(Kremlin.ru – July 27, 2017) Vladimir Putin and Sauli Niinisto gave a joint news conference following bilateral talks. Question from Yle (retranslated): My question concerns the military exercises conducted jointly by China and Russia in the Baltic Sea. I would like to ask President Putin: What message are China and Russia sending to others, what message do they want to […]
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(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – MAXIM TRUDOLYUBOV – July 27, 2017) Maxim Trudolyubov, Senior Fellow with the Kennan Institute and editor-at-large with Vedomosti, has been following Russian economy and politics since the late 1990s. He has served as an opinion page editor for Vedomosti and editor and correspondent for the newspaper Kapital Central Moscow has been a scene of digging […]
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“Russia risks being saddled with U.S. sanctions for decades, curbing economic growth and preventing it from regaining its status as a leading economic power, an adviser to President Vladimir Putin said …. Alexei Kudrin told Reuters that the current proposed tightening of sanctions in Washington should not have any serious impact. But he called for a major structural reform program […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 26, 2017) Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting in Petrozavodsk of the Supervisory Board of the autonomous non-commercial organisation Agency for Strategic Initiatives to Promote New Projects. The participants discussed the results of ASI’s work over the first half of 2017 and promising projects planned for implementation in 2017-2018. They include a package of measures to develop the […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 26, 2017) Before the meeting, the President visited the Petrozavodsk State University IT park, where he was taken around a display area with projects that are being implemented with support from the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends, good afternoon. I have always liked meeting with people who spend years doing what […]
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IZHEVSK. July 26 (Interfax) – The State Duma will debate bills introducing increased fines for the dissemination of illegal content and slander on social networking sites in the fall session, Andrei Isayev, first deputy head of the United Russia faction on legislative activities, said. “At the beginning of the fall session, they [the authors of legislative initiatives] will insist on […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 25, 2017) In a lead article today, the editors of Nezavisimaya gazeta say that for the first time fewer than half of all Russians say they trust government TV in large part because the economy and its problems are the primary focus of Russians in their everyday lives but the last […]
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(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – June 15, 2017 – ponarseurasia.org/article/see-our-updated-list-course-syllabi-recommended-reading) Several PONARS Eurasia members have made their syllabi available to our readership. Visit the Course Syllabi/Recommended Reading page: ponarseurasia.org/article/see-our-updated-list-course-syllabi-recommended-reading
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 22, 2017) Russian futurology, currently experiencing an unprecedented boom, is focusing on the question of who might succeed Vladimir Putin rather than on the more important question of what kind of a country Putin or someone else will have to rule, according to Rosbalt commentator Sergey Shelin. Shelin says that most […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 21, 2017) [Video of event with English translation youtube.com/watch?v=EhwWSiLlJ3I] Vladimir Putin met with students from the Sirius Educational Centre for Talented Children in Sochi…. [transcript appears below] Question: Good afternoon, Mr President. I am Kirill Lakhminov from Moscow. As you know, the world is on the verge of a breakthrough in biotechnology. I have a question. How […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – July 22, 2017) Many have forgotten that in May 1987, Boris Yeltsin, then head of the Moscow city committee of the CPSU, received representatives of the chauvinist and anti-Semitic Pamyat organization, thus sending a signal that he was someone the KGB and its allies could count on to defend their interests, Vitaly Portnikov […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – July 21, 2017) Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru. No wonder it’s so difficult to imagine Russia without President Vladimir Putin: Even his most vehement opponents can’t seem to offer an alternative vision for the […]
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“… Protest leaders face fines and jail time for minor infractions, relatives of activists receive warnings from bosses, and students are told not to attend rallies, according to opposition supporters. … The movement has energized Russia’s youth, who make up the bulk of protesters. … But protests are still relatively small. Opposition leaders say people are preoccupied with their own problems, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 24, 2017) Only one-third of Muscovites who voted against a controversial housing demolition program would participate in protests against the scheme, according to a poll published by independent pollster the Levada Center. The poll, conducted at the request of the RBC news outlet, revealed that 34 percent of those living in apartment blocks who […]
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SOCHI. July 21 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he usually manages to contain his aggressive mood and in those rare cases when he does lose his temper he is angry with himself. “Of course, I too constantly experience stressful and semi-stressful situations, I don’t like a lot of things, but I have still learnt how to control […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 21, 2017) [Russian with video here http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55114] Vladimir Putin met with students from the Sirius Educational Centre for Talented Children in Sochi. Vladimir Putin answered the students’ questions and reviewed some of their projects. The President was shown, among other things, a device for laboratory blood testing, the so-called Lab of the Future, which, according to its […]
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“… Putin on Friday took part in a live television show, fielding questions from Russian youngsters in an apparent bid to connect with teenagers who have been flocking to opposition rallies. Putin, his shirt collar unbuttoned, faced his young audience at an educational centre for gifted children from 10 to 17 year of age in the Black Sea city of […]
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“… Putin said on Friday he had not yet decided whether to run for re-election in 2018, but promised not to change the constitution to allow him to keep on running for Russia’s top political post indefinitely. … Speaking during a question-and-answer session with school children in the Black Sea resort of Sochi which analysts said was designed to widen […]
