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Russia in Review

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Abstract

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for June 10-17, 2016

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

Nuclear security:

  • Russia has fulfilled is agreement under the US-Russia surplus weapons plutonium disposition agreement of 2000, Sergei Kirienko, head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation said. (Bellona, 06.15.16).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message of greeting to the participants in and guests of the high level meeting timed for the tenth anniversary of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, noting the need “to guarantee the safe keeping of nuclear materials, prevent their illegal circulation and protect them from encroachments by terrorists.” (Tass, 06.15.17).
  • “Since the early 1990s, there are multiple instances of collaboration among countries to minimize the threat of nuclear terrorism, including collaborations between the United States and Russia,” according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s new Nuclear Matters Handbook. (DoD.gov, June 2016).

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

  • No significant developments.

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

  • NATO defense ministers have agreed to send 4,000 troops to Poland and the Baltic States. The troop contingent, composed of four battalions from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and one other country that hasn't been announced will deploy throughout Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland sometime in 2017. “This is not that NATO wants to fight a war or that we want to provoke a conflict but that we know that strong deterrence is the best way to prevent a war,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. “We don’t seek confrontation with Russia, we don’t want a new Cold War,” Stoltenberg said. The new forces could be in place as soon as early 2017, according to Tomasz Szatkowski, Poland's deputy defense minister. (Washington Post, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Russia Today, 06.14.16, Wall Street Journal, 06.13.16).
  • The Baltic States and Poland have reportedly launched discussions with defense contractors about the creation of a regional antiaircraft missile shield to protect against Russian aircraft. (RFE/RL, 06.13.16).
  • NATO is discussing how to step up its response to the European migrant crisis by expanding its presence in the Mediterranean region, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this week. But the proposals are being questioned by Turkey, which says that limited resources would be better used to protect member nations from more traditional threats like Russia. (New York Times, 06.16.16).
  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has criticized the Russian army's latest round of drills ensuring “combat readiness,” the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday. Stoltenberg said that the snap checks “undermine transparency and predictability.” (Moscow Times, 06.15.16).
  • Russia's has accused NATO of fanning "Russophobic hysteria" before the alliance's summit in Poland next month. Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on June 15 that the aim of anti-Russian statements by "individual representatives" of the alliance is to "deliberately whip up panic and maintain the image of a treacherous enemy in order to secure colossal military budgets." (RFE/RL, 06.16.16).
  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said new estimates show military spending from European countries and Canada is set to rise 1.5% this year. (Wall Street Journal, 06.13.16).
  • Former U.S. ambassador to Moscow Jack Matlock said he did not support NATO expansion during his time as ambassador to Moscow, and he suggested NATO may sometimes be more of a liability to the United States. He also singled out the uncertain benefits that Turkey’s membership provides. Another ex-U.S. envoy Michael McFaul rejected assertions that the Kremlin’s military seizure and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula was a direct response to NATO expansion.(RFE/RL, 06.15.16).

Missile defense:

  • No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

  • The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says in its annual report on June 13 that there were 455 fewer nuclear warheads at the start of 2016 among nine nuclear states than a year earlier. SIPRI estimated that Russia had 7,290 nuclear warheads, including tactical, at the beginning of 2016, and the United States had 7,000. (RFE/RL, 06.13.16).
  • Donald Trump said, "Frankly, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has built up their military again and again and again. Their military is much stronger. He's doing nuclear, we're not doing anything. Our nuclear is old and tired and his nuclear is tippy-top from what I hear. Better be careful, folks, okay? You better be careful." (Washington Post, 06.16.16).

Counter-terrorism:

  • Omar Mateen, the man who killed scores of people at an Orlando nightclub referred to the Boston Marathon bombers as his “homeboys” in a 911 call early Sunday morning. In addition, the shooter had previously referenced the Boston Marathon bombing perpetrators back in 2013. The G4S security firm that employed Mateen says it's guarded "90 percent of U.S. nuclear facilities." Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his condolences to U.S. President Barack Obama, following the shooting. Several dozens of Muscovites came to the U.S. embassy in Moscow on Monday to lay down flowers as a sign of memory. In the aftermath of the shooting, the United States corralled a group of countries to support a United Nations Security Council statement that condemned the attack for ''targeting persons as a result of their sexual orientation.'' (AP, U.S. News and World Report, 06.13.16, Moscow Times, Interfax, 06.13.16, New York Times, 06.15.16.).
  • Four security officers and six militants have been killed in Dagestan. Law enforcement officials say the casualties are the result of two separate counterterrorist operations conducted in the region on June 17. Preliminary investigations indicate that one of the militants killed might be Gasan Abdullayev, a commander of Islamic militants wanted since 2009 for alleged involvement in a series of attacks against security forces. (RFE/RL, 06.17.16).
  • A two-year campaign by the U.S. and other countries to defeat Islamic State has failed to disrupt its capability to carry out terrorist attacks, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan said Thursday. Brennan said the U.S. remains at loggerheads in Syria with Russia, which continues to mount a large portion of its airstrikes against what the U.S. believes is the legitimate opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (Wall Street Journal, 06.16.16).
  • Kyrgyz security officers have detained three men who allegedly fought alongside Islamic State fighters in Syria. (RFE/RL, 06.17.16).
  • Kazakhstan's top law enforcement official says authorities believe that suspects in deadly June 5 attacks in the northwestern city of Aqtobe were instructed or inspired by a militant Islamist leader based in Syria. (RFE/RL, 06.14.16).
  • A new faction of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan independent of the Islamic State has emerged and indicated that it remains loyal to the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other traditional jihadist group that operate in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. (Long War Journal, 06.14.16).

Cyber security:

  • NATO defense ministers are set to formally recognize cyberspace as a domain of warfare. U.S. officials have said countering Russia's advancing militarily capabilities—such as its advanced missiles and air defenses in the Kaliningrad exclave on the border of Poland and Lithuania—could require cyber capabilities.  (Wall Street Journal, 06.14.16).
  • On Wednesday, an individual going by the handle Guccifer 2.0 claimed credit for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's network, though a cybersecurity firm investigating the breach stood by its conclusion that Russia was behind the breach. (Washington Post, 06.16.16).
  • Investigators have linked malware used by Russian and eastern European cyber-gangs to a string of bank heists that culminated in the record-breaking theft of $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank, according to people familiar with the probe.(Bloomberg, 06.17.16).
  • Members of the Russian State Duma have approved the third reading of a new bill requiring foreign IT companies to pay value added tax (VAT) on the sale of online content, the Slon.ru news website reported Wednesday. (Moscow Times, 06.15.16).

Energy exports from CIS:

  • Poland received its first commercial liquefied natural gas, a milestone in the eastern European’s strategy to eliminate its dependence on Russian supplies. The Al Nuaman tanker docked at the Swinoujscie terminal on Friday, with 210,000 cubic meters of the chilled fuel.(Bloomberg, 06.17.16).
  • The U.S. and the European Union should impose stronger sanctions against Russia to kill the country’s plan for a natural gas pipeline supplying Germany because it would raise prices for consumers and jeopardize energy security, said Andriy Kobolyev, chief executive officer of National JSC Naftogaz of Ukraine. (Bloomberg, 06.17.16).
  • China National Petroleum Corporation believes that, with joint efforts, the construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to carry Russian gas to China will be completed on time and the pipeline will be put into operation in 2019, a representative of the company's management told Interfax. (Interfax, 06.14.16).

Bilateral economic ties:

  • Exxon’s Chief Executive Rex Tillerson is to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this week. (Reuters, 06.13.16).

Other bilateral issues:

  • Asked at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to elaborate on his previous statement on Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his words had been taken out of context. But he praised the business magnate-turned-politician’s interest in restoring U.S.-Russia ties. “What is bad about that?” he said. “We welcome this.” "The world needs such a powerful country as the United States and we need it ... But we do not need them to constantly interfere into our affairs, tell us how to live,” Putin said.  (Wall Street Journal, RTE, 06.17.16).
  • After years of controversy, the U.S. Senate has come to an agreement on the use of Russian rocket engines, announcing a deal that would allow the United Launch Alliance to use as many as 18 of the engines over the next several years. (Washington Post, 06.15.16).
  • Yevgeny Petrin, former employee of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations has been sentenced to 12 years in jail on charges of high treason in favor of the United States. (RFE/RL, 06.14.16).
  • An American professor has been fined 2,000 rubles ($30) for violating the terms of her visa. (Moscow Times, 06.17.16).
  • Russian applications for the United States green-card lottery have soared in recent years, reaching an all-time high of 265,086 in 2015, almost one hundred thousand more than in 2012. About 75,300 Russians got residence permits for the European Union and Switzerland in 2014, up 25 percent over 2010. Israel reports that citizenship applications from Russians are up 30 percent over that time frame. (National Interest, 06.13.16).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an official decree calling for elections in the lower house of Russian parliament to be held on Sept. 18. (Moscow Times, 06.17.16).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said he expected economic growth in Russia to resume in the near future. "The goal we are setting ourselves is to achieve an economic growth rate of at least 4 percent per year," he said. (Interfax, 06.17.16).
  • Russia is considering selling nearly one-fifth of the state oil company Rosneft to "strategic investors" in a private transaction rather than trying to raise the money through a public offering, Rosneft's chief executive said. (RFE/RL, 06.15.16).
  • Alexander Dyukov, chief executive officer of Gazprom Neft PJSC, said 90 cents out of every $1 gain in crude price goes to the government. (Bloomberg, 06.17.16).
  • The first day of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum kicked off on Thursday, with 10,000 visitors joining political and business leaders at Russia's biggest economic event of the year. (Moscow Times, 06.16.16).
  • Russia’s first floating nuclear plant is expected for delivery from St. Petersburg’s Baltic Shipyard this year. (Bellona, 06.14.16).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin presented awards to scientists, artists, and scholars on June 12 as part of activities marking Russia Day. “Our people also share a pioneering spirit that has inspired great scientific and intellectual achievements throughout our histories and that is fully evident in our joint effort to explore the final frontier of the cosmos,” U.S. Secretary John Kerry said in a press statement on the National Day of the Russian Federation. (RFE/RL, State.gov, 06.12.16).
  • Russia’s State Duma has stripped Ilya Ponomaryov of his parliamentary mandate in the latest move taken against the opposition lawmaker. (RFE/RL, 06.10.16).
  • Members of the Russian State Duma on Friday approved the third reading of a law regulating the work of news aggregators. The law holds news aggregators accountable for the dissemination of false information. (Moscow Times, 06.10.16).
  • The United Nations has asked Russia to amend the country's so-called “foreign agent law.” (Moscow Times, 06.13.16).
  • Russia’s track and field team has been barred from competing in this summer’s Rio Games because of a far-reaching doping conspiracy, an extraordinary punishment that might be without precedent in Olympics history. President Vladimir Putin has said there was no state-sponsored doping in Russia. (New York Times, 06.17.16, RFE/RL, 06.17.16).
  • Slightly more than one out of every four Russians (26 percent) thinks that the Russian Federation is one of the world’s great powers, according to a VCIOM public opinion research survey on Russia’s role in the world. (Interfax, 06.14.16).
  • Russia has made its debut on the ranking of the world's 30 most influential countries in terms of soft power, as compiled by the British PR firm Portland Communications. While Russia took only 27th place in the Soft Power 30 ranking, this is a step forward compared to 2015 when Russia didn’t make the list at all. (RBTH, 06.15.16).

Defense and Aerospace:

  • Russia has launched its first snap check of arsenals and depots for military equipment. Also assessed will be the readiness of a number of military control points, as well as the actions of the troops in emergencies, including technical disasters. (Gazeta.ru, 06.15.16).
  • "At present and for years to come, considering the decisions made by the national administration, security of the country will be guaranteed in such way that no one will even dream of testing its strength. This will simply not occur to anyone," , Rosatom head Sergei Kirienko said. (Interfax, 06.10.16).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

  • Several Russian opposition activists were temporarily detained in front of the Russian parliament's upper chamber as Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika was sworn in for another five-year term. (RFE/RL, 06.15.16).

