This Week’s Highlights

• “Formal agreements or formal treaties were not on the table in the conversation, but the straightforward notion that the United States, flanked by our European allies and partners, would be prepared to talk to Russia about strategic issues in the European theater—that was on the table, and we are prepared to do that,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in reference to the outcomes of the  2-hour video conference between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Dec. 7. Speaking one day after his video conference with Putin, Biden said he hopes to announce by Dec. 10 a meeting soon between the United States, its major allies in Europe and Russia for talks on Moscow's concerns about NATO expansion. Speaking one day after the with Biden, Putin said Moscow will send proposals to the United States within a week after agreeing with Biden to appoint envoys to continue talks on security across Europe. In a follow-up to the Dec. 7 video conference, the Russian foreign ministry on Dec. 10 published a list of proposals that include a demand that NATO withdraw its 2008 pledge to admit Ukraine and Georgia to the alliance. During their Dec. 7 video conference call, Biden and Putin also discussed Iran, the U.S.-Russia dialogue on strategic stability, cyber security and constrains on each others’ diplomatic missions, but neither side’s readouts mentioned either Crimea or domestic politics in Russia.
• Following the Dec. 7 video meeting of Biden and Putin, the AP reported that Biden administration officials have suggested that the U.S. will press Ukraine to formally cede a measure of autonomy within its eastern Donbass region. Moreover, senior U.S. State Department officials have told Ukraine that NATO membership is unlikely to be approved in the next decade, according to a person familiar with those private talks who spoke on condition of anonymity, according to the AP.
• India and Russia announced expanding defense ties on Dec. 6 during a visit by Putin to New Delhi, including the details of a $5.4 billion S-400 missile defense system sale to India. “Supplies have begun this month,” India’s foreign secretary, Harsh Vardhar Shringla, told reporters in reference to the five S-400 systems, The New York Times reports. India and Russia signed a $600 million deal to locally manufacture 600,000 Russian AK-203 rifles, RFE/RL reports, and an additional agreement to extend cooperation between the countries on military technology for 2021 to 2031.
• Russia’s state statistics agency, Rosstat, has tallied 74,893 deaths from COVID-19 in October, the highest monthly number since the pandemic began, RFE/RL reports. Russia also confirmed its first two reported cases of the Omicron variant this week, according to The Moscow Times. According to a November-December Levada Center poll, more than half (53%) of Russians are not afraid of contracting coronavirus, while 45% are afraid.
• Russian billionaires have amassed an extra $145 billion so far in 2021—a 30% jump in their net worth—as the country’s ultra-rich continue to benefit from the global economic recovery, according to Forbes.
• Russia intends to invite foreign military contingents to participate in the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) strategic command and staff exercise that will run next September, Chief-of-Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Gerasimov said, according to TASS.

I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda

Nuclear security:

• Corey Hinderstein was sworn in as the Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. (National Nuclear Security Administration, 12,06.21)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• The Russian Embassy to North Korea continues working normally, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said commenting on media reports alleging that very few Russian diplomats remained in Pyongyang. (Interfax, 12.09.21)
• Marking International Human Rights Day, the Biden administration announced on Dec. 10 that it has levied sanctions against a Russian university, called the European Institute Justo, and its provost, Dmitriy Yurevich Soin, for exploiting a student visa program for North Koreans, allowing them to work in Russia. The foreign currency earnings for the North Koreans, the Treasury Department said, goes to support Pyongyang’s “unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.” (The Hill, 12.10.21)

Iran and its nuclear program:

• “The President [Joe Biden] and President Putin had a good discussion on the Iran issue.  It was productive. Russia and the United States actually worked well together, even in tense circumstances back in the 2014-2015 period, to produce the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. This is an area where Russia and the United States can continue to consult closely to ensure that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon,” U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a briefing after Biden and Putin spoke via a video-link for two hours on Dec. 7. During the meeting, Putin noted the importance of the full implementation of the JCPOA within the originally agreed framework, according to the Kremlin’s readout of the meeting.  Putin and Biden expressed hope that the negotiations on this issue, which resumed at the end of November in Vienna, will be held in a constructive spirit and will lead to decisions acceptable to all participants, according to the Kremlin readout. (WhiteHouse.gov, 12.07.21, Kremlin.ru, 12.07.21, Russia Matters, 12.07.21)
  • One day after speaking to Biden on Dec. 7, Putin said he and the U.S. leader “spoke about the Iranian problem.” “Of course, we will inform our Iranian friends and partners in detail about our dialogue with the Americans on this score,” Putin said. “I hope that my invitation will be accepted by the President of Iran, and he will be able to visit Russia early next year.” (Russia Matters, 12.08.21)
• White House spokesperson Jen Psaki warned on Dec. 9 that the U.S. would take “additional measures” to block Iran’s ability to earn revenue if diplomacy over the country’s nuclear program fails. Earlier The U.S. and European powers voiced disappointment at what they said was Iran’s lack of seriousness in the latest round of negotiations on reviving JCPOA. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Dec. 3 that the talks were paused because Iran does not seem to be serious about doing what is necessary to return to compliance with the deal. (RFE/RL, 12.03.21, RFE/RL, 12.09.21)
• Negotiations over the JCPOA have not led to any understanding of when the Iran nuclear deal will resume, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Dec. 9. (TASS, 12.09.21)

Great Power rivalry/New Cold War/NATO-Russia relations:

• In his comments on the video meeting of U.S. President Joe Biden with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Dec. 7, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “[F]ormal agreements or formal treaties were not on the table in the conversation today, but the straightforward notion that the United States, flanked by our European allies and partners, would be prepared to talk to Russia about strategic issues in the European theater—that was on the table, and we are prepared to do that.” “What the right mechanism for that is, what the agenda for that is, and what comes of that—that is all to be worked out as we see how things proceed in the coming days,” he added. (The Washington Post, 12.07.21, WhiteHouse.gov, 12.07.21)
• According to the White House readout of the Biden-Putin video call: “Biden … made clear that the U.S. and our Allies would respond with strong economic and other measures in the event of military escalation” in Ukraine. Speaking one day after the meeting, Biden said he had warned Putin that the U.S. would retaliate with sanctio“s "like none’he's ever s”en" in the event of a Russian assault on Ukraine. He also said th“t "we would probably be required to reinforce our presence in NATO countries to reassure particularly those in the eastern flank. In addition to that, I made it clear that we would provide a defensive capability to the Ukrainians as well.” However, Biden also said the U.S. will not send troops to Ukraine to defend against any potential Russian invasio“. "The idea the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia invading Ukraine is not on the cards right n”w," Biden sai“. "We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies under Article 5.’It's a sacred obligation. That obligation does not extend to...Ukrai”e," which is not a member of the military alliance, Biden said. (The New York Times, 12.07.21, The Wall Street Journal, 12.07.21, WhiteHouse.gov, 12.07.21, The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.08.21, RFE/RL, 12.08.21)
  • During a briefing on the Biden-Putin video meeting, Sullivan said Biden cited the potential for “high-impact economic measures” against Russia and warned Washington would be forced to back its NATO allies in Europe with new forces and materiel should Russia further invade Ukraine. “We have experts from the Treasury Department, the State Department and the National Security Council in daily contact with the key capitals and with Brussels” to discuss what punitive steps could be taken jointly against Russia, he said. (The Washington Post, 12.07.21, WhiteHouse.gov, 12.07.21)
  • According to Bloomberg, the sanctions would include fresh restrictions on the Russian ruble, Russian sovereign debt, and on some of the country’s largest financial institutions. Under discussion are steps as extreme as cutting off Russia’s access to the international financial settlement system, called SWIFT, and a series of restrictions on its banks like those honed in the effort to impose sanctions on Iran. (The New York Times, 12.06.21)
    • One former senior OFAC official says: “SWIFT is just one mechanism. There are other means to do direct payments between banks. They could go back to using telexes, as they did in the past.” (Financial Times, 12.10.21)

• During their video conference on Dec. 7 Putin told Biden that Russia has a serious interest in obtaining reliable, legally binding guarantees that would exclude eastward expansion of NATO and deployment of offensive strike weapons systems in the states that are adjacent to Russia, according to Kremlin’s readout of the conference. Speaking one day after the meeting, Putin said Moscow will send proposals to the United States within a week after agreeing with Biden to appoint envoys to continue talks on security across Europe.  The Russian leader stressed that NATO expanding eastwards is “a "very sensitive" issue for Russia. "It is one of the key questions in preserving Russia's security,” he said. During his Dec. 8 comments on the video-call, Putin refused to say if Moscow planned to move troops massing on Ukraine's frontier across the border, but said that simply watching NATO move closer to Russia would amount “o "criminal inaction." Putin also told Biden that Russia shouldn’t have to withdraw troops from its own territory when “they do not threaten anyone,” according to Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov. At the end of the meeting, Putin underlined that the stakes in the current crisis were higher for Russia than they were for the United States, Ushakov said. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21,  Financial Times, 12.08.21, The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.08.21, The New York Times, 12.08.21)
• In a follow-up to the Dec. 7 video conference between Putin and Biden, the Russian foreign ministry on Dec. 10 published a list of proposals that include demands that NATO withdraw its 2008 pledge to admit Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance and that NATO refrains from deploying attack systems on the territories of countries that neighbor Russia. The foreign ministry also called on the U.S. to readopt the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told a news conference Dec. 10 that Moscow did not expect the U.S. to agree to its demands immediately, but warned of consequences if they were ignored. (Russia Matters, 12.10.21, Financial Times 12.10.21.)
• The White House said Biden called the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy after his call with Putin to follow up on coordination between the leaders that took place Dec. 6 ahead of the Putin talks. Speaking one day after his video conference with Putin, Biden said he hopes to announce a meeting soon between the U.S., its major allies in Europe and Russia for talks on Moscow's concerns about NATO expansion. Biden said he hoped to announce the meeting by Dec. 10 and said it would involve envoys from at least four major NATO allies and Russia. The envoys would discuss “the future of Russia’s concern relative to NATO writ large and whether or not we could work out any accommodations as it relates to bringing down the temperature along the eastern front [in Ukraine]," Biden said. “We hope by Friday we’re gonna be able to say, announce to you, we’re having meetings at a higher level,” Biden said Dec. 8. (RFE/RL, 12.09.21, Financial Times, 12.09.21, The Moscow Times, 12.07.21, AP, 12.10.21)
• French President Emmanuel Macron said Dec. 9 that he plans to hold a virtual meeting with Putin next week to try to de-escalate tensions around Ukraine. France on Dec. 8 warned Moscow it would face "strategic and massive consequences" if Russia attacked Ukraine, noting that in phone calls between five major Western allies—France, Britain, Italy, Germany and the United States—there was a "determination that the sovereignty of Ukraine be respected." Macron also said he had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Dec. 10 and that he would be meeting with Zelenskiy next week. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21, RFE/RL, 12.10.21, RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• Asked at a press conference on Dec. 7 about the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany was watching the Russian troop movements “with great concern,” adding it “would be a completely unacceptable situation if Ukraine were to be threatened.” But asked if he would pull the plug on Nord Stream 2 if Russia invaded Ukraine, Scholz demurred. (Financial Times, 12.08.21, RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, told EU ambassadors the bloc would “respond appropriately to any further aggressions” and take “additional restrictive measures” beyond economic sanctions in case of an invasion. EU sanctions being discussed would focus on ways to target Russia’s economy and financial system, Western diplomats said. (Financial Times, 12.07.21)
• Biden called the leaders of nine NATO members in Eastern Europe and discussed the Russian military buildup. Biden promised the so-called Bucharest Nine—Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—"additional military capabilities" and pledged to involve them in decisions about the region, Lithuanian presidential adviser Asta Skaisgiryte said. But a White House statement did not mention specific military aid. (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• Zelenskiy called the Putin-Biden meeting "positive," with the victory for Kyiv lying in the fact that "the United States has always supported Ukraine, our sovereignty and independence." "But the most important thing is that now we see a real and personal reaction from President Biden and his personal role in resolving the conflict," he added. Biden spoke to Zelenskiy on Dec. 9 to reaffirm the United States' unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the White House said. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21, RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
  • “We ... believe that there should be an alternative pathway by which we can make progress on diplomacy in the Donbass, through the Minsk Agreement and the Normandy Format, and by which we can address NATO and American security concerns and Russian security concerns through a larger mechanism consistent with the way we’ve operated over the course of the past 30 years,” U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a briefing following the video conference of Biden and Putin on Dec. 7. Prior to the video meeting, White House officials had been gaming out a series of scenarios with Biden, including that the Russian president comes with a series of demands that go well beyond the familiar one that Ukraine can never join NATO. They include a reorientation of Ukraine away from the West, and back into Moscow’s orbit. (WhiteHouse.gov, 12.07.21, The New York Times, 12.06.21) 
  • Biden administration officials have suggested that the U.S. will press Ukraine to formally cede a measure of autonomy within its eastern Donbass region, which is now under de facto control by Russia-backed separatists who rose up against Kyiv in 2014. (AP, 12.10.21)
  • Senior U.S. State Department officials have told Ukraine that NATO membership is unlikely to be approved in the next decade, according to a person familiar with those private talks who spoke on condition of anonymity. (AP, 12.10.21)
• Moscow has said that a U.S. plane threatened civilian aircraft but "catastrophe" was avoided when a Russian passenger plane dived to avoid the NATO reconnaissance aircraft that crossed its path above the Black Sea. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova indicated on Sunday that the reconnaissance aircraft belonged to the U.S. (AFP, 12.05.21)
• On Dec. 8 Russia sent planes to intercept and "escort" three French military planes flying near its borders in the Black Sea, in a rise of tensions. Moscow's defense ministry said its pilots escorted French Mirage-2000 and Rafale planes after stopping them from violating the Russian border. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.08.21)
• Finland’s president Sauli Niinistö says his most useful insight from 12 meetings with his Russian counterpart is that Putin is fixated on mutual respect: he scorns signs of weakness but also nurtures a deep desire to be taken seriously. “This is, with the Russians, most important: that you don’t undermine or ignore them,” Niinisto said. (Times of London, 12.04.21)
• Five weeks ago, Niinistö hosted Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary- general of NATO, who was paying his first official visit to Helsinki and pointedly said the “door was open” to Finland joining the alliance. (Times of London, 12.04.21)

