This Week’s Highlights:

• Tensions spike in Syria as at least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in a strike in the Syrian province of Idlib on Feb. 27, Al Monitor reports. Russia denies playing a role in the strike and accuses Turkey’s military of failing to coordinate the position of their forces with Russian military forces in the region, a claim rejected by Turkey’s defense minister, according to The Washington Post. The EU warns that tensions could escalate into a major international conflict, while NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said NATO stands with Turkey and urged Russia and Syria to halt their Idlib offensive, according to NPR and Reuters.
• Vladimir Putin on Feb. 26 agreed to hold a nationwide vote to allow Russians to have their say on a raft of changes to the country's constitution on April 22, according to Reuters.
• The U.S. staged a mock limited nuclear strike on Russia, in which Russia decides to use a low-yield limited nuclear weapon against a U.S. site on NATO territory. “In the course of [the] exercise, we simulated responding with a nuclear weapon,” a U.S. official said. Russian lawmakers accused the U.S. of sowing fear within Europe and defended its military presence there, The Moscow Times reports.
• Vladimir Leontyev, a deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's arms control department, reaffirmed Moscow's push for extending New START, saying there is no time left to negotiate any changes to it.
• “[L]et me tell Mr. Putin, who interfered in the 2016 election, try to bring Americans against Americans, hey, Mr. Putin, if I'm president of the United States, trust me, you're not going to interfere in any more American elections,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said during the Feb. 25 Democratic debate. Sanders earlier blasted efforts by Russia to interfere in the November election and confirmed that he had been told by U.S. intelligence officials that Russia appeared to be engaging in disinformation and propaganda campaigns to help his 2020 campaign, RFE/RL reports.
• U.S. State Department officials say that thousands of Russia-linked social media accounts are spreading disinformation about the coronavirus, including a conspiracy theory that the U.S. is behind the outbreak.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a decree designating Feb. 26 a memorial day to mark Russia's annexation of Crimea. The Kremlin said Moscow "categorically" disagrees with the wording of Zelenskiy's decree. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington "does not and will not ever recognize" Moscow's claim to Crimea.
• Russia will suspend flights between Russia and South Korea from March 1 over coronavirus fears, except those operated by Aeroflot and Aurora. It will also stop issuing visas to some Iranian citizens from Feb. 28 and advises Russians against travelling to Italy, according to The Moscow Times.

 

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

Nuclear security:

• No significant developments.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• No significant developments.

Iran and its nuclear program:

• China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain met with Iran in Vienna on Feb. 26 to discuss how to uphold the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The world powers that remain party to the deal expressed “serious concerns” Feb. 26 about Tehran’s violations of the pact, while acknowledging that time was running out to find a way to salvage it. (Reuters, 02.24.20, AP, 02.26.20)
• The U.S. announced Feb. 25 it was imposing sanctions on 13 foreign entities and individuals in Russia and other countries for supporting Iran's missile program as U.S. President Donald Trump also extended Crimea-related sanctions on Russia. Russia views the latest wave of economic restrictions related to Iran’s missile program as “illegitimate,” an unnamed Foreign Ministry source said. (The Moscow Times, 02.25.20)

New Cold War/saber rattling:

• The U.S. has staged a mock limited nuclear strike on Russia, an unnamed senior Pentagon official said in an unprecedented disclosure that angered Russian lawmakers. During the simulation the official described as a “mini-exercise,” “Russia decides to use a low-yield limited nuclear weapon against a [U.S.] site on NATO territory.” “In the course of [the] exercise, we simulated responding with a nuclear weapon,” the official said Feb. 21. “It was a limited response.” Russian lawmakers accused the U.S. of sowing fear within Europe and defended its military presence there. (The Moscow Times, 02.25.20)

NATO-Russia relations:

• Russia's chief military officer met with his French counterpart on Feb. 27 and raised concern about NATO's activities near the Russian border. Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Moscow has become increasingly worried about the Western military alliance's moves, including exercises "held on the basis of anti-Russian scenarios and envisage training for offensive operations.” (AP, 02.27.20)
• A senior Pentagon official has warned that China and Russia are stepping up efforts to develop sophisticated space capabilities in a bid to deny the United States and its allies of their current superiority. (RFE/RL, 02.28.20)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

