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Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for February 15-22, 2013.

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for February 15-22, 2013

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

Nuclear security agenda:

  • Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept says the country “stands for strengthening of technical and physical nuclear security on the global scale, and, in particular for strengthening of international legal mechanisms of ensuring nuclear security and preventing of nuclear terrorism acts.” (Russian Foreign Ministry, 02.18.13).
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told a joint news conference in Moscow that their countries would oppose any foreign military intervention in North Korea over its recent nuclear test. (Reuters, 02.22.13).
  • “We are against measures that would affect normal trade and economic relations with North Korea. We understand our Chinese colleagues have similar views,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Tuesday. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).
  • U.S. Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller on Thursday showed cautious optimism on maintaining cooperation with Russia on the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program. She described a “very positive environment” in negotiations last week to address Russia's coming withdrawal from CTR. (GSN, 02.21.13).
  • An expert panel formed by Russia and the United States said on Friday it is urging the governments to create a joint life sciences funding mechanism that could help fill gaps left by two key bilateral nonproliferation projects that are set to expire. Moscow is poised this June to end participation in the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction initiative and in 2015 to end collaboration with the International Science and Technology Center. (GSN, 02.15.13).
  • The U.S. Secretaries of State and Homeland Security are warning that their departments' efforts against weapons of mass destruction would be compromised by major budget cuts set to be implemented in a matter of days. (GSN, 02.20.13).

Iran nuclear issues:

  • Russia does not object to bilateral dialogue between the United States and Iran, but insists that this dialogue be transparent and not harm Russian interests, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told journalists. (Interfax, 02.21.13).
  • The upcoming round of negotiations between the P5+1 group and Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan, is not expected to produce any breakthrough or sensation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. (Interfax, 02.21.13).

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

  • Moscow and the Western military alliance will conduct a range of exercises this year, including a joint anti-terror drill in the Paris metro, NATO Assistant Secretary General Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said on Wednesday. National media reported that Russia and NATO want to test a jointly developed device for screening crowds for hidden explosives in Paris. (Moscow Times, 02.21.13).
  • A direct phone line was established last week between General Knud Bartels, the chairman of NATO's Military Committee, and General Staff head Valery Gerasimov, allowing both sides' military leaders to stay in touch. (Moscow Times, 02.21.13).
  • The only NATO cargo that has been sent through Ulyanovsk so far is a number of containers for the British contingent that were sent from Camp Bastion in Afghanistan to Britain in December. A senior diplomat from a NATO country said the route was considered too expensive. (Moscow Times, 02.21.13).
  • Russia has no plans to end US cargo traffic to Afghanistan via its territory despite differences in relations between the two states, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Tuesday. (RIA Novosti, 02.19.13).

Missile defense:

  • During his trip to Moscow National Security Advisor Thomas Donilon may offer to delay the development of new high-speed interceptors in the fourth phase of the European ballistic-missile defence system due for deployment in 2021. Russia and the United States have not yet reached an agreement on Donilon's visit to Russia, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. (Interfax, 02.21.13, Economist, 02.23.13).

Nuclear arms control:

  • Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept said: “Russia consistently supports the constructive cooperation with the United States in the field of arms control, taking into account the inseparable link between strategic offensive and defensive means. …Russia will consistently seek legal guarantees that the global U.S. missile defense system, which is being built, is not directed against the Russian nuclear deterrence forces.” (Russian Foreign Ministry, 02.18.13).
  • President Obama's plan to carry out a new round of nuclear-warhead cuts will be announced soon, U.S. officials say. The coming round of warhead-reduction talks with Russia was put on hold partly as a result of the Senate delay in confirming Defense Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel. (Washington Times, 02.20.13).
  • U.S. Nuclear Posture Review Implementation Study will be discussed at Mr Obama’s first post-election security cabinet meeting next month. The president is wary of trying to get another treaty through the Senate, so he is contemplating both accelerating the New START reductions and, if agreement can be secured with Russia, moving below the ceiling, perhaps to 1,000 warheads. Mr. Obama is also believed to be keen to “de-alert” his nuclear forces. (Economist, 02.23.13).
  • U.S. Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller said that that “processes are under way” to begin negotiations with Moscow on pursuing further strategic and tactical nuclear arms cuts.”It's interesting to me, however, that the Russians are talking about these issues as issues that have to be worked in the process of considering further reductions and further negotiations,” Gottemoeller added. (GSN, 02.21.13).
  • The United States and Russia have exchanged over 3,600 notifications on the numbers, locations, and movements of our strategic forces in compliance with the New START treaty. Over 70 Treaty on-site inspections have been completed, according to Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller. (State Department, 02.21.13).
  • A U.S.-Russian body charged with overseeing implementation of the New START conducted a week of discussions that wrapped up on Monday, the State Department announced. Participants formalized an agreement on the exchange of telemetric data from ICBM and submarine-fired missile trials. (GSN, 02.20.13).
  • Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory head John Foster urged the U.S. government to develop nuclear weapons that could be used to short-circuit enemies' electrical infrastructure, to counter similar capabilities possessed by Russia and China. (GSN, 02.20.13).

