Contents tagged with Putin

  • Poll finds Russians' trust in Putin is decreasing

    Over the past year, the number of Russians that trust President Vladimir Putin has decreased, according to a survey conducted by the Levada Center. According to sociologists, 21% "completely trust" Putin, 52% "somewhat trust", and 14% chose "somewhat not trust". Last year, the corresponding response options chose 26%, 57% and 14% respectively.

    Thus, the index of confidence has decreased by 10% overall. Dozhd reported the results of the survey conducted in March this year.

    When asked, "How …

  • Crimean Tatar leader: Putin visited Crimea to 'reassure' the people

    The head of the Central Election Commission of the Crimean Tatars, Zahir Semdlyaev, believes that the purpose of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Crimea on March 18th was to “soothe the Crimean people who live in poor socio-economic conditions.”

    "He arrived to promise, to reassure local residents a little, to say that we must still be patient for about another hundred years, and then everything will be fine for sure. But in any case, they [the officials] are fine now, and about …

  • Putin: Russia can reinforce its positions in Syria within several hours if needed

    Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that, if necessary, Russia is able to reinforce its positions in Syria within several hours, "although this would not be desirable", TASS reports.

    He also reported that the Russian Air Defense System will remain on permanent combat duty in Syria. These forces will be used for any threat posed to the military of the Russian Federation.

    "Our bases in Syria's Tartus and Hamim are reliably protected from land, sea and air. The personnel of these bases will …

  • Kremlin rejects Obama’s call for release of Savchenko

    Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on a telephone conversation between the presidents of the US and Russia, in which Barack Obama urged Vladimir Putin to release Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, as Interfax reported.

    According to Peskov, Putin rebuffed Obama’s request, saying that he was interfering in the trial.

    “The President [Obama] has been given multiple clarifications on this matter, as have other colleagues abroad on other levels of government, since we are speaking about …

  • Russian State Duma considering draft to 'rigorously punish' those who insult the President

    A bill is currently being drafted in the Russian State Duma "On protection of honor and dignity of the President of Russia". According to Izvestiya, the initiative was taken by LDPR Duma Deputy Roman Khudyakov.

    Today, insults against any Russian official, including the President of the country, are included in the Common Article 319 of the Criminal Code (Insulting the authorities). The article imposes various penalties up to 1 year of correctional labor. The Deputy proposed to elaborate a …

  • US Secretary of State to meet with Putin in Moscow

    US Secretary of State, John Kerry, will visit Moscow next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said this on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, Reuters reported.

    The purpose of his visit will be to discuss further settlements of the conflict in Syria. However, he stressed that the world has received the best opportunity to end the conflict in Syria with the withdrawal of the Russian Forces.

    In turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia confirmed the possibility of the US Secretary …

  • Obama urges Putin to release Nadiya Savchenko

    During a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 14th, US President Barack Obama urged the Russian leader to release Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, Interfax reported.

    The news agency quoted the press secretary of the US Embassy in Moscow, Will Stevens.

    "President Obama also urged President Putin to release detained pilot and parliamentarian Nadiya Savchenko in accordance with the Minsk commitment to release all unlawfully detained persons," Stevens said. …

  • Members of the European Parliament urge the EU to impose sanctions against Putin

    Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have urged the European Union to impose personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and 28 other people involved in the illegal treatment of Nadiya Savchenko – a citizen of Ukraine, military pilot and deputy of the Verkhovna Rada.

    57 deputies sent an appeal to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini. "We, the deputies of the European Parliament believe that the EU should …

  • Survey suggests 74 percent of Russians are ready to vote for Putin

    According to a public opinion survey, 74% of Russians are ready to vote for Putin in the presidential elections.  This data was provided by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (RPORC).

    This is the highest percentage of support that Putin has received in the last four years.  He only received 40% in October 2012.

    In January, only 15% of the respondents had said that they would not support him in 2018.  In 2012, this amount was 39%.

    The RPORC noted that his support varies among the …

  • Dzhemilev: Putin has no choice but to return Crimea to Ukraine

    “Putin's plan to put the puppet government in Kiev has fallen. Crimea will have to return”, the leader of the Crimean Tatar People, Mustafa Dzhemilev, said during an open lecture at the Kyiv Institute of International Relations.   

    Dzhemilev recalled that during the annexation of the peninsula, Putin asked for support from the Crimean Tatars, promising them a bright future.

    "In conversation with Putin on the 12th of March, 2014, he told us how happy we will be living in the Russian Federation …