04.23.14).
Moscow has ordered a Canadian envoy to leave Russia amid an ongoing feud over the recognition of diplomatic staff in both countries. (Globe and Mail, 04.22.14).

Russia's neighbors:

Despite Russia’s decision on Thursday to order large-scale military exercises on its border with Ukraine, Kiev’s military operation to flush out armed pro-Russian separatists occupying buildings and checkpoints across the east of the country continued into its second day. Kiev said that Russian troops had moved within a kilometer of the border, but had not crossed it. (Financial Times, 04.25.14).
On Thursday Sergei K. Shoigu, Russia’s defense minister, said drills would begin immediately involving troops in southern and western Russia, the areas surrounding Ukraine. The drills, which would also involve the air force, will include flights along the border, Mr. Shoigu said. The announcement by the Russian defense minister came shortly after President Vladimir Putin decried what he described as Kyiv's "punitive operation," and warned of unspecified consequences. (New York Times, RFE/RL, 04.25.14).
Ukrainian troops took control of a checkpoint north of Slovyansk on Thursday after pro-Russian separatists appeared to abandon the position, Reuters journalists said from the scene. The Ukrainian government also said troops repelled an overnight raid on a base at Artemivsk, between Donetsk and Slavyansk, in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. (Reuters, 04.24.14).
An explosion near the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa has injured seven people. The local news source Vzglyad of Odessa reported that a grenade thrown at a pro-government checkpoint outside the city had injured six Euromaidan activists and a police officer. (The Moscow Times, 04.25.14).
A Ukrainian military helicopter has exploded in the eastern Ukraine city of Kramatorsk at an airfield that government forces took over from anti-Kiev separatists last week. The explosion came after an unidentified sniper shot the helicopter's fuel tank while it was on the ground. (The Moscow Times, 04.25.14).
Ukraine and Russia have traded allegations following a deadly clash in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said at least three people were killed and three others injured in the shooting incident at a makeshift checkpoint outside Slovyansk early on April 20. Russian state-run media reported that five people had died, including three pro-Russia activists.(RFE/RL, 04.20.14).
Eleven people, including journalists, have been kidnapped over the past week in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Slovyansk and Gorlovka. Some have been released while two have been found dead. (Kyiv Post, 04.23.14).
Dozens of friends, relatives and local politicians gathered on Thursday to pay their respects to Vladimir Rybak, the outspoken city council member who was found murdered in Ukraine's restive eastern region of Donetsk. (The Guardian, 04.24.14).
American reporter Simon Ostrovsky was released Thursday by pro-Russian separatists and is "free and safe.” (The Moscow Times, 04.24.14).
Ukraine's interim government on Thursday called for the U.S. and European Union to impose broad sectorial sanctions on Russia "as quickly as possible.” (Wall Street Journal. 04.24.14).
The situation in Ukraine, the deployment of a missile defense system by the USA and the expansion of NATO are increasing the number of threats to Russia's security, the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, has said. (Interfax, 04.21.14).
“If current authorities in Kiev have done this [used force], then they are junta,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “For one thing, they don’t have nation-wide mandate. They might have some elements of legitimacy, but only within the framework of the parliament. The rest of the government bodies are for various reasons illegitimate.” (Russia Today, 04.20.14).
U.S. President Barack Obama will press European allies on Friday to impose more sanctions if Russia steps up action in Ukraine, while a cut in its credit rating sent a strong reminder to Moscow of the economic consequences of its involvement in the crisis. (Reuters, 04.25.14).
Accusing Russia of failing to live up to its commitments, U.S. President Barack Obama warned Moscow on Thursday that the U.S. has another round of economic sanctions "teed up" — even as he acknowledged that those penalties may do little to influence President Vladimir Putin's handling of the crisis in Ukraine. (AP, 04.24.14).
Russia continued Wednesday to ratchet up pressure on the government in Kiev, warning that events in eastern Ukraine could prompt a military response and again accusing the United States of directing events there. “If we are attacked, we would certainly respond,” Sergey V. Lavrov said. He also said that U.S. authorities have a direct impact on the actions of the current Kyiv authorities. (Interfax, 04.23.14,New York Times, 04.24.14).
Vowing that the United States would never recognize Russia's ''illegal occupation'' of Crimea, Vice President Joseph Biden. on Tuesday reiterated America's support of Ukraine, declared that ''no nation has the right to simply grab land from another'' and called on Russia to stop supporting masked gunmen who have seized government buildings across the east of the country. (New York Times, 04.23.14).
Russia on Sunday accused the Ukrainian government of failing to implement last week’s Geneva accord, saying there had been an attack on “innocent, peaceful civilians” in eastern Ukraine by nationalist fighters. (Financial Times, 04.22.14).
