This Week’s Highlights:

• Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has replaced Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democrats. Kramp-Karrenbauer has differentiated herself from Merkel by taking a tougher line on Russia and called for a review of Nord Stream 2, according to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
• Russia must scrap its 9M729 nuclear-capable cruise missiles and launchers or modify the weapons' range to return to compliance with the INF treaty and avert a U.S. pullout from the pact, according to U.S. officials. On Dec. 4, the U.S. said it would withdraw if Russia does not return to compliance within 60 days. Russia believes the U.S. goal in moving to withdraw from the INF is to ruin New START, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to Reuters.
• While 49 percent of Russians or more hold a negative view of the West, only 16 percent believe Russia should refrain from trying to normalize relations, according to a new Levada poll. The percentage of Russians who said they were “very concerned” or “fairly concerned” with sanctions has jumped to 43 percent over the past six months, The Moscow Times reports.
• U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker has said that Russia needs to release the Ukrainian sailors taken captive by Christmas or before the new year, according to VOA. Volker said one measure of constraining Russia under consideration is cutting Russian banks from the international SWIFT banking network. 

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

Nuclear security and safety:

• Sustained regional dialogue between all relevant stakeholders—including regulatory, customs, border security and energy authorities, as well as international partners—is needed to effectively address the challenge of radioactive source security in Central Asia, according to a new report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Moscow-based Center for Energy and Security Studies. (Nuclear Threat Initiative, 12.07.18)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• No significant developments.

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• The U.N. Security Council has met behind closed doors to discuss Iran's latest missile test, which the U.S. and other allies said may have been in violation of a three-year-old council resolution. The Dec. 4 session ended with no joint statement despite a U.S. call for council members to condemn Iran's weekend ballistic missile test, which Washington described as "dangerous and concerning." (RFE/RL, 12.04.18)

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation on Dec. 5 near the home of Russia's Pacific fleet. (USNI, 12.05.18)
• NATO will take a step toward offering membership to Bosnia-Herzegovina this week, as the alliance formally votes to "activate" the country’s Membership Action Plan. (RFE/RL, 12.03.18)
• The U.S. is meddling in Macedonian domestic affairs by pushing a name accord with Greece to boost the country’s bid to join NATO, Russia's foreign minister said. (Reuters, 12.07.18)
• Cyprus’ foreign minister has rejected Russian claims that the U.S. is looking to set up a military base on the island as a bulwark against expanding Russian influence in the region. (AP, 12.07.18)

Missile defense:

• The Russia’s Air and Space Defense Forces conducted a successful test of the new interceptor of the Moscow missile defense system at the Sary-Shagan test site. This appears to be the sixth test of the 53T6M. The previous one was conducted in August. (Russianforces.org, 11.30.18)

Nuclear arms control:

• Russia must scrap its 9M729 nuclear-capable cruise missiles and launchers or modify the weapons' range to return to compliance with the INF treaty and avert a U.S. pullout from the pact, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson said Dec. 6. "Russia has not violated, is not violating and remains committed to its obligations under the INF treaty," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. (Reuters, 12.06.18, Reuters, 12.07.18)
• “The United States today declares it has found Russia in material breach of the treaty and will suspend our obligations as a remedy effective in 60 days unless Russia returns to full and verifiable compliance,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Dec. 4. (State.gov, 12.04.18)
• In a joint statement on Dec. 4, NATO foreign ministers said that Russia has "developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security." While NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said there would now be an intense diplomatic push to try to convince Russia to give up what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said were "multiple battalions of the SSC-8 missiles," Washington is set to pull out. “It’s really a big setback if this treaty totally breaks down,” he said, insisting that Russia’s behavior had left Washington with no alternative. (RFE/RL, 12.05.18, The Moscow Times, 12.04.18, Financial Times, 12.05.18)
• The U.S. plan to withdraw from the INF was set to go into effect Dec. 4, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders persuaded U.S. President Donald Trump to delay the move to allow for additional consultations. Merkel’s last-ditch effort, which she advanced in a meeting with Trump in Buenos Aires on Dec. 1, came up against a determined drive by the U.S. national security adviser John Bolton to withdraw. (The Washington Post, 12.04.18)
• On Nov. 30, Dan Coats, the U.S. director of national intelligence, for the first time revealed significantly more evidence from U.S. intelligence about the type of missile Russia tested and how it was tested. A statement released by Coats said: “Russia initially flight tested the 9M729—a ground based missile—to distances well over 500 kilometers (km) from a fixed launcher. Russia then tested the same missile at ranges below 500km from a mobile launcher. By putting the two types of tests together, Russia was able to develop a missile that flies to the intermediate ranges prohibited by the INF Treaty and launches from a ground-mobile platform.” (RFE/RL, 12.03.18, Russianforces.org, 12.01.18)
• U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton joined with Rep. Liz Cheney in linking the fate of the INF to that of the New START treaty. (RFE/RL, 12.03.18)
• Russia believes the U.S. is ultimately trying to ruin the New START treaty by moving to exit the INF, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Dec. 7. (Reuters, 12.07.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the U.S. plan to withdraw from the INF is "ill-considered" and warned that Moscow will follow suit if Washington pulls out. "It is "simplest" for the United States to say, 'Russia is to blame,'" Putin said. "This is not so. We are against the destruction of this treaty." "What will be the response from our side? Very simple: We will also do this," he said, indicating that Russia will no longer abide by the treaty if the U.S. withdraws.  (RFE/RL, 12.05.18)
• Russia will target countries hosting U.S. missiles if Washington goes ahead with plans to pull out of the INF, Russian General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov told foreign military attaches in Moscow on Dec. 5. (The Moscow Times, 12.05.18)
• Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Dec. 5 the U.S. had yet to provide any evidence Moscow was in breach of INF, but said it was ready to keep discussing the matter with Washington. (The Moscow Times, 12.05.18)
• It is impossible to create an alternative to the INF treaty in the current political conditions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Dec. 3. (TASS, 12.03.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump says he is "certain" that "at sometime in the future" he, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin "will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race." Trump made the remark on Twitter on Dec. 3 after holding talks with Xi and a brief discussion with Putin during a G20 summit in Buenos Aires. (RFE/RL, 12.03.18)
• U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis strongly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of deceit involving the INF, and acting recklessly in last week’s naval confrontation with Ukraine. In his comments Dec. 1, Mattis also asserted that Russia had interfered in the November midterm elections for Congress, though he gave no details nor provided any further evidence. "We are dealing with someone that we simply cannot trust," Mattis said. (RFE/RL, 12.02.18)
• Russia’s military has conducted a test launch of the modern Iskander-M ballistic missile system in the south of the country, amid a diplomatic spat with Western countries over the INF treaty. (The Moscow Times, 12.06.18)

Counter-terrorism:

• No significant developments.

Conflict in Syria:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel a possible new summit on Syria between Russia, Turkey, Germany and France. (TASS, 12.04.18)
• Some 400 Russian military policemen have returned to Chechnya after completing missions in Syria. (Interfax, 12.04.18)

Cyber security:

• Russia's intelligence services were behind cyber attacks targeting the Czech foreign ministry last year, the Czech security service said on Dec. 3 in its annual report. (Reuters, 12.03.18)
• Ukraine's security agency said it has thwarted a massive cyberattack and blamed Russia for the attempted attack that targeted the country's court system. (RFE/RL, 12.05.18)
• The House GOP campaign arm suffered a major hack during the 2018 midterm campaigns, exposing thousands of sensitive emails to an outside intruder, according to three senior party officials. The email accounts of four senior aides at the National Republican Congressional Committee were surveilled for several months, party officials said. (Politico, 12.04.18)

Elections interference:

• Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is due to file papers in a D.C. court on Dec. 7 explaining last week’s collapse of a cooperation agreement with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The filing is likely to outline what Mueller’s team characterized as Manafort's repeated lies and additional “crimes,” leading to a breach of his plea agreement. A prosecutor from Mueller's office told a judge on Nov. 30 that prosecutors have not yet decided whether to file new charges against Manafort. In New York, Mueller’s team is scheduled to file a sentencing memorandum for its newest cooperating witness, former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, before his sentencing Dec. 5 on two convictions. (USA Today, 12,.06.18, RFE/RL, 12.01.18)
• Michael Flynn, U.S. President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser, helped substantially with the special counsel’s investigation and should receive little to no prison time for lying to federal investigators, prosecutors said on Dec. 4. Prosecutors said Flynn has assisted with several ongoing investigations, participating in 19 interviews with federal prosecutors. (New York Times, 12,04.18, The Washington Post, 12.04.18)
• Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen contacted the Kremlin twice to seek assistance for a potential Trump Tower property project in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, in the first confirmation from Russia of the approaches. Peskov told reporters that his office had received two emails from Cohen in January 2016 requesting a meeting with Sergei Ivanov, then Putin’s chief of staff, or Peskov himself to discuss the project. Lawyers for Cohen argued Nov. 30 that their client should not go to prison for the criminal charges to which he has pleaded guilty and linked much of his wrongdoing to his desire to protect and support Trump. (Financial Times, 12.01.18, The Washington Post, 12.02.18)
• In at least two meetings with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in 2017, Ecuador’s president Lenín Moreno and his aides discussed their desire to rid themselves of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, in exchange for concessions like debt relief from the U.S., new details reveal. (New York Times, 12.04.18)
• The Guardian reported last week that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange several times, including during a critical period in March 2016. But one week after publication, the Guardian's bombshell looks as though it could be a dud. No other news organization has been able to corroborate the Guardian's reporting to substantiate its central claim of a meeting. (The Washington Post, 12.05.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump took fresh aim Dec. 7 at special counsel Robert Mueller and his team, accusing them in angry morning tweets of conflicts of interest and overzealous prosecutions that have "wrongly destroyed people's lives." Earlier, Trump defended his decision to seek a business deal in Russia in 2016 even as he pursued the Republican presidential nomination. In a series of tweets from Buenos Aires, where he was attending a G20 summit, Trump said he had "lightly looked" at a real estate project in Russia and that it was "very legal" and "very cool" to do so while campaigning. He added that he ultimately abandoned the project. (The Washington Post, 12.07.18, RFE/RL, 12.01.18)
• Former FBI director James Comey will meet behind closed doors with members of two House panels Dec. 7 as part of a politically controversial probe into federal law enforcement officials' conduct during the investigations of U.S. President Donald Trump's alleged Russia ties and Hillary Clinton's emails. (The Washington Post, 12.07.18)
• Former attorney general William Barr is U.S. President Donald Trump's leading candidate to be nominated to lead the Justice Department—a choice that could be made in coming days as the agency presses forward with a probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. (The Washington Post, 12.06.18)
• Shortly after being grilled in New York in March as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s election-meddling probe, Viktor Vekselberg was slapped with sanctions over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “malign activities.” Vekselberg has since lost about $3 billion of his now $13.4 billion fortune. His American grandchildren, Yale-educated children and wife all live in the U.S. (Bloomberg, 12.09.18)
• Senior Russian central bank official Alexander Torshin, whom U.S. prosecutors allege illegally conspired to influence American conservatives on behalf of the Kremlin, resigned from his post eight months after sanctions were imposed on him. (Financial Times, 11.30.18)   
• Maria Butina, a Russian gun-rights activist who is accused by the U.S. of acting as a Kremlin agent during the 2016 presidential race, was granted a court-appointed attorney Dec. 6. (Bloomberg, 12.06.18)

Energy exports:

• OPEC and Russia on Dec. 7 agreed to a deal to join in a significant production cut that would mop up a burgeoning global oil supply glut. OPEC and its allies will curb oil output by a collective 1.2 million barrels a day, under the deal still under negotiation. OPEC nations would cut 800,000 barrels and the Russia-led group would handle the remainder. (Wall Street Journal, 12.07.18)
• Germany's ruling Christian Democrat Union has chosen Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer as its new party leader, ending Angela Merkel's 18-year reign. Kramp-Karrenbauer has called for a review of the planned Nord Stream gas pipeline between Germany and Russia. She has also differentiated herself from Merkel by taking a tougher line on Russia. (Reuters, 12.07.18, Wall Street Journal, 12.06.18, BBC, 12.07.18)
• Qatar said it plans to leave OPEC, a surprise decision for a member that has long played a key role inside the cartel, but has more recently clashed with de facto leader Saudi Arabia. (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.18)

