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

Nuclear security:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law on suspending the Russian-U.S. agreement on disposal of weapons-grade plutonium. The document was posted on the Kremlin’s website Oct. 31. In remarks made Oct. 27 Putin appeared to ease up on conditions he recently set for Russia to return to the agreement. Among his demands had been the withdrawal of NATO forces to pre-2000 positions and the repeal of and compensation for Ukraine-related sanctions. He now called those just “a piece of paper” and said many issues had “become difficult to discuss with the current [U.S.] administration because practically no obligations are met and no agreements are respected.” He added that “perhaps we will be able to come back to” the plutonium deal and that Russia is “ready, in any case, to talk with the new president and look for solutions to any, even the most difficult, issues.” Putin’s remarks came during a three-hour question-and-answer session at the Valdai International Discussion Club. (TASS, 10.31.16, Bloomberg, 10.27.16, Kremlin.ru, 10.27.16)
• The UN General Assembly’s security committee has approved seven draft texts, one aimed at preventing an outer-space arms race and another on stopping terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. The latter measure would have the General Assembly call upon member states to support international efforts to prevent the acquisition and use by terrorists of radioactive materials and, if necessary, to suppress such acts in accordance with national and international law. (UN.org, 10.28.16)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• No significant developments.

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• Noteworthy comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the final session of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Oct. 27:
  • “Russia has no intention of attacking anyone. …. All of the NATO members together with the USA have a total population of 600 million, probably. But Russia has only 146 million. It is simply absurd to even conceive such thoughts. And yet they use these ideas in pursuit of their political aims.” (Kremlin.ru, 10.27.16)
  • “They continue to churn out threats, imaginary and mythical threats such as the ‘Russian military threat.’ This is a profitable business that can be used to pump new money into defense budgets at home, get allies to bend to a single superpower’s interests, expand NATO and bring its infrastructure, military units and arms closer to our borders.” (Kremlin.ru, 10.27.16)
  • Putin condemned the remarks made more than two years ago by Russian TV anchor Dmitry Kiselyov that “Russia is the only country in the world capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash”: “Threatening nuclear weapons is the very last resort. It’s harmful rhetoric, and it’s not something I welcome.” (The Moscow Times, 10.27.16)
• A senior Russian official has spoken of a Cabinet meeting where President Vladimir Putin reported on a “high-risk” incident in which Russian military jets buzzed the U.S. Navy in the Black Sea. When some at the table cheered with phrases like, “They deserve it!” Putin shut them down, saying, “Are you crazy?” The official spoke on condition of anonymity pursuant to the rules of the annual Valdai International Discussion Club gathering. (Bloomberg, 10.26.16)
• “Especially when we talk about nuclear weapons and speak about the hypothetical possibility of world war three, I believe that everyone is smart enough not to take things to a hot war,” Sergei Ivanov, a member of President Vladimir Putin’s Security Council, has said. “But if we talk about cold war, information war and propaganda war, that is a fact of life. We see that every day.” (Financial Times, 10.23.16)
• U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a meeting of NATO defense ministers Oct. 26 that the U.S. will boost its presence in Europe, deploying a brigade to Poland in February. The brigade will send units to Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltic States. The U.S. is also deploying a battalion of Stryker armored vehicles to Poland as part of the NATO force and will rotate a brigade with heavy-infantry equipment to different parts of Eastern Europe, including a headquarters unit in Poland. Britain is to send typhoon fighter jets to the Black Sea area, while a battalion of 800 troops, tanks and light armor will deploy in Estonia in the spring, backed by French and Danish troops. "This is about two things: reassurance, and that needs to be done with some formidable presence, and deterrence," Michael Fallon, the British defense secretary said. "This is not simply a trip-wire. … This is a serious military presence." Starting in February, Germany will send 400 to 600 soldiers and battle tanks to Lithuania. Albania, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovenia are also playing roles in what NATO has dubbed its Enhanced Forward Presence. (AP, 10.27.16, Wall Street Journal, 10.26.16)
• U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, briefed NATO defense ministers on Oct. 26 on Russia’s capabilities, noting its military modernization, command overhaul, nuclear missile tests and deployments of nuclear-capable missiles to the Kaliningrad exclave. “What we are observing is Russian military practice that diverges widely from NATO practice in scale, scope, content, purpose and transparency," Gen. Scapparotti said Oct. 27 in a brief statement (Wall Street Journal, 10.27.16)
• Alexander Grushko, Russia's ambassador to NATO, said taken in total NATO member countries were undertaking a significant buildup and conducting a string of military exercises on Russia's borders. "Despite all the talk about openness to dialogue, in fact, at the present stage NATO's focus is primarily on the development and deepening of the policy of comprehensive military and political containment of Russia," he said. (Wall Street Journal, 10.27.16)
• Norway will allow U.S. troops to be stationed on its soil for a limited period from next year, the defense ministry said Oct. 25, marking the first time foreign troops have been posted on its territory since the end of World War II. Some 330 U.S. Marines will be stationed at the Vaernes military base in central Norway from January, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the trial would be reviewed in the course of the year. (Reuters, 10.24.16)
• Swedish air force Captain Jorgen Olsson recently ran a training session for fighter pilots on Gotland. From the communications system to the missiles under the wings of planes, the machinery is now completely in tune with NATO standards, he said. "You could take any Swedish squadron and put them in any NATO-led operation and it would just work," the captain said. (Wall Street Journal, 10.27.16)
• NATO has appointed Freytag von Loringhoven of Germany its first intelligence chief. (Wall Street Journal, 10.21.16)
• U.S. defense officials say autonomous weapons are needed for the United States to maintain its military edge over China, Russia and other rivals, who are also pouring money into similar research. The Pentagon's latest budget outlined $18 billion to be spent over three years on technologies that included those needed for autonomous weapons. ''China and Russia are developing battle networks that are as good as our own. They can see as far as ours can see; they can throw guided munitions as far as we can,'' said Robert Work, the U.S. deputy defense secretary. (New York Times, 10.25.16)
• Igor Zuyev, whose SIS Proektstroy builds bomb shelters for state companies and private individuals, said his company has seen a threefold rise in demand over the past year for structures that he says guarantee protection from nuclear bombs and military invasion. (Wall Street Journal, 10.25.16)
• According to a new poll conducted by the independent Levada Center pollster, almost half of Russians (48%) fear worsening relations with the West over Syria could lead to a third world war. The threat of nuclear war keeps the Russian population pliant and uncritical, said Lev Gudkov, head of the center: "Most people believe that World War III has begun, but right now we are still in the cold phase of the war, which may or may not turn into a hot war," he said. "And during war, you have to support your country's authorities." (The Moscow Times, 10.31.16, Wall Street Journal, 10.25.16)

