Russia in Review

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

Nuclear security agenda:

Russian nuclear scientists are ready to resume work on joint nuclear projects with the United States under the terms of mutual respect and benefit, a spokesman for Russia’s Rosatom nuclear agency said Friday. “Our firm belief, confirmed by many years of experience, is that nuclear energy sector is a strategic area with very long life cycles. It cannot and should not depend on situational changes in the political environment….we keep the channels of dialogue with the US side open,” the representative added. (RIA Novosti, 11.14.14).

Iran nuclear issues:

Talks on Iran's nuclear program are being held in a tense atmosphere and getting a deal will be very difficult, Russia's chief negotiator said. "In the current situation it will be very difficult to get a deal unless there is a new spirit," Sergei Ryabkov said. "The talks are being held in a tense atmosphere". Iran's chief negotiator in the nuclear talks here is returning to Tehran on Friday afternoon to seek further instructions from his country’s leaders, as negotiators struggle to meet a Monday deadline for an accord. (New York Times, Daily Sabah, 11.20.14).
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, stressed that the recent agreement between Tehran and Moscow on the construction of two new nuclear power plants for Iran would further strengthen the country's stance in the nuclear talks with the six world powers.(FNA, 11.20.14).

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

Russia needs "hundred-percent guarantees" that the West will not consider Ukraine joining NATO, Russian President's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the BBC in an interview released Wednesday. "We would like to hear that NATO would stop approaching the Russian borders and that NATO would stop trying to ruin the balance, the balance of power," Peskov told the BBC. When asked to comment on Peskov’s statement Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Russia proposes to put political declarations of guarantees not to join military blocs into the form of a legally binding document. (Interfax, 11.19.14, Sputnik, 11.19.14).
Ukraine's newly agreed five-party ruling coalition has reportedly set the country's membership of NATO as its major goal. Besides joining NATO the coalition also agreed that the return of Russian-occupied Crimea under Ukrainian control will be one of its major goals. The parties also reportedly agreed on working together toward Ukraine’s integration into the European Union. (RFE/RL, 11.21.14).
"It is true that the spirit of these [German unification] agreements were broken because we agreed that NATO infrastructure would not expand into East Germany, which creates a certain spirit. When they began to accept new countries into NATO in the 1990s. That violated the spirit of the agreements," former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said. Gorbachev said that when he was in office the issue of expansion was not discussed, as Eastern European countries had not signaled any desire to join NATO. “The main idea was that both NATO and the Warsaw Pact would gradually transform from military-political into political organizations," he said. (Moscow Times, 11.21.14).
Russian President Vladimir Putin said a recent flurry of Russian strategic bomber patrols near NATO airspace was a response to U.S. insistence on flying nuclear bombers along Russia's borders. “Our U.S. partners continued to fly their nuclear aircraft along their previous routes, including to areas close to our borders. Therefore several years ago, seeing no positive developments and no one ready to meet us halfway, we resumed strategic air patrols to remote areas," Putin said. (The Moscow Times, 11.17.14).
NATO warplanes have had to scramble 400 times this year in response to an increase in Russian air activity around Europe not seen since the Cold War, the alliance's chief said Thursday. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the problem was not just where the Russians are flying but that they are not turning on their transponders or communicating. He said the flights — which have risen 50 percent over the last year — posed a risk to commercial air traffic. (Reuters, 11.20.14).

Missile defense:

With Republicans in charge of the U.S. Senate, it could be a new day for missile defense, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire predicted Wednesday. Ayotte, a GOP member of the Armed Services Committee, outlined a wish list of missile defense upgrades, which includes an East Coast missile defense site to better protect against a potential Iranian attack; further investments in “discrimination” to determine a decoy missile from a real one; and a new “kill vehicle,” in particular a “multi-object kill vehicle” that can destroy more than one threat at once. (Roll Call, 11.19.14).
Russia has more 24 ballistic interceptors than the U.S., Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller said in Bucharest, reiterating that the American antimissile system is not a threat at the address of global strategic stability as Moscow says. (ACT Media, 11.20.14).
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Frank A. Rose said: “With regard to where things stand today regarding our discussions on missile defense, Russia’s intervention into the crisis in Ukraine, in violation of international law, has led to the suspension of our military-to-military dialogue, and we are not currently engaging Russia on the topic of missile defense.” (State Department, 11.19.14).

