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

Nuclear security and safety:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has decreed to consolidate several enterprises of the country’s nuclear weapons complex. The decree, which was unveiled on Jan. 27, calls for the Bazalt beryllium production facility in the Saratov region to be made part of the Mayak Production Association that is based in the Chelyabinsk region. Also, Federal Scientific Production Center “Sedakov Scientific Research Institute of Measurement Systems” of the Nizhny Novgorod region will be integrated into the Russian Federal Nuclear Center—All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, which is also located in the Volga region. (Russia Matters, 01.27.17)
• Russia has resolved its nuclear submarine disposal problem for the coming 40-50 years, Sergei Ivanov, the Russian president’s special representative for nature conservation, environmental protection and transport, told journalists. (TASS, 01.23.17)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• No significant developments.

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• NATO’s chief and new U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis have discussed military spending and combating terrorism, the source of U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism of the alliance. Mattis assured European allies that the United States continues to have an "unshakable" commitment to NATO. Mattis has also assured his German and French counterparts that the United States has an "enduring commitment" to NATO. (AP, 01.24.17, RFE/RL, 01.24.17, RFE/RL, 01.27.17)
• Germany is nearing a decision to replace its aging short-range air defense systems and help fill a gap that has caused concern among NATO members after Russia's annexation of Crimea, two sources familiar with the issue said. (Reuters, 01.24.17)
• British armed forces escorted a Russian aircraft carrier dubbed "the ship of shame" by British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon as it passed through waters close to the English coast on its way back from bombing raids in Syria. “Russian naval vessels don't need senseless escort services. They know their navigating channel and heading," Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The British Navy spent almost £1.4 million ($1.7 million) on tracking Russian warships as they journeyed alongside the British coast on their way to Syria. (Reuters, 01.25.17, Reuters, 01.26.17, The Moscow Times, 01.24.17)
• Defense cuts have “effectively removed” Britain’s ability to “deliver and sustain” an effective fighting force against a “competent” enemy such as Russia, according to the British army’s think tank, the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research. It warns that the risk of the army’s one remaining fighting division being wiped out in an afternoon will “weigh heavily” on commanders. (The Times, 01.22.17)
• Russia, which has had an anti-satellite capability since the 1980s, is now exploring significant anti-satellite capabilities, including lasers for use in space and other “capabilities that would threaten our satellites, and many of which would create debris” that could hinder access to space, according to Commander of U.S. Strategic Command John E. Hyten. (Defense.gov, 01.26.17)
• NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has dismissed concerns that the U.S. Senate may not ratify the NATO-accession agreement for Montenegro. (RFE/RL, 01.26.17)
• The keepers of the Doomsday Clock have moved the symbolic countdown to potential global catastrophe 30 seconds closer to midnight based on U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments on nuclear weapons and climate change. (AP, 01.27.17)
• In the new issue of Prism magazine, General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Army (Ret.) warns that “A European war is not unthinkable.” He explains: “People who want to believe that a war in Europe is not possible might be in for a surprise. We have to acknowledge great power politics; we can’t pretend that they are gone.” (Foreign Policy, 01.25.17)
• The Russian response to the Pentagon’s Third Offset Strategy has been to prioritize the development of tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, argues a new report from the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies (IDSS) at the Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. (The National Interest, 01.24.17)

Missile defense:

• A foreign policy statement posted on the White House website on Jan. 20, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in, says the United States will "develop a state-of-the-art missile defense system to protect against missile-based attacks from states like Iran and North Korea." It did not say whether the system would differ from those in place or under development, including a European missile shield that Russia has vociferously opposed. (RFE/RL, 01.20.17)

Nuclear arms control:

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has trashed a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to reduce nuclear arms substantially and said that the question should not be tied to U.S. sanctions against Russia that were imposed because of the Ukraine crisis. “Nuclear disarmament is a conceptual umbrella term, but it is made up of an enormous number of nuances," Peskov said on the current affairs program on state television. "It can't be disproportionate. The composition of the nuclear [arsenal] in the United States and in our country are different. And that's why any symmetric reductions are absolutely unacceptable and inappropriate." (The Washington Post, 01.21.17)

Counter-terrorism:

• “If Vladimir Putin wants to join with the U.S. to have a serious conversation about how to defeat radical Islamic terrorism,” then “we’re listening,” Donald Trump’s senior advisor Kellyanne Conway said. (Bloomberg, 01.27.17)
• A foreign policy statement posted on the White House website on Jan. 20, shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in, says that defeating Islamic State "and other radical Islamic terror groups" will be the highest priority of an "America first" foreign policy centered on "peace through strength." The statement said that the United States will "pursue aggressive joint and coalition military operations when necessary" to achieve that goal. Trump thinks waterboarding and other interrogation techniques widely seen as torture "absolutely" work, but that he will defer to his CIA and Pentagon chiefs on whether to reinstate them. (RFE/RL, 01.20.17, RFE/RL, 01.26.17)
• Seven Russian nationals have appeared in a Turkish court charged with planning a terror attack in the city of Istanbul. The group stands accused of plotting multiple attacks using radio-controlled airplanes on behalf of the Islamic State. (The Moscow Times, 01.25.17)
• Security forces in a volatile province in Dagestan in Russia’s North Caucasus region have tracked down and killed two suspected militants. (AP, 01.21.17)

Conflict in Syria:

• The White House said Jan. 23 that U.S. President Donald Trump is open to cooperating with Russia on combating the Islamic State extremist group, if Russia shares U.S. interests in doing so, but didn't outline plans or a process for establishing joint military ventures or strikes. The Trump administration has also expressed interest in setting up safe zones for civilians in Syria, but that idea was greeted with caution by Russia and Turkey on Jan. 26. Trump is expected to ask the Pentagon for ways to accelerate the fight against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, and officials said the options probably would include steps the Obama administration considered but never acted on, from adding significantly more U.S. troops to boosting military aid to Kurdish fighters. (AP, 01.26.17, Wall Street Journal, 01.23.17, AP, 01.26.17)
• Russian-led talks on Syria ended with agreement Jan. 24 to bolster a cease-fire even as apparent disputes with Iran, a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, threaten to hold up efforts to end the six-year civil war. Russia, Turkey and Iran will set up “a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the cease-fire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities” of the truce established last month, the countries said in a joint statement at the end of two days of negotiations in the Kazakh capital, Astana. While the U.S. was left out of the latest peace effort, the American ambassador to Kazakhstan attended the talks as an observer. Russia had invited aides to new U.S. President Donald Trump. Despite the supposed cease-fire agreement, new clashes were reported in the village of Wadi Barada, a besieged rebel-held area where most of the drinking water for Damascus comes from. (Bloomberg, 01.23.17, New York Times, 01.23.17, AP, 01.24.17)
• Russia has given Syrian rebels a draft of a new constitution for Syria drawn up by Moscow to speed up political negotiations to end the conflict, Russia's envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, said Jan. 24. RBC managed to obtain a copy of the text, which the newspaper reports contains 27 constitutional amendments. One of the provisions would give Kurds in northern Syria autonomy, as well as language equality. Another proposal provides for a presidential term of seven years, but does not allow consecutive terms. Other proposed constitutional amendments include removing the word "Arab" from the country's official title, leaving only "Syrian Republic." The rebels, however, told AFP they had refused to discuss the draft constitution with Moscow. “We told them that the Syrians are the ones who are entitled to write the constitution,” Yahya al-Aridi, a member of the opposition delegation to the Astana negotiations, said. (AFP, 01.24.17, The Moscow Times, 01.26.17, Bloomberg, 01.25.17)
• Syrian Kurds presented their own draft of a constitution proposal for a federalized Syrian state during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and representatives of other Syrian opposition groups. (The Moscow Times, 01.27.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin and the king of Jordan have hailed the results of Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan. (Reuters, 01.25.17)
• The next round of Syrian peace talks in Geneva has been pushed back for late February, Russia’s foreign minister announced Jan. 27 without explaining what’s behind the postponement. (AP, 01.27.17)
• Britain's top diplomat, Boris Johnson, says the West may have to rethink its long-standing demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down as part of any peace deal to end Syria's civil war. (RFE/RL, 01.27.17)
• The Pentagon on Jan. 23 denied that it had coordinated air strikes with Russia in Syria, after Russia's defense ministry said the United States had provided coordinates for Islamic State (IS) militants. The Russian defense ministry said the Russian military had received coordinates of IS targets near the town of al-Bab, Syria from the "American side" of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the militant group on Jan. 22. "As a result of this joint operation, a number of ammunition depots … as well as an area where militants had gathered with equipment, were destroyed,” the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. "The Department of Defense is not coordinating air strikes with the Russian military in Syria," Eric Pahon, a Pentagon spokesman, said. Russia's military also said it carried out joint strikes on IS near al-Bab in the Aleppo province on Jan. 21 with the Turkish air force, in which three Russian warplanes and four Turkish aircraft knocked out 22 targets. Russian and Turkish planes also carried out joint air strikes that targeted IS positions in the Aleppo region on Jan. 26. (Reuters, 01.23.17, Wall Street Journal, 01.23.17, RFE/RL, 01.27.17)
• Six Tupolev-22M3 bombers have dealt strikes against arms and ammunition depots of the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Jan. 24. (TASS, 01.24.17)
• Experts believe that the next Syrian combat zone for the Russian air force will be the Idlib province, where more than 30,000 militants and their families are sheltering after taking advantage of humanitarian corridors following the fall of Aleppo to Syrian government forces. (RBTH, 01.26.17)
• Russia may simultaneously station as many as 11 warships at the Tartus naval maintenance base in Syria, according to the relevant Russian-Syrian agreement posted on the official legal information web portal on Jan. 20. The Russian-Syrian agreement will stay in effect for 49 years and will be automatically prolonged for subsequent 25-year periods, unless either party notifies the other in writing through diplomatic channels no less than one year before the expiry of a regular period about its intention to terminate it, the document says. The deal more than doubles the space for warships in Russia's only Mediterranean port and secures rights to an air base that may already be adding a second runway. (TASS, 01.20.17, New York Times, 01.20.17)
• Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, has confirmed that men from Chechnya are serving in Syria in a Russian military police battalion. (RFE/RL, 01.24.17)
• Islamic State militants have destroyed part of the Roman amphitheater in Palmyra, Syria. The amphitheater was the venue of a concert by the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater and a performance by Russian cellist Sergei Roldugin after Russian-backed government forces retook the ancient city from ISIS in March 2016. (The Moscow Times, 01.20.17)
• Airwars, a London-based monitoring group, estimates that Russian airstrikes cause civilian deaths in Syria at a rate eight times that of United States-led coalition missions. (New York Times, 01.23.17)

