This Week’s Highlights

• During his June 16 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Joe Biden plans to personally press the Russian leader to expand the distribution of aid into Syria, according to Foreign Policy. Meanwhile, Biden said he would deliver a clear message to Putin: "We're not seeking conflict with Russia,” while also defending democratic values, according to reports by RFE/RL and The Washington Post. In his turn, Putin said he will discuss with Biden strategic stability and arms control, international conflicts, fighting terrorism, the pandemic and the environment, but not Belarus, The New York Times reported.
• Days after Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia would send “unpleasant signals” to the United States ahead of the Biden-Putin summit, Moscow announced its. denunciation of a 1992 US-Russian memorandum on "open lands," which allowed diplomats to travel without seeking permission and abolished most so-called closed areas, Kommersant reported.
• During their summit in the United Kingdom, G7 leaders are set to call for “stable and predictable relations” with Russia but also for it to stop its “destabilizing behavior and malign activities,” according to a draft communique from Group of Seven leaders seen by Bloomberg. During his subsequent meeting with NATO allies on June 13, President Biden is expected to press the alliance to do more to counter the rising threat from China, while still deterring the menace from Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley believes the biggest threats the United States faces are China and Russia, US News & World Report, reported. "Combined, the Russian and Chinese budgets exceed our budgets if all the cards are put on the table," he noted in quotes carried by VOA.
• When asked “If one day an armed conflict between China and the United States happens, what position would Russia take?” Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said in an interview: “I am convinced that there will be no armed conflict between China and the United States, … however, if you are asking about the judgment of the international situation, then Russia's position is clearly much closer to China's,” Global Times reported.
• Russia’s trade with the United States was up 15.7% in January-April, elevating America to the rank of Russia’s fourth largest trading partner outside of the former Soviet Union in that period, behind China, Germany and the Netherlands, according to Russia’s customs service, according to Interfax.
• The barred U.S. ambassador to Belarus, Julie Fisher, called Belarus the “North Korea of Europe” in testimony before a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on June 9, bne IntelliNews reported.

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

Nuclear security:

• No significant developments.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• China and Russia have signaled a greater desire to work together on the issues plaguing the neighboring Korean Peninsula amid uncertainties that continue to surround Biden's approach to the region, according to a readout of conversatuion between Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov. (Newsweek, 06.10.21)

Iran and its nuclear program:

• Russia is preparing to supply Iran with an advanced satellite system that will give Tehran an unprecedented ability to track potential military targets across the Middle East and beyond, according to current and former U.S. and Middle Eastern officials briefed on details of the arrangement. The Russian-made Kanopus-V satellite and its high-resolution camera could be launched within months. (The Washington Post, 06.11.21, RFE/RL, 06.11.21)                    
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said hundreds of U.S. sanctions on Tehran likely would remain in place even if Iran and the United States return to compliance with the nuclear deal with world powers. (RFE/RL, 06.08.21)      
• The U.S. government has removed sanctions on three former Iranian officials and two companies previously involved in trading Iranian petrochemical products. The move, announced on June 10, immediately raised questions about whether they were related to efforts to revive Iranian and U.S. compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. State Department spokesman Ned Price said they were not, describing them as routine sanctions "hygiene." (RFE/RL, 06.11.21)     

Great Power rivalry/New Cold War/NATO-Russia relations:

