Obama phones Putin, warns him to negotiate ahead of Minsk summit February 11, 2015 US President Barack Obama has upped the rhetoric over Ukraine, using a phone call to tell Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peaceful settlement this week. The phone call came after Obama confirmed he had asked officials to look into supplying the Ukrainian government with weapons to fight the Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine. Putin is meeting [...]
Putin’s latest aggression is just smoke and mirrors: We must now call his bluff February 1, 2015 When we last left Vladimir Putin at the end of 2014, he was a cornered animal at bay, turning with teeth bared as the forces of the market relentlessly drew closer to him. But ever the creative tactician, the Russian President is seeking to – not for the first time – dramatically change the facts [...]
Man once known as “Putin’s banker” loses £1.3bn battle in UK high court December 19, 2014 Vladimir Putin's former "banker" has lost a $2bn (£1.3bn) legal battle in the UK courts. The man in question is Sergei Pugachev, a former Russian senator. Pugachev had sought to overturn a UK court order issued in July this year that froze his global assets due to a $2bn claim made against a collapsed bank he [...]
Putin and the rouble: EU leaders stick to their guns over sanctions December 19, 2014 Even as the rouble continues its inexorable decline, hand in hand with global oil prices, EU leaders are refusing to budge over sanctions on Russia. At a summit meeting in Brussels all the talk was of “stay[ing] the course” and taking “further steps if necessary,” not relaxing the sanctions swaddling the Russian economy. Chief among [...]
Is Vladimir Putin right that Russia’s economy will be back on its feet within two years? December 18, 2014 Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, says Yes. Russia’s citizens have been here before – they know the drill. Everything looks terrible now, but the positive spin is that we could see a new start in 2015. A solution to the Ukraine crisis is a pre-condition, laying to rest the political and financial stand-off [...]
Putin: Effects of the rouble crisis will “last two years under the most unfavourable circumstances” December 18, 2014 Buoyed, presumably, by the triumph of being named Russia’s man of the year for the 15th year in a row just hours ago, this morning Vladimir Putin climbed on to the podium to give a press conference to 1,300-odd journalists in what has become known as his answer to a “state of the nation address”. [...]
Putin’s disaster economy now faces a perfect storm December 16, 2014 VLADIMIR Putin is surely receiving his long-awaited comeuppance, as his country struggles to deal with a full-blown currency rout, driven by plunging oil prices. For if the US and Saudi Arabia are indeed in cahoots to drive down the price of oil to smite their Russian enemy, as I have previously posited, one must admit [...]
G20 summit 2014: Vladimir Putin walkout eclipses pledges made in Brisbane November 17, 2014 G20 leaders promised market-led reforms to boost growth at the weekend’s summit in Brisbane that saw Russian President Vladimir Putin controversially leaving early and further progress made on a free trade agreement between the US and EU. “We are implementing structural reforms to lift growth and private sector activity, recognising that well-functioning markets underpin prosperity,” [...]
“More sanctions? I’m off”: Putin leaves G20 early after being blasted over Ukraine November 15, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to wave goodbye to his fellow G20 summit attendees a day early, after they criticised Russia's involvement in Ukraine and threatened to impose more sanctions on Moscow. Western leaders from both Europe and North America berated Russia for its part in the recent escalation of military activity in [...]
Putin threatens retaliation against Ukraine if EU trade deal goes ahead September 24, 2014 Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine that its access to Russian markets could be hampered if it goes ahead with a planned trade agreement with the EU. Putin said in a letter to Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko that any change to legislation to prepare for the deal would be met with retaliation from Russia. [...]