News
Poland Expels Three Russian Diplomats In 'Solidarity' With U.S.
Poland has ordered three Russian diplomats to leave the embassy in Warsaw in what it said was an act of solidarity with the United States.
The Polish Foreign Ministry said April 15 that three staff members at the Russian Embassy were declared personae non gratae for violating their diplomatic status and conducting activities harmful to Poland.
Earlier on April 15, the United States announced broad sanctions on Russia in retaliation for election interference, cyberattacks, and what Washington described as Moscow’s other "harmful" foreign activities.
As part of a raft of actions against Moscow, the United States said 10 Russian diplomats, including representatives of Russian intelligence services using diplomatic cover, would be expelled from the country.
The White House also formally blamed the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) for being behind a massive hack known as SolarWinds that hit large swaths of the U.S. public and private sectors last year, including at least nine U.S. federal agencies. Russia has denied the accusations.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry said the impact of the SolarWinds hack extends beyond the United States and affects European countries.
Poland stands in solidarity with the United States, it said in a statement. “We strongly advocate that states, the private sector, and individuals adhere to the principles of responsible behavior in cyberspace.”
Russia is likely to respond with a tit-for-tat move by expelling Polish diplomats.
Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee head Leonid Slutsky accused Poland of being “Russophobic” and “behaving like a true vassal of the United States,” according to comments run by Interfax.
With reporting by Interfax
- By RFE/RL
Iran Signs Deal To Buy 60 Million Sputnik Vaccine Doses From Russia
Iran’s ambassador to Moscow says Tehran has signed a contract with Russia to purchase 60 million doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
Kazem Jalali told the state-run IRNA news agency on April 15 that the deal with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, would provide enough shots to fully vaccinate 30 million people.
Jalali said 60 million doses would be sent to Iran between June and December.
He added that so far two Iranian companies have signed a contract with Russia for the joint production of vaccines in Iran.
Sputnik V, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, overcame international skepticism in February after peer-reviewed results published in the medical journal The Lancet showed it to be safe and 91.6 percent effective against COVID-19. Sputnik V is a vector vaccine based on the human adenovirus, which causes the common cold.
Iran is struggling to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections, with the coronavirus killing one person every four minutes in the country, state TV reported on April 15. The country of 83 million people has recorded a total of 65,680 coronavirus-related deaths and more than 2.1 million infections since the pandemic began.
Authorities imposed a 10-day lockdown on April 10 across most of the country to curb the spread of a fourth wave of the coronavirus, triggered in part by people ignoring health protocols during a two-week public holiday for Norouz, the Persian New Year.
In some cities, hospitals are inundated with the sick and running out of beds.
Businesses, restaurants, schools, and other public institutions have been forced to shut and gatherings are banned during the holy month of Ramadan.
Iran is testing a homemade vaccine that may be ready for distribution in the spring. The country has also began working on a joint vaccine with Cuba. It is also planning to import some 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under COVAX, an international collaboration to deliver the vaccine equitably across the world. COVAX delivered its first shipment of 700,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses this week.
With reporting by AP, IRNA, and Reuters
Hunger Striking Kazakh Activist Rushed From Prison To Hospital With Heart Issue
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Jailed Kazakh activist Kenzhebek Abishev, who started a hunger strike several days ago protesting the cancellation of his release on parole and prison conditions, was rushed overnight to hospital in a critical condition.
Abishev's lawyer, Gulnar Zhuaspaeva, told RFE/RL on April 15 that an ambulance brought her client to the Qapshaghai City Hospital overnight.
According to her, physicians diagnosed Abishev, who was recognized by human rights groups as a political prisoner, with coronary heart disease.
Zhuaspaeva quoted the hospital’s doctor, Zubaira Sarsenova, as saying that Abishev's current condition had improved to "stable."
An opposition activist, Rysbek Sarsenbaiuly, told RFE/RL that Abishev did not stop his hunger strike, adding that he and other activists urged him via the hospital window to end it to stay alive.
Sarsenbaiuly said he and his colleagues will demand authorities restore the court decision on Abishev's early release on parole.
Abishev, who was jailed for being linked to a political movement founded by a fugitive tycoon, launched the hunger strike on April 11 and wrote an open letter to President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev asking him to intervene in his case.
In his letter, Abishev called the cancellation of the court decision to release him on parole in February and the case against him "illegal," adding that his medical conditions -- heart and respiratory problems -- had worsened due to the lack of proper medical treatment in prison.
There have been no official statements regarding Abishev's hunger strike either by Kazakhstan’s Penitentiary Service or the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
On February 1, the Qapshaghai City Court in Kazakhstan's south ruled that Abishev can be released on February 16, more than three years early, for good behavior while in prison, a procedure allowed by Kazakh laws.
However, the Almaty regional prosecutor’s office appealed the ruling at the very last moment, arguing that the 53-year-old activist's good behavior in custody was not enough for his release since he still has more than three years to serve. The court then scrapped the move, leaving Abishev in prison.
Abishev was sentenced to seven years in prison in December 2018 after he and two other activists were found guilty of planning a "holy war" because they were spreading the ideas of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement. His prison term was later cut by eight months.
Abishev pleaded not guilty, calling the case against him politically motivated.
The DVK was founded by Mukhtar Ablyazov, an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government who has been residing in France for several years.
Ablyazov has been organizing unsanctioned anti-government rallies in Kazakhstan via the Internet in recent years.
- By RFE/RL
Biden Says Latest Sanctions Not Intended To Escalate Tensions With Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden says the United States wants a stable, predictable relationship with Russian and is not looking to "kick off a cycle of escalation and conflict" through wide-ranging sanctions on Russia.
Speaking at the White House on April 15 after the White House announced the sanctions, Biden also warned that if Russia "continues to interfere with our democracy, I am prepared to take further actions to respond."
Biden said when he spoke with President Vladimir Putin he warned him that that United States would respond to election interference and the SolarWinds cyberattack "in a measured and proportional way."
He said the United States "could have gone further" in its retaliation, but he chose not to because he wants to avoid an escalation.
Earlier in the day, Biden announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and sanctions against dozens other Russian individuals and entities as it moved to hold the Kremlin accountable for election interference and the SolarWinds cyberattack.
The salvo of measures "sends a signal that the United States will impose costs in a strategic and economically impactful manner on Russia if it continues or escalates its destabilizing international actions," the White House said.
In a potential blow to the Russian economy, the U.S. Treasury also placed additional limits on the Russian sovereign-debt market in a step that is sure to spook investors.
The sanctions, which Moscow swiftly denounced while warning of retaliation, come amid rising tensions between the West and Russia over a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine and the imprisonment of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny after he was poisoned with a nerve-agent last year.
But Biden said there are areas in which the United States and Russia "can and should work together." He cited the decision shortly after he took office to extend the New START treaty "and maintain that key element of nuclear stability between our nations."
He said in his calls with Putin since taking office he expressed his belief that communication between him and Putin personally and directly "was to be essential in moving forward on a more effective relationship and [Putin] agreed on that point."
The summit Biden proposed to take place this summer in Europe could launch a strategic stability dialog to pursue cooperation in arms control and security, he said.
