August 10:
The lack of formal agreement between Russia and the United States regarding limitations of missile defense systems has further complicated the ratification of New START. Though the relationship between defensive and offensive systems is mentioned in the new arms control pact, according to the Voice of America, the legal limitations in the agreement address only offensive systems. Russian leaders remain openly concerned about future U.S. missile defense plans, insisting that they “reserve the right to withdraw from the New START treaty if Washington’s missile defense plans pose what they consider to be a threat to Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent force.” Supporters of the treaty, however, have brushed aside these statements - or the possibility that Washington will limit future missile defense plans as a result. U.S. officials have asserted that the treaty "in no way limits U.S. missile defense plans,” Ploughshares Fund President Joseph Cirincione points out, “[a]nd in fact we’re better off with the treaty than without it.”
August 11:
There is still no end in sight for Russia’s most intense heat wave in decades, creating new concerns for the seeding of winter grain crops in the world’s third largest wheat exporter. The recent ban on grain exports has driven up global wheat prices to two-year highs, reports the Dominion Post, and the situation could significantly worsen if the drought continues through the next ten days. “Our investigations show that the sowing may be delayed some 10 days without losses. But only in case of rains,” says Anna Strashnaya, an agricultural forecasting official. If the weather does not relent, however, Russian farmers face the loss of over 40 percent of their yearly total. Given that only 25 percent of Russian crops are insured, the loss could be a major setback for a Russian economy that was beginning to show signs of recovery.
August 12:
Days after President Dmitry Medvedev’s pledge to continue assistance to the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, five Russian patrol boats have arrived at the Abkhaz Black Sea port of Ochamchira to guard the region’s borders. As many as ten ships are eventually expected at the port, reports RIA Novosti, including the Mangust and Sobol class patrol ships, which are equipped with machine guns. The patrol boats are reportedly intended to interdict any Georgian ships found illegally entering Abkhaz waters, possibly in retaliation for the cargo vessels already seized by Georgia, which has declared “any unauthorized maritime shipments of goods to be illegal.”
A new report by the State Statistics Service has hit a hopeful note on Russia's economic recovery. According to the Moscow Times, the new study - covering the second quarter of 2010 - details that the country's gross domestic product increased by 5.2 percent from 2009, retail sales saw the strongest surge since November 2008, while corporate loans increased by 2.1 percent and retail lending by 1.6 percent. Experts have warned, however, that the current drought plaguing farms across western and southern Russia will likely produce a slowdown in economic activity. “We can expect some ‘negative surprises in macroeconomic indicators’ for July and August as the heat and the drought affect retail sales and agricultural output,” cautioned Dmitry Polevoy of economic consultancy ING Groep NV.
August 13:
Two years after its conflict with Georgia and days after pledging continued support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russian officials have derided the U.S. Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2009 for its “biased” description of Georgia. According to RIA Novosti, Russia’s Foreign Ministry posted a statement on its website reacting with incredulity at the description of Georgia “as a genuinely model terrorism fighter,” insisting that the Russian intelligence services have “repeatedly furnished proofs” of Georgia’s double dealing with terrorist organizations in the North Caucasus, only to be ignored. The statement additionally objected to the characterization of the current role of Russia’s border guards. Denying that its presence in the breakaway regions was an act of “militarization,” the Foreign Ministry maintained that because of Russia's troop presence, “the situation on the borders between these two states and Georgia has been substantially stabilized and on the whole remained quiet.”
August 14:
The President of the Republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, may be the first in a string of leaders in Russia's republics to relinquish their presidential titles to the Kremlin. According to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Kadyrov has expressed his interest in downgrading his title from “president” to “governor” or “head of the republic,” stating, “There should only be one president in a state,” and adding that the other presidents of Russian republics will act similarly. Experts, however, argue that the move may not be voluntary, but rather represents part of the Kremlin’s agenda to hold the only presidential title in the Russian Federation, with Moscow pushing regional leaders to show loyalty to the Kremlin. President Medvedev now reportedly hopes that “the presidents of the republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan will follow Kadyrov’s lead.”
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