• “We should be working with Russia not only to stand up for the protection of our elections and call Vladimir Putin out for what he is … but that, also, at the same time, we have to acknowledge that we should be renegotiating the New START treaty and the other arms negotiations that must happen,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said during the Feb. 25 Democratic debate. (CBS, 02.25.20)
• Vladimir Leontyev, a deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's arms control department, reaffirmed Moscow's push for extending New START, saying there is no time left to negotiate any changes to it. (AP, 02.27.20)
• The U.N. disarmament chief warned on Feb. 26 that the specter of an unbridled nuclear arms race is threatening the world for the first time since the 1970s, the height of the Cold War. Izumi Nakamitsu didn’t name any countries but she was clearly referring to the United States and Russia, and possibly China, when she told the U.N. Security Council that “relationships between states—especially nuclear-weapon states—are fractured.” (AP, 02.26.20)

Counter-terrorism:

• No significant developments.

Conflict in Syria:

• At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in the Syrian province of Idlib Feb. 27 in an area where Russian-backed Syrian forces are fighting anti-regime militants, according to Turkey. Russia denies playing a role in the strike. The tensions in Idlib could escalate into a major international conflict, the EU’s top diplomat said Feb. 28. NATO head Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia and Syria on Feb. 28 to halt their Idlib offensive and said the military alliance stood in solidarity with member state Turkey. Russia is sending two warships equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles to the Mediterranean Sea toward the Syrian coast, the Russian Navy said Feb. 28. (Al Monitor, 02.27.20, NPR, 02.28.20, Reuters, 02.28.20, Reuters, 02.28.20, The Moscow Times, 02.28.20)
  • Turkey requested an urgent NATO security meeting that was held Feb. 28. Stoltenberg on Feb. 28 tweeted: “#NATO has just met in solidarity with our Ally Turkey, following the death of Turkish soldiers near Idlib. We condemn the indiscriminate air strikes by the Syrian regime & Russia. This dangerous situation must be de-escalated & humanitarian access allowed.” (NPR, 02.28.20, Twitter, 02.28.20)
  • Russia accused Turkey of breaching a 2018 cease-fire deal, which limited the deployment of Turkish troops to observation points in the region, and accused Turkey’s military of failing to coordinate the position of their forces with Russian military forces in the region, a claim rejected by Hulusi Akar, Turkey’s defense minister. (The Washington Post, 02.28.20)
  • Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed during a phone call on Feb. 28 on the need for new measures to be put in place to ease tensions and normalize the situation in northwest Syria, the Kremlin said. Erdogan has been careful so far not to publicly blame Russia and vowed to strike back against Syrian government forces. (Reuters, 02.28.20, Bloomberg, 02.28.20)
  • Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house of parliament's international affairs committee, said Feb. 28 that any full-scale Turkish military operation in Idlib would end badly for Ankara itself, Interfax reported. (Reuters, 02.28.20)
  • The heads of the Russian and U.S. general staffs discussed the situation in Syria in a phone call Feb. 28. Earlier, a U.S. State Department representative said in a statement: "We stand by our NATO Ally Turkey and continue to call for an immediate end to this despicable offensive by the Assad regime, Russia and Iranian-backed forces." (Reuters, 02.28.20, Reuters, 02.28.20)
  • Protestors surrounded the Russian consulate in Istanbul, chanting slogans against Russia, which included accusations that Putin is a murderer. The Kremlin said Feb. 28 that Moscow hoped Turkey would do everything to protect Russian nationals and Russia’s diplomatic facilities in Turkey amid mounting tensions over Syria, the RIA news agency reported. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.20, Reuters, 02.28.20)
  • Following the Feb. 27 air strike, a senior Turkish official said Ankara would no longer prevent refugees fleeing the conflict from embarking for Europe. (Reuters, 02.28.20)
  • The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Feb. 28 over the latest developments in northwest Syria, diplomats said, at the request of the United States, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, France and Dominican Republic. (Reuters, 02.28.20)
• The Kremlin said earlier on Feb. 25 it was working to organize a summit with Turkey and Iran to discuss the conflict in Syria’s Idlib region, but was not organizing a separate mooted four-way summit that would gather France, Germany, Turkey and Russia. (Reuters, 02.25.20)
• The deconfliction mechanism aimed at harmonizing and coordinating actions between Russian and U.S. military contingents in Syria is working effectively, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said. (Interfax, 02.23.20)
• Airstrikes on rebel-controlled northwest Syria killed at least 16 people Feb. 25, including two students and two teachers, opposition activists said, as government forces captured Kafranbel, a town considered a symbol of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (AP, 02.25.20)
• Syrian rebels backed by Turkish forces said Feb. 27 they had recaptured the crossroads town of Saraqeb, marking a first big push-back of a Syrian government offensive. A Russian military source reportedly denied that, saying Syrian government forces had successfully repelled a rebel attack on the town. A Turkish official subsequently said Assad’s forces, backed by Russian warplanes, had launched an assault to take back Saraqeb. (Reuters, 02.27.20)
• Turkey and Russia are discussing opening Russian-controlled air space in Syria’s Idlib region for armed and unarmed drones, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Feb. 27, but he added that problems over the issue persisted. (Reuters, 02.27.20)

