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

Nuclear security and safety:

• The U.S. Defense Department had 10 employees working for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which combats nuclear proliferation and other threats from weapons of mass destruction, out of the U.S. embassy in Moscow, according to a 2013 State Department report. (The Washington Post, 07.31.17)
• U.S. and Ukraine have renewed their agreement to exchange technical information on nuclear safety. The two countries are also going to cooperate in training personnel and exchanging specialists, according to the head of Ukraine’s nuclear regulator, Boris Stolyarchuk. Ukraine’s nuclear regulator and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission signed off on the agreement's renewal. (Russia Matters/Izvestia.kiev, 08.01.17)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• No significant developments.

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on July 31 strongly pledged America’s commitment to protecting NATO allies against attacks, including the Baltic states. “Under President Donald Trump, the United States stands firmly behind our Article 5 pledge of mutual defense—an attack on one of us is an attack on us all,” Pence told reporters after meeting with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Estonian capital of Tallinn. He then travelled to Montenegro where he accused Russia on Aug. 2 of working to "destabilize" the Western Balkans and divide the region from the West. (AP, 07.31.17, Reuters, 08.02.17)
• Russia on Aug. 3 denounced what it called "destabilizing" comments by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on his tour of the Western Balkans and said they exposed a Cold War mentality in Washington. (RFE/RL, 08.04.17)
• Russia is preparing to send as many as 100,000 troops to the eastern edge of NATO territory for military maneuvers known as Zapad, Russian for “west.” The drills will take place in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The drills, scheduled for Sept. 14 to 20, will feature a reconstituted armored force named for a storied Soviet military unit, the First Guards Tank Army, which participated in the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. In addition, the Russians have fielded a new motorized division near Smolensk. In combination with the highly mobile tank army, that force has about 800 tanks, more than 300 artillery pieces and a dozen Iskander tactical missile launchers. (New York Times, 07.31.17)
• John Healy, who directs U.S. forces' military exercises in Europe, said that Moscow was not being "transparent" in regard to its Zapad 2017 exercises because it is not allowing Western observers. (RFE/RL, 08.03.17)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

• No significant developments.

Counter-terrorism:

• The Russian Federal Security Service says it has detained seven people from Central Asia on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in St. Petersburg. (RFE/RL, 07.28.17)

Conflict in Syria:

• Ten Russian servicemen have been killed fighting in Syria so far this year, according to statements from the Russian Defense Ministry. But based on accounts from families and friends of the dead and local officials, Reuters estimates the actual death toll among Russian soldiers and private contractors was at least 40. Russia's Defense Ministry on Aug. 2 denied the Reuters report. (Reuters, 08.02.17, Reuters, 08.02.17)
• Russia's state-funded international media network RT says one of its correspondents, Khaled Alkhateb, has been killed in shelling by Islamic State forces in Syria. (RFE/RL, 07.30.17)
• Russia’s military campaign to save Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from being overthrown by rebels may have worked too well. The Kremlin’s discovering that it’s losing influence over its protégé as he grows increasingly confident about his survival. In an effort to recover leverage, Russia is refusing to provide air support to enable Assad to begin an assault on the last rebel bastion of Idlib, according to Russian lawmakers and Kremlin advisers. (Bloomberg, 08.01.17)
• Russia's Defense Ministry and Syria's opposition have agreed to create a new "de-escalation" zone north of the city of Homs, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Aug. 3. However, warring sides exchanged rocket and gunfire north of Homs overnight from Aug. 3 to Aug. 4. (Reuters, 08.03.17, Reuters, 08.04.17)
• A full-fledged countersubversion line was set up along the perimeter of the Russian naval base in Tartus in Syria. Russian State Duma defense committee chair Vladimir Shamanov has earlier said full modernization of the Russian naval base in Tartus can take five to seven years. (TASS, 08.01.17)
• One of Russia’s Navy Day parades took place at the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria for the first time. (TASS, 07.31.17)
• The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and his Iranian counterpart discussed the establishment of de-escalation zones in Syria at their Aug. 1 meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said. (TASS, 08.01.17)
• Russia says the United States and its Western allies rushed to judgment and blamed the Syrian government for using sarin nerve gas in an attack on an opposition-held town in Syria without ever visiting the site and ignoring two witnesses presented by Damascus. (AP, 07.26.17)

