Windows to Russia

Russia’s former ambassador to Libya has stoked new tension between President Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, after calling the Kremlin’s acquiescence to air strikes targeting Libya a “betrayal of Russia’s interests”. Putin and Medvedev, who are close political allies, appeared to clash on Monday after the former condemned support for the bombing […]

BP’s controversial alliance with the Kremlin-controlled oil company Rosneft is in tatters after a tribunal backed the company’s Russian partners in blocking the deal. The London tribunal, called to settle the dispute between BP and its Russian oligarch partners AAR over the proposed deal, ruled that the temporary high court injunction preventing it from being […]

U.S. President Barack Obama told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he was committed to support Russia’s bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Obama and Medvedev spoke by phone on Thursday to discuss a wide range of issues in U.S.-Russia relations. “President Obama affirmed his support for Russia’s accession into the WTO this year […]

New charges will most likely be brought against Moscow’s ex-subway chief Dmitry Gayev, who is already accused of abuse of power and embezzlement, a source from the investigative authorities said on Friday. “The evidence against Gayev…suggests new charges could be brought against him,” the source said. Gayev, who was managed the Moscow rapid transit system […]

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his Ukrainian counterpart Mykhaylo Yezhel will meet in Moscow on Friday to discuss bilateral military cooperation. A Ukrainian military delegation, led by Yezhel, arrives in Moscow to participate in a meeting of a subcommittee on security under the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission. “Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and his Ukrainian colleague […]

The Russian Northern Fleet and the Norwegian Navy will conduct the Pomor-2011 joint drills in the Arctic in May, a spokesman for the Northern Fleet said. “The exercise will take place in the Barents and Norwegian Seas, and will include firing of live artillery rounds at simulated surface and aerial targets, anti-submarine warfare drills, anti-piracy […]

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on Thursday that an overriding priority for the international community in Libya was to prevent civilian deaths. The two leaders discussed the situation in the North African country on the phone, the Kremlin press service said. “The Russian president emphasized the need to prevent deaths […]

Moscow and Washington have agreed to conduct joint stress tests at the nuclear power plants in both countries following a recent nuclear disaster in Japan, the head of Russia’s state nuclear energy cooperation said on Thursday. “We agreed yesterday to cooperate in this field,” Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko said during a meeting with U.S. businessmen […]

At Windows to Russia, we remember the Arctic Sea Pirate Attack. It has been quite awhile and the courts are finally done passing the sentences on the pirates involved… So a Russian court sentenced on Thursday six people involved in a pirate attack on the Arctic Sea vessel in July 2009 to prison terms from […]

Russia’s Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of state-controlled energy giant Gazprom, is considering developing the Caspian and Black sea offshore deposits but the Black Sea projects may pay off only if the oil giant is granted tax breaks, a Gazprom Neft official said on Thursday. “Gazprom Neft plans to take part in tenders and auctions […]