Russia in Review

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for July 26 - August 2, 2013

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for July 25 - August 2, 2013

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

Nuclear security agenda:

Chief executives and specialists of the Mayak Production Association hosted U.S. observers. The meeting finalized Russian-U.S. cooperation under the Megatons to Megawatts Program. (Itar-Tass, 08.01.13).
A tight budget environment could limit programs aimed at preventing terrorists from shipping nuclear weapon or dirty-bomb material into the United States, Homeland Security Department officials suggested on Tuesday. (GSN, 07.30.13).

Iran nuclear issues:

Russian leader Vladimir Putin will meet Iran's newly elected president for the first time in Kyrgyzstan in September, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to Moscow said on Wednesday. Russian and Iranian media reported last week that the Russian president would go to Iran in August for talks with Hassan Rouhani on Tehran's nuclear program. The ambassador also said Iran and Russia have not discussed Moscow’s tentative offer to supply Tehran with Antei-2500 surface-to-air missile systems instead of the S-300, whose sale was previously blocked by the Kremlin.(Reuters, Itar-Tass, 07.31.13).
"Any additional sanctions are actually aimed at the economic strangulation of Iran, but not at solving the problem of non-proliferation," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Thursday. "What has been done through the Security Council is quite adequate and sufficient." (Reuters, 07.01.13).

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

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told the Russia-NATO Council: “More and more countries are coming to the conclusion that the old CFE (Conventional Armed Forces in Europe) Treaty is dead.” (Mil.ru, 07.24.13).
Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller told the Russia-NATO Council:” Existing regimes provide a critical foundation for predictability in Europe, which is why the United States cannot agree that the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty is dead.” (U.S. State Department, 07.24.13).
The Pentagon is paying inflated prices to buy controversial Russian helicopters for Afghanistan, advocacy group Human Rights First which is critical of the deal said Monday ahead of a Senate vote. (Wall Street Journal, 07.30.13).

Missile defense:

Top defense policy and spending Democrats in the Senate said last week they would oppose efforts to go beyond what the administration has sought for upgrades to the ground-based interceptor, a missile used by the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, and an East Coast missile site, despite provisions in the House defense authorization and spending bills seeking to do just that. (Roll Call, 07.30.13).

Nuclear arms control:

A State Department official familiar with nuclear issues emphasized that the president's nuclear reduction goals could still be salvaged. "Even in the darkest days of the Cold War, we continued to work on nuclear limitations and strategic stability because it was in our national security interest. Not anybody else's," said the official on the day former U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia. (Foreign Policy, 08.01.13).
Adm. Cecil E.D. Haney, the military nominee to be the next commander of U.S. Strategic Command said this week that he would not support further cuts in the U.S. strategic arsenal unless they are carried out jointly with Russia. (Washington Times, 07.31.13).

Counter-terrorism cooperation:

The F.B.I. has concluded that there was little its agents could have done to prevent the Boston Marathon bombings. (New York Times, 08.02.13).

Cyber security:

Russian IT experts heard "nothing new" from a series of spying revelations by Edward Snowden, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. Moscow plans to tackle the "existing and well known" cyber threat by manufacturing its own electronic components. (Russia Today, 07.30.13).

Energy exports from CIS:

Azerbaijan's Socar has announced its alliance with Western oil companies to construct the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, which is planned to carry Azerbaijani gas to Europe via a European Union-backed route. A (RFE/RL, 07.30.13).

Bilateral economic ties:

Rusnano subsidiary RusnanoMednvest and U.S. venture fund Domain Associates have joined a consortium investing $55 million in the U.S. firm ReVision Optics. (Moscow Times, 07.29.13).

Other bilateral issues:

Fugitive former U.S. intelligence analyst Edward Snowden has walked free in Moscow after Russian authorities decided to grant him temporary asylum for one year. (RFE/RL, 08.02.13).
White House officials noted their "extreme" disappointment with Russia for refusing to return Eduard Snowden to the U.S. On top of that, spokesman Jay Carney said "We are evaluating the utility of a summit," referring to Obama's scheduled visit to Moscow ahead of the G-20 gathering in St. Petersburg next month. The Russian government gave the White House no advance notice of its decision on Mr. Snowden, Mr. Carney said. (Foreign Policy, 08.01.13, New York Times, 08.02.13).
State Department officials insisted the Snowden controversy doesn't have to undermine the relationship as a whole. "We're not going to stop engaging with them on Syria, on the way forward, on missile defense, on any of these issues because one meeting does or does not happen," said spokeswoman Marie Harf. (Foreign Policy, 08.01.13).
The American ambassador to Russia, Michael A. McFaul, met on Friday with President Vladimir V. Putin's senior aide Yuri Ushakov to discuss the "new status" of Eduard Snowden, but also a range of other international issues, including cuts in nuclear stockpiles, missile defense and the conflict in Syria. Mr. Ushakov previously said that Mr. Snowden's case was not important enough to derail Russia's overall relationship with the United States, and the inclusion of other topics suggested that the administration was trying to gauge whether cooperation was still possible in advance of planned meetings between Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin in September. (The New York Times, 08.02.13).
Senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties regarded Russia’s decision to grant Eduard Snowden temporary asylum as a serious blow to relations between Moscow and Washington. (Wall Street Journal, 08.31.13).
The father of fugitive U.S. intelligence-program leaker Edward Snowden says the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) asked him "a few weeks ago" to go to Moscow where his son has been living at the international airport. (RFE/RL, 07.31.13).
"Our attitude to the Magnitsky List itself and to its broadening is definitely negative," said the Foreign Ministry's plenipotentiary for Human Rights, Konstantin Dolgov. (Russia Today, 07.31.13).
Russia has questions over how the U.S. policy assesses the issue of convicted U.S. serviceman Bradley Manning, Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and Supremacy of Law Konstantin Dolgov told reporters on Wednesday. (Itar-Tass, 07.31.13).
Russian military inspectors will begin on Sunday a series of monitoring flights over the United States under the international Open Skies Treaty. (RIA Novosti, 07.28.13).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he did not support the idea of the early resignation of the government. (Itar-Tass, 08.02.13).
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he did not intend to end his political career for now but, in any case, when the moment came, he would continue doing public work. (Interfax, 08.02.13).
The main problems in Russia are corruption, low incomes of citizens and insufficient infrastructure development, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (Interfax, 08.02.13).
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that a recent real jail term for his vehement opponent Alexei Navalny was "strange," given that another defendant in the case got away with a suspended sentence. (RIA Novosti, 08.02.13).
Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't see any point in toughening or liberalizing the federal law which brands NGOs funded from abroad and engaged in political activities as foreign agents, but stands for putting things in order. (RAPSI, 08.02.13).
The Russian government is considering a plan to hand over control of the country’s leading physics research centers to an institute headed by a man linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The merger of top physics centers was proposed in June by the Moscow-based Kurchatov Institute, but not reported before, the Kommersant newspaper said. Putin ordered to have the reform drafted by September, the report said. (RIA Novosti, 08.02.13).
The Russian ruble fell Wednesday to a near four-year low against the euro-dollar basket, the central bank's main currency-market gauge, market participants said, adding that profit-taking could slow further weakening. The ruble has weakened 8.1% against the basket since the beginning of the year, touching on Wednesday RUB37.87, a level last seen in September 2009. (Wall Street Journal, 08.01.13).
The total death rate in Russia went down 7% a month after the flu epidemic, in June. The death toll from vascular diseases fell over 9%, from respiratory disease - 11% and of tuberculosis - 13%. (Interfax, 07.30.13).
The 10% of Russians with the highest incomes accounted for 30.4% of all income in the six months. The first half results in previous years were 30.2% in 2012 and 29.8% in 2011. (Interfax, 07.30.13).
The government and private investors will spend 300 billion rubles ($9 billion) to increase the investment potential of rural areas and make them attractive to young professionals. (Moscow Times, 07.31.13).
Despite the controversy around the ongoing corruption probe into the Skolkovo Foundation, it will get over 500 billion rubles ($15 billion) in state and private funding more than the next seven years to bring in innovations to the domestic economy. (The Moscow Times, 08.02.13).

Defense:

Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a 3.4 billion ruble ($103 million) contract with the Tupolev design bureau and Kazan Aircraft Plant to upgrade three Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers. (RIA Novosti, 07.26.13).
To boost the military's morale, Russian servicemen in all units will start each day by singing the national anthem. (The Moscow Times, 08.02.13).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

The Russian Foreign Ministry has formally recognized the presence of Chechen warlords in the war in Syria. The ministry said in a statement that one of the Islamist groups fighting against Bashar al-Assad is headed by Chechen native Abu Musab. Kommersant has ascertained that more than 100 Chechen militants are fighting in Syria. (Kommersant, 07.29.13).

Foreign affairs and trade:

Japan has rejected a Russian proposal to engage in joint projects in the disputed Kuril Islands. (The Moscow Times, 07.29.13).
The Russian military recently dispatched a guided-missile warship to Cuba as part of what U.S. officials say are growing military, intelligence and economic ties between Moscow and Havana. (Washington Times, 07.31.13).

Russia's neighbors:

President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill visited Ukraine over the weekend and unleashed a range of arguments in favor of Ukraine's closer integration with Russia, from common spiritual and historical ties to economic expediency. "Competition on global markets is very fierce today. I am sure that most of you realize that only by joining forces can we be competitive and stand a chance of winning in this tough environment," Putin said. However, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has been unable – or unwilling – to deliver Ukrainian agreement to join the customs union, whose main members are Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.(CSM, The Moscow Times, 07.29.13).
After meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said his country's parliament will ratify in the fall an agreement that extends Russia's military presence in Tajikistan until 2042. (RFE/RL, 08.01.13).
U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Norland rejected a top Russian medical official's assertion that biological arms activities were under way at a research site in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. (GSN, 07.30.13).
Azerbaijan will hold its presidential election on October 9. (RFE/RL, 08.02.13).
A lawyer for fugitive Kazakh banker Mukhtar Ablyazov says his client has been arrested in southern France. (RFE/RL, 07.31.13).

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