October 20:
The Russian government is striking an increasingly protectionist stance as the crisis over Ukraine continues.According to Azerbaijan's TREND news agency, the Russian government is poised to mandate that state-run companies cannot import vehicles, heavy equipment or metallurgy-related products from abroad. The order, in the form of a "general directive" from the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade, will cover companies that are majority state-owned, according to Russian government sources. The move, which was foreshadowed by Russian officials in recent weeks, appears to be a further retaliatory measure in response to Western sanctions.
October 22:
Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula earlier this year could be repeated elsewhere in Ukraine, a senior American statesman has warned. In an interview with Czech news channel CT24 subsequently reproduced by Radio Svoboda, former Defense Secretary and CIA chief Leon Panetta said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to repeat the Crimean scenario in Eastern Ukraine. The West, Panetta believes, "needs to act quickly" in response to Russian threats, including through the provision of military materiel to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Surging commodity prices are hitting Russian consumers in their pocketbooks, the St. Petersburg Timesreports. Deteriorating political and economic relations between Russia and the West over the past half-year are having a pronounced effect on the price of foodstuffs and other commodities. Perishable products such as meat, fish, dairy and fruits and vegetable in particular have seen significant price hikes - a trend increasingly being noticed by Russia's middle class, which is seeing its purchasing power decline.
Moscow and Kyiv remain at loggerheads over gas prices, according to the Agence France Presse. The two sides, now engaged in intensive talks in an attempt to resolve an acrimonious dispute over billions of dollars in funds that Russia says it is owed for the past supply of natural gas, have failed to reach a deal to avert a possible Russian shut-off of supplies. Further talks are slated in coming days, and European officials are hopeful that the "significant progress" made toward a resolution of the crisis could net a durable deal in the near future.
October 23:
As North Korea's ties to China decline, Russia is stepping up to replace the PRC as a strategic partner of the Hermit Kingdom. The latest project between Moscow and Pyongyang, and one of the first of its kind between the Russian Federation and the DPRK, is a Russian bid to modernize 3,500 km of dilapidated railroad on the Korean Peninsula. Under the plan, Russia's public and private sectors will foot the majority of the $25 billion bill for the project, but will in turn gain interests in gold, rare-metal and other mineral resource projects already on-going in North Korea. The Nikkei Asian Review cites Alexander Galushka, minister of development for Russia's Far East, as saying that economic cooperation between the two countries is deepening rapidly. As part of these expanding contacts, the two countries hope to increase bilateral trade tenfold by 2020, and have already commenced ruble-based settlements in banking transactions.
Russia and China are expanding their burgeoning partnership into a new strategic arena: cyberspace. The Hillnewspaper, citing Russia's Kommersant, reports that Russian and Chinese leaders are close to concluding an agreement on cooperation on cybersecurity issues, permitting the two countries "to conduct joint cybersecurity operations" for the first time. The draft accord is on track to be signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China in early November.
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