Last Friday, this author had the opportunity to dine in the company of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, his senior staff, and the attendees of the annual Valdai Club meeting at Le Cheval Blanc, a gourmet restaurant in Moscow. Responding to the Valdai Club report that found Russia’s “managed democracy” is running out of steam, Putin retorted that Russia’s current political system has not exhausted itself yet—as he is running for president. Asked who are the next generation of politicians, he named President Dmitry Medvedev, then stalled and said more …
On Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev forced Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to resign. Medvedev’s harsh treatment of Kudrin was a response to the statement Kudrin made over the weekend. Following the announcement of Vladimir Putin running for president in the upcoming presidential elections and Medvedev’s future job as the prime minister, Kudrin said, “I do not see myself in the new government. I think that those differences of opinion that I have [with Medvedev] will not allow me to join the government.” Rumor has it, however, that there was more …
Last week the government of Russia banned a center-right democratic opposition party from participating in elections. At the same time, the Kremlin propped up a small party led by a friendly oligarch. Despite his democratic rhetoric, President Dmitry Medvedev did nothing to uphold minimal democratic norms. As Heritage’s Ariel Cohen noted recently, the Obama Administration “bet on the wrong horse” when it engaged Medvedev as the lead contact for its “reset” of relations with Russia. Unfortunately, he did not deliver on democracy or other issues important to the U.S. A bipartisan …
Did Russian President Dmitry Medvedev blush when he signed off on the G-8 declaration of the “Renewed Commitment for Freedom and Democracy” at last week’s G-8 Summit in Deauville, France? Probably not, but he should have. Russia today is not exactly an example of political freedom or democracy as we in the West understand it. Nor is Russia in any way committed to free expression on the Internet, the subject of a lengthy portion of the G-8 declaration. While governments of all stripes today advocate greater international cooperation in cyberspace, …
In his latest Los Angeles Times article, Doyle McManus identifies President Obama’s attempts to sell New START, the nuclear arms reduction treaty between the U.S. and Russia, to the Republicans in the Senate as “increasingly desperate.” Indeed, the Administration’s arguments for ratifying the treaty have evolved from claiming that the accord is a modest treaty that will enhance U.S. security to asserting that the consequences of rejecting New START will be dire. Most recently, the President has shifted his argument to one of obliging his favorite Russian leader, Dmitry Medvedev. …
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in China on Sunday to expand energy cooperation between the two countries. The new deal includes building a 13-million-ton-per-year oil refinery in the city Tianjin within two years. Russia would supply 70 percent of the oil for the $5 billion refinery in a 20-year deal. In August, Russia opened its section of a 625-mile (1,000 km) oil pipeline from Skovorodino in the Far East to China. The pipe connects Russian oil fields with Daqing, a major oil production region in northeastern China. Russia is also …
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently stated that there is no proof that Iran is building nuclear weapons. The Russian Federation has held this position for a long time. However, Lavrov apparently has not heard what his boss, president Dmitry Medvedev said—and did—on this matter. Moscow voted in favor of all the four rounds of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran aimed at pressuring the country to stop its nuclear weapons program. Russia also joined the ban on supplying arms and military aircraft to Iran. Significantly, the Kremlin …
The New START Treaty, a treaty signed between the U.S. and Russia, is promoted by the Obama Administration as a means toward a reduction of nuclear weapons between the nations. Senator Richard Lugar (R–IN), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told C-SPAN (according to The Hill) that “a ‘large majority’ of members in his party will back [the treaty] and that it will be ratified.” Lugar is the only Republican to pledge support to date, and any prediction of this controversial treaty passing in a lame duck session …
Following months of intense diplomacy between the United States and Russia focusing on “resetting” bilateral relations, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev visited the United States for two days. The tour included stops in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Stanford University, and a Washington, D. C summit with President Obama. In trying to move the focus of US-Russian ties beyond security and geopolitical issues such as arms control and Iran, the trip was intended to take the relationship to the next level—greater economic engagement. It was also intended to show the smiling face …