Missile defense:

• When asked about recent Russian nuclear saber-rattling, including the deployment of nuclear missiles on Poland’s border, Russian President Vladimir Putin said nuclear deterrence had ensured peace during the Cold War. He recalled that he warned George W. Bush that unless NATO abandoned plans to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in Europe, Russia would have to elevate its own attack posture. The former president, he said, told him to do whatever he felt necessary. (Bloomberg, 10.27.16)

Nuclear arms control:

• A UN General Assembly committee has voted to launch negotiations on a new treaty banning nuclear weapons despite fierce opposition from the world’s nuclear powers. Four of the five UN Security Council nuclear powers—Britain, France, Russia and the United States—voted against the resolution while China abstained, as did India and Pakistan. (The Hindu, 10.28.16)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty on Oct. 27. He complained that it had forced the former Soviet Union to eliminate its land-based intermediate nuclear missiles while leaving U.S. air- and sea-launched missiles in place and countries such as Iran free to develop their own land-based missiles. (Bloomberg, 10.27.16)
• U.S. National Intelligence director James Clapper said Oct. 25 that the U.S. goal of persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons is probably a “lost cause” and the best hope is to cap its capability. (AP, 10.26.16)

Counter-terrorism:

• “The Americans have provided us with real help, during the preparations for the Olympic Games in Sochi, for example, and we are grateful to them for this. Our cooperation was very efficient here, on-site and at the level of our intelligence service heads… We have open and professional contacts with the French intelligence services, for example, and exchange information. In general, the situation is not bad, but it could be a lot better,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Oct. 27. (Kremlin.ru, 10.27.16)
• Four Russian citizens of Chechen origin are facing trial in Poland on terrorism charges. They were charged with participation in a criminal organization and illegal fundraising to support the Islamic State extremist group in Syria and Iraq. The regional court in Bialystok began hearing the case on Oct. 27.(RFE/RL, 10.27.16)
• The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an Oct. 23 attack in Nizhny Novgorod. That morning two men opened fire on a policeman who was inspecting their car. The policeman returned fire and mortally wounded both attackers. (The Moscow Times, 10.26.16)
• The Russian Interior Ministry says four suspected militants have been killed by police in the restive Caucasus province of Dagestan. Also a regional spokesman for the Investigative Committee said Judge Ruslan Boltashev was attacked Oct. 27 as he was driving his car in Pervomayskoye, a village in the region of Karachayevo-Cherkesia.(RFE/RL, 10.27.16, AP, 10.22.16)
• A court in Kazakhstan's northwestern city of Aqtobe on Oct. 25 found Nurlan Omirbekov guilty of fomenting terrorism and religious extremism, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and inciting hatred. It sentenced him the same day to 12 years in prison. Investigators say Omirbekov planned to join the Islamic State in Syria. (RFE/RL, 10.25.16)

