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| Identifier | Subject | Date | Office | Classification | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04MOSCOW14726 |
RUSSIA-YEMEN: RESPONSE TO THERMOBARIC WEAPONS [...] (S) SUMMARY: On November 22 Igor Matveyev, of the MFA's Military and Technology Cooperation Division, provided a response to our demarche (reftels) requesting that the GOR not transfer thermobaric weapons to Yemen. Matveyev would not say whether the GOR had made a decision on the matter or i [...] |
2004-11-26 13:06:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | ETTC KSTC PARM PREL PTER YM RS |
| 04MOSCOW15782 |
FOLLOW-UP ON U.S.-RUSSIA MANPADS COOPERATION [...] (C) On December 21 we delivered ref A points and U.S. proposed final text for a U.S.-Russia agreement on MANPADS cooperation to Colonel Oleg Skabara of the MOD International Treaties Directorate and Oleg Burmistrov, Political Military Affairs officer of the MFA North America Department. Skaba [...] |
2004-12-27 15:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | MARR PARM PREL PTER NATO RS |
| 05MOSCOW11807 |
MORE RUSSIAN RESISTANCE TO DEMARCHE ON MILITARY [...] (S) Following up our earlier demarche (refs), Political Minister Counselor reiterated U.S. concerns regarding arms sales to Venezuela in a September 13 meeting with Anatoliy Antonov, MFA Director for Disarmament and Security Affairs. Focusing on MANPADS, Antonov replied that the Venezuelan governme [...] |
2005-09-14 15:13:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PGOV PTER PREL MASS VE RS |
| 05MOSCOW15735 |
KREMLIN AGGRESSIVELY SEEKS TO DISRUPT KASYANOV'S [...] (C) SUMMARY: Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, the only declared candidate for the 2008 presidential election, has faced a tough and thus far frustrating slog in his bid to unite the democratic opposition behind him. During several recent visits to the country's regions, Kasyanov has b [...] |
2005-12-30 09:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PINR RS |
| 05MOSCOW8915 |
RUSSIA UNCONCERNED ABOUT DEMOCRACY IN VENEZUELA [...] (C) SUMMARY: The GOR shares none of the concerns outlined in reftel regarding current political trends in Venezuela. Unless events in Caracas take a major turn for the worse, the GOR is unlikely to do anything that might jeopardize this incipient -- if still marginal -- relationship. END S [...] |
2005-07-21 06:38:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV VE RS |
| 06MOSCOW10013 |
RUSSIAN FEDERATION COUNCIL CHAIRMAN ON US, [...] (C) Summary: In advance of his trip to the US to commemorate 9/11, Russian Federation Council Chairman Sergey Mironov previewed with the Ambassador a fall legislative effort to amend the Law on Extremism. Mironov said the reaction to the announced merger of leftist political parties was en [...] |
2006-09-10 08:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW10227 |
BREAKFAST WITH ROGOZIN: TALES OF A KREMLIN PROJECT [...] (SBU) Summary: As the political season commences, the rise and fall of former Rodina Party Chairman Dmitry Rogozin is a cautionary tale for other politicians seeking poster-boy status in Kremlin electoral projects and a timely reminder of the ability of the Presidential Administration to int [...] |
2006-09-13 15:06:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW10230 |
RUSSIAN REACTION TO TORGAU '06 POSTPONEMENT [...] (C) SUMMARY: In response to U.S. insistence on extending Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) protection to personnel participating in this year's Torgau '06 bilateral military exercise, the GOR seized the initiative to postpone, but not cancel, the event and left the door open for continued bi [...] |
2006-09-14 07:46:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | MARR MCAP MOPS PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW10247 |
OPIC FINANCE: SDM BANK [...] No summary [...] |
2006-09-14 11:41:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON EFIN OPIC RS |
| 06MOSCOW10248 |
TOP OFFICIAL AT RUSSIAN CENTRAL BANK GUNNED DOWN [...] (C) The Central Bank of Russia's (CBR) First Deputy Chairman Andrei Kozlov was fatally shot on September 13. Kozlov was a key figure in the GOR's efforts to crack down on money laundering, insider trading, and other illegal banking activity. His death is most likely connected to his efforts [...] |
2006-09-14 12:20:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | KTFN EFIN ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW1025 |
MFA HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL ON REGULARIZING TIES, UN [...] (C) SUMMARY: In a January 18 meeting, A/S Lowenkron and Vladimir Parshikov, Director of the MFA Department of Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights, agreed to more frequent consultations. Lowenkron laid out the USG position on the UN Human Rights Council, and Parshikov responded that the [...] |
2006-02-01 14:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL KUNR PHUM RS |
| 06MOSCOW10285 |
RUSSIA PROTESTS JAMESTOWN CONFERENCE ON NORTH [...] (C) Acting MFA North Americas Department Director Aleksandr Khudin requested a meeting with PolCouns to express GOR concern over the September 14 Jamestown Foundation conference in Washington on "The Future of the North Caucasus." Noting that Jamestown conferences on the North Caucasus had b [...] |
2006-09-14 14:45:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM PTER PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW10289 |
RUSSIAN PUBLIC'S VIEWS ON POLICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS [...] SUMMARY: An overwhelming majority of the Russian public believes that human rights abuse by police is widespread according to recent polling data. The police, on the contrary, believe they are unfairly maligned, but recognize problems within the MVD. These and other findings presented on Se [...] |
2006-09-14 15:01:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PHUM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW10309 |
RUSSIAN MFA UNCLEAR ON TRANSNISTRIAN REFERENDUM [...] (C) Summary: In a meeting with Embassy three days before Transnistria's September 17 referendum, MFA Transnistrian negotiator Valeriy Nesterushkin provided no clarity on how Russia will treat the referendum result. While acknowledging that whatever the result, Transnistria would not be recog [...] |
2006-09-15 09:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL OSCE PBTS MD RS |
| 06MOSCOW10324 |
RUSSIAN COMMUNISTS PROTEST MILITARY COOPERATION [...] (SBU) Russia's Communist Party (KPRF) followed through September 14 on its promise to demonstrate against military cooperation with NATO and the U.S., including the now-postponed Torgau '06 exercise (reftel). According to media reports, demonstrations took place in Moscow, Saratov, Omsk, Yar [...] |
2006-09-15 13:19:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR MOPS PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW10370 |
ORTHODOX CLASSES NOW MANDATORY IN SOME RUSSIAN [...] (C) SUMMARY. Public schools in the Bryansk, Kaluga, Smolensk, and Belgorod regions have incorporated a mandatory Orthodox culture course into their curriculums. Eleven other regions are offering the subject as an elective. Supporters say the move is needed to counter the spiritual vacuum left [...] |
2006-09-18 07:06:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW10382 |
LAVROV'S MIDDLE EAST DIPLOMACY [...] (C) Summary: With FM Lavrov's September 7-9 trip to the Middle East, promotion of a "universal" peace process, experts' conference, renewed Syria track, and support for the Arab League ministerial session at UNGA, the GOR continues to seek "player" status in the region. Practically, GOR sup [...] |
2006-09-18 11:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM IS SY LE RS |
| 06MOSCOW1043 |
UZBEKS REFUSED ASYLUM IN RUSSIA [...] (C) The Russian Federal Migration Service has refused to grant asylum to 13 Uzbeks whom the Government of Uzbekistan wants extradited for alleged connections to the uprising in Andijon last May. The group's lawyer, at the urging of UNHCR, has appealed that decision to Russian courts and will [...] |
2006-02-02 14:10:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW10432 |
EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: FGUP [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a post-shipment verification to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end- user, Federal State Unitary Enterprise Research Institute for Co [...] |
2006-09-19 07:11:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW10434 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: STATE [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, State Research Institute of Aviation, Moscow, Russia. The company is [...] |
2006-09-19 07:11:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW10438 |
RUSSIA AND KOSOVO: THE POLITICS OF DELAY [...] (C) Summary: Russia will seek to delay the conclusion of the Kosovo status process beyond year's end, arguing that a negotiated settlement will be more enduring than one forced on Serbia. The GOR does not like UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari's draft status recommendations and might balk at agre [...] |
2006-09-19 12:31:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV KDEM UNMIK SR YI RS |
| 06MOSCOW10439 |
RUSSIAN SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY ON IRAN, FROZEN [...] (C) Summary: In a September 18 meeting, Russian Security Council Secretary Ivanov briefed on his September meetings in Spain with Iranian Security Council Secretary Larijani, UNSYG Annan, and former President Gonzales; raised concerns over mixed messages to Iran; and reiterated Russia's willi [...] |
2006-09-19 12:51:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ETTC PARM IR RS |
| 06MOSCOW10486 |
REFERENDUM RESULTS: PRICEY WRINKLE TO THE FIVE [...] (C) Foreign Minister Lavrov's short statement encapsulates GOR reaction to the referendum: the results were no surprise and the partners should return to the talks. MFA Transnistrian negotiator Valeriy Nesterushkin contended that the Transnistrians will most likely demand removal of the post [...] |
2006-09-19 15:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL OSCE PBTS MD RS |
| 06MOSCOW105 |
WIDENING PROBLEMS FOR RUSSIAN POLICY IN THE NORTH [...] (C) SUMMARY. The North Caucasus is a crucible in which the weakness of the Russian state and its ambivalence about how to overcome that weakness are compounded. In part thanks to its failed policy there, the challenge for Russia in the North Caucasus has changed over the last ten years. Jus [...] |
2006-01-11 15:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PHUM EAID PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW10502 |
THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE IN MOSCOW, PART ONE [...] (C) SUMMARY. This is part one of a two-part series on the typical experiences of immigrants in Moscow. The current cable describes the experiences of a partly disabled Chechen male who has lived on and off in Moscow for the past 20 years. The second cable relates the experiences of a Kazakh f [...] |
2006-09-20 12:35:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW10603 |
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MURDER OF RUSSIA'S #2 BANKER [...] (C) Summary. One week after the brutal murder of First Deputy Central Bank Chairman Andrey Kozlov, there have been no apparent breaks in the case, and few believe the perpetrators will ever be caught. In contrast to the cynicism surrounding the criminal investigation, a wide swath of the econo [...] |
2006-09-21 13:59:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EFIN ETTC ECON PTER PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW10605 |
KREMLIN UNHAPPINESS CAUSES MOSCOW'S "DOMASHNIY" [...] (C) Ekho Moskvy Editor-in-Chief Aleksey Venediktov confirmed to Embassy September 19 that a newly-minted television program hosted by him and telejournalist Svetlana Sorokina had been pulled from the air following a September 10 episode that the authorities had apparently found too controversi [...] |
2006-09-21 14:46:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW10606 |
AEROFLOT-BOEING DEAL: STILL ALIVE - FOR NOW [...] (C) Summary: A surprising "white knight" - billionaire Alexandr Lebedev, minority shareholder in Aeroflot - with $40 million from his own pocket has resuscitated the Boeing deal that as of September 15th, looked near demise. Lebedev's move might give the Kremlin a face-saving to allow the Boei [...] |
2006-09-21 15:24:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON PREL EAIR RS |
| 06MOSCOW10607 |
RUSSIA PREEMPTS SAAKASHVILI UNGA SPEECH: UNOMIG [...] (C) Summary: Convoking the Friends of Georgia on September 21, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Karasin expressed concern over the deteriorating status of Georgian-Abkhazian relations, passed draft language on an UNOMIG resolution that condemns -- sharply and at length -- GOG operations in t [...] |
2006-09-21 16:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV RS GG |
| 06MOSCOW10620 |
RUSSIA: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH ANATOLIY CHUBAYS [...] (C) Summary: In a September 19 meeting with the Ambassador, UES CEO Chubays was very upbeat about UES reform and the liberalization of electricity prices. He confidently predicted that strategic investors and IPOs in London and Moscow would raise the investment UES needs to meet its five y [...] |
2006-09-22 08:26:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | AF ECON ENRG IAEA KNNP PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW10665 |
THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE IN MOSCOW, PART TWO [...] (C) SUMMARY. This is part two of a two-part series on the typical experiences of immigrants in Moscow. The first cable described the experiences of a partly disabled Chechen male who has lived on and off in Moscow for the past 20 years. The current cable relates the experiences of a Kazakh fem [...] |
2006-09-22 13:27:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW10689 |
RUSSIA: PUBLIC CHAMBER MEMBER ON PRESS FREEDOM [...] (C) SUMMARY: Pavel Gusev, owner and editor-in-chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) and member of the Public Chamber, described a "media vertical" of direct government ownership and indirect corporate persuasion that has left the majority of Russians with a limited range of viewpoints and most o [...] |
2006-09-22 13:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PINR PHUM RS |
| 06MOSCOW10692 |
ODIHR DIRECTOR STROHAL'S VISIT: OSCE "REFORM" AND [...] (C) Summary: During a September 19 meeting with OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Director Strohal, DFM Grushko emphasized once again Russia's desire for OSCE "reform." However, ODIHR's harshest critic had much softened his tone, according to Strohal, while sti [...] |
2006-09-22 15:09:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV OSCE RS |
| 06MOSCOW10704 |
HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN LUKIN ON NGO [...] (C) In a September 22 meeting with the Ambassador, Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin endorsed moving forward on the proposed U.S.-Russian roundtable on democracy and human rights, and said he was prepared to discuss modalities when in Washington October 10-12. Lukin offered to intercede on [...] |
2006-09-25 09:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW10719 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: (A) VNESH OPT [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, (A) Vnesh Opt Torg and (B) FSUE Scientific and Tech. Atlas, Moscow, [...] |
2006-09-25 10:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW10720 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: VF COMPANY, [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Vtoroy Front Company (VF Company), Moscow, Russia. The company is li [...] |
2006-09-25 10:57:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW10777 |