"We can address critical global challenges that require Russia and the United States to work together, including reigning in nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea, ending this pandemic globally, and meeting the existential crisis of climate change," he said.
Biden also noted U.S. "unwavering" support for allies and partners in Europe and concern about Russia's buildup on Ukraine's border and in occupied Crimea.
"Now is the time to de-escalate. The way forward is through thoughtful dialog and diplomatic process. The U.S. is prepared to continue constructively to move forward with that process," he said.
In a separate statement acknowledging the sanctions, Secretary of State Antony Blinken also voiced concern over Navalny's fate.
"We remain concerned about Navalny's health and treatment in prison, and call for his unconditional release," the statement said.
In targeting the Russian sovereign-debt market, Biden's executive order prohibits U.S. financial institutions from participating in the primary market for ruble or non-ruble denominated bonds issued after June 14. The United States already bans American investors from buying newly issued Russian government foreign-currency debt.
"Judging from history, removing U.S. investors as buyers in this market can create a broader chilling effect that raises Russia's borrowing costs, along with capital flight and a weaker currency. And all of these forces have a material impact on Russia's growth and inflation outcomes," a senior Biden administration official said.
Hacking Allegations
U.S. intelligence officials have previously pointed the finger at Russia for a massive hack known as SolarWinds that hit large swaths of the U.S. public and private sectors last year, including at least nine U.S. federal agencies. Russia has denied the accusations.
In the latest measures, the United States named those behind the SolarWinds hack.
"Today the United States is formally naming the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), also known as APT 29, Cozy Bear, and The Dukes, as the perpetrator of the broad-scope cyber-espionage campaign that exploited the SolarWinds Orion platform and other information technology infrastructures," the White House said.
"The U.S. Intelligence Community has high confidence in its assessment of attribution to the SVR."
The 10 diplomats being expelled include representatives of Russian intelligence services, the White House said.
Besides that hack, U.S. officials last month said that Putin authorized interference and disinformation campaigns to help former U.S. President Donald Trump in his unsuccessful bid for reelection as president.
The latest sanctions include six Russian companies that support the country's cyber activities, in addition to sanctions on 32 individuals and entities accused of attempting to spread disinformation and interfere in last year's presidential election. Russian election interference did not impact U.S. election systems or vote tallying.
The statement also said that Washington was using diplomatic, military, and intelligence channels to respond to reports that Russia encouraged the Taliban to attack U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan based on the “best assessments” of the intelligence community.
The White House did not publicly confirm the reports, but said that “the safety and well-being of U.S. military personnel, and that of our allies and partners, is an absolute priority of the United States.”
NATO and the European Union both expressed solidarity with the U.S. move.
"NATO Allies support and stand in solidarity with the United States, following its 15 April announcement of actions to respond to Russia's destabilizing activities," the statement said.
"The European Union and its Member States express their solidarity with the United States on the impact of malicious cyber activities, notably the SolarWinds cyber operation, which, the United States assesses, has been conducted by the Russian Federation," the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
"The compromise affected governments and businesses worldwide, including in EU Member States," the statement added.
In reaction to the announced sanctions, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said that "a response to the sanctions is inevitable."
Just before the sanctions were announced, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS news agency that any sanctions would be considered "illegal."
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, TASS, and Interfax
Moldova's Top Court Rules Pro-Western President Can Dissolve Parliament
CHISINAU -- Moldova’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Maia Sandu can dissolve parliament, paving the way for early elections.
The opinion is final and cannot be appealed, court President Domnica Manole said on April 15.
Sandu has accused the pro-Moscow, Socialist-dominated parliament of sabotaging her reform agenda and repeatedly pushed for snap elections in order to acquire a working majority in the 101-seat legislature.
In late March, Sandu appealed to the Constitutional Court for its opinion to dissolve parliament and call early parliamentary elections after the Socialist-led majority in chamber failed to approve two prime minister candidates nominated by the pro-Western president.
Under the constitution, the president has the right to ask for the dissolution of the legislature and organize snap elections after a second failure to approve a new prime minister within 45 days, or if the formation of a new government is blocked for three months.
In her argument before the court on April 15, Sandu said that she is "aware that dissolving parliament is a measure of last resort" to be used after all other political solutions have been exhausted.
"We have reached that point today," she told the judges, arguing that although they were aware of the outcome, the Socialist-led majority has twice rejected her appointees for prime minister.
Russian-backed ex-President Igor Dodon, who leads the Socialist Party, has said his party would use "all legal means" to prevent general elections from being held during the coronavirus pandemic.
A U.S.-educated former adviser with the World Bank, Sandu defeated Dodon in November 2020 on a pledge to fight entrenched corruption and improve relations with the European Union.
Moldova, with a population of about 3.5 million, is one of Europe’s poorest countries and is sharply divided between those who support closer ties with Russia and those who advocate stronger links to Brussels and neighboring EU member Romania, with which Moldova shares a common history and language.
- By RFE/RL
Iranian Opposition Group Members Charged In Denmark With Financing Terrorist Activity
Denmark's public prosecutor has charged three members of an Iranian Arab opposition group with financing and supporting terrorist activity in Iran and aiding Saudi intelligence services.
"This is a very serious case, where people in Denmark have carried out illegal intelligence activities and financed and promoted terrorism from Denmark in other countries," Lise-Lotte Nilas, a Copenhagen prosecutor, said in a statement on April 15.
"Of course, this cannot take place on Danish soil, and therefore I am satisfied that we can now bring charges in the case."
The three members of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz (ASMLA) were arrested in February 2020 and have been in custody since.
At the time of their detention, Danish officials said the three "collected information about individuals in Denmark and abroad and passed on this information to a Saudi intelligence service," among other things.
The prosecutor said the case was linked to a 2018 police operation over an alleged Iranian plot to kill one or more opponents of the Iranian government.
They said it was also connected with a criminal case that is currently pending against a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin who is charged with having helped the Iranian intelligence service plan the murder in Denmark of one of the three.
A jury trial will start on April 29 for the three and be held at the Roskilde district court, the statement said.
The defendants face prison sentences of up to 12 years if convicted.
ASMLA, which has an armed branch and seeks a separate state for ethnic Arabs in Iran's oil-producing southwestern province of Khuzestan, was accused by Tehran as being behind a deadly 2018 terror attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz that left at least 25 dead, including civilians.
With reporting by Reuters
Turkmenistan's Authoritarian Leader Expands Grip On Power
ASHGABAT -- Turkmenistan's authoritarian president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who is also the head of the government in the tightly controlled state, has added another title to his name: the speaker of the newly established upper chamber of parliament, the Halk Maslahaty (People's Council).
State media in the extremely isolated former Soviet republic reported on April 14 that Berdymukhammedov was "elected to the post by secret ballot" by the chamber's members.
During the session, Berdymukhammedov appointed eight additional members to the Halk Maslahaty, bringing the total number of members to 56.
The other 48 members of the upper chamber were "elected" in late March.
With a cult of personality around the 63-year-old authoritarian ruler, dissent is not tolerated in the Central Asian state and all media is under strict state control.
With the exception of turning the parliament into a two-chamber institution, other details of the constitutional changes that Berdymukhammedov signed into the law in September 2020 remain largely unknown.
Berdymukhammedov initiated the constitutional changes in 2019 and led a commission he established that prepared a bill of amendments.
