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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 February 8-15, 2013.

Russia in Review: a digest of useful news from U.S.-Russia Initiative to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism for February 8-15, 2013

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

Nuclear security agenda:

  • Russia joined a chorus of nations in condemning North Korea’s third-known detonation of a nuclear weapon. “We demand that North Korea stop these illegal actions, fully give up its nuclear missile program, and return to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the IAEA regime of guarantees,” said aide to the head of the Russian state Yuri Ushakov (Interfax, AP, 02.13.13).
  • Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow “is satisfied with the content of consultations” on replacement of the U.S.-Russian umbrella agreement on cooperative threat reduction. “I would not say we have achieved a breakthrough. But despite the differences, the dialogue continues,” Ryabkov said, following talks with U.S. Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller in Moscow. When asked when the new accord could be signed Ryabkov said: “We have not reached the last station, where everyone would get off the cars, sit down, take a pen and sign something.” (Kommersant, 02.15.13).
  • Head of the Federal Security Service’s International Cooperation Department Alexei Kuzyura briefed the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee on recent anti-terrorism initiatives of his service, including the Strazh-2012 (Guardian-2012) demonstration exercises under the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. (Itar-Tass, 02.11.13).
  • The USA uses uranium from Russian nuclear weapons as fuel in its civilian nuclear power plants. If the weapon-grade uranium is mixed with the Norwegian element thorium, the waste becomes 95 per cent less radioactive, according to a researcher at the University of Oslo in Norway. (Science Daily, 02.12.13).

Iran nuclear issues:

  • Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov is hopeful negotiations between the P5+1 group and Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 26 will produce concrete results.”We are approaching the moment when we will have to make different decisions,” Ryabkov said. (Russia Today, 02.15.13).
  • This month’s upcoming talks on Iran’s nuclear program will be dedicated to reconciling Russian and European proposals on the issue, Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said before leaving for Moscow. (RIA Novosti, 02.11.13).
  • Russia is not unfreezing the contract to supply Iran with S-300 surface-to-air missiles, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said. (Interfax, 02.15.13).

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

  • No significant developments.

Missile defense:

  • Secret Defense Department studies cast doubt on whether the missile defense system planned for Europe can ever protect the U.S. from Iranian missiles as intended, according to the the Government Accountability Office.  Military officials believe they can overcome the problems, but proposed fixes could prove difficult. One possibility, which includes relocating missile interceptors planned for Poland and possibly Romania to ships in the North Sea, would aggravate tensions with Russia.  (AP, 02.09.13).
  • Moscow and Washington are looking at options of non-targeting guarantees, which will not require the approval of the U.S. Congress, but so far, no compromise has been found, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said when commenting on the outcome of U.S. Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller’s visit to Moscow this week. (Kommersant, 02.15.13).

Nuclear arms control:

  • U.S. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union Address: “We will engage Russia to seek further reductions in our nuclear arsenals, and continue leading the global effort to secure nuclear materials that could fall into the wrong hands – because our ability to influence others depends on our willingness to lead.” (White House, 02.13.13).
  • Russian officials told U.S. Undersecretary of State Rose Gottemoeller that they do not see a new round of bilateral nuclear arms cuts happening “in the nearest future.”A source in the General Staff said the U.S. proposal to halve number of warheads “does not correspond with today's realities” while the proposed possibility of unilateral reductions by the United States is a “political ploy” to “try to soften our position” on missile defense. (Kommersant, 02.15.13).
  • Russia has not yet received proposals from the United States regarding further mutual reductions of nuclear arsenals, but it is willing to examine them once it receives them, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. (Interfax, 02.14.13).
  • State Duma Deputy Alexei Pushkov, head of the International Affairs Committee, dismissed the vision of a nuclear weapon-free world as a “propagandistic-romantic idea,” because countries that have made large investments in nuclear weapons would never give them up. (Moscow Times, 02.14.13).

Counter-terrorism cooperation:

  • No significant developments.

Cyber security:

  • President Obama signed an executive order on Tuesday that promotes increased information sharing about cyberthreats between the government and private companies that oversee the country’s critical infrastructure. (New York Times, 02.12.13).
  • A new National Intelligence Estimate has concluded that the United States is the target of a massive, sustained cyberespionage campaign that is threatening the country's economic competitiveness, according to individuals familiar with the document. The estimate names three Russia, Israel and France as having engaged in hacking for economic intelligence but makes clear that cyberespionage by those countries pales in comparison with China's effort. (Washington Post, 02.11.13).