RUSSIAN ENERGY:CASPIAN PIPELINE CONSORTIUM UPDATE [...] (C) Summary. This fall the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) faces both its long-awaited expansion decision and a serious tax case being brought against the CPC's Russian (CPC-R) operations. Expansion will once again be on the agenda of the September 27-28 shareholders meeting, where western [...] |
2006-09-26 04:04:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW1083 |
RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER BORIS NEMTSOV REJOINS [...] (C) SUMMARY: Boris Nemtsov, erstwhile co-leader of the Union of Right Forces (SPS), will head an SPS committee charged with forging a permanent alliance among democratic opposition forces. News of the appointment came January 28, just a day before GOR officials charged Nemtsov's former busi [...] |
2006-02-03 13:13:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM ECON PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW10839 |
RUSSIA REMAINS OPPOSED TO SECURITY COUNCIL ACTION [...] (C) We shared reftel points September 25 with Vladimir Safronkov, Chief of the UN Political Affairs Section in the MFA's IO Department, asking that Russia work with other Security Council members to form a consensus on the need for the Burmese regime to undertake democratic reforms. Safronkov [...] |
2006-09-26 14:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM UNSC BM RS |
| 06MOSCOW10842 |
GOR ENFORCES NGO REGISTRATION DEADLINE [...] (C) Russian Federal Registration Service officials have clarified that foreign NGOs that have not been re-registered by October 18 will have to stop their external activities, but will be able to continue "internal operations." NGOs are hurrying to submit their paperwork, but according to reg [...] |
2006-09-27 05:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM EAID PREF KDEM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW10855 |
RUSSIAN STOCK MARKET REPORT 2006 [...] Since its consolidation in 1996, the Russian stock market has experienced growth that has led emerging markets and rivaled developed markets. Capitalization was close to USD 1 trillion by the end of August, compared to USD 346 billion at the end of August 2005, and USD 177 billion at the end [...] |
2006-09-27 08:34:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | EFIN ECON EINV RS |
| 06MOSCOW10861 |
RUSSIA'S "DEMOCRATS" IN DISARRAY [...] (C) Summary: Russia's "democrats" remain in near-terminal disarray. Personality disputes, disagreements over accommodating with the Kremlin, differences over the viability of political activity, and difficulties in political party registration undercut efforts aimed at uniting in advance o [...] |
2006-09-27 11:16:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW1088 |
RCFS DIRECTOR CONVICTED, PUT ON PROBATION [...] (SBU) A Russian court on February 3 convicted Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) Executive Director Stanislav Dmitriyevskiy of inciting national hatred, as had been widely expected. The Nizhniy Novgorod court gave Dmitriyevskiy a two-year suspended sentence and placed him on probation [...] |
2006-02-03 13:40:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PGOV PREL PREF RS |
| 06MOSCOW10982 |
RUSSIA SUPPORTS ONE YEAR EXTENSION OF SUDAN PANEL [...] No summary [...] |
2006-09-28 14:11:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV UNSC SU RS |
| 06MOSCOW10984 |
RUSSIAN ENERGY: PSAS -- THE VIEW FROM SAKHALIN AND [...] (C) Summary. From discussions in Moscow and Sakhalin this week, Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) may be out of favor, but they are far from being driven out of business. Shell (Sakhalin-2) appears to have dodged the bullet of having its environmental license revoked, but still faces tough [...] |
2006-09-28 14:34:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW10985 |
AMBASSADOR'S SEPTEMBER 27 MEETING WITH RUSSIAN [...] (C) In a September 27 meeting with the Ambassador, Russian Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin gave few details on debt relief for Afghanistan, but noted he hoped to conclude a bilateral agreement by February 2007. On Iraq, Kudrin said resolving the Qurna-2 license issue was important but not a [...] |
2006-09-28 14:45:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EFIN ETRD PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW10986 |
"NOT WAR, BUT CLOSE:" RUSSIAN REACTION TO GEORGIA [...] (C) Summary: DFM Karasin told Ambassador September 28 the arrest of Russian officers in Georgia "could have been a casus belli." Russian reaction "will be more reasonable." Russia "has the impression that it cannot rely on its American partners." Karasin asked for U.S. help in freeing the o [...] |
2006-09-28 15:11:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR NATO GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW10990 |
NATO SOFA RATIFICATION: VERDICT STILL OUT [...] (C) SUMMARY: According to the Foreign Ministry, the Russian Government is completing its review of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) -- which was signed last year -- and expects to send it to the Duma "within weeks." The MFA assured us that all GOR entities, including the Ministry o [...] |
2006-09-29 07:22:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | MARR MOPS PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW11002 |
RUSSIA: CENTER-REGIONAL RELATIONS UNDER STRESS [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. Federal-local relations in Russia are under increasing stress due to the implementation of the Local Self-Government Law of 2003. This law cuts the flow of tax dollars to regional and local government in order to spur the localities to become entrepreneurial in developing their [...] |
2006-09-29 11:41:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PINR PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11024 |
INITIAL REACTION TO 2006 IRF REPORT [...] (U) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Mikhail Kaminin told reporters that the 2006 International Religious Freedom Report amounted to a repetition of groundless claims that there are restrictions on religious freedom in Russia. He said that U.S. officials had repeatedly ignored GOR explan [...] |
2006-09-29 14:00:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW11029 |
RUSSIAN REACTS TO ARRESTS OF SOLDIERS IN GEORGIA [...] (C) Summary: The Ambassador strongly encouraged restraint in a September 29 telephone conversation with Deputy Foreign Minister Karasin. Karasin responded that he appreciated U.S. responsiveness and welcomed Tbilisi's decision to permit joint patrolling of the Kodori Gorge. The MFA confir [...] |
2006-09-29 15:38:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR NATO GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11032 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Technoservicepribor, Moscow, Russia. The company is listed on BIS li [...] |
2006-10-02 08:31:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW11079 |
CPC AND SHTOKMAN: SOME RESIGNATION, SPRINKLED WITH [...] (C) SUMMARY. On September 28, Ambassador met with Chevron's VP for Business Development Jay Pryor and the company's Russia chief, Ian MacDonald. On Shtokman, Chevron believes it has little chance of affecting the outcome of the now-politicized deal, but noted that market realities (missing t [...] |
2006-10-03 07:18:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11107 |
RUSSIAN SANCTIONS ON GEORGIA TO STAY FOR NOW [...] (C) Following President Putin's October 1 comments that Georgia's arrest of Russian officers was an act of "state terrorism," new measures targeting Georgia are being enacted. As of October 3, flights between Georgia and Russia have been halted for "recertification." Ferry service between So [...] |
2006-10-03 13:57:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PINR ETRD GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11137 |
UNITED RUSSIA SEEKS MAJORITY IN OCTOBER 8 [...] (C) A September 28 - 29 visit to Chuvashiya in the run-up to the October 8 State Council elections found: -- five of the Republic's twenty-two parties on the ballot, with a sixth --the Party of Pensioners-- denied registration, and joining the Party of Life in supporting Rodina's quest to cr [...] |
2006-10-04 12:44:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW11169 |
POSSIBLE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST [...] (C) Summary: DFM Alekseyev told the Ambassador October 4 that Russia recognized the seriousness of the situation following the DPRK's announcement and understood U.S. concerns. Alekseyev urged that the Security Council move deliberately to craft a response, but was lukewarm about a potenti [...] |
2006-10-04 14:22:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM KNNP KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW11172 |
UNITED RUSSIA IGNORES THE PARTY OF LIFE IN LIPETSK [...] (SBU) Lipetsk oblast and city are tightly controlled by United Russia Governor Oleg Korolyev. Oblast regional elections will be held on October 8 and it is widely believed in Lipetsk that YR will win a decisive majority. While the Communist Party (KPRF) continues to have loyal followers, it ap [...] |
2006-10-04 15:32:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW11241 |
YOUR MOSCOW VISIT FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIA [...] (C) We welcome your visit to Moscow as a chance to engage the GOR face-to-face on sensitive regional issues and begin to chip away at Moscow's misconceptions about U.S. intentions in the region. It is a commonplace assumption that Moscow's policies in Central and South Asia are fueled by a [...] |
2006-10-06 07:01:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ENRG PTER SNAR RS |
| 06MOSCOW11252 |
RUSSIA: DAS KRAMER MEETINGS ON NGOS AND HUMAN [...] (C) Summary: EUR DAS David Kramer reinforced US concerns over NGO re-registration and encouraged Human Rights Ombudsman Lukin to finalize details of an "unofficial" human rights/democracy dialogue. Both Lukin and Public Chamber member Nikonov acknowledged bureaucratic difficulties and endo [...] |
2006-10-06 07:26:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW11256 |
RUSSIA: E/CBA FRANK MERMOUD'S ENERGY DISCUSSIONS [...] (C) Summary: During his September 18-21 visit to Moscow, E/CBA Frank Mermoud's GOR and private sector interlocutors described continued GOR debate on new subsoil and strategic sectors legislation, growing displeasure with Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) coupled with assurances that existi [...] |
2006-10-06 09:55:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11260 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: CHANCE [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Chance 2003 LLC, Kostroma, Russia. The company is listed on BIS lice [...] |
2006-10-06 11:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW11261 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: TETIS PRO, [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Tetis Pro, Moscow, Russia. The company is listed on BIS license appl [...] |
2006-10-06 11:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW11262 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Elektroneftemash, Moscow, Russia. The company is listed on BIS licen [...] |
2006-10-06 11:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW11264 |
EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a post-shipment verification to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end- user, Federalnaya Sluzhba Ohrany, Moscow, Russia. The company wa [...] |
2006-10-06 11:40:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW11266 |
KREMLIN HUMAN RIGHTS CHAIRWOMAN PROMISES NO [...] (C) Chairwoman of the Presidential Administration Council for Civil Society and Human Rights Ella Pamfilova emphatically assured Ambassador October 5 that "nothing would happen" to curtail the activities of NGOs not re-registered by the October 18 deadline. Pamfilova's office was monitoring t [...] |
2006-10-06 11:52:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW11275 |
RUSSIA: NGO REGISTRATION UPDATE; DEADLINE [...] (C) Summary: In an October 5 conversation with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yakovenko, the Ambassador urged the GOR to extend an October 18 deadline for the re-registration of foreign NGOs and underscored the damage that would result from a suspension in their external programs. Yakovenko [...] |
2006-10-06 14:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PGOV PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11276 |
UNITED RUSSIA AIMS TO WIN BY A WIDE MARGIN IN TUVA [...] (SBU) Embassy visited the Republic of Tuva October 1-5, in advance of the October 8 regional election. Tuva is tightly controlled by Regional Head Sherig-Ool Oorzhak, who became a member of United Russia (YR) eight months ago, and it is widely believed that YR will win a decisive majority, wit [...] |
2006-10-06 14:41:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW11279 |
THE OCTOBER 8 REGIONAL ELECTIONS AS A PROVING [...] (C) The October 8 elections are being viewed by commentators here as a rehearsal for the 2007 State Duma elections (which some see as a rehearsal for the 2008 presidential contest). Viewed from that vantage point, the contests, in nine regions and republics of Russia, should offer the Kremlin [...] |
2006-10-06 15:05:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW11280 |
PREPARING THE GROUND FOR UNSC ACTION ON DPRK [...] (S) Summary: DFM Alekseyev told the Ambassador October 6 that Russia found a DPRK nuclear test to be "absolutely unacceptable" and stressed that the North Korean regime had received this message from Russia in clear and unmistakable terms. Responding to the Ambassador's urging that Russia [...] |
2006-10-06 15:08:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PREL PARM KNNP UNSC KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW11310 |
MANAGED DEMOCRACY IN ACTION: ASTRAKHAN REGIONAL [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: In advance of October 8 regional elections, we visited Astrakhan Oblast and found: -- The Kremlin-backed United Russia party in the lead and expecting to gain a majority in the regional Duma; -- A popular United Russia governor who touts his ability to use his contacts in th [...] |
2006-10-06 16:31:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV KDEM PHUM RS |
| 06MOSCOW11313 |
RUSSIA: DEMARCHE ON MURDER OF POLITKOVSKAYA [...] (C) In an October 9 conversation with First Deputy Foreign Minister Denisov, the Ambassador delivered reftel demarche, underscoring deep U.S. concern over the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, referring also to Department and White House public statements, and stressing the need for a [...] |
2006-10-09 10:38:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW11315 |
RUSSIA-GEORGIA: NO LET-UP [...] (S) Russian officials continue to reject relaxation of economic sanctions. About 150 Georgians have been deported. Police document checks have intensified. Georgians here on work permits are seeking other citizenship. However, official actions in Moscow hit ethnic Georgian Russian citizens [...] |
2006-10-09 10:54:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PREL MARR ETRD UNSC GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11316 |
POLITKOVSKAYA’S DEATH SENDS SHOCK WAVES THROUGH [...] (C) The October 7 murder of internationally-known investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya has sent shock waves through Moscow. A public demonstration has been held, the co-owner of Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper where Politkovksaya had worked since 1999, is offering a 25 million ruble reward for [...] |
2006-10-09 11:14:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11317 |
MOSCOW'S REACTION TO THE DPRK NUCLEAR TEST [...] (S) The Ambassador met twice with Deputy Foreign Minister Alekseyev on October 9 to discuss North Korea's nuclear test and next steps. Alekseyev said that Russia takes extremely seriously the test and Russia agrees that strong measures are warranted. Alekseyev handed over a statement (text b [...] |
