Contents tagged with Vladimir Putin

  • Putin says Russian pension system may collapse

    On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented for the first time on the bill to increase the retirement age , which had its first reading in the State Duma the day before.

    According to him, to leave the pension system in its current form would be tantamount to “trickery”, because either the system itself will “give out”, or the budget, which is paying for roughly half of its expenses (3.3 trillion rubles out of 7), will.

    “For five pensioners there are six working persons today, and …

  • Putin announces Russian foreign policy change

    At a meeting of ambassadors and permanent representatives at the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry on Thursday, July 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that foreign policy should be more economically-oriented to match the rising tide of protectionism on the world stage, TASS reports.

    According to Putin, the principle of competition and openness in global trade is becoming more frequently replaced by protectionism, economic benefit and expediency, by ideological conjuncture and political …

  • US intelligence chief: Russia cannot and will not influence Iran in Syria

    Russia has neither the desire nor the ability to influence Iran’s actions in Syria, stated US National Intelligence Director Daniel Coats at a forum on security in Aspen, Colorado.

    Coats was asked whether he thinks Russia “has enough influence” to force the Iran-backed forces to leave Syria. The possibility of such an agreement between Russia and the US has been discussed recently by the American press.

    According to Coats, US intelligence considers it “unlikely that Russia has the desire or …

  • Putin promises 'commensurate reaction' to NATO expansion

    Russian President Vladimir Putin promised a “commensurate reaction” for the deployment of NATO bases near Russian borders.

    Speaking at a meeting of Russian ambassadors and permanent representatives in Moscow on Thursday, the President called such actions “aggressive steps”.

    In his opinion, the guarantee of security in Europe is based on constructive cooperation in the European space.

    Putin also urged Western countries to exert influence on Kyiv in the implementation of the Minsk agreements. …

  • Crimean authorities compile list of Russian 'enemies of the peninsula'

    The Public Chamber of Crimea has put together a list of Russians who publicly do not recognize the peninsula’s status, and in so doing supposedly “incite hostility”. The list is published on the organization’s website.

    The list, titled the “Crimean Dossier”, includes the authors Boris Akunin, Vladimir Voynovich and Lyudmila Ulitskaya, filmmaker and screenwriter Alexander Sokurov, musician Andrey Makarevich, actresses Liya Akhedzhakova and Ada Rogovtseva, actor Mikhail Efremov, prose writer and …

  • Kyiv calls on Washington to clarify ‘new proposals on Ukraine’ that Putin and Trump discussed in Helsinki

    Ukraine requested that the United States clarify the reports about the "new proposals" to resolve the situation in the Donbas and Crimea, which allegedly were discussed at the summit of Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

    "Ukraine has requested official explanations from Washington about the alleged discussion at the American-Russian meeting in Helsinki of “new proposals to resolve the situation in the south-eastern regions of Ukraine", which were mentioned by …

  • Putin speaks about Trump’s position on Crimea

    President of the United States Donald Trump believes that it was unlawful for Russia to annex the peninsula of Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in his press conference following talks with Trump in Helsinki.

    “The position of President Trump regarding the Crimea is known, he stands by it. He talks about the illegality of the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation. We have a different point of view. We believe that we held a referendum in strict accordance with …

  • Prime Minister of Hungary complains to Putin about EU’s anti-Russian sanctions

    The European Union’s anti-Russian sanctions have jeopardized Moscow-Budapest relations, said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin press service reported. “I must say that we could develop even more [relations] if not for the harmful sanctions. Because of these measures, we are losing opportunities,” said the Hungarian Prime Minister. Moreover, Orban assured Putin that Hungary stands for the normalization of relations between …

  • President Dodon: Moldova will not be friends with the West against Russia

    At the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, said that he appreciates the cooperation with Russia and does not intend to unite with Western countries against it, the Kremlin's website reports.   "Our position is clear and understandable. We want to be friends with everyone, but we do not want to be used geopolitically against someone else. We do not intend to be friends with the West against Russia. This is my position," Dodon said. He …

  • Iran claims that Russia is ready to invest $50 billion in its oil and gas sector

    After a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the adviser to the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Akbar Velayati, stated that Moscow is ready to invest $50 billion in Iran’s oil and gas sector.

    “Mr. Putin spoke during today’s meeting about his readiness to expand the oil trade between the two countries and increase investments in the oil and gas industry of our country up to $50 billion,” television company IRIB quoted Velayati as saying.

    According to Velayati, this is quite a large …