Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
Belarusians Bristle at Russian Land Claims on Belarus
Russian imperialists have insisted that more than any other place within the former Soviet space, Belarus is artificial. They reach this conclusion on the basis that Belarus is culturally related to Russia on many measures, had only a brief experience with national independence before 1991, and—what they see as their trump card—underwent frequent...
Moscow Displays New Military Hardware Amid Rising Tensions (Part One)
Advanced preparations for the annual Victory Day (May 9) military parade in Red Square have revealed numerous examples of cutting-edge hardware entering service in the Russian Armed Forces. Controversy surrounds this year’s parade, which is set to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War (Russian term for World War...
Russia’s Refusal to Restructure Debt Hinders Assistance Plan for Ukraine
Ukraine has to generate $15.3 billion over four years with the help of a debt restructuring plan agreed, last March, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF, which approved a new $17.5 billion loan for Ukraine and issued the first $4.9 billion tranche, expects that Ukraine and its creditors will agree on the terms of Ukraine’s...
Gazprom Must Compromise on EU Charges, but Putin Cannot
The European Commission delivered, on April 22, a “statement of objections” resulting from its probe launched back in September 2012, which amounts to charging Gazprom with abusing its dominant position on the gas market in several EU member states. The content of the charges has been less consequential than many experts had expected, and the...
Racism in Russia and the 2018 World Cup
Adolf Hitler’s birthday, April 20, is traditionally a time when the Russian Far Right (along with extremist organizations all over the world) “celebrate” by attacking those who are ethnically and culturally different (see EDM, April 29, 2013). The most notable event this year was the dispersal by OMON (Russian riot police) of neo-Nazis in a...
Putin Outlines Current Policy Toward Ukraine (Part Two)
Addressing Russia’s populace and, implicitly, Ukraine in his annual phone-in dialogue (see Part One in EDM, April 23), Russian President Vladimir Putin torpedoed the Minsk Two agreement beyond repair: “I say outright and unequivocally: there are no Russian forces in Ukraine” (Kremlin.ru, April 17). Quite apart from the United States’...
Putin Outlines Current Policy Toward Ukraine (Part One)
In his annual phone-in conversation with Russia’s populace and in follow-up interviews, President Vladimir Putin has expounded at length on Russia’s current policy objectives regarding Ukraine (Interfax, Kremlin.ru, April 16, 17). Putin’s remarks evidenced both strategic consistency and tactical adjustments necessitated by...
Russia Paying Steep Price for Annexing Crimea
This week (April 21), Russian prime minister and former president Dmitry Medvedev spent several hours presenting to the State Duma (lower house of parliament) the annual government report on policies and achievements in 2014, as required by the constitution. According to Medvedev, Russia is under siege and “there should be no illusions—the...
Ukraine’s Ineffectual Information Ministry: Underfunded or Misconceived?
Informational warfare has been a critical part of Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine. As Russian military reporter and veteran of the Russia’s two wars in Chechnya, Arkadiy Babchenko, argues, “I believe this [the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war] is the first war in the entire history triggered solely by Goebbels-style propaganda. Had...
Politically Independent Cossacks Warned About Becoming Labeled ‘US Agents’
Mikhail Vederinkov, the presidential plenipotentiary for the North Caucasus Federal District, told a meeting of senior Cossack officials that they must clear any candidates for the position of ataman (chieftain) with him in advance or face charges that they are agents of the US Department of State (Gorodskoitelegraf.ru, April 14). Vederinkov said...