The Halk Maslahaty was created in 2017 as a separate entity on the basis of the Council of Elders. Berdymukhammedov was the body's chairman.
Critics have said that Berdymukhammedov plans to use the constitutional amendments to secure his lifetime presidency and to pass it on to his son and grandchildren.
Before the bill was signed into law last year, dozens of Turkmen citizens held rallies in Washington, as well as in the cities of Houston and Pittsburgh, protesting the plan.
Government critics and human rights groups say Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the restrictive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006.
Navalny Ally Sobol Handed One-Year Suspended Sentence For Trespassing
MOSCOW -- Lyubov Sobol, a lawyer for jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), has been handed a one-year suspended sentence of correctional labor for trespassing in what she described as a decision designed to silence her.
The magistrate's court in Moscow on April 15 found Sobol guilty of illegally forcing her way into the apartment of Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Konstantin Kudryavtsev in December 2020, hours after Navalny had published a recording of what he said was a phone conversation with Kudryavtsev. Sobol told reporters outside the courthouse that she will appeal the verdict.
During the 49-minute phone call, in which Navalny posed as an FSB official conducting an internal review, Kudryavtsev described the details of an operation to poison the Kremlin critic in August.
Investigators say Sobol pushed Kudryavtsev's mother-in-law, who opened the door, and forcibly entered the apartment.
Sobol rejected the charge, saying she did not push Kudryavtsev's mother-in-law, but went to the apartment to meet Kudryavtsev to ask him about his conversation with Navalny.
Her team has described the case as political "revenge" for a lawyer not being afraid to ask questions of the alleged assassin.
In her final statement at the trial, Sobol reminded the court that no probe had been launched into Navalny's poisoning.
"I am sure that my verdict will be guilty. Because it is me on trial, not those who poisoned Navalny, not members of the [ruling] United Russia [party]," Sobol said.
Kudryavtsev was not summoned to the trial to testify, which investigators said was not necessary because he was neither a witness nor a plaintiff in the case.
Navalny was arrested on January 17 upon his return to Russia from Germany, where he received life-saving treatment for the poisoning in Siberia in August.
Navalny has insisted that his poisoning with a Soviet-style chemical nerve agent was ordered directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The FSB and the Kremlin have denied any role in the poisoning.
In February, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered as being politically motivated.
Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from the case was converted to a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given time already served in detention.
The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia over the Navalny affair and ensuing crackdown on protesters.
Last month, Sobol said she planned to run for parliament's lower chamber, the State Duma, in September elections
Sobol is currently under house arrest in another case. She and several other associates and supporters of Navalny were charged with violating sanitary regulations during unsanctioned rallies on January 21 to protest Navalny's incarceration.
According to Russian law, those handed a suspended sentence of correctional labor must pay the State Treasury a certain amount of their salary if they are employed. If they are unemployed, they must work at jobs defined by the Federal Penitentiary Service during the term of their sentence.
But the suspended sentence can also be made real prison time if she violates the terms of the court.
"We understand that a suspended sentence, on the one hand, in Russia in a political case can be considered an acquittal," Sobol told Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. "But on the other hand, conditional conviction is an insidious measure, because just like that, at the snap of a finger, it changes to a real punishment for any administrative violation."
"This is such a short leash that the Kremlin wants to put me on so that I'm silent," she said, adding that she would continue her human rights activities and questioning corruption.
Court Restricts Moscow Student Magazine Editors To One Minute Outside Per Day
MOSCOW -- A Moscow court has placed in de facto house arrest four editors of the student magazine Doxa who have been accused of "engaging minors in actions that might be dangerous" over a video related to unsanctioned rallies to protest the incarceration of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.
The Basmanny district court late on April 14 ordered Armen Aramyan, Vladimir Metyolkin, Natalya Tyshkevich, and Alla Gutnikova not to leave their homes between midnight and 11.59 p.m. for two months, giving them only one minute to be outside each day.
The four were detained for questioning at the Investigative Committee after their homes and the magazine's offices were searched over the video, which the magazine posted online in January.
Dozens of supporters held single-person protests near the court and organized "a live chain," to express support for the four editors. Police detained one of the protesters.
As the journalists left the court one by one after the announcement of their pretrial restrictions, supporters cheered and applauded them.
The video for which the journalists were charged questioned teachers' moves to warn students about possible repercussions they could face for participating in unsanctioned rallies on January 23 and 31 in protest of Navalny's arrest.
Doxa editors say the video was deleted from the magazine's website following a demand from Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor to remove it.
More than 10,000 supporters of Navalny were detained across Russia during and after the January rallies.
Many of the detained men and women were either fined or handed several-day jail terms. At least 90 were charged with criminal offenses and several have been fired by their employers.
Human rights groups have called on Moscow repeatedly to stop targeting journalists because they covered the protests or expressed solidarity with protesters since both are protected under the right to freedom of expression.
"Instead of targeting journalists, the authorities should hold accountable police who attack journalists and interfere with their work," Human Rights Watch said in a statement on February 3.
Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was recovering from a poisoning in Siberia in August 2020 that several European laboratories concluded was from a military-grade chemical nerve agent.
Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.
In February, a Moscow court ruled that while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered as being politically motivated.
Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from that case was converted to a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison, given the amount of time he had been held in detention.
- By RFE/RL
Iran Nuclear Talks End In Vienna Under Shadow Of Alleged Sabotage
Talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal ended in Vienna amid renewed tensions as Tehran prepares to ramp up uranium enrichment following an alleged sabotage attack on the country's main nuclear site.
Iran and other parties to the 2015 agreement -– Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia -- last week launched what has been described as "constructive" talks to bring Washington and Tehran into full compliance with the accord.
But on April 13, Iran announced it would start enriching uranium at up to 60 percent purity, higher than it has ever done before, casting a shadow on the negotiations at which European countries have worked as intermediaries between Washington and Tehran.
Iranian officials say the move comes in reaction to an alleged attack on the Natanz nuclear site two days earlier that they have blamed on archenemy Israel.
After more than two hours of talks in Vienna, diplomats said two working groups would continue discussions and refine details on how to lift U.S. sanctions and bring Iran back into compliance with restrictions on its nuclear program.
"Currently I think the nuclear working group is more advanced, much more advanced, than [the] sanctions-lifting working group," Wang Qun, China's ambassador to the UN atomic watchdog, told reporters.
Russia's ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, wrote on Twitter after the meetings that the "general impression is positive" and issues would be taken up by the expert groups.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late on April 14 that Tehran's “provocative” announcement on enrichment “calls into question Iran's seriousness with regard to the nuclear talks."
Britain, France, and Germany have expressed “grave concern” over Tehran’s “dangerous” announcement, saying it is “contrary to the constructive spirit and good faith” of ongoing efforts to revive the 2015 pact.
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry said its negotiators had defended their decisions and expressed their disappointment at "the weak reaction" from European powers to the alleged sabotage attack on Natanz.
Under the deal, abandoned by the United States under former President Donald Trump, Iran had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67 percent. Recently it has been enriching up to 20 percent, saying the deal was no longer enforceable.
