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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 May 24-31, 2013.

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

Nuclear security agenda:

  • Senior diplomats from 72 nations gathered in Warsaw, Poland, for a high-level political meeting on May 28 observing the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Proliferation Security Initiative. (GSN, 05.29.13).
  • Partner nations and official observers in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) gathered in Mexico City, Mexico, on May 24, 2013, for the GICNT Plenary Meeting. (Oreanda, 05.24.13).
  • The only American-owned plant for enriching uranium, located near Paducah, Ky., will be shut down next month, its operator USEC said on Friday. USEC said it had a large inventory of enriched uranium and would continue to import enriched uranium from Russia for sale to American utilities. The Russian program began with uranium from decommissioned nuclear bombs but will soon be using uranium enriched by the Russians for commercial uses. (The New York Times, 05.25.13).
  • Russian Ambassador to Great Britain Alexander Yakovenko said: “It is also critical …to prevent nuclear terrorism.” (Russica Izvestia, May 23, 2013).
  • Ex-U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said: “In a world of increasing flux and uncertainty, the United States and Russia face a similar set strategic challenges, including building durable structures of regional security throughout Europe and Asia, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, combating nuclear terrorism, and maintaining strategic nuclear stability.” (Itar-Tass, May 27, 2013).

Iran nuclear issues:

  • No significant developments.

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

  • Ahead of NATO's planned withdrawal from Afghanistan next year, leaders of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization have pledged to pool their resources to counter any potential deterioration of the security situation in the region. (Moscow Times, 05.29.13).
  • Moscow hopes its services of cargo transit to and from Afghanistan will be in demand even after 2014,  Russian Permanent Representative to NATO Alexander Grushko told reporters on Tuesday. (Interfax, 05.28.13).
  • Russia and NATO are going to hold military drills in the Black Sea in fall, Russia's envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said. A system "that allows to detect aircraft that do not respond to commands from the ground and that are suspected of being held by terrorists" has been created within the NATO-Russia Council earlier, he said. (Interfax, 05.28.13).

Missile defense:

  • Washington is not discouraged by Russian President Vladimir Putin's skeptical reaction to the U.S. proposal to conclude an agreement on missile shield transparency in his response to U.S. President Barack Obama's letter, Kommersant reported, citing a source in the U.S. State Department. At the same time, the United States is unlikely to propose more on the missile shield to Russia than what Obama's letter had, the source said. "The proposals of the U.S. side on the issue are quite concrete…And it can not be said from this point of view that the offers are decorative and not serious. No, I want to emphasize that we are committing to the seriousness of these proposals but we note their insufficiency," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said of U.S. proposal on missile defense.  (Interfax, 05.27.13, 05.28.13).

Nuclear arms control:

  • “We cannot endlessly negotiate with the United States the reduction and limitation of nuclear arms while some other countries are strengthening their nuclear and missile capabilities,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. “Making nuclear disarmament a multilateral process is becoming a priority,” he said. Ryabkov added that Russia has never shunned a discussion of total nuclear disarmament, or “nuclear zero,” but this should not be an absolute goal, “otherwise we will simply undermine the very foundation of our national security.” (RIA Novosti, 05.28.13).

Counter-terrorism cooperation:

  • The U.S. State Department released its annual report on international terrorism on Friday. The report says U.S. and Russia held several joint military exercises last year that dealt explicitly with terrorism-related scenarios, collaboration on nuclear and transportation security, and joint programs on financial monitoring. The report also notes that terrorist attacks stemming from instability in the North Caucasus continued to be committed in Russia.   Across Russia, the press reported 659 killed and 490 wounded in 182 terrorist attacks in 2012, according to the report. (State Department, 05.31.13).
  • A delegation of visiting U.S. lawmakers has offered to assist Russia in securing the Sochi Winter Olympics against a possible terrorist attack. We understand that the Olympic Games will be a target for terrorism. What can the international community and the United States do to help you?" said Bill Keating, a Democrat. "The Cold War is over," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who is leading the six-member delegation to Moscow to discuss improving counterterrorism cooperation. "We should be standing together." (Washington Post, 05.30.13. Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • After the Boston bombings last month and ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi next February, U.S. authorities are expanding their work with the Interior Ministry by granting the Russians access to some FBI information. The development came during a visit by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to the U.S. last week. (Moscow Times, 05.27.13).
  • The United States and Russia need to share "significantly more" intelligence to fight terrorists in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, the Russian ambassador to the U.S. said on Tuesday. (The Hill, 05.28.13).

Cyber security:

  • The Tallinn Manual of Cyber Warfare by NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Center for Excellence has prompted a reaction from several Russian agencies, from the Foreign and Defense ministries to the Security Council and the special services.  Moscow thinks its publication marks a step toward legitimizing the concept of cyberwars. (Kommersant-Vlast, 05.29.13).
  • Russia has never mounted cyberattacks against Georgia or any other sovereign country, Russian Foreign Ministry legal affairs department deputy director Gennady Kuzmin said on Thursday. (Interfax-AVN, 05.31.13).
  • Security experts say the .su Internet suffix assigned to the USSR in 1990 has turned into a haven for hackers who've flocked to the defunct superpower's domain space to send spam and steal money. (AP, 05.31.13).