Cyber security:

• A top cyber-security specialist in Russia's Federal Security Service has been arrested on charges of treason, the Kommersant newspaper reported Jan. 25. () Sergei Mikhailov, deputy chief at Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) Information Security Center (CDC), stands accused of receiving money from “foreign organizations,” Kommersant reported, citing unnamed FSB sources. Mikhailov has been detained in pre-trial detention since December 2016, alongside Ruslan Stoyanov, the head of cybercrime investigations at Russia's Kaspersky Labs. According to independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the FSB believes Mikhailov tipped off U.S. officials to information about Vladimir Fomenko and his server rental company. The company, “King Servers,” was identified by American cybersecurity company ThreatConnect last September as “an information nexus” that was allegedly used in cyberattacks by hackers suspected of working for Russian state security. According to the RBC news agency, a total of four individuals have been arrested in connection with the treason case against Mikhailov, including Stoyanov and Dmitry Dokuchaev, who worked in the same FSB unit as Mikhailov. Major has allegedly worked as a hacker under the alias “Forb,” according to the RBC news portal. According to the Rosbalt news agency, Mikhailov and Dokuchaev allegedly had ties with the Shaltai Boltai hacker group that reportedly hacked the email accounts of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his deputy, Arkady Dvorkovich. (The Moscow Times, 01.25.17, The Moscow Times, 01.26.17, New York Times, 01.25.17, The Moscow Times, 01.27.17, Russia Matters, 01.27.17)
• Lenders such as Sberbank, Rosbank, Alfa Bank, Bank of Moscow as well as the Moscow Exchange and other institutions were the targets of "a massive attack" from hackers between Nov. 8 and Nov. 14, deputy head of Russia's Federal Security Service Dmitry Shalkov said. "Analysis shows that the number of information attacks at Russian official information resources is on the rise. There were 70 million [such attacks] in 2016," Shalkov said, adding it was a threefold increase from a year earlier. (Reuters, 01.27.17)
• Less than a week into Donald Trump’s presidency, both chambers of the U.S. Congress have launched probes into alleged hacking by Russia that spy chiefs believe was designed to help Trump win the election. The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee called on the Trump administration on Jan. 25 to provide them with what they expect will be thousands of documents related to the investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. (The Washington Post, 01.25.17, Reuters, 01.25.17)
• The New York Times Video Twitter account appears to have been hacked briefly on the morning of Jan. 22, displaying an unauthorized tweet that Russian President Vladimir Putin had said “Russia will attack the United States with Missiles.” (The Hill, 01.22.17)

Energy exports from CIS:

• OPEC and non-OPEC countries have made a strong start to lowering their oil output under the first such pact in more than a decade, energy ministers said on Jan. 22 as producers look to reduce oversupply and support prices. "The deal is a success ... All the countries are sticking to the deal ... [the] results are above expectations," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said after the first meeting of a committee set up to monitor the deal. Ministers said 1.5 million of almost 1.8 million barrels per day had been taken out of the market already. Energy ministers from OPEC and Russia also said they have agreed on a method to monitor compliance of a deal to slash oil output designed to eliminate a two-year glut and boost market prices. (RFE/RL, 01.23.17, Reuters, 01.22.17)
• Russia overtook Saudi Arabia in 2016 to become China's biggest crude oil supplier for the first year ever, customs data showed on Jan. 23, boosted by robust demand from independent Chinese "teapot" refineries. Russian shipments surged nearly a quarter over 2015 to about 1.05 million barrels per day (bpd), the data showed, with Saudi Arabia coming in a close second with 1.02 million bpd, up 0.9% in 2016 versus the previous year. Russia may be able to maintain the top spot in 2017 as it expands exports of its East Siberian-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline blend crude. (Reuters, 01.23.17)
• Kremlin-controlled Gazprom, Europe's largest gas supplier, has warned of risks to its deliveries to Europe via Poland as Warsaw has yet to accept new terms for gas transit. (Reuters, 01.25.17)

Bilateral economic ties:

• No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

• U.S. President Donald Trump said it remains "very early to talk about" lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia, a step he has signaled he would consider. "We will see what happens," said Trump, who added he hopes to have "a great relationship" with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump, who is scheduled to confer with Putin by phone on Jan. 28, addressed the issue Jan. 27 at a press conference at the White House during the visit of British Prime Minister Theresa May. Prior to Trump’s meeting with May, his senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said the U.S. leader is willing to consider removing U.S. sanctions against Russia when he has his first official discussion with Putin on Jan. 28. “All of that is under consideration,” Conway said. “It’s America first, and that includes in his foreign policy and his national security moves,” Conway said in response to a question on whether Trump would first require Russia to change its international behavior in countries including Syria. There are no preparations yet for a meeting between the two leaders, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. (Bloomberg, 01.27.17, Bloomberg, 01.27.17, Bloomberg, 01.23.17)
• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says the West’s sanctions on Russia are likely to remain in place “for a long time” despite expectations that Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president will lead to warmer relations between Washington and Moscow. (AP, 01.22.17)
• Moscow has “no illusions” about a quick thaw under U.S. President Donald Trump, but is ready to take its share of efforts needed to improve the strained ties with the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Jan. 25. Russia’s following developments in the U.S. and “we see a lot of overlapping points on fundamental issues relating to the view of foreign policy objectives set out by Donald Trump,” Lavrov said. They’re “closely intertwined with the way President Putin sees the foreign policy goals of the Russian Federation.” (Bloomberg, 01.23.17, AP, 01.25.17)
• Finland is ready to organize the first meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We are ready to organize such a meeting at the summit of the Arctic Council, if the political situation will allow it," Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said. (The Moscow Times, 01.23.17)
• The FBI eavesdropped on telephone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser and the Russian ambassador, but found nothing improper, a U.S. intelligence official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said late Jan. 23 that there was never a formal "investigation" of the calls in December between retired Army Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn and Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador in Washington. (NBC, 01.24.17)
• Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Ben Cardin are planning a new bill that would prevent the U.S. president from lifting sanctions on Russia without congressional approval. (The Moscow Times, 01.23.17)
• The U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, by a decisive 96-to-4 vote on Jan. 24. Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin said Haley said that "Crimea is not Russian" despite Moscow's annexation of the peninsula in 2014, and she spoke "very strongly" about defending Ukrainian sovereignty. The Senate has earlier confirmed cabinet picks James Mattis as Defense Secretary, John Kelly as Homeland Security Secretary and Mike Pompeo as CIA director. At least four other nominees have won approval in Senate committees and are awaiting confirmation votes by the full chamber, including Rex Tillerson, Trump's choice for secretary of state. (RFE/RL, 01.25.17, Wall Street Journal, 01.24.17)
• John A. Heffern, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, has temporarily assumed the post of Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. State Department after Victoria Nuland’s resignation, the U.S. State Department reported. (Armenpress, 01.26.17)
• U.S. sanctions on Russia's Federal Security Service could impact the import of electronics to Russia, the RBC newspaper has reported. (The Moscow Times, 01.24.17)
• Some of the most explosive parts of a dossier containing unverified allegations that U.S. President Donald Trump had secret ties to Russian leaders originated from Sergei Millian, the Belarus-born head of a Russian-American business group, according to a person familiar with the matter. (Wall Street Journal, 01.24.17)
• Less than half of Russians expect U.S.-Moscow ties to improve under U.S. President Donald Trump, a report by independent pollster the Levada Center has revealed. (The Moscow Times, 01.26.17)
• More than 70% of Russians believe that new U.S. President Donald Trump will be a competent head of state, a survey by state-backed pollster VTsIOM has revealed. (The Moscow Times, 01.25.17)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• The turnaround in the Russian ruble’s fortunes largely reflects the recovery in the price of oil, the country’s biggest export. That has helped drive the currency higher by nearly a third, to about Rbs60 in the past year. Notably, the ruble has outperformed every other major or emerging market currency against the dollar in the past three, six and 12 months. (Financial Times, 01.24.17)
• Russia's monetary and fiscal authorities will start buying foreign currency in February, in line with a budget rule designed to shield the economy from swings in oil prices and protect the country's fiscal reserves. (Reuters, 01.26.17)
• Rostec Corp., which is headed by a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has snapped up a chunk of Russia’s giant Sukhoi Log gold field in a barely contested government auction. (Bloomberg, 01.25.16)
• Gazprom aims to raise 350 billion rubles (around $6 billion) from asset sales this year. (Bloomberg, 01.23.17)
• Russian alcohol consumption has plummeted by a third in the past seven years. The average Russian consumed just over 10 liters of alcohol in 2016, compared to 15 liters in 2009, according to state consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor. (The Moscow Times, 01.24.17)
• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has been reelected as head of the ruling United Russia Party. (RFE/RL, 01.22.17)
• Russia has fallen again in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Russia ranked 131st out of 176 countries in 2016, four places below its 2015 spot, when Russia scored 119th with 168 countries taking part. The new corruption rating sees Russia ranked alongside countries such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Iran and Nepal. (The Moscow Times, 01.25.17)
• Pyotr Tolstoy, the deputy speaker of Russia’s state parliament, is under fire for anti-Semitic remarks accusing Russian Jews of attempting to destroy the country’s Orthodox Church. (The Moscow Times, 01.24.17)