Cyber security:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed amendments to an existing law that strengthens state control over the internet. The amendments, which come into force Nov. 1, forbid internet proxy services, which help internet users gain access to websites that have been blocked by the government and surf the web anonymously. (The Moscow Times, 07.31.17)
• This year at the DEF CON hacking conference in Las Vegas, 30 computer-powered ballot boxes used in American elections were set up in a simulated national White House race—and hackers got to work physically breaking the gear open to find out what was hidden inside. In less than 90 minutes, the first cracks in the systems' defenses started appearing. Then one was hacked wirelessly. (Register, 07.29.17)
• A website launched Aug. 2 seeks to track Russian-supported propaganda and disinformation on Twitter, part of a growing non-governmental effort to diminish Moscow's ability to meddle in future elections in the United States and Europe. (Reuters, 08.02.17)
• U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation. (Politico, 08.02.17)
• Newsweek has found that pro-Moscow forces have put constant pressure on LinkedIn to suspend or permanently evict a number of its adversaries, many with long, distinguished careers in the U.S. military or its intelligence agencies. (Newsweek, 08.03.17)
• A Russian national accused by U.S. officials of running a $4 billion money laundering scheme using the virtual currency bitcoin has been transferred to a Greek prison. Aleksandr Vinnik, 38, was arrested on July 26 in Greece at the request of U.S. law enforcement officials, who unsealed an indictment against him on the same day. (RFE/RL, 07.28.17)
• Russian national Maksim Senakh, who was extradited from Finland two years ago on computer-fraud charges, has been sentenced to 46 months in a U.S. prison for spreading malicious software and netting millions of dollars for himself. (RFE/RL, 08.03.17)

Elections interference:

• Special counsel Robert Mueller is using a federal grand jury in Washington to help collect information as he probes Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion by Trump campaign associates, according to three people familiar with the investigation. Mueller is turning to the Washington grand jury in addition to one in Alexandria, Va., that’s already been involved in the inquiry, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive legal matter. Additionally, grand jury subpoenas have been issued in connection with the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr., a Russian lawyer and others, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters Aug. 3. (Bloomberg, 08.03.17, Reuters, 08.03.17)
• Two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are moving to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s job, putting forth new legislation that aims to ensure the integrity of current and future independent investigations. (AP, 08.03.17)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said Aug. 3 that Russia did not help him win the 2016 election, speaking as media reports said the Justice Department has convened a grand jury to investigate allegations of Russian efforts to influence the election. Trump, a Republican, accused Democrats of pushing what he asserted was a "hoax" and "totally made-up Russia story." He also said he hopes for a “truly honest” outcome from the Russia investigation. (RFE/RL, 08.04.17, AP, 08.03.17)
• The White House acknowledged on Aug. 1 that U.S. President Donald Trump helped draft a statement about his son's meeting last year with a Russian lawyer during the presidential campaign. The Washington Post reported on July 31 that Trump told his son Donald Jr. to tell the press the meeting focused primarily on U.S. adoptions of Russian children, although e-mails later showed it was set up to discuss potentially damaging information about Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who reportedly met with Trump Jr., told state television she wanted to “ask him for help” on behalf of her client Russian businessman Denis Katsyv, who was accused of money laundering in the U.S. in connection with the Magnitsky Act. (RFE/RL, 08.02.17, The Moscow Times, 08.04.17)
• U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner told a group of congressional interns that the Trump campaign couldn't have colluded with Russia because the team was too dysfunctional and disorganized to coordinate with a foreign government. (AP, 08.01.17)
• In the summer of 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies noticed a spate of curious contacts between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian intelligence, according to current and former U.S. officials briefed on the investigation. Investigators became more suspicious when they turned up intercepted communications that U.S. intelligence agencies collected among suspected Russian operatives discussing their efforts to work with Paul Manafort, who served as campaign chairman for three months, to coordinate information that could damage Hillary Clinton's election prospects, the U.S. officials say. (Slate, 08.03.17)
• The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Aug. 1 to confirm Christopher Wray to be the new FBI director. Sen. Lindsey Graham has earlier pressed Wray into agreeing to look into any involvement Ukraine may have had in pitching negative information on Trump's campaign to the Democratic National Committee. "I'd be happy to dig into it," Wray said, acknowledging that he had not previously heard of the allegations. (CNN, 08.01.17, CNN, 07.12.17)

