Russia Reform Monitor: No. 1627

March 15:

Russia has decided to back U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. The Agence France Presse reports Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that U.S. and Coalition operations in the former Taliban stronghold are "a factor restraining terrorism." "On this basis Russia decided to allow the use of its territory for over-land transit of non-military supplies to ISAF," Lavrov has announced. And, according to the Foreign Minister, this preliminary cooperation could also pave the way for collaboration in other areas. "[T]ogether with the United States, we are examining the possibility of carrying out in Afghanistan projects in the energy and transport sphere."


March 17:

Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans for a "large-scale rearming" of his country, the International Herald Tribune reports. In remarks before a gathering of military leaders, the Russian president explained that a range of external threats require the Russian government to invest heavily in new weaponry and military systems, including upgrades to Russia's strategic arsenal, over the next three years. "An analysis of the military-political situation in the world shows that there are a range of regions where there remain serious potential for conflicts," the IHT cites Medvedev as saying. "Threats remain that can bring about local crises and international terrorism. NATO is not halting its efforts to widen its military infrastructure near the borders of our country. All of this demands a quality modernization of our armed forces."

The unquestioned dominance of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party has been a staple of Russian politics in recent years. But now, the Moscow Times reports, one Russian city has gone against the political grain. In local elections just held in Murmansk, independent candidate Sergei Subbotin handily defeated his "United Russia" rival, Mikhail Savchenko, in the contest for mayor. Subbotin, a former deputy governor, secured 61 percent of the vote, well over the 35 percent gained by Savchenko, the incumbent mayor. For his part, Subbotin has announced that, while he will not join United Russia, he remains "a supporter of Vladimir Putin."


March 20:

As the global financial crisis continues to deepen, the Russian government is setting out its economic red lines. Itar-TASS reports that the Kremlin has mapped out seven "anti-crisis priorities" - areas of priority government investment as a response to the country's plummeting economic fortunes. They include a renewed official commitment to social services for Russian citizens, a streamlining of national industrial production, and a continuing commitment to the modernization of national infrastructure. The goal of the plan, the initiative's official document reads, is “to prevent the emergence of wrong stimuli in the economy and distortions of motivations of enterprises and the population, undermining the long-term development prospects.”


March 22:

Moscow hopes to organize a new treaty to enhance international counterterrorism cooperation, RIA Novosti reports. "In a new treaty on security, we want to achieve a new quality of cooperation in the fight against terrorism, non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons and other threats and challenges that we face," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the Brussels Forum, an annual summit of U.S. and political leaders. As envisioned by the Kremlin, the new treaty would strengthen United Nations provisions regarding territorial sovereignty and the inadmissibility of the use of force. It would also, however, establish that no one organization have exclusive right to provide for security in Europe - a thinly-veiled jab at NATO.


March 23:

Russia has extended security protection to the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Reuters reports that, as part of a new agreement signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia will cooperate with both regions "on joint efforts to protect the borders of these republics." The decree effectively makes Moscow a formal military partner of both regions in the event of another attempted takeover by the Georgian government.