While enriching uranium to 60 percent would be the highest level achieved by Iran's nuclear program, it is still short of the 90 percent purity needed for military use. Tehran has repeatedly denied it is seeking nuclear weapons and that its nuclear ambitions are purely for civilian purposes.
Few details have emerged about the April 11 alleged sabotage attack, which Iranian officials said knocked out power at the enrichment plant in central Iran.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement but multiple Israeli media outlets quoted unnamed intelligence sources as saying that the country's Mossad spy service carried out a successful sabotage operation at the Natanz site.
Lawmaker Alireza Zakani, who heads the research center of Iran's parliament, said in an interview that "several thousand centrifuges were damaged and destroyed." Other officials said that only first-generation machines had been affected.
Citing two intelligence sources, The New York Times has reported that production at Natanz could be set back by at least nine months due to the attack.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, have visited the site but have not commented on the extent of the damage caused by the alleged attack.
However, the IAEA did say that Iran had "almost completed preparations" to enrich uranium to 60 percent purity.
The 2015 nuclear deal lifted international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. But the Trump administration imposed a raft of sanctions under a "maximum pressure" campaign after it withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018.
Iran responded by gradually breaching many of the nuclear restrictions, saying the deal no longer applied.
U.S. and Iranian officials have publicly clashed over the sequencing of possible U.S. sanctions relief and Iran reversing its breaches of the deal.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on April 15 said the Natanz attack had unleashed a "dangerous spiral" and warned Biden the situation could only be contained by lifting the sanctions Trump imposed.
"No alternative. Not much time," he wrote on Twitter.
Addressing a cabinet meeting, Iranian President Hassan Rohani reiterated that his country is "not seeking to obtain the atomic bomb."
"If others return to full compliance with the deal...we will stop 60 percent and 20 percent enrichment," he said.
Ali Vaez, director of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group think tank, said that events of the past few days had "added urgency" to the talks.
"It is clear that the more the diplomatic process drags on, the higher the risk that it gets derailed by saboteurs and those acting in bad faith," he added.
Eric Brewer, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told RFE/RL that "enriching to 60 percent is a significant Iranian step and will further shorten Iran's breakout timeline."
However, the Iranian move was "unlikely to have the intended effect of forcing the U.S. to accept Iran's demands," said Brewer, who served as a deputy national intelligence officer and was responsible for monitoring Iran's nuclear program.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, dpa, and RFE/RL’s Radio Farda
Kyrgyz Powerbroker Matraimov Released From Custody, Case Closed
BISHKEK -- Raimbek Matraimov, the controversial former deputy chief of the Kyrgyz Customs Service who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad, has been released from custody and the investigation has been closed.
The State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on April 15 that the money-laundering probe against Matraimov was stopped after investigators had not found any cash or real estate belonging to Matraimov or members of his family abroad.
When Matraimov was rearrested in February, the UKMK said he was held as a suspect for laundering money through the purchase of property in China, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates.
A Bishkek court in February ordered pretrial custody for Matraimov in connection with the corruption charges after hundreds of Kyrgyz protested a previous ruling mitigating a sentence after a guilty plea to no jail time and fines of just a few thousand dollars.
The court had justified the mitigated sentence by saying that Matraimov had paid back around $24 million that disappeared through schemes that he oversaw.
That decision was based on an economic-amnesty law passed in December 2020 that allows individuals who obtained financial assets through illegal means to avoid prosecution by turning the assets over to the State Treasury.
The idea of an economic amnesty was announced in October by Sadyr Japarov, then-acting Kyrgyz president, just a day after Matraimov was detained and placed under house arrest.
Japarov has since been elected president on a pledge to stamp out graft and enact reforms. Japarov also championed a new constitution -- approved by voters earlier this month -- that expands the power of the president.
Critics say the amnesty legislation was proposed and hastily prepared by lawmakers to allow Matraimov and others to avoid conviction for corruption, while the constitutional changes create an authoritarian system and concentrate too much power in the hands of the president..
In June 2019 an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan by Chinese-born Uyghur businessman Aierken Saimaiti, who was subsequently assassinated in Istanbul in November 2019.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the estimated $700 million scheme involved a company controlled by Matraimov bribing officials to skirt customs fees and regulations, as well as engaging in money laundering, "allowing for maximum profits."
A U.S. report on human rights around the world, released in March, spotlighted threats to freedom of expression and a free press in Kyrgyzstan.
In a section on respect for civil liberties, including freedom of the press, the State Department noted threats to journalists involved in that report, which implicated Matraimov.
In January, the 49-year-old Matraimov changed his last name to Ismailov, while his wife, Uulkan Turgunova, changed her family name to Sulaimanova.
The changed names, confirmed to RFE/RL by a spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan's state registration service, were seen as an attempt to evade the U.S.- imposed sanctions.
There have been no official statements from lawyers for Matraimov's family to explain the name change.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. To Expel 10 Russian Intel Officers, Target Debt With Sanctions
U.S. media reports say sanctions looming against Russia in retaliation for alleged election interference and hacking will include the expulsion of 10 intelligence officers from the United States as well as targeting all Russian debt issued after April 14.
The new sanctions, which are expected to be announced on April 15, come two days after U.S. President Joe Biden held a phone call with Vladimir Putin where Biden invited his Russian counterpart to hold a summit on neutral ground as tensions between the West and Russia mount over the conflict in Ukraine.
U.S. media reported the sanctions will affect more than 30 Russian entities, in addition to the expulsion of what Washington called "10 intelligence officers." It will also expand an existing ban on U.S. banks from trading in Russian government debt.
The Washington Post reported that a new order by Biden will also allow his administration to broaden sovereign debt sanctions against Russia in the future.
President Joe Biden's administration has been signaling for weeks that it is preparing to make a major response to the cybersecurity breach affecting software made by the company SolarWinds.
U.S. intelligence officials and technology companies have said the intrusion, discovered in December, was likely the work of Russian hackers. Moscow has denied any involvement.
At least nine government agencies, including the Treasury, Justice, and Commerce departments, and 100 private companies were breached.
The sanctions are also aimed at retaliating for alleged interference during the 2020 presidential election. A U.S. intelligence community assessment concluded with a high degree of confidence that President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government authorized and directed an effort to influence the election.
Some of the planned sanctions are aimed at operations blamed for sowing disinformation during the campaign, according to one of the sources quoted by Bloomberg. Others to be targeted include individuals and entities that operate outside Russia at the behest of Moscow.
The White House, the State Department, and the Treasury Department had no immediate comment on the reports.
Biden ordered a review on his first full day in office into election interference, reports of Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, the SolarWinds attack, and the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.
The administration announced sanctions against Russian officials over Navalny last month.
Russia has repeatedly rejected accusations that it meddled in the U.S. election, offered to pay bounties for the killing of U.S troops, or took part in the poisoning of Navalny.
With reporting by The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Bloomberg
Ukraine Calls For More Western Support Amid Russian Buildup
KYIV -- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on April 15 called for stronger Western backing, saying “words of support aren't enough” amid escalating tensions prompted by a Russian troop buildup near the border.
Kuleba, speaking after talks in Kyiv with his counterparts from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, asked the Baltic nations to reach out to other European Union and NATO members about offering “practical assistance” to Kyiv.