Energy exports from CIS:

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the clearest indication yet Wednesday that he is willing to put an end to Gazprom's monopoly on natural-gas exports by allowing rival companies to ship liquefied natural gas abroad. “For the development of this [LNG] sector, all conditions must be created, including the need to consider the possible step-by-step liberalization of the export of LNG,” Mr. Putin said. (Wall Street Journal, 02.14.13).
  • Exxon Mobil Corp and Rosneft have signed an agreement that will give the U.S. company exploration access to an additional 606,000 sq kilometres in the Russian Arctic. A separate agreement will give Rosneft the opportunity to acquire a 25 percent interest in the Point Thompson unit on Alaska's North Slope. (Al Jazeera, 02.13.13).

Bilateral economic ties:

  • The United States has criticized the ban that Russia imposed on imports of U.S. meat from February 11 due to ractopamine and says Russia is violating WTO regulations. (Interfax, 02.12.13).

Other bilateral issues:

  • U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has called all the foreign ministers of countries that deal with North Korea following Monday's nuclear test and all but one of them picked up the phone -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.  State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland denied that Kerry was frantically trying to reach Lavrov. Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Lavrov and Kerry may meet in March. (Foreign Policy, 02.13.13, Moscow Times, 03.15.13).
  • “We no longer see arrogant actions which go directly against Russia's legitimate interests both in our immediate neighbourhood and in other areas of the world,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the changes in the U.S. foreign policy under President Barack Obama. (Interfax, 02.10.13).
  • Russia's ban of adoptions by U.S. parents was enacted solely with the welfare of Russian children in mind, Moscow's top envoy to Washington Sergei Kislyak said this week. (RIA Novosti, 02.14.13).
  • The Russian Foreign Ministry has recommended that the Culture Ministry and the Russian State Library go to court to claim a fine imposed on the U.S. Library of Congress for holding seven books lent to it in 1994 from the so-called Schneerson Library, i.e. a collection of tens of thousands of old Judaic books and documents. (Interfax, 02.08.13).
  • Richard Nixon, in the final months of his life, quietly advised President Bill Clinton on Russia. He advised that U.S. aid to Russia should be linked to U.S. security aims, such as nuclear balance and a reduced threat from the Russian military, rather than emphasizing the value of domestic reforms there. (AP, 02.14.13).

 

II. Russia news.

 

Domestic Politics, Economy and Energy:

  • President Vladimir Putin introduced a draft law on Tuesday that would bar senior Russian officials from holding bank accounts or stocks outside Russia, the latest in a series of recent measures intended to insulate the country's governance from foreign influences. (New York Times, 02.13.13).
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the long Soviet-era habit of classifying geological data as a state secret.  (Business New Europe, 02.14.13).
  • Russia's lower house of parliament Tuesday passed a bill prohibiting smoking in public places, an extraordinary measure in a country where about 60 percent of adult men smoke cigarettes. (Washington Post, 02.13.13).
  • Officials say hundreds of people have sought medical assistance in central Russia's Ural Mountains after a meteor burned up in the lower atmosphere, unleashing a shock wave that shattered windows and otherwise damaged buildings in the area.  (RFE/RL, 02.15.13).
  • 18 miners have been killed in a coal-mine blast in the northern Komi region.  (RFE/RL, 02.11.13).
  • Every Russian citizen owes the equivalent of $4,200 after the country's total external debt skyrocketed to $624 billion during the last year, according to official data.  (Russia Today, 02.12.13).
  • The volume of Russia's black economy decreased from an average 46% of GDP prior to 2011 to 35% in 2011. This led to over $211 billion of illicit money fleeing Russia in 1994-2011, U.S. financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity reports. (Russia Today, 02, 14.13).
  • According to a recent national poll conducted by the Levada Center, the number of supporters of the pre-90s political system has increased by 7 per cent compared to 2012. Today, 36 per cent of Russians believe the Soviet system was the best. The present political system is supported by 17 per cent, whereas in 2012 it was supported by 20 per cent. The number of supporters of Western democracies has also dropped from 29 per cent in 2012 to today's 22 per cent. (RIA Novosti, 02.09.13).
  • Rem Vyakhirev, the charismatic co-founder of Gazprom who successfully fought attempts to reform the gas monopoly, died in Moscow. (Moscow Times, 02.12.13).

Defense:

  • In his first major interview Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu categorically denied that Russian authorities were reconsidering the results of the already accomplished reforms in the military.  (Russia Today, 02.12.13).
  • Russia is planning to spend $13 billion over the next eight years to catch up with the United States and Israel in unmanned aerial vehicles. (World Today, February 2013).