Cyber security:

• The EU reportedly may target a Russian and a Chinese entity, as well as several individuals, with sanctions over cyber attacks, adding to signs of increasing alarm in the bloc over network security. (Bloomberg, 02.26.20)
• A London court is likely to hear details of claims that surfaced last week over a visit by a former U.S. Republican congressman, Dana Rohrabacher, to Julian Assange in 2017 while he was in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Assange’s lawyers claimed at a hearing at Westminster magistrates’ court on Feb. 19 that during the visit Rohrabacher had, “on instructions” from U.S. President Donald Trump, allegedly offered their client a pardon. In exchange, Assange would have to say that Russia played no role in the leaking of Democratic National Committee emails in 2016 ahead of the U.S. presidential election, according to the claims. Both Rohrabacher and the White House have denied any offer of a pardon was made. (Financial Times, 02.23.20)

Elections interference:

• “[L]et me tell Mr. Putin, who interfered in the 2016 election, try to bring Americans against Americans, hey, Mr. Putin, if I'm president of the United States, trust me, you're not going to interfere in any more American elections,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said during the Feb. 25 Democratic debate. (CBS, 02.25.20)
• Sanders on Feb. 21 blasted any efforts by Russia and its “thug” leader to interfere in the November election after reports surfaced of a briefing he recently received from U.S. intelligence officials. Sanders also confirmed that he had been told by U.S. intelligence officials about a month ago that Russia appeared to be engaging in disinformation and propaganda campaigns to help his 2020 campaign. (RFE/RL, 02.21.20, RFE/RL, 02.23.20)
• Trump said Feb. 25 that no country was trying to help him win the November election, after a top intelligence official told lawmakers Russia was interfering in the 2020 presidential vote to help Trump win a second term. “I want no help from any country and I haven’t been given help from any country,” Trump said. U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien said he had seen no evidence of Russian interference in the 2020 election to re-elect Trump, after Congress and Sanders were reportedly briefed on the threat. (Reuters, 02.25.20, Financial Times, 02.23.20)
• Trump on Feb. 25 accused Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, of leaking information about Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2020 election, dismissed the intelligence as “exaggerated” and refused to acknowledge that Moscow was behind similar efforts in 2016. (New York Times, 02.25.20)
• Trump told reporters that the Democratic party was attempting to damage Sanders by linking him with Russia after Sanders won the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 22. (Financial Times, 02.23.20)
• Asked if he would launch a retaliatory cyber attack on Russia if it is proven that Russia is interfering in the 2020 elections, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said: “I would make them pay for it, and I would make them pay for it economically. They are engaged now, as I speak, in interfering in our elections. … [W]e, in fact, should be imposing sanctions on Russia now for their interference.” (CBS, 02.25.20)
• “Vladimir Putin thinks that Donald Trump should be president of the United States. And that's why Russia is helping you [Sanders] get elected, so you will lose to him,” former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during the Feb. 25 Democratic debate. (CBS, 02.25.20)
• The Kremlin on Feb. 21 denied it was interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign to boost Trump's re-election chances. (Reuters, 02.21.20)
• House Democrats are scrutinizing whether Trump has improperly interfered at the Justice Department for political reasons, requesting documents and interviews with more than a dozen U.S. attorneys related to the cases of three Trump associates and a review of the FBI’s Russia inquiry. (New York Times, 02.28.20)

Energy exports from CIS:

• The U.S. and Britain have reportedly more than doubled their crude oil purchases from Russia due to Iran and Venezuela sanctions. (The Moscow Times, 02.27.20)
• Coronavirus and Russia pose the biggest challenges for OPEC+ efforts to lift oil prices. (MarketWatch, 02.28.20)

U.S.-Russian economic ties:

• No significant developments.

