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Russia in Review

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Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for June 7 - 14, 2013.

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

Nuclear security agenda:

  • U.S. Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, State Department coordinator for threat reduction programs, said she expects governments to decide in 2013 whether world leaders will join another Nuclear Security Summit after one scheduled for next year. (GSN, 06.07.13).

Iran nuclear issues:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he has no doubt that Iran is adhering to international commitments on nuclear non-proliferation but regional and international concerns about Tehran's nuclear programme could not be ignored. “I have no doubt that Iran is adhering to the rules in this area. Because there is no proof of the opposite,” Putin said. (Reuters, 06.11.13).
  • Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman is denying reports that the country's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant has suffered a malfunction. (AP, 06.11.13).
  • The Tor antiaircraft system that Russia has proposed to Iran instead of the S-300 cannot be integrated into the country’s defense system, Iran’s ambassador to Russia said Monday. (RIA Novosti, 06.10.13).

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

  • No significant developments.

Missile defense:

  • The US Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday approved a Pentagon authorization bill excluding any approval of monies for a House Republican-proposed East Coast missile shield. (Defense News, 06.13.13).
  • Vice Adm. James Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, and Lt. Gen. Richard Formica, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense replied  on Tuesday to a letter from Sen. Carl Levin, telling him that there is “no validated military requirement” for a proposed East Coast missile defense site as some on Capitol Hill have proposed. (Defense News, 06.11.13).
  • Trey Obering, former head of the Missile Defense Agency says the rising threats posed by Iran and North Korea justify accelerating work on a proposed East Coast missile interceptor site. (GSN, 06.14.13).
  • Head of U.S. Strategic Command Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler said at on Wednesday said he is not worried that Russia’s efforts to develop a next-generation missile interceptor system will weaken the credibility of Washington’s nuclear deterrent force. (GSN, 06.12.13).
  • NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said: “So where do we stand with our efforts to engage Russia?  Quite frankly, not very far along from where we stood nearly three years ago.” (NATO, 06.12.13).
  • Russia's ambitious program to revamp its army and fleet has already produced a “missile defense killer” that “neither modern nor future American missile defense systems will be able to stop,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. (Moscow Times, 06.09.13).

Nuclear arms control:

  • The House version of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill could limit the Obama administration’s efforts to comply with the New START treaty and restrict efforts to lock down vulnerable atomic materials. The bill also requires the Defense Department maintain the 450 intercontinental ballistic missile silos in “warm status.” (Great Falls Tribune, 06.14.13, GSN, 06.12.13).

Counter-terrorism cooperation:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin called the massive U.S. surveillance programs, revealed last week by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, “generally practicable” and “the way a civilized society should go about fighting terrorism.”  When asked about the U.S. use of drones, Putin declined another opportunity to criticize the United States. “I'm sure the United States does not target civilians on purpose,” he said.  (Washington Post, 06.13.13).
  • “I hope that this terrorist attack in Boston would improve the cooperation of the coordination between our agencies,” “ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. (Interfax/CBS, 06.11.13).

Cyber security:

  • No significant developments.

Energy exports from CIS:

  • In the U.S. Energy Department's latest assessment of shale resources, published Monday, Russia emerged No. 1 in terms of shale oil. Its 75 billion barrels easily surpass the estimated 58 billion barrels beneath the U.S. (Dow Jones, 06.11.13).

Bilateral economic ties:

  • Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin and ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson have signed an agreement on the creation of an Arctic Research Center and technology sharing in Washington, D.C. (RFE/RL, 06.12.13).

Other bilateral issues:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin's top foreign-policy adviser Yuri Ushakov says the information the United States has given Russia about suspected use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government “does not look convincing.” (RFE/RL, 06.14.13).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he cannot see any fundamental ideological antagonisms between Russia and the USA, and could explain many existing divergences by differences in mentality. “It's no coincidence that Russia and the United States have united at critical periods in modern history - in World War One and World War Two. We were opposing one another, but when the chips were down we came together,” he said. (Reuters, Interfax, 06.11.13).
  • “I don't see any challenges which are not insurmountable. I believe that after some pause and some irritators, which appeared rather officially in our relationship some time ago, both presidents are keen to move forward,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the U.S.-Russian relations ahead of the meeting of the U.S. and Russian presidents on Monday. (Interfax/CBS, 06.11.13).
  • A bipartisan group of U.S. senators say they will push the Obama administration to highlight concerns about the worsening rights situation in Russia ahead of the president's upcoming meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. (RFE/RL, 06.13.13).
  • President Vladimir Putin's press-secretary Dmitry Peskov said Russia could consider the possibility of granting political asylum to ex-CIA worker Edward Snowden,  if such a request is made. (Moscow Times, 06.12.13).
  • U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said of the U.S.-Russian relations: “The opportunities before us far outweigh our differences, as our record of cooperation on common interests, from trade and investment to counterterrorism and nonproliferation, clearly demonstrates.” (State Department, 06.12.13).
  • U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has returned eight historical documents stolen in the early 1990s to Russia. (Interfax, 06.13.13).
  • More white people died in the United States last year than were born. The decrease was offset by 188,000 white immigrants, most from Canada and Germany but also from Russia and Saudi Arabia. (Washington Post, 06.13.13).