Kuleba accused Moscow of "openly threatening Ukraine with war and the destruction of Ukrainian statehood,” and said it was necessary to show Russia that its actions in eastern Ukraine could have "very painful" consequences.
The three Baltic foreign ministers have expressed solidarity with Ukraine, a fellow former Soviet republic, and called for Moscow to de-escalate the situation.
WATCH: Russian Military Activity Ramps Up In Crimea Along Major Highway From Russia
“Ukraine is legally and morally right, and we will emphasize this in international organizations. Currently, there is only one side that needs to de-escalate its actions -- the Russian Federation,” Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics told a joint press conference with his counterparts from the two other Baltic states and Ukraine.
"Ukraine will never be alone,” added Lithuania’s Gabrielius Landsbergis.
On April 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will consult with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also join them for a trilateral video call.
Zelenskiy said after a meeting of Ukraine's security council that the discussions in Paris will help prepare so-called Normandy format talks involving the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany to try to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
Recent photographs, video, and other data suggest major movements of Russian armed units toward or near Ukraine's border and into Crimea, fueling concerns that Russia is preparing to send forces into Ukraine. The U.S. and NATO have described it as the largest Russian military buildup since 2014, when Moscow illegally annexed Crimea and backed separatists in the east of Ukraine.
Speaking to U.S. lawmakers, the top U.S. general in Europe said on April 15 there is a "low to medium" risk that Russia will invade Ukraine over the next few weeks.
Air Force General Tod Wolters, the commander of U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, suggested that he does not expect a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
If the current conditions continue, Wolters estimated the risk of an invasion could decrease.
"My sense is, with the trend that I see right now, that the likelihood of an occurrence will start to wane," he said, without explaining the intelligence behind his assessment.
The comments come a day after William Burns, director of the CIA, told the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia had amassed sufficient military forces and equipment along Ukraine’s border to “provide the basis for limited military incursions” into the country.
Russia has rejected Western calls to pull back its troops, denying they are a threat and saying that military movements within Russia are an internal sovereign issue.
The Kremlin has also warned that Moscow "will not remain indifferent" to the fate of Russian speakers who live in Ukraine’s east, an area where Moscow has made it easier in recent months for them to gain Russian passports.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries. Moscow also backs separatists in a war against Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
Nearly 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been reported killed since the start of the year, compared with 50 in all of 2020, when fighting in the conflict subsided as a new cease-fire deal came into force in July.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and C-SPAN
Bulgaria's GERB Party To Nominate Ex-Foreign Minister For PM
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov says that his GERB party will nominate Daniel Mitov, a former foreign minister, to lead the government it will try to form after the April 4 election.
"I am choosing Daniel Mitov, because I want very clearly to underline our pro-European and pro-NATO position," Borisov told GERB lawmakers in a live streaming on his Facebook page on April 14.
Borisov, who has dominated the Balkan country's politics since 2009, said he would also quit his seat as a lawmaker in the new parliament to focus on his center-right party.
The pro-Western Mitov was minister of foreign affairs from 2014 to 2017.
GERB won 75 seats in the 240-seats parliament. All the other political parties have refused to support GERB, so it is most likely that it will fail to form the government.
With reporting by Reuters
Another Kazakh Activist Goes On Trial Over Links With Banned Political Group
NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh activist Erbol Eskhozhin has gone on trial over his alleged links with the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement as authorities continue to roundup supporters of the group that is led from abroad by former banker Mukhtar Ablyazov.
The Saryarqa district court in the Kazakh capital began the hearing on April 14 as about a dozen of activists rallied in the city, demanding Eskhozhin's release and expressing support for dozens of other activists sentenced for backing the DVK in recent years.
The trial is being held online due to coronavirus precautions.
Eskhozhin, 44, was arrested in December 2020 and charged with taking part in the activities of the DVK, which was labelled as extremist and banned in the country in 2018.
Last December, the charge was changed to organizing activities for the DVK, which is an offense punishable by up to six years in prison. Eskhozhin has rejected the charge as politically motivated.
In recent years, many activists across the Central Asian nation have been convicted for their involvement in the activities of the DVK and its associated grouping, the Koshe (Street) Party.
Last week, human rights activists in Kazakhstan’s second-largest city, Almaty, expressed concerns over the situation faced by another jailed DVK supporter, Aset Abishev, who, the activists said, was placed in solitary confinement after he cut his wrists to protest his treatment by guards and overall prison conditions.
Aide Of Former Putin Envoy Gets More Than 12 Years In Prison For High Treason
MOSCOW -- Aleksandr Vorobyov, who worked as an assistant to President Vladimir Putin's envoy to the Urals region, has been sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on a charge of high treason.
A Moscow court sentenced Vorobyov on April 14 after a trial that was held behind closed doors due to classified materials in the case.
Vorobyov was detained in July 2019 and fired shortly after the arrest.
His chief, Nikolai Tsukanov, left the post of presidential envoy in the Ural Federal District more than a year after Vorobyov was charged with high treason.
At the time, Tsukanov was a member of Russia's Security Council, the State Border Commission, and the Presidential Council on Priority Projects. He quit those posts after his aide's arrest.
Media reports at the time said that investigators had found a Polish passport and a recording device in Vorobyov's possession at the time of his arrest.
Vorobyov was stripped of the rank of state councilor of the third degree, which corresponds to the military rank of major general, and expelled from the ruling United Russia party.
The affair was the first publicly known case of a government official being arrested on suspicions of treason in post-Soviet Russia.
Since then, the number of cases of alleged high treason in general has increased dramatically in Russia.
One of the latest high-profile high treason cases involves Ivan Safronov, a journalist and an aide to the Russian Roskosmos space agency chief, Dmitry Rogozin.
Safronov was arrested on July 7 and later charged with passing classified material to the Czech Republic. He has denied the charge.
Members Of Navalny's Team Detained In Southern Russian City Of Krasnodar
KRASNODAR, Russia -- Police in the Russian city of Krasnodar have detained several members of the local team of jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny for unclear reasons amid ongoing crackdown on the network of Navalny’s teams across the country.
The coordinator of the team, Anastasia Panchenko, told RFE/RL that traffic police stopped a car transporting her and two colleagues as they were traveling to a location to shoot a documentary.
Police took the activists to the Krasnodar city police department for what they called "a check." When the activists said they would not go, the officers threatened them with a charge of disobeying a police order.
Panchenko said lawyer Feliks Vertegel is representing their interests at this point.
Activists associated with Navalny have been under pressure since the 44-year-old outspoken Kremlin-critic was incarcerated in February.
The coordinator of Navalny’s team in the North Caucasus region of Daghestan, Eduard Atayev, and his assistant Murad Manapov, were detained on unspecified administrative charges on April 12 and April 13 respectively, after the team was established over the weekend, Navalny's associate Ruslan Ablyakimov told RFE/RL.
Earlier in February, an initial attempt to set up Navalny’s team in Makhachkala failed after its coordinator-to-be, Ruslan Ablyakimov, was attacked and beaten by unidentified individuals after he arrived in the region from Moscow.
The coordinator of the network of Navalny's teams across Russia, Leonid Volkov, has said that, despite Navalny's incarceration, the teams will continue their work to derail the ruling United Russia party's stranglehold on power in parliamentary elections in September.
