Last week President Dmitry Medvedev met with American foreign policy veterans including former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who champion better U.S.-Russian relations, and positively assessed the Obama Administration’s latest moves. Medvedev said resetting the U.S.-Russian relationship should not be limited to words but should extend to practical deeds. …
Are the Russians going to establish a bomber presence in Venezuela or Cuba? This past weekend a Russian air force commander spoke of potential basing opportunities in Venezuela while leftist President Hugo Chavez seemed to indicate a readiness to accept Russian aircraft. But then Chavez “walked the cat back” as …
Unemployment and social and economic instability sparked by the ongoing crisis have caused a socio-political fallout in Russia. The share of guest workers is traditionally high in Moscow’s employment patterns, and nowadays many of them have been laid off. The rates of street crime with their participation have spiked, according …
The past few weeks saw a certain stabilization of the ruble against the key international currencies. The Russian national currency’s de facto devaluation has brought about a dramatic nearly 40-percent drop in imports compared to the same period last year. This development helped to offset export losses and retain a …
The Geneva meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hardly attracted Russian spotlight. Moscow does not have much faith in a fast track success toward improving bilateral relations and resolving multiple thorny issues. Nevertheless, the Kremlin is viewing with hope some of the …
Friday night, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a dinner in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss US-Russian relations. As a token, Secretary Clinton brought a yellow box with a button and the words “reset” on both sides in English and Russian. Apparently, the State …
