Russia in Review

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

Nuclear security agenda:

IAEA’s Nuclear Safety Action Plan, Nuclear Security Summits, Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and other “efforts have served to accelerate work to prevent nuclear and radiological terrorism and to provide further impetus to efforts by states and the relevant international institutions and organizations to strengthen nuclear security worldwide,” according to the April 30, 2015 statement by China, France, Russia, Britain and United States to the 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. (Mid.ru, 05.05.15).
“We reaffirm our support and readiness immediately to negotiate a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices,” according to the April 30, 2015 statement by China, France, Russia, Britain and United States to the 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. (Mid.ru, 05.05.15).
The total U.S. highly enriched uranium inventory as of 2004 was 686.6 metric tons, and to date, the United States has down-blended more than 146 tons of HEU—enough material for more than 5,800 nuclear weapons, according to the U.S. government’s statement at the 2015 NPT conference. In 2009, the United States reported the plutonium inventory was 95.4 metric tons, according to the statement. (U.S. State Department, 05.06.15).

Issues related to Iran’s nuclear program:

“We highlight our continued commitment to complete successfully negotiations by 30 June on a comprehensive settlement that would ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s program,” according to the April 30, 2015 statement by China, France, Russia, Britain and United States to the 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. (Mid.ru, 05.05.15).
Washington wants to be certain that any nuclear deal between Iran and major powers includes the possibility of restoring U.N. sanctions if Tehran breaks the agreement without risking Russian and Chinese vetoes, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said. (Reuters, 05.06.15).
Leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee urged U.S. President Barack Obama to consider using sanctions to stop Russia’s planned delivery of missiles to Iran. (Times of Israel, 05.03.15).

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

NATO and Russia's Ministry of Defense have set up a direct military-to-military communication link to deal with any issues they might face amid mounting tensions, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. (Sputnik, 05.03.15).
Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander said that Secretary of State John Kerry is working with his Russian counterpart, but the relationship between Breedlove and his Russian equivalent existed but is "diminished." (Defense News, 04.30.15).
"Russian military operations in Ukraine and the region more broadly have underscored that there are critical gaps in our collection and analysis," U.S. Air Force Gen Phillip Breedlove told lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services committee hearing in Washington. (Defense News, 04.30.15).
After beefing up long-range aviation patrols last year, Russia has been flying near the borders of NATO countries less frequently, U.S. Air Force Gen Phillip Breedlove said. Breedlove said he did not know why Moscow has scaled back these types of patrols, but noted that its military has been heavily occupied. (DefenseOne, 04.30.15).
Two Russian Tu-95 Bear military bombers flew into a U.S. air defense zone near Alaska last week, a Washington news website reported Friday. "They're obviously messaging us," Air Force Col. Frank Flores, who is in charge of 14 radar stations along the Alaskan coast, said. "We still don't know their intent." (UPI, 05.01.15).
NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command based in Naples, Italy, will relocate to Cincu, in central Romania, for 12 days next month to support a NATO exercise involving 1,000 troops from 21 NATO states. (RFE/RL, 05.05.15).
NATO launched one of its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises in the North Sea on Monday, inviting non-member Sweden for the first time, amid increasing tensions between Russia and its northern neighbors. (Reuters, 05.04.15).
Lithuania has launched a military exercise to simulate an attack on its new gas terminal, a move its strongly anti-Moscow president said was intended to show the Kremlin that the tiny country would defend itself. (Reuters, 05.05.15).
Latvia's armed forces have alleged that two Russian naval ships, a submarine and a military transportation aircraft were lurking on the edge of the country's territorial waters. (The Moscow Times, 05.04.15).
About 13,000 conscript troops, reservists and members of the Kaitseliit voluntary paramilitary organization will be involved in the Hedgehog-2015 military exercise beginning in Estonia. U.S., British, Belgian, German Polish, Dutch, Latvian and Lithuanian soldiers will take part in the Hedgehog maneuvers, too.(Interfax, 05.04.15).
Norway has not registered any Russian violations of its airspace or territorial waters since the Ukraine crisis, Norway's defense minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said. Even so, fighter jets in Bodoe were scrambled 49 times in 2014 to check on Russian planes and carried out 74 identifications of Russian planes off Norway in 2014.(Reuters, 05.05.15).
A joint U.S.-Danish crew is expected to fly an Open Skies mission over Russia from an airfield in Khabarovsk, compliant with the Treaty on Open Skies, chief of the Russian Nuclear Threat Reduction Center Sergei Ryzhkov told the media. (Interfax, 05.04.15).

