September 3:
Negotiations between Russia and Turkey over the construction of the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline will have to begin again from scratch, following major disagreements regarding economic terms between the two sides. The Novinite news agency reports that the overland route, which is intended to transport oil from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, would carry 60-70 million tons of oil annually once operational. Russian oil companies Rosneft, Transneft, Sovkomflot, as well as the Turkish Calik Group and the Italian concern Eni, signed an agreement last year to build and operate the line, but work on the project has so far been stillborn.
September 5:
Russia's state-owned energy firm Gazprom could complete a natural gas pipeline to China before the long-planned South Stream pipeline comes online. New Europe, citing the Russian business newspaper Vedomosti, reports that the Russian Energy Ministry's latest "gas sector development" blueprint includes plans to build the 1,700 proposed Altai pipeline from Russia to China between 2015 and 2018. If realized, the timeframe would render the pipeline - negotiations for which have been underway between Moscow and Beijing for the last decade - operational some six years ahead of the South Stream pipeline also being erected by Moscow.
September 6:
Though he has consistently refused to discuss his intentions regarding Russia's 2012 presidential election, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's recent comments seem to hint at a possible return to the country's highest office. The New York Times reports that, when questioned by a reporter about whether a third presidential term would damage Russia’s political system, Mr. Putin countered by pointing out that U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected for four terms, as permitted by the Constitution at the time. According to the Russian Constitution, Mr. Putin was only barred from serving for more than two consecutive terms, and so may technically return in 2012.
September 7:
After nearly four decades of negotiation, Russian and Norwegian officials have reached agreement on a final delineation of disputed Arctic maritime borders between the two countries, Reuters reports. A final signing ceremony is expected on September 15, and will resolve a dispute involving 175,000 square kilometers in the Barents Sea. Experts believe that the agreement could provide new opportunities for offshore exploration in the oil- and gas-rich areas of the Arctic.
Following recent tensions between Russia and Israel over the Kremlin's sale of arms to Syria and Iran, the defense ministers of both countries have met to sign an agreement for future military cooperation. “Our views on many challenges of today are close or identical,” Russian defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov has told reporters. “Primarily this concerns issues of terrorism and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.” According to the Agence France Presse, the recent accord between Israel and Russia is also part of an ongoing effort by Israel to prevent the sale of Russian cruise missiles to Syria, as well as the sale of S-300 surface-to-air missile defense systems to Iran, a transaction that has been stalled under pressure from both Israel and the United States.
September 8:
After two years of captivity in a pretrial detention center following her attempts to file complaints against the FSB, the mayor of a small Siberian village was finally released on bail after her case began to attract international attention. According to the New York Times, Tatyana Kazakova’s prison sentence of six years was suspended, though she was found guilty of felony charges and barred from holding public office for two-and-a-half years. Ms. Kazakova’s lawyers argued that the decision was the result of international pressure forcing authorities to find a “face-saving way” of ending the case without admitting the charges against her were fabricated. After repeated clashes with the FSB in 2007, Ms. Kazakova filed complaints claiming that the service had been carrying out “illegal construction that threatened the village’s heating system.” Soon thereafter, she was arrested and accuse of embezzlement and election fraud. For two years, Ms. Kazakova’s fiancé, mother, and three children were all denied permission to see her.
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