Counter-terrorism cooperation:

  • No significant developments.

Cyber security:

  • Though China is regarded as the most aggressive actor, other countries are guilty of cyberespionage as well, according to Under Secretary of State Robert D. Hormats. He cited Russia and India as two countries active in the theft of intellectual property. (Washington Post, 02.20.13).

Energy exports from CIS:

  • No significant developments.

Bilateral economic ties:

  • Rinat Dosmukhamedov, Russian Trade Representative to the United States, said: “At the moment we’re considering a project that involves cooperation between Russian small and medium-sized suppliers and Wal-Mart, and we believe it is very promising.”(RBTH, 02.20.13).

Other bilateral issues:

  • Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept said: “Russia builds its relations with the United States taking into account the considerable potential for development of mutually beneficial trade and investment, scientific, technical and other cooperation as well as the special responsibility of both countries for global strategic stability and the state of international security in general.” (Russian Foreign Ministry, 02.18.13).
  • U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke over the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Feb. 17 about Syria and North Korea. Lavrov said Kerry did not take up the possibility of pursuing new bilateral nuclear arsenal reductions. (Foreign Policy, 02.17.13, GSN, 02.19.13).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to hand over to a U.S. group a venerated collection of Jewish books and documents, as ordered by a U.S. judge.  Putin said February 19 that the Schneerson Collection “belongs to Russia.” (RFE/RL, 02.20.13).
  • Russian officials retreated from allegations of murder against a Texas woman whose 3-year-old son adopted from Russia died in late January, as investigators in the United States said the cause of the boy's death remained unclear.  (New York Times, 02.22.13).
  • Russian nuclear-capable Tu-95 Bear H bombers made an unusual long-range strike-simulation flight over the western Pacific island of Guam on Feb. 12. It was the third flight near U.S. airspace by Tu-95s since June. (Washington Times, 02.20.13).
  • Asked by the Public Opinion Foundation what comes to their minds instantly when the U.S. is mentioned, 10% of those polled in Russia said wars and interference in the affairs of other countries, 9% said this is only a country on a political map to them, 8% perceive the U.S. as a rich and well-to-do country, 5% said this is Russia's enemy, 3% called the U.S. a great power and a progressive country each. The number of those whose attitude toward the U.S. is negative has declined to 18% from 29% since 2003, while the number of those treating this country indifferently has grown by 15% to 56% from 41% in 2003 (Interfax, 02.15.13).
  • The Silicon Valley aristocrats Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and Yuri Milner have jointly established the most lucrative annual prize in the history of science to reward research into curing diseases and extending human life. (Guardian, 02.20.13).

II. Russia news.

 

Domestic Politics, Economy and Energy:

  • The Russian lower house has approved in the first reading a set of amendments to the Law on Government that bans foreign bank accounts and securities for top state officials. (Russia Today, 02.22.13).
  • Russia's central bank governor Sergei Ignatiev has lifted the lid on $49bn in illegal capital flight last year more than half of which, he says, was controlled “by one well-organised group of individuals” that he declined to name. (Financial Times, 02.21.13).
  • Sergei Glazyev, a Kremlin economic adviser, has emerged as a leading contender to take charge at the country's central bank this summer. (Reuters, 02.21.13).
  • Senior United Russia lawmaker Vladimir Pekhtin resigned following accusations from opposition leader Alexei Navalny that he owned undeclared property in the U.S.. His lead was followed by two more United Russia lawmakers, Anatoly Lomakin, number 79 in the 2012 Russian Forbes rating with a fortune of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, and Vasily Tolstopyatov. (The Moscow Times, Itar-Tass, 02.22.13).
  • Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin is among the few politicians capable of appeasing warring factions within the ruling elite and becoming President Vladimir Putin's successor, a report released by the the influential Minchenko Consulting Group on Tuesday said. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).
  • The hail of meteor pieces that hit Russia on Friday fell in a region with a cluster of major nuclear facilities, including the country’s largest nuclear fuel-processing plant, but officials said early on that none of them were damaged and no radioactive contamination has been detected. (RIA Novosti, 02.15.13).
  • Russia is planning a 500 billion ruble ($17 billion) program to clear bottlenecks from its overburdened road and rail networks to help boost flagging economic growth, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said in an interview. (Wall Street Journal, 02.20.13).
  • The Moscow Exchange began trading its own shares Friday. The bourse, which was formed from the merger of the MICEX Index and the dollar-denominated RTS, sold 15 billion rubles ($500 million) worth of shares, indicating a valuation for the combined entity of about $4.2 billion. (Moscow Times, 02.18.13).
  • Last year, life expectancy in Russia was 66.5 years, according to estimates by the CIA World Factbook: 60.1 for men and 73.2 for women, compared with 78.5 years in the United States and 79.8 in the European Union.  (The Moscow Times, 02.21.13).

