About: Putin
Biden hails gold medal for a country Serbia says doesn’t exist
US Vice-President Joe Biden has chosen this week to come to what is still Europe’s great unfinished business – the West Balkans. Can Biden knock any sense into his Serb hosts? Unlikely, says Denis MacShane.Russia’s response to Ukraine’s European choice: what is next?
Great hope remains that after the Vilnius Summit in November, Brussels will keep its word and will not leave Ukraine one on one with Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, will aspire for geopolitical revenge and a return of Kyiv to the Eurasian area at any price, writes Roman Rukomeda.A ‘new’ foreign strategy for Russia
Politically correct rhetoric of recent addresses from Russian President Vladimir Putin and his focus on problems in Russia and post-Soviet space may be attributed to the objective lack of foreign partners to form a global strategic agenda, writes Lidiya Smola.Where are you going, Ukraine?
For experts and analysts, the new year traditionally begins with the definition of the main trends of social, political and economic development. Actions in Ukraine show that some trends will have significant implications for the Ukrainian society, argues Lidiya Smola.Putin’s Eurasian Union: A promising development
The Eurasian Union is surely Russia’s most ambitious political programme since the end of the Soviet Union, writes Liana Fix. As Putin’s own brainchild, it is likely to become one of the top priorities of his presidency, she argues.Eurasian Economic Union: Less than favourable outcome for economic integration
In the lead-up to the creation of a Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), foreseen for 2015, the Customs Union (CU) and the Common Economic Space (CES) between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan represent two elements of the most ambitious regional integration projects launched in the post-Soviet space since 1991, write Steven Blockmans, Hrant Kostanyan and Ievgen Vorobiov.Why Merkel is taking such a keen interest in Moldova
With a eurozone crisis and other challenges to deal with, why has German Chancellor Angela Merkel taken such an interest in tiny Moldova? One reason is that Moldova is sitting on the borders of the EU and the unresolved conflict there remains dangerous and unstable. Another is that Merkel wanted to use the frozen conflict in Transnistria as a test case for Berlin’s relations with the Kremlin, writes Judy Dempsey.Putin’s new economic policy
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was inaugurated for a new six-year mandate on 7 May, has signed ambitious decrees, but very little is expected to change in the way the country will deal with foreign investors, argues Bogdan Sumenko.‘Collective Putin’ mismanages Russia’s energy sector
Little will change in the poor management of Russia's energy sector with the return of Valdimir Putin as president of Russia, says Mikhail Krutikhin in an analysis initially published the European Union Institute for Security Studies.A Ukrainian Perspective on Russia’s Policy Towards CIS Countries
Russia's attempts to increase its influence over in its near-abroad is likely to lead to conflict and authoritarianism in neighbouring countries, but not necessarily to pro-Russian regimes, argues Alexey Leshchenko.