China-Russia: Allied or Aligned?

• China views the talks between the Russian and U.S. presidents as a step toward improving relations between the countries and stabilizing the situation in the world, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Dec. 8. (TASS, 12.08.21)
• Russia and China are set to engage in more joint defense activities after they signed a roadmap for military cooperation last month, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, said Dec. 9. "The roadmap to develop cooperation and military security up to 2025 was signed between Russia and China on Nov. 23. The document stipulates that joint drills, air and sea patrols will continue," he told foreign military attaches. (TASS, 12.10.21)
• The Kremlin on Dec. 7 criticized the U.S. for announcing a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, saying the Games should be "free of politics." (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.07.21)
• Attempts by China or Russia to expand their territory by invasions of Taiwan or Ukraine, respectively, would be serious mistakes with severe consequences, Blinken said Dec. 7. (The Wall Street Journal, 12.07.21)
• First Kazakh President and Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev has thanked the leadership of Russia and China for their support in determining Kazakhstan's borders after the country gained independence. (Interfax, 12.07.21)
• The U.S. military has completed construction on the Long Range Discrimination Radar for an Alaska-based missile-defense system that can track intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Pentagon says. The system will be based at the Clear Space Force Station, about 300 miles north of the city of Anchorage. (RFE/RL, 12.07.21)

Nuclear arms control/strategic stability:

• The Biden administration is considering ways to provide more clarity on the circumstances in which Washington would use nuclear weapons, sparking concerns from European and Asian allies that any clarification would weaken U.S. nuclear deterrence against Russia and China. In recent consultations over the nuclear posture review that Washington is conducting, U.S. officials have reassured allies in Europe and Asia that Biden would not adopt a “no first use” policy for nuclear weapons, according to officials from allied capitals and experts familiar with the talks. But U.S. officials have indicated they will soon give Biden options for a form of declaratory policy known as “sole purpose,” which would provide some clarity about the circumstances in which nuclear weapons could be used. Allies had strongly voiced objections to Washington, the people said. (Financial Times, 12.09.21)
• During their Dec. 7 video conference call, Biden and Putin discussed the U.S.-Russia dialogue on strategic stability, according to the White House readout of the conference. (Russia Matters, 12.07.21)

Counter-terrorism:

• No significant developments.