Navalny and his supporters have developed a "smart voting" system, which is aimed at undercutting United Russia candidates.
Under the system, voters can enter their address into a special app, which will then give them a list of the candidates deemed most likely to defeat their United Russia rivals regardless of their party affiliation.
Navalny was imprisoned after returning to Russia in January from his recuperation in Germany after he survived a poison attack last August in Siberia. He has accused President Vladimir Putin of ordering his assassination, something the Kremlin denies.
Navalny has complained of back pain and numbness in his hands and legs and has accused prison authorities of withholding adequate medical treatment.
He declared a hunger strike in late March, raising even more concerns about his overall health.
Well-Known Kyrgyz Political Analyst Detained On High-Treason Charge
BISHKEK -- Marat Kazakpaev, a well-known Kyrgyz political analyst, has been detained on a charge of high treason.
The State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on April 14 that Kazakpaev and another person identified only by his initials, M.T., had been detained the previous day.
Due to classified materials in the case, no further details were made public. If found guilty, the two men may face up to 10 years in prison.
Kyiv Extends COVID Lockdown Till End Of April
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv will remain on lockdown until April 30 as the daily number of new coronavirus cases and coronavirus-related deaths continues to climb.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced the decision in a televised briefing on April 14, saying there was "no other choice, otherwise the medical system would not be able to cope with a further rise in the number of patients, otherwise there will be even more deaths."
Last month, city authorities closed schools and kindergartens, theaters, and shopping centers, while cafes and restaurants were only allowed to provide takeaway food. Kyiv public transport is now operating on special passenger passes for those working for critical infrastructure enterprises.
Klitschko recommended that companies keep employees working remotely, or, have them take vacation.
“No time to be frivolous. Today, our main task is to preserve the health and life of Kyiv residents, to help our doctors cope with this wave,” he said.
The mayor said the capital reported 1,457 new coronavirus cases on April 13 and some 47 related deaths.
Ukraine has registered a total of nearly 1.9 million coronavirus infections and over 38,220 related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Prosecutors In Siberia Seek Lengthy Prison Terms For Two Jehovah's Witnesses
KEMEROVO, Russia -- Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Kemerovo have asked a court to sentence two Jehovah's Witnesses to five years in prison each as Russia continues its crackdown on the religious group.
The group said the prosecutor had requested the Zavodskoi district court to hand down the jail terms to 60-year-old Sergei Yavushkin and 46-year-old Aleksandr Bondarchuk. The defendants are expected to give their final statements in the trial on April 16, after which Judge Vera Ulyanyuk will announce her decision.
The case against Yavushkin and Bondarchuk was launched in July 2019. They were charged with organizing the activities of "a banned, extremist group" and placed under house arrest at the time, because of which they lost their jobs.
It was said at the trial, which started almost exactly a year ago, that charges against the defendants were based on materials provided by a person who had actively taken part in the prayers and Bible studies of the religious group and secretly recorded the sessions with the intention of turning over the materials to investigators.
Since the faith was outlawed in Russia, many Jehovah's Witnesses have been imprisoned in the country and in Russia-annexed Crimea.
The United States has condemned Moscow's ongoing crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses and other peaceful religious minorities.
For decades, the Jehovah's Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.
The Christian group is known for door-to-door preaching, close Bible study, rejecting military service, and not celebrating national and religious holidays or birthdays.
According to the group, dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses have either been convicted of extremism or are being held in pretrial detention.
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has recognized dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses who've been charged with or convicted of extremism as political prisoners.
- By RFE/RL
Germany Says Russia Seeking To 'Provoke' With Troop Buildup At Ukraine's Border
Germany has accused Russia of seeking provocation with its troop buildup in the occupied Crimean Peninsula and along the border with Ukraine, while rejecting Moscow's claim that it was responding to threats from NATO.
"My impression is that the Russian side is trying everything to provoke a reaction," German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told public broadcaster ARD television on April 14.
"Together with Ukraine, we won't be drawn into this game," she said, adding it was clear that Russia "is just waiting for a move, so to speak, from NATO, to have a pretext to continue its actions."
Recent photographs, video, and other data suggest major movements of Russian armed units toward or near Ukraine's borders and into Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014, fueling concerns that Russia is preparing to send forces into Ukraine.
Ukraine and the West also blame Moscow-backed separatists holding parts of the country's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk for a recent spike in hostilities, while Moscow has pointed the finger at Kyiv.
Kramp-Karrenbauer also cast doubt on Moscow's claim that the buildup is in response to "threats" from the transatlantic alliance.
"If it is a maneuver, like the Russian side says, there are international procedures through which one can create transparency and trust," she said.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted amid a wave of public protests.
Moscow also backs separatists in a war against Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
With tensions rising, U.S. President Joe Biden on April 13 urged his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to take measures to de-escalate the situation with Kyiv and proposed a summit between the two leaders in a third country.
In a phone call with Putin, Biden "voiced our concerns over the sudden Russian military buildup" while reaffirming "his goal of building a stable and predictable relationship with Russia consistent with U.S. interests, and proposed a summit meeting in a third country in the coming months to discuss the full range of issues facing the United States and Russia," a White House statement said.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on April 14 that the Kremlin will consider Biden's proposal.
"It is early to talk about this meeting in terms of specifics. This is a new proposal and it will be studied. There will be an analysis," he told reporters.
Such a summit would be the first between Putin and Biden, who took office vowing a tougher stance toward Moscow than the one taken by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
Some analysts have suggested that Russia’s recent actions may be meant to test the new U.S. administration and its commitment to Ukraine.
The Kremlin has rejected Western calls to pull back its troops from the border region, denying they are a threat and adding that military movements within Russia are an internal sovereign issue.
It has also warned that Moscow "will not remain indifferent" to the fate of Russian speakers who live in Ukraine’s east.
Citing a Russian Foreign Ministry source, the RIA Novosti news agency reported that Putin's foreign-policy adviser, Yury Ushakov, had told the U.S. ambassador in Moscow on April 13 that Moscow would act decisively if the United States undertook any new "unfriendly steps," such as imposing sanctions.
Speaking to the Vesti FM radio station on April 14, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused NATO of "playing games" with Kyiv, inciting politicians there to maintain tensions in eastern Ukraine, according to TASS.
A Journey Into The Trenches And Bomb Shelters As Military Tensions Escalate In Eastern Ukraine
The previous day, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed that Moscow has deployed troops to its western borders for "combat training exercises" in response to NATO "military activities that threaten Russia."
But it was not clear to which activities Shoigu was referring, as the Western security alliance has denied making any military moves in the region.
Shoigu didn't elaborate, but he could have been referencing the DEFENDER-Europe 21 military exercises taking place in Europe and Africa, which began in March and involve almost 30,000 troops from 26 countries.
Nearly 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been reported killed since the start of the year, compared with 50 in all of 2020. Separatists have said more than 20 of their fighters had been killed so far in 2021.
The exercises, which will run into June, are taking place in various countries, including Estonia -- which shares a border with Russia -- Bulgaria and Romania.
According to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy's office, Russia has massed more than 40,000 troops both on Ukraine's eastern border and in the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
Kyiv has so far reacted in a "sober" manner, the German defense minister said in the ARD interview, stressing that NATO allies were "committed to Ukraine, that is very clear."
