Vladimir Putin – News Stories About Vladimir Putin - Page 50

Sep 1, 2008 2:53 AM CDT

EU Holds Emergency Summit on Georgia

No sanctions or radical changes expected

(Newser) - European Union leaders gather in Brussels in an emergency session today to review their stance on Russia’s invasion of Georgia. It's the first emergency EU meeting since the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003. With conflicting positions from the UK, France and Germany, analysts say the summit will...

Putin: US Sparked Georgia War

Aug 29, 2008 4:26 AM CDT

Putin: US Sparked Georgia War

Part of plot to win votes for McCain, he claims

(Newser) - Invoking the era of Cold War conspiracies, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the US of sparking conflict in Georgia to give John McCain a campaign boost. “They need a small victorious war,” the told CNN. He insisted the US encouraged Georgia to attack their two breakaway...

West to Put Screws to Russia

Aug 27, 2008 2:25 AM CDT

West to Put Screws to Russia

New fury at Russia's formal recognition of breakaway states

(Newser) - The West is preparing to crank up diplomatic pressure on Russia after its challenging move formally recognizing breakaway Ossetia and Abkhazia in the wake of its invasion of Georgia. The US, Europe and NATO have condemned the action, but Russia remains defiant. "We are not afraid of anything, including...

Germany Is Crux of Russia Talks

Analysis

Aug 25, 2008 10:05 AM CDT

Germany Is Crux of Russia Talks

Merkel could be valuable go-between

(Newser) - A fretful Eastern Europe is hoping Germany can play a key diplomatic role in its stare-down with Russia, the New York Times reports. Until recently, relations between Moscow and Berlin were too cozy for the Caucasus’ tastes, but East German-born Angela Merkel has distanced herself from Russia just enough to...

Modern Bullies Aren't
World's Real Threat

OPINION

Aug 23, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

Modern Bullies Aren't World's Real Threat

Putin, Jintao no Stalin, Mao; today's rulers can't ignore democracy

(Newser) - The world's strong-arm autocrats are surging to the fore, ignoring human rights, denying election results, and barging into neighboring nations. But Hu Jintao, Robert Mugabe and Vladimir Putin are not Mao, Hitler, or Stalin, Francis Fukuyama writes in the Washington Post. That “sort of ideological tyrant no longer bestrides...

Nuke Advantage Emboldened Putin's Russia

OPINION

Aug 21, 2008 9:25 AM CDT

Nuke Advantage Emboldened Putin's Russia

US disarmament partly to blame for Georgia war, says Schoenfeld

(Newser) - Diplomats and pundits have debated what led Russia to attack Georgia so forcefully, pointing to everything from newfound economic strength to a sense of national humiliation. But Gabriel Schoenfeld, editor at neoconservative magazine Commentary, has another explanation: it's Russia's growing nuclear advantage, especially with short-range arms, that has "helped...

Shunning Won't Work:
Invite Russia to Join NATO

OPINION

Aug 20, 2008 12:53 PM CDT

Shunning Won't Work: Invite Russia to Join NATO

Increased engagement with the bear will avert more crises: Meier

(Newser) - The kneejerk impulse to punish Russia for its Georgia incursion by withdrawing NATO civilities is exactly wrong, Andrew Meier writes in the Los Angeles Times. The only way the West can get leverage, given the case of nerves the Russians have over NATO’s expansion into former Soviet states, is...

Georgian War Lays Bare
Bush Policy's Failures

OPINION

Aug 19, 2008 3:45 PM CDT

Georgian War Lays Bare Bush Policy's Failures

US encouraged Georgian bluster; provoked Russian paranoia

(Newser) - The Georgian war crystallizes the failure of the Bush administration's foreign policy, writes HDS Greenway in the Boston Globe. Besides the ready-made justification the Iraq war provides to any invading country, America has stoked Georgian boldness, "and now America's client is wiping blood from its nose," he writes....

Old Cold War Rhetoric Won't Work on the
New Putin

analysis

Aug 19, 2008 2:48 PM CDT

Old Cold War Rhetoric Won't Work on the New Putin

He's not Hitler or Stalin; his is a 'subtler game'

(Newser) - Comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler and Stalin may invoke nostalgia in aging Cold Warriors, argues David Remnick in the New Yorker, but it ignores the realities of contemporary Russia as well as Putin’s actual motives. The Russian leader has been awaiting the chance to vent his resentment of NATO...

Georgia Is the Victim,
So Blame Russia

opinion

Aug 17, 2008 5:53 PM CDT

Georgia Is the Victim, So Blame Russia

History reveals Russia as the aggressor

(Newser) - Why blame Georgia for Russia's invasion when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is clearly at fault? Putin has been seething ever since pro-Western Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in Georgia 3 years ago, writes Matthew Continetti in The Weekly Standard. "Putin has been pressuring Georgia for years," writes...