Nuclear arms control:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has signaled that the 2010 New START treaty is not in jeopardy despite severe tension over Ukraine. Speaking to Russian lawmakers, Lavrov said the treaty "meets our basic strategic interests and, on condition of its observance by the United States, we are interested in its full implementation." (RFE/RL, 11.19.14).
"I am called a traitor because I destroyed so many nuclear arms. The second treachery is that we built good relations with the U.S.," former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said. (Moscow Times, 11.21.14).

Counter-terrorism agenda:

Russia insists that the issue of the legitimacy of the bombing of Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria by the U.S. should be discussed in the UN Security Council and ground anti-terrorist operations should only be conducted by the armed forces of these countries, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's deputy foreign minister said. (Interfax, 11.21.14).

Cyber security:

NATO's computer servers are detecting 200 million suspicious cyber events every single day, the alliance has revealed. The figures were published as NATO carried out its biggest ever cyber security exercise involving hundreds of computer analysts. The three-day event, taking in 28 nations, was held on a former Soviet base in the city of Tartu. (Sky, 11.21.14).
The U.S. State Department has become the fourth U.S. government agency to announce a breach of its computer systems in recent weeks, after an infiltration forced the agency to temporarily shut down its unclassified email system and public websites. (New York Times, 11.18.14).
The Russian government has announced it will create a "regional electronic encyclopedia" to serve as a counterweight to Wikipedia. (Washington Post, 11.17.14).
The Russian government agency looking to enforce new restrictions on the Internet has asked Twitter and Facebook to send representatives to Russia to discuss the laws. (Wall Street Journal, 11.17.14).
Britain's privacy watchdog is warning the public about a Russian-based website showing thousands of hacked live feeds from homes and businesses around the world. (RFE/RL, 11.20.14).

Energy exports from CIS:

Russia can do little to shore up slumping oil prices — even if OPEC wants it to — as its wells will freeze if they stop pumping oil, and the country has no capacity to store the output it would otherwise export, analysts say. Russia may cut oil production to shore up flagging prices, but its ability to change output is limited and no decision has been made yet, its energy minister said. Before OPEC meets next week, Russia has already spoken to members Venezuela and Saudi Arabia about the need to support the oil market, and Moscow expects to send a high-ranking delegation to Vienna before the meeting to press the message on prices. Some analysts predict that Russia may lose some 350,000 barrels per day of output as soon as next year due to weak drilling and low prices. The prediction was recently dismissed by the Energy Ministry, which still sees next year's output at 10.5-10.6 million bpd. (Reuters, 11.21.14, 11.20.14).
The European Union has told Russia that its system of oil export duties breaks World Trade Organization rules by discriminating in favor of China and against European buyers, diplomats with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday. (Reuters, 11.18.14).
Finland and Estonia have agreed to build two liquefied natural gas terminals connected through a pipeline in the Gulf of Finland, a move aimed at reducing both countries’ reliance on Russian natural gas. (Wall Street Journal, 11.18.14).
Ukrainian Energy Minister, Yuri Prodan, said Tuesday Ukraine may make a prepayment to Russia for gas before Dec. 1, reiterating that the country expected to buy up to 1.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas from Russia by the end of the year. (Reuters, 11.18.14).

Bilateral economic ties:

The first McDonald’s restaurant in Moscow reopened on Wednesday after closing for nearly three months over health and safety violations that came as relations between Russia and the United States fell to post-Soviet lows due to the crisis in Ukraine.(Fortune, 11.20.14).