Missile defense:

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to make a renewed U.S. push next week to help Gulf allies create a region-wide defense system to guard against Iranian missiles as he seeks to allay their anxieties over any nuclear deal with Tehran. (Reuters, 05.06.15).
Under current plans, the total number of deployed Ground-based Interceptors of the U.S. Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system will reach a total of 44 by the end of 2017. (Mostlymissiledefense.com, 05.05.15).

Nuclear arms control:

“We continue to believe that an incremental, step-by-step approach is the only practical option for making progress towards nuclear disarmament, while upholding global strategic security and stability,” according to the April 30, 2015 statement by China, France, Russia, Britain and United States to the 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference. (Mid.ru, 05.05.15).
In 2014, the U.S. NNSA and DTRA funded more than $191 million for research, development, test and evaluation of arms control verification technology, according to the U.S. government’s statement at the 2015 NPT conference. (U.S. State Department, 05.06.15).
The U.S. Air Force is planning to build about 1,000 new nuclear-capable air-launched cruise missiles, several sources said last month. The Air Force’s draft acquisition plan for the long-range missile “makes a mockery” of New START “by blatantly taking advantage” of the treaty “loophole” that attributes only one weapon to each bomber, said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. (Arms Control Today, 05.07.15).

Counter-terrorism agenda:

"New threats and challenges emerged, for example, terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts. Russia is actively involved in solving all these problems, and we cooperate with U.S., Western Europe," Sergei Ivanov, the chief of the Russian presidential administration. (Interfax, 05.02.15).

Cyber security:

No significant developments.

Energy exports from CIS:

The Turkish Stream pipeline will become operational in December 2016, said head of Gazprom Aleksey Miller. (Russia Today, 05.07.15).
Russian oil and gas condensate production remained at a post-Soviet record level of 10.71 million barrels per day in April. (Reuters, 05.03.15).
The European Union expects to start receiving natural gas from Turkmenistan by 2019, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said. (Reuters, 05.04.15).
Russia President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to consider financial help for debt-stricken Greece, as long as Athens signs up to a project to bring more Russian gas to Europe. (Wall Street Journal, 05.08.15).
Spies regularly target the European Commission, the region's digital economy boss said Thursday, specifically suggesting that Russia had listened in during negotiations last year over gas supplies to Ukraine. Gazprom in Moscow declined to comment.(Reuters, 05.07.15).

Bilateral economic ties:

U.S. steel producers have demanded the Department of Commerce scrap a trade deal sparing Russian producers of carbon steel plate from import duties. If the deal is revoked, Russia's Severstal will face anti-dumping duties of 53.81 percent and other Russian producers and exporters will face duties of 185.00 percent. (Reuters, 05.07.15).

Other bilateral issues:

U.S. President Barack Obama denounced attacks on the free press around the world as he hosted Russian journalist Fatima Tlisova and two others at the White House May 1. (RFE/RL, 05.02.15).
The United States Ambassador to Russia, John Tefft, believes that the U.S. and Russia can cooperation in addressing global issues, as shown from their experience as allies in the Second World War. The ambassador made this statement at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Friday.(Interfax, 05.08.15).
A U.S. jury has found former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. programmer Sergey Aleynikov guilty of stealing the investment bank's high-frequency trading code. (Reuters, 05.04.15).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

More than eighty percent of the orders President Vladimir Putin signed the day of his inauguration three years ago have been implemented on time, according to a statement published Thursday on the Russian government's official website (The Moscow Times, 05.07.15).
Inflation in Russia slowed in April to 16.4% on the year, recording the first decline in the rate in months, the State Statistics Service said on Thursday. (Wall Street Journal, 05.06.15).
The number of mortgages granted in 2014 surged 22.8 percent from the previous year, while the total volume of mortgage lending in monetary terms rose 30.3 percent to 1.7 trillion rubles ($33 billion). (Moscow Times, 05.04.15).
Forbes has named 27 Russian companies, including those hit by Western sanctions, among the world's largest and most powerful in its Global 2000 annual list. Gazprom company is ranked 28th in the global rating with a market value of $62.5 billion. (Russia Today, 05.07.15).
The head of Russia's Rosneft earns at least 15-20 million rubles ($295,000-$390,000) a month, the oil company said Tuesday, disclosing Igor Sechin's basic salary after President Vladimir Putin encouraged greater wage transparency. (Reuters, 05.05.15).
Russia climbed 18 positions to rank 45th this year out of 141 economics in the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. (Moscow Times, 05.06.15).
President Vladimir Putin signed legislation Saturday that will increase tenfold the maximum fine that can be levied on Russian news organizations accused of inciting extremism, raising fears of increased pressure on the country's remaining independent media outlets. (The Moscow Times, 05.04.15).
Russia’s leading social network VK has beaten the country’s biggest television channel in the battle for viewers’ attention. VK had 13.2 million daily users in March this year, while state-owned giant Channel One had an audience of only 10.9 million, according to TNS Russia. (The Moscow Times, 05.07.15).
The Moscow-based Public Opinion Foundation found that 82 percent of Russians agree with the state's control of films, books, theater productions and art exhibits. Respondents in favor of state censorship frequently said it was needed to prevent the injurious effects of works of art containing violent, vulgar or immoral episodes on society. (The Moscow Times, 05.07.15).

