This Week’s Highlights:

• U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed the Mueller report, Venezuela and North Korea during a 1.5-hour phone call on May 3. Regarding Mueller’s investigation, the White House said “both leaders knew there was no collusion.”  The leaders also discussed a potential nuclear arms control agreement with China and Trump called on Putin to put pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearize, according to the White House.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin’s position on Venezuela is “incompatible” with Washington’s, according to multiple press reports. He also denied a claim by his U.S. counterpart that Moscow had asked President Nicolas Maduro, its ally, to stay in the country though he’d been planning to leave, Reuters reported. President Donald Trump, too, downplayed the reports, calling them “rumors,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Lavrov is due to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo next week in Finland.
• The U. S., Russia and China have agreed to work toward the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and to seek an "inclusive Afghan-led" peace process, according to RFE/RL. Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has called for using drones and other advanced technologies to monitor the Afghan border, where militants have been migrating from Iraq and Syria, Interfax reports. He said Islamic State is strengthening its positions in Afghanistan and could use it to launch attacks in the region.
• The U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has recognized part of the neutral Arctic waters as a continuation of the Russian shelf, the Financial Times reports. As a result, the Mendeleev Rise and the Lomonosov Ridge may become Russian by the summer of 2020, an official familiar with the talks told the newspaper.
• A congressional committee released a letter that Robert Mueller wrote to William Barr, in which Mueller complained that Barr’s four-page summary "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance" of his team's conclusions, according to multiple press reports. Barr defended his handling of the final report and said it was meant to deliver a verdict on criminality, not to simply report facts to the public. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, has accused Barr of committing a crime by lying to Congress in previous testimony about his handling of Mueller’s report, the Financial Times reported.
• The Russian Navy’s combat capability was just 45 percent of the U.S. Navy’s, according to an analysis by Flot.com, a Russian defense website, The National Interest reported. This is down from 47 percent in 2017 and 52 percent in 2014.

I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda

Nuclear security and safety:

• Former Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, who played a key role in creating the program under which Soviet nuclear and chemical weapons were destroyed after the end of the Cold War, died on April 28 at the age of 87. (RFE/RL, 04.29.19)
• “Nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. And who knows what other ‘surprises’  these weapons have in store for us? Those who believe nuclear weapons can save the world from war should recall the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis,” Mikhail Gorbachev wrote in a commentary. (Wall Street Journal, 04.30.19)
• The Trump administration is asking for $1.3 billion for core nuclear security and nonproliferation programs at the NNSA next year, a decrease of about $100 million, or 7 percent, from the fiscal year 2019 appropriation. The largest proposed reduction is to the Global Material Security program, which has the task of improving the security of nuclear materials around the world. (Arms Control Today, May 2019)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussed North Korea, the Mueller report and Venezuela during a 1.5-hour phone call on May 3. Trump used the conversation to call on Putin to put pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearize, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. The leaders also discussed trade and a potential nuclear agreement including China, according to Sanders. Regarding the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, Sanders said “both leaders knew there was no collusion.” (NBC, 05.03.19)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• Iran and Russia will conduct a joint maritime drill in the Persian Gulf. “Based on negotiations with the Russian navy, the force will dispatch a fleet to the southern regions of Iran this year,” Iranian Army Cmdr. Navy Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi said, without giving a date for the drills. (Jerusalem Post, 04.29.19)

New Cold War/saber rattling:

• The Russian Navy’s combat capability was just 45 percent of the U.S. Navy’s according to an analysis by flot.com, a Russian defense website, down from 47 percent in 2017 and 52 percent in 2014. (The National Interest, 04.28.19)
• A beluga whale found with a tight harness that appeared to be Russian made has raised the alarm of Norwegian officials and prompted speculation that the animal may have come from a Russian military facility. The whale is refusing to leave a Norwegian port city. (AP, 04.29.19, The Washington Post, 05.03.19)

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• Russia’s Defense Ministry said on April 27 that Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, spoke by telephone with NATO’s outgoing Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, about “relevant international security issues.” In ceremonies in Germany on May 2 and in Belgium on May 3, Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters took over for Scaparrotti in the dual roles of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and head of U.S. European Command. (AP, 05.01.19, AP, 05.03.19, RFE/RL, 04/27.19)
• Russia was “ready to cooperate” to sell Ankara Su-57 fighter jets if Turkey’s participation in the F-35 jet program with the U.S. fell through, the head of the Russian state-owned Rostec Corporation’s Sergey Chemezov said on May 2. (Hurriyet Daily News, 05.03.19)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