2006-10-09 11:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PREL PARM KNNP UNSC KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW11371 |
RUSSIAN ENERGY: RUSSIANS RETHINK SHTOKMAN [...] (C) Summary. Gazprom's October 8 decision to reject foreign equity participation in the giant Shtokman gas and LNG project in the Barents Sea, in favor of developing the field itself, reflects a growing trend towards energy nationalism, and genuine concern about maintaining control of such a [...] |
2006-10-10 15:01:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11372 |
RUSSIA-ABKHAZIA: SEEKING A DEAL AT THE UNSC [...] (C) DFM Karasin convoked Ambassador October 10. He hoped for "a more constructive and flexible" U.S. approach to the Russian draft UNSCR on UNOMIG mandate renewal and said the Europeans are willing to be flexible. If the resolution included a "blunt message" to Tbilisi on its Kodori operatio [...] |
2006-10-10 15:08:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR UNSC GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11388 |
ELECTION LAW REQUIREMENTS FOR PROSPECTIVE DUMA [...] (U) This message reviews the electoral procedures in place for participating in the 2007 elections to the Duma. There have been no amendments to the electoral law since the Duma eliminated the "against all candidates" ballot option before the summer break. In order to be elected a Duma Deputy, [...] |
2006-10-11 13:05:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW11413 |
REGIONAL ELECTION RESULTS: UNITED RUSSIA WINS AS [...] (SBU) As expected, the Kremlin's United Russia received a plurality or majority of votes cast in the elections for nine regional legislatures on October 8. Other key findings: -- the experiment with managed, two-party democracy seems to have succeeded from the perspective of the Presidential [...] |
2006-10-11 14:52:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW11488 |
DPRK NUCLEAR TEST RESOLUTION: DEMARCHE DELIVERED [...] (C) We delivered reftel demarche October 12 to MFA First Asia Department Senior Counselor Oleg Davydov, who advises DFM Alekseyev on North Korean issues. Davydov said that his superiors will "mull" over the draft resolution to assess what had been changed from earlier drafts and the Russian [...] |
2006-10-12 14:08:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM MNUC KNNP UNSC KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW11489 |
RUSSIA-GEORGIA: BACKLASH AGAINST THE BACKLASH? [...] (C) Summary: The Public Chamber has condemned bureaucratic moves that have targeted ethnic Georgians, but few elected officials have followed suit. Deportations have temporarily slowed, but arrests of Georgians who are accused of not having legal status in Russia continue. There is anecdo [...] |
2006-10-12 14:49:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11490 |
PUTIN REACTS TO POLITKOVSKAYA ASSASSINATION [...] (C) President Putin, three days after the murder of outspoken investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, issued his definitive public statement that everything would be done to find the killers and bring them to trial. Russia's Prosecutor General, in fact, has already assumed charge of the [...] |
2006-10-12 16:18:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11533 |
THIRD CONTRACT KILLING EVOKES MEMORIES OF 1990'S [...] (C) Summary. Vneshtorgbank banker Alexander Plokhin was gunned down October 11 in an apparent contract killing, the third in Moscow in a month. Foreign investors are growing increasingly concerned by the perception of lawlessness in the streets of Moscow, although local business leaders are ta [...] |
2006-10-13 12:50:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EFIN ETTC PREL PTER RS |
| 06MOSCOW11539 |
RUSSIA-GEORGIA UPDATE [...] (C) Summary: Arrests and deportations of Georgians accused of violating immigrations laws continue, but no new measures have been enacted against Georgia or against ethnic Georgians living in Russia. No reliable numbers are available for the number of Georgians found not to have legal stat [...] |
2006-10-13 14:46:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM PREF GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11540 |
RUSSIAN-CHECHEN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY ORDERED CLOSED [...] (U) A Nizhniy Novgorod court on October 13 ordered the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS) to be closed. According to press reports, the court found that the organization violated the NGO law. Specifically, it ruled that RCFS had allowed its Executive Director Stanislav Dmitrievskiy to [...] |
2006-10-13 14:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PGOV PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11582 |
GEORGIA UPDATE: OCTOBER 16 [...] (C) Deportations of undocumented Georgian nationals continue. Round-ups have slowed in Moscow, but picked up in St. Petersburg. Russian and Georgian officials continue to trade insults and veiled threats. Harassment of ethnic Georgians may have peaked thanks to a backlash from Russians of m [...] |
2006-10-16 15:36:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PREL MARR ETRD PREF GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11584 |
INFORMATION REGARDING UNSCR 1718: DEMARCHE [...] (C) We delivered reftel demarche October 16 to MFA First Asia Department Senior Counselor Arkadiy Lavrov, who advises DFM Alekseyev on North Korean issues. (Note: Alekseyev is currently in South Korea, accompanying PM Fradkov and will not return to Moscow before October 23). Pointing to Rus [...] |
2006-10-16 15:57:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM MNUC KNNP UNSC KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW11629 |
GEORGIA UPDATE, OCTOBER 17 [...] (C) A Georgian detainee from St. Petersburg died of an asthma attack as he waited at a Moscow airport to board the plane deporting him to Georgia. This was the third plane to deport Georgians, bringing the number of deported to over 400. Some 300 more Georgians have received deportation or [...] |
2006-10-17 14:16:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR PREF GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11631 |
RODINA: SATISFIED BUT SUING [...] (SBU) Rodina had a poor showing in the October 8 regional elections; it crossed the 7 percent threshold for representation in only one region: Astrakhan. Nevertheless, Deputy Chair of Rodina's Executive Committee Maksim Puchkov in an October 12 conversation found cause for optimism in the vo [...] |
2006-10-17 14:42:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV KDEM PHUM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW11632 |
YABLOKO AT A LOSS AFTER OCTOBER 8 ELECTIONS [...] (C) In an October 11 meeting, Yabloko Deputy Chairman Sergey Mitrokhin and Political Department Head Galina Mikhaleva said the party is facing an existential crisis following the poor results of the October 8 elections, where the party polled in the two percent range. Mitrokhin charged red ta [...] |
2006-10-17 14:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11637 |
NGO RE-REGISTRATION STATE-OF-PLAY AS OF OCTOBER 17 [...] (U) With the October 18 NGO re-registration deadline looming, the Federal Registration Service reports that: -- 80 NGOs have been re-registered, 42 of them U.S. NGOs; -- 70 re-registration applications are pending; -- only three NGOs have to date been denied re-registration. One of them, a T [...] |
2006-10-17 14:59:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM KDEM PREL PREF RS |
| 06MOSCOW11652 |
PSYCHIATRY ABUSED FOR COMMERCIAL ENDS [...] (C) Anecdotal evidence suggests that psychiatry is increasingly being used as a tool, especially in more "sophisticated" urban areas like Moscow, in the resolution of family squabbles or business disputes. The interpretation of a 2001 law on legal expertise activities allegedly has been used [...] |
2006-10-18 10:04:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM KDEM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW11686 |
STRATEGIC SECTORS LAW SUBMITTED TO GOVERNMENT [...] (C) Summary. The Ministry of Industry and Energy (MIE) on October 13 submitted the draft law on Foreign Investment in the Strategic Sectors for government review. Contrary to press reports that the new draft reduces the number of strategic sectors that would be regulated by the new legislation [...] |
2006-10-18 13:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EIND ENRG PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11689 |
DEADLINE FOR FOREIGN NGO RE-REGISTRATION [...] (C) SUMMARY: Federal Registration Service officials suggested October 18 that they expect all foreign NGOs that have applied for re-registration to be approved as the deadline for applications passed. According to the latest FRS statistics, 91 NGOs have been re-registered, and 79 others hav [...] |
2006-10-18 14:14:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM PREF KDEM EAID RS |
| 06MOSCOW11690 |
GEORGIA UPDATE: OCTOBER 18 [...] (C) Deportation orders against Georgian continue; the Georgian Embassy claims about 1000 Georgians have been told to leave without being detained. Georgians are expected to take Russian citizenship in greater numbers as a protective move. Georgian restaurants are reopening. The official mood [...] |
2006-10-18 14:36:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR PREF GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11695 |
ELECTORAL COMMISSION CHAIRMAN ON ELECTIONS [...] (C) Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov reviewed the October 8 regional elections, recent developments in electoral technology, prospects for the 2007 regional and national (Duma) elections, and possible further amendments to the election law in a meeting with Embas [...] |
2006-10-19 06:13:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW11698 |
MOSCOW EXPERTS ON DPRK NUCLEAR TEST [...] (C) Summary. Despite the GOR's strongly negative reaction to the reported nuclear test and its cooperation on UNSC 1718, Moscow's Korea watchers were for the large part critical of U.S. policies, arguing that the impasse over the DPRK program could have been avoided had the U.S. acted differ [...] |
2006-10-19 06:40:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM MNUC KNNP UNSC KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW1171 |
RUSSIA COMFORTABLE WITH STATUS QUO IN BELARUS [...] (C) Summary: The MFA's official stance on Belarus seems to have shifted from resigned noninterference to passive support for Lukashenko and the status quo. However, Russian activists and leaders of the Belarusian opposition based in Moscow have not given up hope that determined resistance wi [...] |
2006-02-08 08:53:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PINR BO RS |
| 06MOSCOW11729 |
RUSSIA-GEORGIA: DAS BRYZA CONVERSATION WITH [...] (C) DAS Matt Bryza and Ambassador called on Russian DFM Grigoriy Karasin October 6. Karasin said Russian patience with Georgia was at an end, and catalogued Russian views of the worsening relations, culminating with the arrest of Russian soldiers immediately after NATO offered Georgia Intensi [...] |
2006-10-19 09:57:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR PHUM PREF GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11765 |
OCT 18 MEETING WITH KREMLIN ECONOMIST DVORKOVICH [...] (C) SUMMARY. In a wide ranging discussion with Economic Minister-Counselor October 18, Arkadiy Dvorkovich, Head of the Experts Group of the Russian Presidential Administration exuded quiet confidence about the difficult path of economic reform in Russia. He cited recent positive movement acro [...] |
2006-10-19 13:00:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON ENRG ETRD KIPR |
| 06MOSCOW11771 |
GEORGIA UPDATE, OCTOBER 19 [...] (C) News of detention of Georgians continues to appear, with the Volga Federal District the latest site. The Georgian Embassy claims that educational institutions are still being used in some areas to locate undocumented Georgians, though a Moscow official denies this ever happened inside th [...] |
2006-10-19 14:13:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR PREF GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW11773 |
A/S BOUCHER HEARS RUSSIAN WORRIES ABOUT AFGHANISTAN [...] (C) Summary: During October 9 consultations in Moscow, A/S Boucher outlined U.S. intentions in Central Asia, stressed steps we were taking to address terrorism and narcotics trafficking in Afghanistan, and reviewed U.S. nuclear policies in South Asia. Foreign Ministry officials and the Rus [...] |
2006-10-19 15:05:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER SNAR ENRG XD ZK RS |
| 06MOSCOW11775 |
RUSSIA IPR: OUTSPOKEN LIBERAL LEGISLATOR ON CIVIL [...] (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified. Not intended for Internet distribution. 2. (SBU) Summary. Federation Council Senator Ludmila Narusova shares our sense that the Duma will likely pass a flawed Part IV of the Civil Code this fall. She intends to speak to Putin about her co [...] |
2006-10-20 05:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON ETRD KIPR RS |
| 06MOSCOW11778 |
MIGRATION SERVICE DIRECTOR ROMODANOVSKIY ON NORTH [...] (C) SUMMARY: Federal Migration Service Director Konstantin Romodanovskiy told PRM/Admissions Director Terry Rusch October 6 that Russia would consider resettlement of North Koreans to the U.S. on a case-by-case basis, repeating what other GOR interlocutors have told us previously. Separately, [...] |
2006-10-20 06:44:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11821 |
DELIVERY OF JOSEPH-KISLYAK LETTER [...] (SBU) We delivered reftel letter to Sergey Petlyakov, Chief Counselor in the Arms and Technology Transfer Policy Division of the Foreign Ministry's Department for Security Affairs and Disarmament (DVBR) on October 19. 2. (S) Petlyakov said he would ensure Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ki [...] |
2006-10-20 14:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PARM PREL MCAP KNNP LY RS |
| 06MOSCOW11830 |
SCENESETTER: TREASURY U/S LEVEY'S VISIT TO MOSCOW [...] (C) On behalf of the U.S. Mission in Russia, we extend a warm welcome to you and your delegation. Your visit offers an opportunity to continue your discussions with the Russians on combating terrorism financing as well as our grave concerns about Iran's and North Korea's activity in this rega [...] |
2006-10-20 14:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON KTFN EFIN PTER OTRA OVIP RS |
| 06MOSCOW11831 |
NGO RE-REGISTRATION UPDATE: NDI, IRI APPROVED [...] (U) The Federal Registration Service (FRS) informed NDI and IRI on October 20 that they had been re-registered. IRI has already been added to the list of approved organizations on the FRS website. Both were told to pick up their documents on October 23. Amid heightened international and Ru [...] |
2006-10-20 15:01:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM EAID KDEM PREF RS |
| 06MOSCOW11833 |
RUSSIAN RESPONSE TO ATGM TRANSFER TO SYRIA [...] (S) SUMMARY: Russia's investigation into the transfer of anti-tank guided missiles to Syria has confirmed that some Russian-made weapons had been funneled to Hizballah. As a result, the head of the Tula design bureau responsible for the transfer has been fired, and the Foreign Ministry has [...] |
2006-10-20 15:23:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PREL PARM ETTC RS SY IS |
| 06MOSCOW11834 |
HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN GIVEN ADDITIONAL POWERS [...] (SBU) Summary. On October 16, President Putin signed into law amendments to the Federal Constitutional Law on the Human Rights Commission, which considerably broaden the Human Rights Ombudsman Office's powers. The new legislation gives the Ombudsman the right to propose parliamentary probes in [...] |
2006-10-20 15:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11890 |
OCTOBER 23 NGO RE-REGISTRATION UPDATE [...] (SBU) We continue to receive positive reports on the re-registration of foreign NGOs. Of the 29 NGOs that USAID is tracking, another three have been registered by the Federal Registration Service (FRS) since October 20, bringing the total re-registered to eleven. Of the remaining eighteen, s [...] |