Conflict in Syria:

• As Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has struggled to retain power in Syria and his hunt for cash has grown more desperate, he has repeatedly shaken up his inner circle—even as the regime shakes down former loyalists. More than 90% of Syrians now live in poverty, according to the U.N. (The Washington Post, 12.04.21)
• Russia and Turkey have accomplished their 210th joint patrolling mission in the Syrian province of al-Hasakah. (Interfax, 12.06.21)
• Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone conversation on the situation in Syria and expressed their appreciation for the cooperation to stabilize the situation there, the Kremlin’s press service briefed on Dec. 3 following the results of the leaders’ talks. (TASS, 12.03.21)

Cyber security:

• During their Dec. 7 video conference call, Biden and Putin had a “separate dialogue” on ransomware, according to the White House readout of the call. When exchanging views on information security, the two leaders emphasized the importance of an actively ongoing dialogue on this topic and expressed their readiness to continue practical cooperation in the criminal procedural and operational-technical areas of the fight against cybercrime,  according to Kremlin’s readout of the conference. Speaking one day after the conference, Putin said he and Biden spoke about cyber security, noting that “we stated that after our meeting in Geneva we managed to make significant progress in this area. A constructive dialogue has been established, it is ongoing, appropriate structures have been created, information exchange has been established, and it is positive and yields positive results.” (Russia Matters,12.08.21)
• Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced as “shameful” a London court’s decision that will allow the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States. (The Moscow Times, 12.10.21)
• Russian national Oleg Koshkin has been sentenced to four years in prison for operating a “crypting” service that helped hackers infect computers around the world with malware, the U.S. Justice Department announced Dec. 9. Koshkin provided services to Russian national Pyotr Levashov, the operator of the Kelihos botnet that compromised more than 50,000 computers before it was dismantled by the FBI. (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)

Energy exports from CIS:

• The U.S. is putting pressure on Germany to block Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as part of a package of sanctions that would be implemented in the event of Putin invading Ukraine. Sullivan, who listened in to the Putin-Biden call, said “if Vladimir Putin wants to see gas flow through that pipeline, he may not want to take the risk of invading Ukraine.” Also on Dec. 7, Victoria Nuland, senior U.S. state department official, said she thought Germany was ready to partake in significant actions against Russia if Putin were to invade Ukraine. (Financial Times, 12.07.21)
  • The U.S. House of Representatives raced on Dec. 7 to pass a $768 billion defense policy bill after lawmakers abruptly dropped proposals that would have imposed sanctions for Nord Stream 2, in a late-year drive to salvage a bipartisan priority. (The New York Times, 12.07.21)
  • Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russian media in the hours after Dec. 7’s call that Nord Stream 2 didn’t come up at all during the conversation between Putin and Biden. (The Washington Post, 12.07.21)
• To fully abide by EU regulations, Nord Stream 2 will also have to find a way to show that other companies have access to the pipeline and regulated tariffs, analysts say. Without the former, Gazprom, which has a monopoly on pipeline gas exports from Russia, may not be able to run the pipeline at full capacity. The Russian government has considered opening up pipeline gas exports to Russia’s second-largest gas producer Rosneft—a step Gazprom has previously opposed but which may expedite the EU’s approval for Nord Stream 2. (Financial Times, 12.08.21)

U.S.-Russian economic ties:

• No significant developments.

U.S.-Russian relations in general:

• During their video-conference, Biden and Putin discussed difficulties which the “curtailed" diplomatic missions of both countries experience in their work, according to the Kremlin’s readout of the conference. The Russian side proposed to nullify all the restrictions on the functioning of diplomatic missions, which have accumulated, according to the readout.  “President Biden is open to creating functioning diplomatic missions in both countries, but he didn’t make any specific commitments with respect to the best pathway to do that. What he said was that, as leaders, President Biden and President Putin should direct their teams to figure out how we ensure that the embassy platform in Moscow is able to function effectively and as we believe the embassy platform here in Washington is able to operate effectively for the Russians,” Sullivan told a post-summit briefing Dec. 7. The two leaders also talked about the implementation of the results of their June 2021 summit, according to the Kremlin’s readout. The two presidents also tasked their teams to follow up on the outcomes of their Dec. 7 conference, according to the White House readout. Biden and Putin agreed to instruct their representatives to engage in “substantive consultations on sensitive issues,” according to the Kremlin’s readout. (WhiteHouse.gov, 12.07.21, Kremlin.ru, 12.07.21, Russia Matters, 12.07.21)
• In general, the Dec. 7 conversation between Putin and Biden was frank and businesslike, according to the Kremlin readout of the event. In a brief video clip of the virtual meeting’s start posted online by Russian state media, the two leaders appeared to exchange friendly greetings, with the American president, who prides himself on his rapport with foreign leaders, smiling and waving to his Russian counterpart and telling him, “Good to see you again.” Yuri Ushakov, a presidential aide to Putin, characterized the talks as frank and businesslike in tone. At the same time “there was a place for jokes, for the exchange of compliments,” he said. (The New York Times, 12.07.21,The Wall Street Journal, 12.09.21 )
• Biden has warned of a “backward slide” in rights and democracy around the globe as he opened a virtual summit with representatives from some 100 countries. In a Dec. 9 speech opening a two-day Summit for Democracy, Biden called for renewed commitments to preserve democracies against the spread of authoritarianism. Biden said trends are “largely pointing in the wrong direction” and that democracy needs “champions.” (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• Russian search engine Yandex is more likely to promote conspiracy theory-related content in its search results than any other major search engine, according to a new study published Dec. 8. More than half of Yandex’s first-page search results for controversial terms such as “flat earth” and “George Soros” were for pages that promoted conspiracy theories, researchers at the University of Zurich found. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.08.21)
• A court in Moscow has ordered Google to pay another fine, this time 5 million rubles ($67,600), for violating the country’s rules on banned content. (RFE/RL, 12.07.21)
• U.S.-born businessman August Meyer who has operated in Russia since 1999 has been jailed by a St. Petersburg court on suspicion of fraud, in a sign of the increasing judicial threat hanging over both national and foreign executives. (Financial Times, 12.09.21)

 

