Russia in Review

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

Nuclear security agenda:

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said: “Russia remains an essential element of the global effort to address the threat posed by nuclear terrorism…. We hope that our shared trust and expertise in science will allow us to continue at least some of our nuclear security work with Russia, despite the current political climate, and hopefully to resume more activity should circumstances allow.” (Energy.gov, 03.23.15).
U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz told March 25^th budget hearings at the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development: “Despite a difficult relationship at the moment, we are continuing to work with Russia to repatriate weapons-usable material to the United States or Russia.... We must continue to reduce the global nuclear terrorism threat through measures to identify, control, and eliminate nuclear weapons worldwide.”(Congressional Documents and Publications, 03.25.15).
NNSA said in its March 2015 report “Prevent, Counter, and Respond—A Strategic Plan to Reduce Global Nuclear Threats” that it plans to continue a number of nuclear security cooperation projects with Russia, including conversion of six research reactors, removal of Russian-origin HEU from third countries and recovery of radioisotope thermoelectric generators in Russia. However, political tensions between the United States and Russia are impacting the ability of the two countries to cooperate on nuclear security, the report said. (NNSA, 03.23.15, Sputnik, 03.23.15).
Former Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov on Monday accepted the Nunn-Lugar Award for Promoting Nuclear Security at the Carnegie Endowment Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington. (The Moscow Times, 03.25.15).

Iran nuclear issues:

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has consulted with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in preparation for a resumption of negotiations Wednesday with the P5+1. In the Obama administration’s most hopeful prognosis on its talks with Iran, a senior State Department official said that it was possible to conclude a new accord on that nation’s nuclear program by early next week. (Jewish Press, 03.24.15, New York Times, 03.26.15).

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

The Operation Dragoon Ride was conceived by Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the commanding general of U.S. Army Europe. It launched long convoys of armored Stryker vehicles from Estonia on Saturday that will make their way across Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. Other groups of U.S. soldiers left from bases in Lithuania and Poland, with the three groups of troops meeting next week at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany. The U.S. Army Europe has also deployed a Patriot missile defense battery near Warsaw as part of joint exercises with Poland aimed at reassuring the NATO member in light of the conflict in neighboring Ukraine. (Washington Post, 03.24.15, Reuters, 03.22.15).
Lithuania's rapid deployment forces and NATO's air police mission based in Lithuania were on maximum combat readiness when the Russian military was holding large-scale maneuvers. (Interfax, 03.23.15).
"I would like to specifically address my counterparts from the NATO countries to ask them to convey my following words to their capitals: we are not seeking confrontation with the alliance, and we favor the development of cooperation," Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said. (Interfax, 03.21.15).

Missile defense:

In an unusually pointed threat, the Russian ambassador in Copenhagen warned that Danish ships would become targets of Russia's nuclear arsenal if the Scandinavian country joins NATO's missile defense program. (New York Times, 03.23.15).
China and Russia are publicly lobbying South Korea to reject a U.S. plan to base a new missile-defense system on the peninsula. (Wall Street Journal, 03.25.15).

Nuclear arms control:

No significant developments.

Counter-terrorism agenda:

The United States has designated a senior leader of the Islamist insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus as a terrorist, subjecting him to sanctions. The U.S. State Department announced the designation of Aliaskhab Kebekov, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate extremist group, in a statement on March 25. (RFE/RL, 03.26.15).

Cyber security:

Hackers aligned to Islamic State militants attacked 600 Russian websites last year, according to a new report by Russian cyber intelligence company Group-IB. (RFE/RL, 03.25.15).

Energy exports from CIS:

Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission will hold a new round of gas supply talks next month in pursuit of a deal that could help to defuse wider tensions between Moscow and Kiev. Ukraine will temporarily stop buying natural gas from Russia on April 1 as the current interim deal expires, the country's energy minister said on Monday, citing high prices. (Wall Street Journal, 03.23.15, Reuters, 03.21.15).

