About: Putin Archives

The 31st EU-Russia summit will be held today (3 June) in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg. No breakthroughs or surprises are anticipated, but EU representatives are expected to warn President Vladimir Putin about “repressive tendencies” in Russia.

Russia’s export monopoly Gazprom and the Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell have signed a tentative deal to develop hydrocarbons in the Russian Arctic, Russian and Dutch media reported.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is meeting Commission President José Manuel Barroso in Moscow today (21 March), slammed the EU for behaving "like a bull in a china shop" on the proposed Cyprus bailout. Meanwhile, a prominent Russian opposition leader said the Kremlin was conducting an operation to save its “dirty money” in Cyprus.

EU leaders concluded their two-day summit today (15 March) with an informal discussion on Russia, largely intended as a brainstorming session to prepare an EU visit to Moscow next week aimed at ‘exploring areas of mutual interest'. Much of the debate focused on energy, which EU leaders will discuss during a special summit on 24 May.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych hinted that he might be ready to cede some control of his country's gas pipeline system that transports Russian gas to Europe ahead of a meeting today (4 March) with his Russian counterpart.

The EU-Russia summit ended today (21 December) with no major decisions, but Russian President Vladimir Putin staged a show for the press, telling Commission President José Manuel Barroso that he was “not right” in his interpretation of energy liberalisation rules.

Ukraine's president pulled out of gas price talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the last minute on Tuesday (18 December), raising concern about the reliability of supplies to Europe before a Russia-EU summit.

The human rights situation in the EU has deteriorated with the economic crisis, a Russian envoy said yesterday (6 December), citing xenophobia, racism, violent nationalism, police abuse and neo-Nazism among others. “We believe that nobody should have the monopoly to assess the human rights situation in other countries,” the envoy insisted.

The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton expressed concern yesterday (25 October) over Russia's recent adoption of a Cold War-style law, which could potentially imprison citizens in contact with foreigners for up to 20 years.

BP is ending a stormy relationship with Russian tycoons from a company known as AAR and is instead targeting a partnership with government-owned Rosneft. The deal, worth over $25 billion (€19.18 billion) could give the British oil company a stake of between 16% and 20% in the Russian oil giant. 

Russia officially joined the World Trade Organization today (22 August), ending a 19-year wait to become part of the global club.

Europe and the United States condemned Russia over the two-year prison sentences handed down to three members of the Pussy Riot punk band, while protestors took to the streets in 60 cities around the world after the verdict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to lower the price of gas for Ukraine yesterday (12 July) during his first visit to the former Soviet republic since returning to the Kremlin in May, a meeting which Kyiv had hoped would resolve the energy stalemate.

In a major speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, also known as “the Russian Davos”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he had appointed an ombudsman to help Western entrepreneurs.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin made it clear that his country cannot advance negotiations on a new basic treaty with the EU, unless Brussels formalises relations with the so-called "Common Economic Space" - its Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. 
 

Russian President Vladimir Putin's stance on Syria will be in the spotlight today (4 June) at his first summit with the EU since he returned to the Kremlin last month.

The Russian Ambassador to the EU slammed the bloc's inability “to move backwards” on some issues, but also pleaded for reaping the complementarity of European and Russian economies. The remarks were made yesterday (29 May) at a briefing in preparation of the 3-4 June EU-Russia summit.

The transcript of a discussion between new Serbian President Tomislav Nikoli? and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin appears to suggest that Moscow is preparing to work with a government led by Nikoli?'s rival, former President Boris Tadi?, as Prime Minister.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said his country was “taken hostage” over the case of his imprisoned predecessor, Yulia Tymoshenko, which he said was overblown because of a “foreign plot” to prevent the country from getting closer to the EU.

EU ministers held an animated discussion in Brussels yesterday (14 May), evaluating the risks of “losing Ukraine to Russia” if too much pressure is put on the country over the treatment of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Moscow will seek closer ties with the United States but will not tolerate interference in its affairs and wants guarantees a US missile shield will not be used against Russia, under terms of a decree signed by Vladimir Putin yesterday, as he took office as President (7 May) for the third time. 

It is absolutely essential to have more coherent, structured, well-framed relations between the EU and Russia, said Thierry de Montbrial, founder and Director General of the French Institute for International Relations IFRI, in an exclusive with EURACTIV, on the occasion of Putin's coming inauguration on 7 May for a new mandate as president.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has urged his country's gas industry to "rise to the challenge" of shale gas as the United States and some European countries forge ahead with developing the controversial energy source.

Outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed yesterday (3 April) a new law officially designed to open up the political system to competition, but which according to critics would instead create "chaos". At the same time it became clear that he would not pardon jailed anti-Kremlin tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.