February 12, 2008

From Russia, With Contempt

Gazprom will continue to pump gas into Ukraine after negotiators resolved a dispute with Russia, but energy supplies might be the least of the former Soviet satellite's concerns.

Asked about Ukraine's bid for inclusion in NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "I draw your attention to the consequences that would follow. It is terrible to even think that in response to this... Russia cannot theoretically exclude aiming our offensive missile systems at Ukraine."

Putin said Moscow would not interfere with Ukraine's affairs, but warned Kiev that if it agreed to host missile systems or NATO bases, Russia would point its weapons at Ukraine. Putin has made similar threats to Poland and the Czech Republic, where the U.S. is planning to install anti-ballistic weapons systems.

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Posted at 4:49 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Military, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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December 20, 2007

President Bush's Passive-Aggressive Holiday Greeting

Speaking at his final White House press conference of the year, President Bush congratulated Congress on its 11th-hour legislative achievements while making sure to backhand lawmakers for taking so long to get there.

"I thank the members of both parties for their hard work," Bush said, cheering the passage this week of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch, a lending crisis fix, an energy efficiency package and new defense spending. "I am pleased we are able to end this year on a high note."

Returning later to the AMT bill, the president added, "Unfortunately, Congress passed this legislation after a lengthy delay. It is going to add to the time it takes to process tens of billions in refunds. We will work hard to minimize the impact of congressional delay."

And after thanking Congress for sending him new spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan before the New Year, Bush noted that it was "approved at the last minute, nearly three months after the end of the fiscal year." He continued, "When Congress wastes so much time and leaves its work until the final days before Christmas, it is not a responsible way to run the government."

The president later denied that his relationship with the Democratic-led Congress was truly "antagonistic," but his annual pre-holiday address to the press corps encapsulated the testy and wearying push-pull the two branches have been engaged in all year.

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Posted at 12:18 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, CIA, Campaigns, Congress, Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, Lebanon, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Russia, Syria, Vladimir Putin, WH 2008
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December 17, 2007

World Leaders Watch: The Economy, Stupid

To no one's surprise, Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that he accepts his top aide's offer of the prime minister's slot should Dmitry Medvedev win the presidency in March. Medvedev is Putin's longtime aide and handpicked successor for the presidency -- an office Putin is barred by law from seeking again.

"If the citizens of Russia show trust in Dmitry Medvedev and elect him the new president, I would be ready to continue our joint work as prime minister without changing the distribution of authority between the positions," Putin said in an address to his United Russia party.

Putin sought to allay concerns that the coming election would amount to just moving the deck chairs, but few Russians are under the illusion that Putin's power would really be capped by the traditional bounds of the much-weaker prime minister's post. Nonetheless, Medvedev, who was formally nominated by United Russia today, is assured a decisive victory in the March 2 vote. Why hasn't Putin's authoritarian power-grabbing dented his popularity? The economy.

Russians can forgive Putin his flaws because their economy is rocketing -- even if Putin isn't exactly responsible for that trend. Here in the United States, the perception that the economy is flagging is threatening to upend next year's elections -- and President Bush's legacy. For the second time this month, Bush devoted a public address to the economy in an attempt to persuade the public that things weren't as dire as they seemed.

"My attitude was if you're paying taxes you ought to get tax relief," Bush told the Rotary Club in Fredericksburg, Va., recalling concerns about the economy after the 9/11 attacks. "If you think about where we were, coming out of 2001, and where we are today, you can't help but say the plan worked.

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Posted at 2:15 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Economy, Media, President Bush, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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December 13, 2007

Kasparov Not Running For Russian President

UPDATED.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov accused the Kremlin of squashing his presidential campaign by making it impossible for him to meet election requirements.

The outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin said that he was being prevented from holding supporters meetings in Moscow. According to BBC News, "Under Russian election law, presidential contenders who are not affiliated to one of four major parties that won seats in parliament must provide the details of two million supporters across the country. Such contenders must also organise an 'initiative group' meeting of at least 500 supporters before a December deadline."

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Posted at 11:23 AM
Posted to: Russia, Vladimir Putin
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October 23, 2007

Bush Urges Action On Missile Defense Shield

Amid continued protests from Russia, President Bush today affirmed his support for a U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe to protect American interests and allies from potential strikes from Iran, even as Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested the U.S. might delay activating the shield.

"The need for missile defense in Europe is real and I believe it's urgent. Iran is pursuing the technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles of increasing range that could deliver them," Bush told students at the National Defense University in Washington. "Today, we have no way to defend Europe against the emerging Iranian threat, so we must deploy a missile defense system there that can."