Bilateral economic ties:

• No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

• U.S. President Donald Trump approached Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina after calling off their meeting, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said. "Our president clarified our view of the [Kerch Strait] incident, providing as many details as was possible in ten to fifteen minutes, and the U.S. president carefully listened to our arguments," Ushakov added. The Kremlin aide said that Putin and Trump also discussed other issues, but refrained from specifying them. The conversation lasted 10-15 minutes. Ushakov said, "The topic of a Washington visit was not touched on." Ushakov also said he met with U.S. national security advisor John Bolton. (TASS, 12.04.18, Interfax, 12.04.18, The Moscow Times, 12.01.18)
• Asked about his cancellation of a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20, U.S. President Donald Trump said it wouldn't be right to meet in the wake of Russia's recent seizure of Ukrainian vessels, but he said the meeting would go ahead at another time. (RFE/RL, 12.01.18)
• "The Russian Witch Hunt Hoax, which is hopefully now nearing an end, is doing very well," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it probably does undermine our relationship with Russia. However, the reason for our canceled meeting is Ukraine. Hopefully, that will be resolved soon so that productive conversations can begin." U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia's aggression against Ukraine was "the sole reason" for canceling the meeting. (The Washington Post, 12.01.18)
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Dec. 4 that Russia regretted that dialogue between Russia and the U.S. was not working out despite what it said was a series of important strategic issues that needed to be discussed. (The Moscow Times, 12.04.18)
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has criticized China, Iran and Russia for violating numerous treaties and multistate agreements. In a foreign policy speech to on Dec. 4 ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Pompeo said recent moves by the three countries have caused instability in the world. He also said the U.N., the EU, the African Union, the IMF and the World Bank have become corroded and are in need of change. (RFE/RL, 12.04.18)
• Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, on Dec. 1 hailed the late George H.W. Bush's role in helping end the Cold War and an arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was speaking after Bush died on Dec. 7 at the age of 94. (The Moscow Times, 12.01.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump has chosen U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. (RFE/RL, 12.07.18)
• While 49 percent of Russians or more hold a negative view of the EU and U.S., only 16 percent believe Russia should refrain from trying to normalize relations with the West, according to a new poll conducted by the Levada Center and reported by Kommersant. The percentage of Russians who said they were “very concerned” or “fairly concerned” with political and economic sanctions has jumped to 43 percent over the past six months, up from 30 percent in April. (Russia Matters, 12.05,18, The Moscow Times, 12.05.18)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• The World Bank lifted its economic growth projection for this year to 1.6 percent from the 1.5 percent forecast in May. It expects gross domestic product to grow by 1.5 percent in 2019 and by 1.8 percent in 2020. (Reuters, 12.04.18)
• Russia's consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has said that over half of the deaths in the country are tied to poor diets and food quality. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, more than 60 percent of Russia’s population is overweight and obesity rates have been on the rise due to deteriorating eating habits. (The Moscow Times, 12.06.18)
• Russia’s prime minister on Dec. 6 said that this summer’s decision to raise the retirement age was the hardest the authorities have had to make in the past 10 years.  (The Moscow Times, 12.06.18)
• Russian attitudes to the ruling United Russia party are nearly split, with 47 percent viewing it in a positive light and 44 percent in a negative one, according to a new poll published by the independent Levada Center pollster. (The Moscow Times, 12.04.18)
• A prominent Russian human rights lawyer on Dec. 4 reported a massive HIV outbreak at a prison in the Yaroslavl region—a claim that has since been denied by federal prison officials. (The Moscow Times, 12.04.18)
• Russian nongovernmental organization Vybor, which focuses on preventing the spread of HIV, says it has closed its office in Siberia’s Altai territory because it has not been able to raise funds to pay a fine for refusing to register in Russia as a “foreign agent.” (RFE/RL, 12.04.18)
• Russia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a controversial land-swap agreement between Chechnya and Ingushetia that sparked mass protests in the region was lawful. Cartographers have estimated that Ingushetia gave up 26 times more territory than Chechnya in the deal. (The Moscow Times, 12.06.18)

