Tag: Putin

Interfax: Putin says calling for overthrow of Russia’s system of government “extremism”

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Seated at Desk

(Interfax – Moscow, November 20, 2014) Calls to overthrow the existing system [of government in Russia] are a manifestation of extremism and anti-popular thinking, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. “In standing up for freedom of elections, assembly, marches, rallies, you should not forget responsibility for your words and actions. You must know and understand that stirring up conflict between […]

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Moscow Times: Putin Warns of Color Revolutions and Uncontrolled Migration in Extremism Speech

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Environs Aerial View

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 21, 2014) President Vladimir Putin called on law enforcement agencies, religious leaders, institutions of civil society and Russia’s education system to join together to prevent the rise of extremism. Describing the threat of extremism, Putin pointed to color revolutions. “In the modern world extremism is often used as a geopolitical instrument to rearrange spheres […]

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VIDEO: Is Putin intentionally provoking the West?

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Russia & the West, Sanctions, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

PBS News Hour interviews Russia scholar Kimberly Marten about Russia’s unfolding relations with the West. [click here for transcript] Said Marten: I think part of what’s going on is that Putin is trying to take attention off of the problems that the Russian economy is facing.  The sanctions are working much better than … predicted … they’re having real impact on the Russian oil industry … one […]

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Interfax: Lavrov says Kerry told him to ignore Obama’s words on Russia threat

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

(Interfax – November 19, 2014) Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had suggested to him that he should pay no attention to U.S. President Barack Obama’s remarks in which he called Russia a principal threat to the world. “The first time I took note of the listing of threats that President Obama took the […]

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Putin Said to Stun Advisers by Backing Corruption Crackdown

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Cropped File Photo of Two Men in Business Suits Shaking Hands and Passing Cash

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Evgenia Pismennaya, Irina Reznik- November 19, 2014) Vladimir Putin sat motionless as the minister, seizing on the Russian leader’s first major meeting with his economic team in months, itemized the challenges. A recession is imminent, inflation is getting out of hand and the ruble and oil are in freefall, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told Putin, according […]

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Putin, Now Marginalized Internationally, May Become Even More Dangerous, Oreshkin Says

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Valdai Club 2013 Meeting, Adapted from Screenshot of Valdai Club Video at youtube.com

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 18, 2014) The G-20 meeting in Brisbane demonstrated that “the marginalization of Putin is a fait accompli,” that he has failed to split the West, and that its leaders have no intention of acting as Neville Chamberlain did in the late 1930s, according to Dmitry Oreshkin. The Moscow political scientist, who […]

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Interfax: Putin backs proposal to devise procedure for NGOs’ removal from foreign agents register

Human Rights, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Interfax – November 17, 2014) President Vladimir Putin has backed Human Rights Commissioner Ella Pamfilova’s proposal to devise a procedure of removing nongovernmental organizations from the register of foreign agents after their foreign funding ends. Pamfilova told Putin that the Justice Ministry cannot remove NGOs, no longer financed from abroad, from the foreign agents register in the absence of a […]

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Time for change – G20

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Russia & the West
G20 Australia 2014

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne/IntelliNews – November 17, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the leaders of the western world at the weekend at the G20 summit, the first face-to-face meeting of all the world’s leaders since the Russian annexation of Crimea in March. “At the closing of the evening program of the G20 summit [in Brisbane] […]

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Putin’s Early Departure From G20 Summit a ‘Mistake’

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Russia & the West, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
G20 Australia 2014

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – November 17, 2014) President Vladimir Putin made an early departure Sunday from the two-day G20 Summit in Australia, after fielding an abundance of criticism from Western leaders over Russia’s allegedly aggressive role in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, a move some observers say will inevitably be interpreted as a symbol of defeat. […]

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Interfax: Putin: What was done in Crimea was not in any way different from what had been done in Kosovo

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukraine Map and Flag

(Interfax – November 17, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again said that Russia did not commit any violations of international law by incorporating Crimea and described the Western reaction as totally disproportionate to what had happened. “We believe that this sort of reaction was totally disproportionate to what had happened. Whenever I hear complaints about Russia violating international […]

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China Favored to Win U.S.-Russia Showdown

China, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
China Map

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – November 12, 2014) In what appears to have been an expertly crafted demonstration of Eastern diplomacy, Chinese President Xi Jinping walked into the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Monday flanked by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama. Obama and Putin maintained equally icy demeanors, while Xi – the host of this […]

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Does Putin’s Russia Have a Future?

