Russia

President Medvedev conducted a small reshuffle last week, which has been completely overlooked in the west, but which may represent a further marginalisation of Prime Minister Putin as the two men prepare to compete in upcoming Presidential elections in 2012.

The loss of the Aral sea was quite possibly the worst man-made environmental disaster in history. It is also a damning indictment of Soviet era policy and planning. But now there is cause for optimism, as the sea begins to recover, following completion of a dam project in 2005. Water levels are rising, salinity is dropping, and fish stocks are recovering to a level where cautious and low-level fishing will soon be viable.

As results come in from yesterday's mid-term regional elections in Russia, one or two surprises are emerging.

The ruling United Russia  party, led by Vladimir Putin, is clearly ahead, as expected, but parties that would be considered "extremist" in the west have acheived some stunning results.

 

President Medvedev's proposal for a new European Security Pact, intended to replace NATO in Europe, came a step closer to fruition this weekend. During the EU-Russia summit on November 14th he raised the matter, reminding delegates that Nicolas Sarkozy is firmly behind the proposal. Angela Merkel is also known to be supportive.

A spokesman for the Russian Prime Minister spoke to his Swedish counterpart Fredrik Reinfeldt by telephone, after “uncovering concerns” that Ukrainian president Viktor Yushchenko was blocking payments for Russian gas supplies.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is hoping to line up more than 30 contracts worth $5.5 billion, relating to communications, transport, and energy, during his trip to China this week.

Over the last 6 years, trade between the two countries has risen to over $50 billion per annum, and the Kremlin is keen to build on this as it struggles with an economic decline set to reach 7.5% this year - far worse than initially predicted.

Seventy years ago today, the Soviet Red Army invaded a beleaguered Poland from the east, just seventeen days after the German invasion. The Polish army, outmanned and outgunned was quickly overwhelmed and the notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact’s envisaged partition of Poland was complete. Everybody knows this course of events as marking the opening stages of the Second World War in Europe, or so it would seem.

 

President Medvedev met with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, the world's only elected communist head of state, on August 21st. Discussions apparently centred on economic affairs, with the Russian President lamenting the deterioration in relations between the two nations in recent years.