In China and Russia,
a 'Springtime for Autocrats'

ANALYSIS

Aug 17, 2008 2:36 PM CDT

In China and Russia, a 'Springtime for Autocrats'

Is the Age of Authoritarianism upon us?

(Newser) - The autocratic world powers that were crumbling in the late 1980s may yet have their day, and sooner than we think, writes executive editor Bill Keller in the New York Times. As China keeps its stranglehold on free speech despite promises to the IOC, and Russia tests how far it...

White House Forced to Rethink Russian Relationship

Aug 15, 2008 9:40 AM CDT

White House Forced to Rethink Russian Relationship

Georgia action prompts US to reconsider Moscow ties

(Newser) - Russia's military action in Georgia was a rude awakening for the White House, forcing the Bush administration to reconsider the relationship it thought they had, the New York Times reports. President Bush has famously touted Vladimir Putin a reliable friend and diplomatic partner, despite policy differences, but cooperation across a...

Rice Arrives in Georgia

Aug 15, 2008 7:31 AM CDT

Rice Arrives in Georgia

American, European diplomats push to get Russian troops out

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice arrived in Tbilisi today, where she said her immediate goal was to get Russian troops out of Georgia. The secretary of state stopped over in France to meet with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president who brokered a ceasefire that Moscow has flouted. Rice's trip follows an American airlift...

Bush Doctrine Enabled Putin's Georgia War

OPINION

Aug 14, 2008 1:48 PM CDT

Bush Doctrine Enabled Putin's Georgia War

Iraq action opened Pandora's box of unilateralism

(Newser) - President Bush's "howls of outrage" at Russia's unilateral action and calls for regime change in the Caucasus ring more than a little hollow to Juan Cole of Salon, who remembers all too well a similar situation not long ago. "Vladimir Putin's invoking Bush's Iraq adventure points directly to...

Peace Deal Opened Door
to Russian Advance

ANALYSIS

Aug 14, 2008 4:22 AM CDT

Peace Deal Opened Door to Russian Advance

Russian 'peacekeepers' given wide latitude in new pact

(Newser) - A Russian convoy was headed deeper into Georgia within hours of a new peace deal thanks to a big loophole in the agreement, Andrew E. Kramer writes in the New York Times. The deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy allows Russian peacekeepers to implement unspecified "additional security measures,...

How the West's Mistakes Stoked War in Georgia

OPINION

Aug 13, 2008 6:15 PM CDT

How the West's Mistakes Stoked War in Georgia

Diplomatic laziness increased the likelihood of conflict

(Newser) - With the conflict between Georgia and Russia cooling and a truce in progress, it’s time for the West to appreciate its role in the conflict, writes Ronald D. Asmus for the New Republic.

From the early '90s, the West accepted the Russians as peacekeepers in the secession dispute. While

...

Russia May Put Pressure on Ukraine Next

Aug 13, 2008 3:45 PM CDT

Russia May Put Pressure on Ukraine Next

After dominating Georgia, Moscow could try to block NATO bid

(Newser) - After flexing its military might against Georgia, Russia may next set its sights on US-backed Ukraine by trying to foil its attempts to join NATO, analysts say. Already, tensions are flaring, Bloomberg reports. Ukraine restricted the movements of Russian ships in the Black Sea, which are based at a Ukrainian...

Invasion Shows
Putin's Clout

Analysis

Aug 12, 2008 5:49 PM CDT

Invasion Shows Putin's Clout

Ex-president retains control

(Newser) - Russia’s military campaign in Georgia is a clear signal that Vladimir Putin is neither gone nor forgotten, reports the Wall Street Journal . Domination of the Caucasus region has long been a central tenet of Putin’s foreign policy, and the PM was especially visible this week, supporting the invasion...

Gorbachev: Peace Remains Possible

OPINION

Aug 12, 2008 12:24 PM CDT

Gorbachev: Peace Remains Possible

Western powers must tread lightly in Georgia, ex-Soviet prez warns

(Newser) - The situation in Georgia dates to at least 1991, when the government slapped a lid on South Ossetia, setting off a "time bomb," Mikhail Gorbachev writes in the Washington Post. The ex-Soviet president outlines his vision for regional stability. "In addition to patience, this situation requires wisdom,...

War Highlights McCain's Stance on Russia

Aug 12, 2008 10:45 AM CDT

War Highlights McCain's Stance on Russia

Candidate has taken a hard line, calling for increased isolation

(Newser) - The past several days of intense combat in Georgia have underscored John McCain’s longrunning hardline stance against Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the New York Times reports. In an aspect of the candidate's track record that has received relatively little attention, McCain has called for Russia’s expulsion from the...