Vladimir Putin and Barack Hussein Obama 2
Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao at the 2003 APEC Summit in Thailand
Putin's Russia maintains strong and positive relations with other BRIC countries. The country has sought to strengthen ties especially with the People's Republic of China by signing the Treaty of Friendship as well as building the Trans-Siberian oil pipeline geared toward growing Chinese energy needs.[21Sony PCG-41218L Battery
sony PCG-6X6L battery2] The mutual-security cooperation of the two countries and their central Asian neighbours is facilitated by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Sony PCG-41411L Battery
The announcement made during the SCO summit that Russia resumes on a permanent basis the long-distance patrol flights of its strategic bombers (suspended in 1992)[213][214] in the light of joint Russian-Chinese military exercises, first-ever in history held on Russian territory,[215] made some experts believe that Putin is inclined to set up an anti-NATO bloc or the Asian version of OPEC.[21Sony PCG-41413L Battery
sony PCG-6X2L battery6] When presented with the suggestion that "Western observers are already likening the SCO to a military organisation that would stand in opposition to NATO", Putin answered that "this kind of comparison is inappropriate in both form and substance".[213]
Relations with Iran Sony PCG-41414L Battery
Main article: Iran-Russia relations
Putin with Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 2007
On 16 October 2007 Putin visited Iran to participate in the Second Caspian Summit in Tehran,[217][218] sony PCG-4R1L battery
sony PCG-4Q1L batterywhere he met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[219] Other participants were leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.[220] This is the first visit of a Soviet or Russian leader to Iran since Joseph Stalin's participation in the Tehran Conference in 1943.[2sony PCG-4Q4L battery
sony PCG-4Q3L battery21] At a press conference after the summit Putin said that "all our (Caspian) states have the right to develop their peaceful nuclear programmes without any restrictions".[222] Sony PCG-61A11L Battery
Subsequently, under Medvedev's presidency, Iran-Russia relations were uneven: Russia did not fulfill the contract of selling to Iran the S-300, one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently existing. However, Sony PCG-61A13L Battery
Sony PCG-91211L Battery Russian specialists completed the construction of Iran and the Middle East's first civilian nuclear power facility, the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, and Russia has continuously opposed the imposition of economic sanctions on Iran by the U.S. and the EU, as well as warning against a military attack on Iran. Sony PCG-61A14L Battery
Sony PCG-71914L Battery Putin was quoted as describing Iran as a "partner",[177] though he expressed concerns over the Iranian nuclear programme.[177]
Relations with Australasia, Latin America and others
Main articles: Australia–Russia relations, Russia–Venezuela relations, Cuba–Russia relations, and Brazil–Russia relations
Putin with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Putin with Fidel Castro in 2000, re-establishing close ties between Russia and Cuba.
Putin and his successor Medvedev have enjoyed warm relations with Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. Much of this has been through the sale of military equipment; since 2005, Venezuela has purchased more than $4 billion worth of arms from Russia.[22Sony PCG-71C12L Battery
Sony PCG-71913L Battery3] In September 2008, Russia sent Tupolev Tu-160 bombers to Venezuela to carry out training flights.[224] In November 2008, both countries held a joint naval exercise in the Caribbean.[225] Earlier in 2000, Putin had re-established stronger ties with Fidel Castro's Cuba.
In September 2007, Putin visited Indonesia and in doing so became the first Russian leader to visit the country in more than 50 years.[226] Sony PCG-61714L Battery
Sony PCG-71911L Battery In the same month, Putin also attended the APEC meeting held in Sydney, Australia where he met with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and signed a uranium trade deal. This was the first visit by a Russian president to Australia. Sony PCG-61813L Battery
Libya
Putin meeting with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2008.
