Russia
Xi, Putin meeting: “Loud thunder but few raindrops”
Chinese President Xi Jinping took his leave of Russian President Vladimir Putin from a two-day visit to Moscow with a smile on his face. But despite the important show of solidarity, Putin got little in concrete terms from the Chinese leader.
bneGREEN: Pace, scale of climate change action has been insufficient – IPCC
The pace and scale of what has been done so far to combat climate change, and current plans, are insufficient to tackle the problem, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
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Russian banks earn a record profit in January as the sector starts to recover from sanctions shock
Russian banks earned profits of $3.4bn in January, the most ever for the first month of the year, but the banking sector is still limping from the shock of extreme sanctions imposed last year.
Putin accuses the West of “use of weapons with nuclear components” after UK says it will send Ukraine depleted uranium ammo
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused "the collective West" of using “weapons with nuclear components,” after the UK said it would send Ukraine depleted uranium ammunition on March 22.
Russia and China sign off $165bn of energy and transport deals in Xi's second day in Moscow
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a second day of talks on China’s plan for the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and expanding economic and trade ties.
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Putin woos 40 Africa lawmakers at Moscow conference with promises of money, nuclear power, arms and free grain
Putin took time out from meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping who had just arrived in Moscow for a three-day state visit to speak to lawmakers from more than 40 African countries and woo them with generous promises of economic and military aid
ASH: What Xi really wants in Moscow
First, as I have previously argued on this blog, I think ideally Xi would want to call an end to the war in Ukraine. It may initially have served a purpose for China, but I think Beijing now sees a real prospect of a catastrophic defeat for Moscow.
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All to play for in Russian-Chinese backyard
Russia and China will struggle for common policy on possible Russian soft underbelly Central Asia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, the vital Europe/Asia Caucasus crossroads, the Baltics, CEE and SEE.
Eight out of ten of Russians consider themselves happy, says VTsIOM
Eight out of ten (82%) of Russians consider themselves happy, according to a recent survey conducted by state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM).
Chinese President Xi in Moscow to meet Putin in a show of new global power
Chinese President Xi Jinping just arrived in Moscow on a three-day state visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin that provides the Kremlin with a fig leaf of legitimacy for its military campaign in Ukraine and also promotes China to the top table.
Turkey bans airports from refuelling Boeings operated by Russian airlines
Ahead of elections, Erdogan administration appears to be caving to some Western sanctions enforcement demands, perhaps fearing action that could hurt the Turkish economy prior to polling day.
Putin makes surprise visit to occupied Mariupol
Putin’s trip was designed to play to his domestic audience and reinforce the Kremlin’s message that the captured territories are Russian land.
COMMENT: BOFIT forecast for Russia 2023–2024
Russian GDP contracted by 2.1% last year. For the current year, we expect an economic decline of similar magnitude.
Black Sea grain export deal extended for the full 120 days
The Black Sea grain export deal was extended for the full 120 days at the last minute on March 18, according to Ankara and Kyiv.
STOLYPIN: The quiet and the noisy
There seem to be two kinds of Russian political figure: the quiet and the noisy. We tend to focus on the noisy ones for obvious reasons, but it is the quiet ones who tend to matter, and the case of Evgeny Prigozhin illustrates this perfectly.
ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over illegal deportation of Ukrainian children
Russian President Vladimir Putin now faces arrest if he sets foot into any of the 123 member countries of the International Criminal Court.
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Russia’s CBR keeps key rate at 7.5%, guidance hawkish
The board of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) resolved to keep the key interest rate unchanged at 7.5% at the policy meeting of March 17, while maintaining a hawkish rhetoric, but refrained from issuing a tougher monetary guidance.
Poland to start handing over MiG-29 jets to Ukraine within days
The decision, together with a similar move made by Slovakia on March 17, marks a stepping up of military aid to Ukraine with a new grade of weaponry, the offering of which has so far remained controversial.
Assad says ‘No’ to Erdogan encounter as word spreads diplomats' Moscow meeting on Syria won’t go ahead
Demands Turkish president entirely ends “illegal occupation” of Syrian lands prior to any face to face talks.
NASDAQ to delist Russian tech majors Yandex, CIAN, Ozon, Qiwi and HeadHunter
Trading in all the names has been suspended since February 2022 following Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.
