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Russia As Energy Superpower Moscow plans an ambitious expansion of its nuclear energy sector.
Russia has drawn up plans to build up to 100 nuclear reactors over
the next 25 years in an effort to reduce dependence on hydrocarbons
and consolidate its position as the world's energy superpower.
Of Summits and Students
Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin will meet in Russia this
month, first for face-to-face sessions and then at the G8 Summit in
St. Petersburg. Lately, a debate has erupted over how US-Russian
relations, so promising a few years ago, have reached a state of
mutual wariness and mistrust.
Europe Needs a Soft-Power Approach
In the decade that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, Europe
was concerned but not worried about the decline of Russia. The
European Union did not at the time regard its great neighbor as a
political or economic problem; Russia was retreating from empire, and
as it grew weaker it appeared less threatening. Over the past five
years, though, the Russian economy has begun to revive and Russia's
government has made gains in policy coherence, if not always in
directions to Europe's liking. Today, the question is whether Europe
has the policy tools to deal with this new phenomenon.
Treaty to Replace START Sought
President Vladimir Putin called on Russia and the United States on
Tuesday to negotiate a new nuclear-arms treaty and urged the Russian
diplomatic corps to bolster the nation's global prominence while
avoiding confrontation.
Russia wants just cooperation with other countries - Putin aide
MOSCOW, June 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is a free nation and wants to
cooperate with other countries according to just rules, an influential
presidential aide said Wednesday.
Speech at Meeting with the Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives of the Russian Federation PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, dear friends and colleagues,
Recent years have seen great changes, sometimes fundamental changes,
take place in the world. These changes are to a certain extent linked to
the rise of new, economically powerful players on the world stage. It
needs to be said that Russia, too, has considerably strengthened its
domestic potential and its international position.
Russia Turns the Corner in Chechnya
Russia's determined efforts to transform Chechen society by building
popular institutions have created a way out of perpetual conflict that,
given sufficient time, could prove broadly applicable to the entire
Caucasus region. It is very much in the West's interest to encourage
peace in the region by supporting Russia's state-building efforts
there.
The New American Cold War
Contrary to established opinion, the gravest threats to America's
national security are still in Russia. They derive from an unprecedented
development that most US policy-makers have recklessly disregarded, as
evidenced by the undeclared cold war Washington has waged, under both
parties, against post-Communist Russia during the past fifteen years.
Russian NGO legislation is a step in the right direction.
It was supposed to be a routine bit of legislation--a series of
amendments that would bring the outdated legislation on nongovernmental
and noncommercial organizations into conformity with legislation in
similar areas.
Analysis: Gazprom's New Era
MOSCOW, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Russia's state-controlled energy giant Gazprom
has experienced a day it will remember as the start of a new era. The
government passed legislation allowing foreign investors to own up to
49 percent of Gazprom shares, the company began building a pipeline
directly to Europe, and the gas war with Ukraine is all but resolved.
Moscow Legislature Election Campaign Over
MOSCOW, December 3 -- In line with the
election laws, as of 12 a.m. December 3, all parties and candidates
running in the Moscow City Duma election due Dec. 4 ended their election
campaign.
Speech at the Meeting with the Cabinet Members, the Heads of the Federal Assembly, and State Council Members PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon my dear colleagues! The basic goal of our activities, and a key question of state policy is the substantial improvement of Russian citizens' quality of life.
I called you here today to discuss the creation of new mechanisms to
accomplish this task. This meeting's timing was not chosen at random.
We are meeting after the Federal Government of the Russian Federation
prepared and sent 2006's prospective budget to parliament based on the
President's Annual Address to the Federal Assembly. I will not go into
the details, but will note only the items most pertinent for today's
meeting.
Putin Tells West Not to Interfere in Ex-Soviet Republics
RUSSIA will not tolerate outside interference in former Soviet
republics or any attempts to destabilise countries on Russia's
borders, President Putin declared last night.
Putin Still Bitter Over Orange Revolution
MOSCOW -- President Putin last night denied there was any cooling of Russia's
relations with European governments despite the EU's role in helping
the pro-Moscow candidate's defeat in the Ukrainian election.
Putin Denies Rift With Europe
President Vladimir Putin told a group of leading Western experts at
the Kremlin on Monday that Russia did not have any major rifts with
the European Union over the velvet revolutions in Ukraine and
Georgia, but said that the West should listen to Moscow regarding
what he said were Russia's legitimate interests in the former Soviet
Union. Putin also promised to revitalize the East-West energy
dialogue as Moscow takes over the chairmanship of the Group of Eight
industrialized nations next January, participants said.