In April 2008, Putin visited Libya where he met the leader Muammar Gaddafi, the country welcomed the idea of creating an OPEC-like group of gas-exporting countries, Putin became first Russian President who visited Libya, Sony PCG-61913L Battery
Sony PCG-71811L Batteryhe remarked the visit as "We are satisfied about the way in which we resolved this problem. I am absolutely convinced that the solution we have found will help the Russian and Libyan economies."[22Sony PCG-71614L Battery
Sony PCG-71713L Battery7] Putin condemned the foreign military intervention of Libya, he called UN resolution as "defective and flawed," and added "It allows everything. It resembles medieval calls for crusades.",[22Sony PCG-91111L Battery
8] During the whole event, Putin condemned other steps taken by NATO.[229] Upon the death of Muammar Gaddafi, Putin called it as "planned murder" by US, he asked "They showed to the whole world how he (Gaddafi) was killed," and "There was blood all over. Is that what they call a democracy?"[230][231]
Syria
Dmitri Trenin reports in the New York Times that from 2000 to 2010 Russia sold around $1.5 billion worth of arms to Syria, making Damascus Moscow’s seventh-largest client.[232] During the 2011-3 Syrian civil war, Russia threatened to veto any sanctions against the Syrian government,[233] and continued to supply arms to the regime. Sony PCG-6X4M battery
Putin opposed any foreign intervention. On 1 June 1, 2012, in Paris, he rejected the statement of French President Francois Hollande who called on Bashar Al-Assad to step down. Putin echoed the argument of the Assad regime that anti-regime Sony PCG-91112L Battery
Sony PCG-61316L Battery’’militants’’ were responsible for much of the bloodshed, rather than the shelling by Syrian forces and the civilian killings attributed by survivors and Western governments toregime supporters. He asked "But how many of peaceful people (sic) were killed by so-called militants? Did you count? Sony PCG-71312L Battery
Sony PCG-61315L BatteryThere are also hundreds of victims." He also talked about previous NATO interventions and their results, and asked "What is happening in Libya, in Iraq? Did they become safer? Where are they heading? Nobody has an answer."[234] Sony PCG-71218L Battery
Relations with post-Soviet states
Main articles: Color revolutions, Russia–Ukraine gas disputes, Russia–Ukraine relations, Belarus–Russia relations, Georgia–Russia relations, and Kyrgyzstan–Russia relations
A series of the so-called color revolutions in the post-Soviet states, namely the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, Sony PCG-71217L Battery
Sony PCG-61311L Battery the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005, led to frictions in the relations of those countries with Russia. In December 2004, Putin criticised the Rose and Orange Revolution, Sony PCG-71313L Battery
Sony PCG-61215L Batteryaccording to him: "If you have permanent revolutions you risk plunging the post-Soviet space into endless conflict".[235] During the protests following the 2011 Russian elections (in December 2011) Putin named the Orange Revolution an infamous foreknowledge for Russia.[236]
Apart from a clash of nationalist rhetorics[clarification needed] with the common historical legacies of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire[citation needed], a number of economic disputes erupted between Russia and some neighbours, Sony PCG-71315L Battery
such as the Russian import ban of Georgian wine. And in some cases, such as the Russia–Ukraine gas disputes, the economic conflicts affected other European countries, for example when a January 2009 gas dispute with Ukraine led state-controlled Russian company Gazprom to halt its deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine,[23Sony PCG-71317L Battery
Sony PCG-71216L Battery7] which left a number of European states, to which Ukraine transits Russian gas, to have serious shortages of natural gas in January 2009.[23Sony PCG-6X2M battery,
7] In an interview with the German historian Michael Stürmer about the Russian shut-down of gas to Ukraine in early 2005, Putin linked the shut-down to the Orange revolution, saying: "This has a price [the Orange revolution]. Sony PCG-71211L Battery
In spite of so much frustration we have stablizied the situation. In old days we concluded agreements with Ukraine year after year, and then included transit fees. The West Europeans had no idea that their energy security was a cliffhanger. Sony PCG-71212L Battery
Sony PCG-71215L BatteryBy now we have a five-year agreement for transit to the E.U. This is an important step in the direction of European energy security".[177]
Meeting with Mikheil Saakashvili in 2008
The disputes typically arose because of inabilities of Ukraine to pay higher prices for natural gas and pay debts in time. In 2009, the Russia–Ukraine dispute was resolved by a long-term agreement on price formula, agreed by Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin of Russia and Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko[237][2Sony PCG-9Z1L Battery
38] (later, when the rising global oil prices prompted the rising gas prizes[239] the agreement turned very unfavourable for Ukraine; in October 2011 Tymoshenko was found guilty of abuse of office when brokering the 2009 deal and was sentenced to seven years in prison).[240] Sony PCG-9Z2L Battery
The plans of Georgia and Ukraine to become members of NATO have caused some tensions between Russia and those states. In 2010, Ukraine did abandon these plans.[24Sony PCG-7142L Battery
1] Putin allegedly declared at a NATO-Russia summit in 2008 that if Ukraine joined NATO Russia could contend to annex the Ukrainian East and Crimea.[242] In public Putin has stated that Russia has no intention of annexing any country.[235] Sony PCG-4R1M battery
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin in 2002. Despite a number of economic disputes in mid-2000s (decade), Belarus has remained one of Russia's closest allies.