Other bilateral issues:

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said Wednesday that Moscow and Washington could find avenues of practical cooperation if the partnership were based on “mutual respect and pragmatism.” “We are ready for practical cooperation with our American partners in all different areas, based on the principles of respect for each other’s interests, equality and nonintervention in domestic affairs,” Mr. Putin said, as he addressed U.S. ambassador John F. Tefft and 14 other diplomats who presented their credentials. “We take the view that Russia and the United States bear special responsibility for maintaining international security and stability and combating global threats and challenges,” he said. (New York Times, 11.19.14).
The United States wants to subdue Moscow, but will never succeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. “They do not want to humiliate us, they want to subdue us, solve their problems at our expense. No one in history ever managed to achieve this with Russia, and no one ever will," he said. (Reuters, 11.18.14).
U.S. President Barack Obama said at the G-20 summit: “As the world’s only superpower, the United States has unique responsibilities that we gladly embrace. We’re leading the international community in the fight to destroy the terrorist group ISIL. We're leading in dealing with Ebola in West Africa and in opposing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.” (White House, 11.15.14).
U.S. President Barack Obama said he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that if the Russians did not change course in Ukraine ''the isolation that Russia is currently experiencing will continue.'' Obama said the West would maintain sanctions against Russia for having "not abided by the spirit or the letter" of a cease-fire agreement in Ukraine, while stopping just short of directly accusing Putin of having invaded Russia's beleaguered neighbor. (Washington Post, 11.17.14, New York Times, 11.17.14).
Rose Gottemoeller, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, will participate in the Moscow Nonproliferation Conference in Moscow, Russia on November 21-22. She will take part in a conference panel discussion about the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons program. (State Department, 11.13.14).
Russia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday lashed out at the U.S. administration for what it described as numerous failures to stamp out the use of torture and inhumane methods in American prisons and detention facilities. (Reuters, 11.19.14).
The U.S. is artificially hindering the investigation into the crash of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 in Ukraine, says Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. (Interfax, 11.15.14).
A new book devoted to the U.S. television series "Twin Peaks" claims that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was such a fan of the cult show that he enlisted the help of then-U.S. President George H.W. Bush to find out the answer to the show's main riddle: Who killed Laura Palmer? (The Moscow Times, 11.18.14).