Conflict in Syria:

• A coalition of Syrian insurgent groups said it had begun a major offensive on Oct. 28 to break the months-long siege of eastern parts of Aleppo by Syrian government and Russian forces, and at least 15 people were reportedly killed in fighting in government-controlled parts of the city. The new offensive was a strong sign that rebel groups vetted by the United States were continuing their tactical alliances with al-Qaida-linked groups, rather than distancing themselves as Russia has demanded and the Americans have urged. As of Oct. 30 the insurgents kept up their shelling of government-controlled areas of Aleppo, killing at least seven people, including three children, state TV reported, and pushing their way with car bombs and tanks into new territory in the western part of the city. (New York Times, 10.28.16, AP, 10.30.16)
• President Vladimir Putin rejected a request from the Russian military to resume airstrikes against militants in Aleppo, the Kremlin said Oct. 28. Putin “considers it possible” to continue a humanitarian pause in operations in Aleppo despite a request from the general staff to resume bombing in response to attacks from terrorist groups, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Earlier Putin defended Moscow's support for the siege of the rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo by Assad's army, calling it a necessary move in order to defeat militant forces there. He said there is a choice between "keeping a terrorist nest there or crushing that nest while minimizing civilian casualties." (RFE/RL, 10.27.16, Bloomberg, 10.28.16)
• “My personal agreements with the President of the United States [on Syria] have not produced results either. There were people in Washington ready to do everything possible to prevent these agreements from being implemented in practice,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Oct. 27. (Kremlin.ru, 10.27.16)
• The entire territory of Syria must be “liberated,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said in remarks televised Oct. 22, dismissing demands for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s departure as “thoughtless”: “There are just two options: Assad sitting in Damascus or the Nusra sitting in Damascus,” Dmitry Peskov said in a reference to the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s branch in Syria that renamed itself Fatah al-Sham Front earlier this year. “And Assad must sit in Damascus to ensure a political settlement. … The territory of Syria must be liberated,” Peskov said. “It must be liberated and everything must be done to prevent the country’s breakup, which could have catastrophic consequences for the entire region.” (AP, 10.22.16)
• A Russian military spokesman is blaming the United States for a near-collision of the countries’ warplanes in Syrian airspace. Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement Oct. 29 that the Oct. 17 incident involved a Sukhoi-35 and an American E-3 radar plane near the city of Deir al-Zour. Konashenkov said Russia had informed the U.S. military of the Su-35’s intent to fly in the area, but the American plane unexpectedly descended by about one kilometer (0.6 miles) and came within 500 meters (0.3 miles) of the Russian plane. (AP, 10.29.16)
• Russia has withdrawn its request for a naval battlegroup led by the flagship aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to refuel and resupply at the Spanish port of Ceuta. The planned pit stop sparked outrage among the NATO military alliance. Malta was thought to be another possible stopover, but it announced Oct. 27 that the vessels could not resupply there either. Greece was thought to be another possibility. The battlegroup is expected to deploy off Syria in late October. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed as absurd suggestions by NATO that the Russian battle group in the Mediterranean—led by the Admiral Kuznetsov—would join the bombardment of Aleppo. (The Moscow Times, 10.26.16, Reuters, 10.27.16, AP, 10.27.16, New York Times, 10.21.16)
• Ka-52K attack helicopters deployed on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier will test-fire the latest Hermes extreme-range anti-tank guided missiles for the first time in Syria in the battle with Islamic State, the daily newspaper Izvestia has reported. (RBTH, 10.28.16)
• UN Undersecretary-General Stephen O’Brien accused Russia and Syria on Oct. 26 of using bombing and starvation tactics in eastern Aleppo to push people to surrender or to death, triggering an unusual verbal attack on a UN official from the Russian ambassador. The U.S., Britain and France strongly defended O’Brien and joined the attack on Russia. Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said it was “outrageous” that O’Brien spoke as if the bombings in eastern Aleppo are going on now when they have stopped for seven days. Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that neither Russian nor Syrian government aircraft carried out an air strike against a school in Syria's Idlib Province that killed 28 people, including 22 children. (RFE/RL, 10.27.16, AP, 10.26.16)
• Russia has denied carrying out air strikes on a school in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province that killed 36 people, including 22 children. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes it identified as either Syrian or Russian made at least six strikes on the village of Haas on Oct. 26, including on the school compound.(New York Times, 10.26.16, Al Jazeera, 10.27.16)
• The Obama administration secretly weighed plans to rush more firepower to CIA-backed units in Syria. Neither approved nor rejected, the plan was left in a state of ambiguity that U.S. officials said reflects growing administration skepticism about escalating a covert CIA program that has trained and armed thousands of Syrian fighters over the past three years. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and others fear that the new weaponry could end up killing Russian military personnel, triggering a confrontation with Moscow. One senior U.S. official said it is time for a "ruthless" look at whether agency-supported fighters can still be considered moderate, and whether the program can accomplish anything beyond adding to the carnage in Syria.(The Washington Post, 10.23.16)
• "The Russians have seized the initiative," said a senior Obama administration official involved in Syria discussions. "You can't pretend you can go to war against Assad and not go to war against Russia." (The Washington Post, 10.23.16)
• U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and a top U.S. intelligence official agreed on the potential for conflict with Russia if the United States adopts his Democratic rival’s plan on Syria. Trump charged it would lead to open warfare—"World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton"—while National Intelligence Director James Clapper said Russia might shoot down a U.S. aircraft if the United States attempts to enforce a no-fly zone as Clinton has proposed in parts of Syria: "I wouldn't put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft if they felt that was threatening to their forces on the ground," Clapper told CBS's Charlie Rose at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Oct. 25. (RFE/RL, 10.26.16)
• NATO has begun flying its airborne early warning surveillance planes in support of the international coalition against Islamic State. The AWACS system won’t be used directly to target Islamic State. Instead, its powerful radar will be used to track the movement of coalition, Russian and Syrian aircraft inside Syria, providing the coalition air command in Qatar real-time information that can be used to deconflict operations or track the movements of war planes. (Wall Street Journal, 10.25.16)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin must help defeat Islamic State terrorism rather than bomb civilians in Aleppo, the U.S. envoy to NATO said. Ambassador Douglas Lute said the alliance is closely monitoring the passage of Russian warships toward the Mediterranean and is concerned they may be used in the devastating bombing raids on civilian targets. (Bloomberg, 10.25.16)
• The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, met with Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran in Moscow on Oct. 28 to discuss conditions for putting in place a pause in hostilities. (New York Times, 10.28.16)
• Russian UN representative Vitaly Churkin told journalists that a new draft resolution on Aleppo by the UN Security Council "doesn't coincide with Russia's approach."The text of the new document, prepared by New Zealand, includes a point calling for the "complete halt to all attacks which can harm the civilian population or the city's infrastructure, including the recently carried out air attacks." (The Moscow Times, 10.25.16)
• Russia’s foreign minister has called on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to ensure that what he called terrorist groups are separated from so-called moderate opposition fighters in Syria. Sergei Lavrov made the call in an Oct. 24 telephone conversation with Kerry, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Kerry in turn expressed concern about the renewal of attacks on Aleppo by Syrian government forces and Russian warplanes after a pause in the fighting last week, State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Kerry and Lavrov held another discussion of the events in Syria on Oct. 28, (AP, 10.24.16, RFE/RL, 10.25.16, TASS, 10.28.16)
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Western outrage over a Russian bombing campaign in the Syrian city of Aleppo is hypocritical because Western governments are carrying out a similar operation in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Lavrov said Oct. 25 that "the American coalition in Mosul is calling on residents to leave exactly like we did in Aleppo." (AP, 10.25.16)
• Russia on Oct. 27 rejected the findings of a chemical weapons investigation led by the United Nations that found Syrian forces had used chlorine bombs at least three times in the past two years. (New York Times, 10.27.16)

