Russia in Review, Feb. 24-March 3, 2017
I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda
Russia will support the candidacy of Yukiya Amano for his re-election as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA Board of Governors is expected to address Amano's re-election next week. (Interfax, 03.01.17)
Michael Anton, a senior official on U.S. President Donald Trump's embattled National Security Council, wrote in the public discussion forum of a men's fashion website that it is "inevitable" that an Islamic terrorist group will carry out a successful nuclear attack against the United States, and that in its aftermath the world "will regress hundreds of years politically." (Bioterrorism Week, 02.27.17, Intercept, 02.16.17)
Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:
Iran's official stock of enriched uranium has fallen by half after large amounts stuck in pipes have been recategorized as unrecoverable under a process agreed with major powers, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Feb. 24. (Reuters, 02.24.17)
Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:
U.S. President Donald Trump will propose a federal budget that would significantly increase defense-related spending by $54 billion while cutting other federal agencies by the same amount, an administration official said. The State Department's budget could be slashed by as much as 30%. The Kremlin says that U.S. plans to boost defense spending will not affect Russia unless they change the "strategic balances" between the former Cold War foes. In the meantime, U.S. lawmakers on March 2 unveiled a $578 billion spending bill to keep the U.S. armed forces operating through September. (The Washington Post, 02.27.17, RFE/RL, 02.27.17, RFE/RL, 03.02.17, VOA, 03.02.17)
The Russian Defense Ministry says the nation’s top military officer has spoken to his NATO counterpart for the first time in several years. The ministry said Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, had a phone call March 3 with Czech Army Gen. Petr Pavel, the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee. (AP, 03.03.17)
British Vice Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Gordon Messenger met Gen. Alexander Zhuravlev, the deputy chief of Russia's general staff, and discussed how best to prevent accidents and other incidents involving the two countries' militaries, the news agency said. (Reuters, 02.28.17)
The U.S. Army's top European commander on March 1 called on Russia to open to observers its major military exercise later this year to assuage the anxieties of its neighbors. Russia has unveiled plans to stage its Zapad 2017 exercise near its western borders this autumn but has not said how many troops will take part. (Reuters, 03.01.17)
NATO cannot deter Russia alone and must formulate a “grand strategy” for security in Europe with the EU, the alliance’s highest-ranking operational European officer has warned. “The threat from Russia is that through opportunism and mistakes and a lack of clarity regarding our deterrence, we find ourselves sliding into an unwanted conflict which has existential implications,” said Sir Adrian Bradshaw, a British general and NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander. (Financial Times, 03.02.17)
Britain is not Russia’s enemy, and should stop accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes in Syria, a committee of Britain’s parliament members have said, effectively calling for a reappraisal of relations with Moscow. Members of parliament from the foreign affairs committee said greater engagement was needed and criticized British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s Foreign Office for appearing “not to know what it wants.” (Financial Times, 03.01.17)
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on March 2 criticized Russia's military build-up on Russia’s borders with the Baltic States as irrational and said Germany would keep troops in the region for as long as needed. Gabriel visited about 400 German soldiers stationed in Rukla, Lithuania. (Reuters, 03.02.17)
Pro-Russian opposition leaders in Montenegro have asked the White House chief strategist to help block the Balkan country’s NATO bid. Two opposition officials wrote in a letter to Steve Bannon, a senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, that the U.S. Senate should vote against the accession. The vote has been stalled because of objections by two senators. (AP, 03.03.17)
European Union states will take the formal decision on March 6 to create a joint command center for the bloc's military missions, a symbolic step in the renewed quest for more security and defense cooperation, officials and diplomats in Brussels said. (Reuters, 03.03.17)
China and Russia have agreed to intensify their coordinated opposition to the deployment of a U.S. missile-defense system in South Korea, the Chinese foreign ministry said on March 1. (Reuters, 03.01.17)
"Trump's campaign slogan 'Make America great again', if that means nuclear supremacy, will return the world to the worst times of the arms race in the '50s and '60s," said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament. (Reuters, 02.24.17)
U.S. lawmakers on March 2 unveiled a defense bill that provides $980 million to train and equip foreign forces to combat the Islamic State extremist group. (VOA, 03.02.17)
During his first speech as president to a joint session of Congress, U.S. President Trump said his administration is “taking steps to protect our nation from radical Islamic terrorism.” Even after his national security adviser asked him to avoid using the term during his speech to Congress, Trump didn't hesitate in uttering those three words. (The Washington Post, 02.28.17)