II. Russia news.

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on law enforcement agencies, religious leaders, institutions of civil society and Russia's education system to join together to prevent the rise of extremism. "We see the tragic consequences of the wave of so-called 'color revolutions,' the turmoil in the countries that have undergone the irresponsible experiments of covert and sometimes blatant interference in their lives," Putin said. (The Moscow Times, 11.20.14).
Russia's industrial output growth picked up further in October, data from the federal statistics service showed Wednesday. The data showed industrial production grew 2.9% on the year in October after expanding by 2.8% in September. In monthly terms, industrial output rose by 5.1% in October after growing 2.7% in the preceding month. (Wall Street Journal, 11.19.14).
The ruble strengthened on Friday, building on gains made in the previous session thanks to a recovery in oil prices and in anticipation of end-of-month tax payments falling due. At 0805 The Moscow Times, the ruble was around 1 percent stronger against the dollar at 45.66 and gained 1 percent to trade at 57.31 versus the euro. (Reuters, 11.21.14).
The reserves data from IMF showed Russia raised its gold holdings for a seventh straight month in the same period — the country's longest such buying spree in more than a year. Russia added another 18.9 tons, taking its total to 1,168 tons — still the fifth biggest holding by a central bank. (Reuters, 11.21.14).
Capital outflow from Russia leaped to $28 billion in October, an amount equal to nearly half last year's total capital flight and the biggest monthly outflow so far this year, the Economic Development Ministry said in a report. The Central Bank earlier this month raised its capital flight forecast from $90 billion for the year to $128 billion. Capital flight was $63 billion last year and $57 billion in 2012, according to the regulator. (The Moscow Times, 11.21.14).
Russian inflation will exceed forecasts to reach 9 percent by the year's end and rise further in early 2015 because of the ruble's weakness, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said. (Reuters, 11.18.14).
Russia’s economy will sink into a recession next year if the price of oil slumps to $60 a barrel and the U.S. and its allies tighten sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. (Bloomberg, 11.18.14).
Russia's hard currency reserves have fallen by the equivalent of almost $100 billion in the past year to $428.6 billion, which represents a 20 percent decline from the levels of one year ago and is the lowest since early 2009. The steepest drop in reserves has been in Ukraine where they fell to $12.6 billion from $20.6 billion a year back. (Reuters, 11.19.14).
Russia’s second largest bank VTB Group on Thursday said its third-quarter profit fell by 90%, blaming the crisis in Ukraine and economic troubles at home. (Wall Street Journal, 11.20.14).
Western sanctions directly affect more than 50 percent of Russia's banking sector, which is dominated by state financial institutions, the report said, Standard & Poor's said in a report. (The Moscow Times, 11.19.14).
The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued 1.1 million tourist visas over the past 10 months, a 17 percent decrease compared with the 1.33 million visas issued for the same period last year. (The Moscow Times, 11.17.14).
Russian meat company Cherkizovo makes eightfold increase in profit from Western meat import ban. (Reuters, NT, 11.19.14).
The Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, approved a new tax law on Wednesday as part of President Vladimir Putin’s "deoffshorization" initiative designed to return Russian capital and assets from foreign jurisdictions. (Tass, 11.19.14).
Russia has completed fuel loading at unit 3 of the Rostov nuclear power plant. The loading of 163 fuel assemblies into the VVER-1000 pressurized water reactor followed regulatory approval last week to bring the unit to first criticality. (World Nuclear News, 11.20.14).
Russia’s Atomenergoproekt has announced the installation of the reactor containment building dome at unit 2 of the Novovoronezh II nuclear power plant. (World Nuclear News, 11.17.14).
Starting from 2017, Russia may start deploying its own high-latitude orbital station, according to sources in the space industry. Modules previously intended for ISS will be incorporated into new station. China is interested in building Russian rocket engines and joining manned space exploration, navigation satellite and remote sensing projects, Federal Space Agency Chief Oleg Ostapenko said. (Interfax, 11.18.14, Kommersant, 11.19.14).
Last year alone, the energy consumption of the Russian economy decreased by 5 percent. (The Moscow Times, 11.20.14).
President Vladimir Putin has backed Human Rights Commissioner Ella Pamfilova's proposal to devise a procedure of removing nongovernmental organizations from the register of foreign agents after their foreign funding ends. (Interfax, 11.17.14).
Russia has the world highest mortality rate amongst drug addicts, Federal Drug Control Service Chief Viktor Ivanov said. In Japan, which has an approximately equal population, drugs kill "about 95 percent fewer people than in Russia, and the average mortality rate is 91.7 percent smaller in Europe," Ivanov said. The rate of drug consumption in Russia has grown 1900 percent in the past 25 years, Ivanov reported. (Interfax, 11.65.14).

Defense:

"You can do a lot more with weapons and politeness than just politeness," Russian President Vladimir Putin said. The Russian president's remark was inspired while viewing a Moscow exhibition of armored personnel carriers and trucks billed as "polite armored vehicles." (Washington Post, 11.18.14).
High-ranking Chinese and Russian officials on Wednesday vowed to deepen military-industrial cooperation between their countries amid political unrest across the globe. "The strategic partnership between China and Russia has entered a new stage of development, which makes us very happy," Colonel General Xu Qiliang, Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, said. Citing "difficult" situations in the Pacific Rim, North Africa and elsewhere, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia's military and military-industrial cooperation with China is "acquiring a special significance”. Shoigu's words follow the two sides' agreement on Tuesday to hold joint naval exercises next year in both the Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. (The Moscow Times, 11.19.14).
During his visit to China Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday suggested setting up a joint Russian-Chinese center for traditional medicine for military personnel in Moscow. (The Moscow Times, 11.18.14).
Amid a buildup of Moscow's naval power, the Russian Navy is set to commission its third brand new Borey class nuclear missile submarine, the K-551 Vladimir Monomakh. (The Moscow Times, 11.21.14).
Russian crewmembers of the Mistral-class helicopter carrier Vladivostok have again embarked the ship awaiting its transfer to the Russian Navy. Russian Deputy Navy Commander Vice Admiral Alexander Fedotenkov has been appointed to take command of transferring the first Mistral-class helicopter carrier, the Vladivostok, from France to Russia. (Sputnik, 11.21.14, Interfax, 11.18.14).
A previously unknown Russian spacecraft conducting maneuvers characteristic of a satellite killer has sparked concerns that Russia's military provocations may soon extend to space, but experts say Russia is not the only major space power developing agile — and potentially deadly — capabilities in Earth's orbit. (The Moscow Times, 11.19.14).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

