Section: Newsweek (USA)
White House Has Not Yet Decided on Russia Sanctions Bill
The White House said on Monday that President Barack Obama had not yet decided how to respond to a bill authorizing new sanctions against Russia over its activities in Ukraine, although some lawmakers said they expected he would sign the measure into law. “This is something that has been the source of some discussions at the White House...
Russia Raises Key Interest Rate to 17 Percent Overnight
(Reuters) – Russia’s central bank raised its key interest rate to 17 percent in the early hours of Tuesday morning in an emergency move to halt a collapse in the ruble as oil prices decline and the country’s sanctions-hit economy slides towards recession. The ruble RUB= RUB=EBS strengthened sharply after the decision, recouping...
UN: Human Rights Abuses Rampant in Embattled Eastern Ukraine
The coming winter is set to make life harder for the more than 5 million people living in eastern Ukraine’s conflict areas, many of whom are already struggling to survive, the office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights wrote in a new report released Monday. “The conflict is in its ninth month, and the situation is...
Estonian Intelligence Charges Double Agent with Treason After Spying for Russia for 15 Years
Estonian police are charging a former agent of the state’s security services (CAPO) for treason, after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) unveiled that he had been working as a double agent for Moscow since 1996 on the Russian state broadcaster NTV on Sunday. Uno Puusepp who retired from the Estonian CAPO and moved to Moscow three...
Ukraine Has First Casualty-Free Day In Seven Months of Conflict
Ukraine has had its first casualty-free day in seven months after a ceasefire agreement signed in September failed to stall the conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that yesterday was the first time since the conflict in Eastern Ukraine began that he has not been told of a soldier or a...
Russia Threatens to React to Further U.S. Sanctions
The United States Senate passed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act bill on Friday, which requests further sanctions against Moscow and up to $350 million dollars’ worth of military gear and hardware delivered to war-torn Ukraine from 2015 to 2017. The stricter sanctions would also affect the numerous weapons companies that sell to Russia. It...
How Strong Is the Russian Military?
The Russian military suffered years of neglect after the Soviet collapse and no longer casts the shadow of a global superpower. However, the Russian armed forces are in the midst of a historic overhaul with significant consequences for Eurasian politics and security. Russian officials say the reforms are necessary to bring a Cold War–era military...
Ukraine’s Military Budget Will Be Over $3 Billion in 2015
Ukrainian officials plan to increase the military budget to about $3.2 billion for 2015, a 100 percent increase over this year. Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk noted about 5 percent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product will go toward military and security spending. This news comes after Ukraine announced plans for a border wall with Russia...
Russia’s Monuments Keep Getting Graffitied with Ukrainian Flags
On Friday morning, two war monuments in Russia’s Novosibirsk state were painted with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The graffiti artists also wrote “Azov,” the name of a Ukrainian battalion fighting pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, on the monuments. Novosibirsk woke up today to find its...
Few Oligarchs Can Beat Russia’s Weakening Economy
Russia’s oligarchs are no strangers to misfortune, asset grabs, forced investments and financial crises. Many of them may publicly shrug off a 40 percent plunge in the rouble and the difficulties caused by a sanctions-hit economy heading for recession. And at least on paper, there are some winners, with metal producers benefiting from...