Energy exports from CIS:

  • Europe's grand plan for a gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea that would make its eastern states less reliant on Russia may have been fatally undermined by Russia's even bigger project. As Azerbaijan nears a decision on which pipeline to choose for its future exports, the Nabucco plan that was long the European Union favourite could lose out to the more modest Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) across Greece to southern Italy. (Reuters, 05.28.13).

Bilateral economic ties:

  • There will be no qualitative change in Russia-U.S. economic cooperation until businessmen of the two countries realize they really need each other, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.  (Interfax, 05.28.13).
  • Russia's improving cooperation with the United States on product testing and industrial standards will increase international trade and facilitate the free flow of goods, experts said at the U.S. — Russia Standard and Conformity Assessment Forum organized by the World Trade Center in Moscow on Thursday. (Moscow Times, 05.31.13).

Other bilateral issues:

  • The concrete time frame and other parameters of US President Barack Obama's visit to Russia will be coordinated within the summer months, Russian president's aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Friday. (Itar-Tass, 05.31.13).
  • "A joint operation to liquidate a serious channel of South American cocaine to Russia is being carried out," Ivanov said at a meeting of a working group for countering narcotic trafficking of the Russian-U.S. presidential commission. U.S. National Drug Control Police Office director Gil Kerlikowski represent the U.S. side at the anti-narcotic meeting. (Interfax, 05.30.13).
  • Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has accused the FBI of "killing without justification" young ethnic Chechen Ibragim Todashev thought to have ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. The father of of the man said FBI agents killed his son "execution-style." The FBI says Todashev was shot by agents in Florida last week during a violent confrontation while being questioned about his links to Boston Marathon suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, as well as about a 2011 triple murder in Massachusetts. (RFE/RL, 05.27.13, 05.31.13).
  • Messages related to the Boston Marathon bombings were painted on a car belonging to a U.S. diplomat in Moscow. (Moscow Times, 05.27.13).
  • Conditions of the U.S. confinement of Russian businessman Viktor Bout are a factor affecting Moscow-Washington relations and Russia will insist on his transfer to a prison in his home country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. (Interfax, 05.28.13).

II. Russia news.

 

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

  • Russian GDP grew 2.6% year-on-year in April, compared with growth of 2% in March, the Economic Development Ministry estimates. "We are still in stagnation mode," deputy economy minister Andrei Klepach told reporters. (Interfax, Dow Jones, 05.27.13).
  • About 167 million people and nearly 27 million vehicles crossed the Russian state border last year, which was 22 percent more than in 2011. (Interfax, 05.27.13).
  • According to the latest data, 47 out of 71 registered political parties can participate in elections, Central Election Commission Deputy Chairman Leonid Ivlev said. (Interfax, 05.29.13).
  • Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that his personal relationship with President Vladimir Putin is an indication that he will not be dismissed. He acknowledged, however, that ministers are not assured of holding onto his post forever. (Moscow Times, 05.27.13).
  • Russia's Deputy Education Minister Igor Fedyukin announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing growing political tensions. (Moscow News, 05.28.13).
  • President Vladimir Putin may name Alexei Ulyukayev, the Central Bank's first deputy chairman, as the new economic development minister and make the current minister, Andrei Belousov, his top economic adviser in the Kremlin. (Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Vladimir Fortov, newly elected head of the Russian Academy of Sciences said his organization could contribute to the country’s innovation policy, and he supported the Skolkovo innovation hub. (Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Sergei M. Guriev, a prominent economist who fled Russia a month ago under pressure from investigators, said Friday that he would not return in the “foreseeable future,” until he was certain that he would not face prosecution or other legal constraints. Guriev was questioned by Russia's investigative committee in April in relation to the case against former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was jailed in 2003.  (Financial Times, 05.30.13, New York Times, 05.31.13).
  • Russian economists warned the government on Thursday that a new law that might force their research centers to register as "foreign agents" could have a disastrous impact on the economy. (Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Independent pollster Levada Center will not accept any more foreign grants while its status hangs in the balance. In mid-May prosecutors issued a warning to the polling agency citing a breach of legislation passed in November which requires politically engaged NGOs that receive foreign funding to register as "foreign agents."(Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Memorial human rights center has filed a complaint with Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky Court to contest the demand of a Moscow prosecutor's office to register as a foreign agent.  (Interfax, 05.29.13).

Defense:

  • No significant developments.