Russia is urging U.S. President Donald Trump to help it resolve conflicts in Syria and Libya, where the Kremlin is finding it tough going after seizing the initiative in a bid to act as a leading power in the region. “We would like to see an active U.S. role” in Syria, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said in an interview in Geneva. “The United States is one of the most important players here.” (Bloomberg, 03.03.17)
There have been no substantial contacts between Russia and the new U.S. administration on the Syrian issue, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on March 3. "There have been no real progress in cooperation in combating terrorism, either, which causes regret," Peskov said noting that this "is probably so because the work [is] only beginning." (TASS, 03.03.17)
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin urged U.S. President Donald Trump to make good on his pledge to mount a joint fight against Islamic State in Syria. “Enough talk about it,” Fomin said. (Bloomberg, 03.01.17)
Russia has not discussed Western sanctions imposed on Moscow with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, and has not asked Washington to repeal them, Russian news agencies cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Feb. 28. But Ryabkov said it would be easier for Russia to work with the U.S. on the crisis in Syria if sanctions were lifted. (Reuters, 02.28.17)
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on Feb. 27 gave the White House a plan to “rapidly defeat” the Islamic State group, a Pentagon spokesman said. The strategy includes significant elements of the approach President Donald Trump inherited, while potentially deepening U.S. military involvement in Syria. (AP, 02.27.17)
Syrian army units were clearing land mines and explosives left behind by Islamic State militants in the historic town of Palmyra on March 3, a day after government troops and allied militiamen recaptured it from the extremists, a Syrian security official said. The Kremlin's spokesman said Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed by his defense minister that Syrian troops had gained control of Palmyra, with support from Russian warplanes. (AP, 03.02.17, AP, 03.03.17)
The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich left the port of Sevastopol in Crimea on Feb. 27 for the Mediterranean where it will join the country's naval forces deployed near the Syrian coast, a naval official said. (Reuters, 02.27.17)
Maj. Gen. Peter Melugin, head of the department for combat training at the headquarters of Russia’s Western military district, was seriously injured during the battle for Palmyra in Syria. (RBTH, 03.07.17)
The Syrian Air Force deliberately bombed a United Nations humanitarian aid convoy in September in what appeared to be a “meticulously planned” attack that amounted to a war crime, United Nations investigators said on March 1 in a report detailing a range of war crimes committed by forces on both sides of the conflict. (New York Times, 03.01.17)
The U.S. commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Syria says a Russian air strike in northern Syria accidently struck U.S.-backed Syrian Arab forces who are part of the fight against so-called Islamic State militants. Russia’s Defense Ministry said "neither Syrian nor Russian aviation delivered strikes against areas designated by the U.S. side" as locations of pro-U.S. opposition forces. (RFE/RL, 03.01.17)
Syria peace talks in Geneva showed a first flicker of movement on March 1, as the opposition said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's negotiators had been pushed by his Russian allies to address for the first time opposition demands for a political transition. Six days of U.N.-led talks, the first in nearly 10 months, have focused almost entirely on how to arrange more substantive talks in later rounds. (Reuters, 03.01.17)
Jaish al-Islam, the main opposition group at Syrian peace talks in Geneva, said last week it wants to meet Russian envoys to discuss what it says are Moscow's broken ceasefire promises, a move diplomats say aims to put pressure on the Russian-backed Syrian government delegation. (Reuters, 02.27.17)
Syrian peace talks involving the armed opposition and Russia, Iran and Turkey are scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan on March 14, Russian news agencies reported on March 1, citing a source close to the talks. (Reuters, 03.01.17)
Russia is struggling to salvage its bid to secure a deal to end six years of civil war in Syria as deepening differences with Iran risk a repeat of previous failed peace efforts led by the U.S. “Things aren’t going as smoothly as we would want” in the Geneva talks, President Vladimir Putin told reporters Feb. 28 during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. (Bloomberg, 02.28.17)
Russia and China have blocked a push by Western governments at the United Nations to punish the Syrian government over chemical weapons attacks, the latest in a string of vetoes by Moscow and Beijing on resolutions about the six-year-old conflict. New U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley directly confronted Russia and China over their positions, saying they were taking an indefensible stance by putting the protection of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime ahead of global security. (RFE/RL, 02.28.17, Wall Street Journal, 02.28.17)
No significant developments.