Defense and aerospace:

• The Russian Defense Ministry plans to build over 100 infrastructure facilities in the Arctic region by the end of 2017, the ministry’s press service said in a statement on Jan. 25. (TASS, 01.25.17)
• An inspection of engines that power the Russian Proton-M launch vehicles, which deliver cargoes to the International Space Station, has revealed a defect. Roscosmos State Corporation has already pulled all Proton-M vehicles from the launch schedule, and sent the engines back to the manufacturer for additional checks. Russian police are investigating allegations that factory bosses manufacturing engines for Proton-M may have swapped precious metals for cheaper alternatives. (RBTH, 01.27.17, The Moscow Times, 01.25.17)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• The Russian parliament, the State Duma, has voted to remove the charge of domestic violence from Russia's criminal code. 36,000 women are being beaten by their partners in Russia every day, and 26,000 children are being assaulted by their parents every year. (The Moscow Times, 01.27.17)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• Prior to meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, British Prime Minister Theresa May said that the West should engage with Russia but remain wary about Moscow’s intentions. Addressing Republican lawmakers on Jan. 26, May alluded to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s approach to talks with his Soviet counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev. "We believe the sanctions should continue until we see the Minsk agreement fully implemented. And we’ve been continuing to argue that inside the European Union," May said. If the U.S. were to lift sanctions on Russia, the European Union would not necessarily follow Washington, as its sanctions remain tied to implementation of the Minsk peace deal, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters Jan. 27. (Reuters, 01.27.17, RFE/RL, 01.27.17, Reuters, 01.27.17)
• The European Court of Justice has upheld an EU ruling to place sanctions on Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey. (The Moscow Times, 01.25.17)
• China has deployed Dongfeng-41 nuclear Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles to the Heilongjiang province bordering Russia. Moscow does not regard the deployment as a threat, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. (The Moscow Times, 01.24.17)
• Russia is making fresh inroads into Afghanistan that could complicate U.S. efforts to strengthen the fragile Kabul government, stamp out the resilient Taliban insurgency and end America's longest war. Moscow last month disclosed details of contacts with the Taliban, saying that it is sharing information and cooperating with the radical movement on strategy to fight the local affiliate of Islamic State, which has gained a foothold in the eastern Nangarhar province, on the border with Pakistan. (Wall Street Journal, 01.27.17)
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Jan. 23 that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to take part in the Munich Security Conference this year. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to take part in the conference that will held on Feb. 17-19, 2017. (TASS, 01.23.17, TASS, 01.27.17)
• Russian-built unit two of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has for the first time reached 100% of its operating capacity. (World Nuclear News, 01.23.17)
• Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom has submitted a bid for a nuclear power project in South Africa. (Reuters, 01.24.17, TASS, 01.24.17)

