for February 15-22, 2013
AΠΟ ΤΟΝ ΦΙΛΟ ΚΑΙ ΣΥΝΕΡΓΑΤΗ ΣΤΟ ΕΞΩΤΕΡΙΚΟ ΣΑΙΜΟΝ ΣΑΡΑΤΖΙΑΝ
I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda.
Nuclear security agenda:
· Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept says the country “stands
for strengthening of technical and physical nuclear security on the
global scale, and, in particular for strengthening of international
legal mechanisms of ensuring nuclear security and preventing of nuclear
terrorism acts.” (Russian Foreign Ministry, 02.18.13).
· Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi told a joint news conference in Moscow that their
countries would oppose any foreign military intervention in North Korea
over its recent nuclear test. (Reuters, 02.22.13).
· “We are against measures that would affect normal trade and
economic relations with North Korea. We understand our Chinese
colleagues have similar views,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov
said Tuesday. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).
· U.S. Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller on Thursday
showed cautious optimism on maintaining cooperation with Russia on the
Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program. She described a “very
positive environment” in negotiations last week to address Russia’s
coming withdrawal from CTR. (GSN, 02.21.13).
· An expert panel formed by Russia and the United States said
on Friday it is urging the governments to create a joint life sciences
funding mechanism that could help fill gaps left by two key bilateral
nonproliferation projects that are set to expire. Moscow is poised this
June to end participation in the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction
initiative and in 2015 to end collaboration with the International
Science and Technology Center. (GSN, 02.15.13).
· The U.S. Secretaries of State and Homeland Security are
warning that their departments’ efforts against weapons of mass
destruction would be compromised by major budget cuts set to be
implemented in a matter of days. (GSN, 02.20.13).
Iran nuclear issues:
· Russia does not object to bilateral dialogue between the
United States and Iran, but insists that this dialogue be transparent
and not harm Russian interests, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
Ryabkov told journalists. (Interfax, 02.21.13).
· The upcoming round of negotiations between the P5+1 group and
Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan, is not expected to produce any
breakthrough or sensation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei
Ryabkov said. (Interfax, 02.21.13).
NATO-Russia cooperation, including transit to and from Afghanistan:
· Moscow and the Western military alliance will conduct a
range of exercises this year, including a joint anti-terror drill in the
Paris metro, NATO Assistant Secretary General Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
said on Wednesday. National media reported that Russia and NATO want to
test a jointly developed device for screening crowds for hidden
explosives in Paris. (Moscow Times, 02.21.13).
· A direct phone line was established last week between General
Knud Bartels, the chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, and General
Staff head Valery Gerasimov, allowing both sides’ military leaders to
stay in touch. (Moscow Times, 02.21.13).
· The only NATO cargo that has been sent through Ulyanovsk so
far is a number of containers for the British contingent that were sent
from Camp Bastion in Afghanistan to Britain in December. A senior
diplomat from a NATO country said the route was considered too
expensive. (Moscow Times, 02.21.13).
· Russia has no plans to end US cargo traffic to Afghanistan
via its territory despite differences in relations between the two
states, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said on Tuesday.
(RIA Novosti, 02.19.13).
Missile defense:
· During his trip to Moscow National Security Advisor Thomas
Donilon may offer to delay the development of new high-speed
interceptors in the fourth phase of the European ballistic-missile
defence system due for deployment in 2021. Russia and the United States
have not yet reached an agreement on Donilon’s visit to Russia,
according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. (Interfax,
02.21.13, Economist, 02.23.13).
Nuclear arms control:
· Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept said: “Russia
consistently supports the constructive cooperation with the United
States in the field of arms control, taking into account the inseparable
link between strategic offensive and defensive means. …Russia will
consistently seek legal guarantees that the global U.S. missile defense
system, which is being built, is not directed against the Russian
nuclear deterrence forces.” (Russian Foreign Ministry, 02.18.13).
· President Obama’s plan to carry out a new round of
nuclear-warhead cuts will be announced soon, U.S. officials say. The
coming round of warhead-reduction talks with Russia was put on hold
partly as a result of the Senate delay in confirming Defense
Secretary-designate Chuck Hagel. (Washington Times, 02.20.13).
