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The odds for any kind of breakthrough from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to Russia were vanishingly low from the first , says bne IntelliNews columnist Mark Galeotti . The political process proved as gridlocked at Moscow’s streets, as highway after highway was closed to accommodate VIP motorcades. This is not just a question of US-Russian relations, though: it also speaks to the Kremlin’s fundamental uncertainty as to what to do about a whole series of urgent concerns.
The G7 meeting of foreign ministers held in Italy on April 11 did not back imposing new sanctions on Russian for its alleged complicity in the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria that led to a global outcry and US missile strikes against Syrian forces. At the same time, the G7 ministers agreed that no solution to the crisis in Syria was possible while President Bashar al-Assad remained in power. The European members of the G7 grouping of leading industrial nations rejected additional punitive measures against the Kremlin demanded by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, arguing that a probe into the details of the April 4 attack is required, according to news reports. Around 80 civilians were killed by a deadly gas released in Syria’s Idlib province. While the West blamed Assad’s regime for a deliberate attack, Russia backed claims by Damascus that a militant chemical weapons facility was to blame. The incident drew a series of punitive US cruise missile strikes on a nearby Syrian airbase.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a new customs code of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) a fter months of delay caused by feuding with Moscow over oil and gas supplies, border security and terms of membership of post-Soviet integration organisations. The information about the move was confirmed by Lukashenko's spokesperson Natalya Eismont on April 12. She did not elaborate on the issue. In December, Lukashenko refused to participate in a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) in St Petersburg attended by the presidents of Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. During the event, the presidents signed the new customs code. On April 3, Lukashenko met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. After long talks in Moscow the sides s aid the months-long energy dispute would be resolved within ten days.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released on April 10 after spending 15 days in jail for disobeying police during a rally in Moscow last month, only to face threats of legal action bybnaire Alisher Usmanov over his accusations of corruption. Thousands of people took to the streets in Moscow and many other cities on March 26 to protests against corruption among Russian officials. The rallies were triggered by an investigation by Navalny's anti-corruption fund, which released a documentary claiming that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev owns vast estates in Russia and abroad, as well as yachts and other luxurious items. Those accused of channelling lavish gifts to Medvedev included Usmanov. On April 11, Usmanov was quoted by TASS as saying that Navalny had "crossed a red line" by alleging that he paid the government head a bribe in the form of prime real estate. "Navalny misleads people," he was quoted as saying. "His statements are slander," added Usmanov, insisting that his business is conducted "transparently and legally".
Corruption in Ukraine is worse now than it was under former president Victor Yanukovych , who was ousted three years ago, according to a new report published by EY (formerly Ernst & Young). Ukraine was ranked the lowest among all countries participating in the biennial EY EMEIA Fraud
17 RUSSIA Country Report April 2017 www.intellinews.com