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – November 7, 2014) Russia’s present is too unbalanced to discuss, and President Vladimir Putin prefers to rehash the past. That increases the temptation to talk about the distant future, to fathom where the country’s current trajectory is leading. Some smart commentators in Moscow have also given in to this temptation, and their scenarios […]

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Putin’s Valdai Speech Echoes Not Churchill’s at Fulton but Hitler’s at Berchtesgaden, Illarionov Says

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, History, Soviet Union
File Photo of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Riding in Convertible

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 9, 2014) Some Moscow commentators have compared Vladimir Putin’s speech to the Valdai Club meeting in to Winston Churchill’s 1946 “Iron Curtain” speech at Fulton, Missouri, but the Kremlin leader’s remarks in fact are far closer to those delivered by Adolf Hitler to Neville Chamberlain at Berchtesgaden in 1938, according to […]

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Russia Reenacts WWII March After Putin Defends Nazi Pact

History, Soviet Union, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler Riding in Convertible

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – November 7, 2014) Russian troops marched in Red Square to commemorate a World War II parade held under the noses of German invaders in 1941 two days after President Vladimir Putin defended a 1939 non-aggression pact with Hitler. Six thousand soldiers and cadets accompanied by World War II-era warplanes and other weaponry today […]

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Russians say Moscow-Washington relations got worse under Obama – poll

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated Before Russian and U.S. Flags

(Interfax – November 6, 2014) Sixty-seven percent of Russian citizens recently interviewed by the Levada Center believe that relations between Russia and the United States have grown worse in the Obama era, the center’s sociologists told Interfax. A mere 9 percent of respondents said they see positive changes in ties between the two countries, 16 percent believe that these relations […]

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NEWSLINK: Mr. Putin resumes his chipping away at Ukraine

Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Ukraine Map and Flag

[“Mr. Putin resumes his chipping away at Ukraine” – Washington Post editorial – Nov. 3, 2014] The Washington Post editors characterize unauthorized elections held by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine as another stage in Russian aggression: Russia has taken another significant step toward creating a puppet state inside Ukraine. Over the weekend the Moscow-controlled cities of Donetsk and Luhansk and nearby […]

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Putin Forever

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – November 5, 2014) As one of his activities marking the Unity Day holiday, Vladimir Putin joined Patriarch Kirill to view an exhibition commemorating the Rurik Dynasty, which established tsarism in Russia and ruled for seven centuries. What kind of message was he trying to send? If you look hard enough, and even if […]

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Putin’s new foreign policy rulebook

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas
Kremlin and Environs Aerial View

(opendemocracy.net – Anna Arutunyan – November 3, 2014) Anna Arutunyan is an independent journalist and author of ‘The Putin Mystique.’ She lives in Moscow As the Ukraine crisis drags on and as the transformative effects of Crimea’s annexation become increasingly apparent, every time Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, opens his mouth, the bewildered world looks to what he says, for a […]

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Vladimir Putin’s Valdai Show

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – Olga Khvostunova- October 28, 2014) On the last day of the annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Vladimir Putin delivered a speech in which he accused the United States of attempting to establish a global dictatorship. Olga Khvostunova, editor-in-chief of imrussia.org, speculates that the Russian president might have been subconsciously speaking […]

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RIA Novosti: Putin: Civil War Rages in Ukraine Despite Reconciliation Deals