Defense and Aerospace:

The upcoming Victory Day parade on Red Square on May 9 is set not only to be the biggest in modern times in terms of troops and military hardware involved, but will also feature the largest number of brand new war machines on show to the public for the first time. (RBTH, 05.07.15).
Russia's Ministry of Defense has officially unveiled the new family of combat vehicles based on the Armata platform, including the T-14 tank, Kurganets and Bumerang armored vehicles, as well as the Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled artillery system. (RBTH, 05.05.15).
Government data show Russia’s 2015 defense budget will be cut by almost 5%, some 157 billion rubles. (Wall Street Journal, 05.07.15).
"Nuclear weapons, as the most destructive means on Earth, as paradoxical as it may seem, are simultaneously a guarantor of peace. This is why the leadership of our country is giving great attention today to maintaining nuclear parity with our potential enemies," said Russian missile designer Yury Solomonov. (Interfax, 04.30.15).
An unmanned supply ship that failed to reach the International Space Station reentered the Earth's atmosphere and burned over the Pacific Ocean in the early morning hours of May 8. (RFE/RL, 05.08.15).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

More than 2,200 inmates have been released as part of an amnesty proclaimed in the honor of the 70th anniversary of the Allied Victory in World War II. (The Moscow Times, 05.07.15).
Former Defense Ministry official Yevgenia Vasilyeva has been sentenced to five years in a penal colony. Vasilyeva was found guilty of fraud on Wednesday for stealing money in a complicated scheme involving Defense Ministry subsidiary Oboronservis. (Moscow Times, 05.08.15).
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has announced that he is ready to give evidence in the case of the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov if this helps the investigation. (Interfax, 04.30.15).
A formal probe of an expert panel that absolved former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was dropped over a lack of evidence that its members had been biased, Interfax news agency reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed source close to the case. (The Moscow Times, 05.05.15).
A Russian court has sentenced four Tajik nationals -- suspected members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir extremist organization -- to at least eight years in prison on terrorism and extremism charges. (RFE/RL, 05.02.15).

Foreign affairs and trade:

Russia and China signed a cyber-security deal on Friday, which experts say could firm up Russia’s ties with the east and may become a foundation for binding cyber security ties in the future. The two countries agreed to not conduct cyber-attacks against each other, as well as jointly counteract technology that may “destabilize the internal political and socio-economic atmosphere,” ”disturb public order” or “interfere with the internal affairs of the state.” (Wall Street Journal, 05.08.15).
Russia and China have signed several agreements aimed at deepening economic ties between the two countries. The agreements signed on May 8 included a deal for Russia's Sberbank to open a 6 billion yuan ($966.43 million) credit line with the China Development Bank. "Today China is our strategic and key partner," Russian President Vladimir Putin said after he and Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a signing ceremony. (RFE/RL, 05.08.15).
China and Russia agreed to launch a $2 billion investment fund to develop agricultural projects in the two countries and set up a free-trade zone between their key farming belts. (Wall Street Journal, 05.08.15).
Russian and Chinese investors will pool resources to help sell Russian passenger aircraft in China and Southeast Asia, a Russian state-backed investment fund said Friday. (Moscow Times, 05.08.15).
102 Chinese troops who will join the Victory Day parade in Moscow on Saturday. (Wall Street Journal, 05.08.15).
The United Nations has confirmed that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will go to Moscow to attend Victory Day events later this week. Around 30 world leaders will be in attendance, including presidents of China, India, Cuba, Venezuela, and South Africa. (RFE/RL, 05.05.15, Forbes, 05.07.15).
North Korea's titular head of state will travel to Moscow this month for ceremonies to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, would visit Russia for the celebrations. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s recent revocation of his anticipated visit to Russia may have resulted from Moscow’s lukewarm response to Pyongyang’s plans to purchase its air defense missile systems, a news report said Saturday. (Reuters, 04.04.15. Korea Herald, 05.03.15).
A Kremlin aide says Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss the crisis in Ukraine at talks in Moscow on May 10.Merkel will not attend a military parade on Red Square on May 9 commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe.(RFE/RL, 05.06.15).
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has laid a wreath at the site of the Battle of Stalingrad as part of commemorations to mark 70 years since the defeat of Nazi forces in World War II. (RFE/RL, 05.07.15).
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev believes that the refusal of the leaders of some European countries and the United States to come to Moscow to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9 comes as a sign of disrespect toward the people of the former Soviet Union. (Interfax, 05.07.15).
A group of Russian nationalist bikers known as the Night Wolves and their supporters have taken part in ceremony in Berlin marking the Allied victory over the Nazis in World War II. (AP, 05.07.15).
EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini said that while she did not see Russia as an "actor" of instability or insecurity. "A destabilized and isolated Russia is not in the interest of the European Union, is not for sure in the interest of the Russian people, and I believe it's not in the interest of the Russian leadership, but it is for them to decide," she added. (Reuters, 05.06.15).
The Mistral helicopters carriers which were supposed to be delivered to Russia are causing the French a headache. However, rather than handing them over, the French government may send them to the bottom of the sea, if the contract is canceled. (Russia Today, 05.06.15).
The Finnish military has begun sending letters to some 900,000 reservists amid increased tensions between the Nordic states and Russia over the Ukraine crisis. The letters reportedly informed reservists what their role would be in a "crisis situation.” Last week the Finnish military said it had fired handheld underwater depth charges as a warning against a suspected Russian submarine in waters near Helsinki. (RFE/RL, 05.04.15, Reuters, 05.05.15).
Last year Swedish fighters, early warning aircraft and reconnaissance planes flew over 600 missions, up almost half from post-Cold War levels seen five years earlier. (Reuters, 05.05.15).
Lithuanian prosecutors say they have detained a Russian citizen suspected of spying. (RFE/RL, 05.04.15).
Islamist terrorism poses a greater threat to Europe's security than Russia's belligerence over eastern Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin is the West's key ally in the battle against Islamist extremists, Czech President Milos Zeman said. “The sanctions against Russia are counterproductive" because they have cemented popular support for Mr. Putin whose “approval ratings rose steeply after the sanctions were launched," he said. “What we need is that Russia acts as our partner and not as our enemy." (Wall Street Journal, 04.05.15).
The bodies of two Russian diplomats who went missing in Nepal when a major earthquake struck the country last month have been found near the border with China. (RFE/RL, 05.07.15).
Rosatom's foreign order book totaled $101.4 billion in 2014, Rosatom chief Sergei Kirienko said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Interfax, 05.05.15).
Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne fund is set to formally launch the sale of North Sea gas fields it had acquired from RWE, bowing to British threats to revoke the assets' licenses unless the Russian tycoon relinquishes ownership. (Reuters, 05.06.15).

Russia's neighbors:

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has told his country's parliament that nearly 7,000 civilians have been killed in the year-long war in eastern Ukraine. He said more than 1,000 people remained unaccounted for. Poroshenko said some 1,657 Ukrainian troops had also been killed in combat. (RFE/RL, 05.08.15).
Commemorations have been held to remember those who died a year ago in the Ukrainian city of Odesa in clashes between supporters and opponents of the government in Kyiv. In all, 48 people died in Odesa in the May 2, 2014, violence. (RFE/RL, 05.03.15).
Ukrainian and separatist representatives have met in Minsk for the first time since the two sides signed a peace deal in February. The two sides plus officials from Russia and OSCE held closed-door talks on May 6 to discuss ways to shore up the faltering truce in eastern Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 05.06.15).
Ukraine’s military said on May 6 that five of its soldiers were killed and 12 wounded during the previous 24 hours amid reports of more fighting in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, pro-Russian separatists say government tanks and artillery fired dozens of times in eastern Ukraine during the previous 24 hours in what they described as violations of a February cease-fire deal. (RFE/RL, 05.06.15).
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused "someone in the European Union" of trying to ensure that a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine fails. Lavrov accused the EU of turning a blind eye to attacks which have killed civilians in rebel-held areas. (RFE/RL, 05.05.15).
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko warned on May 6 of an increasing threat of extensive military action in the east of the country. Poroshenko said that "the threat of large-scale military action from Russian terrorist groups not only remains but is growing." According to a statement posted on his website, Poroshenko said there were more than 40,000 pro-Moscow fighters in the rebel-controlled territories and a further 50,000 Russian troops across the border.(RFE/RL, 05.06.15).
39,000 Ukrainians have dodged military service in the first two months of 2015, according to the latest government figures. That's nearly 16% of the total numbers of soldiers supposed to be in the Ukrainian army. (USA Today, 05.02.15).
The Kremlin has refuted a Ukrainian claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to deploy peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian soldiers are fighting pro-Russian separatists. (RFE/RL, 05.01.15).
The European Union will implement a free-trade pact with Ukraine from next year despite Russian pressure for another delay, according to a draft statement prepared for a summit with six of the bloc's eastern neighbors this month in Riga. (Reuters, 05.05.15).
For the first time in 70 years, Ukraine on Friday joined most of Europe in marking the end of the World War II a day ahead of Russia, which it accused of exploiting the anniversary to display its military might. (Reuters, 05.08.15).
Israel has held back from selling weapons to the government in Kiev in the hope of keeping Russia’s S-300s away from Iran. It’s reportedly reconsidering that position. (Bloomberg, 05.04.15).
The United States said it is concerned over the “callous and outrageous” treatment by Russia of detained Ukrainian pilot and parliament member Nadia Savchenko. (RFE/RL, 05.05.15).
Ukraine is seeking more than $16 billion from Gazprom in its appeal to an arbitration court in Stockholm over a long-running gas-pricing dispute between Kyiv and Moscow. (RFE/RL, 05.01.15).
Novaya Gazeta, independent Russian newspaper has published what it said was a report by Russian military engineers suggesting a Malaysian airliner shot down in Ukraine was hit by a Russian-made surface-to-air BUK missile fired by Ukrainian forces.(RFE/RL, 05.06.15).
Russia has launched a trade dispute to challenge punitive tariffs imposed by Ukraine on Russian shipments of ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser ingredient, the World Trade Organization said in a statement on Friday. (Reuters, 05.08.15).
The Kremlin says Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov will visit Moscow on May 9 to take part in events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Kazakhstan was holding these commemorations on May 7 so that Nursultan Nazarbaev can travel to Moscow to attend Russia’s May 9 celebrations. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said that his decision to miss Russia's May 9 Victory Day celebrations should not be viewed as a “boycott” of Moscow. (RFE/RL, 05.07.15, The Moscow Times, 05.05.15).
Askar Zhumagaliyev, Kazakhstan's former deputy minister for investment and development, has been appointed the new chief executive officer of the country's uranium mining company KazAtomProm. (World Nuclear News, 05.07.15).
Authorities in Tajikistan have detained a Turkish citizen of Afghan origin on suspicion of recruiting for the Islamic State militant group. (RFE/RL, 05.04.15).
Tajikistan has sentenced 10 local men to 8 1/2 years in jail each after convicting them of being members of a banned Islamic group. The Central Asian country's Supreme Court said on May 4 that a Sughd region court found the men guilty of being members of Jamaat Ansarullah on April 29 and sentenced them the same day. (RFE/RL, 05.04.15).
United States Vice President Joseph Biden and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, joined President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicos Karekin II, and Catholicos Aram I, in a prayer service as part of the National Armenian Genocide centennial commemoration at the National Cathedral in Washington. (Panarmenian.am, 05.08.15)
The United States and Armenia have signed a framework trade deal aimed at boosting bilateral investment and commercial ties. Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian attended the May 7 signing of the agreement in Washington by his foreign minister, Eduard Nalbandian, and Dan Mullaney, the assistant U.S. trade representative for Europe and the Middle East. (RFE/RL, 05.07.15).
A court in Azerbaijan has jailed a leading opposition activist to six-and-a-half years in jail on drugs charges that have been described as politically motivated by government critics.
The serious crimes court in Baku found Faradj Kerimli, deputy head of the opposition party Musavat, guilty of large-scale narcotics dealing, his lawyer Neimat Kerimli said. (RFE/RL, 05.06.15).
Khadija Ismayilova, a jailed Azerbaijani investigative journalist and contributor to RFE/RL, crowned her journalistic achievements on May 5 by winning a prestigious media freedom award from the PEN American Center. (RFE/RL, 05.06.15).

Back issues of Russia in Review are available here. If you wish to either unsubscribe from or subscribe to Russia in Review, please e-mail Simon Saradzhyan at simon_saradzhyan@hks.harvard.edu.