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“… The Kremlin is getting interested in Russia’s youth ahead of next year’s presidential elections, amid a growth in students at opposition rallies and research showing increased interest in politics among young Russians. In a rare, kid-targeted event, the Kremlin is rolling out its most popular talent Friday afternoon: Putin himself, who will use his exhaustive Q&A style for a […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 21, 2017) 7:00 p.m. – As the clock hits the three-hour mark, Putin addresses the audience and wishes them success in the future, taking off from the studio. With that, we conclude our live blog. Thanks for following us! 6:55 p.m. – We are now nearing the three-hour mark. Putin is taking questions from […]
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(Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Carl Schreck, Christopher Miller – July 20, 2017 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/navalny-girkin-debate/28629308.html) Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and a prominent former commander of Russia-backed separatists sparred over patriotism and the war in Ukraine in a debate that stoked widespread discussion and criticism among political players and watchers after it […]
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“Russia’s economy surely is better than it was a year ago. But, tell that to the Russians. … 45% of them believe the ‘worst is yet to come’ despite a nice 3.1% recovery in economic growth over the last 12 months ending in May, according to … VTsIOM…. Higher food prices and declining savings were the biggest concerns …. Thanks to […]
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“… On Thursday, July 20, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin has paid a visit to Lyudmila Alekseyeva to congratulate the veteran activist on her 90th birthday and thank her for her long-term service to the nation. …”
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MOSCOW. July 20 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva to consider the possibility of pardoning former senator Igor Izmestyev, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “Yes. The president said that it is possible and that it will take time,” Peskov told Interfax, when asked whether Putin had indeed promised it. During the president’s […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 20, 2017) Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the Council for Interethnic Relations in Yoshkar-Ola. Implementation at regional and municipal level of the State Ethnic Policy Strategy until 2025 was the main item on the agenda. The Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations was established in 2012 to enhance state policy in this area. The Council is made […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 20, 2017) The Free Russia Forum, a group of opposition politicians and analysts, says that a post-Putin Russia can only rejoin the civilized world if it operates under the principles of the primacy of law in all spheres of life. Otherwise, it will be “impossible” to build a law-based state and […]
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“Vladimir Putin rules Russia because he is a centrist. Since the Soviet dissolution in 1991, strange bedfellows in a coalition that combines communists with tsarists have urged reunification. They are opposed by a few democrats, who urge Russians to content themselves with those 1991 boundaries. Americans certainly should understand why people anywhere feel safer in a larger state that aggressively […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 19, 2017) The report earlier this week that “the Kremlin still has not succeeded in thinking up an image of the future on which Vladimir Putin can run in the 2018 elections” (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2017/07/kremlin-still-unable-to-come-up-with.html) is exceptional under Russian conditions, Rosbalt commentator Sergey Shelin says. But behind it is an even deeper problem, […]
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“… Almost half of Russians (45%) believe the ‘worst is yet to come’ for them as the crisis unwinds, according to the state owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM). Russia’s economy is recovering from its two-year recession and GDP growth is gathering momentum, putting in 3.1% growth year-on-year in May. Industrial production is recovering too, up […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 20, 2017) [Photos here http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55105] Vladimir Putin congratulated human rights champion and public activist and Chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alexeyeva on her 90th birthday. Before leaving for a trip to Yoshkar-Ola, the President visited Ms Alexeyeva at her home and presented her with a bouquet of flowers and an engraving depicting a view of […]
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(Kremlin.ru – July 19, 2017) Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Government members. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon colleagues. Today, we will discuss an issue of great importance for practically every Russian family – how we can use information technology to improve access to medical care and medicines. But first, I would like to ask Mr Manturov to […]
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(Salon – July 18, 2017 – from: salon.com/2017/07/18/watch-is-vladimir-putins-big-collapse-coming-soon/) “Salon Talks sat down with Richard Lourie to discuss his book, “Putin: His Downfall and Russia’s Coming Crash.” Lourie argues that Vladimir Putin’s Russia will collapse, just as Imperial Russia did in 1917 and the Soviet Union did in 1991. He cites the Russian president’s failure to move the nation’s economy from […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 17, 2017) An article in today’s Vedomosti suggesting that the Kremlin has not been able to come up with “an image of the future” which Vladimir Putin can use in the upcoming presidential elections has sparked widespread comment in the Internet that perhaps this means that “Putin doesn’t have a future” […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 18, 2017) Russian authorities have clamped down on Internet freedoms and introduced “invasive” surveillance” online, under the pretext of fighting extremism, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published today. The report criticizes Russia for unjustly imprisoning dozens based on their activity online and for introducing new laws that give the government tools […]
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(PBS Newshour – July 15, 2017 – transcript at: pbs.org/newshour/bb/putin-faces-growing-opposition-lead-4th-term/) “While Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to seek a fourth term next year, the country’s largest anti-government movement in recent history continues to grow. For the final installment of NewsHour’s six-part series “Inside Putin’s Russia,” special correspondent Nick Shifrin reports on the movement and one of its main leaders.”
