Staunton, December 25 — Vladimir Putin views Russia not as an end in itself but rather as a means to create a new world order, a view that means he is quite prepared to sacrifice the well-being of Russians in the pursuit of his vision of a new Yalta, according to Moscow commentator Andrey Illarionov. […]
Staunton, November 8 Now that most experts have concluded that Flight A321 was brought down as the result of a bomb explosion, Andrey Illarionov says, it is time to ask two more difficult questions: who destroyed the plane? And what did those who did so hope to achieve? There are essentially two answers that have […]
Staunton, November 3 – Andrey Illarionov says that recent statements by Vladimir Putin suggest that the Kremlin leader may be about to exploit the crash of the Russian plane in Sinai in much the same way that he did the apartment bombings in 1999, to unify Russian society behind even harsher measures against “terrorists.” The […]
Staunton, July 13 – Speaking in Kremenchug this week, Andrey Illarionov said that Ukraine should continue to negotiate in its quest for peace but that it should reject the documents known as Minsk-2 because “the essence of this document is that the Ukrainian authorities are rejecting their sovereignty over the Ukrainian-Russian border.” Moreover, the Russian […]
Staunton, April 7 — Vladimir Putin stopped using the preposition “v” or “in” Ukraine in 2004, reverting to the older form “na” or “on,” in official government documents, an indication that the Kremlin leader did not view Ukraine as a country but rather as a Russian borderland, according to Andrey Illarionov. From the time he […]
Staunton, April 3 — Russian military spending, even as officially given by the finance ministry, provides a remarkably accurate early warning indicator of Russian intentions, Andrey Illarionov says, and a dramatic increase in spending since January of this year thus suggests that Vladimir Putin is preparing for a larger war in Ukraine and/or elsewhere. Between […]
Staunton, October 23 – In the course of a discussion of why he argues Moscow will have to reverse the Anschluss of Crimea at the end of Russia’s war with Ukraine, Andrey Illarionov says that the Russian government could lose many other disputed territories to neighboring countries. The Russian commentator lists the following territories which […]
Staunton, July 17 – Andrey Illarionov says that unless and until Russian openly invades Ukraine and a full-scale war between the two countries breaks out, “the West will not move to provide real assistance to Ukraine.” And thus the answer to the question – will there be effective sanctions? – is “simple and short.” In […]
Staunton, June 26 – Even as Vladimir Putin is being praised by some for having the Russian parliament rescind its authorization for the use of force in Ukraine, the Kremlin leader has admitted that he has done just that, left himself a variety of loopholes to do more, and promised to continue to “defend” ethnic […]
Staunton, June 9 – Vladimir Putin has met two of the West’s demands concerning Ukraine — recognition of the presidential elections there and a pullback of Russian forces from the border – but he will stop backing the secessionists only if they win, the Ukrainian army defeats them, or he recognizes that he is creating […]