In August 2008, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili attempted to restore control over the breakaway South Ossetia, Sony PCG-7151L Battery
Sony PCG-7185L Battery claiming this action was in response to Ossetian border attacks on Georgians and to alleged buildups of Russian non-peacekeeping forces. Russian peacekeepers stationed there came under attack during the invasion and fought alongside the South Ossetians as Georgian troops pushed into the province and seized most of the capital of Tskhinvali. Sony PCG-7152L Battery
Sony PCG-7184L Battery However, the Georgian military was soon defeated in the resulting 2008 South Ossetia War after regular Russian forces entered South Ossetia and then Georgia proper, and also opened a second front in the other Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia together with Abkhazian forces.[243] Sony PCG-7153L Battery
Sony PCG-7183L Battery [244] During this conflict, according to high level French diplomat Jean-David Levitte, Putin intended to depose the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and declared: "I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls".[245] Sony PCG-71C11M battery
Putin blamed the 2008 war and the bad relations between Russia and Georgia as "the result of the policy that the Georgian authorities conducted back then and still attempt to conduct now"; he stated that Georgia is a Sony PCG-7154L Battery
Sony PCG-7182L Battery"brotherly nation that hopefully will finally understand that Russia is not an enemy, but is a friend and the relations will be restored"[246] (one month before Georgian President Saakashvili had stated "Putin has a problem with Georgian people, but not with Georgian government").[Sony PCG-7162L Battery
Sony PCG-7181L Battery247] Putin stated in 2009 Georgia could have kept Abkhazia and South Ossetia "within its territory" if it had treated the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia "with respect" (he claims they did "the opposite").[248] Sony PCG-7171L Battery
The President of Ukraine elected during the Orange Revolution, Viktor Yushchenko, was succeeded in 2010 by Viktor Yanukovych, that led to improved relations with Russia.[249] Russia was able to expand the lease for the base for its Black Sea Fleet base in the Ukrainian city Sevastopol in exchange for lower gas prices for Ukraine Sony PCG-7172L Battery
Sony PCG-7173L Battery (the 2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty).[250] The President of Kyrgyzstan since 2009, Almazbek Atambayev, wants to guide Kyrgyzstan towards the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia and has stated his country has a "common future" with its neighbours and Russia.[251] Sony PCG-71111L Battery
Eurasian policy
Main article: Eurasian Union
The proposed Eurasian Union with the most likely immediate members: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Despite existing or past tensions between Russia and most of the post-Soviet states, Putin has followed the policy of Eurasian integration. Sony PCG-81111L Battery
Sony PCG-81314L BatteryThe Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia has already brought partial economic unity between the three states, and the proposed Eurasian Union is said to be a continuation of this customs union. Sony PCG-81112L Battery
A number of other regional organizations also provide the basis for further integration: the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the Eurasian Economic Community of Russia, Sony PCG-71D14M battery
Belarus and Kazakhstan, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, consisting of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and the Commonwealth of Independent States comprising most of the post-Soviet countries. Sony PCG-81114L Battery
On 18 November 2011, the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia signed an agreement, setting a target of establishing the Eurasian Union by 2015.[2Sony PCG-81214L Battery
Sony PCG-81312L Battery52] The agreement included the roadmap for the future integration and established the Eurasian Commission (modelled on the European Commission) and the Eurasian Economic Space, which started work on 1 January 2012.[252][253] Sony PCG-61611M battery
Programmes
Long-term strategies
Putin presents the "Strategy 2020" to the Extended Meeting of the State Council of Russia on 8 February 2008.
