Latest Articles about Russia
Russia Moving From Conflict-Solving To Conquest-Guaranteeing in Transnistria
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's March 18 meeting with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and Transnistria leader Igor Smirnov (EDM, March 20) was designed to mark a qualitatively new stage in the long-running negotiations on the Transnistria conflict. While continuing to block the conflict resolution negotiations, Russia... MORE
Medvedev Plays Anti-Western Card to Promote Military Reform
On March 17 Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev addressed a session of the Ministry of Defense board in order to outline a large-scale rearmament program which will commence in 2011, designed to give the Russian armed forces a "new look" Medvedev used the occasion to pointedly... MORE
Russian Energy Companies Expand Their Operations in Central Europe
Russian energy companies have intensified their efforts to boost their presence in Central Europe, giving cause for concern that Moscow plans to continue using energy as a foreign policy tool to tighten its grip over the region. Just prior to the last energy crisis in... MORE
Voronin-Medvedev Accord Demolishes Moldova’s Negotiating Position on Transnistria
Apparently panicking in the run-up to the April 5 elections, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has hoisted the white flag of surrender on Transnistria in return for a pre-election endorsement from the Kremlin. The president can not run for a third term of office but his... MORE
Alternative Gas Suppliers Face Overproduction in Russia
Russia's independent natural gas producers (IGPs) account for a growing share of domestic output, but they are now facing turbulent times amid the global financial crisis and the subsequent domestic economic downturn, as well as problems with sales and gas transit. The role of independent... MORE
Turkish Government May Approve Construction of a Nuclear Power Plant in April
Russian Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko paid an official visit to Ankara to meet with Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler. At the meeting, Shmatko inquired when the Turkish authorities would make their final decision to allow the Russian-Turkish consortium to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant.... MORE
Medvedev Publicly Supports Serdyukov
Since 2000 the Russian defense budget has grown manifold, as did the country's oil wealth. Last fall a three-year (2009-2011) budget was approved that envisaged hikes in defense spending (see EDM, September 18). Soon after, a radical military reform plan was approved to drastically cut... MORE
Russian Anti-Crisis Policy Is Adrift Without Direction
Russia took part in two different economic forums last weekend where conflicting propositions for overcoming the global crisis were advanced. Moscow had little to contribute to any course. Finance ministers of the G20 gathered in Horsham, UK, to prepare the agenda for the summit of... MORE
Russia No Longer Controls the Situation in Dagestan
The events taking place in the largest North Caucasian republic raise serious questions about the degree of control that the local authorities—and primarily the law enforcement agencies led by Dagestani Interior Minister General Lieutenant Adilgirei Magomedtagirov—have over the situation on the ground. Early on March... MORE
Putin, Gazprom Bluffing to Hungarians on South Stream
On March 10 in Moscow, Gazprom and Hungary's Development Bank signed the initial documents for a joint venture to implement Gazprom's South Stream pipeline project on Hungarian territory. The respective chairmen, Alexei Miller and Janos Eros, signed the documents in the presence of Prime Ministers... MORE