• World leaders gathered in southwestern England for a G7 summit, where wealthy countries planned to collectively donate one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses and President Biden hoped to marshal the world's democracies against authoritarian states. The governments see the three-day summit as an opportunity to rebuild relations among friendly states that were bruised during the Trump administration and to better confront the growing international assertiveness of China, Russia and other authoritarian states. On Russia, G7 leaders are set to call for “stable and predictable relations” but also for it to stop its “destabilizing behavior and malign activities,” according to a draft communique from Group of Seven leaders seen by Bloomberg. The G-7,makes up a shrinking share of the world economy: When it emerged in 1975, its members made up 70% of the global economy. Now, they account for just 40%.(The Wall Street Journal, 06.11.21, Bloomberg, 06.10.21
• During his meeting with NATO allies on June 13, President Biden is expected to press the alliance to do more to counter the rising threat from China, while still deterring the persistent menace from Russia. But he will encounter skepticism from some allies who question what role the North Atlantic Treaty Organization can have on China—which is seen as posing little direct military threat in the North Atlantic region—and whether such efforts could distract from the alliance's primary goal of deterring Russia. (The Wall Street Journal, 06.11.21)
  • The Czech Republic will support efforts to establish "at least basic level of mutual trust" with Russia at the upcoming NATO summit in Brussels according to the government-approved recommendations for the national delegation which will be headed by President Milos Zeman. (TASS, 06.11.21)
• The U.S. military's top officer asserted on June 10 that the biggest threats the United States faces are China and Russia. "Climate change does impact, but the president is looking at a much broader angle than I am," Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a congressional panel the morning of June 10. "I'm looking at it from a strictly military standpoint. And from a strictly military standpoint, I'm putting China, Russia up there." (U.S. News & World Report, 06.10.21)
• The United States needs to maintain dialogue in the military sphere not only with its allies and partners, but also with potential adversaries to avoid a major crisis, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 7. (TASS, 06.09.21)
• "Combined, the Russian and Chinese budgets exceed our budgets if all the cards are put on the table," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He called China's increased spending trend "disturbing." (VOA, 06.10.21)
• The Russian embassy to the United States has described the use of B-52H strategic bomber aircraft during NATO's military exercise in the Baltic Sea as a provocation. The exercise began on June 7 and will end on June 18. (Interfax, 06.11.21)
• Russian intelligence activity in Germany has significantly increased and now reached Cold War levels, Berlin’s top domestic intelligence chief warned. In an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper published on June 6, Thomas Haldenwang, who leads the Agency for the Protection of the Constitution, said Russia has a "very complex intelligence interest in Germany” in most policy areas. (RFE/RL, 06.07.21)
• Russia on June 7 announced tit-for-tat sanctions against nine senior Canadian officials, including the justice minister, following similar measures from Ottawa over the treatment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 06.07.21)
• Polish prosecutors have arrested a man they say was acting as a spy for Russia and placed him in pretrial detention for three months. (RFE/RL, 06.10.21)                 
• Latvia's parliament has voted to allow investigators to arrest Janis Adamsons, a lawmaker from the Saskana (Harmony) faction who is suspected of spying for Russia. (RFE/RL, 06.10.21)                 
• Russia says it has declared an employee of North Macedonia's embassy in Moscow as persona non grata in response to a similar move by Skopje last month. (RFE/RL, 06.10.21)                 

China-Russia: Allied or Aligned?

• When asked “If one day an armed conflict between China and the United States happens, what position would Russia take?” Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said in an interview: “There will be no answer to this question because I am convinced that there will be no armed conflict between China and the US, just as there will be no armed conflict between Russia and the US, because such a conflict would exterminate all mankind, and then there would be no point in taking sides. However, if you are asking about the judgment of the international situation and major issues, then Russia's position is clearly much closer to China's.” (Global Times, 06.11.21)
• When asked whether, if the Biden administration takes measures to ease tensions with Russia, that could alienate Russia from China and draw it closer to the United States, Russian Ambassador to China Denisov said: “This view is too short-sighted. It can't happen. I think we're smarter than what the Americans think.” (Global Times, 06.11.21)
• Russia and China managed to keep bilateral trade at a level of 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, despite the pandemic, and may reach a level of 200 billion U.S. dollars by 2024, Putin said on June 4. (TASS, 06.04.21)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Arms control:

• Putin has signed a law that formalizes Russia's withdrawal from the Open Skies international treaty allowing nations to collect information on one another’s military forces in order to increase transparency, following the departure from the accord by the United States late last year. (RFE/RL, 06.07.21)

Counter-terrorism:

• No significant developments.