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

November 5 (RIA Novosti) – The civil war rages in eastern Ukraine despite reconciliation agreements reached this fall with the participation of Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Russian president said Wednesday. “A civil conflict, which in fact is a civil war, rages in Ukraine, near Russian borders. Despite Minsk agreements, peaceful cities are being […]

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Stalin Invented Hybrid War, Not Vladimir Putin, Archival Record Shows

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, History, Soviet Union, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 4, 2014) One of the most frequently invoked explanations for the inability of leaders to cope with a challenge is that it is something fundamentally new that they could not have been expected to recognize, understand, and know precisely how to respond. That has been the case in Ukraine and the […]

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Putin’s Strategy in Ukraine – Sow Panic, Provoke, Invade and Then Repeat the Process

Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Vladimir Putin

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, November 3, 2014) Vladimir Putin has a very clear strategy in Ukraine: first, sow panic among Ukrainians and the West and then wait, then provoke Ukrainians into doing things that distance them from the West, and then wait; invade when both Ukrainians and the West are off balance; and then repeat the […]

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Putin’s Popularity Rooted in Nationalism

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Outdoor Rally with Microphone in Hand and Heavy Coat

(Voice of America – voanews.com – Daniel Schearf – November 1, 2014) Russia’s economy was struggling even before it was hit with western sanctions for annexing Crimea from Ukraine. Despite the downward trend, President Vladimir Putin’s popularity has reached an all-time high on a wave of nationalistic fervor. But analysts say the high numbers are set to drop. The value […]

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Putin’s Colossus Will Crumble, Kremlin Foe Navalny Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Environs Aerial View

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Henry Meyer – October 30, 2014) As President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating with Russians returns to a record, the man who would oust him from the Kremlin sits isolated at home under house arrest. Alexey Navalny remains convinced that he can bring about the downfall of Russia’s “authoritarian” ruler. “The regime will devour itself, destroy itself, […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian pundits link Putin’s high ratings to Valdai speech, external pressure

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, October 30, 2014) Experts polled by RIA Novosti have linked President Vladimir Putin’s consistently high approval ratings, as documented by the Public Opinion Foundation [FOM], to socioeconomic instability, external pressure and the president’s powerful speech at the Valdai [Valday] forum [on 24 October]. According to the results of a FOM survey conducted on 25-26 October, among […]

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Russian Elites Still View Putin as Their Defense Against Russian People, Skobov Says

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Vladimir Putin file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 30, 2014) Members of Russian elites see Vladimir Putin as the only person who can maintain the existing system in which they are beneficiaries and protect them from having to go head to head with the Russian people as a whole, Aleksandr Skobov says. Consequently, they will stick with him even […]

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Interfax: State pollster denies Russian TV brainwashes viewers about Putin

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Russian Television Studio

(Interfax – October 29, 2014) Russian TV is not a zombie box as it speaks of President Vladimir Putin not only in glowing terms but also carries criticisms of him, the head of the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM), Valeriy Fedorov, has said. He was speaking at a news conference in Moscow on 29 October, as reported by privately-owned […]

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Vast Majority of Russians Think Foreign Media Criticize Putin to Weaken Russia

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – October 30, 2014) The overwhelming majority of Russians view negative foreign media coverage of President Vladimir Putin and of Russia in general as an attempt to destabilize the country, pollster VTsIOM revealed Wednesday. The poll revealed that 87 percent of respondents see such ulterior motives in critical remarks released by foreign media […]

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Number of Russians ready to support Putin in presidential polls falls from 66% to 38%

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Outdoor Rally with Microphone in Hand and Heavy Coat

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – October 30, 2014) 38% of Russian citizens interviewed by the Levada Center in September said they were ready to vote for incumbent President Vladimir Putin if the presidential elections were to be held this coming Sunday, as compared with 66% at the beginning of the year, center sociologists told Interfax. 7% of respondents said […]

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Fewer Russians Ready to Re-Elect Putin, Poll Shows