On April 13, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks in Brussels with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who accused Russia of taking "very provocative" actions.
Blinken also affirmed the United States' "unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression."
At a news conference, Stoltenberg called on Moscow to end "the largest massing of Russian troops since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014," saying the movements were "unjustified, unexplained, and deeply concerning."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's military said one of its soldiers was killed and three wounded on April 13 when separatists fired 82-millimeter mortar rounds toward Ukrainian positions, as well as grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and automatic rifles.
Nearly 30 Ukrainian soldiers have been reported killed since the start of the year, compared with 50 in all of 2020, when fighting in the conflict subsided as a new cease-fire deal came into force in July.
Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk regions have said more than 20 of their fighters have been killed so far in 2021.
Highlighting the growing tensions between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran said on April 14 that Russia is preparing Crimea for potentially storing nuclear weapons and warned that Moscow could attack Ukraine to ensure water supplies for the annexed peninsula.
Taran, who made the statement to the European Parliament's defense sub-committee in Brussels, did not immediately provide evidence for his assertions.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said it had deployed tanks and artillery near the administrative border of Crimea on April 14 to practice repelling a force of tanks and infantry trying to break through the country’s defenses.
The drills came as the Russian Navy began exercises in the Black Sea ahead of the expected arrival of two U.S. warships in the area this week, Russian news agencies reported.
The drills will involve surface vessels from Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which is based in Crimea, along with helicopters and planes, and will rehearse firing at surface and air targets, according to Interfax
With reporting by AFP, UNIAN, TASS, Interfax, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Bipartisan U.S. Task Force Highlights Strategy To Counter Russia, Other 'Autocratic Regimes'
A bipartisan U.S. task force has published a road map for a foreign policy and national-security strategy prioritizing the advancement of democracy and the fight against authoritarianism in China, Russia, and elsewhere.
In a report published on April 14, the task force convened last year by Freedom House, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the McCain Institute said that "the rise of authoritarianism, coupled with the erosion of democracy, threatens global stability, America’s economic and security alliances, and respect for human dignity.”
“This alarming confluence requires an urgent, bold, generational response,” the task force -- comprising leaders, experts, and former policy makers -- insisted, saying “increasingly repressive and aggressive China” is using “economic, military, and diplomatic coercion to undermine democratic governance and advance its influence in Asia and beyond.”
Meanwhile, Russia “foments division and insecurity in established and struggling democracies, especially those close to its borders, viewing the spread of democracy as an existential threat,” according to the report.
Both Beijing and Moscow “seek to advance their interests by undermining the rules-based liberal international order that the United States and its allies have superintended for three-quarters of a century, and which constrains their ambitions,” it said.
“We are living through a historically unprecedented rate of technological, economic, demographic, and geopolitical change, and that instability has created space for authoritarians around the world to flourish,” said Freedom House President Michael J. Abramowitz, who urged the U.S. administration to “reverse this frightening trend before it’s too late.”
In its annual report released in March, Freedom House said that the coronavirus pandemic, economic uncertainty, and conflicts across the world contributed to the decline of global freedom in 2020. The Washington-based human rights watchdog said that the number of countries designated "not free" was at its highest level in 15 years.
In its inaugural report, the Task Force on U.S. Strategy to Support Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism recommended seven “interrelated strategies” to reverse “the rising tide against freedom” that would include making democracy and countering authoritarianism a priority for U.S. diplomatic engagement by “galvanizing an international coalition to push back against authoritarian threats and reinforce democratic governance.”
“The United States and its democratic partners should make clear that authoritarian governments in China, Russia, and elsewhere seek to divide and undermine democracies while denying their own citizens’ fundamental rights,” the task force said.
Viewing democracy as “a threat to their authoritarian model,” China and Russia “seek to prop up like-minded autocrats in other countries, especially those facing popular pushback.”
The report called on the United States and its partners to “dramatically increase investment in the pillars of open, accountable, inclusive, democratic society: free and fair elections; independent media; and a vibrant, active civil society.”
That would include investing in “a large-scale Enterprise Fund for Independent Media to promote free expression and quality journalism internationally.”
The United States should also develop a strategy to counter intentional disinformation, state-sponsored propaganda, unintended misinformation, online hate, and harassment whose “rampant spread” is interfering with basic democratic processes.
“State actors like Russia and China have been using disinformation globally for years as part of a broader malign influence strategy to sow chaos, amplify internal divisions, discredit critics, and decrease trust in the democratic process,” according to the report.
For instance, the Russian government uses traditional outlets such as the state-owned multilingual news services RT and Sputnik, as well as social media, to “exploit divisions” in Europe -- especially the Balkans -- and in Africa, Latin America, and the Asia- Pacific region.
The task force called the fight against corruption and kleptocracy a “fundamental pillar” of the U.S. national security strategy.
Foreign aid and security assistance should be distributed in ways that help reduce corruption and promote private investment in countries showing progress in countering corruption, which “harms effective governance, undermines economic growth, and weakens the rule of law.”
The report noted that corruption in Russia “plays an increasingly large role in regime stability,” with President Vladimir Putin being able to consolidate his power by allowing key political elites to benefit from graft. The Kremlin also uses corruption to “undermine democracy in Europe and counter U.S. influence in the world.”
Washington should also negotiate economic agreements that set high standards for governance and democracy, as well as use development finance and U.S. leadership in multilateral development banks to “boost inclusive growth and a sustainable recovery; incentivize democratic governance; and avoid debt traps, while demonstrating that democracy can deliver,” the report concluded.
U.S.-Belarusian Lawyer 'Abducted' In Moscow, Transferred To Minsk
MINSK -- Yuras Zyankovich, a Belarusian lawyer who also has U.S. citizenship, has been detained in Moscow and transferred to a detention center in Minsk amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent in Belarus following a disputed presidential election last year.
Zyankovich's wife, Alena Dzenisavets, told RFE/RL on April 13 that Russian security officers "abducted" her husband from the Nordic Rooms Hotel in Moscow on April 11 and brought him to the Belarusian capital.
"I learned about that only yesterday. I talked to a manager of the hotel. According to him, the hotel's personnel saw how men in civilian clothes took Yuras away, saying that he was suspected of terrorism. They showed their documents saying that they are from security organs," Dzenisavets said, adding that Zyankovich is currently in the detention center for the Belarusian Committee of State Security (KGB) in Minsk.
Yuras Zyankovich, who used to be a regional leader of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front (BNF) party and once sought to be its presidential candidate, has been living in the United States since 2007.
He is a graduate of Fordham University's School of Law in New York and is permanently based in Houston, Texas. Zyankovich frequently visits Belarus and actively takes part in the country's political life.
On April 12, the day of Zyankovich’s detention in Moscow, a noted Belarusian political analyst, Alyaksandr Fyaduta, went incommunicado in the Russian capital, where he works as a media consultant.
Moscow police said at the time that they had started looking for him after his relatives raised concerns about his whereabouts.
On April 13, the Belarusian KGB said that Fyaduta is in custody in Minsk.
The KGB statement said that Fyaduta and BNF chairman Ryhor Kastusyou were being held on unspecified charges, adding that detailed information on the cases will be provided later.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has ruled the country since 1994, was declared the landslide winner in the August election, which was widely viewed as rigged in his favor.
