By Derek Hunter
Showing posts with label Putin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Putin. Show all posts
By Catherine Kent
The G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, which concluded on
Sunday, November 16, reportedly had tight security. Protests were expected against President Putin and Russia’s alleged
involvement in Ukraine. A few days before the summit, Putin
remarked that the U.S. sanctions on Russia were a mistake, as they were not
only in violation of international trade law, but also undermined trade. When
asked if he would bring up the sanctions at the summit, Putin said no, because
this would be “pointless.” After the conference ended on Sunday, November 16,
(and trade sanctions had not been discussed), Putin commended the summit for
its “constructive
atmosphere ”.
By Kristen E. McCannon
Vladimir Putin argued on November 14 that international
sanctions against Russia violate international law. Speaking
prior to the G20 Summit in Brisbane, the Russian President claimed that
the United Nations Security Council must approve economic sanctions, and therefore
that the current sanctions are illegal because they were imposed by Western
countries in the absence of such approval. President Putin also suggested that
the sanctions might violate the principles of the World Trade Organization.
By Stephen Levy
The United States began its sanctions program to discourage
the conflict in Ukraine by targeting individuals. In March 2014, the President issued a stream of
Executive Orders targeting first individuals directly violating the
territorial integrity of Ukraine, then moving onto those who “undermine[d]
democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine”. In the State Department’s
own words, the United States is directly targeting “individuals in Putin’s
inner circle” to “send a strong message to the Russian government that there
are consequences for their actions”.
To emphasize this strategy, the U.S. government has gone in
search of both the financial assets and the playthings of the implicated
Russians. The Department of Homeland Security announced
it was on the hunt for “shiny toys” owned by the implicated individuals in the
United States. Homeland Security’s Foreign Corruption Investigations Group was
tasked with investigating the sanctioned persons, with the Treasury Department
to freeze the assets. Similar efforts
have propped up through the European Union as well.
Has that actually taken place? The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly,
is a resounding “kind of.”
By Jenny Park
President Putin and Russian officials are espousing
self-sufficiency in response to U.S. and EU sanctions. They believe that these
sanctions will only help Russia become more resilient. Consequently, Russia has
imposed its own sanctions, including ban on food imports from EU countries.
This trend has echoes of the Soviet era as Russia appears to become more of a
closed society.
Read more here.
By Catherine Kent
Reuters reports that since the West first placed sanctions
on Russia in response to Putin’s involvement in the Ukraine, Putin has been
largely successful in spreading anti-Western
rhetoric and U.S. conspiracy theories. As most of Russia gets their news
from state television, which mirrors Putin’s views, he has been able to deflect
the blame. Despite Russia’s recent economic downturn, Putin has maintained an 80%
approval rating.
Putin claims that the sanctions will only help Russia’s
economy, as they allow Russia to isolate itself from reliance on foreign
countries and develop its own domestic industries. However, Putin’s take is not
supported by the facts, indeed, the Ruble has lost 20% against the US Dollar
last year.
By Jenny Park
In a New York
Times Op-Ed, Simon Morrison
shares his observations about the Russian defiance of U.S. sanctions, and
reasons for Putin’s high ratings. While characterizing Russia’s view of the
Ukrainian conflict as illusory, Morrison attributes much of this defiance to
nostalgia. This nostalgia stems from Crimea’s role in the Russian Empire as
well as heavy propaganda from the Russian media. Interestingly, Morrison
juxtaposes these sensibilities to the American right-wing media’s nostalgia for
a Reagan-era empire and to its accompanying partisan rhetoric.
By Catherine Kent
Wall Street Journal reports that both the
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian Economy Minister Alexei
Ulyukayev are acknowledging the harmful effects on Russia’s economy of
the new Western sanctions. While President Valdimir Putin
seems to see the issue differently, according to Economy Minister Ulyukayev, the
“global capital markets are practically closed to [Russian] companies.” Lacking the requisite investment and capital, Russian companies are cut off
from even the possibility of domestic growth.
By Stephen Levy
Vladimir Putin wants to restructure Russian consumer’s
buying habits with his counter-sanctions, Quartz
noted in a report on September 12th, not just harm EU and US companies. Putin’s
announced sanctions, primarily used cars and clothes, more closely match the
industries Putin previously targeted for domestic production than industries
that would harm western exporters. As the article notes, the sanctions do not
touch new cars, a much larger source of western exports. As the article hints, though, urban Russians
with a taste for western luxuries might not appreciate having to consume solely
domestic products.
By Aliza Kempner
As
the conflict continues to smolder between Russia and Ukraine, new participants
are hoping to step onto the natural gas scene. Azerbaijan, a small country seated
between Russia and Iran, is looking to build a $45 billion natural gas pipeline
to channel gas into Europe, territory previously covered by Russia’s natural
gas supply. Connecting its drilling operations in the Caspian Sea to Italy, the
preliminary plan is to carry 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
Politico has more on Azerbaijan’s ambitious plan and the possible threat it poses to Vladimir Putin.
By Julie Inglese
“No
other Winter Games has faced such an acute terror threat. No other Winter
Olympics has been so engulfed in politics. No other recent Olympics has been so
closely associated with one man — Putin, the "captain" of the Sochi
team.”
The Olympics is intended to bring together great athletes to create
pride and unity in their countries. However, Redding explains that the world cannot
stop focusing on a possible terrorist attack. An Islamic militant group in
Dagestan claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings that killed 34 people
in late December in Volgograd and threatened to attack the games in Sochi.
Putin has gone through great lengths to ensure safety for all and one of the
best Winter Olympics yet. Let’s hope Putin delivers.