Foreign affairs and trade:

  • Syria:
    • Russia expects decisive progress to be made in the settlement process in Syria by the end of the year, Russian permanent representative at the UN Vitaly Churkin said. (Interfax, 06.16.16).
    • Russia's Defense Ministry has announced that a 48-hour cease-fire will start on June 16 in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo. A U.S. State Department spokeswoman confirmed to DPA that Syrian parties have agreed to "recommit to the cessation of hostilities" in Aleppo starting at midnight Damascus time on June 16. (RFE/RL, 06.16.16).
    • Russia warplanes struck at rebels battling Islamic State militants, including forces backed by the United States, in southern Syria on Thursday, a senior U.S. defense official said. (Reuters, 06.17.16).
    • Russia's foreign minister said Thursday that he believes the US may hope to use al-Qaeda's branch in Syria to unseat Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's government. Sergey Lavrov said the US could be "playing some kind of game here, and they may want to keep al-Nusra in some form and use it to topple the regime."(AP, 06.17.16).
    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he was surprised to hear U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry say that his country's patience was "very limited" regarding the settlement process in Syria and its President Bashar al-Assad's future. Lavrov and Kerry discussed possible cooperation in the fight against Syrian terrorists during phone talks this Monday. (Moscow Times, 06.13.16, Interfax, 06.16.16).
    • Dozens of State Department officials this week protested against U.S. policy in Syria, signing an internal document that calls for targeted military strikes against the Damascus government and urging regime change as the only way to defeat Islamic State. The cable asserts Mr. Assad and Russia haven't taken past cease-fires and “consequential negotiations" seriously and suggests adopting a more muscular military posture to secure a transitional government in Damascus. (Wall Street Journal, 06.16.16).
    • A Russian soldier who was wounded in Syria's Aleppo region has died of his injuries, Russia's Defense Ministry has said. (RFE/RL, 06.17.16).
    • Just and viable resolution of the crises in Syria, Libya, Yemen and the Middle East requires the taking into account of the interests of all parties involved, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.(Interfax, 06.16.16).
    • Russian plane airdropped 18 tons of humanitarian aid for residents of Deir ez-Zor. (Interfax, 06.15.16).
  • Other countries:
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country is willing to improve relations with Europe but insisted that the West was responsible for the strained ties. (RFE/RL, 06.17.16).
    • In a speech on Thursday at the St. Petersburg Forum, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Russia's annexation of Crimea put relations between the EU and Russia to a “severe test." However, Mr. Juncker, who was making the first visit to Russia by a senior Brussels official since the Ukraine conflict began, also said ties with Russia could still be repaired. (Wall Street Journal, 06.17.16).
    • The European Union has extended sanctions imposed on the Crimean peninsula for another year, a press release on the European Council website announced Friday.  The restrictions include an embargo on all Crimean products to Europe, a ban on all investment in the Crimean economy, and the export of some goods and services to the peninsula. The sanctions also prohibit European ships from entering Crimean ports. (Moscow Times, 06.17.16).
    • European sanctions imposed on Russia two years may be lifted by the end of 2016, the chief executive of Russia's sovereign wealth fund told CNBC on Friday.  (CNBC.com, 06.17.16).
    • Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told journalists that Russia would not lift its counter-sanctions before Europe does. (Moscow Times, 06.16.16).
    • Daniel Fried,  U.S. State Department's chief sanctions-policy coordinator is confident the European Union will maintain its travel and economic restrictions against Russia until Moscow fulfills the terms of a peace agreement to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 06.16.16).
    • President Vladimir Putin said it makes sense to form a broader Eurasian partnership on the basis of the Eurasian Economic Union that would involve China, India, Pakistan, Iran and a number of CIS countries. (Interfax, 06.17.16).
    • Five countries have applied to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization , its Secretary General Rashid Alimov said on June 13. (Interfax, 06.13.16).
    • India would like to build 11 nuclear reactors with Russia's assistance, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16. (Interfax, 06.16.16).
    • The International Court of Arbitration has ruled in favor of Russia's Atomstroyexport over its claim for compensation after Bulgaria cancelled the Belene nuclear power plant it had been contracted to build. (World Nuclear News, 06.16.16).
    • Russia demanded strict controls before weapons are allowed to pass through an arms embargo on Libya and said the United Nations must approve any foreign military intervention to combat Islamic State in the North African state. (Bloomberg, 06.14.16).
    • The leader of the Russian soccer supporters' association is being expelled from France following violence during the Euro 2016 tournament. Aleksandr Shprygin is among 20 Russian fans to be expelled over the coming days. They are from a group of 43 detained by police on June 14 following last week's violence at the England-Russia match in Marseille. (RFE/RL, 06.16.16).