U.S.-Russian relations in general:

• Senior U.S. Democrats said Feb. 24 that Trump’s administration should immediately impose sanctions on Russia after U.S. intelligence officials told members of Congress that Russia appeared to be trying to influence this year’s U.S. election. (Reuters, 02.25.20)
• “I will tell you what the Russians want. … They want chaos. And chaos is what is coming our way. I mean, look, if you think the last four years has been chaotic, divisive, toxic, exhausting, imagine spending the better part of 2020 with Bernie Sanders vs. Donald Trump. Think about what that will be like for this country,” former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg said during the Feb. 25 Democratic debate. (CBS, 02.25.20)
• U.S. State Department officials say that thousands of Russia-linked social media accounts are spreading disinformation about the coronavirus, including a conspiracy theory that the U.S. is behind the outbreak. ''Russia's intent is to sow discord and undermine U.S. institutions and alliances from within, including through covert and coercive malign influence campaigns,'' said Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia. (New York Times, 02.23.20)
• In a Dec. 5 meeting, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr told the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Finance committees that their probe targeting Biden could aid Russian efforts to sow chaos and distrust in the U.S. political system. (Politico, 02.27.20)
• Today, the United States is in a great-power competition with China and Russia. "It is incumbent upon all of us to make sure that great-power competition of today stays at great-power competition and great-power peace and doesn't yet again turn into great-power war," U.S. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. (U.S. Defense Department, 02.19.20)
• Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine, faces up to 10 years in Russian prison for allegedly assaulting police officers during a drunken night out last year, charges that his defense denies, The New York Times reported. (The Moscow Times, 02.26.20)
• The U.S. Embassy in Moscow urged Russia on Feb. 27 to find the people who organized the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov who was gunned down near the Kremlin five years ago. (The Moscow Times, 02.27.20)
• Russia's national gymnastics team will not take part in a World Cup event in the U.S. in March because of the rising number of cases of coronavirus internationally. (Reuters, 02.28.20)
• Amazon Prime Video has for the first time bought the rights to a Russian reality show, Kommersant reported. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.20)

 

II. Russia’s domestic policies

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

• Putin on Feb. 26 agreed to hold a nationwide vote to allow Russians to have their say on a raft of changes to the country's constitution on April 22, Interfax reported. (Reuters, 02.25.20)
• The ruble has lost about 4 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of the year and the RTS stock index is down about 1 percent from the start of the year after gaining over 10 percent in the first two weeks of the year. (bne Intellinews, 02.22.20)
• Russian households’ expectations for inflation in February slipped to 7.9 percent from 8.3 percent in the previous month, hovering near their lowest levels ever recorded, the central bank said Feb. 27. (Reuters, 02.27.20)
• Putin has said protesters who took part in unsanctioned rallies last summer were provoking security forces who responded with violence. In an interview with TASS published Feb. 27, Putin said people who complain about being beaten by police at such rallies "must first receive permission to rally, and then express their opinions." (RFE/RL, 02.27.20)
• Foreign diplomats have laid flowers on the Moscow bridge where Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was fatally gunned down five years ago. The deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the ambassadors of several European countries were among those marking the anniversary of Nemtsov's killing on Feb. 27. Meanwhile, the share of Russians who have never heard of Nemtsov’s murder has increased from 17 percent in February 2019 to 27 percent in February 2020, according to a poll by the Levada Center. (RFE/RL, 02.27.20, The Moscow Times, 02.28.20)
• Dmitry Yazov, a former Soviet defense minister who took part in an unsuccessful coup against leader Mikhail Gorbachev, died on Feb. 25 at the age of 95. (Reuters, 02.25.20)
• The Russian Interior Ministry’s biometric database for its surveillance system is expanding to include tattoo, iris and voice recognition, and is expected to go online by the end of 2021, RBC reported. (The Moscow Times, 02.25.20)
• The Russian Orthodox Church has begun installing video surveillance cameras at its Moscow churches to comply with government anti-terrorism orders. (The Moscow Times, 02.26.20)
• Support for freedom of the press has decreased in Russia to 38 percent in 2019 from 46 percent in 2015, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center. In 2002, 50 percent of respondents in Russia agreed that the state was run for the benefit of all people; in 2019, the number decreased to 38 percent. (Russia Matters, 02.28.20)
• Moscow authorities are deporting 88 foreign nationals who violated quarantine measures imposed on them as a precaution against coronavirus, the RIA news agency cited Moscow's deputy mayor as saying. (Reuters, 02.28.20)