· U.S. Nuclear Posture Review Implementation Study will be
discussed at Mr Obama’s first post-election security cabinet meeting
next month. The president is wary of trying to get another treaty
through the Senate, so he is contemplating both accelerating the New
START reductions and, if agreement can be secured with Russia, moving
below the ceiling, perhaps to 1,000 warheads. Mr. Obama is also believed
to be keen to “de-alert” his nuclear forces. (Economist, 02.23.13).
· U.S. Under Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller said that
that “processes are under way” to begin negotiations with Moscow on
pursuing further strategic and tactical nuclear arms cuts.”It’s
interesting to me, however, that the Russians are talking about these
issues as issues that have to be worked in the process of considering
further reductions and further negotiations,” Gottemoeller added. (GSN,
02.21.13).
· The United States and Russia have exchanged over 3,600
notifications on the numbers, locations, and movements of our strategic
forces in compliance with the New START treaty. Over 70 Treaty on-site
inspections have been completed, according to Under Secretary of State
Rose Gottemoeller. (State Department, 02.21.13).
· A U.S.-Russian body charged with overseeing implementation of
the New START conducted a week of discussions that wrapped up on
Monday, the State Department announced. Participants formalized an
agreement on the exchange of telemetric data from ICBM and
submarine-fired missile trials. (GSN, 02.20.13).
· Former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory head John
Foster urged the U.S. government to develop nuclear weapons that could
be used to short-circuit enemies’ electrical infrastructure, to counter
similar capabilities possessed by Russia and China. (GSN, 02.20.13).
Counter-terrorism cooperation:
· No significant developments.
Cyber security:
· Though China is regarded as the most aggressive actor, other
countries are guilty of cyberespionage as well, according to Under
Secretary of State Robert D. Hormats. He cited Russia and India as two
countries active in the theft of intellectual property. (Washington
Post, 02.20.13).
Energy exports from CIS:
· No significant developments.
Bilateral economic ties:
· Rinat Dosmukhamedov, Russian Trade Representative to the
United States, said: “At the moment we’re considering a project that
involves cooperation between Russian small and medium-sized suppliers
and Wal-Mart, and we believe it is very promising.”(RBTH, 02.20.13).
Other bilateral issues:
· Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept said: “Russia builds its
relations with the United States taking into account the considerable
potential for development of mutually beneficial trade and investment,
scientific, technical and other cooperation as well as the special
responsibility of both countries for global strategic stability and the
state of international security in general.” (Russian Foreign Ministry,
02.18.13).
· U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke over the phone with
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Feb. 17 about Syria and North
Korea. Lavrov said Kerry did not take up the possibility of pursuing new
bilateral nuclear arsenal reductions. (Foreign Policy, 02.17.13, GSN,
02.19.13).
· Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to hand over to a
U.S. group a venerated collection of Jewish books and documents, as
ordered by a U.S. judge. Putin said February 19 that the Schneerson
Collection “belongs to Russia.” (RFE/RL, 02.20.13).
· Russian officials retreated from allegations of murder
against a Texas woman whose 3-year-old son adopted from Russia died in
late January, as investigators in the United States said the cause of
the boy’s death remained unclear. (New York Times, 02.22.13).
· Russian nuclear-capable Tu-95 Bear H bombers made an unusual
long-range strike-simulation flight over the western Pacific island of
Guam on Feb. 12. It was the third flight near U.S. airspace by Tu-95s
since June. (Washington Times, 02.20.13).
· Asked by the Public Opinion Foundation what comes to their
minds instantly when the U.S. is mentioned, 10% of those polled in
Russia said wars and interference in the affairs of other countries, 9%
said this is only a country on a political map to them, 8% perceive the
U.S. as a rich and well-to-do country, 5% said this is Russia’s enemy,
3% called the U.S. a great power and a progressive country each. The
number of those whose attitude toward the U.S. is negative has declined
to 18% from 29% since 2003, while the number of those treating this
country indifferently has grown by 15% to 56% from 41% in 2003
(Interfax, 02.15.13).