Bilateral economic ties:

No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

Moscow says the new U.S. new national security strategy is "anti-Russian." President Vladimir Putin's Security Council said on March 25 that "in the long term, the United States along with its allies will continue to push for political and economic isolation of Russia." (RFE/RL, 03.25.15).
Arthur A. Hartman, who was Washington's longest-serving ambassador to the Soviet Union and the Reagan administration's point man in Moscow during a succession of delicate Cold War crises, died on March 16 in Washington. He was 89. (New York Times, 03.23.15).
Russia has issued a universal 10-year broadcast license to CNN. (Interfax, 03.24.15).
The United States is losing an information war to Russia, Islamic State and other rivals, says a new report that calls for a strengthening in U.S. counter-propaganda efforts and an overhaul of the government's international broadcasting arm. (Reuters, 03.25.15).
Duma deputy Ilya Ponomaryov said Wednesday that Russian authorities have prevented him from returning home since August when he first went to the United States on a business trip. (The Moscow Times, 03.26.15).
An aide to the U.S. embassy's defense attaché in Moscow was stopped in Domodedovo outside Moscow on suspicion of driving under the influence. (Interfax, 03.22.15).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

Russia's ruble gained on Thursday. At 1105 GMT, the ruble was around 1.7 percent stronger against the dollar at 56.73. The swings in its value narrowed this year more than any of the other 30 most-traded currencies. Investors in Russian government securities denominated in rubles have earned the equivalent of 7 cents on the dollar so far this year. In contrast, anyone holding similar government debt in emerging markets across-the-board has lost 1.1 percent in 2015. (Bloomberg, 03.20.15,Reuters, 03.26.15).
Russia laid out the terms of a draft law to offer amnesty on repatriating capital. The bill won't require the return of assets to Russian territory, demanding only their registration in a "transparent" jurisdiction that isn't blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force. (Bloomberg, 03.26.15).
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov warned on Monday that if the budget deficit was not reduced Russia would quickly spend its entire emergency Reserve Fund and be forced to start printing money. "3.7 percent of gross domestic product is a significant deficit," he said, referring to this year's expected shortfall.(Reuters, 03.23.15).
Russians took 1.3 trillion rubles ($22.8 billion) out of the country's banks last year. (The Moscow Times, 03.25.15).
One-fifth of Russia's banks are reporting their financial data to the Central Bank on a daily basis due to the shakiness of their balance sheets amid Russia's economic slump. (The Moscow Times, 03.22.15).
Russian airlines are axing more than 70 international routes as the country struggles with a severe economic downturn. (The Moscow Times, 03.25.15).
Volkswagen AG is scaling back production at its site in Kaluga, Russia amid persistently weak demand and slim chances of an improvement any time soon, the company said Monday. (Wall Street Journal, 03.23.15).
In the January-February period births in Russia were down by more than 4 percent while deaths were up by 2 percent. (The Moscow Times, 03.24.15).
The exodus of Russian scientists has picked up pace during the last 18 months, the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences said. According to Rosstat, 186,382 Russians moved abroad in 2013, compared with 36,774 in 2011. (The Moscow Times, 03.25.15).
In decrees dated March 23, Vladimir Putin dismissed Oleg Morozov, head of the presidential domestic policy department, and Sergei Bolkhovitin, head of the international cooperation department in the office responsible for Kremlin property and day-to-day affairs. (RFE/RL, 03.23.15).
Russia's Justice Ministry fined more than 200 nongovernmental organizations last year for violating legislation regulating their activities. (The Moscow Times, 03.24.15).
On Sunday a Russian lawmaker whose party cooperates with the ruling United Russia in parliament, hosted a foreign legion of politicians too far to the right for most of Europe. “If you tried to have a conference like this in the U.S. or the U.K., it wouldn't be allowed," said Nick Griffin, the expelled former leader of the anti-immigrant British National Party. “Russia has shown it is more free than the West." (Wall Street Journal, 03.23.15).
Sixty-eight percent of respondents recently interviewed by the Levada Center described Russia as a 'great power' while 27 percent of those polled took the opposite view. (Interfax, 03.24.14).