Conflict in Syria:

• Biden plans to personally press Putin to expand the distribution of aid into Syria during their summit next week, elevating the U.S. role in preventing another humanitarian calamity in the heart of the Middle East and testing the president’s ability to extract concessions from one of the United States’ most prominent adversaries, according to three sources briefed on the plan. (Foreign Policy, 06.09.21)
• Russia should keep open Syria's only remaining border crossing into Turkey where humanitarian aid can enter or Syrians will die, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said . At the end of a three-day trip to Turkey, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that if the Bab al-Hawa crossing is closed by Syria's closest ally, Russia, "it will cause senseless cruelty" for millions of citizens. (Newsweek, 06.04.21)
• An improvised explosive device killed one Russian soldier and wounded three more on patrol in northern Syria, Russian news agencies reported on June 9, citing the Defense Ministry. (AFP, 06.10.21)
• An early election in Syria may be conducted if opposing parties in the country can reach an agreement on a new constitution, Russia's special representative to the Middle East and African nations said last week. (Middle East Monitor, 06.07.21)
• Syria has received a first shipment of Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. (Reuters, 06.03.21)

Cyber security:

• The United States has recovered most of the Bitcoin ransom paid to the suspected Russian-based Darkside cybercriminal group behind the attack on Colonial Pipeline last month that temporarily shut down the largest U.S. fuel network. The Justice Department said on June 7 that the seizure of 63.7 Bitcoins—valued currently at around $2.3 million—showed the ability of U.S. authorities to impose risks and costs on digital extortionists no matter where they are located. (RFE/RL, 06.08.21)   

Energy exports from CIS:

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington is working with Germany to try to mitigate any adverse effects of the completion of the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline.Blinken also indicated that more penalties could be forthcoming on those involved with the project, telling the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 8 that the United States has opportunities “to deal with those who provide insurance or other permits for the pipeline to become operational." (RFE/RL, 06.09.21)  
• Germany is discussing ways to compensate Ukraine for the financial loss it will suffer from the completion of a controversial Russian natural-gas pipeline backed by Berlin, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Congress. Nord Stream 2 will carry gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine, and is expected to deprive Kyiv of billions of dollars in annual transit fees if it is completed. (RFE/RL, 06.08.21)   
• EU imports of Russian gas will increase by 25 percent, or 50 billion cubic meters a year, in the late 2020s, Putin said, offering a forecast not shared by many analysts. Referring to Ukraine’s pipeline system, he said: “We now pay them $1.5 billion a year for gas transit. They might have been paid three, four, even five billion but they have wrecked everything with their own hands.” (Ukraine Business News, 06.07.21)
• A consortium led by the world’s biggest independent oil trader Vitol is set to acquire a 5 per cent stake in a giant Arctic project being developed by Russia’s state-backed oil company Rosneft. Terms of the investment in Vostok Oil were not disclosed. (Financial Times, 06.10.21)

U.S.-Russian economic ties:

• No significant developments.

U.S.-Russian relations in general:

• Biden has kicked off his first official visit abroad by making clear his intention to strengthen ties with allies to defend democracy and a warning to Russia against "harmful" activities. Addressing U.S. Air Force personnel stationed at a British airbase late on June 9, Biden said he would deliver a clear message to Putin when they meet. "We're not seeking conflict with Russia," the Democratic president said at the start of his eight-day visit to Europe. "We want a stable and predictable relationship...but I've been clear: The United States will respond in a robust and meaningful way if the Russian government engages in harmful activities." Biden also wrote in a June 5 Washington Post op-ed that there will be no doubt about the resolve of the United States to defend democratic values when he holds his upcoming summit with Putin. “We are standing united to address Russia’s challenges to European security, starting with its aggression in Ukraine, and there will be no doubt about the resolve of the United States to defend our democratic values, ,” he wrote. (RFE/RL, 06.10.21, Washington Post, 06.05.21)
• Belarus was not on the list of topics Putin said he planned to discuss with Biden when the two meet in Geneva this month. Those topics, Putin said, would include strategic stability and arms control, international conflicts, fighting terrorism, the pandemic and the environment. (The New York Times, 06.05.21)
• Days after Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia would send “unpleasant signals” to the United States ahead of the Biden-Putin summit, Moscow announced its. denunciation of a 1992 US-Russian memorandum on "open lands," which allowed diplomats to travel without seeking permission and abolished most so-called closed areas, Kommersant reported. (Russia Matters, 06.10.21) 
• The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has issued a note of protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry over its lack of access to jailed ex-Marine Trevor Reed and “grave concern” for his health, it said in a statement on June 11. The Embassy said Reed, who was diagnosed with coronavirus on May 25 and hospitalized after his condition worsened, has been repeatedly denied phone calls to his family and Embassy personnel. It also said the hospital treating Reed has withheld updates on his health since he was admitted. (The Moscow Times, 06.11.21)
• The mother of Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25-year jail term in the United States, has asked the U.S. and Russian leaders to negotiate his release. "Mister Presidents, please come to an agreement," Bout's mother Raisa said in a letter addressed to the two leaders. (AFP, 06.07.21)
• The Swiss government says a Kremlin-linked Russian businessman is fighting extradition to the United States following his arrest on a U.S. warrant issued over alleged insider trading. The Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement on June 9 that Vladislav Klyushin, the owner of M13, a Russian company that offers media monitoring as well as cybersecurity services, was arrested in Valais canton on March 21. (RFE/RL, 06.09.21)      
• A court  in Moscow has fined social media outlets Facebook and Telegram for their "failure" to remove content "banned" by Russian authorities. The Magistrates Court in the Taganka district on June 10 fined the U.S.-based social network giant Facebook 17 million rubles ($235,300) and Telegram 10 million rubles ($138,400) for what it called "administrative offenses." (RFE/RL, 06.10.21)                 
• A man broke into the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and claimed that a “universal conspiracy” motivated him, the RBC news website reported on June 7, citing police sources. (The Moscow Times, 06.07.21)

II. Russia’s domestic policies

Domestic politics, economy and energy:

• Russia on June 10 confirmed 11,699 new coronavirus cases—the first time new infections have surpassed 11,000 since March 6—and 383 deaths. Russia on on June 11 confirmed 12,505 new coronavirus cases—the first time new infections have surpassed 12,000 since Feb. 22—and 396 deaths. (The Moscow Times, 06.11.21) Here’s a link to RFE/RL’s interactive map of the virus’ spread around the world, including in Russia and the rest of post-Soviet Eurasia.
• Moscow authorities announced on June 9 plans to reopen field hospitals and step up mask and glove enforcement as the epicenter of Russia’s outbreak reported its highest number of new cases since the start of 2021. (The Moscow Times, 06.09.21)      
• Russia is starting to overcome production bottlenecks of its Sputnik V coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine as output capacity tops 30mn doses a month, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said. To date, the Sputnik V vaccine has been registered in 66 countries with a total population of over 3.2bn people. (bne IntelliNews, 06.04.21.)
• Nearly half of 18-24 year old Russians are ready and willing to move abroad for purposes of becoming permanent residents in a foreign country, according to a recent national poll conducted by Russia’s leading independent poll agency, the Levada Center. (Russia Matters, 06.11.21)
• Russia’s central bank has raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points and forecast more increases to come as Moscow struggles to tame inflation, which is running at its highest level for almost five years. The third consecutive rise since March and second in a row of the same scale took Russia’s reference rate to 5.5 per cent. (Financial Times, 06.11.21)
• Russia’s economy will expand by 4% this year after contracting less than the international economy a year earlier, Putin said at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 4. (bne IntelliNews, 06.08.21)
• The World Bank said in its latest Global Economic Prospects report, released on June 8, that economic growth for the 23 countries of it groups in the region of Europe and Central Asia is projected to reach 3.9 percent in 2021, with firming external demand and elevated industrial commodity prices offsetting the negative impact of recent resurgences in new COVID-19 cases. (RFE/RL, 06.08.21)   
• Russian nuclear fuel manufacturer TVEL has announced the start of construction of a 300 MW nuclear power unit enabled with the innovative BREST-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor at the site of the Siberian Chemical Combine, in Seversk. (WNN, 06.08.21)
• Around 500 super rich Russians control more wealth than the poorest 99.8% of Russians, according to a new report into Russia’s inequality problem. The Boston Consulting Group  found that Russia’s financial elite—the approximately 500 individuals with a net worth of more than $100 million—controlled 40% of the country’s entire household wealth. That was three times the global average, where the super rich’s net worth makes up a combined 13% of total wealth. (The Moscow Times, 06.10.21)
• The Russian parliament’s lower chamber, the State Duma, has approved the third and final reading of a bill that widens the scope of a controversial existing law on “undesirable” organizations. Under the bill approved on June 9, Russian citizens and organizations located in any country of the world will be barred from taking part in the activities of foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are labeled "undesirable" in Russia. (RFE/RL, 06.09.21)
• Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption group vowed on June 10 to fight on after a court branded it an "extremist" organization and ordered its closure. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 06.11.21)
• Navalny has been transferred from a prison hospital in the Correctional Colony No. 3 Ivan Zhdanov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which was labeled as "extremist" and banned in Russia this week, says the Kremlin critic is in "significantly better" condition as he recovers from a hunger strike that raised fears he may die. (RFE/RL, 06.11.21, RFE/RL, 06.07.21)                
• Siberian doctors falsified Navalny’s medical records that contained evidence of his nerve agent poisoning last summer, the jailed opposition figure’s allies said in an investigation published on June 10. Navalny’s team said it was able to dupe the Omsk hospital archive into sharing the unredacted medical records from his initial treatment. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 06.11.21)
• Navalny has dedicated a human rights award to all political prisoners in Russia and Belarus, his daughter told a summit of rights groups. (RFE/RL, 06.09.21)
• Russian opposition politician and former lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov said he has fled the country amid concern he could be arrested on what he called trumped up charges. ( RFE/RL, 06.02.21)
• The jailed former executive director of the pro-democracy Open Russia movement, Andrei Pivovarov, has been charged with failure to provide authorities with details of his group, which had been added to "foreign agents" registry. (RFE/RL, 06.08.21)   
• According to the Levada Center pollster, 28% of Russian respondents said they expect new political protests while 30% anticipated economic protests to erupt. In late January and early February, these expectations were much higher at 45% and 43%, respectively. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 06.08.21)
• Russia held its last national election deemed by international observers to be free and fair nearly 20 years ago, with a parliamentary vote in 2002. (The New York Times, 06.10.21)