2006-10-23 14:12:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PHUM EAID KDEM PREF RS |
| 06MOSCOW11931 |
S/CT URBANCIC DISCUSSES CHECHNYA WITH DEPUTY [...] (C) Summary: Russia's Deputy Presidential Representative to the Southern Federal District briefed Deputy S/CT Urbancic on Chechnya, placing it solely in the category of a terrorist conflict. Recognizing that mistakes were made by the GOR, he noted the importance of economic opportunity and [...] |
2006-10-24 14:31:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW11938 |
INVITATION ACCEPTED: THE NEW DELHI NOVEMBER 18-19 [...] No summary [...] |
2006-10-25 05:53:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON ENRG ETRD EAGR KPWR EAID BEXP PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW11987 |
EUR A/S FRIED MEETS RUSSIAN HUMAN RIGHTS [...] (C) Summary: In his October 21 meeting with EUR A/S Fried, Russia's Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin urged presidential endorsement of the unofficial human rights dialogue initiative organized by his office and the Moscow Carnegie Center, against a backdrop of public disenchantment wit [...] |
2006-10-25 13:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW11988 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: MOSCOW [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Moscow Institute of Radio-Technique Electronics and Automation (MIRE [...] |
2006-10-25 14:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW11989 |
IN ANNUAL Q&A, PUTIN EXCLUDES THIRD TERM, WORRIES [...] (SBU) On October 25, President Putin hosted his annual "direct line to the President," during which he answered questions from Russia's regions and from Russian speakers abroad (Sevastopol, Ukraine). This year's "direct line" lasted 2 hours and 54 minutes, outstripping last year's by one minu [...] |
2006-10-25 14:16:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PGOV KDEM SOCI PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW11994 |
A/S FRIED'S MEETING WITH U.S. NGOS [...] (C) SUMMARY: Representatives of four U.S-based NGOs told EUR A/S Fried that they were trying to keep a low profile in light of the NGO law, approaching elections, and increasing GOR assertiveness, especially statist, in key economic sectors. Although NGOs were under increasing scrutiny and [...] |
2006-10-26 07:49:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM EINV KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12000 |
DRAFT MOSCOW LEGISLATION MAY LIMIT "RELIGIOUS [...] (SBU) Summary. The Moscow City Duma is considering a quality-of-life bill which, if adopted in its present form, would allow authorities to fine those engaged in many forms of street solicitation, including "religious agitation." Some religious organizations here worry that if passed as curren [...] |
2006-10-26 11:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12029 |
PRESERVING LEBANESE PM SINIORA'S GOVERNMENT: [...] (S) We delivered reftel demarche October 25 to MFA Middle East and North Africa Department Senior Counselor Vladimir Baibakov. Baibakov provided the following points: -- the GOR was aware of the concern over the SARG's attempt to undermine the Siniora government; -- Russia sees Siniora a [...] |
2006-10-27 05:49:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PREL PGOV PTER KDEM MOPS RS |
| 06MOSCOW12035 |
OLMERT VISIT: AUSPICIOUS START [...] (C) Summary. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert's first working visit to Moscow as prime minister coincided with the 15th anniversary of Israel-Russia renewed diplomatic ties. The issues discussed in Olmert's three meetings--with President Putin, FM Lavrov and Defense Minister Ivanov--included the Middl [...] |
2006-10-27 10:45:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PREL PGOV PINR IS RS |
| 06MOSCOW12036 |
TRANSNISTRIA: WHY IS VALERIY NESTERUSHKIN SMILING? [...] (C) Russian diplomacy has become more active with Moldova since Putin and Voronin met August 8. The rise of Yanukovich in Ukraine has helped Russia exert leverage over Moldova, helping to roll back the agreement between Moldova and Ukraine on customs that so irritated the Transnistrians. Russ [...] |
2006-10-27 11:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR ETRD MD RS |
| 06MOSCOW12042 |
FORMER RUSSIAN PM KASYANOV: OPPOSITION WOES, [...] (C) In a recent one-on-one lunch with Ambassador, a confident ex-prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov cited reasons to be optimistic about his presidential prospects: -- the business community's alleged latent support for his economic reform agenda; -- the weakness of current contenders Medve [...] |
2006-10-27 11:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PINR SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW1212 |
PUBLIC CHAMBER HEAD VELIKHOV DESCRIBES EFFORTS TO [...] SUMMARY. In a February 6 meeting with the Ambassador, Public Chamber Secretary Yevgeniy Velikhov expressed hope that the Chamber could positively influence the implementing regulations for the controversial NGO legislation. He dismissed recent spying accusations against NGOs as nonsense. He [...] |
2006-02-08 12:35:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12139 |
GOR DOWNPLAYS PROSPECT OF VIOLENCE IN BISHKEK [...] (C) In an October 31 meeting, Maksim Peshkov, Director, First CIS Department (Central Asia), attributed Kyrgyzstan's current turmoil to the failure of the Bakiyev-Kulov "tandem" to achieve political and economic stability. He said that Bakiyev, representing the South, and Kulov, the North, co [...] |
2006-10-31 14:22:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV KG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12143 |
NINETEEN PARTIES REGISTERED FOR 2007 ELECTIONS; [...] (C) The Federal Registration Service (FRS) has completed its inspection of the 35 political parties that filed for re-registration according to the new, more stringent requirements of the amended electoral law. A FRS representative at an October 26 press conference reported that sixteen of th [...] |
2006-11-01 07:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW12158 |
RUSSIA IPR: AMBASSADOR'S 10/31 MEETING ON CIVIL [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: In an October 31 meeting with Presidential Advisor Veniamin Yakovlev and Duma Legislative Committee Chairman Pavel Krasheninnikov, Ambassador outlined top USG concerns regarding draft Part IV of the Civil Code on IPR and strongly urged action now to correct serious inconsistencie [...] |
2006-11-01 10:52:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | KIPR ETRD WTO RS |
| 06MOSCOW12159 |
CHECHEN PRESIDENCY: KADYROV SAYS HE HAS PUTIN'S [...] (C) Ramzan Kadyrov said privately that Putin has told him he will name Kadyrov President of Chechnya before the end of the year. Dagestani Duma Member Gadzhi Makhachev (protect) told us November 1 that Kadyrov revealed this to him in a conversation at Kadyrov's Bayram ('Id al-Fitr) party in G [...] |
2006-11-01 11:27:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER MARR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12161 |
DOT DEPUTY SECRETARY CINO'S MEETING WITH RUSSIAN [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. In a October 24 meeting with Deputy Secretary Cino, Russian Railroads (RZhD) Vice President Vadim SIPDIS Morozov discussed on-going RZhD restructuring efforts and competition in the rail sector. Morozov said GE's diesel engines had been found incompatible with Russia's mostl [...] |
2006-11-01 11:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON ELTN OVIP PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12168 |
RUSSIA: LEFT-OF-CENTER PARTY MERGER FINALIZED [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: On October 28, the new Spravedlivaya Rossiya ("A Just Russia") party was formally established in a merger of the Russian Party of Life, Rodina, and the Party of Pensioners. The leader of the new party is Federation Council Chairman and Russia Party of Life Chairman Sergey Miron [...] |
2006-11-01 13:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PINR KDEM PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW1219 |
DANISH CARICATURE CONTROVERSY PRODUCES FALLOUT IN [...] (C) SUMMARY: On February 6, Chechnya's controversial Acting Prime Minister, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced that Danish NGOs would be banned in his republic because of the insult to Muslims caused by the caricatures in a Danish newspaper. GOR officials distanced themselves from Kadyrov's position, [...] |
2006-02-08 14:14:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12190 |
11/1 DEADLINE HITS: AEROFLOT LOOSES 787 SLOTS, BUT [...] (SBU) As of today, November 1, Boeing has pushed back the potential delivery schedule for Aeroflot's proposed purchase of 22 787 Dreamliners from 2009-2011 to 2011-2013. By today, Aeroflot was to have either secured Board approval for the acquisition or have signed an intermediate lease for si [...] |
2006-11-01 15:58:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON PREL EAIR USTR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12200 |
MOSCOW WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESUMPTION OF [...] (U) The Russian government welcomed the agreement to resume the Six-Party talks. Russian officials, including Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov, Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov, and Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Alekseyev accepted the announcement as "exceedingly positive." Alekseye [...] |
2006-11-02 09:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM KNNP KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW12231 |
DEMARCHE ON DISRUPTION OF CHISINAU-MOSCOW RAIL [...] (C) We made reftel demarche November 1 to Ambassador Valeriy Nesterushkin, MFA negotiator for Transnistria. Nesterushkin made two notes of fact. In the first tick, he said the decision to cancel trains no. 47 (Moscow-Chisinau) and 48 (Chisinau-Moscow) was taken by Russian Railroads, not the G [...] |
2006-11-02 14:07:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL ETRD PBTS MD UP RS |
| 06MOSCOW12232 |
PROPOSED ECONOMIC SANCTIONS BILL LIKELY TO PASS [...] (U) On October 27, United Russia Duma Deputies submitted a bill that would empower the Russian President to impose economic sanctions against any country, legal entity, or person in the event of an "emergency situation." The bill is still in its early stages. While there are differing views [...] |
2006-11-02 14:19:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL ECON RS |
| 06MOSCOW12257 |
GEORGIA-RUSSIA: FM BEZHUASHVILI GETS RUSSIA'S [...] (C) Georgian FM Bezhuashvili told Ambassador November 2 that he "got the message" passed to him bluntly November 1 by FM Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov: that the Russians believe Georgia will begin military action in Abkhazia or South Ossetia; that Russia will confront Georg [...] |
2006-11-02 14:32:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR ETRD GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12259 |
RUSSIAN MFA CRITICIZES DAS BRYZA'S FINANCIAL TIMES [...] (C) MFA North America Deputy Director Vladimir Vinokurov contacted Political M/C November 2 to highlight the ministry's critical reaction to comments made about the Northern European Gas Pipeline (NEGP) by DAS Bryza in an October 30 Financial Times of Germany interview. Vinkurov told us the [...] |
2006-11-02 15:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL ENRG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12261 |
RUSSIAN ELECTRICITY SECTOR PRIVATIZATION BEGINS [...] (C) Summary. Russian electricity monopoly, RAO UES, on October 31 sold 14.4 percent of daughter company WGK-5 for $459 million, marking the first of the restructured power generating companies to be successfully privatized. Speculation that Gazprom would acquire the entire offering proved to [...] |
2006-11-02 16:31:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN | ECON EIND ENRG PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12265 |
OWNER VOWS TO PUSH FOR VIGOROUS INVESTIGATION OF [...] (C) A resolute Marat Gelman told us October 31 that he intended to use his remaining official contacts to energize a languishing criminal investigation of the October 21 attack on his Moscow Gelman Art Gallery. Law enforcement officials had "done nothing" since ten men smashed twenty paintings [...] |
2006-11-03 04:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PGOV KDEM SCUL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12310 |
MORE NGOS RE-REGISTERED [...] (C) SUMMARY: The re-registration of foreign NGOs is continuing apace, with 148 approved by the backlogged Federal Registration Service. A majority of U.S. NGOs known to the Embassy are re-registered, with Human Rights Watch expecting approval any day. In the North Caucasus, the FRS and tax [...] |
2006-11-03 16:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PREL PGOV PREF EAID KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12311 |
RUSSIA: NATIONALISTS TO MARCH ON NOVEMBER 4 [...] SUMMARY: On Russia Unity Day, November 4, a large nationalist "Russia March" is planned for several Russian cities, including Moscow. Russia March is being organized by the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) and is supported by several other nationalist and fascist groups, and by som [...] |
2006-11-03 16:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR PINS RS |
| 06MOSCOW12347 |
RUSSIAN MFA ON TALKS WITH GEORGIA [...] (C) The Russian MFA was disappointed that Georgian FM Bezhuashvili brought no deliverables with him to his November 1-2 talks in Moscow. The Russians are hearing rumors of a major cabinet reshuffle in Tbilisi. Proposed talks between President Saakashvili and South Ossetian leader Kokoity are [...] |
2006-11-07 15:30:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12369 |
RUSSIAN NATIONALIST MARCH FIZZLES [...] (SBU) Decisive action by the Moscow city authorities and waning enthusiasm for the enterprise produced smaller-then-predicted attendance at the March 4 nationalist "Russian march." In the end, fewer then three thousand Muscovites participated on Saturday, a fraction of the number of police an [...] |
2006-11-08 16:18:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12371 |
MOSCOW'S REACTION TO BISHKEK VIOLENCE: "ANOTHER [...] (C) The GOR has reacted cautiously to events in Bishkek. After the news of the November 7 violence reached Moscow, DFM Denisov told the Ambassador that the GOR was keeping a close watch on the situation and urging calm. Director of the MFA's First CIS Department (Central Asia) Maksim Peshkov t [...] |
2006-11-08 16:32:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV KG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12390 |
RUSSIA ON DEBT RELIEF FOR IRAQ [...] No summary [...] |
2006-11-09 12:59:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EFIN IZ RS |
| 06MOSCOW12394 |
RUSSIA IPR: PART IV OF CIVIL CODE ADVANCES [...] (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified and is not intended for Internet distribution. 2. (SBU) Summary: The State Duma passed Part IV of the Civil Code in its second reading on November 8. The third and final reading of the law is likely to take place within the next ten days. [...] |
2006-11-09 14:24:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | KIPR ETRD WTO RS |
| 06MOSCOW12395 |
TREASURY U/S LEVEY'S MEETING WITH RUSSIA'S FEDERAL [...] (C) In a meeting on October 24 with Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey, Federal Financial Monitoring Service SIPDIS (FFMS) Chief Viktor Zubkov said he shared the USG's concern about North Korean financial flows. He recounted how the FFMS had investigated information on North Korean enti [...] |
2006-11-09 14:35:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | KTFN EFIN ETTC ECON PTER PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12396 |