Defense and aerospace:

• An international crew aboard a Russian-made Soyuz rocket docked safely at the International Space Station (ISS) on Dec. 3, the first manned voyage to the ISS since a mission in October was aborted midair because of a rocket malfunction. (Reuters, 12.03.18)
• On Nov. 30, 2018, the Russian Air and Space Forces conducted a successful launch of a Rokot space launcher with Briz-KM booster stage from launch pad No. 3 of launch complex No. 133 of the Plesetsk test site. The three spacecraft delivered into orbit are Strela-3M/Rodnik military communications satellites. (Russianforces.org, 11.30.18)
• According to an industry source quoted in the Russian media, the 2018-2027 State Armament Program includes construction of two additional Project 955A/Borey-A submarines. This will bring the number of Project 955-class submarines to 10 by 2028. (Russianforces.org, 12.04.18)
• The Russian Defense Ministry said Dec. 5 that it’s deployed laser weapons, one of several systems President Vladimir Putin touted as a new generation of armaments during his annual address in March. The Peresvet laser was deployed by the army on Dec. 1, the ministry said in an emailed statement. (Bloomberg, 12.05.17)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Between 2008 and 2017, 36 women and three men became the victims of honor killings in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Ingushetia and Chechnya, according to the “Killed by Gossip” report published by the Dutch Legal Initiative NGO on Dec. 6. (The Moscow Times, 12.07.18)
• Russia’s top human rights official Tatyana Moskalkova has called the country’s 2017 decision to adopt a law that decriminalizes domestic abuse "a mistake.” (The Moscow Times, 12.03.18)
• The founder and head of a Russian anti-slavery NGO was reportedly stabbed by a masked assailant on the evening of Dec. 2 outside his apartment building near Moscow. (The Moscow Times, 12.04.18)
• Russia has agreed to compensate members of the anti-Kremlin Pussy Riot punk rock group, who were jailed for two years after a controversial church performance, in compliance with a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling, Russia’s Justice Ministry said on Dec. 5. (The Moscow Times, 12.06.18)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• Russia has signed billions of dollars’ worth of investment deals in Venezuela, the South American country's President Nicolas Maduro announced on Dec. 6 after a three-day visit to Moscow. (The Moscow Times, 12.07.18)
• Greece and Russia must look to the future following a diplomatic row in the summer that rocked the two countries' relations, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Tsipras said on Dec. 7 that he had expressed his concern during talks with Putin at Turkey buying weapons from Russia. (Reuters, 12.07.18, Reuters, 12.07.18)
• Russia plans to restrict the passage of foreign warships in the Arctic Ocean next year, a top defense official has said. On Dec. 7, Defense Ministry spokesman Mikhail Mizintsev said that Russia’s ministries were working on amending legislation that would require foreign warships to notify Russia before being able to pass through the Arctic. (The Moscow Times, 12.01.18)
• Alex Younger, head of the spy agency also known as MI6, warned Russia it would pay for hostile acts carried out on British soil as he blamed tactics employed by the Kremlin for creating a state of "perpetual confrontation" with Britain and its allies. "Our intention is for the Russian state to conclude that, whatever benefits it thinks it is accruing from this activity, they are not worth the risk," he said during only his second public address since he took over the service in 2014. (Wall Street Journal, 12.03.18)
• British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson has called on the public to report suspicious activity near army sites after a Russian TV crew prompted an alert at the 77th Brigade. The top secret Army unit works with MI5, MI6 and the SAS in electronic and psychological warfare. (RFE/RL, 12.02.18, Mirror, 12.01.18)
• The Kremlin said on Dec. 3 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's high-five handshake with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G20 summit over the weekend was “based on an interest in further development of bilateral relations.” The two world leaders met for a lengthy bilateral meeting during the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires on Dec. 1 to discuss oil output production cuts. (The Moscow Times, 12.03.18)
• The head of the Czech Republic's counter-intelligence service says his agency broke up a Russian spying network earlier this year and completely paralyzed its activities. (AP, 12.07.18)
• Slovakia has expelled a Russian diplomat after information from military intelligence showed he engaged in espionage activities in the NATO- and European Union-member country, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini said on Dec. 5. (Reuters, 12.05.18)
• The Philippines will buy 16 Black Hawk helicopters from the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp for $240 million, shunning cheaper Russian equipment due to U.S. sanctions on Russian military exports, the Philippine defense chief said on Dec. 7. (Reuters, 12.07.18)
• Russia and Argentina plan to expand their cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy following the signing of a strategic document on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. (WNN, 12.03.18)
• Russia and Rwanda have signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It was signed today in Moscow by Alexey Likhachev, director general of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, and Claver Gatete, Rwandan minister of infrastructure. (WNN, 12.05.18)
• OKB Gidropress, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has completed "longevity testing" of fuel assembly models with an optimized hydro-uranium ratio for VVER-440 reactors at the Paks and Loviisa nuclear power plants in Hungary and Finland, respectively. (WNN, 12.05.18)