Defense and aerospace:

• The upcoming Zapad-2021 joint Russian-Belarussian exercise will train covert deployment of forces, Western Military District Commander Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlev told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. (TASS, 06.11.21)
• The Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine will be unveiled at the Army-2021 military and technical forum in Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East in August, the Pacific Fleet’s press office reported on June 11. (TASS, 06.11.21)
• Russia is building its first naval ship to be fully equipped with stealth technology to make it very difficult to detect, RIA Novosti reported. The Mercury naval corvette is expected to be ready to be handed to the navy in 2022 as the hull of the vessel dubbed Project 20386 has already been built. (RFE/RL, 06.08.21)   
• Servicemen of a separate engineer regiment of the Southern Military District’s 49th Combined-Arms Army have for the first time used an Uran-6 robot during an exercise at the Molkino training range in the Krasnodar Territory in south Russia. (TASS, 06.11.21)
• Russian naval ships will be able to call at the ports of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Russian military planes will be able to land in the country. (Interfax, 06.10.21) 

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Russian security agents linked to the poisoning of Navalny previously poisoned prominent writer and journalist Dmitry Bykov, The Insider news website and Bellingcat investigative outlet reported on June 9. The latest report follows investigations by The Insider, Bellingcat and CNN claiming that alleged members of an elite Federal Security Service (FSB) chemical-weapons unit trailed Navalny for years before nearly killing him with military-grade nerve agent Novichok in August 2020. (The Moscow Times, 06.09.21)
• Russia's prison service on June 10 said that convicts would be sent to construct a new section of the Baikal-Amur Mainline track (BAM) in Siberia, a railway partially built by Gulag prisoners. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 06.11.21)