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that American intelligence services had concluded that Russia’s “military intelligence services and special operators are playing an active role in destabilizing eastern Ukraine with personnel, weapons, operational planning and coordination.” Kerry told Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a telephone call that Washington will impose more sanctions on Russia if it does not help de-escalate tensions in eastern Ukraine.(New York Times, 04.25.14, Moscow Times, 04.23.14).
The Pentagon is sending about 600 troops to Eastern Europe in response to Russia's incursion into Ukraine, Rear Adm. John Kirby announced Tuesday. The United States plans to carry out small ground-force exercises in Poland. (USA Today, 04.23.14, Washington Post, 04.19.14).
Russia is not discussing on a practical level sending an international peacekeeping force to Ukraine, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists Friday. Peacekeepers may be deployed in Ukraine only with the UN Security Council’s permission, while the Federation Council has exercised its powers regarding the Armed Forces and allowed the Russian president to send troops to that country, Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov said. (RIA Novosti, 04.25.14).
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree rehabilitating Crimea's Tatars and other ethnic minorities who suffered under Soviet dictator Stalin. (Reuters, 04.21.14).
Russian authorities are denying that the veteran leader of the Crimean Tatars, Mustafa Dzhemilev, had been barred from entering Crimea for five years. (RFE/RL, 04.23.14).
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it detained on April 23 a Russian citizen believed to be responsible for ensuring encrypted communication for the Russian special forces coordination center in eastern Ukraine allegedly headed by Russian military intelligence officer Igor Strelkov. Officials in Moscow have strenuously and repeatedly denied any involvement in the unrest in Ukraine. (Kyiv Post, 04.24.14).
Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the de facto mayor of Slovyansk, who was installed by pro-Russian militants, said Tuesday that armed men had come to his town from outside Ukraine but insisted they were friends and volunteers, not Russian Special Forces. (New York Times, 04.25.14).
Ukraine has accepted the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, opening the way for a possible investigation into the violent crackdown by former President Viktor Yanukovych's government on demonstrators, the court announced. (AP, 04.20.14).
Ukrainian separatists pledged to combat "zombie Zionists" in what appeared to be a promotional video for a newly-launched pro-Russian television channel. The Ukrainian government and Russian government officials, as well as their supporters in Ukraine, have exchanged allegations of anti-Semitism.(JTA, 04.22.14).
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday told Russian President Vladimir Putin about her "great concern" regarding the situation in eastern Ukraine and called on Moscow to live up to the Geneva agreement that sought to help overcome the Russia-Ukraine crisis. (Wall Street Journal, 04.25.14).
The United States, the European Union and Russia should make a joint high-level trip to hotspots in Ukraine with local officials to signal political backing to the April 17 Geneva agreement, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says. . (Reuters, 04.25.14).
Ukraine's near closure of the North Crimea Canal will devastate the region's agriculture and cost Crimean farmers up to 5 billion rubles ($140 million), according to Russia's Agriculture Ministry. (The Moscow Times, 04.24.14).
Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Ashikbayev and the first deputy foreign minister of South Korea, Cho Tae-yong, held talks. The sides discussed fighting nuclear terrorism and some issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. (BBC, 04.22.14).
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has voiced concern about what he calls the "possible end of cooperation between the world's leading nuclear powers." (RFE/RL, 04.19.14).
The United States says it is "troubled" by the arrest of Azeri journalist Rauf Mirqadirov in Baku and that espionage charges against him may be politically motivated. Mirqadirov has been charged with espionage for allegedly providing Azeri state secrets to Armenian security services. (RFE/RL, 04.25.14).
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has held talks with the visiting foreign ministers of France and Germany, Laurent Fabius and Frank-Walter Steinmeier to discuss EU-Tbilisi cooperation, Georgia's plan to sign an Association Agreement with the EU in June, regional security, and the crisis in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 04.24.14).
Georgia says Russia has freed three Georgians who were arrested on espionage charges after the 2008 war between the neighboring states. (RFE/RL, 04.22.14).
For the sixth year in a row, President Barack Obama has broken his promise to the Armenian community, made when seeking their votes as a senator and a presidential candidate, to use the word “genocide” to describe the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire a century ago. (CNN, 04.24.14).
Armenian Economy Minister Vaghram Avanesian says his country will sign an agreement on joining the Russia-led Customs Union in May or June. (RFE/RL, 04.19.14).
In his annual address to the nation, President Aleksandr Lukashenka has told Belarusians to "learn from the mistakes" of their neighbors. Lukashenka specifically mentioned Ukraine, saying the neighboring country is in crisis for two reasons -- "a weak economy and pervasive corruption."(RFE/RL, 04.22.14).

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