Cyber security:

• U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid is spearheading the criticism of the FBI director for taking additional “investigative steps” into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state with less than two weeks before Election Day. In a heated letter to James Comey released Oct. 30, Reid accused the FBI chief of holding back “explosive” information about Donald Trump’s close Russian ties and possibly violating the Hatch Act, which bars government officials from using their positions to influence an election. (People, 10.31.16)
• Donald Trump remains unconvinced that Russia is behind a series of cyberattacks against American political targets, he said in an interview that aired Oct. 27, and said the U.S. government’s public assignation of guilt to the Kremlin amounted to “public relations.” (Politico, 10.27.16)
• Major websites were inaccessible to people across wide swaths of the United States on Oct. 21 after a company that manages crucial parts of the internet's infrastructure said it was under attack. New World Hackers, a hacker group based in China and Russia, reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack via Twitter, though U.S. authorities said they could not verify the claim. (RFE/RL, 10.22.16, New York Times, 10.21.16)
• U.S. authorities have charged a Russian arrested in Prague earlier this month with hacking and stealing information from computers at LinkedIn and other U.S. companies. The arrest of Yevgeny Nikulin on Oct. 5 in the Czech capital prompted sharp protests from Moscow, which has sought to block extradition to the U.S. Russian authorities are considering the possibility of requesting that Nikulin be extradited to Russia. (RFE/RL, 10.22.16, The Moscow Times, 10.26.16)
• Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor has asked a court to authorize the blocking of the U.S. professional-networking website LinkedIn. Roskomnadzor spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky told the Interfax news agency on Oct. 26 that there have been "several cases of LinkedIn users' personal data being leaked since 2010." (RFE/RL, 10.26.16)
• The Kremlin has challenged the authenticity of leaked emails purportedly from the inbox of presidential aide Vladislav Surkov that appear to show the Russian government's coordination with separatists in eastern Ukraine. The cache of emails published by CyberHunta begins in September 2013 and runs through November 2014. Several documents in the leak suggest Surkov was a Kremlin point man in dealing with the separatists. These include one purportedly sent from the office of Russian tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev, who is believed to have bankrolled much of the separatist movement in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 10.26.16)

