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
A top Russian official rejected calls to ease tight control over politics, moving to squelch growing speculation that the deepening economic crisis could lead the Kremlin to loosen its grip.
Russia's financial crisis is beginning to destabilise the delicate Kremlin power balance, with a struggle between rival clans eroding Vladimir Putin's authority and aggravating his relationship with his protege, President Dmitry Medvedev.
«Comme d'habitude, le peuple russe est patient et passif...» Vladimir Klitchenko, 60 ans, victime parmi d'autres de la crise, juge avec scepticisme la réaction de la population. A Krasnoïarsk, grande ville de Sibérie, cet ingénieur s'est retrouvé au chômage après la faillite de son employeur, la compagnie aérienne locale. Avec ses camarades, il descend désormais régulièrement dans la rue. Pour protester contre son licenciement. Mais aussi pour manifester sa colère contre la gestion de la crise par le gouvernement de Vladimir Poutine.
Russia in recent weeks has used its apparent financial clout both to knock an American back out of Kyrgyzstan and to solidify its relationship with Kazakhstan. But recent economic data suggests that when it comes to assistance to Central Asian states, the Kremlin may be running a geopolitical Ponzi scheme -- guaranteeing returns that it will not be able to produce.
THE toughest challenge Americans face in dealing with Vladimir Putin's Russia is that we insist on complicating the obvious. Putin's schemes are plain as day, but we insist on polishing up his motives.
Despite a sharp economic downturn that has left almost six million Russians out of work, the country's prime minister and former president, Vladimir Putin, remains unusually popular. While his ratings have declined recently, 74% of Russians still approve of the job he is doing, according to a survey this month by the state-run pollster, Public Opinion Research.
The high-powered gathering took place in the woods outside Moscow at a tsarist hunting lodge built, bizarrely, to look like a German medieval castle, now property of the Kremlin. Guarded by posses of armed bodyguards, Russia's richest men arrived in chauffeur-driven Bentleys, armoured BMWs and the odd Maybach, a £300,000 custom-made limo.
Until the recent global financial crisis, Russia's eco¬nomic revival during the presidency of Vladimir Putin had helped to restore the country's standing as a major player in the world arena. Yet, prosperity has come with some unintended consequences. Russia's inva¬sion of Georgia was fueled by Russia's economic growth and newfound wealth.
C'est le genre de scènes que Vladimir Poutine redoute de voir se multiplier à travers son immense pays. En ce jour de février, une petite poignée d'une quinzaine de mécontents, bien emmitouflés sous leurs chapkas et leurs foulards colorés de babouchkas, piétine dans la neige. Devant le petit immeuble de l'administration du district de Toutaev, ils réclament la baisse des prix du gaz et de l'électricité, la hausse des retraites et des allocations-chômage. À quatre heures de route au nord de Moscou, sur les rives de la Volga prise par les glaces, Toutaev, 40 000 âmes, compte parmi ces centaines de petites villes russes suspendues au sort d'une unique entreprise, frappées au cœur par la crise.
It was early summer 2007. The delegates of the International Olympic Committee had gathered in Guatemala to decide the venue of the 2014 winter Olympics. For Vladimir Putin it was a high-stakes moment. In a speech delivered in English and French Putin made a passionate plea for Sochi, Russia's Soviet-era Black Sea holiday and skiing resort - promising mountains, misty forests and of course lots of snow. To the joy of Russian delegates, and of Putin, Russia's inscrutable president, Sochi won.
Vladimir Kirillov and Vitaly Sukhinin and their co-conspirators once had little interest in politics. They were rat-a-tat-tat salesmen here in Russia's Far East who did a thriving trade in secondhand vehicles imported from Japan. But then the government reacted to the financial crisis by imposing steep tariffs on their industry.
Barack Obama wants to make friends with Russia, "press the reset button" as his Veep proposed the other day.
Czy podczas wiosennej wizyty Putina w Warszawie dogadamy się z Kremlem? Jak zwykle nie - pisze w komentarzu Piotr Gursztyn. Dlaczego? Bo Rosja nie jest i nie będzie zainteresowana partnerskimi stosunkami z Polską. A polskie władze, licząc na zbliżenie, grzeszą naiwnością - dodaje Gursztyn.
La volonté de Barack Obama de régler les conflits dans lesquels les Etats-Unis sont engagés a conduit Washington à tendre la main à Moscou. Mais les dossiers sont si complexes que les négociations risquent d'être longues.
The symptoms of financial meltdown so far-emaciated 401(k)s, bankruptcies, layoffs-haven't been easy to handle in the U.S. But Americans aren't the only ones feeling the pain. Anger over the worsening global economy boiled over last week resulting in protests in Greece, France, Latvia and Britain. At issue are rising prices, shrinking incomes and the disappearance of jobs. Fears that economic unrest will lead to political instability are widespread, says Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, a political-risk consulting firm, and Russia and China figure prominently in many forecasters' nightmare scenarios.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev revived a long-dormant human-rights council and invited a handful of Kremlin critics to join, the latest in a series of small gestures toward political openness in recent weeks.
Huge cranes at enormous construction sites in Moscow stand idle as investors walk away. Russian auto workers are confronting mass unemployment just as the stock market and the ruble plunge precipitously. Protesters, in small but growing numbers, are demonstrating across Russia, demanding economic relief. And a distinguished group of Russian economists meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev warned him of impending economic catastrophe.
Moscú tiene una concepción tan sumamente aleatoria del derecho internacional, los derechos humanos, el asesinato de periodistas y el comercio energético, que bien subraya la bizantina fragilidad de Europa.
Obama's response to this barely veiled blackmail needs to be cool and pragmatic.
With Recent Moves, Medvedev Edges Away From Prime Minister and His Economic Policies.
