Wall Street Journal (March 7)
“Oil and gas revenue makes up about half of the Kremlin’s budget and is critical to financing Vladimir Putin’s bloody war on Ukraine.” The trouble is “sanctions on Russian energy could also harm the world economy and especially Europe,” which depends on Russia for a quarter of its oil and 40% of its natural gas. “Unless the West is willing to grasp this nettle, the world will continue to finance the Putin war machine.”
Tags: Budget, Critical, Economy, Energy, Europe, Financing, Kremlin, Natural gas, Oil, Putin, Revenue, Sanctions, Ukraine, War
Washington Post (July 16)
“In Helsinki, Mr. Trump again insisted ‘there was no collusion’ with Russia.” In the process, however, he “appeared to align himself with the Kremlin against American law enforcement.” By “refusing to acknowledge the plain facts about Russia’s behavior, while trashing his own country’s justice system, Mr. Trump in fact was openly colluding with the criminal leader of a hostile power.”
Tags: Collusion, Criminal, Facts, Helsinki, Hostile power, Justice, Kremlin, Law enforcement, Russia, Trump, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (January 17)
“No one in Europe should ever be induced to wonder if America is on the side of Europe’s free and democratic nations or the menacing, corrupt autocrat in the Kremlin. The military partnerships and economic connections between the United States and Europe deserve a great deal of the credit for the relative peace and prosperity of the postwar era.”
Tags: Autocrat, Corrupt, Democratic, Europe, Free, Kremlin, Military, Partnership, Peace, Prosperity, U.S.
Reuters (October 18)
International sanctions are hitting Russia hard. “Though the Kremlin shows no sign of backing down, it remains unclear whether Russia’s struggling economy can support its global aspirations. Moscow’s 2014 invasion of eastern Ukraine sparked a major recession. Economists have been looking in vain for signs of recovery ever since.”
Tags: Economists, Economy, Global aspirations, Kremlin, Moscow, Recession, Recovery, Russia, Sanctions, Struggling, Ukraine
Bloomberg (December 18)
Early this year, Kremlin aids advised Vladimir Putin that “Russia was rich enough to withstand the financial repercussions from a possible incursion into Ukraine.” Their advice and the subsequent invasion “now looks like a grave miscalculation. Russia has driven interest rates to punishing levels and spent at least $87 billion, or 17 percent, of its foreign-exchange reserves trying to prevent a collapse in the ruble from spiraling into a panic.
Tags: Advice, Collapse, Foreign-exchange reserves, Interest rates, Kremlin, Miscalculation, Panic, Putin, Ruble, Russia, Ukraine
Los Angeles Times (August 3)
North Korea is much more difficult to understand than the old Soviet regime. “Kremlin watching” was an “inexact science,” but it brought some understanding of the government. “In North Korea today, it’s nearly impossible even to discover where the government and its new leader, Kim Jong Un, operate.”
North Korea is much more difficult to understand than the old Soviet regime. “Kremlin watching” was an “inexact science,” but it brought some understanding of the government. “In North Korea today, it’s nearly impossible even to discover where the government and its new leader, Kim Jong Un, operate.”
Tags: Kim Jong Un, Kremlin, North Korea, Soviet Union
The Independent (December 12)
Russian politics has entered a new phase. “Authorities watched with horror as the number of people who said they would attend Saturday’s protest grew steadily throughout the week.” Middle-class Russians who benefited greatly during the Putin era, “have suddenly started taking an interest” in politics. “The Kremlin will face a difficult choice. Does it open up the political process…or does it repress dissent and risk radicalising the opposition?”
Russian politics has entered a new phase. “Authorities watched with horror as the number of people who said they would attend Saturday’s protest grew steadily throughout the week.” Middle-class Russians who benefited greatly during the Putin era, “have suddenly started taking an interest” in politics. “The Kremlin will face a difficult choice. Does it open up the political process…or does it repress dissent and risk radicalising the opposition?”