June 16:
Following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in London, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced his confidence that Russia and the United Kingdom can overcome their differences on the Syria conflict. Although al-Jazeera reports that Putin continued to defend Russia’s unpopular position in the conflict, PM Cameron is convinced that both countries “can overcome these differences if we recognize that we share some fundamental aims: to end the conflict, to stop Syria breaking apart, to let the Syrian people decide who governs them and to take the fight to the extremists and defeat them.” Tensions are running particularly high over the conflict following the decision by U.S. President Barack Obama to arm rebels against alleged chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian government. Officials from both countries are hopeful that the positive attitude of this week’s bilateral meetings will carry over into next week’s Group of Eight (G8) summit in Northern Ireland.
June 17:
Those positive feelings were quickly tempered, however, by allegations that the British government bugged and spied on officials from Turkey, South Africa, and Russia during the 2009 G20 summit in London. Turkish officials called the actions “scandalous” if true, notes the Guardian, adding that “at a time when international cooperation depends on mutual trust, respect and transparency, such behavior by an allied country is unacceptable.” Details about the spying incidents were leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden as part of a larger briefing originally prepared by the National Security Agency. The same report revealed that U.S. spies based in Britain made efforts during the same 2009 summit to spy on Russia’s then-President, Dmitry Medvedev. Kremlin officials were quick to decry the incident, accusing the United States of making insincere efforts to improve relations. “2009 was the year the Russian-American ‘reset’ was announced,” noted Igor Morozov, a senator in Russia’s upper house of parliament. “At the same time U.S. special services were listening to Dmitry Medvedev’s phone calls.”
June 18:
According to the New York Times, U.S. President Obama is prepared to outline plans for further cuts to the American nuclear arsenal, provided Russia joins in reduction efforts. The new plan will be aimed at drawing both countries below the 1,550 total permitted in the treaty that Obama signed with Russia in his first term, an effort which analysts note was largely forgotten in the last two years. The U.S. President reportedly also aims to go beyond the limits of the treaty, and work with NATO members to outline drastic cuts to tactical nuclear weapons totals. This, however, is expected to be the sticking point for the Kremlin, whose tactical nuclear weapon stores far outnumber Washington’s. Moreover, Russian President Putin has several times demanded further concessions on missile defense before addressing additional nuclear cuts. Obama is expected to unveil the plans at a speech marking the fiftieth anniversary of a famous speech given by John F. Kennedy less than a year after the Cuban missile crisis. The Kennedy talk, given at American University, created the push for what became the nuclear test ban treaty, signed two months later.
June 19:
The U.S. State Department’s annual ranking of nations involved in trafficking saw Russia and China receive a “black mark” for the first time. The mark essentially brands the affected country a “purveyor of slavery,” reports the Washington Post, a harsh label intended to force change. State Department officials believe that both Russia and China are aware of their trafficking and slavery problem, and, moreover, “have the ability to apply more rigorous prevention measures.” Officials attribute Russia’s black mark in particular to the growing rate of labor trafficking, estimated to involve nearly 1 million people. The report noted that “Russia is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking,” and has a shrinking number of shelters for victims of trafficking. Both Russia and China reportedly dismissed the rankings as meddlesome and irrelevant, but such accusations can only be expected to increase Russo-American tensions.
June 21:
In the latest bid to stimulate economic growth, Kremlin officials announced plans to dismiss senior managers in underperforming state-owned companies. Oil companies Rosneft and Gazprom, as well as Russian Railways, were identified among the companies which must cut costs, Reuters reports, but the full extent of the dismissals is yet unknown. “We will take the best companies on the market (as a benchmark) and push other companies so that they lower their costs to the same level,” explained Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. Russian Railways’ head Vladimir Yakunin has been under fire recently for his business relationships and wealth, and earlier in the week was the victim of a hoax email which announced the Rail chief’s dismissal. Officials discouraged speculation that there was any truth to the claim.
For Human Rights, one of Russia’s most prominent human rights organizations, became the latest victim of government raids. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that the organization’s staff was abruptly told to vacate its headquarters, which is owned by the Moscow city government, as a result of an expired lease, despite protests from the group’s program coordinator that a new lease agreement was already in the works. Well-known opposition leader Lev Ponomaryov remained inside the office, and insists that the search was politically-motivated. It’s a common claim since the introduction of a controversial new law requiring nongovernmental organizations that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents.”