Ukraine:

• French presidential front-runner Francois Fillon reached out to German Chancellor Angela Merkel with calls for a stronger joint defense posture and better relations with Russia as Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House shifts Europe’s security debate. To think that Russia can be “brought to its knees” with economic sanctions is “naive,” Fillon told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, arguing instead for an economic partnership and the convening of a security conference once Russia respects the Minsk peace accord for eastern Ukraine. "I am convinced that the economic sanctions are totally ineffective," Fillon told reporters after meeting with Merkel. While Germany is all in favor of good relations with Russia, “we’ve had a very real-world problem for years now” with Russia’s encroachment on Ukraine, Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s chief spokesman, told reporters in Berlin shortly before the talks. (Bloomberg, 01.23.17, RFE/RL, 01.23.17)
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will hold talks in Berlin on Jan. 30 with Chancellor Angela Merkel on the separatist conflict in Ukraine. The visit will follow a telephone conversation between the German leader and U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 28, which is expected to focus on Russia. Poroshenko has earlier said that world powers should keep sanctions on Russia, rejecting Trump's proposal to consider reducing the penalties if Moscow proved a useful ally. (Reuters, 01.27.17, Reuters, 01.23.17)
• Ukraine must have a say in any deal struck between Russia and the United States aimed at ending violence in eastern Ukraine, its deputy foreign minister said on Jan. 25. (Reuters, 01.25.17)
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that "some politicians in Kiev and Moscow" are pushing to force Ukraine to hold early parliamentary elections in order "to destabilize our country." (RFE/RL, 01.22.17)
• Speaking during a two-day visit to Kiev, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon has said the United Kingdom stands firmly alongside Ukraine as the British army prepares to broaden its already extended training package to all of the country’s armed forces. He also announced a Royal Navy warship would visit Odessa in the summer, the first such visit to the country since 2008. (U.K. Government, 01.20.17, Telegraph, 01.20.17)
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree allowing troops from the United States and other NATO countries to carry out training missions in Ukraine during 2017. (RFE/RL, 01.26.17)
• Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has urged U.S. President Donald Trump to continue providing Ukraine with political and military assistance, urging Trump to continue sanctions against Russia to deter "further escalation" of the war in eastern Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 01.21.17)
• Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into five Russian citizens suspected of participating in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Ukrainian far-right group Right Sector. (The Moscow Times, 01.23.17)
• Poland’s foreign minister is under fire for publishing a March 2008 internal document that outlined the previous government’s thinking about Russia and Ukraine. Witold Waszczykowski said Jan. 24 the document exposed the liberal government of the time as departing from Poland’s traditionally pro-Ukraine policy and embarking on a pro-Russian course. (AP, 01.24.17)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that "fraternal Ukraine" is fighting for its independence at a meeting with scientists and science teachers, the BELTA news agency reported. (The Moscow Times, 01.27.17)
• Moldovan President Igor Dodon said that if a new parliament due to be elected in 2018 decided to terminate Moldova's 2014 Association Agreement with the European Union, he would "certainly" support that policy. Dodon said that people in Moldova's Transdniester and Gagauzia regions overwhelmingly opposed European integration. He said that for that reason "we will not succeed in uniting the country if we do not build a strategic partnership with Russia." (RFE/RL, 01.23.17)
• Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will delegate some of his sweeping powers to the Central Asian nation's parliament and cabinet, he said on Jan. 25, a move that could facilitate an eventual political transition. (Reuters, 01.25.17)
• Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev has signed constitutional amendments into law after they were adopted in a referendum in December. The 26 amendments included changes shifting key powers from the president to the prime minister and effectively outlawing same-sex marriage in the mostly Muslim former Soviet republic. (RFE/RL, 01.27.17)

IV. Quoteworthy

• Financial Times journalist Erika Solomon wrote: “In the new political reality of Russian-dominated diplomacy in Syria, western envoys found themselves relegated with journalists to the plaid-carpeted Irish Pub of a hotel in Kazakhstan.” (Financial Times, 01.25.17)