VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The ordinary Russian, who has been glued to the TV screen for the entire New Year holidays, has no doubts over which country (Russia or Ukraine) disrupted gas supplies to Europe. The situation has been made clear to him. Kommersant-Vlast sought to explain what was really happening and why.
"All this, of course, is a carefully choreographed drama designed to serve the Kremlin's broader agenda. Five countries - Slovakia, Finland, Bosnia, Macedonia and Turkey - rely exclusively on Russia for their gas supplies. Many EU states are dependent for a large proportion of their supplies. Britain is in the fortunate position of depending on Russia for only 2.5% of its gas.
Russia has exerted titanic efforts to keep Europe warm - and even more effort to prove that it was Ukraine that was putting spokes in the wheels.
Vladimir Putin's painting Hoar Frost was auctioned off for more than a million dollars. St Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko has greater experience in art, but her endeavour sold for three times less. The returns of the charity auction in St Petersburg, totalling 70 million roubles, will benefit hospitals and a church.
An urgent gas summit held in Moscow produced an agreement with Ukraine, the Kremlin says. Kiev, however, thinks it has merely distracted Putin and Tymoshenko.
Gazprom has already lost about $1.8 billion as a result of the conflict with Ukraine. Russian Government officials are pondering measures to help the gas concern, including cuts in export duties.
The Prime Ministers of Russia and Ukraine have announced that the gas conflict has been settled. Kiev has agreed to buy Russian natural gas at $360 per 1,000 cubic metres, the newspaper's sources say. Has Ukraine decided to try to live without Russian gas?
The editor of Time magazine did not have to explain why he chose Barack Obama as the Man of the Year in 2008, unlike in 2007, when Vladimir Putin held this title. This time, it was the second place winner who gave rise to questions, as many were surprised to discover that it was French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It was harder for him to be the runner-up than for Obama to occupy the top spot. The new U.S. president is more associated with expectations than with real achievements, whereas last year Sarkozy not only had to overcome numerous domestic and foreign policy problems, but also to disprove his negative image in the eyes of many.
Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel's day planner, published on her website, includes a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin scheduled for today. The conversation between the two leaders will take place at 4 pm CET and finish with a joint news conference.
Moscow and Kiev are preparing for the crucial battle in the current gas war - a gas summit attended by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and European consumers of Russian gas. President Dmitry Medvedev proposed to hold the summit in Moscow, but his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko said that he would attend the meeting only if it took place in the EU, and went to London for moral support. The Kremlin, however, is ready to hold the summit without the Ukrainian leader, especially as Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko arrives in Moscow tomorrow to, according to her press service, "solve all the gas problems."