Islamic State commander Omar al-Shishani is very much alive, despite claims by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that the red-bearded militant was killed last week, a Georgian newspaper cited residents of his native Pankisi Gorge as saying. (The Moscow Times, 11,17.14).
Russian authorities say four alleged militants have been killed and two police officers wounded in a gun battle in the North Caucasus province of Chechnya. (RFE/RL, 11.18.14).
Officials in Russia's volatile North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan say local police have killed two suspected militants. Security troops started a counterterrorism operation in Dagestan’s southwestern Caspian Sea port city of Derbent shortly after midnight on November 21. (RFE/RL, 11.21.14).
A Russian lawmaker says a Ukrainian court's November 18^th decision to release a suspect in alleged plot to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin is politically motivated. (RFE/RL, 11.18.14).
Russian officials are considering outfitting local police units in the country's Far North with reindeer in an effort to apprehend criminals in the frozen tundra. (Washington Post, 11.20.14).

Foreign affairs and trade:

Leaders at the G20 summit in Australia say they have produced a plan to boost global growth by more than $2 trillion during the next five years. The plan seeks to boost global growth by 2.1 percent. Citing a long flight home and the need to catch a few hours of sleep, Russian President Vladimir Putin departed the Group of 20 summit in Australia early Sunday, after fielding a barrage of criticism from Western leaders over Russia's involvement in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 11.16.14, Washington Post, 11.17.14).
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper that there are no Russian troops in Ukraine. "I guess I'll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: you need to get out of Ukraine," Harper told Putin at G20. (Interfax, 11.15.14).
The European Union’s foreign ministers decided on Monday to impose more sanctions on individual separatists in Ukraine, but shied away from toughening sanctions against Russia despite its recent military incursions into Ukraine. (New York Times, 11.17.14).
Russia is seeking to interfere in countries across southeastern Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday. "This is not just about Ukraine," Ms. Merkel said in a question-and-answer session after giving a foreign-policy speech in Sydney. "This is about Moldova, this is about Georgia, and if this continues then one will have to ask about Serbia and one will have to ask about the countries of the Western Balkans." (Wall Street Journal, 11.19.14).
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has said he does not believe tighter sanctions against Russia will help resolve the Ukraine crisis even though Chancellor Angela Merkel said the EU was considering further sanctions. (Reuters, 11.17.14).
In Russia, “we have no possibility to affect the domestic development,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. “We feel our way forward, more in day-to-day business, trying to avoid military escalation.” “It cannot be that we conduct business as usual.” (New York Times, 11.20.14).
Former state premier Matthias Platzeck, chairman of the German-Russian Forum business lobby and erstwhile Social Democrat Chief, is the first high-ranking German to say the West should endorse the annexation as a way to help resolve the Ukraine crisis. (Reuters, 11.19.14).
Russia says it has expelled a German diplomat and several Polish diplomats in response to the recent expulsions of Russian diplomats. (RFE/RL, 11.17.14).
A former member of the Latvian parliament has expressed surprise over Russian media reports that said he was expelled from Russia for spying. (RFE/RL, 11.17.14).
Russia and China are providing facilities to treat people suffering from the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa. (RFE/RL, 11.17.14).
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Hungary as one of Russia's most important partners on Wednesday, giving his seal of approval to a budding relationship with a Soviet-era ally that is worrying some of its European Union allies. A senior Hungarian official said Wednesday that the country aimed to start building its stretch of the Russian-backed South Stream gas pipeline next year.(Reuters, 11.20.14).
RusHydro, one of Russia's largest power generating companies, is set to offer a majority stake in its Far Eastern subsidiary to Asian investors. While George Rizhinashvili, Deputy Head of the Board of RusHydro, did not name specific prospective investors, Kommersant cited unidentified sources in RusHydro as saying an offer to buy the company had been made to investors from China. (The Moscow Times, 11.21.14).
Pakistan and Russia have signed a cooperation agreement between their defense ministries. The deal was signed by Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif and his visiting Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on November 20. (RFE/RL, 11.20.14).
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Wednesday for deeper ties with North Korea to improve regional security, a day after holding talks with a personal envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Special envoy Choe Ryong Hae presented Putin with a letter from Kim that offered to restart the six-party nuclear negotiations that have been suspended for five years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported. (LA Times, 11.21.14, Reuters, 11.19.14).