Security and law-enforcement:

  • A female suicide bomber blew herself up in the southern Russian region of Dagestan on Saturday, injuring at least 18 people, including two children and five police officers. (Washington Post, 05.26.13).
  • The corruption of the local authorities in Dagestan that has built up over many years promotes terrorist activities, Acting President of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov believes.  (Interfax, 05.26.13).
  • The United Nations says 75 tons of heroin reaches Russia annually, with most of it originating in Afghanistan and being trafficked along the so-called Northern Route, which spans the Central Asian republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. (Moscow Times, 05.27.13).
  • "We have reliably established that certain forces inside illegal immigrants are engaged in subversive and intelligence activities against Russia, settling down as immigrants in order to conduct subversive and terrorist activities," Alexander Roshchupkin, FSB deputy chief in charge of the department coordinating analysis of FSB counterintelligence work, said. (Interfax, 05.30.13).
  • A senior Border Guards Service official on Monday moved to calm fears about security at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, telling reporters that his agency was studying best practices from foreign governments.  (Moscow Times, 05.27.13).
  • Leader of Russia's republic of Chechnya has said his dream is to eliminate Islamic insurgent leader Doku Umarov. (RFE/RL, 05.28.13).
  • The transfer of $900 million out of the country using fictional import contracts through Russian Regional Development Bank, 85 percent of which belongs to Rosneft, is being investigated by the police. (Vedomosti/Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Russian Economic Development Deputy Minister Sergei Belyakov, who supervises public-private partnership issues and liaison with business, has opposed the idea to amnesty businessmen convicted on economic counts. (Interfax, 05.29.13).
  • Interpol has rejected a Russian request for a worldwide police hunt for William F. Browder, a British investment banker. (New York Times, 05.26.13).

Foreign affairs and trade:

  • Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles will probably arrive in Syria only after several months, but more Israeli air strikes or the creation of a no-fly zone would speed up delivery, a Russian arms industry source said. (Reuters, 05.30.13).
  • President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said on May 31 that Moscow will fulfill its existing arms contracts with Damascus as they do not include any weapons that fall under international bans. (RFE/RL, 05.31.13).
  • S-300 destined for Syria has not left Russia yet, but Israel will know how to act if it does, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday. (AP, 05.28.13).
  • Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that, due to the EU's decision to permit arms sales to rebels, the Kremlin may 'revise' its vow not to sell the Syrian government 'offensive' weapons. (CSM, 05.30.13).
  • The S-300 system is exceedingly large and complex. It would take many years to train Syrian officers to master its multiple capabilities. Unless the Russians are going to man it themselves in the interim, the current Syrian regime may be gone by the time its military can grasp the technology.  (National Interest, 05.31.13).
  • Russia is planning to deliver more than 10 MiG fighter planes to the Syrian government of Bashar Assad, the head of the state-owned MIG corporation said Friday. (Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Some Syrian opposition groups are willing to take part in an international conference on Syria without preconditions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday. (Interfax, 05.30.13).
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced as "odious" a U.S.-backed draft resolution condemning the Syrian government before a debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday and said it would undermine peace efforts. (Reuters, 05.29.13).
  • The Syrian army's March weapons request to its Russian supplier was the stuff of everyday battles in a long and grueling conflict. Twenty-thousand Kalashnikov assault rifles and 20 million rounds of ammunition; machine guns; grenade launchers and grenades; sniper rifles with night-vision sights. (Washington Post, 05.30.13).
  • Russia says the lifting of a European Union arms embargo on Syria will "directly harm" the prospects of holding a peace conference. (RFE/RL, 05.28.13).
  • Moscow is trying to persuade Tehran to withdraw its lawsuit against Russia's state-run arms export company Rosoboronexport over a canceled deal to supply S-300 air defense systems to Iran. (Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Atomstroyexport, the main contractor chosen by Russia's Rosatom to build Turkey's first nuclear plant, is planning to hold engineering procurement and construction tenders for the $20 billion power plant in September. (Moscow Times, 05.31.13).
  • Shipping along the Arctic northern sea route is set to grow more than 30-fold over the next eight years and could account for a quarter of the cargo traffic between Europe and Asia by 2030. (Reuters, 05.29.13).

Russia's neighbors:

  • Officials at a meeting of the governing board of a Russian-led Eurasian customs union say Kyrgyzstan will join the grouping and Ukraine will be granted observer status.  (RFE/RL, 05.29.13).
  • Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili says a dispute about Georgia's administrative boundary with its separatist region of South Ossetia will be discussed at Russian-Georgian talks scheduled for June 5. Earlier Georgia's foreign minister has expressed concern over the installation by Russian troops of barbed-wire fencing along the administrative boundary of South Ossetia.  (RFE/RL, 05.31.13).
  • Georgian Prosecutor-General's Office said investigations have been launched into President Mikheil Saakashvili’s purported use of more than $11,000 of budget money for Botox plastic surgery in New York in 2009 and 2011. (RFE/RL, 05.31.13).
  • Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was in the southern Russian city of Sochi for informal talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  (RFE/RL, 05.26.13).
  • A Kyrgyz Health Ministry official said at least 55 people were injured in the clashes in the village of Barskoon, including 13 police officers. (RFE/RL, 05.31.13).
  • Moldova's parliament has approved acting Prime Minister Iurie Leanca as Premier to help end a political crisis.  (RFE/RL, 05.31.13).

 

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