Experts on Russia Held Second Session of the Valdai Club
MOSCOW --The
Valdai Discussion Club completed its work by the meeting with
President Putin. This is the second session of the Valdai Club in
Russia. The first one was held a year ago.
Putin's Decline and America's Response
Russia's regime has gone through a major aggravation during the first
year of President Vladimir Putin's second term. The regime suffers
from serious overcentralization of power, which has led to a
paralysis of policy making. Putin's power base has been shrunk to
secret policemen from St. Petersburg. Although his popularity remains
high, it is falling. Neither unbiased information nor negative
feedback is accepted. As a result, the Putin regime is much more
fragile than generally understood. Russia's current abandonment of
democracy is an anomaly for such a developed and relatively wealthy
country, and it has made Russia's interests part from those of the
United States. The United States should not hesitate to promote
democracy in Russia, while pragmatically pursuing common interests in
nonproliferation and energy.
Opinion: Putin, Aslund, and the Conventional Wisdom MOSCOW -- Anders Aslund's paper "Putin's Decline and America's Response" is an exercise in being right on some issues and wrong for even more reasons.
Predicting that Russia would experience a "color revolution" only
months ago, he has, as is his practice, changed his position. Instead
of a revolution from below, Aslund now claims Vladimir Putin's style
of governance threatens Russia with imminent political crisis.
Aslund replies - well, kinda of...
Anders Aslund replied to a message I sent to him challenging his
comparison of Putin to Polish Communist boss Edward Gierek found in
JRL #9226. [...] The following is Aslund's reply to what I think are
reasonable questions challanging his analysis.
Putin's Real Reforms
A friend of mine, owner of a successful film production company
-- a business built from scratch, not acquired in a shady deal of
the Yeltsin's era privatizations, summed it up in a sentence.
"You see", he said, "we are finally discovering what it means to
own real property."
Courage in the Face of Corruption
Will Russia's people, who recently celebrated their victory in
World War II, ever again be heroes? In a battle against the pure
evil of Nazism, the ordinary citizens of the Soviet Union,
overcoming appalling leadership, deployed moral quality that
changed the course of history. Today, many see Russia beset
abroad by an aggressive America and a rising China, while weak
and divided at home, a state trapped in terminal decline. If this
indeed is a mortal challenge, how should Russians respond?
An Opportunity to Enter the 21st Century
The western press has likened George Bushıs travel recent
itinerary (Riga Moscow Tbilisi) to Putin stopping in Cuba on
his way to Washington, then in North Korea on his way home.
Fortunately, the Russian president has shown a greater level of
sensitivity, and not taken the bait to spark what could have
easily become a diplomatic crisis.
Prominent historian says WWII killed 30 Million Soviet citizens
MOSCOW, May 5 (Interfax) - Official figures on the number of
Soviet citizens killed in World War II are too low, said
International Democracy Foundation President Alexander Yakovlev.
Russian Human Rights Ombudsman's Statement on Stalin Monuments, WWII Victory
Over the last few days I have received requests from citizens and
public organizations to voice my opinion of the proposals to
erect monuments to I.V. Dzhugashvili (Stalin) in various areas of
our country. I must confess that I am doing this not without some
hesitation. Not at all because I have not formed a clear and
definite opinion on this statesman's activity. But because I
realize that any serious discussion of this subject on the eve of
the great Victory celebration will lead to division and schism in
our society, exacerbate old emotional wounds, and cause feelings
of bitterness and resentment to come to the surface.
Freedom, Not Democracy, For Russia
Twenty years ago, Mikhail Gorbachev began his policies of perestroika
and glasnost, which led to the end of the Cold War. Now, however, a
new chill has entered relations between Russia and the West.
President Vladimir Putin is frequently criticised for taking Russia
in the wrong direction. The very people who in 2000 called Putin a
man they could do business with are having second thoughts. People
once fascinated by Putin now publicly rebuke him.
Re-Engineering Reform Priorities...or...Deja Who? MOSCOW -- This should have been a good week for the Russian investment case. [...]
Instead, a number of events over the past few days have rattled
that confidence, and some observers now question whether the
grand statements of recent weeks were no more than political spin
ahead of the Economic Forum event in London, an attempt to create
a more optimistic investment backdrop ahead of the May gathering
of world leaders in Moscow and also as Putin prepares for his
annual address to the joint houses of parliament.
Analysis: Putin on 'Putinomics'
MOSCOW, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- This week Russian President Vladimir
Putin blasted his government's inability to diversify Russia's
economy away from heavily reliance on the export of energy
resources. Two of Russia's leading liberal economists have spoken
out as well, publicly stating that current economic policy is
leading Russia in the wrong direction.
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