Russia's neighbors:

The United Nations says fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed an average of 13 people a day since a cease-fire between government forces and pro-Russian rebels was signed on September 5. The UN rights agency said at least 4,317 people have been killed and 9,921 wounded since April in the conflict. It said 957 of the deaths were recorded between September 5 and November 18, a toll that reflects daily violations of the cease-fire deal signed in Minsk. The number of people registered as displaced within Ukraine soared from 275,489 in mid-September to 466,829 on November 19, the UN rights agency said. (RFE/RL, 11.20.14).
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued several decrees Saturday to shut state institutions and banking services in pro-Russian eastern regions, pressing a move to cut links with the rebel-held territory. (Washington Post, 11.16.14).
Russian President Vladimir Putin is convinced it should be possible to find a way to resolve the crisis in Ukraine but added he was concerned about the threat of ethnic cleansing. "Can one find a way out of this situation? Yes, I'm convinced there is a way," Putin said after criticizing the Ukraine government for using force, rather than dialogue, against its adversaries in the east to trigger the crisis. (Reuters, 11.17.14).
Russia is pressing Ukraine to hold direct talks with separatist leaders, but Kiev is refusing, saying this would imply recognition of 'people's republics' they have set up in eastern Ukraine. "We will not hold direct talks with your mercenaries," Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Wednesday. (Reuters, 11.19.14).
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was shouted down by angry relatives of 100 protesters killed in Kiev's "Euromaidan" revolution at a ceremony on Friday to pay tribute to the victims. And U.S. Vice President Biden abruptly canceled a wreath-laying ceremony Friday at a memorial marking Ukraine's pro-Western revolution after angry crowd gathered to demand justice for those killed in the unrest (Reuters, 11.21.14, Washington Post, 11.21.14).
Speaking in Kyiv, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that, "it is unacceptable for countries to attempt to redraw borders by force in Europe or intervene militarily because they don't like a decision their neighbors have made." He called on the new government to work toward greater integration with Europe and work for Ukraine's democratic and economic future. He said so long as Kyiv does that, the United States will be "at your side." (RFE/RL, 11.21.14).
The Obama administration is considering expanding its aid to Ukraine with what officials called "defensive" lethal military equipment. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that any arms shipments would constitute "a major change in policy of the administration in regard to the conflict" in Ukraine (Washington Post, 11.21.14).
Tony Blinken, the Deputy U.S. National Security Adviser, has said that the United States should reconsider its policy of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine. Blinken said providing Kyiv with lethal military aid may prompt Moscow "to think twice and deter them from further action." (RFE/RL, 11.19.14).
The United States plans to increase non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine, including deliveries of the first Humvee vehicles, having decided for now not to provide weapons, U.S. officials said. The new non-lethal aid Biden will present in Kiev includes Humvees from excess supplies in the Pentagon's inventory, as well as the delivery of previously promised radars that can detect the location of enemy mortars. (Reuters, 11.21.14).
In Moscow on Tuesday, Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that there was no end in sight to the conflict in Ukraine unless all parties to the Minsk accord stuck to the cease-fire. Steinmeier and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the deteriorating situation in Ukraine. Earlier on November 18, Steinmeier met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv. Yatsenyuk agreed that the basic points of the Minsk agreement "have not been fulfilled." (Time, RFE/RL, 11.19.14).
Prospects for peace in eastern Ukraine are "bleak," underscoring the need to uphold a shaky cease-fire between government forces and pro-Russian separatist rebels, a senior official from the OSCE security watchdog said Thursday. (Reuters, 11.19.14).
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says there has been a "serious military buildup" both in conflict-torn eastern Ukraine and on the Russian side of the border, and he has urged Moscow to pull back its forces. (RFE/RL, 11.18.14).