Defense and aerospace:

• Russia successfully test-launched its Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile from a military vessel for the first time early last month, the TASS news agency said. (New York Times, 02.27.20)
• Russia's aerospace forces commissioned the new S-350 Vityaz surface-to-air missile system on Feb. 26. The system was delivered to the Air and Space Defense Academy in the Leningrad region and underwent training "to detect and destroy a mock air enemy." (Newsweek, 02.26.20)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• New rape cases in Russia have shot up by 72 percent, according to federal prosecutors’ criminal data cited by the state-run TASS news agency Feb. 28. Authorities opened 296 rape and attempted rape cases in January, 72.1 percent more than they did in January 2019. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.20)
• A Yekaterinburg court has remanded Alexander Litreyev, a cybersecurity firm owner and former activist in the opposition Anti-Corruption Foundation, to nearly two months in pretrial detention for possession of the drug ecstasy. (RFE/RL, 02.25.20)

 

III. Russia’s relations with other countries

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

• Georgy Gorshkov, whose real name is Yegor Gordienko, had diplomatic credentials in Geneva but was in fact a military intelligence officer linked to a secret hit squad accused of a spate of poisonings in Europe, according to a new report by the open-source investigative organization Bellingcat released Feb. 25. (RFE/RL, 02.25.20)
• Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said on Feb. 26 Moscow would suspend flights between Russia and South Korea from March 1 over coronavirus fears, except those operated by Aeroflot and Aurora. Golikova said Russia would also stop issuing visas to some Iranian citizens from Feb. 28 and was advising Russians against travelling to Italy. (The Moscow Times, 02.26.20)
• Prague has renamed a square in front of the Russian Embassy after Boris Nemtsov, honoring the slain Russian opposition leader. (AP, 02.27.20)
• Russia has sold nearly all its gold for 2019 to Britain, according to customs data reviewed by the RBC news website. The data says that Britain bought $5.33 billion worth of Russian gold last year, or 93 percent of Russia’s total gold exports. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.20)

China-Russia: Allied or Aligned?

• China's Embassy in Russia has demanded authorities in Moscow end what it said are discriminatory anti-coronavirus measures against Chinese nationals, saying they are damaging relations and alarming Chinese residents of the Russian capital. The complaint, detailed in an embassy letter to the city's authorities and published by Novaya Gazeta Feb. 25, deplored what it called "ubiquitous monitoring" of Chinese nationals, including on public transport in Moscow. (Reuters, 02.26.20)