Defense:

  • Project 955A submarines will carry 16 Bulava SLBMs, not 20, as most reports previously stated. (Russian strategic nuclear forces, 02.21.13).
  • The meteorite that exploded over Chelyabinsk on February 15, 2013 was not detected by Russia’s early warning radars because they were never supposed to detect objects that are coming from outer space. (Russian strategic nuclear forces, 02.17.13).
  • The Russian Aerospace Defense Forces will develop a series of measures aimed at protecting the Russian soil from falling meteorites and other dangerous space objects, commander of the western military district’s aviation Maj. Gen. Igor Makushev said on Wednesday.  (RIA Novosti, 02.20.13).

Security and law-enforcement:

  • Some 10,000 instances of bribe-taking were registered in Russia last year, according to Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigations Committee. The damage from corruption last year is estimated at more than 20 billion rubles, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said. (Interfax, 02.20.13).
  • The estimated cost of fraud from the illegal sale of Russian Defense Ministry property in the Oboronservis case has risen to over 13 billion rubles ($433 mln), Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin said on Thursday. (RIA Novosti, 02. 21.13).
  • Investigators said Wednesday that former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his aide Yevgenia Vasilyeva have refused to cooperate in the investigation into illegal property development by the former minister's brother-in-law. (Moscow Times, 02.20.13).
  • Police detained two Uzbekistan nationals in the Moscow region who are suspected of belonging to an international terrorist group that recruited members and sent them to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on its official website Tuesday. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).

Foreign affairs and trade:

  • The West's capabilities to dominate global politics continue to dwindle, according to the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. It adds that, considering the above, Russia is attaching particular significance to the development of relations with China and India. (RIA Novosti, 02.18.13).
  • The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, has selected Moscow as his first foreign visit as president, to be followed immediately by a trip to South Africa for a BRICS summit next month. (New York Times, 02.13.13).
  • Russia and the Arab League proposed Wednesday to broker talks between the Syrian opposition and President Bashar al-Assad's government to try to resolve the country's civil war. (Washington Post, 02.20.13).
  • An Emergency Situations Ministry plane arrived at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport early Wednesday morning carrying 99 passengers evacuated from Syria. (Moscow Times, 02.20.13).
  • Moscow has said a Russian shipping container halted by Finnish customs en route to Syria was “not carrying a government cargo”, though Finnish authorities said earlier they had confiscated spare parts for tanks. (Financial Times, 02.18.13).
  • Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev held talks in Brasilia with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Vice President Michel Temer to broaden trade and cooperation. The first overseas Glonass ground station for differential correction and monitoring to improve the navigation system's accuracy is due to be launched in Brazil this week. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13, Wall Street Journal, 02.21.13).
  • Finance ministers of the Group of 20 said Saturday that global economic growth remains weak despite government measures, but they agreed in Moscow to avoid currency wars intended to stimulate the economy by devaluing their money.  (Moscow Times, 02.18.13).
  • The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development promised Friday that accession to the club of the world's most economically advanced countries won't take Russia as long as its entry into the World Trade Organization. (Moscow Times, 02.18.13).
  • Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was to have met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week.  Mori has earlier said that Japan has the option of settling the dispute with Russia by the return of three of the islands. (Japan Daily Press, 02.21.13).
  • An easing of visa requirements for Europeans is unlikely, even for next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, as officials from both Moscow and the EU insist on their positions. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).

Russia's neighbors:

  • Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said his country will not pay the $7 billion fine that Russia's Gazprom is demanding for gas Ukraine did not use in 2012. (RFE/RL, 02.22.13).
  • Ukraine’s First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin says his office has collected evidence that former President Leonid Kuchma was involved in the brutal killing of investigative journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. (Moscow Times, 02.20.13).
  • A recent roof collapse at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has posed no danger, and work on building a new, safer shelter over the exploded reactor should resume within days, said Oleksandr Novikov, a top Ukrainian official. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).
  • President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia easily won re-election to a second five-year term, according to preliminary returns. The returns showed Mr. Sargsyan with about 59 percent of the vote. The former foreign minister, Raffi Hovanessian, was a distant second with about 37 percent, the returns showed. (New York Times, 02.20.13).
  • NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO's decision that Georgia and Ukraine will eventually join the alliance “still stands.” But he warned there was “serious concern” about Ukraine's use of “selective justice.” (RFE/RL, 02.22.13).
  • Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has vowed to continue Georgia's pro-Western policies while also repairing relations with Russia. (BBC, 02.16.13).
  • Georgia's justice minister Tea Tsulukiani is meeting U.S. to reassure them that recent arrests of former government officials are not politically motivated. (AP, 02.22.13).
  • In Dushanbe U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake has called on Tajikistan's leadership to hold a fair, democratic, and transparent presidential election in November.  (RFE/RL, 02.20.13).
  • Two alleged members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization have been arrested in Kyrgyzstan's southern city of Jalal-Abad. On February 19, five other suspected members of the group were arrested in the area. (RFE/RL, 02.22.13).

 

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