III. Russia’s relations with other countries

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

• Russia's trade surplus narrowed $3.8 billion or 8.4% year-on-year in January-April to $41.2 billion, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) said. Russia's main trading partners among non-CIS countries were: China, trade with which rose 22.3% year-on-year to $39,2 billion; Germany, up 22.3% to $16,5 billion; the Netherlands, up 11.7.2% to $12.4 billion; the United States, up 15.7% to $10.2 billion (Interfax, 06.08.21)
• Russian Economy Minister Maksim Reshetnikov said his country could restrict more food exports in an attempt to stem domestic inflation. In an interview with the Financial Times published on June 6, Reshetnikov said Russia might widen the measures to include outright export curbs as well as a floating tariff on other goods should prices continue to rise. (RFE/RL, 06.02.21)
• Slovakia has become the second European Union member state to start inoculating its citizens with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Sputnik V jab production is to launch in Serbia while Brazilian medical regulator said it has approved the import and limited use of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. (Financial Times, RFE/RL, 06.07.21)
• A majority of Europeans do not trust Russian coronavirus vaccines, according to a study by the European Council on Foreign Relations. Only 7% of Europeans fully trust Russian-developed coronavirus vaccines, while 26% said they trust them to an extent. Meanwhile, 30% of European respondents said they slightly distrust Russian vaccines and 25% said they don’t trust them at all. (The Moscow Times 06.10.21)
• European Council President Charles Michel has spoken by telephone with Putin, stressing that relations between the bloc and Russia are "at a low" and that "this situation or its further deterioration is in neither side's interest." The European Union statement on the June 7 call said Michel informed Putin that the European Council had discussed Russia in May and had "condemned the illegal, provocative, and disruptive Russian activities against the EU, its member states, and others." (RFE/RL, 06.07.21)   
• The committee of ministers of pan-European rights body the Council of Europe on June 10 said it strongly urged Russia to "immediately" release Navalny, in line with a previous ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. (The Moscow Times/AFP, 06.11.21)

Ukraine:

• Ukraine’s exports are up by 25%, or almost $5 billion, for the first five months of this year, Prime Minister Shmygal writes. (Ukraine Business News, 06.07.21)
• =Biden has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the White House this summer, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on June 7. Zelensky confirmed the invitation, tweeting, "Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for inviting me to visit the @WhiteHouse in July during our phone conversation. Biden and Zelensky spoke by the phone on [June 7]. Prior to the call, Zelensky said wanted to discuss the U.S. decision to waive sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with Biden. "This is a weapon, a real weapon...in the hands of the Russian Federation," he said of the pipeline. "It is not very understandable...that the bullets to this weapon can possibly be provided by such a great country as the United States." (CNN, 06.07.21, RFE/RL, 06.07.21, Axios, 06.07.21)
• Ukraine denies it is receiving covert shipments of weapons from NATO under the guise of military exercises, calling Russian claims this week to that effect "manipulative" amid an escalating information war. Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a senior official with the Russian Ministry of Defense, told reporters that NATO is planning to deliver sophisticated weapons and ammunition to Ukrainian forces and pro-Kiev militia during the pre-planned Sea Breeze 2021 maritime exercises to begin later this month. (US News & World Report, 06.03.21)
• The United States hopes for further steps by Ukraine, including in the courts, to bring corrupt officials to justice, Acting Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker has said. (Interfax, 06.07.21)
• The trial in absentia of four suspects—three Russians and one Ukrainian—in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 has entered a decisive new phase during which judges in the Netherlands will be presented with witness testimony and evidence. (RFE/RL, 06.07.21)
• The General Court of the European Union has annulled the bloc’s 2019 decision to extend asset freezes imposed on former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr over the alleged embezzlement of Ukrainian state funds and assets. (RFE/RL,   06.09.21)
• Russia has deported Ukrainian information and communications technology expert Oleksiy Semenyaka on suspicion of collaborating with Kiev's counterintelligence, Interfax reported on June 7, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB). (The Moscow Times, 06.07.21)
• A day before the start of the European Championships, UEFA has told Ukraine it must remove the patriotic phrase "Glory to the heroes" because of its political connotations. (RFE/RL, 06.10.21)                 