• U.S. President Donald Trump's proposals on nuclear arms disarmament are "not serious," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 27. Trump has ordered his administration to prepare a push for new arms-control agreements with Russia and China. "It would be ideal to clean up the whole world from the nuclear weapon ... but on the other hand we would have been deprived from the deterrent factor," Peskov said. (Reuters, 04.27.19)
• Ellen Tauscher, a moderate California Democrat who served as a senior arms-control adviser to President Barack Obama, died April 29. She was 67. (The Washington Post, 04.30.19)

Counter-terrorism:

• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has called for using drones and other advanced technologies to monitor the Afghanistan border, where militants have been migrating from Iraq and Syria. Islamic State is strengthening its positions in Afghanistan and using the country as a stronghold for further invasion in the region, Shoigu said. (Interfax, 04.30.19)
• Russia’s FSB and police officers have prevented a large-scale terror attack involving an improvised explosive device in Nalchik and detained an Islamic State member, the FSB said. (Interfax, 04.26.19)
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, has appeared in a video for the first time in five years. (RFE/RL, 04.29.19)

Conflict in Syria:

• Russian and Syrian forces intensified air strikes and shelling in rebel-held northwestern Syria overnight on May 2, the heaviest assault since the area was declared a demilitarized zone under a Russian-Turkish deal. On April 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin said a full-scale assault against militants in the Idlib province "is not expedient now" and civilians' security needs to be taken into account. Precision-guided air strikes and operations against terrorist groups in Idlib will continue without any detriment to the civilian population, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said. (Reuters, 04.27.19, Reuters, 05.02.19, Interfax, 04.25.19)
• The Russian military has denied reports that four of its soldiers were killed in Syria. Arab media reported earlier that four Russian servicemen may have been killed by Turkish-backed rebels in the northwestern Syrian province of Hama. (The Moscow Times, 05.02.19)
• The defense chiefs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states highly praised Russia’s anti-terror operation in Syria. (TASS, 04.30.19)

Cyber security:

• Cybersecurity officials from dozens of countries on May 3 proposed a set of principles to ensure the safety of next generation mobile networks amid concerns over the use of gear made by China’s Huawei. NATO and EU officials also participated, but China and Russia were not present. (AP, 05.03.19)
• A British court has sentenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to 50 weeks in jail for breaching his bail conditions. Britain is to decide whether to extradite Assange to the U.S. in response to accusations that he conspired with former U.S. intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in 2010 to download classified information. He faces up to five years if convicted of the charges. (RFE/RL, 05.01.19)

Elections interference:

• A congressional committee released a letter that special counsel Robert Mueller wrote to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, in which Mueller complained that Barr’s four-page summary "did not fully capture the context, nature and substance" of his team's conclusions. "There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation," Mueller said in the March 27 letter released by the House Judiciary Committee. (RFE/RL, 05.01.19)
• U.S. Attorney General William Barr defended his handling of the final report of special counsel Robert Mueller during hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1. The special counsel probe into U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian 2016 election interference was meant to deliver a verdict on criminality, not to simply report facts to the public, Barr said in explaining why he determined the president's actions didn't amount to obstruction of justice. He then boycotted a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing. (RFE/RL, 05.01.19, RFE/RL, 05.02.19, Wall Street Journal, 05.01.19)
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused U.S. Attorney General William Barr of committing a crime by lying to Congress in previous testimony about his handling of Robert Mueller’s report. Pelosi on May 2 said Barr broke the law by failing to disclose to Congress complaints by Mueller about Barr’s characterization of his report on an investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election. (Financial Times, 05.02.19)
• Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sharply criticized Attorney General William Barr, U.S. President Donald Trump, members of the Republican Party and some findings of the Mueller report on May 1in a wide-ranging interview in which she warned of continuing Russian efforts to interfere in U.S. elections. (New York Times, 05.03.19)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on May 2 he did not believe he would allow former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify to committees in Congress. (Reuters, 05.02.19)
• The FBI sent a government investigator posing as a research assistant to London to meet Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos in September 2016 as part of the counterintelligence inquiry opened that summer to better understand the Trump campaign's links to Russia. (New York Times, 05.03.19)
• Annie Donaldson, who served as chief of staff to White House Counsel Donald McGahn, emerges in special counsel Robert Mueller's report as one of the most important narrators of internal White House turmoil. Her daily habit of documenting conversations and meetings provided the special counsel's office with its version of the Nixon White House tapes. (The Washington Post, 05.02.19)
• In recent months, U.S. national security officials have been preparing for Russian interference in the 2020 presidential race by tracking cyber threats, sharing intelligence about foreign disinformation efforts with social media companies and helping state election officials protect their systems against foreign manipulation. (The Washington Post, 04.30.19)

