April 24:
Western sanctions aren’t likely to make a major dent in Russia’s global arms trade. Citing experts, The Hill reports that Russia’s arms trade is expected to remain strong even if U.S. lawmakers end American and NATO contracts with the country over the conflict in Ukraine. Russia has 26 percent of the global market share in the weapons industry—second only to the U.S. —but sells its wares mostly in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The U.S. market accounts for only .04 percent of Russia’s major arms sales, while Western and Central Europe account for only slightly more: 0.4 percent.
April 25:
In a further escalation of tensions, Russian warplanes have violated Ukrainian airspace several times recently. TIME cites Pentagon spokesman Steve Warren as saying that Russian fighter jets entered Ukrainian airspace on multiple occasions over the past day, amid the Ukrainian government’s attempts to beat back pro-Russian separatists in eastern and southern Ukraine. The U.S. government has called on the Kremlin to take “immediate steps to de-escalate the situation.”
A Russian spy ship recently spotted in dock in Havana, Cuba has been carrying out reconnaissance and eavesdropping missions off the East Coast of the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico. London’s Daily Mail reports that the vessel, the Viktor Leonov, has been operating outside of U.S. territorial waters for the past month.
April 27:
Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk have seized the offices of a regional state television channel. The station was targeted because “they show lies, they try to influence the people and they broadcast misinformation,” according to one of the separatists. The Moscow Times reports that nearby police officers did not interfere, despite the presence of the television staff inside the building during the raid.
Western sanctions have focused international attention anew on the elusive personal fortune of Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Boston Globe reports that Putin’s presumed personal wealth, estimated at anywhere between $40 and $70 billion, is believed to be held by a number of trading companies and middlemen, including several that have been targeted by the U.S. and Europe to date. The designations raise the possibility that Western powers could go after Russia’s president more directly if he continues to persist in his pressure on Ukraine. “It’s something that could be done that would send a very clear signal of taking the gloves off and not just dance around it,” says Juan C. Zarate, a Bush-era counterterrorism official.
April 28:
The White House has imposed a new round of sanctions on Russia targeting seven additional government officials and 17 companies in response to Russia’s failure to uphold the April 17th Geneva agreement over Ukraine. According to the Washington Times, the new sanctions include a freeze on any U.S. assets, and a ban on travel to the U.S. for certain members of Putin’s inner circle. The White House has reported that sanctions are hurting the Russian economy and has said that the U.S. is prepared to take additional action against “individuals and entities in specific sectors if Russia continues to press forward.”
[EDITORS’ NOTE: While the new, expanded sanctions list includes a broader array of Kremlin “cronies,” to use the Administration’s parlance, than did previously rounds of sanctions, a number of names continue to remain conspicuously absent. Chief among them is Alexei Miller, CEO of Russian state natural gas giant Gazprom. Given Europe’s heavy dependence on Russian gas supplies, Miller’s exclusion appears to be the result of European pressure on the Obama administration.]
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