TREASURY U/S LEVEY DISCUSSES DPRK, IRAN WITH [...] Summary. (C) In meetings October 23 and 24 with Treasury Under Secretary Levey, officials from the Central Bank (CBR), Finance Ministry and private Russian banks downplayed the possibility that North Korean and Iranian entities are actively using the Russian financial system to launder money [...] |
2006-11-09 14:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | KTFN EFIN ETTC ECON PTER PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12402 |
RUSSIAN DFM KISLYAK: BILATERAL RELATIONS UPDATE [...] (C) Summary: In a November 8 meeting with the Ambassador, DFM Kislyak expressed concern over the potential impact of US congressional elections on WTO and bilateral nuclear cooperation. He argued again that US sanctions against Sukhoi were symbolic of the failings in bilateral relations -- [...] |
2006-11-09 15:58:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL KNDP ECON ETRD RS |
| 06MOSCOW12424 |
RUSSIA: TERRORISM FINANCING COORDINATING OFFICER [...] (C) Post's Terrorism Financing Coordinating Officer (TFCO) is Kathleen Doherty, Economic Policy Unit Chief, 7-495-728-5186. Unclassified email is: DohertyKA@state.gov. Classified email is: DohertyKX@state.sgov.gov. 2. (C) Post's Deputy TFCO is Clayton Hays, Financial Economist, 7-495-728-5 [...] |
2006-11-13 15:05:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | KTFN EFIN PTER RS |
| 06MOSCOW12441 |
RUSSIAN REACTION TO EVENTS IN GEORGIA [...] (C) MFA 4th CIS Department Director Andrey Kelin told us November 13 that Georgia shows no willingness to meet Russia's "simple" demands for normalizing relations. He downplayed the effects of the sacking of former DefMin Okruashvili. He fretted that an "alternative election" in South Osseti [...] |
2006-11-14 15:13:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR PBTS UNSC OSCE GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12448 |
BRYANSK: CASE STUDY OF A REGIONAL PARTY OF POWER [...] (SBU) Summary: Once a keystone of post-Soviet Communist control, the political scene in Bryansk region is now dominated by United Russia (YR). YR has attracted the youth, business, and elite vote - votes that used to be divided between the Communist Party and liberal parties like the Union of [...] |
2006-11-15 09:34:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW12457 |
RUSSIA'S DEFENSE MINISTER RAISES PUBLIC PROFILE [...] (C) SUMMARY; Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov has made himself more available to the media and the general public in recent weeks. Although he is careful to limit his remarks to issues within his core portfolio, an "interactive interview" in a prominent newspaper las [...] |
2006-11-15 15:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV MARR MCAP PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12458 |
RUSSIAN ENERGY: UPDATE ON SAKHALIN-1 OPERATIONS [...] (SBU) In light of press reports indicating that the GOR was slowing the Sakhalin-1 consortium's operations, we contacted ExxonMobil's Sakhalin office to get an update. According to Michael Allen, ExxonMobil's government relations head on Sakhalin, as of November 16 the consortium had still not [...] |
2006-11-16 05:27:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12470 |
COUNTRY RESOLUTIONS IN THE UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE: [...] (C) In a November 16 conversation, Grigoriy Lukyantsev, Head of the UN Division of the MFA's Department of Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights, told us that Russia would oppose resolutions on the human rights situations in Iran, Belarus and Uzbekistan. He said Russia would support a N [...] |
2006-11-16 13:38:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM UNHRC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12471 |
NGO REGISTRATION UPDATE: NOVEMBER 16 [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. The Federal Registration Service (FRS) has now re-registered 159 foreign NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. We understand FRS has rejected five NGOs, although none appear to be U.S. organizations. The authorities have disseminated draft guidelines [...] |
2006-11-16 14:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PHUM PREL PGOV PREF EAID KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12473 |
RUSSIA WELCOMES CONSULTATIONS ON U.S. MISSILE [...] (S) Oleg Burmistrov, Chief of the Political-Military Section of the Foreign Ministry's North America Department, told us 13 November that Moscow appreciated the 3 November visit of Undersecretary of Defense Stephen Cambone, who briefed Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov [...] |
2006-11-16 15:08:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | MARR MCAP PARM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12481 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: LE MONTI MR. [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, Le Monti Mr. Evgeny Mirmovich, Moscow, Russia. The company is listed [...] |
2006-11-17 11:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12482 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: (A) JSC CHOP [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, (A) JSC CHOP Vityaz-S (D359202) AND (B) JSC CHOP Vityaz-S (D358555), [...] |
2006-11-17 11:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12498 |
FURTHER ELECTORAL LAW CHANGES: MORE LEVERS OF [...] (SBU) Summary. A draft electoral law, which passed its third and final Duma reading on November 17, contains vague provisions which could be used to increase levers of central control over the electoral process. The draft would allow the exclusion of candidates who run negative TV ad campaign [...] |
2006-11-17 14:26:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PGOV KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12501 |
DEMARCHE DELIVERED: NOVEMBER 17 UNGA EMERGENCY [...] No summary [...] |
2006-11-17 15:41:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL UNGA IS RS |
| 06MOSCOW12528 |
A/S FRIED CONVERSATION WITH RUSSIAN DFM KARASIN, [...] (C) Assistant Secretary Daniel Fried and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin focused on Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova in a two hour discussion November 15. Karasin dismissed Georgian conciliatory steps as cosmetic; Fried said they are real and Russia should respond by ending sanct [...] |
2006-11-20 13:48:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR PBTS ETRD GG MD UP RS |
| 06MOSCOW12549 |
A/S FRIED'S NOVEMBER 15 MEETING WITH DFM TITOV ON [...] (C) Summary: In a November 15 meeting with DFM Titov, A/S Fried made clear that the U.S. intended to move forward on Kosovo quickly after UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari presented the sides with his proposal after the Serbian parliamentary elections. He stressed that putting off the status decis [...] |
2006-11-21 11:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV YI RS |
| 06MOSCOW12557 |
UNITED RUSSIA STUMBLES ON REGIONAL LEGISLATION [...] (C) SUMMARY: United Russia is far from united on the direct election of mayors. United Russia Duma members introduced legislation to eliminate the direct election of mayors, in what may have been a misguided attempt to implement Putin's call to transfer more authority to the regions. Predict [...] |
2006-11-21 13:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PINR KDEM PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW12563 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: M.P.CHUMAKOV [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, M.P. Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and viral encefalitides of [...] |
2006-11-22 05:27:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12569 |
PUTIN RAISES BANK SECTOR CONCERNS WITH STATE [...] (SBU) On November 14 President Putin delivered his first ever full-length address dedicated to Russia's banking system. He called for expanded lending to the real economy, especially small and medium business and regionally beyond the lucrative markets of Moscow and St. Petersburg. He presse [...] |
2006-11-22 08:17:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EFIN ETRD RS |
| 06MOSCOW12572 |
RUSSIA: WINTER POWER SHORTAGES EXPECTED [...] (C) Summary. Government officials and industry analysts are expecting power shortages in Russia this winter as electricity consumption growth strains the existing power infrastructure. UES Head Chubays has warned GOR officials all year about looming electricity shortfalls. UES is considering [...] |
2006-11-22 08:53:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EIND ENRG PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12587 |
RUSSIAN ENERGY: CRUNCH TIME FOR CPC [...] (C) Summary: On November 20, the Ambassador met with Chevron Vice Chairman Peter Robertson and head of Chevron's Russian operations, Ian MacDonald. The conversation centered on CPC expansion but included brief discussions of the Burgas-Alexandropoulis bypass pipeline (BAP), and the on-going t [...] |
2006-11-22 13:01:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12591 |
RUSSIA: BARRIERS TO BUSINESS: CREDIT, TAXES, AND [...] (SBU) Summary. A recently-released survey of 3,000 business shows a surprising convergence of opinion between small, medium, and large enterprises about what stands in the way of commercial success in Russia. Respondents uniformly identified the high cost of credit, high tax rates, and ineff [...] |
2006-11-22 14:51:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EINT RS |
| 06MOSCOW12592 |
RUSSIAN MFA ON DRAFT IRAQ UNSCR [...] (C) We shared reftel documentation, including the draft Iraq UNSCR, on November 21 with Vladimir Safronkov, Chief of the UN Political Affairs Section in the MFA's International Organizations Department. Safronkov said that Russia had no problem with the draft in principle and had so instruct [...] |
2006-11-22 14:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL UNSC IZ RS |
| 06MOSCOW12593 |
RUSSIA: TERRORIST FACILITATORS AND INCITERS [...] No summary [...] |
2006-11-22 15:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | KTFN EFIN ETTN PTER PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12595 |
PRESIDENT PUTIN, DEFMIN IVANOV ADDRESS RUSSIAN [...] (C) SUMMARY: Putin and Defense Minister Ivanov candidly acknowledged many of the military's internal problems during a 16 November senior commanders conference in Moscow. The two leaders promised various remedies ranging from higher salaries and better treatment for soldiers to steep increas [...] |
2006-11-22 15:41:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | MCAP PREL PGOV PHUM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12600 |
RUSSIA'S RELATIONS WITH BELARUS [...] (C) Summary. Another Putin-Lukashenko meeting has come and gone with few evident results. It occurred against a widespread perception here that Putin would like to rein in Lukashenko as part of Russia's growing assertiveness. Unresolved problems, most notably those related to energy, plague [...] |
2006-11-24 10:38:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ECON BO RS |
| 06MOSCOW12609 |
BELGOROD: UNITED RUSSIA, THE GOVERNOR, AND THE [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. Major local business owners, who are United Russia regional deputies, in conjunction with the Russian Orthodox Church, dominate all spheres of activity in Belgorod Oblast, which Embassy visited recently. Governor Savchenko is a strong leader who combines a flair for populist s [...] |
2006-11-24 11:31:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12628 |
RUSSIA KEEPS UP THE PACE IN MIDDLE EAST DIPLOMACY [...] (C) Summary: Following the assassination of Lebanese Minister Gemayel, Russia has become increasingly concerned about political violence in Lebanon, but is unwilling to press Damascus on its role. The MFA preferred to offer legalistic arguments about whether there was compelling proof of S [...] |
2006-11-27 08:18:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV IS SY LE IZ RS |
| 06MOSCOW12630 |
CENTRAL ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER REVIEWS TRIP TO [...] (C) Central Electoral Commission Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov described to Ambassador November 21 his reaction to State Duma-adopted amendments to the existing electoral law (reftel). Veshnyakov's key judgments: -- elimination of the minimum threshold for voter turnout in Russia was premat [...] |
2006-11-27 09:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12631 |
VOLGOGRAD: INTERESTED IN INCREASED ACADEMIC AND [...] (U) Sensitive But Unclassified. Not for internet distribution. Propriety Information. 2. (SBU) SUMMARY: During Ambassador Burns' November 16-17 trip to Volgograd, government, business and civil society representatives emphasized their desire to see stronger academic and business coopera [...] |
2006-11-27 09:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON EINV PGOV EAGR SOCR PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12637 |
DUTCH NGO REFUSED RE-REGISTRATION [...] (SBU) The Federal Registration Service refused the NGO Stichting Russia Justice Initiative (RJI) last week, citing technical problems with its application. The technical reasons included questions about RJI Executive Director Ole Solvang's authority to represent RJI during the process and in [...] |
2006-11-27 13:12:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PREF PHUM EAID KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12643 |
DEMARCHE ON DEPORTATION OF UZBEK ASYLUM SEEKER [...] (C) We met November 22 with MFA Human Rights and Humanitarian Cooperation Department Deputy Director Mikhail Lebedev and his staff to discuss the deportation of Rustam Muminov to Uzbekistan and to underline U.S. concerns about deportation of other asylum seekers to Uzbekistan given Tashkent' [...] |
2006-11-27 14:50:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM PREF UZ RS |
| 06MOSCOW12646 |
EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a post-shipment verification to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end- user, Federalnaya Sluzhba Ohrany, Moscow, Russia. The company wa [...] |
2006-11-28 05:44:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12666 |
RUSSIA'S APPROACH TO POST-ORANGE UKRAINE [...] (C) Summary: Russia has reinvigorated its engagement with Ukraine, focusing on practical cooperation. Last month's Fradkov-Yanukovich meeting, which yielded a gas deal, set the stage for the December 23 Putin-Yushchenko Summit. Russian attitudes, however, still seem to lack an appreciation [...] |
2006-11-28 16:30:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV UP RS |
| 06MOSCOW12702 |
RUSSIA: CEMENTING OUR ECONOMIC RELATIONS [...] (C) Summary: After thirteen years of tough negotiations, we finally have in hand a bilateral agreement on Russia's accession to the WTO. Understanding that we are not yet out of the woods, with hard work ahead in the multilateral forum, we should take full advantage of the improved atmosphere [...] |
2006-11-30 03:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EAGR ENRG ETRD PREL RS EINV |
| 06MOSCOW12708 |
COMMUNIST PARTY: NOT DEAD YET [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. Most observers describe the Communist Party (KPRF) as a party on life-support sustained by nostalgic pensioners. The cliche has it that as party stalwart's die off, so too will the KPRF. This assessment, however, ignores a relatively constant level of support, despite the dem [...] |
2006-11-30 12:44:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PGOV KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12709 |
A GUIDE TO RUSSIAN POLITICAL YOUTH GROUPS: PART 1 [...] (C) SUMMARY. This is part one of a two-part message describing Russian political youth groups. This cable contains a summary of the major political youth movements in Russia. Russian political youth groups can be broadly divided into two categories: grassroots organizations driven by idealis [...] |
2006-11-30 13:46:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12711 |