Russian national Igor Strelkov, a former commander of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine, has claimed "personal responsibility" for unleashing the conflict across the border, in which 4,300 people have been killed since April. "If our unit hadn't crossed the border, in the end everything would have fizzled out, like in [the Ukrainian city of] Kharkiv, like in Odessa," Strelkov said. (Moscow Times, 11.21.14).
Moscow is extremely alarmed by reports that Ukraine intends to notify the Council of Europe of its intention to derogate from its obligations under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in relation to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. (Interfax, 11.19.14).
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is preparing to send another humanitarian aid convoy to the conflict-torn regions in southeastern Ukraine on November 26-27. (Interfax, 11.19.14).
Recovery workers in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine have started collecting debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, four months after the plane was brought down. (AP, 11.16.14).
Ukraine slashed its gold reserves by more than a third in October, data from the International Monetary Fund showed. Ukraine ended last month with 26 tons of gold, down by 14 tons from September. (Reuters, 11.21.14).
Russia does not intend to demand early repayment of $3 billion that it lent to Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin said. (Reuters, 11.16.14).
The volume of gas kept in Ukrainian underground gas storages has fallen by about 8.4 percent since Kiev started pumping gas on Oct. 20 for heating in colder weather, state-run gas transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz said Monday. (Reuters, 11.17.14)
The European Union won't organize a donors' conference until Ukraine's government lays out a clear new economic strategy, the bloc's new enlargement chief said Friday. (Wall Street Journal, 11.15.14).
The regulatory authorities of Sweden, Norway and Ukraine have agreed to cooperate in making improvements to the regulatory guidelines of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine as well as establishing more robust safety systems at nuclear power plants in the country. (World Nuclear News, 11.19.14).
The core catcher for unit 2 of the nuclear power plant at Ostrovets in Belarus has been delivered to the construction site. (World Nuclear News, 11.19.14).
The Council of CIS Heads of Government approved the concept of nuclear and radiation safety in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The concept records key principles and tasks of mutual cooperation in ensuring nuclear and radiation safety, as well as priorities of their implementation. (Tass, 11.21.14).
On Nov. 18, exactly two decades have passed since Kazakhstan and the United States concluded Project Sapphire, a joint secret operation conducted in 1994 to remove approximately 600 kilograms of highly-enriched uranium from the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Eastern Kazakhstan. (Astana Times, 11.18.14).
Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB) estimates that about 300 Kazakhstanis – half of them women – are fighting in Syria for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), KNB Chairman Nurtai Abykayev said. He based his estimate on a November 2013 jihadist video showing about 150 Kazakhstani militants, purportedly in Syria. The Kazakhstanis fighting there have formed their own combat unit, Abykayev added. (Central Asia Online, 11.19.14).
The deputy chairman of Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security, Akram Amonov, says some 300 Tajik nationals are fighting alongside militants in Syria including the Islamic State group. (RFE/RL, 11.21.14).
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili insisted Monday that his country won't swerve from its Western track despite the recent departure of several top pro-European ministers. (Wall Street Journal, 11.17.14).
An estimated 30,000 opposition supporters have rallied in the Georgian capital against the government's Russia policy and the Kremlin's backing of separatists in the breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. (RFE/RL, 11.15.14).
Russia and Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia are working on a new "comprehensive agreement on integration," according to the head of administration for the breakaway region's de facto president. (RFE/RL, 11.21.14).
The United States has transferred to Georgia three detainees from the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (RFE/RL, 11.21.14).
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow will not pressure its "allies" to recognize Crimea as a part of Russia or to join it in recognizing Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions as independent states. (RFE/RL, 11.19.14).

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