Energy exports from CIS:

• Russia's oil output stood at 10.95 million barrels per day in July, unchanged for a third month and in line with its pledge to curb production in an effort to support the price of crude, Russian Energy Ministry data showed on Aug. 2. (Reuters, 08.02.17)

Bilateral economic ties:

• No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

• U.S. President Donald Trump signed legislation on Aug. 2 imposing sanctions on Russia and limiting his own authority to lift them, but asserted that the measure included ''clearly unconstitutional provisions'' and left open the possibility that he might choose not to enforce them as lawmakers intended. As other presidents have in the past, Trump protested that Congress was improperly interfering with his power to set foreign policy, in this case by imposing waiting periods before he can suspend or remove sanctions. ''Yet despite its problems,'' Trump added, ''I am signing this bill for the sake of national unity.” The bill provides for new sanctions on companies involved in Russian financed off-shore oil projects and oil and gas pipeline construction. The bill lists 12 types of sanctions that can be imposed and obliges the president to use at least five in many cases against those affected. They can include freezing assets, such as property, revoking U.S. visas and banning exports from the United States to those sanctioned. Some of the measures are discretionary and most White House watchers believe Trump will not take action against Russia's energy infrastructure. This would allow Gazprom's two big pipeline projects to go ahead, although at a higher price and with some delays. The sanctions will target people and entities that:
  • undermine U.S. cybersecurity on behalf of the Russia government
  • invest certain amounts in Russia's energy export pipelines
  • conduct "significant" transactions with Russian defense and intelligence agencies (though this will come into effect six months from now)
  • commit, or assist in, serious human rights abuses
  • commit acts of "significant" corruption
  • provide support to the Syrian government to acquire arms
  • invest, or facilitate the investment of, $10 million or more in the Russian government's privatization of any state-owned asset in a one-year period that could unfairly benefit government officials or their associates. (Reuters, 08.03.17, New York Times, 08.02.17, CNN, 08.02.17, AP, 08.02.17) 
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Aug. 3 Washington's relationship with Russia is at an "an all-time and very dangerous low," and blamed Congress for the situation, a day after he grudgingly signed into law sanctions against Moscow. (Reuters, 08.03.17)
• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the new sanctions “a full-fledged economic war on Russia,” saying Trump’s signing had shown his administration’s “total weakness.” “It ends hopes for improving our relations with the new U.S. administration,” he wrote. “The sanctions regime has been codified and will remain in effect for decades unless a miracle happens. This legislation is going to be harsher than the Jackson-Vanik amendment.” (The Moscow Times, 08.03.17)
•  “[The signing by Trump] is not news,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Aug. 2. “This law would have been accepted with or without the president’s signature. De facto, this changes nothing.” He added that Russia had already taken measures in response, referring to Moscow’s decision last week to oust hundreds of U.S. diplomats in Russia and bar access to two diplomatic properties. (The Moscow Times, 08.03.17)
• “This is a very short-sighted and even dangerous line, which threatens the stability that Moscow and Washington are especially responsible for,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in reference to the new U.S. sanctions. (The Moscow Times, 08.03.17)
• Reacting to the news of U.S. sanctions on Aug. 2, the head of the Russian Federation Council's international affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachyov, wrote that Trump had "surrendered" to pressure from the U.S. Congress. (The Moscow Times, 08.03.17)
• New U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia will have negative consequences for the United States and backfire on U.S. energy majors, Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft, said on Aug. 3. (Reuters, 08.03.17)
• In an interview broadcast on the night of Aug. 2, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker noted that the U.S. Congress had inserted a clause ensuring that sanctions could be imposed only in consultation with Washington’s allies. “I still assume that we are allies of the U.S.,” he said. Juncker said he was satisfied “in principle” that the law had been defused. But he insisted that Brussels reserved the right to retaliate if new U.S. sanctions against Moscow specifically penalized European companies that did business with Russian groups. (Financial Times, 08.02.17)
• A senior executive at a western oil group with a large presence in Russia told the Financial Times that the new sanctions “could be a disaster” given its current business in the country. (Financial Times, 08.04.17)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said nothing July 31 in response to Russia's planned expulsion of hundreds of American diplomats, announced over the weekend by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Right now we're reviewing our options, and when we have something to say on it, we'll let you know," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said July 31 after Trump's silence continued through several public appearances. The U.S. State Department has called Russia’s decision to cut hundreds from its diplomatic staff in Russia “a regrettable and uncalled for act.” (AP, 07.31.17, The Washington Post, 07.31.17)
• Unlike former U.S. President Barack Obama, who ordered the expelled Russians to leave this country within 72 hours, the Kremlin said that it would wait until Sept. 1 for 755 U.S. diplomatic employees to wind up their affairs, and that Washington could choose which ones would leave. Although there are more than 1,200 people working at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and three consulates, only about 300 are believed to be Americans. The rest are "foreign nationals," most of them Russians working in administrative and other areas. (RFE/RL, 07.31.17, The Washington Post, 07.31.17)
• In accordance with a Russian government decree, American diplomats on Aug. 1 announced that they had completely vacated two premises in Moscow. The embassy was required to leave the dacha in Serebryany Bor as well as a diplomatic warehouse in an industrial area in southern Moscow's Dorozhnaya Street by Aug. 1. (The Moscow Times, 08.02.17)