II. Russia’s domestic policies

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

• Russia's state statistics agency, Rosstat, has tallied 74,893 deaths from COVID-19 in October, the highest monthly number since the pandemic began. (RFE/RL, 12.03.21) Here’s a link to RFE/RL’s interactive map of the virus’ spread around the world, including in Russia and the rest of post-Soviet Eurasia.
• Russia has confirmed its first reported cases of the Omicron variant. The new strain was detected in two people who traveled into the country from South Africa. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.10.21)
• More than half (53%) of Russians are not afraid of contracting coronavirus, while 45% are afraid, according to a November-December poll by the Levada Center pollster. The number of Russians who have been vaccinated continues to grow and at the end of November reached 46%. At the same time, the number of those who are not ready to be vaccinated continues to decline; since April this year, their number has almost halved to 36% of Russians. (Russia Matters, 12.07.21)
• Russian billionaires have amassed an extra $145 billion so far in 2021—a 30% jump in their net worth—as the country’s ultra-rich continue to benefit from the global economic recovery, according to Forbes. Russia’s billionaires have a combined wealth of $630 billion, the magazine estimated. The cohort’s jump in 2021 was the third largest, behind only American and Indian billionaires. The biggest climber has been Tatyana Bakalchuk, Russia’s richest woman and founder of the country’s top online retail outlet Wildberries. Bakalchuk is worth an estimated $13 billion according to Forbes. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.09.21)
• Temperature contrasts in Russia reached 85.6 degrees Celsius on Dec. 8, the biggest difference in a single country since 1954, according to data from the Climate Reanalyzer website. The temperature in Shatoy in the southern republic of Chechnya reached 24.5 C, while 6,000 kilometers away in Oymyakon in the republic of Sakha it dropped to -61.1 C. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.10.21)
• The Russian government's draft plan to become carbon neutral includes a scenario that aims to reduce net carbon emissions to 630 million tons by 2050 from 1.6 billion tons in 2019. Meanwhile, Russia is already planning to increase the production of coal through 2035. Coal production has topped 400 million tons annually since 2017, with more than 50% exported. (The Wall Street Journal, 12.04.21)
• Russia's saw another month of declining car sales in November, as units sold (excluding Mercedes-Benz and BMW) were down 20.4% year on year at 125,466 units, according to the latest report published by AEB Dec. 6. (bne IntelliNews, 12.07.21)
• Putin has lost 8% in a Levada Center poll measuring the share he would win if presidential elections were held tomorrow, but he is still far in front of any other potential candidate.  Putin lost 8% in the poll between April 2014 when he commanded a whopping 49% of the poll to 32% this November as his popularity slowly wanes. (bne IntelliNews, 12.10.21)
• The number of Russians expecting protests that would feature economic demands has increased, according to Levada’s November survey. In August 2021, 26% of respondents considered these protests possible, in November the number rose to 30%. At the same time, the willingness to participate in such protests decreased: 24% in August 2021, 21% in November. (Russia Matters, 12.10.21)
• A survey by Putin’s own presidential security service found that more than 75% of Russian businessmen felt unsafe from unfounded criminal prosecution by the state and that 18% of prosecutors agreed with them. (Financial Times, 12.09.21)
• Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s investigation into Putin’s alleged $1.3 billion palace was the most popular video on Russian YouTube in 2021, the video platform announced Dec. 6. To date, it has been viewed over 119 million times. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.07.21)
• Aleksandr Chernikov, the former head of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups in Russia's far-western exclave of Kaliningrad, told the Novy Kaliningrad newspaper on Dec. 6 that he and his family are currently in the U.S. where they have asked for political asylum. (RFE/RL, 12.06.21)
• Russia's media regulator has blocked the online anonymity service Tor in what is seen as the latest move by Moscow to bring the Internet in Russia under its control. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21)
• Authoritarian leaders are undermining the media and democratic institutions at the peril of peace, Dmitry Muratov, a joint winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, said on Dec. 9 ahead of the award ceremony in Norway's capital. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.10.21)
• Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and longtime sidekick to Putin, has won a new five-year term as chairman of the ruling United Russia party. He was chosen unanimously at a party congress on Dec. 4 that also returned other veteran leaders to senior posts. Boris Gryzlov was reelected as United Russia's chairman of the supreme party council, a post he has held since 2002. (RFE/RL, 12.05.21)  

Defense and aerospace:

• Russia intends to invite foreign military contingents to participate in the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) strategic command and staff exercise that will run next September, General Chief-of-Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said. (TASS, 12.10.21)
• Russia’s nuclear triad deters a potential enemy and over 95% of the launchers of the ground-based strategic nuclear forces are ready for combat employment, Gerasimov said. (TASS, 12.10.21)
• The trials of the Tsirkon shipborne hypersonic missile system are successfully nearing their completion, Gerasimov said at a briefing for foreign military attaches. (TASS, 12.10.21)
• A Japanese billionaire arrived at the International Space Station on Dec. 8, marking Russia's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from the United States. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier on Dec. 8. A Roscosmos livefeed showed the hatch of the Soyuz MS-20 capsule open at 16:11 GMT, showing Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin entering the ISS, followed by Maezawa and Hirano. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.09.21)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Europe has also become a major transit point for shipping cocaine east to Russia, and to Asian and Middle Eastern countries, according to the EU’s drug agency. (The New York Times, 12.04.21)
• A gunman opened fire in a government services center in Moscow and killed two people, after being told to wear a face mask, local authorities and media said. Four people were also reported wounded. (RFE/RL, 12.07.21)
• Russia's Supreme Court has annulled the sentences of two former neo-Nazi activists convicted of involvement in the killing of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in 2009. The Supreme Court decision comes after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in February that the 2011 trial of Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis, former members of the neo-Nazi group called Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists (BORN), was not fair and that the case must be revised. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21)

 

III. Russia’s relations with other countries

Russia’s general foreign policy and relations with “far abroad” countries:

• Russian and Indian foreign ministers have discussed strategic stability issues against the background of the dismantling of most arms control treaties, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Russian-Indian 2+2 consultations by the two countries’ defense and foreign ministers on Dec. 6. (TASS, 12.06.21)
• India and Russia announced expanding defense ties on Dec. 6 during a visit by Putin to New Delhi, including the details of a $5.4 billion S-400 missile defense system sale to India. “Supplies have begun this month,” India’s foreign secretary, Harsh Vardhar Shringla, told reporters. The five S-400 systems that India agreed to buy for $5.4 billion in 2018 were scheduled to be delivered by 2023. In addition to the S-400 missile defense system, India and Russia signed a $600 million deal to locally manufacture 600,000 Russian AK-203 rifles and an additional agreement to extend cooperation between the countries on military technology for 2021 to 2031. Also on the agenda, according to the officials, is an agreement on using logistics facilities at each other's ports and military installations that mirrors similar pacts India has signed with the U.S. and several American allies. “In the last few decades, several fundamentals have changed,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in welcoming Putin. “New geopolitical angles have emerged. Amidst all such variables, Indo-Russian friendship has been constant.” (The New York Times, 12.06.21, The Wall Street Journal, 12.05.21, RFE/RL, 12.06.21)
  • The U.S. hasn’t decided whether to grant India a waiver for Russian arms purchases under CAATSA, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Nov. 23. (RFE/RL, 12.06.21)
• Germany’s new government is promising a tougher stance toward Russia and China. The language on Russia in the governing coalition’s agreement, is “very sober,” according to Jana Puglierin of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Germany is no longer looking for good relations with Russia,” she said, “but for stable relations and constructive dialogue.” (The New York Times, 12.08.21)
• Putin said on Dec. 8 he wanted "constructive" ties with Germany's new leader Olaf Scholz and thanked the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I look forward to establishing constructive dialogue with you and joint work on pressing matters on the bilateral and international agenda," Putin said in a congratulatory telegram to Scholz, the Kremlin said. In a separate telegram to Merkel, Putin thanked her for cooperation over the past 16 years and readiness for "mutually respectful dialogue," using the familiar "ty" form of address in his message rather than the formal "vy." “We were always in contact and tried to find ways out of even the most difficult situations,” he wrote, using the informal form of address, to the departing German leader, who over the years stood up to him, even when he tried to intimidate her with his dog. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.08.21, The New York Times, 12.08.21)
• German federal prosecutors have demanded life in prison without parole for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian man accused of murdering Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity, in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten Park in August 2019—allegedly on the orders of Moscow. The request was made to a Berlin court on Dec. 7 after 14 months of trial. (RFE/RL, 12.07.21)
• Pope Francis said on Dec. 6 that plans were in the works for a possible second meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and that he would be willing to travel to Moscow for the encounter. “Because talking with a brother, there are no protocols,” Francis said of Patriarch Kirill, who leads the Russian Orthodox Church. “We are brothers. We say things to each other’s face like brothers.” (The New York Times, 12.06.21)
• Russia has broken into the world’s top 10 chocolate exporters for the first time, surpassing Switzerland’s famed chocolatiers for the value of products sold abroad, according to U.N. trade data. Russia exported $839 million worth of chocolate in the year to September 2021, ITC Trademap and U.N. Comtrade data cited by the Russian Association of Confectionery Producers, compared to Switzerland’s $819 million. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.08.21)
• Russia will return to Greece the pre-war archives of Jewish communities that were stolen by Nazi forces, the country's Jewish council said Dec. 9. (AFP, 12.09.21)
• Putin said he is hoping for World Health Organization (WHO) approval soon for Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine so that it can be used more broadly around the world. (RFE/RL, 12.05.21)

Ukraine:

• Prior to the Biden-Putin video conference on Dec. 7, U.S. intelligence had found the Kremlin was planning a multi-front offensive as soon as early next year involving extensive movement of 100 battalion tactical groups with an estimated 175,000 personnel, along with armor, artillery and equipment, according to U.S. officials and an intelligence document obtained by The Washington Post. (The Washington Post, 12.03.21.)
  • The unclassified U.S. intelligence document obtained by The Post, which includes satellite photos, shows Russian forces massing in four locations. Currently, 50 battlefield tactical groups are deployed, along with “newly arrived” tanks and artillery, according to the document. (The Washington Post, 12.03.21.)
  • According to a Biden administration official, half the Russian units were already near Ukraine’s border, having arrived in the past month. Russia had already moved to established a “ready reserve of contract reservists” to prepare for the offensive, according to the official. A Biden administration official raised concerns about the “sudden and rapid program to establish a ready reserve of contract reservists,” which the official said is expected to add an additional 100,000 troops to the approximately 70,000 deployed now. (The Washington Post, 12.03.21., Financial Times, 12.04.21)
  • Speaking on Saturday, Lloyd Austin, U.S. defense secretary, said: “As we look at the numbers of forces that are in the border region, as we look at some of the things that are occurring in the information space, if you look at what’s going on in the cyber domain, it really raises our concern,” (Financial Times, 12.04.21)
  • Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley said: "There's significant national security interests of the United States and of NATO member states at stake here if there was an overt act of aggressive action militarily by the Russians into a nation state that has been independent since 1991.” (The Wall Street Journal, 12.04.21)
  • The U.S. National Security Council said Washington was “deeply concerned by evidence that Russia was stepping up its planning for significant military action against Ukraine.” (Financial Times, 12.04.21)
  • The Biden administration is exploring options for a potential evacuation of U.S. citizens from Ukraine if Russia were to invade the country and create a dire security situation, half a dozen sources tell CNN. (CNN, 12.07.21)
• Tensions remained high on Dec. 9, with Moscow accusing Ukraine of "provocation" over an incident involving one of its warships sailing near the Kerch Strait. Russia's FSB said a Ukrainian vessel had headed toward the Kerch Strait that separates Russia and the Crimean peninsula and failed to acknowledge a Russian request to change course. (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• “Unfortunately, Ukraine needs to be objective at this stage,” said Gen. Kyrylo O. Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence service. “There are not sufficient military resources for repelling a full-scale attack by Russia if it begins without the support of Western forces.” Gen. Budanov outlined his nightmare vision of a Russian invasion that would begin with airstrikes and rocket attacks aimed initially at ammunition depots and trench-bound troops. Very quickly, he said, the Ukrainian military would be incapacitated, its leadership unable to coordinate a defense and supply the front. After that, he said, responsibility would fall to frontline commanders to carry on the fight alone. Some analysts say Russian missile strikes to destroy Ukrainian assets, especially its Bayraktar drones, are more likely than a ground invasion. (The New York Times, 12.09.21, Financial Times, 12.09.21)
• Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov Reznikov said he detected a split within the NATO military alliance over how far to go in supporting Ukraine. What was needed, he said, was a “quick response” from its allies that would help it address a lack of anti-aircraft missiles, modern warplanes and naval craft, as well as electronic jamming equipment. But just as important, he said, would be Canadian, U.S. and British soldiers visibly deployed to positions near the frontline. (Globe and Mail, 12.05.21)
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the frontline positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donbass conflict area on Dec. 6. (Interfax, 12.06.21)
• U.S. officials said that there was an effort underway to send additional defensive weapons, including anti-tank Javelins, to Ukraine. In an interview with Radio Liberty this month, Gen. Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the commander of the Joint Operation Forces fighting the separatists, said the Javelins had already been deployed to military units in eastern Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military issues, confirmed that Javelin missiles had been deployed to frontline military units a month ago, but had not yet been fired in battle. (The New York Times, 12.09.21, The New York Times, 12.06.21) 
• "We don't know whether Russian President Putin has made a decision to attack Ukraine or overthrow its government but we do know he is building the capacity to do so," Victoria Nuland, the No. 3 official at State, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (The Washington Post, 12.07.21)
• In a briefing for reporters, a senior Biden administration official said there had been a “significant spike in social media pushing Russian propaganda” that followed the pattern of Russian actions in 2014, just before the invasion and annexation of Crimea. (The New York Times, 12.06.21)
• Britain has said that it wants Russia to de-escalate tensions along the Ukrainian border. "You've seen the increasing deployment on the border and clearly we need to address that," a spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters Dec. 6. "We think that Russia needs to step back and de-escalate the tensions there." (RFE/RL, 12.06.21)
• EU and NATO allies have swung behind the Biden administration’s assessment that Russia may be poised to invade Ukraine following unprecedented sharing of U.S. intelligence on Moscow’s military preparations. The quantity of material and detail shared among the other 29 NATO allies was described by one official as “extremely comprehensive.” (Financial Times, 12.07.21)
• Putin on Dec. 9 said: "You and I know what is happening in Donbass," referring to the conflict zone in the east of the country, adding that: "It certainly looks like genocide." (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.10.21)
• "There is only one way to defuse tensions—to understand how to ensure against the possible intentions of Kyiv to solve the Donbass problem through force," Dmitry Peskov said ahead of the Putin-Biden video call. The spokesman drew attention to "an aggressive and hostile rhetoric coming from Europe’s capital cities" and from Washington on the situation around Ukraine. "We see clearly deliberate leaks in Western, as we say Anglo-Saxon media, which publicize various plans of Russia’s alleged invasion of Ukraine," Peskov said. (TASS, 12.06.21)
• Gerasimov called the claim of a possible Russian invasion "a lie." He also warned Ukraine against trying to launch an offensive against the separatists in eastern Ukraine, saying any such action will be "suppressed." (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• “No one in Russia is going to attack Ukraine," Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said. "Russia is perfectly aware of what is going on in Ukraine. Both local events and the plans made by NATO and the Americans are unacceptable to Russia and to us as a neighbor," Lukashenko said. “A lot will change this month. We will see the outcome of the situation unfolding between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea," he said. "I think that the outcome—I believe it will be a very big one—will manifest itself after the New Year," Lukashenko said. (Interfax, 12.06.21)
• The Belarusian Defense Ministry has summoned Ukraine's military attaché to protest what the ministry said were "increasing violations" of Belarus's airspace by Ukrainian aircraft. (RFE/RL, 12.05.21)
• The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a $770 billion defense bill that provides funding for Ukraine's military and Baltic stability and pushes back against China. Ukraine's military will receive $300 million under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, while $4 billion is earmarked for the European Defense Initiative and $150 million for Baltic security cooperation. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21)
• Ukraine has completed customs formalities and sent the Sich-2-30 satellite to the U.S. from where it will be put into orbit in January 2022, the Dnipro customs press service said on Dec. 6. (Interfax, 12.06.21)
• Bayraktar has sold dozens of drones to Ukraine since 2019 and a deal is in the pipeline for Turkey to co-produce space rockets similar to Ukraine’s Zenit-2, according to Bloomberg. It was after Ukraine used a Bayraktar drone to attack a howitzer operated by Russian-backed separatists in late October that concern about potential escalation grew, according to The New York Times. Russia called the strike a destabilizing act that violated the cease-fire agreement, raising fears of a new intervention in Ukraine that could draw the U.S. and Europe into a new phase of the conflict, according to this U.S. daily. (Russia Matters, 12.05.21)  
• The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, in accordance with the state defense procurement order for 2021, purchased complexes of unmanned aerial vehicles with a total value of almost UAH 50 million. (Interfax, 12.10.21)
• The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Andriy Portnov, a former lawmaker and deputy head of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration, accusing him of buying influence in Ukraine's judiciary. (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• Some 72% of Ukrainians say Russia is a “hostile state,” according to new polling conducted amid a tense standoff between the two countries. Just 12% of Ukrainians said they see Russia as an ally, according to the Dec. 6-8 survey by Ukrainian polling organization Rating Group published Dec. 10. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.10.21)