China:

• Speaking during a meeting in Rome, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the arrest of the CFO of Huawei as an example of heavy-handed policies by the U.S. (AP, 12.07.18)

Ukraine:

• U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker tells VOA's Ukraine service that Russia needs to release the Ukrainian sailors taken captive in the Kerch Strait in late November by Christmas or "before the new year." Volker said the United States' European allies could move to bar Russian vessels coming from Crimea or the Azov Sea from European ports. Volker said another possible measure is cutting Russian banks from the international SWIFT banking network. (VOA, 12.05.18)
• Russia's seizure of Ukrainian naval vessels is a manifestation of its disregard for global rules and intent to test the West, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said. He said the Trump administration was not discussing a military response to the Nov. 25 incident in the Kerch Strait, in which Russia's coast guard seized three Ukrainian ships that Moscow said had veered into its territorial waters. "We refer to this as a competition that falls short of armed conflict, where what the Russians are really doing is testing the international community's resolve in enforcing the rules that exist, in this case clear violations of sovereignty," Dunford said. (The Washington Post, 12.07.18)
• A senior U.S. State Department official warned Moscow on Dec. 4 that it must release the Ukrainian sailors it detained in a naval incident late last month or face growing consequences. “We want the Russians to absorb the message that they need to release the crews or there will be consequences and the pain will grow over time,” the State Department official was quoted as saying at a briefing on Dec. 4. (The Moscow Times, 12.05.18)
• The U.S. wants Europe to step up on Ukraine. As a senior State Department official put it on Mike Pompeo’s plane to Brussels: “We want to see European allies take greater responsibility for a security problem that’s just 200 miles from Germany’s border, and we’ll be right there with them every step of the way.” As with the INF Treaty, the NATO foreign ministers deferred at their Dec. 4 meeting a big response on Ukraine to another day. Jens Stoltenberg instead stressed the extra ship patrols the Western alliance has already launched in response to alleged increased Russian maritime activity in the Black Sea region. (Financial Times, 12.05.18)
• The U.S. military said on Dec. 6 it carried out an "extraordinary" flight over Ukraine under the Open Skies Treaty to reaffirm its commitment to the country after Russia seized three Ukrainian naval vessels off Crimea. (Reuters, 12.06.18)
• Germany does not envision EU sanctions against Russia over its conflict with Ukraine as long as de-escalation efforts continue, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Dec. 7. (Reuters, 12.07.18)
• The European Union is expected to add nine individuals allegedly involved in the organization of last month’s elections in the areas controlled by Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine to its sanctions list, according to sources in Brussels. (RFE/RL, 12.05.18)
• Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia will hold further talks at the advisor level about a shipping standoff in the Kerch Strait, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Dec. 1, urging Moscow to let Ukrainian vessels enter the Sea of Azov. "All escalations must be avoided," Merkel told reporters after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Reuters, 12.01.18)
• Russia has moved more military equipment closer to Ukraine's border recently, head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko has said. Muzhenko said that during the Vostok-2018 exercise Russia moved 300 T-62 tanks from its eastern regions to a base near the Ukrainian border. He added Russia also created two tank and motorized-rifle regiments. (Interfax, 12.04.18)
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Dec. 1 that Russia is amassing ground forces and weaponry along the border between the two countries. Speaking at a military event in Kiev on Dec. 1, Poroshenko said Russia has deployed "more than 80,000 troops, 1,400 artillery and multiple-rocket-launch systems, 900 tanks, 2,300 armored combat vehicles, 500 airplanes, and 300 helicopters" near the border. (RFE/RL, 12.01.18)
