Here’s a quick recap of some of today’s biggest news: – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper labeled the G8 summit as the “G7+1” in reference to Putin’s isolated stance on Syria. As The Moscow News reports, when asked if he felt “lonely” during the summit he replied, “Of course not. That’s absolutely not true. Somebody, apparently, […]
On June 17, the G8 Summit was held in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, but President Putin held a series of bilateral meetings in advance, including his first meeting since June 2012 with US President Barack Obama. A month before, the presidents had exchanged messages; diplomats of both countries had said that at this meeting the […]
Here’s a quick summary of some of today’s biggest news headlines: -It seems that the continued haggling over the conditions for a peace summit have become one of Russia’s best tools to support the Assad regime. Reuters reports that Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is quoted as saying: “We categorically oppose … affirmations that the […]
[This article discusses the strategy behind the founding of the United Popular Front, a pro-Kremlin populist political movement headed by Vladimir Putin, and widely believed to have been established to distance Putin from the unpopular United Russia party—Ed.] The United Popular Front, a.k.a. the “United Front for Russia” (well, not for the USA, of course), […]
[The following article describes measures taken by US legislators and adoptive parents to protest against the Dima Yakolev Law, which bans US citizens from adopting Russian children. The concerned parties have asked President Obama to raise the issue when he meets with Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit this week.—Ed.] Lifting the ban on […]
In the run-up to the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland (17-18 June) and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (20-22 June), Vladimir Putin gave a long and rather dull interview to RIA Novosti on Russia’s priorities in foreign economic policy. Slon.ru has selected the most significant themes: What can be expected from these G8 and […]
[This article in The New Times argues that Vladimir Putin’s political control is eroding inexorably as a result of corruption from above and increasingly poor economic performance—Ed.] A year and a month after the third coming of Vladimir Putin, who in fact never left, it is becoming obvious that he will not fulfill the main demand of […]
Here’s a list of some of today’s top news stories: -Moscow saw a large opposition rally in support of the arrested protestors who are set to go on trial from last year’s “Bolotnaya” protests. Estimates of the crowd’s size vary depending on sources, ranging from 6,000 to 30,000. The protest also saw the attendance of […]
On June 11-12, the All-Russia People’s Front (Общероссийский народный фронт, known by its Russian acronym ONF) will hold its founding congress in Moscow. The movement was established in 2011 by Putin and appeared to be designed to shore up support for United Russia in the 2011-2012 electoral cycle. Revived in March 2013, its current goal […]
Here’s a quick summary of today’s biggest news: -The intrigue surrounding former KGB official Alexander Litvinenko’s 2006 assassination by radiation poisoning continues with the coroner overseeing the investigation into Litvinenko’s murder calling for a public inquiry. The coroner is calling for a public inquiry in response to British Foreign Secretary William Hague demanding that the […]