Russia’s alleged interference in U.S. elections:
U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers have come to a bipartisan agreement on the scope of a congressional probe into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The House Intelligence Committee said March 1 that it would examine the extent of the Russian cyber activity directed at the U.S., as well as the U.S. government response to those attempted intrusions. (Wall Street Journal, 03.02.17)
Congressional Republicans, straining to defend the Trump administration amid investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, resisted growing calls on March 2 for a special prosecutor or select congressional committee to review the matter, even as Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any inquiry. None of the Republicans joined the chorus of Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), demanding Sessions's immediate resignation. (New York Times, 03.02.17)
Top U.S. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer joined House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in calling March 2 for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ resignation after the government confirmed he met with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. while serving as a prominent surrogate for U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign. However, U.S. House of Representatives’ Republican Speaker Paul Ryan said on March 2 he saw no reason for Sessions to recuse himself from investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Sessions denied he had met with “any Russian officials to discuss issues of the campaign. I have no idea what this allegation is about. It is false,” he said. (Bloomberg, 03.02.17, The Washington Post, 03.02.17, Reuters, 03.02.17)
The U.S. Justice Department confirmed March 1 that Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke twice last year with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak while serving as a prominent supporter and adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, but said it was as a senator and member of the Armed Services Committee. One contact was at the Republican National Convention in July in Cleveland and the second was at Sessions’ office in Washington. (Bloomberg, 03.03.17)
Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Fox News that he did not know whether Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign. (The Washington Post, 03.03.17)
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), an early supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump's whose district narrowly voted for Hillary Clinton last year, said over the weekend that the Justice Department should consider appointing a special counsel to probe any links between the Kremlin and Trump associates. (Wall Street Journal, 02.26.17)
Russia's ambassador to the United States met with a number of aides to U.S. President Donald Trump during the election campaign last year besides current Attorney General Jeff Sessions, including Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House and U.S. media reports said on March 2. Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, spoke with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak at the same Heritage Foundation event where Sessions spoke to the ambassador last summer. Also, Trump's eldest son Donald Trump, Jr. was likely paid at least $50,000 for an appearance late last year before the Center of Political and Foreign, a French think tank whose founder and wife are allies of the Russian government in efforts to end the war in Syria. (Wall Street Journal, 03.02.17, RFE/RL, 03.02.17)
The White House acknowledged Feb. 24 that its chief of staff asked senior officials at the FBI to publicly refute a news report alleging repeated contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials, after it said the FBI told him the story was inaccurate. (Wall Street Journal, 02.24.17)
Republicans on Feb. 28 stifled a Democratic attempt to force the Justice Department to produce records related to its investigation of whether U.S. President Donald Trump and his campaign had secret ties to Russia. A powerful GOP committee chairman said, however, that he would urge federal authorities to continue their probe. (The Washington Post, 02.28.17)
White House lawyers have instructed the president’s aides to preserve materials that could be connected to Russian interference in the 2016 election and other related investigations, three administration officials said March 1. (AP, 03.02.17)
U.S. Democrats are charging that FBI Director James Comey declined to divulge all he knew about the agency's investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election at a closed-door meeting with the House Intelligence Committee. (RFE/RL, 03.02.17)
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is asking the Treasury Department to evaluate whether U.S. President Donald Trump and his family’s business associates and possible investors from Russia and other countries have violated U.S. laws against financing terrorism, money laundering and other illicit activities. (AP, 03.02.17)
In the Obama administration’s last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election—and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald Trump and Russians—across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isn’t duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators. (New York Times. 03.01.17)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has harshly criticized the current focus on U.S. officials' contacts with the Russian ambassador in Washington, describing the situation as a "witch hunt." He said that “all this is very much reminiscent of a witch hunt and the McCarthyism era, which we all thought was long gone.” (The Washington Post, 03.03.17, The Moscow Times, 03.03.17)
