Russia & CIS

If it is confirmed that the EgyptAir flight, missing since Thursday, vanished from radar on the airspace border between Greece and Egypt, air travel between Russia and Egypt will not be resumed, a high-ranking source within the Russian government said.

This year got off to a bad start. Oil prices fell to below $30 per barrel and a budget deficit of at least 5 percent seemed inevitable. But now Russia's political elite is breathing a sigh of relief.

The former chief editor of the RBC media holding has said that political pressure on the company resulted in the dismissal of top staff members, the Meduza news website reported Thursday.

Russia is rated the least welcoming country to refugees, according to a survey commissioned by Amnesty International and conducted by consulting firm GlobeScan.

On May 10, an unusual post appeared on Facebook, apparently signed by Viktor Ivanov, the head of Russia's Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN). "Comrades and fellow soldiers," it began.

Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky has avoided a jail sentence despite being found guilty of vandalism by a Moscow court.

The cocktail already has a name - the "Rodchenkov." Its standard base is three shots of different steroids; the variable part is the alcohol mixer (the men get whiskey and the women, Martini).

We make our way down a narrow alleyway. A four-digit code opens the heavy green door of the complex, but once inside, bolt cutters are the keys of choice.

It is no longer any real secret that the ruling regime knows how to crack down on "undesirable" elements.

It could have been a scene straight out of The Sopranos. On Saturday, 15 cars rocked up to the Khovanskoye cemetery on the southwestern outskirts of Moscow.

NATO must bolster its military presence in the Baltic states or risk nuclear war, a former general has warned.

Russia's Investigative Committee has asked the head of National Guard to investigate Chechnya's notorious Sever police battalion, the RBC newspaper reported Wednesday.

The trial of notorious Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky began today in a Moscow court. He remains in detention as two criminal cases against him continue.

The United States will refuse to recognize any elections in eastern Ukraine that do not comply with the Minsk agreements, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland told reporters in Moscow.

The Russian Justice Ministry has received documents requesting the extradition of former Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, the RBC news agency reported Wednesday.

No one doubts the power of American weapons. The United States is one of the greatest military in the world, no matter how you look at it. Russia has no doubts about it either, but the country does not fear US weapons, because it can adequately respond to any "smart move" of the American military

Today’s installment of the MCIS 2016 slides brings us to Andrei Ravkov, the Minister of Defense of Belarus, who spoke at the European security plenary session near the end of the conference. Video of his speech is available in Russian and in English.

The US has deployed the first ground missile defense system in Romania. Russian officials said that such actions violate strategic stability and may lead to even more serious challenges in the region. Russia will increase spending on next-generation technologies. NATO officials continue saying that the BMD Aegis Ashore system is no threat to Russia

Here’s another set of slides, this one from a presentation by Col. General Sergey Makarov, Commandant of the Military Academy of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff. He spoke at the final plenary panel, on problems of war and peace in Europe. Unfortunately, the MCIS website has provided neither the text of his remarks, nor a video.

I took notes on his remarks, so here are the highlights, followed by the slides.

The European security system was created after World War II and institutionalized with the Helsinki Final Act. The main problem in recent years has been the result of double standards and other countries’ inability to convince the U.S. to reject its backward policies.

Russia is concerned about the ties between terrorist activities in the Middle East and European security, including the threat posed by uncontrolled migration. Russia is also concerned about the return of Nazism and the falsification of history in the Baltics and Ukraine.

Russia can not be separated from Europe, as they are part of a single economic and political space. We need to create a new common security structure that includes the United States but does not exaggerate its role. There’s a need for mutually respectful cooperation on many areas, including counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, opposing Nazism, and cyber crime.

European values are being diluted. For the first time in centuries, Europe is no longer the center of the international system. Power is moving eastward.

Existing European agreements need to be transferred from a political to a legal basis. Russia would like to see a new treaty, but this is a long and difficult process. For now, would be satisfied if existing agreements were followed and perhaps expanded.

The success of Russia's new cosmodrome Vostochny ("Eastern") speaks about Russia's independent course in space policy. It also means that Russia is capable of launching spacecraft regardless of someone else's political will. Russia's new spaceport has no analogue in the world on the level of new technological innovations