Security and law-enforcement:

  • President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called on security service officers to shield Russians from an array of threats, including extremist groups, foreign-funded organizations and cyberattacks. “Any direct or indirect interference in our internal affairs, any form of pressure on Russia, our allies and partners is unacceptable,” Putin told senior Federal Security Service officers. (Moscow Times, 02.14.13).
  • The FSB's National Anti-Terrorism Committee prevented six terror attacks in 2012. Over the same period, the FSB stopped 181 foreign intelligence officers. (Moscow Times, 02.14.13).
  • A suicide bomber killed four police officers and wounded another six in Dagestan on Thursday in the latest deadly attack in the North Caucasus republic. (Reuters, 02.14.13).
  • Russian security forces have killed suspected nine suspected militants in Dagestan in two separate incidents this week. (RFE/RL, 02.14.13, 02.13.13).
  • Russia's Investigation Committee says a Georgian member of parliament, Givi Targamadze, has been charged in absentia with organizing mass disorder in Russia. (RFE/RL, 02.14.13).
  • Police have detained 271 people, most of them from the North Caucasus and Central Asia, in an investigation into involvement in “terrorist activities,” authorities in St. Petersburg said Saturday. Most have been released. (Reuters, 02.11.13).
  • Over 50,000 corruption-related crimes were committed in Russia last year, and around 7,000 people were convicted for them. (Interfax, 02.13.13).

Foreign affairs and trade:

  • A small window of opportunity for a political solution to the Syrian crisis appeared to close Thursday when the government of President Bashar al-Assad rejected a meeting in Moscow with the head of the opposition coalition. The rebel Syrian Opposition Coalition also said there would be no Moscow meeting. (Washington Post, 02.15.13).
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia has no intention of deploying its military to the Middle East or North Africa, where social and political crisis is rampant, opting instead to work diplomatically with legitimate governments. (Russia Today, 02.11.13).
  • Russia sold twice as many weapons abroad in 2012 as in the previous year. It now has a portfolio of $37 billion in foreign orders and continues to sell anti-aircraft systems to Syria, according to Anatoly Isaikin, the head of Rosoboronexport. (Moscow Times, 02.14.13).
  • British authorities have agreed for the first time in more than a decade to extradite a Russian citizen seeking asylum. The 32-year-old former St. Petersburg resident, accused of beating a man to death, is scheduled to be transferred into Russian custody next week. (The Moscow Times, 02.14.13).

Russia's neighbors:

  • Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Andriy Kliuyev said the national action plan for 2013-2014 regarding the implementation of the provisions of the communique of the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit  “envisages that in order to combat the illicit trafficking of nuclear materials and prevent possible acts of nuclear terrorism it is necessary to strengthen interagency coordination and develop cooperation with the relevant authorities of neighboring countries to ensure the timely exchange of information.” (Ukrinform, 02.12.13).
  • Ukrainian authorities say that the roof above a section of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has collapsed under the weight of snow. (Moscow Times, 02.13.13).
  • Ukraine has reached a tentative agreement with Turkmenistan to resume imports of natural gas from the Central Asian country. (RFE/RL, 02.13.13).
  • Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has assured visiting EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele that his country will work hard to remove all obstacles for signing an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. (RFE/RL, 02.08.13).
  • Nothing can stop or slow down the reintegration of the post-Soviet space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of Federal Security Service officers. (RIA Novosti, 02.14.13).
  • Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, said on Friday that they had agreed to end their dispute over the Baikonur Cosmodrome.  (Moscow Times, 02.11.13).
  • British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said Britain had struck a deal with Uzbekistan to help bring back 4 billion pounds ($6.2 billion) of equipment from Afghanistan as operations draw down.  (The Moscow Times, 02.14.13).
  • The Bishkek Garrison Court sentenced former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev to 24 years in prison on February 11. (RFE/RL, 02.12.13).
  • Despite facing a slate of six challengers, incumbent President Serzh seems set to cruise to a second term in the the February 18 elections. Surveys show him winning about 70 percent of the vote, more than 25 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival. (RFE/RL, 02.15.13).
  • The U.S. ambassador to Georgia and several other American diplomats had to leave the national library in Georgia's capital of Tbilisi after a mob of angry protesters tried to prevent the Georgian president from giving a speech there. (Foreign Policy, 02.08.13).
  • Azerbaijan's troubled efforts to portray itself as a progressive and Western-oriented country took a beating this week with the announcement by a pro-government political party that it will pay $12,700 to anyone who cuts off the ear of a 75-year-old novelist. (Washington Post, 02.13.13).

 

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