Energy exports:

• Belarus's state-run oil-transport firm Belneftekhim says "clean" Russian oil shipments have begun to arrive in Belarus via the Druzhba pipeline after a weeklong shutdown caused by the contamination of Russian supplies. Russia will resume stable oil flows via the Druzhba export pipeline to Europe within two weeks, the country’s deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak said April 26. (Financial Times, 04.26.19, RFE/RL, 05.02.19)
• Russia’s oil production fell to 11.23 million barrels per day in April from 11.3 million bpd in March, but remained above levels targeted in a deal on output cuts by major producers, Russian Energy Ministry data showed. (Reuters, 05.02.19)
• Gazprom’s full-year net profit rise to 1.5 trillion rubles ($26.6 billion) from the previous year was thanks to gas sales rising by more than a quarter on the year to 8.2 trillion rubles, largely due to “growth in the sale of gas, oil and gas processing, crude and gas condensate,” the group said. The monopoly exported a record 201.9 billion cubic meters to Europe and Turkey last year. (Financial Times, 04.29.19)
• Ukraine's gas supply fully depends on the transit of Russian gas, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Beijing. "If there is no transit, then there will be no reverse deliveries," he said. (Interfax, 04.27.19)
• The European Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the bloc, said on May 2 it plans to increase imports of LNG from the U.S. to 8 billion cubic meters per year, more than double the 2018 level. (Reuters, 05.02.19)

Bilateral economic ties:

• No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

• The Kremlin’s position on the Venezuela crisis, where U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó launched a stalled effort to overthrow Russian ally Nicolás Maduro, is “incompatible” with the U.S. stance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on May 2. Lavrov will meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo next week in Finland and they are expected to discuss Venezuela among other issues. (Financial Times, 05.02.19, AP, 05.03.19)
• U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview on May 1, described as "rumors" the allegation made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Nicolás Maduro had planned to leave Venezuela on April 30, but Russia asked him to remain in the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on May 2 dismissed the assertions as untrue, the state-run RIA news agency reported. (Wall Street Journal, 05.01.19, Reuters, 05.02.19)
• “This is our hemisphere—it’s not where the Russians ought to be interfering,” U.S. national security adviser John Bolton told reporters on May 1 in reference to the crisis in Venezuela. “This is a mistake on their part. It’s not going to lead to an improvement in relations.” (Politico, 05.01.19)
• Russia has accused the U.S. of the "politics of blackmail" after Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza as part of efforts to force embattled Moscow ally Nicolás Maduro to step down from the presidency. (RFE/RL, 04/27.19)
• The U.S., Russia and China have agreed on the goal of withdrawing foreign forces from Afghanistan and to seek an "inclusive Afghan-led" peace process, the three countries declared in a joint statement. (RFE/RL, 04/26.19)
• The U.S. obstructs Russia’s work in the U.N., whose headquarters is located in New York, by selectively issuing visas to Russian nationals, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on April 29. (The Moscow Times, 04.30.19)
• The U.S. Embassy in Russia has told Russia to "stop playing games" in regard to the situation surrounding detained former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, urging Russian officials to provide proof of his alleged espionage. Embassy spokeswoman Andrea Kalan asked on social media on April 30 "why haven't Russian officials provided proof?" of Whelan's alleged spying and added that there was a "complete lack of evidence" in his case. (RFE/RL, 04.30.19)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized a decision by a U.S. court to sentence Russian citizen Maria Butina to 18 months in prison after she pleaded guilty of acting as a Russian agent without registering. Butina has blasted the U.S. judicial system, calling her sentence "absolutely absurd" and a "disgrace." Russian lawmakers have asked the foreign minister to draw up a list of officials involved in the prosecution of Butina, and Russia’s embassy in the U.S. says its diplomats have visited Butina in prison and she is “bearing the burdens of imprisonment staunchly and with dignity.” (RFE/RL, 04/27.19, RFE/RL, 05.01.19, The Moscow Times, 04.30.19, AP, 05.03.19)
• Moscow estimates 40 Russian citizens have been arrested abroad at the request of U.S. intelligence services since the two sides agreed on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters in 1999. (The Moscow Times, 04.30.19)
• House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said April 30 that his panel would make a criminal referral to the Justice Department regarding potential false testimony by Erik Prince, billionaire and ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Among other things, Schiff pointed to a meeting that took place nine days before Trump took office between Prince and a Russian financier close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles islands. (The Washington Post, 04.30.19)
• An annual report on religious freedom worldwide published by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom on April 29 recommends that the U.S. State Department include Russia and Uzbekistan alongside Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and others on a list of the worst violators of religious freedom. (RFE/RL, 04.29.19)
• Research has shown that India tops the list of countries that see the highest number of selfie deaths, followed by Russia and the U.S. Most victims are young men in their twenties. (Reuters 05.02.19)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• President Vladimir Putin on May 1 signed a bill that seeks to establish Russia’s “internet sovereignty” into law. Deputies first submitted the measures to tighten state control over the internet in December, citing the need to respond to an “aggressive” U.S. national cybersecurity strategy. (The Moscow Times, 05.01.19)
• More than half of Russians believe the internet in Russia should continue to develop as a network “uniting the whole world,” according to a study conducted by the state-funded VTsIOM pollster. (The Moscow Times, 04.29.19)
• The number of political prisoners in Russia has reached above 230 as Russian President Vladimir Putin's government implements an "ever-increasing array of laws specifically designed to criminalize acts of everyday life," according to a new report created with input from the Moscow-based rights group Memorial. (RFE/RL, 04.29.19)
• More than 120 people have been detained during Labor Day marches in seven Russian cities on May 1. Two aides to opposition leader Alexei Navalny and exiled former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky have been jailed for 10 days following the May Day protests. (The Moscow Times, 05.02.19, The Moscow Times, 05.01.19)
• A journalist in Chechnya, Zhalaudi Geriyev, has been released from prison after serving a three-year term for illegal drug possession—a charge he has been denying since his arrest. (RFE/RL, 04.30.19)