Thousands of citizens took to the streets for months to protest the results, saying Lukashenka's challenger, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, actually won the election.
Tsikhanouskaya left Belarus for Lithuania after the election for security reasons, while Lukashenka has directed a brutal postelection crackdown in which almost 30,000 have been detained, hundreds beaten, several killed, and journalists targeted.
Many other senior opposition figures have also left or were forced to leave Belarus, fearing for their safety, while several of those who haven't left have been detained by security officials.
- By RFE/RL
European Powers Slam Iran For 'Dangerous' Enrichment Move
The Western European powers who are party to the Iran nuclear deal have expressed "grave concern" over Tehran's announcement that it will start enriching uranium up to 60 percent purity.
"Iran's dangerous recent communication is contrary to the constructive spirit and good faith" of ongoing efforts to revive the 2015 agreement, Britain, France, and Germany said in a joint statement on April 14.
Last week in Vienna, Iran and the global powers held what they described as "constructive" EU-hosted talks centered on overcoming an impasse between Washington and Tehran to bring both parties into full compliance with the 2015 nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Further discussions are scheduled in the Austrian capital on April 15.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, Iran said on April 14 that it will start producing uranium enriched to 60 percent purity by next week following an alleged attack on the country's main Natanz nuclear site that Tehran has blamed on archenemy Israel.
Few details have emerged about the April 11 alleged sabotage attack and no images of the aftermath have been released.
Inspectors from the UN's nuclear watchdog visited the site without commenting on the extent of the damage caused by the alleged attack.
"IAEA inspectors are continuing their verification and monitoring activities in Iran, and today have been at the Natanz enrichment site," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement on April 14.
"The IAEA will continue to report on relevant developments regarding Iran's nuclear program to the IAEA Board of Governors," it added, referring to its 35-nation decision-making body.
Israel is suspected of carrying out sabotage against Iran in the past, including cyberattacks and assassinations of nuclear scientists.
The White House has said it remains committed to talks with Iran despite Tehran's "provocative" statement that it will ramp up uranium enrichment.
Under the nuclear agreement, abandoned by the United States under former President Donald Trump, Iran had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67 percent. Recently it has been enriching up to 20 percent, saying the deal was no longer enforceable.
Enriching uranium to 60 percent would be the highest level achieved by Iran's nuclear program, although it would still be short of the 90 percent purity needed for military use. Tehran has repeatedly denied it is seeking nuclear weapons saying its nuclear ambitions are purely civilian.
Britain, France, and Germany said Tehran's decision was not based on credible civilian reasons and constituted an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon.
"Iran's announcements are particularly regrettable given they come at a time when all JCPOA participants and the United States have started substantive discussions, with the objective of finding a rapid diplomatic solution to revitalize and restore" the accord, the so-called E3 European powers said.
"In light of recent developments, we reject all escalatory measures by any actor, and we call upon Iran not to further complicate the diplomatic process," the statement said.
The pact lifted international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear program. But the Trump administration imposed a raft of sanctions on Tehran under a "maximum pressure" campaign after it withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018.
Iran responded by gradually breaching many of the nuclear restrictions saying the deal no longer applied.
U.S. and Iranian officials have publicly clashed over the sequencing of possible U.S. sanctions relief and Iran reversing its breaches of the deal.
In a message aimed at Israel, which fiercely opposes the nuclear deal, Iran's President Hassan Rohani said during a cabinet meeting on April 14: "You wanted to make our hands empty during the talks but our hands are full."
Under the agreement, Iran had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67 percent. Recently, it has been enriching up to 20 percent, saying the deal was no longer enforceable.
The White House has said it remains committed to talks with Iran despite Tehran's "provocative" statement that it will ramp up uranium enrichment.
In a message aimed at Israel, Iran's President Hassan Rohani said during a cabinet meeting on April 14: “You wanted to make our hands empty during the talks, but our hands are full."
“We cut both of your hands, one with IR-6 centrifuges and another one with 60 percent,” he added.
IR-6 centrifuges enrich uranium at a far faster rate than the IR-1 first-generation centrifuges that were taken out in the suspected sabotage attack.
On April 13, the IAEA's director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, confirmed that Iran had informed the agency that the country “intends to start producing UF6 enriched up to 60 percent."
The White House is "certainly concerned about these provocative announcements," press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. "We believe that the diplomatic path is the only path forward here and that having a discussion, even indirect, is the best way to come to a resolution."
"We cut both of your hands, one with IR-6 centrifuges and another one with 60 percent," he added.
IR-6 centrifuges enrich uranium at a far faster rate than the IR-1 first-generation centrifuges that were taken out in the sabotage attack.
Rohani reiterated that Tehran is determined to continue negotiations with world powers, and pledged that Iran's nuclear activity will "certainly be peaceful" and remain under IAEA supervision.
Saudi Arabia said on April 14 that enriching uranium to 60 percent purity could not be considered part of a peaceful nuclear program, and called on Iran to avoid escalation and engage seriously in talks with global powers.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have supported Trump's move to quit the nuclear pact and reimpose sanctions.
With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters, and RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Editors At Moscow Student Magazine Detained Over Navalny Protest Video
MOSCOW -- The authorities are investigating four editors of the student magazine Doxa, accusing them of "engaging minors in actions that might be dangerous" over a January video related to unsanctioned rallies to protest the incarceration of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.
The magazine said that Armen Aramyan, Vladimir Metyolkin, Natalya Tyshkevich, and Alla Gutnikova were detained for questioning by the Investigative Committee after their homes and the magazine's offices were searched on April 14.
Police confiscated the journalists' laptops and telephones, the magazine said, while Tyshkevich said police broke down her apartment door.
According to Doxa, a court will decide on pretrial restrictions for the four journalists later on April 14.
The video in question was issued by Doxa in January. It warned students about the possible repercussions they could face for participating in unsanctioned rallies on January 23 and 31 in protest of the arrest of Kremlin critic Navalny.
Doxa editors say the video was immediately deleted from the magazine's website following media watchdog Roskomnadzor's demand to do so.
More than 10,000 supporters of Navalny were detained across Russia during and after the January rallies. Many of the detained were either fined or handed several-day jail terms. At least 90 were charged with criminal offenses; several have been fired by their employers.
Human rights groups have called on Moscow repeatedly to stop targeting journalists because they are covering the protests or expressing solidarity with protesters, since both are protected under the right to freedom of expression.
"Instead of targeting journalists, the authorities should hold accountable police who attack journalists and interfere with their work," Human Rights Watch said in a statement on February 3.
Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport on January 17 upon his arrival from Germany, where he was recovering from a poisoning in Siberia in August 2020 that several European laboratories concluded was from a military-grade chemical nerve agent.
Navalny has insisted that his poisoning was ordered directly by President Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin has denied.
In February, a Moscow court ruled that, while in Germany, Navalny had violated the terms of parole from an old embezzlement case that is widely considered as being politically motivated.
Navalny's 3 1/2-year suspended sentence from the case was converted to a jail term, though the court said he will serve 2 1/2 years in prison given the amount of time he had been held in detention.
With reporting by Meduza and Novaya gazeta
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