CIS SUMMITS: GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS? [...] (C) Summary: After a series of low-impact/low-turnout meetings, CIS Heads of State gathered again in Minsk on November 28. The meeting -- billed as a "working" summit -- will be followed by another, more formal gathering in Astana in December to commemorate the CIS's fifteenth anniversary. [...] |
2006-11-30 13:55:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ECON PINR BY RS |
| 06MOSCOW12712 |
EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a post-shipment verification to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end- user, Federalnaya Sluzhba Ohrany, Moscow, Russia. The company wa [...] |
2006-11-30 14:09:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12713 |
UNITED COMPANY RUSAL: MAKING OF A RUSSIAN NATIONAL [...] (C) SUMMARY. The proposed merger this coming spring of Russian Aluminum (RUSAL), Siberian Ural Aluminum (SUAL Group), and Glencore International AG (Glencore) into "United Company RUSAL" will create the world's largest aluminum producer, unseating Alcoa. Industry insiders cast the deal more [...] |
2006-11-30 14:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ETRD ECON RS |
| 06MOSCOW12717 |
RUSSIAN YOUTH POLITICS, OR LACK THEREOF: PART 2 OF [...] (C) SUMMARY. This is the second part of a two-part message describing Russian political youth groups. Russia's youth is overwhelmingly apolitical, and youth groups in general have very little impact on political life in Russia. The small bit of political life that does exist is restricted to t [...] |
2006-11-30 17:10:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12750 |
RUSSIA: SOME "DEMOCRATS" UNITE, LARGER DIVISIONS [...] (C) Poor performances in the October 8 regional elections notwithstanding, the democratic, western-leaning political parties and movements --Yabloko, SPS, Other Russia, the Republican Party of Russia-- show few signs of being willing to join forces to contest the March 2007 regional elections [...] |
2006-12-01 14:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW12751 |
LITVINENKO ASSASSINATION: REACTION IN MOSCOW [...] (C) The November 23 death by radiation poisoning of former FSB agent Aleksandr Litvinenko in London has spawned a welter of conspiracy theories in Russia. The media have variously traced Litvinenko's demise to XXXXXXXXXXXX, suicide, Putin's Kremlin, Putin himself, those determined to undermine Put [...] |
2006-12-01 14:44:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PREL PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12752 |
RUSSIAN POSITION ON CFE, ISTANBUL COMMITMENTS [...] (C) The Chief of the Conventional Arms Control Division in the Foreign Ministry's Department of Security Affairs and Disarmament, Anton Mazur, told us 28 November that we could expect "little or no change" in the GOR's approach to Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) issues at next week's OSCE [...] |
2006-12-01 15:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | MARR OSCE PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12757 |
GORDEYEV ON THE WARPATH, AND THE DUTCH STRIKE BACK [...] (C/NF) SUMMARY: According to the Dutch AgCouns in Moscow, Dutch veterinary and plant health authorities have run out of patience with their Russian counterparts and are proposing temporarily to halt plant quarantine certification by Dutch authorities of exports of all plant products to Russia. [...] |
2006-12-01 20:23:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN | EAGR ETRD PREL WTO RS |
| 06MOSCOW12763 |
CPC UPDATE: FURTHER MOVEMENT TOWARD FINISH LINE? [...] (C) SUMMARY. On December 1, Ian MacDonald, head of Chevron Russia and former head of CPC told us that the hoped-for "seniors'" meeting -- at which a CPC expansion MOU may have been signed -- did not come off this week. However, CPC shareholders held a highly positive meeting which cleared aw [...] |
2006-12-04 03:45:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12764 |
RUSSIANS STILL CYNICAL ABOUT NATIONAL PRIORITY [...] No summary [...] |
2006-12-04 03:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EAGR ECON EFIN PGOV PREL RS POL |
| 06MOSCOW12781 |
MFA UNHAPPY WITH PALESTINIAN RESOLUTION ON UN [...] (C) We discussed reftel talking points on the 10th UNGA Emergency Special Session with Vladimir Safronkov, Chief of the UN Political Affairs Section in the MFA's International Organizations Department. Safronkov said that the MFA had already instructed its mission in New York to push for ch [...] |
2006-12-04 15:36:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL UNGA IS RS |
| 06MOSCOW12783 |
MFA ON UNSC ACTION ON IRAN [...] (C) We raised reftel points with two of our working-level MFA contacts involved on the Iran nuclear issue. They provided separate readouts on the current status of discussions in the Security Council and expressed the GOR's intent to reach agreement on a resolution text. Neither was willing [...] |
2006-12-04 16:29:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MNUC PARM UNSC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12784 |
FOREIGN NGO RE-REGISTRATION NEARING ITS END [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: The Federal Registration Service (FRS) has re-registered 176 foreign NGOs as of December 1, with another 15 still under consideration, and it is nearing the end of this process. Of the 29 NGOs tracked by USAID, 21 have been re-registered, and eight are awaiting decisions from [...] |
2006-12-04 16:30:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PREF PHUM EAID KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12819 |
KOSOVO: RUSSIAN POSITION ON UNSC VETO HARDENING [...] (C) SUMMARY: In late-November meetings in Moscow, Kosovo Prime Minister Ceku failed to get assurances that Russia would not use its veto when the Security Council takes up the status issue early next year. Russian officials have signaled that they might ultimately deploy a veto to block a UN [...] |
2006-12-07 07:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV KDEV UNMIK SR YI RS |
| 06MOSCOW12838 |
RUSSIA WANTS "PREDICTABILITY" IN POST-START [...] (S) Russia will insist on predictability in any arrangement that follows expiration of the START Treaty in 2009, according to Vasiliy Boryak, Chief of the START Office in the Foreign Ministry's Department for Disarmament and Security Affairs. First and foremost, Boryak told us December 7, wa [...] |
2006-12-07 14:16:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PARM MCAP PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12851 |
METROPOLITAN KIRILL SEES POPE BENEDICT AS MORE [...] No summary [...] |
2006-12-08 13:49:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL KDEM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12856 |
COMMUNIST PARTY DEPUTY CHAIRMAN LOOKS TO HIS [...] (SBU) Summary. In a December 6 meeting with EUR/RUS Director Mary Warlick, Communist Party (KPRF) Deputy Chairman Ivan Melnikov offered reactions to current domestic political events that confirmed his rumored social democratic leanings, and that suggested he was positioning himself to replace [...] |
2006-12-08 15:33:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12857 |
UNITED RUSSIA APPROVES PARTY PLATFORM [...] (C) SUMMARY: United Russia (YR) approved its party platform and action plan for the next ten years at its convention in Yekaterinburg on December 2. Party luminaries followed a tight script, staked United Russia's claim to the political center with a populist tilt, and rallied its members for [...] |
2006-12-08 15:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PINR PGOV KDCM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12878 |
GAYDAR'S WEEKEND INTERVIEWS LEAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT [...] (C) A December 6 Financial Times article and two TV interviews with ex-Prime Minister Gaydar broadcast the weekend of December 8 have shed little light on Gaydar's alleged poisoning November 22 in Dublin. Although Gaydar's Moscow doctors have been unable or unwilling to state that Gaydar had [...] |
2006-12-12 08:51:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12895 |
MFA SUPPORTS UNSC THEMATIC DEBATE ON THE MIDDLE [...] (C) We raised reftel points on the UN Security Council's Middle East thematic debate with Vladimir Safronkov, Chief of the UN Political Affairs Section in the MFA's International Organizations Department. We urged the GOR to withhold its support for any statement associated with the debate. [...] |
2006-12-12 13:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL UNSC IS RS |
| 06MOSCOW12897 |
AMBASSADOR VISITS NORTH CAUCASUS, DECEMBER 4-5 [...] (C) Ambassador Burns traveled to the North Caucasus December 4-5 -- the first American Ambassador to visit the region in fifteen years. In Kabardino-Balkaria he discussed with President Kanokov prospects for economic development and political reform. Kanokov provided regional views on frozen [...] |
2006-12-12 14:27:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM ETRD PINR GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12900 |
CHITA: CONDEMNED LAND SEEKS FUTURE AS GATEWAY TO [...] (C) Summary. Squeezed between China and the rest of Siberia and challenged with an oppressively harsh climate, Chita Oblast has historically served as a place of exile and remains one of Russia's poorest regions. The break-up of the Soviet Union led to the collapse of the region's livestock [...] |
2006-12-13 06:51:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ECON ETRD PINR KN RS |
| 06MOSCOW12901 |
"A JUST RUSSIA": DIFFICULT BEGINNING, UNCERTAIN [...] (C) Spravedlivaya Rossiya (SR) (&A Just Russia8), often referred to as the &second8 Kremlin party, has been officially registered. The party has moved to constitute itself at the federal and local levels, by combining elements of its constituent parties --Rodina, the Russian Party of Life, an [...] |
2006-12-13 11:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW12912 |
AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH ROSNEFT'S BOGDANCHIKOV [...] (C) Summary. On December 12, the Ambassador met with Rosneft's President Sergey Bogdanchikov who confirmed that Rosneft is interested in bits of Yukos but that the rumor it will purchase Surgutneftegaz (SNG) is a "fairy tale." He claimed that CPC expansion will be "automatic" once an inter-g [...] |
2006-12-13 15:22:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12914 |
RUSSIA: KIRIYENKO REVIEWS TEHRAN VISIT [...] (C) SUMMARY. In a December 13 meeting with the Ambassador, Rosatom Director Kiriyenko provided his impressions from his recent trip to Tehran. He said Foreign Minister Mottaki had been full of bluster, claiming to be unafraid of sanctions and unconcerned about the United States. Mottaki had [...] |
2006-12-13 15:55:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | KNNP PREL ETRD RU IR UN AORC |
| 06MOSCOW12916 |
KASPAROV'S UNITED CIVIC FRONT OFFICES SEARCHED BY [...] (C) On December 13, United Civic Front Chairman Garry Kasparov confirmed press accounts that police had searched his organization's offices the afternoon of December 12. Kasparov told us he thought that "intimidation" was the purpose of the search, which the police for their part described to [...] |
2006-12-13 16:12:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM KDEM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12917 |
DFM YAKOVENKO: "DISAPPOINTMENT" OVER US RAISING OF [...] (C) On December 13, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Yakovenko called the Ambassador to register "concern and disappointment" over U.S. efforts in the Security Council to raise the plight of Belarusian opposition leader Aleksandr Kozulin, despite Belarus not being on the UNSC agenda [...] |
2006-12-13 16:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM UNSC RS BO |
| 06MOSCOW12924 |
RUSSIA-GEORGIA: TREADING WATER [...] (C) Summary: Russian-Georgian relations are treading water until after both countries recover from their break for New Years and Orthodox Christmas, around mid-January. Georgia has taken pains to tone down the rhetoric, and Putin has noticed. Georgia is dismantling some of the restrictions f [...] |
2006-12-14 10:19:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL ETRD GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW12930 |
RUSSIAN ENERGY: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SHELL ON [...] (C) SUMMARY. On December 14, the Ambassador met with Chris Finlayson (U.K. citizen), head of Shell's Russia operations, and Alf D'Souza (Australian citizen), Shell's VP for corporate affairs, to discuss the latest developments on the Sakhalin-2 project. Finlayson characterized negotiations w [...] |
2006-12-14 14:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12932 |
AN ENDGAME FOR DETAINED UZBEKS IN IVANOVO? [...] (C) SUMMARY: UNHCR is developing contingency plans for what may be a final GOR decision on 13 detained Uzbeks in Ivanovo. Our UNHCR and NGO contacts do not have credible information on what the GOR may do, but they expect whatever decision has been made to be implemented as soon as December [...] |
2006-12-14 15:34:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12934 |
MFA NEGATIVE ON UNSC BURMA RESOLUTION [...] (C) In a December 14 discussion about reftel draft UNSCR, Vladimir Safronkov, Chief of the UN Political Affairs Section in the MFA's International Organizations Department, told us Russia's initial reaction was negative. He acknowledged Russia had its own concerns about the situation in Bur [...] |
2006-12-14 15:44:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM UNSC BM RS |
| 06MOSCOW12935 |
EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a post-shipment verification to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end- user, Villart Export, Elektrostal, Russia. The company was liste [...] |
2006-12-15 06:42:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12936 |
EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: S- [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a post-shipment verification to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end- user, S-Terra, Zelenograd, Moscow, Russia. The company was liste [...] |
2006-12-15 06:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12942 |
RUSSIAN DUMA DEFENSE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN TOUR [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Viktor Zavarzin, Chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, gave his annual briefing to Moscow's military attache corps December 12. During the 90-minute presentation, Zavarzin summarized his committee's legislative activities -- weapons modernization and improvements in s [...] |
2006-12-15 13:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | MARR MCAP PREL SOCI PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW12960 |
AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH ROSNEFT'S BOGDANCHIKOV [...] (C) Summary. On December 12, the Ambassador met with Rosneft's President Sergey Bogdanchikov who confirmed that Rosneft is interested in bits of Yukos but that the rumor it will purchase Surgutneftegaz (SNG) is a "fairy tale." He claimed that CPC expansion will be "automatic" once an inter-g [...] |
2006-12-18 10:59:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12963 |
RUSSIAN ENERGY: WINTER GAS, BELARUS, AND THE [...] (C) Summary. This year is no exception to the rule that Gazprom's annual gas tariff negotiations with its CIS customers are blunt instruments, and generally go down to the wire. Deals have not yet been cut with Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Gazprom did manage to ink one with Ukraine, th [...] |
2006-12-18 12:00:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW12966 |
RUSSIA-MOLDOVA: DEAL IN THE WORKS? [...] (C) Summary: The Romanian Embassy in Moscow alleged to us that Moldova and Russia are close to a package bilateral deal that would normalize bilateral political and economic relations, guarantee Moldovan "neutrality" for 50 years, resolve Transnistria along the lines of the Kozak Memorandum, [...] |
2006-12-18 14:25:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL ETRD MARR MD RS |
| 06MOSCOW12981 |