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said March 2 there was nothing extraordinary in its U.S. ambassador's contacts with officials in Washington during the U.S. presidential campaign last year. "If our diplomats are meeting with U.S. officials, it means they are working," said Maria Zakharova. (Wall Street Journal, 03.02.17)
Former U.S. President George W. Bush said Feb. 27 “we all need answers” on the extent of contact between President Donald Trump’s team and the Russian government, and didn’t rule out the idea that a special prosecutor could be necessary to lead an investigation. (AP, 02.27.17)
Former CIA Director John Brennan called for congressional committees looking into the possibility of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to “pursue this investigation with vigor and with the appropriate amount of bipartisan support.” (Bloomberg, 02.26.17)
The former British spy who authored a controversial dossier on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump’s political opponents alleging ties between Trump and Russia reached an agreement with the FBI a few weeks before the election for the bureau to pay him to continue his work, according to several people familiar with the arrangement. (The Washington Post, 02.28.17)
Oil prices fell nearly 2% on March 2 after Russian oil production remained unchanged at 11.11 million barrels per day in February, showing weak compliance with a global deal to curb supply to tighten the oversupplied market. At the same time, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak claimed that Russia may cut oil production as part of an OPEC-led agreement designed to boost prices faster than it had previously expected. (Reuters, 03.02.17, Reuters, 02.27.17)
Europe has wanted to wean itself from Russian natural gas since supplies from its eastern neighbor dropped during freezing weather in 2009. Almost a decade later, the region has never been more dependent. Gazprom shipped a record amount of gas to the European Union last year and accounts for about 34% of the EU’s use of the fuel. Russia will remain the biggest source of supply through 2035, Royal Dutch Shell Plc said. (Bloomberg, 02.28.17)
Chinese imports of Russian oil rose 36.5% in January 2017 from January 2016 to the equivalent of 1.08 million barrels per day (bpd), while those from Angola surged 63.5% to 1.16 million bpd. (Reuters, 02.27.17)
No significant developments.
A top Russian diplomat said Feb. 28 that preparations have started for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid growing questions in Washington about contacts between associates of the president and the Kremlin. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said there had been "no agreement yet as to the time and place of such a meeting, but practical preparations have been started," Russian news agencies reported. (Wall Street Journal, 02.28.17)
Russia has said it is waiting with "patience" for indications about the future course of Washington's policy toward Moscow. Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on March 1 that the Kremlin has "heard different statements from President [Donald] Trump." (RFE/RL, 03.01.17)
“There wasn’t a word about Russia,” Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the upper house of the Russian parliament, said regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress. “What’s behind that isn’t clear yet.” Trump didn’t mention Russia or Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Feb. 28 speech, even as he declared that the U.S. is “willing to find new friends, and to forge new partnerships, where shared interests align.” (Bloomberg, 03.01.17)
U.S. President Donald Trump is moving to name Fiona Hill, a former intelligence officer and well-known scholar of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as his top Russia adviser, according to a person familiar with the matter. (Bloomberg, 03.02.17)
Former Sen. Daniel Coats pledged on Feb. 28 that in his role as the nation’s next spy chief he would work with Congress to investigate allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections. (The Washington Post, 02.28.17)
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., who U.S. President Donald Trump has touted to lead his trade negotiations, was confirmed as secretary of commerce by the Senate in a 72-to-27 vote on Feb. 27. Ross’s confirmation was largely uncontroversial, though Sen. Cory Booker asked the billionaire in recent days to clarify his business ties to Russian shareholders while serving on the board of directors of a Cypriot bank. Sen. Chuck Schumer accused Ross of having questionable business ties to Russia. He said Ross and the Trump administration had failed to be forthcoming about the matter and described it as a troubling pattern. (The Washington Post, 02.27.17, New York Times, 02.27.17)
Russia’s adversaries in the U.S. Congress are preparing an “economic blockade” against Russia, by pushing a bill that would prevent President U.S. Donald Trump from easing sanctions against Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a statement Feb. 28. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.17)