· The Silicon Valley aristocrats Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin
and Yuri Milner have jointly established the most lucrative annual prize
in the history of science to reward research into curing diseases and
extending human life. (Guardian, 02.20.13).
II. Russia news.
Domestic Politics, Economy and Energy:
· The Russian lower house has approved in the first reading a
set of amendments to the Law on Government that bans foreign bank
accounts and securities for top state officials. (Russia Today,
02.22.13).
· Russia’s central bank governor Sergei Ignatiev has lifted the
lid on $49bn in illegal capital flight last year more than half of
which, he says, was controlled “by one well-organised group of
individuals” that he declined to name. (Financial Times, 02.21.13).
· Sergei Glazyev, a Kremlin economic adviser, has emerged as a
leading contender to take charge at the country’s central bank this
summer. (Reuters, 02.21.13).
· Senior United Russia lawmaker Vladimir Pekhtin resigned
following accusations from opposition leader Alexei Navalny that he
owned undeclared property in the U.S.. His lead was followed by two more
United Russia lawmakers, Anatoly Lomakin, number 79 in the 2012 Russian
Forbes rating with a fortune of 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, and Vasily
Tolstopyatov. (The Moscow Times, Itar-Tass, 02.22.13).
· Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin is among the few politicians
capable of appeasing warring factions within the ruling elite and
becoming President Vladimir Putin’s successor, a report released by the
the influential Minchenko Consulting Group on Tuesday said. (Moscow
Times, 02.19.13).
· The hail of meteor pieces that hit Russia on Friday fell in a
region with a cluster of major nuclear facilities, including the
country’s largest nuclear fuel-processing plant, but officials said
early on that none of them were damaged and no radioactive contamination
has been detected. (RIA Novosti, 02.15.13).
· Russia is planning a 500 billion ruble ($17 billion) program
to clear bottlenecks from its overburdened road and rail networks to
help boost flagging economic growth, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor
Shuvalov said in an interview. (Wall Street Journal, 02.20.13).
· The Moscow Exchange began trading its own shares Friday. The
bourse, which was formed from the merger of the MICEX Index and the
dollar-denominated RTS, sold 15 billion rubles ($500 million) worth of
shares, indicating a valuation for the combined entity of about $4.2
billion. (Moscow Times, 02.18.13).
· Last year, life expectancy in Russia was 66.5 years,
according to estimates by the CIA World Factbook: 60.1 for men and 73.2
for women, compared with 78.5 years in the United States and 79.8 in the
European Union. (The Moscow Times, 02.21.13).
Defense:
· Project 955A submarines will carry 16 Bulava SLBMs, not 20,
as most reports previously stated. (Russian strategic nuclear forces,
02.21.13).
· The meteorite that exploded over Chelyabinsk on February 15,
2013 was not detected by Russia’s early warning radars because they were
never supposed to detect objects that are coming from outer space.
(Russian strategic nuclear forces, 02.17.13).
· The Russian Aerospace Defense Forces will develop a series of
measures aimed at protecting the Russian soil from falling meteorites
and other dangerous space objects, commander of the western military
district’s aviation Maj. Gen. Igor Makushev said on Wednesday. (RIA
Novosti, 02.20.13).
Security and law-enforcement:
· Some 10,000 instances of bribe-taking were registered in
Russia last year, according to Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the
Investigations Committee. The damage from corruption last year is
estimated at more than 20 billion rubles, Russian Prosecutor General
Yury Chaika said. (Interfax, 02.20.13).
· The estimated cost of fraud from the illegal sale of Russian
Defense Ministry property in the Oboronservis case has risen to over 13
billion rubles ($433 mln), Investigative Committee head Alexander
Bastrykin said on Thursday. (RIA Novosti, 02. 21.13).
· Investigators said Wednesday that former Defense Minister
Anatoly Serdyukov and his aide Yevgenia Vasilyeva have refused to
cooperate in the investigation into illegal property development by the
former minister’s brother-in-law. (Moscow Times, 02.20.13).
