Chronologies
US - Russia
Chronology from Apr 2007 to Jul 2007
: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urges the Russian government to extradite murder suspect Andrei Lugovoi to the British government, which suspects him of poisoning an ex-KGB agent and anti-Putin émigré in London, Alexander Litvinenko.
: In a message posted on the Kremlin’s official website, Putin announces that Russia will suspend its obligations under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) after 150 days due to “exceptional circumstances affecting the security of the Russian Federation.”
: Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Stephen Mull states that the Azeri/Russian radar facility in Gabala being offered to the U.S. is no substitute for the facilities the U.S. plans to install in Poland and the Czech Republic.
: At a conference in Croatia, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs Daniel Fried hints that independence for Kosovo is still far away, an issue that has divided Moscow and Washington for months. Fried’s comments suggest a softer position for the U.S.
: International Olympic Committee awards 2014 Winter Games to Sochi, Russia.
: Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov warns that Russia might deploy medium-range missiles in Kaliningrad if the U.S. continues with plans to deploy an ABM system with facilities in Eastern Europe.
: Secretary Rice and FM Lavrov sign an accord to establish a new strategic arms framework based on START I.
: President Vladimir Putin visits President George Bush at the Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine (see last quarter’s CC report for more detail).
: Vladimir Putin visits George Bush at the Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
: The U.S. and Russian governments sign a Section 123 Agreement opening the road for further civilian nuclear cooperation.
: For the second time in a month Russia test-fires a long-range missile, successfully sending the Bulava ICBM from the White Sea to the Kamchatka Peninsula.
: Russian Finance Ministry confirms transfer of funds from the Delta Banco Asia to North Korea was completed via Dalkombank.
: Putin attends a Balkan energy summit in Zagreb. The next day he travels to Istanbul to attend the summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.
: BP agrees to sell its interest in the Kovykta gas field (worth an estimated $18 billion) in Siberia to the Russian energy giant Gazprom, in the latest state-directed acquisition of energy assets across Russia.
: In a meeting with Russian educators, Putin lashes out at “foreign” critics of the Stalinist purges, saying that Russia never used an atomic weapon against civilians, or sprayed defoliants across a third world nation.
: Secretary Gates meets Russian DM Serdyukov on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels.
: Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and Putin hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G-8 summit.
: At the G-8 summit, Putin proposes that Russia share a radar facility with the U.S. in Azerbaijan (Gabala). Putin hopes the U.S. will abandon plans for establishing a radar facility in the Czech Republic and an interceptor station in Poland.
: The G-8 summit is held in Heiligendamm, Germany.
: FM Lavrov visits two of the four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan. He then travels to Seoul to meet Korean leaders.
: President Bush begins European tour to the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Italy, Albania, and Bulgaria. Bush is en route to the G-8 summit on June 6-8.
: The Russian armed forces test-launch two ballistic missiles, purportedly in response to U.S. plans for the European-based missile defense system.
: Putin visits Austria for an energy summit. Austria signs a long-term contract with Gazprom to meet 80 percent of Austria’s gas needs for the next 20-years.
: The State Department expresses concern over the prospect of a Russian deal to provide a nuclear research reactor for Burma which has “neither the regulatory nor the legal framework or safeguard provisions” to handle a nuclear program.
: Rice arrives in Moscow to patch relations between Moscow and Washington on the eve of the G-8 summit. Rice meets Putin and FM Sergei Lavrov.
: In a talk at the Senate, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that “the concentration of power in the Kremlin has been troubling.”
: In a meeting with NATO officials, Russian Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, states that the CFE Treaty is on the “brink of collapse.”
: Putin sets off on a six-day trip to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
: In a speech on V-E Day in Moscow, Putin makes oblique comparisons between the U.S. and Nazi Germany.
: Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso arrives in Moscow for a short visit with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, the first visit in three years by a Japanese foreign minister to Moscow.
: Russia is placed by the U.S. Department of Commerce on a priority watch list for copyright piracy.
: In a Russian Duma address, President Vladimir Putin says he plans to suspend Russia’s commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty.
: Russia’s first President Boris Yeltsin passes away.
: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates meets top Kremlin officials in Moscow – including Russian DM Anatoly Serdyukov – to discuss defense cooperation.
: Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov says that he does not see any need for Russian-U.S. cooperation in strategic missile defense. The U.S. government has offered to cooperate with Moscow to diffuse tension over this issue.
: U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab allegedly states that Russia is not ready to join the WTO and that Jackson-Vanik will remain in effect for the time being. Schwab later claims she was not accurately quoted.
: U.S. Department of State releases annual report on human rights around the world. Russia gets a low grade in press freedom and political suppression.
: U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez visits Moscow and meets Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref to discuss Russia’s WTO accession.