Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has defended the results of the parliamentary elections earlier this month and rejected allegations of voter fraud. Speaking live on a four-hour long televised call-in session Thursday, Mr. Putin rejected opposition calls for new elections. He accused the organizers of mass protests against the results of working for the West. […]
Russian PM Putin Defends Parliamentary Vote, Blames Protests on West
Russia’s Putin Discusses Presidential Run in Nationally Televised Interview
Russian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin has appeared in a nationally televised interview to explain why he is trying for a controversial third term as the country’s president. In the interview, broadcast Monday on Russia’s three main TV networks, Putin made a rare admission of the public’s discontent with the current situation in […]
China Awaits Putin Visit, Expects Boost to Relations
Chinese state media say a visit to Beijing this week by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to raise cooperation between the two countries to a new high. Mr. Putin arrives in the Chinese capital Tuesday on his first foreign trip since his recent announcement that he will seek a third presidential term in […]
Putin Spokesman Says Presidential Candidate is “No Brezhnev”
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has discounted comparisons made between Mr. Putin and former Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. Brezhnev led the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982, but was blamed for overseeing the start of an economic decline that led to the eventual collapse of the Soviet empire. Peskov […]
Russia’s Putin Proposes New Eurasian Union
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has outlined a proposal to set up a so-called “Eurasian Union” of former Soviet states that would build on an existing Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Mr. Putin, who is expected to become Russia’s next president when elections are held in March, outlined his first foreign policy initiative in […]
Former Soviet Leader Gorbachev Says Russia in “Going Backwards”
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has criticized the Russian government and expressed sadness that the country is “going backwards” nearly two decades after the coup that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Speaking Wednesday, two days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the coup that ousted him, Mr. Gorbachev said Russia needs free […]
Former Soviet Leader Gorbachev Says Russia in “Going Backwards”
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has criticized the government and expressed sadness that Russia is “going backwards” nearly two decades after the coup that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Speaking Wednesday, two days ahead of the 20th anniversary of the coup that ousted him, Mr. Gorbachev said Russia needs free elections and […]
Medvedev, Putin Hold Day-Long Meeting Along Volga
Russia’s two top leaders, President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, have spent time fishing and boating on the Volga river in a rare, day-long private meeting. Tuesday’s visit in the Astrakhan region was not made public until Wednesday and was believed to include discussions on which of them will run for president. With […]
German Group Rescinds Humanitarian Award to Russia’s Putin
A private German foundation has rescinded a humanitarian award it planned to give Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after a widespread furor erupted over his democratic credentials. The Werkstatt Deutschland on Saturday cited “massive criticism” in media and political circles in saying that it had decided not to give its Quadriga award to Putin, a […]