February 10:
Russia is seeking to solidify its claims to the Arctic. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that the country's Natural Resources Minister, Sergei Donskoy, has reiterated his government's claim to parts of the Arctic seabed in a presentation at the United Nations. Donskoy's appeal follows the Kremlin's formal submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf last August of its claim that "the Lomonosov Ridge and other parts of the Arctic seabed belong to Russia's continental shelf," according to RFE/RL.
Amid deteriorating diplomatic ties with Turkey, Russia's Foreign Ministry is considering an abrogation of the historic document governing relations between the two countries, Itar-TASS reports. The Moscow Treaty of Friendship and Brotherhood has been in force since March 1921, when it was signed by Bolshevik Russia and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The agreement committed the Russian leadership (led by Lenin) and the nascent government of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to maintain friendly relations, and under it each country ceded select pieces of territory to the other.
Now, however, this nearly century old settlement may be in question. "Indeed, the Russian Foreign Ministry has received a query from State Duma members proposing to denounce the treaty," Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has confirmed. The initiative follows a request from several Duma lawmakers to review - and potentially annul - the long-standing agreement as part of the political response to Turkey's downing of a Russian fighter jet in or near its airspace back in November. "We should consider a possibility of legal review of all Russian-Turkish agreements that are unfavorable for our country and its allies," Communist Party Duma deputy Sergei Obukhov has said. "Ankara must understand what the escalation of the conflict could be fraught with for it. Only this can bring it to earth and prevent it from carrying out new provocations."
February 11:
Moscow city authorities have drawn criticism for a "blitz" of building demolitions carried out rapidly and under the cover of night. The Moscow Times reports that the so-called "night of long shovels," which took place on February 9th, involved the razing of no fewer than 97 structures (including retail stores) as part of a city planning directive issued by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and intended to both beautify and streamline the architecture of the country's capital. The demolition campaign, moreover, reportedly proceeded despite court injunctions that were previously issued pursuant to complaints by the owners of the affected structures.
February 12:
The main threat to Russia is "impoverishment," a new survey of national public opinion has found. The poll, carried out by the independent Levada Center among more than 1,500 citizens throughout Russia, found fifty-three percent of respondents to believe that their loss of purchasing power represents a major threat to national stability and livelihood. An overwhelming majority of those polled (82 percent) now believe the country is in the throes of an "economic crisis," reports The Moscow Times.
[EDITORS' NOTE: Given the effect of Russia's increasingly authoritarian political climate on pollsters and respondents alike, the results of public opinion surveys in Russia should be viewed with some caution.]
February 14:
In an effort to mitigate the damage to Russia's economy caused by Western sanctions and low oil prices, the government of President Vladimir Putin has begun selling off its assets. Ireland's Independent newspaper reports that the Kremlin is planning to sell off BashNeft, the country's sixth-largest energy conglomerate, which it nationalized just two years ago. It is planning to do so, moreover, at fire sale prices; once valued at $13 billion, the Independent reports that buyers could now "secure control in the producer and large refiner for less than $2.5bn." Among the potential suitors is LUKOIL, the country's largest oil concern, which the Kremlin has confirmed is interested in acquiring a stake in BashNeft.
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