JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin needs more than spending to lift ratings; Five years after Crimea was annexed, Russian discontent is rumbling” – Financial Times Editorial

“… exactly five years after … annexing Crimea, trust in the [Russian] president has dropped to a 13-year low. The economy is stagnating. While his state of the nation address this week ended with habitual nuclear sabre-rattling, much was devoted to spending pledges aimed at burnishing his image. It is far from clear that such social bribery will work. … Putin’s “approval” rating … is down sharply …. [and state-controlled pollster] VTsIOM found last month … that only 33.4 per cent of Russians expressed ‘trust’ in … Putin, the lowest since 2006. … [I]ndependent pollster[] Levada[] found 45 per cent … think the country is moving ‘in the wrong direction,’ outstripping … 42 per cent happy with the country’s path, for the first time since 2006. The economy is largely to blame. … The Kremlin will try to keep a lid on discontent through more authoritarian tightening. Unreformed, Russia’s economy is set to fall ever further behind …. older Russians have seen this script before. They remember how it ended last time.”

Click here for: “Putin needs more than spending to lift ratings; Five years after Crimea was annexed, Russian discontent is rumbling” – Financial Times Editorial