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Putin Descending a Staircase file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 28, 2014) President Vladimir Putin’s rating has fallen for the first time this year, with a substantial drop in the number of those who say they are ready to re-elect him, a poll by the Levada Center showed Tuesday. While a poll in August showed 57 percent of respondents would vote for Putin if […]

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Putin Narrative of Abandoned Ukraine East Fueled by Vote

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Daryna Krasnolutska – October 27, 2014) Vladimir Putin may have more ammunition to extend his influence over the Ukraine’s war-torn east after the country’s parliamentary election. A surge in support for pro-European parties leaves the area, the bedrock of ousted leader Viktor Yanukovych’s popularity, with less of a say in the nation’s future. Parties backing President […]

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RIA Novosti: Gorbachev says Putin’s latest speech questioning U.S. dominance best ever

United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, October 26, 2014) The first president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, thinks that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Valdai [Valday] speech was one of the strongest of his period in power. On Friday [24 October] the head of state gave a speech to participants in the Valdai discussion club in Sochi, in which he criticized the West’s […]

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Putin’s Nevsky-Stolypin tandem

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Sanctions
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Chris Weafer – October 24, 2014) Chris Weafer is Senior Partner at Macro-Advisory, which offers bespoke Russia-CIS consulting. Many of the headlines about Russia in recent months have quite rightly focused on the geopolitical risks and the sanctions impact on the economy. To that has recently been added the surprisingly abrupt fall in the […]

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Putin’s Class Of 2014

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Environs Aerial View

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – October 17, 2014) The iPhone-toting hipsters hanging out in their trendy downtown Moscow office are just the high-profile part of the Kremlin’s new youth strategy. Founded in November 2013, the youth group Set — which means “Network” in Russian — has organized patriotic fashion shows and film festivals, created an alphabet for schoolchildren […]

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RIA Novosti: Putin: No Energy Crisis in Europe on Russia’s Behalf

Oil, Gas, Energy, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Gas Flame file photo

BELGRADE, October 16 (RIA Novosti) – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reassured European partners that Russia would do everything possible to prevent any interruption of Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe. “We would’t want any crisis to occur during the winter period,” Putin told reporters following talks with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. “Russia has always been a reliable […]

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Kremlin-Run Generational Change in Regime Reproducing Soviet-Era Nomenklatura, Pastukhov Says

History, Soviet Union, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Aerial View of Kremlin and Environs

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 14, 2014) A revolution is taking place in Russia, but it is not in the streets but in the halls of government where the Putin regime is bringing into positions of power a new generation of officials who are more like the Soviet-era nomenklatura than like the people they are replacing, […]

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RIA Novosti: Putin Limits Foreign Capital’s Participation in Russian Media: Government

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law reducing the possible share of foreign stockholders in the Russian media to 20 percent, says the corresponding document published on the Russian government’s official legal information web portal Wednesday. “Unless otherwise stipulated by an international treaty … a Russian legal entity with a foreign participation share […]

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RIA Novosti: Putin prepared to be held responsible for all happening in Russia

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Putin Descending a Staircase file photo

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, October 14, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree with a widespread opinion that everything in Russia depends on him only; he believes that many simply want to find a person with whom the buck stops, and he does not resist this role. “This widespread belief that everything depends on the president only does not […]

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Interfax: Russia interested in reviving cooperation with Ukraine – Putin

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that mutually beneficial relations may still be restored with Ukraine and that it is possible to end the armed conflict in Ukraine’s southeastern regions. “Despite the current complicated period in Russian-Ukrainian relations, we are interested in having consistent, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with our Ukrainian partners. In practice, this […]

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Putin Immune to Economic Decline – So Far

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Cash, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – October 16, 2014) Most of Russia’s indicators of economic health have plummeted this year. Inflation last month was at its highest level in three years, capital outflow this year is expected to exceed $100 billion, the ruble has lost almost 20 percent of its value since January, and economic growth is anaemic, […]

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Russia Can’t Be Blackmailed Over Ukraine, Putin Says

Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Sanctions, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – October 15, 2014) It’s futile for the U.S. and its allies to “blackmail” Russia over the Ukraine crisis, President Vladimir Putin said in a newspaper interview. Russia’s partners should remember the risks involved in disputes between nuclear powers, Putin said. He accused Barack Obama of adopting a “hostile” approach in naming Russia as a threat to […]

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Interfax: Most Russians think Putin is doing his job well – poll

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's

(Interfax – Moscow, October 15, 2014) Russians support the president of the Russian Federation and more and more often see their trust in Vladimir Putin as a reflection of his successful handling of the problems facing Russia, sociologists have told Interfax. A poll conducted by the [Russian independent polling organization] Levada Centre among 1,630 people in 143 population centres in […]

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De-Modernization and Degradation-A Net Assessment of Russia’s Domestic Situation Since the Start of 2014

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 181 – Pavel K. Baev – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – October 14, 2014) Considering Russia’s shocking transformation in the course of just half a year, it is easy to forget that last February the country was united in the joy of hosting the Sochi Winter Olympic games. The issues that dominated the political […]

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Letter from America

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated Before Russian and U.S. Flags

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – October 13, 2014) I spent the last past week in DC trying to gauge better the Western response function to the crisis in Ukraine and with Russia. Herein are a few big picture take-outs from my discussions with a range of academics, journalists and policy types. First, the contrast […]

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Interfax: Putin hopes for adjustment of Ukraine’s association agreement with EU

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
EU Map

MINSK. Oct 10 (Interfax) – The delay in the enforcement of the economic bloc of Ukraine’s association agreement with the EU makes it possible to adjust the provisions of the document whose implementation could considerably harm the economy of the Customs Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “Kyiv and Brussels heeded our arguments and decided to postpone the enforcement of […]

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Bad Roads – a Domestic Russian Problem So Bad Putin Can’t Ignore but Can’t Fix

Transportation
Moscow Traffic file photo

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, October 10, 2014) The state of Russia’s road system, which now ranks 136th out of 144 countries evaluated, is so bad that even Vladimir Putin, who recently has been given to upbeat statements about the country, has had to change his tone. But his comments in Novosibirsk yesterday suggest that he won’t […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian President Says He Took 5-Mile Hike on His Birthday

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia

MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that he went on a 5-mile hike in the mountains of Siberia on his 62nd birthday. “The day before yesterday was a day of walking for me. I walked in the mountains for almost 9 kilometers [about 5 miles]. Everything still hurts,” Putin said, opening a session of […]

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Putin Seeks Solitude Amid Russia’s Perfect Storm

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Outdoor Rally with Microphone in Hand and Heavy Coat

(Stratfor.com – October 9, 2014) Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 62nd birthday Tuesday in a peculiar fashion: by himself in the Siberian forests. For the past few days, Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, has brushed off journalists’ questions about why the president decided not to celebrate his birthday in Moscow or do other work as he has in previous years. This […]

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VIDEO: Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Open Russia and Building Civil Society: A Conversation With Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, YUKOS, Khodorkovsky
Mikhail Khodorkovsky file photo

The Council on Foreign Relations hosted an event featuring former Russia oil oligarch, and former Russian prison inmate, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. “Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Open Russia and Building Civil Society: A Conversation With Mikhail Khodorkovsky,” is archived at cfr.org/russian-federation/mikhail-khodorkovsky-open-russia-building-civil-society/p33555. Among other things, Khodorkovsky argued that Putin has become so entrenched as a strongman, that any successor might be regarded as merely temporary. This […]

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Little Hope for Improved US-Russia Relations, Analysts Say

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
File Photo of Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama Seated Before Russian and U.S. Flags

(Voice of America – Andre de Nesnera – October 8, 2014) Recent statements at the United Nations by President Barack Obama and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated things are not well between Washington and Moscow. President Obama said the international community must urgently address what he called “Russian aggression in Europe” — a reference to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea […]

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