Defense and aerospace:

• A recent announcement by the Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute shows that Russian military spending has fallen to the sixth highest in the world in 2018, at $61.4 billion. In reality Russia’s effective military expenditure, based on purchasing power parity (Moscow buys from Russian defense manufacturers in rubles), is more in the range of $150-180 billion per year, with a much higher percentage dedicated to procurement, research and development than Western defense budgets, according to Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at CNA. (Defense News, 05.03.19)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• No significant developments.

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

Russia’s general foreign policy and relations with “far abroad” countries:

• The U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has recognized part of the neutral Arctic waters as a continuation of the Russian shelf. As a result, the Mendeleev Rise and the Lomonosov Ridge may become Russian by the summer of 2020, says an official familiar with the talks. (Financial Times, 04.27.19)
• Ships from 20 different countries plied the waters of the Northern Sea Route last year, carrying a total of 20 million tons of cargo. While paltry in comparison to traditional global shipping routes, it is double the amount in 2017, and Russia expects that figure to quadruple by 2025. (Financial Times, 04.27.19)
• Moscow does not expect any foreign leaders to attend its Victory Day celebrations, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. (The Moscow Times, 04.29.19)
• The arrest of a French private equity executive in Russia is threatening to jeopardize the countries’ $17 billion trade relationship, according to business chiefs lobbying for his release. Patrick Pouyanné, chief executive of French oil and gas producer Total, raised the issue of Baring Vostok partner Philippe Delpal’s detention during a private one-to-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in April. (Financial Times, 04.30.19)
• Two deaths linked to bubonic plague in Mongolia have caused authorities to on May 1 place its border with Russia under “indefinite quarantine,” leaving Russian tourists stranded, The Siberian Times reported May 3. (The Moscow Times, 05.03.19)

China:

• On the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on April 26, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin pledged to further improve bilateral ties. The two leaders also stressed that the people of Venezuela should independently decide on the future of their country. During the meeting with Xi, Putin said he would like to see the Northern Sea Route become part of China’s Maritime Silk Road. (SCPM, 04.26.19. TASS, 04.26.19, Barents Observer, 04.30.19)
• The U.S. rejects attempts by countries, like China, that are not members of the eight-nation Arctic Council, to claim a role in crafting policies governing the polar region, a senior U.S. official said on May 2 before a meeting of the group in Finland next week. (Reuters, 05.02.19)
• More than 1.6 million tourists, mostly Russians, visited the Irkutsk region last year, according to the Irkutsk Tourism Agency. The 186,200 Chinese were the largest foreign group. The number of Chinese jumped 37 percent over the previous year, and the surge is expected to continue, as Beijing is just a two-hour flight away, versus six hours to Moscow, 2,700 miles west. (New York Times, 05.03.19)