Defense and Aerospace:

The large-scale military drills held in the European part of Russia as part of snap combat-readiness checks among the troops and forces of the Northern Fleet, the Western Military District and Airborne Troops, ended on Saturday. The snap drills involved around 76,000 troops, over 10,000 armored vehicles, 65 warships, 16 support vessels, 15 submarines and over 200 planes and helicopters. (Interfax, 03.21.15).
Russia tested combat communications with its naval nuclear forces in the Arctic as part of large-scale military drills, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gerasimov said a new system of communication between Russia’s central command center and the Navy’s strategic forces was tested and found to be in order. (Bloomberg, 03.24.15).
Russia has successfully test-fired RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile. The missile is expected to become operational in 2016. (Cihan, 03.26.15).
The Russian military is scaling back requirements for the fifth generation T-50 (PAK FA) fighters to twelve planes, after initially planning for fifty-two. Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said that this was due to economic considerations. (NI, 03.25.15).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

President Vladimir Putin has accused Western nations of plotting to influence or disrupt Russian elections over the next few years, including a 2018 vote in which he could seek a fourth term. Putin said efforts to "frighten" Russia "will never succeed.” He portrayed the country as beset by spies but successful in countering espionage, saying that "special operations stopped the activity of 52 staff officers and 290 agents of foreign security services." (RFE/RL, 03.26.15).
Russian President Vladimir Putin fired the longtime governor of the Far Eastern region of Sakhalin on March 25, three weeks after he was arrested on suspicion of bribe taking and flown to Moscow in handcuffs. (RFE/RL, 03.25.15).
Russia’s authorities say seven suspected militants have been killed in a security operation in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan. (RFE/RL, 03.21.15).
A planned 10-percent reduction of the Interior Ministry's budget in a bid to save costs amid Russia's economic crisis threatens to "paralyze" the country's police force, the ministry's chief warned. (The Moscow Times, 03.24.15).
Four Russian nationals have reportedly been deported from Turkey after trying to illegally cross the border into Syria to join the Islamic State group while a Daghestani militant fighting alongside the Islamic State group has published the first part of a guide for those wanting to travel from the North Caucasus to join IS in Syria. The Islamic State militant group is recruiting students at state universities in the North Caucasus, the Kremlin's presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District has claimed. According to the envoy, the level of education among illegal armed groups is rising because group members are increasingly students and graduates of regional universities. (RFE/RL, 03.20.15- 03.26.15).

Foreign affairs and trade:

Russia's reported plans to lease 12 fighter aircraft to Argentina are forcing Britain to "beef up" its defense of the Falklands, the British Defense Secretary has said. The Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft would be sent to Buenos Aires in exchange for beef and wheat, in a proposal which would help Moscow beat EU sanctions over Ukraine. (Telegraph, 03.24.15).
The Jordanian government is set to sign a $10b nuclear agreement with Russia later this month in order to build its first nuclear power plant. (Jerusalem Post, 03.22.15).
Hungary has reached an agreement with the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) regarding Russia's planned supply of nuclear fuel for the country's Paks power plant (Ukraine Today, 03.25.15).
Swedish fighters intercepted four Russian planes flying in international air space over the Baltic Sea with their transponders turned off, the country's military said Tuesday. (Reuters, 03.24.15).
The next round of talks in Moscow between the rival sides in the Syrian conflict will take place on April 6-9, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. (Reuters, 03.24.15).
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba. (RFE/RL, 03.24.15).
Russia shows no signs of wanting to leave the World Trade Organization, WTO chief Roberto Azevedo said. (Reuters, 03.26.15).
The rights to Stolichnaya and two other Russian vodka brands must be returned to Russian state hands, a Dutch court ruled on Wednesday, ordering the company using the brands — Spirits International — to pay unspecified damages. (Reuters, 03.26.15).
French oil giant Total is seeking up to $15 billion in Chinese financing for a major Russian energy project after U.S. sanctions on Moscow blocked access to dollar funding. (The Moscow Times, 03.23.15).

Russia's neighbors:

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko removed the wealthy and powerful leader of a strategic eastern region, Ihor Kolomoysky, who had strongly backed Kiev's fight against Russian-backed separatists but recently clashed with the government over key energy assets. In a separate move, Mr. Poroshenko signed amendments to corporate law that would reduce the voting threshold needed for major corporate decisions to 50% plus one share from 60% plus one share. That change would mean that Mr. Kolomoysky, who has effective control of more than 40% of oil giant Ukrnafta, would lose what had amounted to veto power over a company that is majority-owned by the state. (Wall Street Journal, 03.25.15).
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed into law the bill that increases the maximum number of Armed Forces personnel from 184,000 to 250,000. (Interfax, 03.25.15).
The cease-fire agreement in Ukraine is "largely holding," but international monitors are still not being provided with full access to contested zones, the new head of NATO said Wednesday. (Washington Post, 03.26.15).
Three people were killed and six injured on Wednesday when a passenger bus struck a landmine in eastern Ukraine where government forces have been battling Russian-backed separatists. (Reuters, 03.26.15).
"Contrary to what is said by NATO and by European countries, the militants in Donbas are not our puppets," Vladimir Putin's aide Dmitry Peskov said. "President Putin influences them, because they respect him, but he can not tell them to lay down their arms." (Newsweek, 03.23.15)
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution urging President Barack Obama to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons to defend itself against Russian "aggression." (RFE/RL, 03.24.15).
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's top military commander said Sunday that not delivering weapons to Ukraine carries risks, and he registered continued concerns about the implementation of the truce Kiev signed in February with pro-Moscow rebels. (Wall Street Journal, 03.23.15).
In Boryspil International Airport, President Petro Poroshenko has welcomed the U.S. Air Force plane with the first lot of American armored vehicles. (Ukrainian president’s web site, 03.25.15).
The head of Russia's Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday urged U.S. President Barack Obama to resist congressional pressure to arm Ukraine and stick to the anti-war principles that won him his Oval Office seat. (The Moscow Times, 03.24.15).
Chechen Parliament Speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov says that Russia will provide arms to Mexico if Washington supplies weapons to Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 03.26.15).
A Just Russia party lawmaker Mikhail Yemelianov said the Russian parliament should reinstate President Vladimir Putin's formal authority to send troops into Ukraine if the United States provides Kyiv with lethal weapons. (RFE/RL, 03.24.15).
A Ukrainian Air Force officer has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for spying for Russia. (RFE/RL, 03.23.15).
International ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Ukraine's long-term issuer and government debt ratings to Ca from Caa3 with negative outlook. In addition, the probability of default is nearly 100 percent, Moody's said. (Interfax, 03.2.5.15).
Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko said Friday she expects to issue $1 billion in U.S. government-backed debt by the end of April as part of a larger IMF-backed loan package. (Reuters, 03.22.15).
Ukrainian citizens filed 9,579 applications for temporary residence in Poland from Jan. 1 to March 23, already more than twice the 4,753 registered in the first four months of 2014. (Reuters, 03.24.15).
Energoatom, Ukrenergo and Polenergia have signed a memorandum of understanding on a project to export electricity via European grids. (World Nuclear News, 03.23.15).
Ukrainian police have interrupted a government session being broadcast live on television and detained Emergency Situations Service head Serhiy Bochkovskiy and his deputy Vasyl Stoyetskiy, leading both officials away in handcuffs (RFE/RL, 03.25.15).
Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych's son Viktor was buried Monday at a military cemetery in Sevastopol. The son of the ousted Ukrainian president drowned after a minivan he was driving plunged through ice on a Siberian lake. (Reuters, 03.24.15).
As many as 19.4% of Ukrainians would vote for Petro Poroshenko in presidential elections in Ukraine if such were held now, as is seen from a public opinion survey conducted by the Razumkov Center. 2.9% would vote for Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk. (Interfax, 03.24.15).
Sixty-five percent of Russians are supportive of their countrymen who are volunteering to fight alongside the rebels of eastern Ukraine, a recent survey by state pollster the Russian Public Opinion Research Center revealed. (The Moscow Times, 03.22.15).
Kazakhstan's Central Elections Commission says incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbaev and two other others have been officially registered as candidates for the April 26 presidential election. (RFE/RL, 03.25.15).
The president of Kazakh uranium giant KazAtomProm, the world's largest uranium producer, has died in Beijing. (RFE/RL, 03.26.15).
Kyrgyz authorities say they have prevented several Tajik nationals from joining Islamist militants in Syria. (RFE/RL, 03.25.15).
The president of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambaev, has said that his country would like European military assistance to help combat the threat from the Islamic State group. (RFE/RL, 03.24.15).
A report by the Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project says that Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, may have used bribery, extortion, and influence-peddling to acquire some $1 billion worth of shares and payments from telecommunications companies. (RFE/RL, 03.23.15).
The European Union sharply criticized Azerbaijan's government in a report issued on March 25, saying there was a "regression in the democratic transition process and with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the South Caucasus nation in 2014. (RFE/RL, 03.25.15).
Voters in Moldova's autonomous territory of Gagauzia have voted in new governor Irina Vlach in a region where support for closer ties to Russia is strong. Moscow has hailed her victory. (RFE/RL, 03.24.15).

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