Energy exports from CIS:

• Russia’s Gazprom and the European Union’s competition watchdog on Oct. 26 announced they will attempt to settle a longstanding antitrust case and that the state-controlled energy company would soon submit concrete commitments to change behaviors in exchange for escaping a hefty fine. (Wall Street Journal, 10.26.16)
• Russia is not yet ready to say whether it will freeze oil production or merely cut its output, Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said on Oct. 23 after talks with his Saudi counterpart, Khalid al-Falih. (TASS, 10.23.16)
• The European Commission has authorized Russia's Gazprom to ship more gas through the Opal connector pipeline in Germany, two people familiar with the matter said, in a sign that Russia and the European Union are mending their business relationships despite growing tensions over Moscow's bombing campaign in Syria. (Wall Street Journal, 10.25.16)

Bilateral economic ties:

• Russia will not limit commercial supplies of uranium products to the U.S., state-run Rosatom said commenting on foreign media reports about response measures to the U.S. sanctions against Russia. (TASS, 10.30.16)
• Twitter’s partnerships manager in Russia, the company’s only official employee in the country, was laid off Oct. 28 as part of global cutbacks announced earlier this week. (The Moscow Times, 10.28.16)

Other bilateral issues:

• Director of U.S. National Intelligence James Clapper has said of Russian President Vladimir Putin: “I think he’s somewhat of a throwback, not so much to the—throwback to the tsar era. I think he has this vision of a great Russia, as a great power. It’s extremely important to him that Russia be treated and respected as a global power on a par with the United States. And I think that has a lot to do with impelling his behavior.” (Council on  Foreign Relations, 10.25.16)
• Regarding U.S.-Russian relations the director of U.S. National Intelligence James Clapper has said: “I don’t know that it’s, you know, worse than times I can recall—I’m a Cold War warrior; I lived through all that—that it’s worse than that. There were some pretty bad times then where we weren’t getting along at all.” (Council on Foreign Relations, 10.25.16)
• “Does anyone seriously imagine that Russia can somehow influence the American people’s choice? America is not some kind of ‘banana republic,’ after all, but is a great power,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the final session of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Oct. 27. “We do not know what Mr. Trump would do if he wins, and we do not know what Ms. Clinton would do, what would go ahead or not go ahead. Overall then, it does not really matter to us who wins,” he said. (Kremlin.ru, 10.27.16)
• “You Americans never seem to learn from your mistakes!” Russian President Vladimir Putin exclaimed said at the final session of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Oct. 27. (The Moscow Times, 10.29.16.)
• Russia is ready to turn a new page with the next U.S. president, according to Sergei Ivanov, a member of Vladimir Putin’s Security Council. Ivanov said the Russian leadership had been “insulted” by anti-Russian rhetoric during the U.S. election campaign, but counted on American pragmatism to prevail: “We are always ready for realpolitik,” he said, adding that the notion the Kremlin would prefer to see Donald Trump in the White House was “absolutely not true.” (Financial Times, 10.23.16)
• Russian-American relations are unlikely to improve under a new U.S. administration, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Oct. 25.Ryabkov said that “for at least the next four years, a return to stable progressive and positive relations with the U.S. will be very difficult.” Speaking at the Russian parliament, Ryabkov said "it is evident that the current U.S. administration won't ... lift sanctions or reduce the American military presence in Europe for the sake of resuming the effect of the [plutonium disposition] agreement." He said Russia has devised a series of asymmetric measures to be taken should the United States ratchet up sanctions. (TASS, 10.24.16, The Moscow Times, 10.25.16)
• U.S. diplomats, senior military officers and lawmakers are increasingly arguing for an aggressive tack against Moscow. “There’s an appetite for a more assertive approach,” said one congressional staffer who works on Ukraine and Russia policy. (Foreign Policy, 10.30.16)
• Russia has asked several U.S. states for permission to send observers to polling places on Nov. 8 to monitor voting in the presidential and legislative elections, but at least three states have said "no." The U.S. State Department said Oct. 21 that Russia is welcome to observe the elections, but Moscow turned down an invitation from the United States to be included on a team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. (RFE/RL, 10.22.16)