Ukraine:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to fast-track passports and citizenship for people in Ukraine and Soviet-era deportees. Russia has also opened its first center aimed at issuing Russian passports to residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine. Putin has also said that he stands ready for a dialogue with the new Ukrainian leadership if it starts implementing the Minsk Agreements and called Russians and Ukrainians “one people” with common “cultural, language and historical traits.” (The Moscow Times, 04.29.19, RFE/RL, 05.01.19, The Moscow Times, 05.03.19, Interfax, 04.25.19)
• Volodymyr Zelensky, who Ukraine's Central Election Commission has formally declared the winner of the country's presidential election, has told Moscow "not to waste time trying to lure Ukrainian citizens with Russian passports.” He also said that the Russian-Ukrainian border is the only thing left in common between the peoples of the neighboring countries. (RFE/RL, 04.30.19, RFE/RL, 04.28.19, The Moscow Times, 05.03.19)
• Ukraine’s outgoing President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree enacting a National Security and Defense Council resolution proposing defense spending of at least 5 percent of GDP over the next three years. (RFE/RL, 04.29.19, Interfax, 04.25.19)
• The Ukrainian government has not duly investigated the dozens of deaths that took place when riots led to a trade union house fire in the port city of Odessa five years ago, the U.N. said May 2. Forty-two people died in a fire after pro-Russian protesters were trapped in the trade union building on May 2, 2014, and six others were gunned down in clashes. (The Moscow Times, 05.02.19)
• Personnel from the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division arrived in Ukraine on May 2 as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission. Over 130 soldiers from the division’s 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team “Strike” have replaced the Tennessee Army National Guard 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. (Kyiv Post, 05.02.19)
• Five years into Ukraine’s civil war, the breakaway Luhansk republic continues to operate its espionage program. While Russia has provided extensive support to the breakaway republics of eastern Ukraine, there is no evidence to indicate that the program run out of the Luhansk People’s Republic is a Russian operation. (Foreign Policy, 05.01.19)
• Reports from eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region say the death toll from an underground coal-mine explosion has been raised to 17, with Russia-backed separatist leaders who control the mine saying all the bodies of missing miners have been recovered. (RFE/RL, 04.27.19)
• Brazilian citizen Rafael Lusvarghi has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for fighting for Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 05.02.19)
• Ukrainian President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky's wife purchased a luxury apartment on favorable terms from business tycoon Oleksandr Buryak, Reuters reports, citing official income and property records. (RFE/RL, 05.02.19)
• U.S. President Donald Trump kept up his attacks on new Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden on May 2, retweeting a New York Times story about a possible conflict involving Biden's son, Hunter. The story involved Hunter Biden's five-year tenure on the board of a Ukrainian company, Burisma holdings, during a time where his father went to Ukraine to pressure the government to step up anti-corruption efforts and fire its top prosecutor. The prosecutor had been investigating the company. (Daily Mail, 05.02.19)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly sacked Moscow's ambassador to Belarus, Mikhail Babich, the Kremlin said on April 30, amid a row over contaminated oil and a wider political discord between the ex-Soviet countries. (Reuters, 04.30.19)
• Kazatomprom's uranium production for the first quarter of 2019 was 4 percent down from the same period in 2018 as the Kazakh company continues with its plan to reduce production. Meanwhile, U.S. uranium production for the quarter was 74 percent down from 2018. (WNN, 05.03.19)
• Work is expected to start this year on remedial work at two uranium legacy sites in the Kyrgyz Republic. The work is part of a wider plan to deal with the legacy of Soviet-era uranium mining and processing in Central Asia. (WNN, 04.30.19)
• Tajikistan has repatriated 84 minors from Iraq, where their Tajik mothers have been imprisoned under charges of belonging to Islamic State or are awaiting trial. (RFE/RL, 05.01.19)
• Eight nominees, including interim President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, who is expected to win, have submitted applications to run for president of Kazakhstan in the June snap election, the Central Election Commission said. (RFE/RL, 04.29.19)
• Two ministers in Estonia’s new coalition government made a hand gesture interpreted as a symbol for “white power” during a swearing-in ceremony. Former Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves tweeted a picture of Mart Helme and his son Martin on April 29, after they were sworn in as the country’s interior minister and finance minister respectively. (BuzzFeed, 04.30.19)
• Transgender woman Lilit Martirosian who broke boundaries with a speech in Armenia's parliament, says she has received death threats and is avoiding leaving her home in the backlash to her three-minute address. (AP, 04.27.19)

IV. Quoteworthy

• Kiron Skinner, the director of policy planning at the U.S. State Department, said in reference to China: "The Soviet Union and that competition, in a way it was a fight within the Western family ... it's the first time we will have a great power competitor that is not Caucasian." “It was a really important Western concept that opened the door really to undermine the Soviet Union, a totalitarian state, on human rights principles,” she said in reference to “the rights of emigration and religious freedom.” “That's not really possible with China.” (Washington Examiner, 04.30.19)