The 2007 election campaign of the United Russia party went under the slogan "Putin's Plan: Russia's Victory". When asked on the "Putin's Plan", Vladimir Putin said that his last five Addresses to the Federal Assembly contained some key parts "devoted to the state's medium-term development",Dell Latitude E4200 battery
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and "if all these key ideas were put together to build a coherent system, it can become the country's development plan in the medium-term."[254] Dell Latitude E5410 battery
Later the "Putin's Plan" was transformed into the Strategy 2020, which set the key goals and target figures for Russia's development until 2020. The "Strategy 2020" was first presented by Putin on the Extended Meeting of the State Council on 8 February 2008.[2Dell Latitude E5510 battery
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55] It is the second long-term development strategy adopted by the Russian Federation, following the Strategy 2010, which had been made the basis for Russian government programmes in June 2000 and was largely fulfilled by 2010.[256] Sony PCG-61813M battery
Programme articles
Putin has published articles in the Russian press on a number of occasions, in particularly before and during his 2012 presidential campaign. Soon after the announcement that he would run for another Presidency on 24 September 2011, in his article called "New Integration Project for Eurasia – A Future That Is Being Born Today"[2Dell Latitude E6400 battery
Dell Latitude E5220 battery57] (Новый интеграционный проект для Евразии – будущее, которое рождается сегодня[258]), published by Izvestiya on 3 October, he brought to attention the idea of the Eurasian Union, composed of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and possibly other post-Soviet states[259][260] Dell Latitude E6400 ATG battery
(the concept was first proposed by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, during a 1994 speech at a Moscow university).[261] This publication was soon followed by the presidents of Belarus, Dell Latitude E6500 battery
Dell Latitude E6430s batteryKazakhstan and Russia signing an agreement on 18 November 2011 which established the Eurasian Commission (modeled on the European Commission) from 1 January 2012 and set a target of establishing the Eurasian Union (modeled on the European Union) by 2015.[253] Dell Latitude E4300 battery
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Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Vladimir Putin/Articles
In the course of the 2012 presidential campaign, in order to present his election program, Putin published 7 articles in different Russian editions. In those articles, he presented his vision of the problems which Russia successfully solved in the last decade and the goals yet to be achieved. The topics of the articles were as follows: the general overview, the ethnicity issue, economic tasks, democracy and government efficiency, social policy, military, foreign policy.[262]
Speeches and catch phrases
Addresses to the Federal Assembly
During his terms in office Putin has made eight annual addresses to the Federal Assembly of Russia,[263] speaking on the situation in Russia and on guidelines of the internal and foreign policy of the State (as prescribed in Article 84 of the Constitution[264]). Dell Latitude E4320 battery
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Speeches abroad
Putin making his Munich speech in 2007.
One of the most important and widely publicized speeches of Putin made abroad was made on 10 February 2007 on the Munich Conference on Security Policy, and hence became known as the Munich speech.