The Kremlin, increasingly convinced that U.S. President Donald Trump will not fundamentally change relations with Russia, is instead seeking to bolster its global influence by exploiting what it considers weakness in Washington, according to political advisers, diplomats, journalists and other analysts. (New York Times, 02.28.17)
Alexander Posobilov, former employee of an electronics export company in the U.S. city of Houston, has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for his role in a scheme to illegally export about $50 million of microelectronics to Russia. (RFE/RL, 03.01.17)
The U.S. Senate may rename the street outside the Russian Embassy in Washington in honor of slain opposition activist Boris Nemtsov. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.17)
II. Russia’s domestic news
Politics, economy and energy:
The Russian government expects the country's gross domestic product to grow by 2% in 2017, pulling the country out of economic recession. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.17)
Russia is set to spend 209 billion rubles ($3.6 billion) in the next three years to boost the country's struggling Arctic regions. (The Moscow Times, 02.27.17)
Twenty-eight Russians on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index have added $24.4 billion to their fortunes since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president on Nov. 8. The 10.5% increase has lifted their combined wealth to $256 billion on the back of rallies for commodities and the ruble amid speculation that relations between Russia and the U.S. will improve. (Bloomberg, 03.01.17)
Russia has become the world’s biggest producer of beet sugar, outpacing France, the United States and Germany, Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said at the government meeting on March 2. (TASS, 03.02.17)
“Even if they lift sanctions, investment won’t flow,” Boris Titov, the Kremlin’s ombudsman for business, said in an interview in Moscow. “For the moment, the risks in Russia are too high and the returns too low.” (Bloomberg, 02.27.17)
The annexation of Crimea is one of the greatest sources of national pride for ordinary Russians, a survey by independent pollster the Levada Center has revealed. Some 43% of Russians said that they took pride in "returning Crimea to Russia," making it Russia's second most celebrated achievement. It was beaten only by Russia's victory in World War II, which was named as a source of pride by 83% of respondents. (The Moscow Times, 03.01.17)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that the country's anti-doping efforts "failed," but reiterated his claim that it has never had a state-sponsored system for using banned substances to boost performance in sports. (RFE/RL, 03.01.17)
Russia’s leading opposition figure has published a sweeping report accusing Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev of corruption, claims which the government has shrugged off as propaganda. In a report posted March 2, Alexei Navalny alleged Medvedev has amassed a collection of lavish mansions, yachts and vineyards managed by companies and charities controlled by his associates. (AP, 03.03.17)
While 33% of people who knew Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were prepared to vote for him in 2011, just 6% of respondents recognized his name. In 2017, some 47% of respondents recognized the opposition leader. From this larger group, 10% said that they would back Navalny at the polls, independent pollster the Levada Center has revealed. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.17)
Besides a march held on Feb. 26 in Moscow commemorating former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, who was killed two years ago, events in his memory also took place in others cities on the same day. (RFE/RL, 02.26.17)
A Moscow court has overturned the decision to fine independent Russian news outlet RBC for libeling Igor Sechin, oligarch and ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin. (The Moscow Times, 03.01.17)
Russia will test-fire an ICBM from a missile-equipped “death train” in 2019, according to Russian media. (The National Interest, 02.26.17)
The first full-size model of Russia’s future long-range bomber PAK DA, being developed for the Aerospace Force, has been created by the Tupolev company, a source in Russia’s defense-industrial complex told TASS. (TASS, 03.01.17)
Russia has developed a new artillery-launched small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that it is offering for export. Under the Russian concept, the UAV would be launched via a 300mm rocket shot from a Smerch Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) at ranges of roughly 90 kilometers. (The National Interest, 03.01.17)
“Psychological warfare has existed as long as man himself.” So begins a book purported to be an unauthorized reprint of the Russian military intelligence service (GRU) textbook on psychological warfare. The book was published in Minsk in 1999, but it has long been the basis of courses on psychological warfare for reserve officer training cadets at Moscow State University’s journalism department, former students say. (The Moscow Times, 03.01.17)
Security, law-enforcement and justice:
Russia has declined to fulfill recommendations of the European Court on Human Rights to combat torture during police detention. (The Moscow Times, 03.03.17)
Russian intelligence officers charged with betraying state secrets have been accused of covering up their meetings with foreign spies by pretending to act as Kremlin recruiters. The former Federal Security Service officers reportedly told colleagues that they wanted to recruit foreign agents to work for the Kremlin. Instead, they used their meetings to pass on classified information, the Interfax news agency reported Feb. 27. Treason charges brought against the suspects relate to allegations made by a Russian businessman seven years ago, according to the businessman and a source connected with the investigation. (Reuters, 02.26.17, The Moscow Times, 02.27.17)