Russia's other post-Soviet neighbors:

• The Armenian Defense Ministry has said that Azerbaijan’s armed forces on Dec. 10 tried to carry out an attack toward the Armenian army’s positions on the eastern section of the border. Tensions on this section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border remain for a second day running. On Dec. 9 morning, the Armenian Defense Ministry said Armenian forces had come under fire on the eastern section of the border from Azerbaijan. (TASS, 12.10.21)
• Azerbaijan has freed 10 Armenian soldiers captured during deadly border clashes last month. In return, Armenia handed over maps detailing the location of minefields in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan's State Security Service said Dec. 4, adding that Russia mediated the exchange. (RFE/RL, 12.05.21)
• The United Nations’ top court has ordered both Armenia and Azerbaijan to work to prevent racial hatred and discrimination and ease their feud following last year's war over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region. The International Court of Justice also told Azerbaijan on Dec. 7 to protect Armenian prisoners from the conflict and to stop the desecration of Armenian cultural heritage. (RFE/RL, 12.07.21)
• Latvia's parliament has voted to allow a probe against Janis Adamsons, a former interior minister and a lawmaker from the opposition Social Democratic Saskana (Harmony) party, who is accused of spying for Russia. (RFE/RL, 12.09.21)
• U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, and five other Senate Democrats called on the U.S. administration to press Uzbekistan’s leaders on human rights issues during an upcoming dialogue session. Representatives from the two nations are due to meet later this month in the first Strategic Partnership Dialogue. (RFE/RL, 12.07.21)
• Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has signed a law creating a mass amnesty as part of commemorations marking the 30th anniversary of the Central Asian nation's independence. According to the law, which was signed by Toqaev Dec. 7, more than 2,300 inmates and over 11,000 men and women on parole will be affected by the amnesty. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21)
• Amnesty International says four Kazakh activists have had their mobile devices infected with Pegasus spyware in what it said further shows that the malicious software is being used by governments to try to "silence social movements and crush dissent." (RFE/RL, 12.09.21)
• Blinken announced the winners of the U.S. State Department's 2021 Anti-Corruption Champions Award on Dec. 8, calling those selected "individuals who have demonstrated leadership, courage and impact in preventing, exposing and combating corruption." Kazakh journalist Zhamilya Maricheva, who works for the Protenge investigative journalism project, was among the winners of the prestigious award. (RFE/RL, 12.09.21)
• Taliban fighters have been accused of helping to forcibly evict more than 1,000 people in northern Afghanistan, with the evictions targeting members of the ethnic Uzbek and Turkmen communities. (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• Biden’s pick to serve as the country’s top banking regulator withdrew her nomination after Republican attacks about her Soviet upbringing and concerns among moderate Democrats.  Saule Omarova, a Kazakh-American law professor, had been tapped by the White House to be the next head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a position that has wide oversight of the U.S. banking system. (RFE/RL, 12.08.21)
• Britain says it will send 140 military engineers to NATO ally Poland this month to provide support at its border with Belarus, where the West says Minsk is orchestrating on ongoing migration crisis. (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• A Polish investigation has established that there was “no bomb threat” on a Ryanair plane that made an emergency landing in Minsk earlier this year, allowing Belarusian authorities to arrest opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend. The National Public Prosecutor's Office, which oversaw the probe, said in a statement Dec. 9 that “the whole situation was only an excuse to force the pilot to land” in the Belarusian capital. (RFE/RL, 12.10.21)
• Lukashenko’s regime says it will ban a wide range of food imports from EU members states, the U.S and other countries starting next year in retaliation for sanctions imposed against Minsk. (RFE/RL, 12.07.21)
• Belarus has formally charged the Russian girlfriend of a dissident Belarusian blogger more than six months after authorities forced down a commercial jet flying over Belarusian air space to detain the pair. Sofia Sapega was detained with her boyfriend, Belarusian opposition blogger Roman Protasevich, after Minsk forced their Greece-Lithuania flight to land on its soil. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 12.08.21)

 

IV. Quoteworthy

• ''The Bucharest compromise [of NATO membership to Ukraine and Georgia] was the worst of both worlds,'' said Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister and foreign minister. ''It created expectations that were not fulfilled and fears that are grossly exaggerated. It was short-term expediency with long-term consequences that we have seen since then''—in Georgia, which lost a quick and nasty war to Russia four months later in 2008, and in the Russian effort to destabilize and even reassert control over Ukraine. (The New York Times, 12.09.21)
• “One of the colossal problems pushing us into conflict is that Russian identity does not exist without Ukrainian identity,” said Ilya Ponomarev, a former member of the Russian Parliament who was the only lawmaker to vote against the Crimea annexation. (The New York Times, 12.05.21)
• “Nobody in the EU was as capable of dealing with Vladimir Putin through back channels as Angela Merkel,” says Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, director of the German Council on Foreign Relations. (Financial Times, 12.07.21)
• “It is important to note that whether it is us or Russia, we conduct an independent foreign policy,” India’s foreign secretary, Harsh Vardhar Shringla, said as his country hosted Putin. (The New York Times, 12.06.21)
• Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, said CIA Director William Burns was perhaps “the best diplomat of our . . . era.” (Financial Times, 12.06.21)
• “Honestly, I think YouTube has six months left in Russia,” said Andrei Soldatov, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and co-author of “The Red Web.” “Next year, we will move to the stage of banning global platforms.” (Financial Times, 12.08.21)