II. Russia news.

 

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

  • The All-Russian People's Front, a political group, chose President Vladimir V. Putin as its leader on Thursday at its founding convention.  (New York Times, 06.13.13).
  • Almost half of Russian people consider President Vladimir Putin an ideal or “close to ideal” president of Russia, a nationwide survey conducted by Levada Center said. (Moscow Times, 06.10.13).
  • Thousands of Muscovites took the well-trodden path to Bolotnaya Ploshchad on Wednesday to voice their opposition to President Vladimir Putin's 13-year rule. (The Moscow Times, 06.12.13).
  • Speaking about mass demonstrations, Russian president Vladimir Putin said: “Russia doesn't try to influence Occupy activists, yet foreign agents try to do this in Russia,” he said .(Russia Today, 06.11.13).
  • Russia cannot afford to keep raising state spending, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, but it must find the money to fulfill the social commitments he made on his return to the Kremlin last year. (Reuters, 06.13.13).
  • Russia needs a more flexible immigration policy to make it possible to attract the specialists the country requires, President Vladimir Putin has said. (Interfax, 06.11.13).
  • A Russian parliamentary committee approved for review a new anti-piracy law dubbed “the Russian SOPA” by critics after a similar US bill. (RIA Novosti, 06.12.13).
  • The Russian Parliament passed a bill on Tuesday that imposes a fine for what it calls propagandizing “nontraditional” sexual relationships among minors. (New York Times, 06.12.13).
  • The legislation that introduces tough penalties for offending believers' feelings is set to come into force in July after State Duma Deputies approved a number of amendments to the bill in a third and final reading. (Moscow Times, 06.11.13).
  • Outbound tourism in Russia grew 19 percent year-on-year to over 3.3 million in the first quarter of 2013. (Interfax, 06.10.13).
  • Russia slid two places to 155th slot among 162 countries in the 2013 Global Peace Index. (RIA Novosti, 06.12.13).

Defense:

  • Russia has activated a new Voronezh-DM-class missile detection radar near Armavir. (GSN, 06.07.13).
  • Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces will conduct over 200 exercises in the next six months. (RIA Novosti, 06.07.13).
  • The Admiral Nakhimov, a nuclear-powered missile cruiser currently being overhauled and modernized, will rejoin the Russian Navy in 2018 with the most advanced weapons systems for its vessel type. (RIA Novosti, 06.13.13).

Security and law-enforcement:

  • The director of the Russian Federal Security Service, Aleksandr Bortnikov, has said that social networks and shortcomings in migration laws contribute to the proliferation of extremism in Russia.  (Interfax, 06.11.13).
  • Three police officers have been killed and two passersby were injured during a shoot-out in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.  (RFE/RL, 06.11.13).
  • A Russian police officer who was wounded during a nighttime attack on his patrol in the North Caucasus city of Nalchik has died in hospital.  (RFE/RL, 06.09.13).
  • The jailed mayor of Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, has been hospitalized after reportedly attempting to kill himself in a Moscow detention center. (RFE/RL, 06.14.13).
  • One-third of Russia's prison inmates are drug-users, the Federal Drug Control Service said Friday. (The Moscow Times, 06.14.13).

Foreign affairs and trade:

  • Russian president Vladimir Putin pointed out that the West is supporting some certain organizations that are fighting Assad in Syria, and they are countering “those very same groups” in Mali. He also said it was possible to avoid the civilian war in Syria by conducting reforms in due time.  “Where is the logic in that?” he said. (Russia Today, 06.11.13).
  • Russia’s delivery to Syria of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles would threaten all military and civil flights in Israel, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin said in Moscow today.  (Bloomberg, 06.13.13).
  • Britain and Germany aim to use next week's summit of major economic powers to press Russia's leader to use his leverage with the government of President Bashar Assad to calm the fighting in Syria. (AP, 06.13.13).
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tries to persuade the West that sending the Russian peacekeepers to the Golan Heights aims at bringing stability and security in the region.  (Interfax, 06.12.13).
  • Russian nuclear power corporation Rosatom is ready to build nuclear power plants in Brazil and finance nuclear power projects there, a deputy CEO said Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro. (RIA Novosti, 06.11.13).
  • The widow of murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is threatening to end her co-operation with his inquest unless a public inquiry is held into his death after being “pushed around” by the British government, a pre-inquest hearing has heard. (Financial Times, 06.12.13).
  • British police say there were no suspicious circumstances in the death of a Russian whistleblower who was as a key witness against Russian officials accused of stealing $230 million from a London hedge fund in a money laundering scheme. (Moscow Times, 06.09.13).

Russia's neighbors:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia would be prepared to work for the re-introduction of visa-free entry for nationals of Georgia if the two countries cooperate in combating crime and terrorism. (Interfax, 06.13.13)
  • The Georgian Interior Ministry says a terrorist attack has been prevented in the capital, Tbilisi. One of the two detained suspects, Mikail Kadyev, was on Interpol's wanted list for a crime committed in 2012 in a European country. (RFE/RL, 06.13.13).
  • Former Georgian parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze says she will run for the country's presidency in October. (RFE/RL, 06.12.13).
  • Georgia's defense minister says two bases for Georgian troops in Afghanistan have been closed after 10 Georgian soldiers were killed there in recent attacks. (RFE/RL, 06.12.13).
  • U.S. President Barack Obama has extended for one year the U.S. national emergency with respect to Belarus. (RFE/RL, 06.14.13).
  • U.S. federal prosecutors have announced criminal charges against eight people, including several Ukrainians, for allegedly running an international cybercrime ring that tried to steal millions of dollars. (RFE/RL, 06.13.13).
  • Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has reached a strategic partnership agreement with his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, during a visit to Tashkent. (RFE/RL, 06.14.13).
  • For the first time in the Turkmenistan's history, there will be a lawmaker in parliament who is not a member of the ruling party.  (RFE/RL, 06.10.13).

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