THREE DEMONSTRATIONS AND A CONVENTION [...] (C) Political groupings of all stripes made their presence known in Moscow over the December 16-17 weekend: -- "Other Russia" staged its "March of the Discontented." About 2,500 participants from a hodgepodge of groups, united only by their opposition to the current government and rejection [...] |
2006-12-19 14:04:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW12986 |
RUSSIA/LEBANON: PM SINIORA'S VISIT [...] (C) PRIME MINISTER SINIORA CAME AWAY SATISFIED WITH HIS DECEMBER 14-16 VISIT TO MOSCOW; THE ATMOSPHERICS WERE EXCELLENT ACCORDING TO LEBANESE AMBASSADOR ASSEM JABER'S READOUT TO THE CHARGE. BESIDES PUTIN, SINIORA MET WITH SECURITY COUNCIL SECRETARY IGOR IVANOV, EX-FOREIGN MINISTER PRIMAKOV A [...] |
2006-12-19 17:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV EAID IR LE RS |
| 06MOSCOW12992 |
EXTRANCHECK: PRE-LICENSE CHECK: ITRC "MIR", [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a Pre-license check to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end-user, ITRC "MIR", Moscow, Russia. The company is listed on BIS license app [...] |
2006-12-20 13:35:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12993 |
EXTRANCHECK: POST-SHIPMENT VERIFICATION: [...] Unauthorized disclosure of the information provided below is prohibited by Section 12C of the Export Administration Act. 2. Reftel requested a post-shipment verification to determine the legitimacy and reliability of the end- user, Supreme Commercial Court, Moscow, Russia. The company was [...] |
2006-12-20 13:36:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ETRD ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW12999 |
SOUTH OSSETIA: TALKS AND OBSERVERS [...] (C) We met with Russian MFA Ambassador-at-Large for South Ossetia Yuri Popov on December 19 and 20, delivering reftel demarche on the latter date. Popov said he had not been following the budget issue -- he has just returned from leave -- and said he was unwilling to repeat previous Russian s [...] |
2006-12-20 14:22:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR OSCE GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW13001 |
PATRUSHEV'S NEST OF DANISH SPIES [...] (SBU) FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev alleged that foreign intelligence services were increasingly using NGOs and press bureaus as cover in his annual year-end review December 19. Speaking on the eve of the day in honor of the security services, Patrushev singled out the Danish Refugee Counci [...] |
2006-12-20 14:46:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL PREF RS |
| 06MOSCOW13002 |
RUSSIAN DEVELOPMENT "BANK" TAKES SHAPE [...] (SBU) At a meeting of cabinet ministers on December 14, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref delivered a presentation on the prospective scope and functions of a new Russian Development Bank (RDB). Gref's proposal would consolidate the Foreign Economic Activity Bank of the USSR [...] |
2006-12-20 15:01:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EFIN EINV RS |
| 06MOSCOW13003 |
BOEING RUSSIA: AEROFLOT 787 DEAL DEPENDS ON [...] (SBU) According to Boeing sources, Minister of Finance Kudrin, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Gref, and Minister of Industry and Energy Khristenko agreed on December 19 to delay the GOR's decision on Aeroflot's acquisition of 22 wide-bodied jets until the GOR receives written propos [...] |
2006-12-20 15:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON PREL EAIR USTR RS |
| 06MOSCOW13005 |
RUSSIA'S 2007 BUDGET: A QUICK OVERVIEW [...] (SBU) Despite considerable chatter to the contrary, Russia's 2007 Federal Budget (signed into law December 20 by President Putin) continues to reflect substantial fiscal restraint, with expenditures set to rise by just 1.5 percent of GDP and the primary surplus targeted at 5.3 percent of GDP. [...] |
2006-12-20 15:59:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EFIN PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW13006 |
"DENGI FEVER": RUSSIA'S IPO AND CAPITAL MARKET BOOM [...] (SBU) Russia's initial public offering (IPO) bonanza continued to gain momentum in 2006. Fifteen Russian companies launched IPOs this year, raising over $17.5 billion. At the same time, Russia's domestic exchanges have enjoyed explosive growth. Russian companies are increasingly able to ta [...] |
2006-12-20 16:13:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EINV EFIN RS |
| 06MOSCOW13012 |
Novosibirsk: United Russia Stronghold With High [...] (SBU) United Russia's (YR) dominance in Russia's regions is evident in Novosibirsk, where YR holds the governorship, has an absolute majority in the regional parliament, does not view the emergence of the second Kremlin party "A Just Russia" as a threat, and dismisses the influence of "democra [...] |
2006-12-21 08:38:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL ETRD RS |
| 06MOSCOW13022 |
RUSSIA ENERGY: GAZPROM SET TO ACQUIRE CONTROLLING [...] (C) Summary. The British Economic M/C in Moscow confirmed December 20 his understanding that agreement is likely by the end of this week between Sakhalin Energy's partners and Gazprom on the terms of Gazprom's cash acquisition of a controlling stake in Sakhalin-2. Agreement would bring to a [...] |
2006-12-21 14:22:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON ENRG EPET PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW13025 |
MOSCOW REACTION TO TURKMENBASHI'S DEATH [...] (C) Summary. The Russian government reacted cautiously to Turkmenbashi's death and will send the Prime Minister and Head of the Presidential Administration to his funeral. Unofficial reactions encompassed the full range of speculations about succession, and stability in Turkmenistan. Some a [...] |
2006-12-21 15:17:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV TX RS |
| 06MOSCOW13071 |
NIZHNIY NOVGOROD: VERTICAL CONTROL INSUFFICIENT? [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. With President Putin's appointment of Governor Valeriy Shantsev in August 2005, a United Russia political elite with strong business interests now firmly controls Nizhniy Novgorod and its region. The establishment of the regional branch of the second Kremlin-sponsored party, " [...] |
2006-12-22 11:32:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL KDEM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW13073 |
GERMAN FM STEINMEIER'S MOSCOW VISIT: MIDDLE EAST, [...] (C) SUMMARY: GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER PAGE 02 RUEHMOA3073 C O N F I D E N T I A L STEINMEIER MET WITH PRESIDENT PUTIN, FIRST DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER MEDVEDEV, AND FM LAVROV IN MOSCOW ON DECEMBER 21. ACCORDING TO A READOUT FROM GERMAN AMBASSADOR WALTER SCHMIDT, WHO PARTICIPAT [...] |
2006-12-22 13:46:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV IR LE GE RS |
| 06MOSCOW13074 |
BLACK SEA FLEET RELOCATION: A PORT TOO FAR [...] (C) SUMMARY: Nearly ten years after the 1997 bilateral agreement with Ukraine to use Sevastopol as a base for its Black Sea Fleet, Russia is doing little to plan for the Fleet's possible relocation after the agreement expires in 2017. While the Black Sea Fleet will be on the agenda for the [...] |
2006-12-22 14:30:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR MCAP RS UP |
| 06MOSCOW13092 |
NGO RE-REGISTRATION UPDATE: BACK TO WORK IN THE [...] (SBU) The Federal Registration Service (FRS) has re-registered 192 foreign NGOs as of December 22, including all of those providing aid in the North Caucasus. According to UN sources, the re-registration of International Rescue Committee (IRC) and World Vision, along with the French NGO Acti [...] |
2006-12-26 15:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREF PHUM EAID KDEM PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW13098 |
MIDDLE EAST: MFA ON LEBANON, SYRIA AND IRAQ [...] (C) Summary: President Putin sought to lower tensions between Lebanon and Syria during back-to-back mid-December visits by PM Siniora and President Asad, according to the Russian MFA, and had urged that a solution to Lebanon's ongoing political crisis be found through negotiations and not i [...] |
2006-12-26 16:02:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV LE SY IZ RS |
| 06MOSCOW13123 |
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS CAUGHT IN YUKOS NET [...] (SBU) Summary. Russian Prosecutors at the Federal Tax Service (FTS) have brought a civil case against International accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in connection with their role as outside auditor of the Russian oil company Yukos. In addition, the firm has been defending itself i [...] |
2006-12-27 15:17:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EFIN EINV ECON RS |
| 06MOSCOW13124 |
RUSSIA'S BROKEN ASYLUM SYSTEM [...] (C) SUMMARY: Asylum seekers in Russia face legal and bureaucratic obstacles in obtaining protection from the GOR, as well as a growing backlash against migrants in general. For many, the only workable solution is resettlement to a third country, as the GOR has yet to devote sufficient attent [...] |
2006-12-27 15:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PREL PHUM RS |
| 06MOSCOW13136 |
ZHIRINOVSKIY,S LDPR LOOKS TO THE 2007 ELECTIONS [...] (SBU) December marks the 17th anniversary of the establishment of the Liberal Democrat Party of Russia (LDPR). LDPR's lack of any discernible platform is compensated for by the indomitable LDPR Chairman Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, whose instinct for the outrageous continues to resonate with a sig [...] |
2006-12-28 15:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | KDEM PGOV PINR SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW13137 |
POST-NIYAZOV TURKMENISTAN: VIEWS FROM MOSCOW [...] (C) Summary. While the GOR has officially downplayed its concern about the status of existing energy contracts with Turkmenistan following Niyazov's death, observers here consistently report that gas supplies and Turkmenistan's continuing neutrality are Moscow's foremost concerns as the succe [...] |
2006-12-28 15:15:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ECON TX RS |
| 06MOSCOW13166 |
INVITATION TO ARF WORKSHOP ON UNSCR 1540 [...] No summary [...] |
2006-12-29 09:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL PARM KNNP ETTC ARF RS |
| 06MOSCOW13167 |
IRAN: INFORMATION REGARDING UNSCR 1737 [...] No summary [...] |
2006-12-29 09:43:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL MNUC KNNP UNSC RS |
| 06MOSCOW13168 |
ALTAI KRAI: PICKETS AND PLURALISM [...] (SBU) Summary: While Altai Krai is one of the most economically depressed regions in Russia, it has an unusually high level of civic activity and political pluralism and is home to outspoken liberal Republican Party Head Vladimir Ryzhkov. United Russia dominates, but the Communists, Agrarians, [...] |
2006-12-29 09:51:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW13171 |
RUSSIA AND IRAN: AFTER THE SANCTIONS RESOLUTION [...] (C) Summary: Russia has repeatedly told us that when it comes to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, it shares our strategic goal but differs with us over tactics. Moscow's reluctance to agree to coercive measures was on full display during consideration of UNSCR 1737, but in th [...] |
2006-12-29 12:42:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PARM ETRD KNNP MASS IR RS |
| 06MOSCOW13172 |
HARD TIMES FOR RUSSIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNITY [...] (C) Civil society and liberal political party leaders are sharply divided over the role of NGOs in partisan politics. While Moscow's most prominent human rights activist strongly defends the policy of overt political opposition, many NGO representatives are uncomfortable with, or opposed to, a [...] |
2006-12-29 15:49:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PREL KDEM PINR SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW13174 |
RUSSIA ENERGY: DOWN TO THE WIRE ON BELARUS GAS [...] (C) Summary. Lukashenko's two-year saga to avoid higher gas prices and the sale of 50 percent of Beltransgaz (BTG - the Belarusian gas pipeline operator) appears to be coming to a close, and he is standing firm on both accounts. Gazprom has dropped its insistence that BTG be part of the deal, [...] |
2006-12-29 16:08:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | EPET ENRG ECON PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW13175 |
RUSSIA NOTIFIED OF ISNPA SANCTIONS [...] (S) DCM delivered on December 29 the notification of new U.S. sanctions levied on four Russian entities for violating the Iran-Syria Non-Proliferation Act. In delivering reftel points, the DCM explained the sanctions reflected our serious concern about potentially destabilizing arms transfers [...] |
2006-12-29 16:17:00 | Embassy Moscow | SECRET | PARM MTCR PREL MNUC ETTC RS |
| 06MOSCOW1322 |
AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO KAZAN: FEDERALISM, ECONOMIC [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Ambassador's February 6-7 visit to Tatarstan featured themes of federalism, economic opportunity for U.S. firms, and Islam. Republic President Shaymiyev, in a lengthy tour d'horizon, noted that he was taking initiatives not encouraged by Moscow, including diversifying the ec [...] |
2006-02-10 15:18:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV ECON PREL ETRD PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW1323 |
RUSSIAN DFM SALTANOV ON INVITATION TO HAMAS [...] (C) On February 10 Ambassador Burns called on DFM Saltanov seeking clarification of Putin's invitation to Hamas leadership to visit Moscow. Ambassador said the announcement of an invitation to Hamas had come as an unwelcome surprise to Washington (and other Quartet capitals). It was very im [...] |
2006-02-10 15:26:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER RS |
| 06MOSCOW1324 |
PRESSING RUSSIA FOR RESTRAINT ON GEORGIA [...] (C) Summary: In a February 9 meeting with Chief of Defense General Baluyevskiy, Ambassador Burns urged that Russia exercise restraint in its dealings with Georgia. Baluyevksiy was blunt in complaining about Georgian demands to withdraw peacekeepers from Georgia and charged Tbilisi with inte [...] |
2006-02-11 14:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MASS PBTS GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW1388 |
FSB OPERATION IN STAVROPOL DISTRICT: ANOTHER [...] (U) Press February 13-14 reported an FSB operation against an "extremist Islamist" cell in the town of Tukuy-Mekteb, in Russia's Stavropol Kray. Tukuy-Mekteb lies along a regional road about 15 km west of the Dagestani Border and 45 km north of the border with Chechnya. Initial reports said t [...] |
2006-02-14 09:06:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER MOPS PINR PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW1431 |
RUSSIA MOVING SLOWLY ON DIVERSITY CONVENTION [...] No summary [...] |
2006-02-14 13:47:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ETRD SCUL UNESCO RS |
| 06MOSCOW1433 |
MOSCOW DEFERS TO GRULAC CONSENSUS ON NEXT UNSC REP [...] No summary [...] |
2006-02-14 14:21:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV UN UNSC GT VE RS |
| 06MOSCOW1435 |
GEORGIA-RUSSIA: EXPECT SHARP RUSSIAN REACTION TO [...] (C) SUMMARY. In the absence of DFM Karasin from Moscow, A/DCM spoke with MFA 4th CIS Department Director Andrey Kelin to emphasize the efforts the USG has been making to moderate Georgian parliamentary action on CIS peacekeepers in South Ossetia (per ref e-mail request). Kelin took careful no [...] |
2006-02-14 15:32:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ENRG |
| 06MOSCOW1445 |
SPRING STATE DUMA SESSION OFF TO SLOW START [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. The spring semester of the Russian State Duma, which began on January 11 and will run through mid-June, got off to a slow start. Deputies are burdened with almost 600 draft laws, with 52 designated as priority bills focusing on water and forestry regulation, transportation safe [...] |
2006-02-15 12:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV EAGR EFIN ENRG ETRD PREL PHUM SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW152 |
ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACK ON CHABAD SYNAGOGUE IN MOSCOW [...] (SBU) SUMMARY. On the evening of January 11, a 20-year-old man broke into a Lubavitch synagogue in Moscow during prayer services and injured eight men, including an AmCit. None of the victims has life-threatening injuries, but some are reportedly in serious but stable condition. The Foreign [...] |
2006-01-12 16:04:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL RS SOCI |
| 06MOSCOW1536 |
RUSSIA-GEORGIA: HARD RUSSIAN LINE ON SOUTH OSSETIA [...] (C) SUMMARY. Both the Russians (4th CIS Department Director Kelin) and Georgians (State Minister for Conflict Resolution Khaindrava) gave us separate readouts of their February 16 talks in Moscow. The talks focused on South Ossetia in the wake of the Georgian Parliamentary resolution callin [...] |
2006-02-16 18:06:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR MOPS RS GG |
| 06MOSCOW1635 |
GEORGIA-RUSSIA: AMBASSADOR PRESSES DFM KARASIN FOR [...] (C) SUMMARY. Ambassador on February 17 outlined to DFM Karasin ongoing U.S. efforts to encourage Georgian restraint on South Ossetia, and urged Russia to act constructively. Ambassador expressed appreciation for FM Lavrov's recent message to the Secretary, and said he expected a formal reply [...] |
2006-02-18 06:55:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR MOPS GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW1637 |
HAMAS VISIT TO MOSCOW [...] (C) SUMMARY. A/DCM met February 17 with MFA Middle East and North Africa Director Sergey Vershinin to follow up on earlier discussion (reftel) on the forthcoming visit of a Hamas delegation to Russia, which will take place March 3. .... END SUMMARY. 2. (C) Timing and Level. Vershinin [...] |
2006-02-20 10:07:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW18 |
NSC SENIOR DIRECTOR GRAHAM'S MEETING WITH [...] (C) Summary. NSC Senior Director Thomas Graham met December 21 with Modest Kolerov, who was named several months ago to run a new Kremlin directorate dealing with Russia's ties to its neighbors. Kolerov rejected the notion that the U.S. and Russia should engage in a dialogue on Russia's nei [...] |
2006-01-09 12:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW1840 |
RUSSIAN DFM SALTANOV ON HAMAS VISIT TO MOSCOW [...] (C) On February 27 the Ambassador called on Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Saltanov to discuss the upcoming Hamas visit to Moscow and to underline the importance of coordination. Saltanov confirmed that the Hamas delegation, headed by Khalid Meshal and composed of Hamas outsiders, is set [...] |
2006-02-27 16:06:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW19 |
2006 DEFENSE BUDGET AND PROPOSED DEFENSE REFORMS - [...] (C) Summary. On December 27 President Putin signed a defense budget of 666 billion rubles (23 billion dollars) for 2006, a nominal increase of nearly 26 percent. It is not clear, however, what if any impact on Russian military capability that allocation towards defense will have. The highe [...] |
2006-01-09 12:56:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | MARR MCAP PARM EFIN ECON RS XB |
| 06MOSCOW1974 |
RUSSIA'S RODINA CONTENDS WITH KREMLIN PRESSURE AND [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Rodina Party has embarked on a campaign to polish its image, softening (but not completely eliminating) its harsh criticism of minority migrants, while focusing on economic opportunity and social justice as the primary avenues for "transforming nationalism into patriotism." [...] |
2006-03-01 08:55:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM SOCI PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW2020 |
PRESSING RUSSIANS ON HAMAS VISIT [...] (C) Ambassador spoke separately to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Saltanov and Middle East Envoy Kalugin the evening of February 28, and again on March 1, to stress the importance of sticking firmly to Quartet principles during the Hamas visit to Moscow March 3. Ambassador made clear that [...] |
2006-03-01 15:37:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW2070 |
SOUTH OSSETIA: DEALING WITH A DYSFUNCTIONAL [...] (C) SUMMARY. Moscow's approach to Georgia is driven by frustration with Tbilisi's defiant attitude to Russian interests, reflected in its pursuit of NATO membership, its championing of anti-Russian alliances in the neighborhood, its strategy of trying to compensate for Georgia's weakness in [...] |
2006-03-02 14:33:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV MARR MOPS RS GG |
| 06MOSCOW2132 |
NGO LEGISLATION: LOOKING AHEAD TOWARD [...] (C) SUMMARY: A bit over a month before Russia's new NGO legislation goes into effect, most independent NGO activists are concerned about its implementation but retain a wait-and-see attitude. In recent weeks, the government has initiated investigations against some independent NGOs, but it h [...] |
2006-03-03 14:51:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PINR PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW2212 |
MOSCOW REACTS TO HAMAS VISIT [...] Summary: While the MFA was able to point to few concrete results from Foreign Minister Lavrov's March 3 meeting with a Hamas delegation, we were told March 6 by the MFA Middle East Peace Process desk that the Moscow-Hamas channel was likely to remain open. In Moscow's estimation, Hamas Polit [...] |
2006-03-06 14:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV RS |
| 06MOSCOW2260 |
TRANSNISTRIA: RUSSIA OPPOSES UKRAINIAN CUSTOMS [...] (C) Russian Special Envoy Valeriy Nesterushkin told us March 6 that the Ukrainian customs implementation threatened the future of peace negotiations between Moldova and Transnistria, including the current 5 2 format in which the U.S. participates as an observer, and its prospective April sess [...] |
2006-03-07 15:01:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR MOPS ETRD UP MD RS |
| 06MOSCOW2327 |
NORTH CAUCASUS MUSLIMS: INDEPENDENT VOICE? [...] (C) Summary: The election of Magomed-Khadzhi Albogachiyev as leader of the Coordinating Center of Muslims of the North Caucasus marks a clear step to distance the Moscow-based Center -- and by extension the Muslim clerics in the region, whom it purports to represent -- from the clan-based lead [...] |
2006-03-10 11:52:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW2446 |
NO SURPRISES IN RUSSIA'S "SUPER SUNDAY" REGIONAL [...] (C) SUMMARY. In regional legislative elections in eight of Russia's regions on March 12, the pro-Kremlin United Russia party appears to have scored a clear victory. Four political parties ran in all eight elections, while Rodina and some smaller parties were kept off the ballot in some of th [...] |
2006-03-13 16:28:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV KDEM PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW2447 |
COURT CASES STIR MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN ASTRAKHAN [...] (C) SUMMARY. Two ongoing court cases in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan have stirred part of the local Muslim community to protest against perceived discrimination. On a February 28 - March 1 trip to Astrakhan, we found that some in its Muslim community suspect that a city order to de [...] |
2006-03-13 16:39:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR PHUM KDEM RS |
| 06MOSCOW2502 |
G8 NGO FORUM OFFERS GOR A CHANCE TO BOOST ITS [...] (C) SUMMARY. A range of NGOs, including those involved in human rights issues, took part in a March 9-10 G8 NGO forum in Moscow. The plenary sessions and working group meetings featured lively discussions, both on the GOR's G8 agenda items and on concerns about the state of Russia's civil so [...] |
2006-03-14 15:14:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PINR PREL ECON ENRG RS |
| 06MOSCOW2593 |
TRANSNISTRIA: RUSSIANS CONTINUE TO HOLD MOLDOVA [...] (C) In the absence of Russian Envoy Valeriy Nesterushkin, we delivered reftel demarche on the situation in Transnistria on March 15 to MFA Second CIS Department Deputy Director (Moldova Office Director) Nikolay Fomin. Fomin rejected Transnistrian responsibility for blockading itself, claimin [...] |
2006-03-15 15:55:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ETRD MARR PBTS PREL ML RS |
| 06MOSCOW2594 |
TRANSNISTRIA: RUSSIANS CONTINUE TO HOLD MOLDOVA [...] (C) In the absence of Russian Envoy Valeriy Nesterushkin, we delivered reftel demarche on the situation in Transnistria on March 15 to MFA Second CIS Department Deputy Director (Moldova Office Director) Nikolay Fomin. Fomin rejected Transnistrian responsibility for blockading itself, claimin [...] |
2006-03-15 15:55:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | ETRD MARR PBTS PREL ML RS |
| 06MOSCOW262 |
UPDATE ON ATTACK ON MOSCOW SYNAGOGUE [...] (C) SUMMARY. In the aftermath of the January 11 attack on a Chabad synagogue in Moscow (ref A), a prosecutor reported finding ammunition, a list of synagogues and nationalist literature in the home of the attacker. The prosecutor said the attacker was not a member of an extremist organization [...] |
2006-01-13 16:52:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL SOCI RS |
| 06MOSCOW2760 |
MOSCOW CALLS LUKASHENKO'S REELECTION "LEGITIMATE" [...] (SBU) The MFA called Belarus' presidential election "legitimate" in a March 20 press release. (Informal translation of text in para 4). According to the press release, the election took place according to recognized norms of transparency and reflected the will of the Belarusian people. In [...] |
2006-03-20 15:18:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV OSCE BY RS |
| 06MOSCOW2761 |
MFA ON DETAINED UZBEKS [...] (C) REFCOORD delivered ref A demarche to Dmitriy Knyazhinskiy, chief of the migration section in the Department of Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights at the MFA. Knyazhinskiy said his office had written "numerous" requests to the Procurator General in support of UNHCR's request for acc [...] |
2006-03-20 16:11:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PHUM PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW2914 |
RUSSIAN MFA ON AMIS RE-HATTING [...] (C) On March 21 Poloff delivered reftel demarche on re-hatting the African Union (AU) Mission in Sudan to MFA Department of International Organizations Counselor Oleg Kravchenko. Kravchenko agreed that there was no ambiguity in the AU March 10 statement and that its intention was clearly to [...] |
2006-03-22 14:48:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | KPKO PREL SOCI SU RS |
| 06MOSCOW2927 |
FORMER RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS "CORPORATION" [...] (C) In a March 21 meeting with the Ambassador, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov: -- Claimed current GOR and Kremlin officials were mainly interested in preserving their interests within the status quo, which affected policy decisions and the competition to succeed President Putin in 2 [...] |
2006-03-23 11:17:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM ECON PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW2928 |
NGO LEGISLATION: VARYING EXPECTATIONS ABOUT [...] (C) SUMMARY: The GOR continues to be opaque about implementation of its controversial new NGO legislation, which is to go into effect next month. It has revealed almost nothing publicly about the legislation's implementing regulations, although one NGO contact told us he had seen draft repor [...] |
2006-03-23 11:17:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL PINR RS |
| 06MOSCOW2969 |
TRANSNISTRIA: RESPONDING TO RUSSIA'S SHIPMENT OF [...] (C) Ambassador made reftel demarche to DFM Karasin March 23. Karasin reiterated that the GOR had serious concerns about developments in Transnistria, but his comments went primarily to political pressures centered in the Duma and in some regions. He acknowledged that current conditions do no [...] |
2006-03-23 15:12:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL ETRD PBTS OSCE UP MD RS |
| 06MOSCOW2974 |
RUSSIA-GEORGIA: LOOKING AHEAD [...] (C) Summary: Emotions seem to be cooling (at least temporarily) between Russia and Georgia, and we are seeing a return to low-level business. Statements that would have caused an uproar just a few weeks ago are being dismissed with good humor. But that is a long way from making real progre [...] |
2006-03-24 06:29:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL MARR ETRD PBTS NATO GG RS |
| 06MOSCOW3035 |
AFTER THE ELECTION: MOSCOW VIEWS ON BELARUS AND [...] (C) Summary. Russia's embrace of President Lukashenko's victory in the March 19 Belarus election reflects official Moscow's strong preference for stability in Minsk and its belief that the status quo offers the best chance for that stability. Contacts close to the Belarusian opposition in M [...] |
2006-03-27 05:52:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV BO RS |
| 06MOSCOW306 |
PUTIN SIGNS NGO LEGISLATION [...] (C) SUMMARY: The GOR announced January 17 that President Putin signed the controversial NGO legislation on January 10. That news was made public when a GOR newspaper that publishes such announcements printed the bill's text with an indication of the date of its signing. While Putin had defe [...] |
2006-01-17 12:52:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM RS |
| 06MOSCOW3115 |
NEW COUNTERTERRORISM MEASURES CREATE "VERTICAL OF [...] (C) SUMMARY. On March 6 President Putin signed a bill "On Counteracting Terrorism" that had hastily moved through the Duma and Federation Council in the preceding days. Passed on its first reading in December 2004 (reftel) after the Beslan tragedy, the bill was then shelved because of several [...] |
2006-03-28 10:31:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PINR PREL PTER RS |
| 06MOSCOW312 |
TWO FOREIGN AID NGOS REPORTEDLY BANNED IN [...] (C) SUMMARY: Russian press reported January 16 that an Ingush court had banned two international NGOs working in the North Caucasus and was also considering banning a USG-funded American NGO. The basis of the court's ruling is unclear, and it appears none of the three NGOs was aware that a b [...] |
2006-01-17 15:03:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PHUM PGOV PREL EAID RU |
| 06MOSCOW3190 |
CIVIL SOCIETY COUNCIL CHAIR PAMFILOVA DISCUSSES [...] (C) SUMMARY. In a March 24 meeting with the Ambassador and visiting Coordinator for U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia Thomas Adams, Ella Pamfilova, head of the Presidential body that oversees civil society issues, said her office would help monitor the controversial NGO legislation when i [...] |
2006-03-29 13:59:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PINR PREL EAID RS |
| 06MOSCOW3202 |
AMBASSADOR'S MARCH 29 MEETING WITH RUSSIAN DFM [...] (C) Summary: Ambassador Burns met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin March 29 to discuss the outcomes of the Belarusian and Ukrainian elections and recent developments in Moldova, Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh. Karasin was sanguine about the March 26 Ukrainian parliamenta [...] |
2006-03-29 14:33:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV ENRG ETRD BO UP GG MD RS |
| 06MOSCOW3218 |
THE "FEBRUARY THESES": SURKOV'S PRIMER ON PUTINISM [...] (C) SUMMARY. A February speech by Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Vladislav Surkov to a United Russia conference sketched out "basic ideological theses" of the Putin Administration. While not attempting to break new ground or crystallize a doctrine of "Putinism," the speech p [...] |
2006-03-30 10:24:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL RS |
| 06MOSCOW3333 |
U.S. NUCLEAR PRIMACY ARTICLE HITS A NERVE [...] (C) Summary: A Foreign Affairs article asserting the advent of U.S. nuclear primacy has caused a stir in the Russian political elite and media and forced Russian leaders to defend the viability of Russia's deterrent force. The thesis plays to the belief that the U.S. regards Russia as a pot [...] |
2006-03-31 08:33:00 | Embassy Moscow | CONFIDENTIAL | |