Russia's other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Pankin said the Eurasian Economic Union was working on a "consolidated response" to Western sanctions. However, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry on June 5 issued an unusual statement saying that the energy-rich Central Asian nation was against "politicizing" the trade bloc. (RFE/RL, 06.05.21)
• Putin on on June 4 insisted Russia sought to be ''neutral'' when it came to events in Belarus, seeking to distance his country from the uproar over the forced diversion of a passenger jet with a Belarusian dissident aboard. ''Belarus has lots of problems, domestic ones, and we actually want to take a neutral position,'' Putin said. (The New York Times, 06.05.21)
• Asked whether he believed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's claim that the Ryanair plane Protasevich was flying in was brought down because of a bomb threat, Putin responded: ''I don't want to evaluate what happened with this airplane. To be honest, I don't know.'' (The New York Times, 06.05.21)
• Russian fertilizer tycoon Dmitry Mazepin denied on June 7 that he had financed opposition social media in his native Belarus after a jailed journalist hinted at an unnamed Urals oligarch’s role in the country’s anti-government protests last summer. (The Moscow Times, 06.07.21)
• Lukashenko has signed into law amendments to the Criminal Code. The amendments, signed by Lukashenko on June 8, toughen the punishment for the "distribution of false information" on the Internet, the participation in and collaboration with "extremist" groups, failure to stop the operations of an organization found by a court to be an extremist group, or the violation of the law on the organization of public gatherings and demonstrations. They also increase punishments for libel, (RFE/RL, 06.08.21)   
• Four members of a Belarusian presidential candidate's team have been sentenced to five years in a maximum-security prison for preparing "mass riots" in the wake of last year's contested election that extended Lukashenko's rule. A Minsk court sentenced the four individuals—Ihar Yarmolau, Dzmitry Kanapelka, Uladzislau Karetski, and Mikalay Saseu—on June 10 despite what the opposition and rights groups said was a dearth of evidence against them. (RFE/RL, 06.11.21)                    
• The European Parliament has called for sweeping economic sanctions and a raft of other measures against Belarus in response to growing repression and the forced landing of a plane flying between two EU capitals to arrest opposition activist Roman Protasevich. (RFE/RL, 06.11.21)                    
• British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has warned that Belarus may be slipping "into pariah status" after it recently forced a civilian aircraft to land in Minsk to arrest opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend. (RFE/RL, 06.11.21)                     
• The barred U.S. ambassador to Belarus, Julie Fisher, called Belarus the “North Korea of Europe” in testimony before a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on June 9. (bne IntelliNews, 06.11.21)
• NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Belarus is becoming “more and more dependent” on Russia following the nation's isolation by the West in the wake of its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters. (RFE/RL, 06.06.21)
• Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on June 5 reached an agreement to calm a tense border standoff between the two Central Asian nations, in the latest incident over contested territory more than a month after deadly clashes. (RFE/RL, 06.05.21)
• The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has reported an Armenian military attack on its positions in the Kalbajar district. Earlier, the Armenian Defense Ministry reported skirmishes with Azerbaijani troops in the Gegharkunik region in the east of the country. (Interfax, 06.11.21)
• Armenia's National Security Service says it has arrested two men on suspicion of spying for Azerbaijan, with which Yerevan recently fought a war over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. (RFE/RL, 06.07.21)
• Armenia and Azerbaijan have stopped negotiating over reopening their borders and creating new transportation routes, setting the stage for more potential instability ahead even as on-the-ground tension has slightly abated. On June 1, Armenia’s deputy prime minister Mher Grigoryan announced that the Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia trilateral working group on transportation had suspended its work. (bne IntelliNews, 06.07.21)
• Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on an official visit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties. Japarov's press service said the official visit started on June 9 as the Kyrgyz president was met at the Esenboga airport in Ankara by Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later during the three-day trip. (RFE/RL, 06.09.21) 
• Police in Uzbekistan's eastern city of Angren have forced dozens of practicing Muslims to shave off their beards, a practice in the Central Asian nation that has been criticized by domestic and international rights organization for years. (RFE/RL, 06.09.21)

IV. Quoteworthy:

• No significant developments.