    • A Russian diplomat at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva has been accused of sending a threatening message on Twitter to a member of a human rights organization that supports activists in Russia, according to rights activists. (New York Times, 06.15.16).
    • More than half of Europeans disapprove of EU policy towards Russia, a survey by the independent U.S.-based Pew Research Center revealed Tuesday. The survey showed a median of 76% of people across 10 European countries named the Islamic State militant group as a major threat. In contrast, a median of 34% cited Russia as a major threat. (Wall Street Journal, 06.14.16, Moscow Times, 06.14.16).
  • Russia's neighbors:
  • Ukraine:
    • In his June 16 speech, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Russia "has a critical role to play" in addressing global issues "from ending the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, to safeguarding human rights and controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations has said he was "completely outraged" by the UN chief’s speech. (RFE/RL, 06.16.16).
    • NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has called on Russia to withdraw its forces and military equipment from Ukraine and to stop supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine. Stoltenberg made his comments on June 15 after a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels that was also attended by Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak. Russian officials have repeatedly denied sending troops or military hardware to Ukraine, despite evidence to the contrary. NATO Defense Ministers agreed on Wednesday to boost NATO’s support for Ukraine with a Comprehensive Package of Assistance. (RFE/RL, 06.15.16, Nato.int. 06.15.16).
    • While in Washington Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman urged Western governments to maintain tough sanctions on Russia until it withdraws forces from eastern Ukraine and cedes control of Crimea. (RFE/RL, 06.17.16).
    • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine among other issues in a telephone conversation on June 10. (Interfax, 06.10.16).
    • Ukrainian lawmakers have approved an appeal to the worldwide head of the Orthodox Church asking him to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's independence from Moscow. (RFE/RL, 06.16.16).
    • Ukrainian citizens Yuriy Soloshenko and Hennadiy Afanasyev jailed in Russia have been freed and returned home. Also reports said that Olena Hlishchynska and Vitaliy Didenko -- two Ukrainian journalists from the Black Sea port city of Odesa who were jailed in Ukraine last year for organizing separatist activities -- arrived in Moscow on June 14. (Reuters, RFE/RL,06.14.16).
  • Other neighbors:
    • Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu flew to Ashgabat to meet with Turkmen officials on June 9.The same day the speaker of Turkmenistan's parliament was in Moscow meeting with State Duma chairman Sergei Naryshkin. (RFE/RL, 06.12.16).
    • Uzbekistan will temporarily close its border with four of its neighboring countries, the Uzbek State Border Service said in a statement Wednesday. The annual SCO meeting will take place this year in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on June 23-24. (Moscow Times, 06.15.16).
    • The Commonwealth of Independent States member countries should expand defense cooperation due to the troubled situation at the CIS borders, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday. (Tass, 06.15.16).
    • Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said at a meeting with U.S. Central Command Commander General Joseph Votel that Dushanbe views security cooperation with the United States as a key element to strengthening regional peace and stability. (RFE/RL, 06.15.16).
    • Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka says his country has "successfully" tested a new missile system. (RFE/RL, 06.16.16).
    • The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has expressed hope that U.S. sanctions imposed against Minsk in 2006 will be fully lifted in the "nearest future." (RFE/RL, 06.13.16).
    • Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti has called on the European Union to maintain sanctions on Russia, saying Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region was the Kremlin's "first experiment" with fueling separatist conflict. (RFE/RL, 06.11.16).
    • Russia says President Vladimir Putin is due to host talks in St. Petersburg on June 20 between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia about the conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. (RFE/RL, 06.14.16).
    • Reports from Germany say 11 lawmakers of Turkish origin have been placed under police protection after receiving death threats following a vote on the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago. (RFE/RL, 06.12.16).
    • On June 13 representatives of the Government of the United States and of the Republic of Armenia conducted a scheduled review of the 2008 U.S.-Armenia Joint Action Plan on Combating Smuggling of Nuclear and Radioactive Materials. “We are partnering together to enhance Armenia’s ability to investigate nuclear smuggling incidents, as well as build on the sides’ shared commitment to nuclear nonproliferation overall,” said U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills Jr. (Armenpress, 06.13.16).

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