Vladimir Putin
Putin to return to power with damaged credibility and legitimacy
January 31, 2012Putin’s faltering return In May 2011 we argued for a modest advance in Russian democracy, namely that both Medvedev and Putin should stand as candidates to offer a modicum of choice between, roughly speaking, modernisation versus continuity. For...
Playboy Star in Russian State Duma in the List of United Russia
December 05, 2011By Diana Ungureanu/ Chisinau / Moldova.ORG/ -- The voting of Russian State Duma is over and the case of the final counting ballots, too. However, it can be said that the majority of the votes were taken by “United Russia” Party (Edinaya Rosiya...
Russian newsreader LIVE: F*ck You, Barack Obama (VIDEO)
November 23, 2011Chişinău / Moldova.ORG/ -- One of the latest Russian live news broadcast caused a wave of criticism and laughter. The reason was that the leading female newsreader Tatyana Limanova gave the middle finger pronouncing the US president’s name, Barack...
Russia: Rebuilding an empire while it can (Stratfor)
November 01, 2011By Lauren Goodrich/ Stratfor/ Austin, TX/ -- U.S.-Russian relations seem to have been relatively quiet recently, as there are numerous contradictory views in Washington about the true nature of Russia’s current foreign policy. Doubts remain about...
Moldovan Officials Not Interested In Putin's 'Eurasian Union'
October 12, 2011CHISINAU -- Prime Minister Vlad Filat says Moldova sees its place in the European Union and isn't attracted to the "Eurasian Union" envisaged by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, RFE/RL's Moldovan Service reports. Filat told RFE/RL in...
Turkey Seeks Price Cut On Russian Gas
October 01, 2011By Vladimir Socor -- Turkey has joined the growing ranks of claimants to revision of their contracts with Gazprom. On September 29, Turkish Energy Minister, Taner Yildiz, warned that Turkey would end a 25-year-old supply agreement with Gazprom,...
Poor Ukrainian-Russian Ties Reflect Yanukovych-Putin Relationship
October 01, 2011By Taras Kuzio -- Ukraine’s poor relations with Russia are nothing new as they also existed under the “pro-Russian” Leonid Kuchma. Nevertheless, Kuchma had to deal with the more democratic Russian President Boris Yeltsin, whereas the...
Russia's Evolving Leadership: The Appearance of Democracy (part 5)
July 05, 2011The first move is to strengthen the ruling party — United Russia — while allowing more independent political parties. United Russia already has been shifted into having many sub-groups that represent the more conservative factions, liberal...
Russia's Evolving Leadership: Medvedev’s New Pragmatism (part 4)
July 05, 2011When Medvedev entered office, his current reputation for compliance and pragmatism did not exist. Instead, he continued on Russia’s roll forward with one of the boldest moves to date — the Russia-Georgia war. Aside from the war, Medvedev also...
Russia's Evolving Leadership: Putin’s Shifts (part 3)
July 05, 2011Putin, who had no choice but to appeal to the West to help keep the country afloat when he took office in 2000, initially was hailed as a trusted partner by the West. But even while former U.S. President George W. Bush was praising Putin’s soul...