The General Prosecutor’s Office reported a 9.6% reduction in the number of crimes in Russia in 2016 compared to 2015. Crime in Russia is now at lowest levels in five years. (RBTH, 02.27.17)
Opposition activist Ildar Dadin has been released from prison. The release came after a delay of several days as court paperwork made its way to the Altai IK-5 penal colony in western Siberia. (The Moscow Times, 02.26.17)
Russia has asked France to extradite Sergei Pugachyov, a fugitive banker and former lawmaker who once had close ties to the Kremlin. (RFE/RL, 03.02.17)
III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment
Russia’s general foreign policy and relations with “far abroad” countries:
The Russian government plans to invest $43 billion to upgrade its railway infrastructure in order to benefit from growing freight traffic between China and Europe, a senior official from Russian Railways said this week. (RBTH, 03.02.17)
The Russian central bank plans to open an office in Beijing in mid-March, a central bank official said March 1, as Moscow looks into borrowing in Chinese yuan. (Reuters, 03.01.17)
Sweden has moved to reintroduce conscription "as a response to the new security situation" in Europe, the country's defense minister told CNN March 2. (CNN, 03.02.17)
Japan is ready to propose a specific plan to Russia for the joint economic development of an island chain that both countries claim, The Nikkei Asia Review reports. (RFE/RL, 02.26.17)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met March 2 with Faez Sarraj, the prime minister of the unity government in Tripoli. Lavrov said that Russia, a “good and old friend” of Libya, would like to see it prosperous and united. (AP, 03.02.17)
Russia is proposing the creation of an OPEC-like organization for the global aluminum industry, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov as saying on Feb. 27. (Reuters, 02.27.17)
The European Union’s foreign policy chief faced pro-Russian chants and boos in the Serbian parliament on March 3 as she called for the integration of the Western Balkans into the 28-nation bloc. (AP, 03.03.17)
A court in Lithuania has sentenced two men, a Russian citizen and a former Lithuanian military officer, to prison on charges of spying for Russia. (RFE/RL, 02.28.17)
EU and Russian officials have warned of a potential ethnic conflict and geopolitical crisis in the Balkans after Macedonia’s president blocked the opposition leader from forming a government backed by a majority of parliament members. (Financial Times, 03.02.17)
Regarding the blockade of transportation between separatist-held parts of Donbas and the rest of Ukraine, maintained by Ukrainian war veterans and their supporters:
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on March 1 there had hardly been any progress in implementing the Minsk peace agreement for eastern Ukraine, which meant no lifting of sanctions against Russia was in sight. (Reuters, 03.01.17)
U.S. lawmakers on March 2 unveiled a bill to keep the U.S. armed forces operating through September. Some $150 million is allotted in the bill to supply Ukraine with lethal and nonlethal aid to counter Russian aggression. This would constitute only half of what the U.S. allocated for such aid in 2016. (VOA, 03.02.17, Gazeta.ru, 03.03.17)
The European Union has extended for a year sanctions against 15 people in Ukraine accused of misusing state funds. Sanctions against former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and senior members of his administration were first introduced in March 2014 and have been extended annually since. (AP, 03.03.17)
On an official visit to Kiev, British Foreign Secr
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has called on the government to find a way to forcibly end the blockade, and several blockade participants at two locations were attacked on March 1. (RFE/RL, 03.01.17)
Alexander Zakharchenko, the main pro-Russian separatist leader in Ukraine, said on March 3 he would cut economic ties between rebel territory and the rest of the country, following through on an ultimatum to end trade if the government did not halt a rail blockade. (Reuters, 03.03.17)
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine said on Feb. 27 they would take control of Ukraine-run businesses in rebel-held areas if the Ukrainian government does not end a rail blockade that has halted coal supplies. They then seized offices of a telecom firm and a charity controlled by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov. A fifth of a million phone users in Ukraine's rebel-controlled eastern city of Donetsk were cut off from the rest of the country on as a result. (Reuters, 02.27.17, BBC, 02.28.17, Reuters, 03.01.17, 03.01.17)
A company controlled by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine's richest man, said on March 2 that the seizure of some of its assets by Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country is "unacceptable." (RFE/RL, 03.02.17)
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman defended the separatist move to seize companies, saying that "regions that have been rejected by their state are in an increasingly difficult situation … in the conditions of a total blockade by extremist elements." (RFE/RL, 03.01.17)
