Sanctions
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Partial success: Russia’s oil sector adapts to sanctions
After sixteen months of Western sanctions against Russia the picture of their efficiency remains ambivalent. The sanctions on oil exports have proven effective in achieving the objectives: reducing Russian budget revenues while avoiding destabilisation of the world market. However, the sales of Russian oil have increased and the Russian state budget still earns money. -
China can learn from Russia how to survive under sanctions
Last week China’s leader Xi Jinping visited Moscow. Beijing’s agenda was twofold: to study Russia’s unique experience of surviving under tough Western sanctions, and to gain a foothold on the Russian market -
Sanctions drove oligarkhs home to embrace Putin
Ownership of property has brought serfdom rather than freedom to the super-rich Russians: they thought they were part of the global jet set. Driven back to Russia because of the sanctions they now form the backbone of Putin's war economy. Is this wise or is division of the oligarkhs a better solution? -
The alliance between Russia and Iran is deepening
Moscow and Tehran reached an agreement to start manufacturing hundreds of weaponized drones on Russian soil, according to U.S. and other Western security agencies. With Iranian made drones Russia attacks Ukrainan infrastructure. The deal represents a further deepening of the alliance between Russia and Iran. -
Europe finds its unity in crisis
As victory on the battlefield may be far away, Vladimir Putin stakes his hopes on the weak-willed Europeans who cannot take the hardships of high prices and energy shortage. However, EU-countries are displaying a considerable unity in the face of crisis. -
Coping with sanctions: import substitution or going parallel?
According to President Putin, Russia is able to cope with the economic sanctions imposed by the West. Vladislav Inozemtsev outlines how the Russian economy is adapting to the new circumstances. -
Europe’s Gamble and the End of Russia’s Oil Power
Due to its own lack of reforms and decisiveness, Russia played second fiddle as a prime mover on oil markets for
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Why Russia's elite went to war
The oligarchs who emerged under Yeltsin's rule gave up their involvement in Russia's domestic politics. They earned their money in
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Sanctions on Russia are strong but not 'nuclear'
Every day the war lasts we see new sanctions on Russia imposed by the West. How effective are they? Read the personal blog and
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Lukashenko in survival mode: an international problem
After de meeting of the presidents Putin and Lukashenko, the 28th of May in Soch, it remains crystal clear: Russia is the only country that can truly influence the behavior of the Belarusian regime. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time before Western pressure is transferred from Minsk to Moscow. -
Germany unlikely to join American pushback strategy towards Russia
The perceptions by the German government of Putin’s Russia appear to converge with the views of the Biden administration. Both acknowledge the link between the Kremlin’s repressive domestic policies and aggressive foreign policy. But in German government, there is a wide gap between the views and correspondingly tough responses. -
Hacking controversy highlights Kremlin’s self-destructive approach
As the spat on Russia's hacking of the US information technology firm SolarWinds shows, Russia again damaged its own interests. It was classical espionage, but American pundits framed it as Kremlin sabotage. -
Sticks and carrots in Biden’s Russia strategy
So far it is two cheers for Biden's approach to Russia, Some of the sanctions will be more effective than others. By calling Putin a 'killer' with respect to Navalny, but at the same time inviting him for a meeting, he shows he has sticks and carrots to offer. -
Germany at the crossroads in its relations with Russia
The image of Putin’s Russia in Germany has suffered tremendously in the past few weeks. In the wake of a series of ever more implausible denials, the Kremlin’s credibility has seriously been eroded. Government and leading figures in the political parties have called for sanctions, both against the Lukashenko regime and Putin’s Russia, including stopping the North Stream 2 gas pipeline project. It remains to be seen whether the current shocks of the Kremlin’s behaviour will lead to major policy changes or, as in the past, end in business as usual. -
Russia facing Europe: a roadmap for improvement
In the relationship between Russia and Europe, illusions about rapprochement are gone. However, the relation is not confrontational either. It's in Russia's interest to strengthen economic and technological ties with the EU, argues Dmitri Trenin, director of Carnegie Center Moscow on the website of his think tank. -
U.S. attempts to block Russian gas pipe to Europe likely to fail
The Trump administration and the U.S. Congress want to block the Nord Stream 2 project because they think it will make European countries too dependent on Russian energy and damage Ukraine. However, it’s unlikely that the U.S. will succeed, writes Todd Prince for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. -
Zelensky and the Donbas Conflict: no Progress in Sight
What can Ukraine's new president Volodymyr Zelensky do to help solve the Donbas conflict? With its policy of 'passportization' the Kremlin is escalating the conflict, Andreas Umland argues. More sanctions are needed to force Russia to change its policy. Or Europe will pay dearly. -
Putin replies to angry voters
Russians watch Putin's annual call-in show for clues about what the future will bring, but the president took them back to the past. Putin invoked the 1990s to show that life could be worse, if not for his 20 years in power. We republish a slightly abridged report of the show, written by Steve Gutterman for Radio Free Europe, followed by quotations of Putin's most remarkable statements. -
The Twilight of Putin’s Political Monopoly?
Political fragmentation, fights between the elites and a total absence of a positive domestic agenda. Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya signals three key domestic risks of the year 2019 for those in power. -
So who 'won' 2018?
In their own ways both Russia and the West consider themselves at war with each other. Wars bring their own zero-sum logic, so it would seem appropriate to ask the most basic of questions: who ‘won’ 2018? Our columnist Mark Galeotti weighs in. -
How Western Sanctions Will Alter Ties Between Russian Big Business and the Kremlin
The United States’ latest round of sanctions has hit Russia hard. In the future, the Russian state will have to share the emerging
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Winners and losers in sanction war
Many more Russian oligarchs, bureaucrats, companies, and businesses can expect to appear on future U.S. sanctions lists. Russia, not
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Black Monday Blues in Moscow
Column Dutch businessman Jeroen Ketting has been
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Gas and oil interests split Europe and US in sanction policy
As Trump and Putin met for the first time during the G20, they apparently didn't speak about a very sensitive issue: the economic
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U.S-Russian Relations: Back to Square One - Part II
After Donald Trump took power a ‘reset’ of U.S.-Russian relations wasn’t even attempted. Why was a ‘grand bargain’, being so far
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Punish the criminal, not the instrument
On December 29 president Obama kicked out 35 Russian diplomats in response to Russian interference with the American
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Европа — назад к сферам влияния?
Владимир Путин требует для России положения сверхдержавы, и избрание Трампа может сыграть ему на руку. Но на чем основаны
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Will Trump Become the Kremlin’s Icebreaker?
Before the elections the Russian leadership was praising Donald Trump. After his victory the Kremlin should worry about mercurial
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Москва-2016: между гламуром и насилием
Россия уже больше двух лет находится под международными санкциями; большинство российских регионов ощущают экономические последствия
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