Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
Ukraine Faces Early Election if No One Is Found to Replace Prime Minister Yatsenyuk
On the sidelines of the March 31–April 1 nuclear security summit, in Washington, DC, the United States’ President Barack Obama made it clear to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that the US will not issue $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine until a new government is in place (President.gov.ua, April 1). And Vice President Joe Biden...
Freedom Day and Belarus’s Ongoing Quest for Identity
On March 25, opposition-minded Belarusians celebrated Freedom Day (Dzen Voli). On that day, in 1918, the Belarusian People’s Republic (BPR) was proclaimed in Minsk, under German military occupation. The quasi-state lasted barely eight months, when, on December 10, 1918, the Red Army recaptured Minsk. The Belarusian opposition has always...
New Momentum in the Russia-China Partnership
Many observers of the Russo-Chinese relationship continue to believe that it is merely a marriage or axis of convenience, which will only last as long as it does not damage its two players’ other rational interests. This attitude clearly embodies the distinctive belief, particularly prevalent in the United States, that all...
US Diplomacy Feeds Putin’s Sense of Self-Righteousness
President Vladimir Putin may have every reason to be satisfied with the visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry to Moscow last Thursday (March 24). Their meeting lasted no less than four hours, and prior to it, Kerry had a long and remarkably cheerful face-to-face conversation with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to observant...
Moldova’s Chief of General Staff Dismissed After Long Feud With Defense Minister
On March 18, the Moldovan government initiated the dismissal of the commander of the National Army, Brigadier General Igor Gorgan, after a months-long feud with Defense Minister Anatol Șalaru (Deschide.md, March 18). Once approved by the president, this would be the fourth reshuffle of the army’s leadership since the pro-European...
Arrest of an ‘Oligarch’ in Belarus
On March 11, Yury Chyzh, one of Belarus’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, was arrested. Chyzh heads Triple, a conglomerate with 5,000 employees and assets in various businesses, including the oil trade, construction, the import of alcoholic beverages, the hotel industry and other sectors. By the standards of Russia or Ukraine, Chyzh is no...
Russian Opposition Meets Abroad, Calls for Greater Democratization and Federalism at Home
The first ever meeting of the Forum of Free Russia took place on March 9–10, in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was a unique public event, featuring a direct dialogue between Russian political emigrants and oppositional activists still residing in Russia. Such a conference would be impossible to hold in present-day Russia. And indeed, many of its exile...
Kazakhstan Faces Militarization of the Caspian
In late February, Russian TV channel Zvezda, which is wholly owned by the Ministry of Defense, broadcast a video about a new type of assault boat that will be commissioned next year as part of Russia’s strategy to boost its coastal defense. The Murena-class fast assault air-cushion craft will run on a couple of high-temperature gas turbine...
Number of People Registered in Russia as Extremists Continues to Grow
In an attempt to decrease tensions in the North Caucasus, the Russian authorities set out to register all potential extremists who might carry out a terrorist attack, in the opinion of the police and the Federal Security Service (FSB). Since the start of 2016, reports started to emerge detailing the number of extremists and their locations. In...
The Brussels Terrorist Attacks: An Opportunity to Promote Putin’s Agenda
Following the March 22 terrorist attacks in Brussels, which killed over 30 people and injured hundreds, Russian officials responded by calling for unity in opposing the Islamic State (IS). They proposed burying the hatchet on all other issues to concentrate on fighting terrorism. The chair of the Duma foreign relations committee, Alexei Pushkov,...