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(Kremlin.ru – July 14, 2017) [Complete transcript here http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55052] On the eve of Steelworker Day, Vladimir Putin visited the Lebedinsky GOK ore dressing plant that is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and watched the launch of the third sponge iron production shop. The President visited the viewing platform of Lebedinsky GOK, learned about the production process and observed the launch of […]
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GUBKIN, Belgorod region. July 14 (Interfax) – The distortion of history as a way of fighting Russia has been used always, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “As for the distortion of our history – that, as you know, has existed almost always. Throughout our whole history,” Putin said at a meeting with workers at the Lebedinsky GOK iron ore mining […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 17, 2017) Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced support for an alternative version of the history of Ivan the Terrible, last week, in which the first Russian tsar did not kill his son. At a meeting with workers of the Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Company, Putin said the version in which first Russian tsar killed […]
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(PBS Newshour – July 13, 2017 – also appeared at pbs.org/newshour/bb/deadly-risk-standing-putin/) “What can happen to you if you oppose the Kremlin? There is a high mortality rate among prominent critics of the Russian government, which some say is emblematic of how President Vladimir Putin runs the country. As part of our week-long series Inside Putin’s Russia, special correspondent Nick Schifrin […]
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MOSCOW. July 13 (Interfax) – The trial of the killers of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has left too many questions to say that their punishment is proportionate, Chairman of the Yabloko party’s Federal Political Committee Grigory Yavlinsky said. “There is no trust in either the trial over Boris Nemtsov’s murder or the judgment. Too many doubts and questions remain. […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 12, 2017) The current attacks on Aleksey Navalny that suggest he will become a dictator if he manages somehow to defeat Vladimir Putin reflect the utopianism of the Russian intelligentsia and its failure to understand that anyone who succeeds the current Kremlin leader is likely to be one as long as […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 11, 2017) Most Russians today associate Nikita Khrushchev with the thaw, de-Stalinization, and the opening of more comfortable five-story apartment blocks; but they did to forget that he was removed from power by his colleagues because he ran the country in a hands on way, intervening in some of the smallest […]
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(Moscow Times/Kennan Institute – themoscowtimes.com – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Irina Olimpieva – July 11, 2017) Irina Olimpieva is a senior researcher at St. Petersburg Center for Independent Social Research On June 23, the Board of Trustees of the European University in St. Petersburg accepted the resignation of the rector, Oleg Kharkhordin. The EUSP is a private Russian university operating as a […]
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(PBS Newshour – July 11, 2017 – also appeared at pbs.org/newshour/bb/inside-russias-propaganda-machine/) “For years, the Kremlin and the media it controls have waged a multifaceted information (and disinformation) campaign inside Russia and pointed at its perceived adversaries, including the U.S. As part of our week-long series Inside Putin’s Russia, special correspondent Nick Schifrin and producer Zach Fannin report on the information […]
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“… Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein made history in Moscow yesterday. For one of the former USSR’s most famous refuseniks – Prisoners of Zion – to address Russia’s parliament 30 years after his release from the Siberian gulag is nothing less than another Russian Revolution vis-a-vis world Jewry. …”
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, July 5, 2017) Russia’s economic development ministry says that the country’s GDP growth will be approximately half of one percent lower each year because of projected declines in the number of workers in Russia in the coming decades, a decline that the ministry says must be fought by increasing immigration. But any […]
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MOSCOW. July 6 (Interfax) – The issue of Vladimir Putin’s nomination as a candidate for the 2018 presidential elections is currently not on the Kremlin agenda, presidential press officer Dmitry Peskov said. “This issue is not on the Kremlin agenda. It just doesn’t exist yet,” Peskov told reporters on Thursday, responding to a question as to whether Putin will run […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 6, 2017) President Vladimir Putin will likely run as an independent candidate in presidential elections next year to capitalize on his widespread public support, news outlet RBC reported, citing three sources close to the Kremlin. Running as an independent would allow Putin to position himself as a candidate for all Russians, taking advantage of […]
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MOSCOW. July 5 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a resolution extending the ban on imports of certain types of agricultural products, raw materials and food, the governmental website said in a report on Wednesday. “The ban on imports of certain types of agricultural products, raw materials and food originating from the United States, EU member countries, […]
» Read more“… The event, called ‘Direct Line,’ is carefully staged to show that Russia’s head of state, who probably will seek a new six-year term next March, understands his people — and can solve their problems — better than anyone. …”
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