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
Russia signed off on a new agreement for fuel deliveries to Europe, resolving its gas cutoff crisis with Ukraine. But much of what it did this weekend should warn Europe it's time to look for another supplier.
Bronwen Maddox's assessment of the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine (World briefing, Jan 8) fails to reflect the reality of the situation. This is not a crisis of Mr Putin's making. It is the result of Ukraine's flagrant violation of its commercial and legal obligations as a transit country, set out in the bilateral agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and as stipulated in Article 7 of the European Energy Charter.
Die EU - das beste Bündnissystem, das Europa je hatte. Dann kam Putin. Seine Pipeline-Welt symbolisiert ein anderes Mächtemodell - und die neue Abhängigkeit Europas.
Ein Kommentar von S. Kornelius
THE gas man cometh: the EU and Russian monitors assembled in Kiev for the biggest meter-reading in history are symptomatic of a new era of politico- economic games playing. Vladimir Putin, fresh from inflicting humiliation on Georgia, has begun to flex his muscles in other areas by cutting off gas supplies to Ukraine.
WITH JUST over a week to go before Barack Obama takes over the US presidency, it's obvious that the charismatic senator from Illinois is set fair to be the main mover and shaker of 2009. For a start he's moving into the world's most covetable address, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Then there's the not-so-little matter of the fact that he's not George W Bush. That counts for a lot, and great things are expected of Obama, provided always that he doesn't suffer from vertigo.
Three years ago, the Europeans were jolted when a gas-pricing scuffle between Russia and Ukraine briefly cut gas supplies to Europe. That led to a lot of talk about the need for a unified European Union stance toward Russia - and a rush by a few members to cut separate deals with Moscow. Now that it's happening again, and with far greater disruptions, the only surprise is that anyone's surprised.
On the surface, the battle between Russia and Ukraine that has choked off natural-gas supplies to much of Europe in the dead of a cold winter is a purely commercial dispute. Deeper down, it's something more menacing -- part of what looks like a calculated strategy by Russia to regain influence over countries that were once part of the Soviet empire and to neutralize European opposition.
Na swoim gazie, czy raczej na jego braku Moskwa piecze kilka pieczeni. Dowodzi partnerom z UE, że bez gazociągów na dnie Bałtyku i Morza Czarnego, które chciałby zbudować Gazprom, Europie grozi katastrofa i stara się skompromitować i doprowadzić do upadku prezydenta Ukrainy Wiktora Juszczenkę.
Not yet, but things could change if unemployment and social unrest continue to escalate. It's been hard not to look at Vladimir Putin and see a man who is powerful, and knows it. Yet, things could be about to change for Russia's commanding prime minister.
It is hard to see Vladimir Putin's gas war paying off. Yesterday, in ordering Gazprom to turn off the tap to the European pipelines running through Ukraine, he made it into a challenge to the EU, not just to the perpetually collapsing Government in Kiev. The Russian Prime Minister makes no secret of his determination to use the state gas monopoly as a weapon. Any pretence that this is a commercial row between a gas supplier and a customer is ridiculous.
On a réveillé l'ours qui dormait paisiblement, et le voilà qui saccage la forêt." Claude Mandil, directeur de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie (AIE) jusqu'en 2007, citait il y a quelques mois ce proverbe russe pour résumer l'attitude des Européens dans le conflit larvé sur le gaz qui les oppose à leur puissant voisin. Une manière imagée de dire qu'il vaut mieux négocier sereinement avec la Russie. Elle a toujours été un "fournisseur fiable", rappelle Gérard Mestrallet, PDG de GDF Suez, premier distributeur européen. Y compris aux pires moments de la guerre froide ou dans les années 1990, quand la transition du communisme au capitalisme aboutit à un délitement du pays.
Geopolitics: Six countries have their gas supplies cut off in the dead of winter by a Russia determined to regain its former empire and influence. The pipelines run through Ukraine. Welcome to the new "cold" war.
The Russian leader points to Ukraine and the US for his economic woes. He should look in the mirror.
The Russian leader orders the suspension of gas deliveries to Europe. Is Ukraine really to blame?
Five months after sending Russian tanks into Georgia, Vladimir Putin has turned his sights to another pesky democratic neighbor, Ukraine. His weapon of choice this time is natural gas. Try to ignore the noise about transit fees, back payments and market prices. Here's the salient fact about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies: Russia's strongman is wielding the energy club to undermine the pro-Western government in Kiev and scare the European Union into submission. The strategic stakes are as great as in Georgia last summer.
Neither party is innocent in the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine that is currently gripping Europe, but the former deserves most of the blame for a debacle that may leave millions without heat during a brutal cold snap.
AT 1000 HOURS ON New Year's Day, the Russian state-controlled natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, shut down natural gas deliveries to Ukraine -- the second supply cut in three years. Russia's justification for trying to freeze its neighbor in the middle of winter is that Kiev is over $2 billion in arrears and has refused a 2009 price hike that more than doubles the 2008 rate.
Ukrainians whose gas supplies have been cut off by their former Russian masters must be quaking to hear that, according to Vladimir Putin, "people who live in countries who are neighbours do understand each other and do hear each other better. For instance, if you take the trans-border countries of Russia and Ukraine, sometimes you cannot tell where there are more Russians or where there are more Ukrainians. The ethnicities, they are so mixed that they create a combination, a symbiosis of cultures . . ."
As Russia's economy crashes, No. 1 looks out for himself.
Russlands Staatschef Medwedjew unterschreibt eine Verfassungsänderung, die die Amtszeit des Präsidenten verlängert - profitieren dürfte Premier Putin.