· Police detained two Uzbekistan nationals in the Moscow region
who are suspected of belonging to an international terrorist group that
recruited members and sent them to terrorist training camps in
Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on
its official website Tuesday. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).
Foreign affairs and trade:
· The West’s capabilities to dominate global politics continue
to dwindle, according to the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian
Federation. It adds that, considering the above, Russia is attaching
particular significance to the development of relations with China and
India. (RIA Novosti, 02.18.13).
· The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, has selected Moscow as his
first foreign visit as president, to be followed immediately by a trip
to South Africa for a BRICS summit next month. (New York Times,
02.13.13).
· Russia and the Arab League proposed Wednesday to broker talks
between the Syrian opposition and President Bashar al-Assad’s
government to try to resolve the country’s civil war. (Washington Post,
02.20.13).
· An Emergency Situations Ministry plane arrived at Moscow’s
Domodedovo Airport early Wednesday morning carrying 99 passengers
evacuated from Syria. (Moscow Times, 02.20.13).
· Moscow has said a Russian shipping container halted by
Finnish customs en route to Syria was “not carrying a government cargo”,
though Finnish authorities said earlier they had confiscated spare
parts for tanks. (Financial Times, 02.18.13).
· Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev held talks in Brasilia with
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Vice President Michel Temer to
broaden trade and cooperation. The first overseas Glonass ground station
for differential correction and monitoring to improve the navigation
system’s accuracy is due to be launched in Brazil this week. (Moscow
Times, 02.19.13, Wall Street Journal, 02.21.13).
· Finance ministers of the Group of 20 said Saturday that
global economic growth remains weak despite government measures, but
they agreed in Moscow to avoid currency wars intended to stimulate the
economy by devaluing their money. (Moscow Times, 02.18.13).
· The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development promised Friday that accession to the club of the world’s
most economically advanced countries won’t take Russia as long as its
entry into the World Trade Organization. (Moscow Times, 02.18.13).
· Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori was to have met
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week. Mori has earlier
said that Japan has the option of settling the dispute with Russia by
the return of three of the islands. (Japan Daily Press, 02.21.13).
· An easing of visa requirements for Europeans is unlikely,
even for next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, as officials from both
Moscow and the EU insist on their positions. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).
Russia’s neighbors:
· Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said his country
will not pay the $7 billion fine that Russia’s Gazprom is demanding for
gas Ukraine did not use in 2012. (RFE/RL, 02.22.13).
· Ukraine’s First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin says
his office has collected evidence that former President Leonid Kuchma
was involved in the brutal killing of investigative journalist Heorhiy
Gongadze. (Moscow Times, 02.20.13).
· A recent roof collapse at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
has posed no danger, and work on building a new, safer shelter over the
exploded reactor should resume within days, said Oleksandr Novikov, a
top Ukrainian official. (Moscow Times, 02.19.13).
· President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia easily won re-election to
a second five-year term, according to preliminary returns. The returns
showed Mr. Sargsyan with about 59 percent of the vote. The former
foreign minister, Raffi Hovanessian, was a distant second with about 37
percent, the returns showed. (New York Times, 02.20.13).
· NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO’s
decision that Georgia and Ukraine will eventually join the alliance
“still stands.” But he warned there was “serious concern” about
Ukraine’s use of “selective justice.” (RFE/RL, 02.22.13).
· Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has vowed to
continue Georgia’s pro-Western policies while also repairing relations
with Russia. (BBC, 02.16.13).
· Georgia’s justice minister Tea Tsulukiani is meeting U.S. to
reassure them that recent arrests of former government officials are not
politically motivated. (AP, 02.22.13).
· In Dushanbe U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central
Asian Affairs Robert Blake has called on Tajikistan’s leadership to hold
a fair, democratic, and transparent presidential election in November.
(RFE/RL, 02.20.13).
· Two alleged members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir organization
have been arrested in Kyrgyzstan’s southern city of Jalal-Abad. On
February 19, five other suspected members of the group were arrested in
the area. (RFE/RL, 02.22.13).