Today's speech was the latest example of the increasingly forceful rhetoric from the Bush administration about the need for allies to stand with the United States against Iran and its nuclear program.

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Posted at 3:41 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iran, President Bush, Robert Gates, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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October 17, 2007

Bush: Who You Calling Lame?

Vowing to "sprint to the finish" during his remaining 15 months in office, President Bush went before the White House press corps this morning armed with a laundry list of complaints about Congress' performance on domestic matters. Reporters, on the other hand, came armed with a flood of questions focused mainly on the president's own foreign policy agenda.

"There's little time left in the year," Bush warned in his opening statement. "And Congress has little to show for all the time that has gone by." He listed eight areas where Congress has either failed to act or compromise with the White House: health care, intelligence, the budget, education, housing, trade, veterans care and the judiciary.

Specifically, Bush urged the Democratic leadership to compromise with the White House on two contentious bills -- the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the authorization of a controversial wiretapping program. The former has already earned a presidential veto, and the White House issued a fresh veto threat for the latter yesterday.

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Posted at 1:55 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Congress, Health, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Palestinians, President Bush, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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October 16, 2007

Superpower Watch: Picking Sides, Choosing Teams

Once again, the Bush administration is reminded that while it would be preferable to have the world at its back as it attempts to stabilize the Middle East, it simply does not. Iran and Russia have sealed an agreement among the Caspian Sea nations that "under no circumstances will they allow [the use of their] territories by third countries to launch aggression or other military action against any of the member states." Doesn't take a genius to figure out which third country might top that list.

This declaration accomplishes several things, none of which bode well for Washington's push for Iran to come clean on its nuclear program.

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Posted at 1:36 PM
Posted to: Asia, Bush Administration, China, Europe, IAEA, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Military, Nuclear Weapons, President Bush, Robert Gates, Russia, Terrorism, U.N., Vladimir Putin
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October 15, 2007

Putin Delays Iran Visit After All

UPDATED.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be delaying his trip to Tehran amid concerns of an assassination plot, a news agency reported hours after Putin insisted he would arrive there tonight as scheduled.

According to AP, Iran's official news agency is reporting that "Putin will arrive in Tehran at the head of a delegation tomorrow morning." Neither government offered a detailed explanation.

Earlier today, Putin defiantly insisted that he would press on with the visit, despite intelligence that suicide bombers were targeting him in Tehran. "Of course I am going to Iran," Putin said after talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany. "If I always listened to all the various threats and the recommendations of the special services I would never leave home."

Russia's Interfax news agency had reported that security sources were picking up intelligence on a potential terrorist plot against Putin during his visit. An Iranian official dismissed the report as "part of a psychological war waged by enemies to disrupt relations between Iran and Russia."

Putin is scheduled to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a move akin to -- intentionally or not -- poking Washington in the eye.

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Posted at 5:24 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Middle East, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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October 01, 2007

Putin Hints At A Run For Prime Minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today that he will lead the ticket of the country's dominant political party in parliamentary elections in December, thus making him eligible to become the prime minister.

Putin, whose second term as president ends next year, is forbidden by Russia's constitution from seeking a third term. However, today's announcement confirms what many have long suspected -- that Putin fully intends to remain deeply involved in Russian politics after his presidency has ended.

At the eighth congress of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party today, Putin told members: "As far as heading the government is concerned -- this is a quite realistic suggestion but it is still too early to think about it." He added two conditions: "United Russia must win the election and a decent, capable and modern person with whom I work as a team should be elected as president."

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Posted at 3:39 PM
Posted to: Russia, Vladimir Putin
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September 12, 2007

Putin's Pick Sparks Guessing Game

Russia analysts are scratching their heads over President Vladimir Putin's unexpected appointment of Viktor Zubkov as prime minister. The office of the prime minister may as well be symbolic for what little power it holds, yet Zubkov is a close friend of Putin's.

There's speculation that Zubkov's elevation from head of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, which eyes money-laundering in the banking system, signals he is viewed as a possible successor. But that's an odd choice for Putin, as Zubkov is not very well-known and has no ties to the KGB (from which Putin hails) or other security-related services.

Putin named Zubkov as his pick almost immediately after the current PM, Mikhail Fradkov, resigned, thus triggering dissolution of the government. "Fradkov said he was resigning to give Mr Putin 'full freedom of decision including staff decisions'; most observers reckon that the president had that already," the Economist notes.