• Ukraine’s border guard service says some 100 male Russian nationals were stopped from entering the country on Dec. 1. (RFE/RL, 12.01.18)
• One Ukrainian soldier has died and another one was injured on Dec. 3 as a result of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, according to the official website of Ukraine's Defense Ministry. (Interfax, 12.04.18)
• The Ukrainian Border Guard Service said on Dec. 7 that more than 140 Ukrainian civilian ships were stuck on both sides of the Kerch Strait as a result of excessive checks and delays by Russia. (RFE/RL, 12.07.18)
• Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has approved a move by President Petro Poroshenko to terminate the country's Treaty of Friendship with Russia. (RFE/RL, 12.06.18)
• Vladimir Putin on Dec. 5 confirmed that he has been refusing to take Petro Poroshenko’s calls and blamed him for fueling the latest crisis to score political points. Putin said in comments to Russian news agencies that he is not unwilling to talk to Poroshenko but he is “unwilling to take part in his election campaign.” (AP, 12.05.18)
• A lawyer for a Ukrainian sailor detained by Russia last month while trying to pass from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov has confirmed that all 24 Ukrainian sailors involved in the incident have been charged by Russian authorities with "illegal border crossing." (RFE/RL, 12.03.18)
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Dec. 7 that Moscow would only be ready to discuss the fate of a group of Ukrainian sailors it captured last month after their trial was finished. (Reuters, 12.07.18)
• The Kremlin on Dec. 3 called absurd a Ukrainian accusation it has designs on the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk in order to create a land corridor between Russian-annexed Crimea and eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.  (Reuters, 12.03.18)
• Russia is holding naval and surface-to-air missile drills in the Black Sea region amid tensions with Ukraine and the West over the capture of three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews off the coast of Crimea last month. (The Moscow Times, 12.05.18)
• President Petro Poroshenko says senior figures from Orthodox Christian communities in Ukraine will meet on Dec. 15 in a bid to form a new, unified, independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church. (RFE/RL, 12.05.18)
• Ukrainian police have searched several Russian Orthodox churches and the homes of Russian Orthodox priests in several cities, amid growing tensions over the fate of Ukraine's competing Orthodox faiths. (RFE/RL, 12.04.18)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Armenians are set to vote in a snap parliamentary election Dec. 9 that is expected to cement the rule of the new prime minister who spearheaded the massive protests earlier this year that forced the resignation of his predecessor. (AP, 12.07.18)
• An appeals court in Armenia has reinstated the pretrial detention of former President Robert Kocharian, who is accused of overthrowing the country's constitutional system. (RFE/RL, 12.07.18)
• An Armenian military aircraft has crashed during a training mission, killing its two pilots. The Defense Ministry said on Dec. 4 that the Su-25 jet disappeared from the radar screens minutes after taking off from an airbase in the northwestern city of Gyumri. (RFE/RL, 12.04.18)
• Thousands of people protested on Dec. 2 in the Georgian capital against the election of the ruling-party-backed candidate Salome Zurabishvili to the presidency, claiming fraud in last week’s runoff vote. (RFE/RL, 12.02.18)
• Georgian authorities say they have detained six Ukrainians and a Georgian citizen on weapons-possession charges during opposition protests over a presidential election won by Salome Zurabishvili, the ruling-party-backed candidate. (RFE/RL, 12.03.18)
• Outgoing Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s son-in-law, Mindia Gogochuri, has been detained along with an associate on suspicion of illegal possession of handguns, the Interior Minister said on Dec. 6. (RFE/RL, 12.06.18)
• Kazakhstan has confirmed that two of its citizens have been indicted in the United States for an alleged online fraud involving fake advertising that caused companies to lose tens of millions of dollars. (RFE/RL, 12.04.18)

IV. Quoteworthy

• No significant developments.