• Russia held back on introducing sanctions “for quite some time,” but lost hope after Washington’s “unprovoked move,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a state television broadcast on July 30. Putin added there was still cooperation between Russia and the U.S. in many spheres, including on cyber security, nuclear disarmament and the fight against terrorism. Should the situation worsen further, “we could consider other ways of responding,” he said. (The Moscow Times, 07.31.17)
• Russia urged the United States on July 31 to show “political will” to mend ties even as it ordered sweeping cuts of U.S. embassy personnel unseen since Cold War times. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it will take time for the U.S. to recover from what he called “political schizophrenia,” but added that Russia remains interested in constructive cooperation with the U.S. The way out of the impasse in relations is to “reject attempts at diktat by sanctions,” Peskov said. (AP, 07.31.17, Bloomberg, 07.31.17)
• An attempt by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to portray the recently passed sanctions as a sign Americans want Russia to improve relations with the U.S. has been derided by Moscow. In a statement released by the U.S. State Department on July 29, Tillerson said the overwhelming House and Senate votes in favor of the sanctions “represent the strong will of the American people to see Russia take steps to improve relations with the United States.” He added that he hoped potential future U.S.-Russia cooperation would make the sanctions unnecessary at some point. (AP, 07.29.17)
• Asked about a specific red line he and the president have for Russia, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called it "a really great question" but declined to answer, instead criticizing former President Barack Obama's administration for not following through on the red line it set with Syria on using chemical weapons. He said that if Russia understands the United States backs its allies "in an unambiguous way," his hope is that "perhaps Russia will reconsider its recent actions and embrace the kind of changes that will make it possible for us to improve relationships going forward." Pence said Trump has a "we'll see" attitude toward Russia, but he added that the White House is hopeful that sanctions will force Russia to change its behavior. “We think that creates an environment where there can be a more honest dialogue about resolving differences and finding common ground," he said. (The Washington Post, 08.02.17, The Washington Post, 08.02.17)
• A U.S. State Department spokesperson on Aug. 3 said the United States and Russia may need to “settle things down a little” as the countries spat over fresh U.S sanctions imposed over Russia this week. (The Moscow Times, 08.04.17)
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson agreed to talk on the sidelines of an ASEAN regional security summit scheduled for Aug. 6-8 in Manila. (Reuters, 08.03.17)
• U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered his department to redefine its mission and issue a new statement of purpose to the world. The draft statements under review right now are similar to the old mission statement, except for one thing—any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated. (The Washington Post, 08.01.17)
• A Soyuz rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 28 carrying a three-man crew from Russia, the United States and Italy for a five-month mission on the orbiting International Space Station. (RFE/RL, 07.28.17)
• The U.S. Air Force said on Aug. 1 that it is negotiating the purchase of two Boeing 747s that were abandoned by bankrupt Russian airline Transaero with the goal of converting them into the next Air Force One. Congressional panels have approved the purchase. (RFE/RL, 08.02.17, Bloomberg, 08.03.17)
• Prosecutors say Texan Peter Zuccarelli has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he smuggled circuits abroad for use by space programs in China and Russia. (AP, 08.04.17)
• Prominent Russian punk-rocker Fyodor Chistyakov says he has decided not to return from the United States, citing Russia's new ban on the Jehovah’s Witnesses. (RFE/RL, 07.31.17)
• Twenty-eight percent of respondents questioned by the state-funded VTSIOM pollster in Russia said they felt negatively about the U.S. president, while 18% expressed sympathy, results published Aug. 4 show. (The Moscow Times, 08.04.17)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will "think about" running for a fourth term as president in the election scheduled for March 2018. (RFE/RL, 08.04.17)
• Russia's Reserve Fund increased to $16.91 billion as of Aug. 1 from $16.71 billion a month earlier, finance ministry data showed on Aug. 2. The finance ministry also said the National Wealth Fund, which is designed to help balance the pension system, rose to $74.72 billion from $74.22 billion as of July 1. (Reuters, 08.02.17)
• The number of deaths exceeded the number of births in Russia in 2016 by a few thousand, and the prognosis for the years ahead is poor. From 2013 to 2015, extremely modest natural growth peaked in 2015, with just 32,038 more births than deaths. (New York Times, 07.29.17)
• Rescue teams are searching for nine workers missing in an underground mine near the eastern Siberian town of Mirny owned by Russian diamond miner Alrosa after water flooded in on Aug. 4, the company said. A total of 133 miners were brought to the surface after the flood started. There were 142 workers underground when the accident happened and nine more were preparing to go down to the mine. No casualties have been reported so far and there was no word from Alrosa on the chances that the nine missing miners could still be rescued. (Reuters, 08.04.17)
• Three Russian non-governmental organizations which have been labeled “foreign agents” have been awarded grants, a list of winners on the presidential fund’s website shows. The NGOs include the independent Levada Center pollster, which received a grant of 2 million rubles ($33,000). Other organizations to be given funding include the regional Samarnaya Guberniya fund and the NGO Development Center. (The Moscow Times, 08.01.17)
• The chief editor of Russian investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta has appealed to the journalistic community and Russian President Vladimir Putin to prevent the deportation of one of the newspaper’s journalists to Uzbekistan, where he could face persecution from authorities. A Moscow court ruled on Aug. 1 that the openly gay Uzbek journalist writing for Novaya Gazeta under the pen name Ali Feruz had violated Russian immigration laws and would be deported. (The Moscow Times, 08.03.17)
• The governing body of world athletics said on July 31 that Russia has not made sufficient progress changing its culture of sports doping and will continue to be suspended from international competitions. Russian officials said on Aug. 3 that they will never accept a demand from world anti-doping authorities that Russia acknowledge that the state oversaw a mass sports doping operation and cover-up. (RFE/RL, 08.04.17, RFE/RL, 08.01.17)