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Posted at 10:42 AM
Posted to: Russia, Vladimir Putin
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August 22, 2007

You, Too, Can Look Like Vladimir Putin

As semi-authoritarian world leaders' bodies go, Vladimir Putin's is tops. The 54-year-old Russian president boasts a torso as muscular as his hold over former Soviet bloc nations' energy supplies.

A Russian tabloid today published a helpful exercise guide that will help less well-endowed Russkies "get a body like Putin's," Reuters reports. We don't read Russian, but we're pretty sure this is the article. No clue either if Pootie-Poot eats his Wheaties, but the president is apparently a great judo practitioner and downhill skier.

Posted at 5:09 PM
Posted to: Russia, Vladimir Putin
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July 19, 2007

Russia-Britain Spy Probe Row More Than Just A Spat

Russia and Britain's diplomatic tit-for-tat is just the latest sign of escalating distrust between the former communist superpower and the West.

Moscow has expelled four British Embassy personnel in retaliation for Britain's decision on Monday to expel four Russian officials. That move was itself in retaliation for Russia's refusal to allow extradition of a former KGB officer who has been charged with a high-profile murder in London.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned Russia's response.

"We are disappointed that the Russian government should have signalled no new cooperation in the course of the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi," he told reporters. "We obviously believe that the decision to expel four embassy staff is completely unjustified."

Miliband also reminded Russia that most of the world community was siding with the U.K. in this fight. The EU called on Russia to hand over Lugovoi, as did Washington.

"This is an issue of rule of law to our minds, not an issue of politics," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters at a conference in Portugal. "It is a matter of Russia cooperating fully in what is simply an effort to solve what was a very terrible crime committed on British soil."

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Posted at 1:00 PM
Posted to: Russia, U.K., Vladimir Putin
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July 02, 2007

Real Differences Belie Bush & Putin's Cooperative Tone

UPDATED.

A month after it appeared that their relationship had deteriorated beyond the point of repair, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin were all smiles during a summit meant to restore their former bond.

Seeking to assure their respective constituents that they were determined to hammer out their differences, the two leaders gave an upbeat assessment of their negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.

"We spent a lot of time talking about the Iranian issue," Bush said in a joint press conference outside his family's compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. "I am concerned about the Iranians' attempt to develop the technologies and know-how to develop nuclear weapons. The president shares that."

"So far we have managed to work within the framework of the Security Council, and I think we will be successful on this track," Putin said. "I think all of this will contribute to further substantial intercourse on this issue."

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Posted at 5:19 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, President Bush, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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June 05, 2007

Bush Not Cowed By Putin's Threats

If Vladimir Putin's vow to point missiles at Europe in response to a U.S. defense shield there are worrying President Bush, he isn't showing it. One day after Putin threatened a second Cold War with the West, Bush again expressed Washington's disappointment in Russia's transition to democracy.

Speaking before the Democracy and Security Conference in Prague, Bush told a receptive audience, "In Russia, reforms that once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development."

Bush will not be alone when he airs his concerns about Russia's increasingly authoritarian government at the G-8 summit in Germany this week. As noted yesterday, France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's Tony Blair are also expected to seek face time with the Russian leader on that topic.

European leaders are also alarmed at Putin's threats, which may particularly chafe the former Eastern Bloc nations that have agreed to host the U.S. missile shield. Poland has signalled its OK for 10 U.S. missile blockers, and the Czech Republic has done the same for a U.S. radar.

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Posted at 12:19 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, President Bush, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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June 04, 2007

Putin's Russia: The Other Frontier

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be laughing his way to the G-8 summit this week, as U.S. and European leaders scramble to make sense of his newest tough talk on security in the region.

Invoking the bad old days of the Cold War, Putin told reporters that Russia would retaliate against a planned U.S. missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic by aiming its own defenses against targets in Europe. "If the U.S. nuclear potential extends across the European territory and threatens Russia, we will be obliged to take countermeasures,'' Putin said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin's Web site (currently available only in Russian). "Of course, we'll have to select new targets in Europe.''

Putin scoffed at Washington's stated rationale for the new defense shield, seconding Iran's and North Korea's claims that they simply aren't capable of lobbing missiles that would reach Europe.

"We are being told the anti-missile defense system is targeted against something that does not exist. Doesn't it seem funny to you?" he said.

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Posted at 2:35 PM
Posted to: Chechnya, Russia, Vladimir Putin
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