• In a letter to the Pentagon on Oct. 21, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said he was concerned that a contract to provide internet service to deployed soldiers could allow the use of Russian satellites, jeopardizing troops' privacy and security. Although there is no provision that specifically bars the use of Russian satellites, Hunter said it's clear Russia is no ally and that the Pentagon should not be using its hardware. (The Washington Post, 10.21.16)
• Donald Trump on Oct. 27 criticized rival Hillary Clinton for being too tough on Vladimir Putin, once again raising eyebrows about the Republican candidate’s relationship with the Russian president. “She speaks very badly of Putin, and I don’t think that’s smart,” Trump told a crowd of thousands, noting that Russia has nuclear weapons. (AP, 10.27.16)
• Russia's high-tech Rusnano Corporation does not have any business relations with Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Podesta had ties in the past with Joule Unlimited, a company in which Rusnano had invested, and could have severed them just recently. (TASS, 10.24.16)
• U.S. authorities have ruled the death of former Kremlin media boss Mikhail Lesin an accident, saying a nearly year-long investigation determined that “acute” alcohol intoxication was a contributing factor. (RFE/RL, 10.28.16)
• Nearly a decade after Viktor Bout's arrest by U.S. authorities, the convicted Russian arms dealer's case will return to a federal appeals court Oct. 31, where his lawyers will argue for a new trial. Bout has been transferred to a prison where he has more liberty and privileges. (Wall Street Journal, 10.30.16, RFE/RL, 10.27.16)
• Tips from defense companies to a Pentagon office that monitors contractor security and protects classified data led to the arrest this month of three people accused of shipping sensitive microelectronics to Russia, according to the program’s director. (Bloomberg, 10.31.16)
• An American citizen was fined by a Novosibirsk court for illegally entering Russia. Julio Prieto was fined 7000 rubles ($112) for the crime of illegally crossing the Russian border from Kazakhstan. (The Moscow Times, 10.26.16)
• A joint U.S., Russian, and Japanese crew has landed safely in Kazakhstan following a 115-day mission aboard the International Space Station. (RFE/RL, 10.30.16)
• Former U.S Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has been elected an international member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.(The Moscow Times, 10.28.16)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• Russia is preparing to slash government spending. Deep cuts are looming for health, education and even defense, which is slated for a 27% reduction in expenditure next year, according to a draft budget that the government submitted to parliament. The government expects a deficit of 2.75 trillion rubles ($43.71 billion) in 2017. (Financial Times, 10.30.16, The Moscow Times, 10.28.16)
• Russia’s position in the Doing Business rating is a big achievement, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has said. On Oct. 26 the World Bank published its annual rating for 2017, where Russia ranks 40th. In 2012 Russia ranked 124th and by 2016 it had moved to 51st place. (TASS, 10.26.16)
• The average individual entrepreneur in Moscow “survives” only 5.7 years, according to new research by the PwC consulting firm. (The Moscow Times, 10.25.16)
• Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire who ran for president in 2012, will sell a 12% share in the Rusal aluminum company for $700 million to the company's co-owners, billionaires Viktor Vekselberg and Leonard Blavatnik. (The Moscow Times, 10.27.16)
• Dozens of Russians read aloud the names of the victims of Stalin's purges, an annual demonstration that comes amid a shift in thinking about the Soviet leader. The event took place Oct. 29 outside the Moscow headquarters of Russia's main security agency, the successor to the feared KGB. (RFE/RL, 10.29.16)
• A court in Moscow has fined the independent national pollster Levada Center for refusing to register as a "foreign agent.” The court ruled on Oct. 26 that the center had to pay a fine of 300,000 rubles ($4,800). (RFE/RL, 10.26.16)
• Yury Nagornykh, the deputy sports minister named by world anti-doping authorities as having played a key role in Russia's doping scandal, has resigned, according to Russian state media. (The Moscow Times, 10.24.16)
• Almost one out of 10 Russians want to emigrate, according to Russia's state-run pollster VTsIOM. Eleven percent of those polled said they were considering emigration, while 7% said they wanted to leave within the next two years. One-fifth of respondents said they have family members or friends who have emigrated in the last year (The Moscow Times, 10.28.16)

Defense and aerospace:

• Technological progress may lead to humans giving robots the power to press "the red button" and launch a nuclear strike. This was the warning Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin had for students and scientists during a meeting at the Tomsk Polytechnic University. (The Moscow Times, 10.28.16)
• Russia's military has successfully tested a hypersonic aerial vehicle known as "Production 4202," according to the Izvestia newspaper. The weapons, which are capable of reaching speeds of up to 7 kilometers per second, were launched from the Dombarovsky area of the Orenburg region. The salvo successfully reached its targets in the Kura test range in the Kamchatka peninsula. (The Moscow Times, 10.28.16)
• Russia has declassified the first ever image of its new thermonuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-28 Sarmat. In May this year Sputnik news agency claimed the missile could carry a payload capable of wiping out a landmass "the size of Texas or France.” The new missiles will come with up to 16 nuclear warheads according to pictures released by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau. (NBC, 10.25.16, The Independent‎, 10.25.16)
• On Oct. 25 Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces carried out a successful test launch of a UR-100NUTTH/SS-19 missile from the Dombarovsky basing area. This is probably another test of the Project 4202 hypersonic vehicle, similar to that conducted in April 2016. (Russianforces.org, 10.25.16)
• Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces have acquired a new weapon: a heavily armed robot. Chief of the Strategic Rocket Forces' combat training department Yevgeny Schelkanov told the Interfax news agency about the latest acquisition. (The Moscow Times, 10.31.16)
• Izvestia reports that Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu is organizing some “superlight” army brigades. The intent, reportedly based on Syrian combat experience, is for these motorized rifle brigades to slip around or through heavier enemy forces to conduct raids at distances of several hundred kilometers. (Russian Defense Policy Blog, 10.26.16)
• In early October, Russian military analysts reported that a group of designers working for the navy were finishing work on a completely new high-speed torpedo. The widely known Shkval (“Squall”) torpedo will be replaced by a new one called Khischnik (“Predator”). (RBTH, 10.26.16)
• Viktor Yesin, former director of the General Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces, said modernization of the Russian defense industry is failing, despite an investment of three trillion rubles ($48 billion): "This is due to the sanctions and the fall of Russia's economy. The process of import substitution in the defense enterprises is getting practically nowhere," said Yesin. (RBTH, 10.28.16)
• The Russian military is expected to receive its first operational 9K317M Buk-M3 surface-to-air missile system next month. (National Interest, 10.29.16)
• A top Russian official says Russia will destroy all of its chemical weapons by the end of next year, a year earlier than previously announced. (AP, 10.27.16)

Security, law enforcement and justice:

• A Moscow court has sentenced a former Defense Ministry official to 12 years in prison for treason, the latest in a string of treason cases heard by Russian courts. The Moscow City Court on Oct. 27 also stripped Andrei Belyayev, a retired colonel, of his rank. Russian media said he possessed a Swedish residency permit and a Swedish driver's license. (RFE/RL, 10.27.16)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

General developments and relations with “far abroad” countries:

• Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic has resigned, hours after suggesting that Russia was involved in an alleged coup attempt on the country's election day and accusing the opposition of collaborating with the Kremlin. Soon after Djukanovic’s resignation Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported that two Russian citizens had been deported from Serbia for allegedly preparing "terrorist attacks" in neighboring Montenegro. The deportation claim coincided with an unannounced visit by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev to Belgrade. The Russian Foreign Ministry denied the claim, saying it was “absolute fiction.” (RFE/RL, 10.26.16, The Moscow Times, 10.28.16, Gazeta.ru, 10.28.16)
• The sanctions imposed on the Russian economy cost the country up to 1% of GDP growth every year but they do not work as an instrument of political influence, former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said. (Sputnik, 10.26.16)
• "Russia is India’s time-tested and closest partner and it will continue to remain our primary defense partner," Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar said Oct. 26. It is the U.S., however, that remains the largest arms supplier to India with over $15 billion in orders in the last decade as well as a defense logistics agreement signed earlier this year. (Bloomberg, 10.26.16)
• A consortium made up of the Chinese state-owned mining firm China National Gold Corporation, India’s SUN Mining Group and the Russian Far East Development Fund, as well as funds from South Africa and Brazil, is prepared to invest up to $500 million in the development of the Klyuchevskoye gold field in the Transbaikal region. (RBTH, 10.24.16)
• Rumen Radev, the main opposition contender in Bulgaria's presidential election, vowed on Oct. 24 to seek better relations with Russia and a lifting of EU sanctions that he called harmful to both sides. (Reuters, 10.24.16)
• Russian defense enterprises will exhibit over 220 military hardware items at the Airshow China-2016 on Nov. 1-6, the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said in a statement Oct. 25. (TASS, 10.25.16)
• Russia is having to shrink its embassy in London because of extended delays by British authorities in issuing visas to diplomats, its ambassador has said, in a sign of the deep deterioration in relations between the two countries. (Financial Times, 10.22.16)
• Russia’s Foreign Ministry says three Russian sailors have been freed from captivity in Libya. (AP, 10.25.16)
• “If we renounce the UN, this is a sure road to chaos. There is no other universal alternative in the world,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Oct. 27. (Kremlin.ru, 10.27.16)
• Russia narrowly lost its seat on the main UN body devoted to human rights on Oct. 28, signaling international dismay over its military's conduct in Syria. (New York Times, 10.28.16)
• After years of stalemate, world leaders have agreed to protect 600,000 square miles in the Ross Sea. The final agreement is notable in that it was reached during a time of otherwise strained relations between Russia and the United States. (The Washington Post, 10.27.16)
• More than 1.1 million Chinese tourists are expected to visit Russia this year, about 16% more than 2015, according to figures from market-research firm Euromonitor. That puts Russia at No. 16 on the list of top destinations for Chinese tourists, behind the U.S. and France but ahead of the U.K. (Wall Street Journal, 10.31.16)