Defense and aerospace:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a display of Russia's military might in St. Petersburg to mark the country's Navy Day on July 30. Some 50 warships and submarines and 40 aircraft took part in the naval showcase along the Neva River, while smaller naval parades were under way in other Russian ports from Vladivostok to Crimea. (RFE/RL, 07.31.17)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Five defendants at a Moscow courthouse attacked their guards in a bungled escape attempt, leading to a shootout that killed three people and wounded five others, officials said Aug. 1. (AP, 08.01.17)
• A Chechen official has rejected a report by a respected Russian newspaper that 27 Chechens had been executed without trial. (RFE/RL, 08.01.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has pardoned two women who were convicted of high treason for sending text messages to Georgian acquaintances about the movement of Russian military equipment on the eve of the brief 2008 Russian-Georgian war. (RFE/RL, 07.29.17)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• The EU has added three Russian nationals and three companies involved in the transfer of gas turbines to Crimea to the list of persons subject to restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. (Consilium, 08.04.17)
• Russian TVEL Corporation’s electrochemical plant has shipped another consignment of germanium-76 to continue the international scientific experiment at GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. TVEL has been supplying germanium to GERDA since 2004. (Russia Matters/ Rosatom, 08.02.17)

China:

• Russia and China hit back at the United States on July 31 after U.S. leaders blamed them for not doing enough to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions. (RFE/RL, 08.01.17)

Ukraine:

• The U.S. Pentagon and State Department have devised plans to supply Ukraine with antitank missiles and other weaponry and are seeking White House approval, U.S. officials said. A senior administration official said President Donald Trump hasn’t been briefed on the plan and his position isn’t known. A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Michelle L. Baldanza, said the U.S. has not “ruled out the option” of providing “lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine.” U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has endorsed the plan, according to U.S. officials. U.S. officials said the plan would be to deploy the anti-tank missiles with Ukrainian troops stationed away from the front lines of the conflict —part of an effort by policy makers to limit the risks of escalation and defuse criticism that the moves could encourage offensive action by Kiev. (Wall Street Journal, 07.31.17)
• While it has not supplied anti-tank missiles thus far, the American military has been assisting the Ukrainian army by training soldiers in methods to halt armored vehicles without missiles, such as by laying traps of wire that coil into the treads of tracked vehicles. The American training at the Yavoriv base in western Ukraine is focused on forging a disciplined, professional military from the mix of volunteer groups that first fought the Russian incursion, rather than placing bets on any high-tech weapons systems. (New York Times, 08.01.17)
• There are a host of antitank weapons already in Ukraine, like the locally made Stugna-P laser guided missile launcher, or the 9M119 Refleks. Those are acquired at a lower cost than the Javelin, which had a unit cost of $246,000 as late as 2015, according to Michael Kofman, an expert on the Ukrainian conflict and a senior fellow at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank. (The Washington Post, 08.02.17)
• A Pennsylvania company will send 700,000 tons of coal to Ukraine in a deal the Trump administration heralded as an important tool to undercut the power Russia has over its European neighbors. The “Countering America`s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” signed by Trump on Aug. 2 foresees, among other things, the allocation of $30 million for energy security measures in Ukraine, according to the TV news service TSN.ua. (Bloomberg, 07.31.17, UNIAN, 08.03.17)
• Since 2014 repeated cyber-attacks in Ukraine have knocked out power supplies, frozen supermarket tills, affected radiation monitoring at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and forced the authorities to prop up the hryvnia currency after banks' IT systems crashed. (Reuters, 08.01.17)
• A Ukrainian judge has adjourned the in-absentia treason trial of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. (RFE/RL, 08.03.17)
• Ukrainian citizen Alexei Sizonovich has been given a 12-year prison sentence after being found guilty of plotting terror attacks in Russia’s Rostov region. (The Moscow Times, 07.31.17)
• In a video press conference organized by his Movement of New Forces opposition party in its headquarters in Kiev on Aug. 1, Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently in the United States, said Poroshenko's decision to annul his citizenship was "illegal" and "weakened democracy in Ukraine." Georgia's President Giorgi Margvelashvili said his predecessor needs to decide whether he wants to become a Georgian again. (RFE/RL, 08.01.17, RFE/RL, 08.02.17)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said in Tbilisi that the U.S. “strongly” supports Georgia’s ambition of joining NATO. The vice president also attended joint military exercises involving as many as 800 Georgian and 1,600 U.S. troops during his visit. “The United States strongly condemns Russia’s occupation of Georgia’s soil,” Pence said. Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili says his country’s territorial integrity and its eventual membership in NATO were “clearly defined” during Pence's visit. (Bloomberg, 08.01.17, The Washington Post, 08.02.17, RFE/RL, 08.02.17)
• Dozens of people were injured by explosions that ripped through a munitions depot in Georgia’s breakaway province of Abkhazia on Aug. 2, officials said. (AP, 08.02.17)
• Moldova’s government declared Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata for what Prime Minister Pavel Filip said were “offensive statements” about its citizens. (Bloomberg, 08.02.17)
• A total of 59 people have filed papers with Kyrgyzstan’s Election Commission to become candidates for president. (RFE/RL, 08.01.17)

IV. Quoteworthy

• "The Russian government, I think, has largely written off Trump as a person who can deliver," said Andrew Weiss, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “But by the same token, they think there's no benefit in truly antagonizing him, and so they'll jolly him along for the indefinite future," Weiss said. (The Washington Post, 07.31.17)
• “In my view they [the U.S. administration] have not given up on an eventual rapprochement with Russia, and the Russians understand that,” said Cliff Kupchan, chairman at Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy. “Putin is hemmed in: the alternative to Trump [in the U.S.] is worse for Russia.” (Financial Times, 07.31.17)
• “First off, Russia is already in Ukraine; they are already heavily armed," said the new U.S. special envoy for efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Kurt Volker. "There are more Russian tanks in there than [tanks] in Western Europe combined. It is a large, large military presence." (RFE/RL, 07.25.17)