Ukraine:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a decree designating Feb. 26 a memorial day to mark Russia's annexation of Crimea. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Zelenskiy's move "does not correspond to the real situation around Crimea," adding that Moscow "categorically" disagrees with the wording of Zelenskiy's decree. (RFE/RL, 02.27.20)
  • U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Washington "does not and will not ever recognize" Moscow's claim to Ukraine's Crimea region. Pompeo said that "Feb. 27 will mark the sixth anniversary of Russia's attempted annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and the United States reaffirms: Crimea is Ukraine." (RFE/RL, 02.27.20)
• If the presidential election took place in Ukraine in the near future, incumbent Zelenskiy would receive the most votes–40 percent among those who plan to vote and have decided who to vote for, according to a survey conducted by the sociological service of the Razumkov Center on Feb. 13-17. (Interfax, 02.24.20)
• Within two to three months, the military strategy of Ukraine will appear, which will document the course of Ukraine towards NATO membership, said Ivan Aparshin, director general of the Directorate for National Security and Defense of the President's Office of Ukraine. (Interfax, 02.24.20)
• Trump has said he would like to see Russia and Ukraine mend their relationship. "Well, I'd like to see them come together. I think if they came together in the sense that they got along with each other, that would be a great thing," he said. "It would be a great thing for the world.... If Ukraine and Russia could work out some agreement where they get along, to me that would be very good." (RFE/RL, 02.24.20)
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun have discussed returning peace to Donbass, occupied Crimea, Euro-Atlantic integration and interaction and trade in all areas. (Interfax, 02.22.20)
• Trump has directly weighed in on the White House review of a forthcoming book by his former national security adviser, telling his staff that he views John Bolton as “a traitor,” that everything he uttered to the departed aide about national security is classified and that he will seek to block the book's publication, according to two people familiar with the conversations. Bolton's book has promised to unveil key first-person moments between Bolton and Trump that were at the heart of the president's handling of Ukraine, a saga that led to his impeachment by the House. (The Washington Post, 02.23.20)
• Dutch prosecutors have at least one eyewitness in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, lead prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said two weeks ahead of the first court hearing into the tragedy. A Dutch court will on March 9 hear the case against three Russian suspects and one Ukrainian over the downing of the aircraft. None of the Russian suspects are expected to appear in court because Russia does not extradite its citizens. (The Moscow Times, 02.25.20)
• Ukraine's only remaining Crimean Tatar television channel, ATR, has submitted a plea to the European Parliament and European Commission asking the institutions for financial support as it faces imminent closure due to lack of funding. (RFE/RL, 02.25.20)

Russia's other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Feb. 27 that his country is “being forced into integration” with Russia and insisted that real integration of the two countries’ economies implied “sovereignty and independence” for Belarus. Belarus plans to offer its first euro-denominated bond and the longest debt in U.S. dollars as it seeks to reduce its economic dependence on Russia. (The Washington Post, 02.27.20, Bloomberg, 02.27.20)
• Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Feb. 25 that it had received bids from several companies to supply oil to refineries in Belarus in March. Russneft and Neftisa, oil units of Russia’s Safmar Group, reportedly plan to supply around 400,000 tons of oil to Belarus refineries in March. (Reuters, 02.25.20, Reuters, 02.27.20)
• Belarus has for the first time arrested a Jehovah’s Witness at Russia’s request, the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia organization said Feb. 25. (The Moscow Times, 02.26.20)
• A Russian citizen has tested positive with coronavirus in Azerbaijan after arriving there from Iran, Interfax reported. It marks the fourth case of coronavirus among Russian citizens and the first infection in Azerbaijan. Belarus has also reported its first case. (The Moscow Times, 02.28.20, Reuters, 02.28.20)
• The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the actual goal of Azerbaijani investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova’s arrest and detention was to “silence and punish her for her work.” The court held that Azerbaijan was to pay Ismayilova a total of 25,000 euros ($27,400) in respect of damage, costs and expenses. (RFE/RL, 02.27.20)
• Kyrgyzstan's government has announced a decision to cancel a $275 million Chinese investment project in the eastern part of the country following mass protests against it. (RFE/RL, 02.24.20)
• Two top former Uzbek officials—Ikhtyor Abdullaev, the former chief of Uzbekistan's State Security Service and former Prosecutor-General Otabek Murodov—have been convicted of corruption in a case involving more than a dozen defendants from the public sector. (RFE/RL, 02.25.20)
• Georgia’s foreign minister David Zalkaliani urged “more attention and more engagement” from the U.S. and European countries in the face of Moscow’s growing deployment of missiles and radar in territory that it disputes with Tbilisi. (Financial Times, 02.23.20)
• Azerbaijan and Armenia have accused each other of violating the fragile cease-fire along their border. The State Border Service of Azerbaijan said on Feb. 24 that one Azerbaijani soldier was killed by Armenian fire in the Gazakh district. A spokesman for the Armenian Defense Ministry said that one Armenian serviceman was slightly wounded in the fighting. (RFE/RL, 02.24.20)
• Armenia will repatriate dozens of its citizens from Iran, one of the countries hardest hit by the new coronavirus outbreak outside China. (RFE/RL, 02.25.20)
• Former Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian is on trial facing large-scale corruption charges he rejects as politically motivated. (RFE/RL, 02.25.20)

 

IV. Quoteworthy

• No significant developments