Ukraine:

• At least six people died in clashes between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, officials said Oct. 28. The separatists' news agency said at least two of their fighters were killed and another six wounded Oct. 27. (RFE/RL, 10.29.16)
• Moscow supports the idea of creating an armed OSCE police mission in eastern Ukraine but doubts such a force could be formed soon. (RFE/RL, 10.24.16)
• The European security organization tasked with monitoring deadly violence between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has lost its most effective surveillance tool in the conflict: long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. (Foreign Policy, 10.28.16)
• For the past year, activists in Ukraine, apparently operating without much interference from Ukrainian state officials, have repeatedly sabotaged power bridges that supply electricity to Crimea’s population of 2.6 million people. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s actions border on “crimes against humanity.” (The Moscow Times, 10.26.16)
• If Hillary Clinton is elected, which looks likely if current public opinion polls hold, it’s possible the job of overseeing U.S. ties with Ukraine could shift back to the State Department. (Foreign Policy, 10.30.16)
• Russia's Supreme Court has upheld lengthy sentences for two Ukrainian citizens convicted of fighting alongside Chechen separatists in the 1990s. In May, Chechnya's Supreme Court sentenced Mykola Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh to 22 and 20 years in prison, respectively. (RFE/RL, 10.26.16)
• The trial of a Kazakh citizen suspected of fighting alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine started in Kazakhstan on Oct. 24.(RFE/RL, 10.24.16)
• Artem Shevalev, Ukraine's former deputy finance minister and now its representative at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said the December timeframe for the next $1.3 billion IMF loan was "extremely ambitious and challenging." (Reuters, 10.25.16)
• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Oct. 28 made a final plea to parliament to support ratification of a European Union trade pact with Ukraine, warning a rejection could fuel geopolitical instability and send the wrong signal to Russia. (Wall Street Journal, 10.28.16)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• A large-scale air defense exercise is underway in seven former Soviet republics, the Russian Defense Ministry said Oct. 26. The command-and-control drills, spanning Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are coordinated from a control center near Moscow. A hundred aircraft and helicopters of the allied forces were scrambled this morning for interception drills. Russia’s long-range bombers played the part of an enemy target. They were intercepted and "destroyed," the ministry said. (Sputnik, 10.26.16)
• Moldova's presidential election will go to a second round, preliminary results showed early Oct. 31, after a pro-Russian socialist candidate fell short of winning sufficient support to achieve all-out victory. With 99.5 percent of votes counted, preliminary results showed candidate Igor Dodon, who wants to reverse Moldova's course toward European integration, had won 48.5 percent, and his main pro-European challenger, Maia Sandu, had 38.2 percent. (Reuters, 10.31.16)
• Georgia's ruling political party, Georgian Dream, has secured a constitutional majority in the second round of parliamentary elections held Oct. 30. The party garnered 115 of the 150 seats in Georgia's parliament, the Central Election Commission said Oct. 31. The United National Movement, founded by self-exiled former President Mikheil Saakashvili, won 27 seats, and the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia won six seats in parliament. (RFE/RL, 10.31.16)
• A gunman has been killed outside a NATO military training center near the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. (RFE/RL, 10.23.16)
• Eight alleged Islamic extremists went on trial behind closed doors Oct. 31 in Kazakhstan's central city of Karaganda. According to investigators, the group planned a series of terrorist attacks in the region, including one against a Russian military base near Lake Balkhash. (RFE/RL, 10.31.16)
• Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement to cooperate in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. (World Nuclear News, 10.26.16)
• “Everything you can see is ours,” said Scott Mi, a businessman from western China, whose Hualing Group Georgia has invested half a billion dollars to become Georgia’s biggest single private investor. The United States, while Georgia’s most important geopolitical patron, invested just $18.4 million in the country last year. (New York Times, 10.29.16)
• Authorities in Azerbaijan say security forces have killed two suspected "terrorists" in an operation conducted in "various regions of the republic." (RFE/RL, 10.28.16)
• A Baku court has sentenced pro-democracy activist Qiyas Ibrahimov to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking—a charge filed shortly after he spray-painted an antigovernment slogan on a monument to the country's former president. (RFE/RL, 10.28.16)

News items for this digest curated by Simon Saradzhyan, director of the Russia Matters Project.