Dell Latitude E6330 batteryIt was dubbed by the press to be "the turning point of the Russian foreign policy", and western observers called it the most tough speech from a leader of Russia since the time of the Cold War.[26Dell Latitude E6410 battery
5] The speech was also seen as been made by Putin to openly assert the new (old) role of Russia in the international politics, the role close to that of the Soviet Union and the return to which role is seen as one of the achievements of Putin's Presidency.[265] Dell Latitude E6410 ATG battery
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In the Munich speech Putin called to uphold the principle "security for everyone is security for all", criticized the policies of the United States and NATO, condemned the unipolar model of international relations as flawed and lacking moral basis, Dell Latitude E6510 battery
Dell Latitude E6320 battery condemned the hypocrisy of countries trying to teach democracy to Russia, condemned the domination of hard power and enforcement by the U.S. of the Western norms and laws to other countries bypassing the international law and substituting the United Nations by NATO or the EU.[ Sony PCG-71511M battery
265] Putin also called to stop the militarization of space and questioned the plans to deploy American missile defense in Europe as threatening strategic nuclear balance and spurring new arms race (that's when the countries dubbed as rogue states by the West are in fact lacking any rocket weapons capable to threaten Europe or the U.S. Dell Latitude E6120 battery
Dell Latitude E6230 battery and being unable to develop such weapons any time soon).[265] His speech was criticized by some attendant delegates at the conference, including former NATO secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who called it "disappointing and not helpful."[180] Dell Latitude E6210 battery
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On 4 July 2007 Putin made a full fluent English speech while addressing delegates at the 119th International Olympic Committee Session in Guatemala City on behalf of the successful bid of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympic Games in Russia.[171] Sony VGN-TT1RLN/B battery
Outdoor speeches
Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev on 2 March 2008, the day of Russian presidential election. The soundtrack while they walk is Lubeh, Putin's favourite band.[266] Sony PCG-91112M battery
Notable Putin's outdoor speeches include his addresses during the Victory Day Moscow Military Parades one every 9 May in the years between 2000 and 2007. Under Putin's presidency and premiership, the old Soviet tradition of 9 May Parades, Sony VGN-TT1RVN/X battery
Sony VGN-TT46MG/W battery which had been in decline in 1990s, was gradually restored in full grandeur. Since the 2008 Moscow Victory Day Parade the armoured fighting vehicles resumed regular taking part in the Red Square parades. Sony VGN-TT11LN/B battery
Sony VGN-TT46GG/W battery Putin often used the Victory Day occasion to discuss Russia's military development and Russia's security and foreign affairs. For example, he said on 9 May 2007 that "threats are not becoming fewer but are only transforming and changing their appearance. Sony VGN-TT11M/N battery
Sony VGN-TT21WN/B batteryThese new threats, just as under the Third Reich, show the same contempt for human life and the same aspiration to establish an exclusive dictate over the world."[267] Sony PCG-91311M battery
During his 2012 presidential campaign Putin made a single outdoor public speech at the 100,000-strong rally of his supporters in the Luzhniki Stadium on 23 February, Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day.[103Sony VGN-TT11RM/N battery
Sony VGN-TT21VN/X battery] In the speech he called not to betray the Motherland, but to love her, to unite around Russia and to work together for the good, to overcome the existing problems.[268] He said that the foreign interference into Russian affairs should not be allowed, that Russia has its own free will.
Sony VGN-TT21JN/B batteryHe compared the political situation at the moment (when fears were spread in the Russian society that 2011–2012 Russian protests could instigate a color revolution directed from abroad) with the First Fatherland War of 1812, Sony PCG-71315M battery
Sony PCG-61611M batteryreminding that its 200th anniversary and the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino would be celebrated in 2012.Putin cited Lermontov's poem Borodino and ended the speech with Vyacheslav Molotov's famous Great Patriotic War slogan "The Victory Shall Be Ours!" ("Победа будет за нами!").[103][268] Sony VGN-TT11RM/R battery
On the post-election celebration rally, while making an acceptance speech, Putin was for the first time ever seen with tears in his eyes (later he explained that "it was windy"). He said to a 110,000-strong audience: "I told you we would win and we won!"[102][269] Sony VGN-TT11VN/X battery
Putinisms
Alluding to Rudyard Kipling's python Kaa, Putin addresses the Russian non-systemic opposition, who, according to him, work for foreign interests: Come to me, Bandar-logs![270] Sony VGN-TT11WN/B battery
Putin has produced a large number of popular aphorisms and catch-phrases, known as putinisms.[271] Many of them were first made during his annual Q&A conferences, where Putin answered questions from journalists and other people in the studio, Sony PCG-71316M battery
Sony PCG-61511M battery as well as from Russians throughout the country, who either phoned in or spoke from studios and outdoor sites across Russia. Putin is known for his often tough and sharp language.[271] The examples of most popular putinisms include:[272] Dell Latitude E6120 Battery
Мочить в сортире – To bump off in a toilet. One of the earliest "putinisms", made in September 1999, when he promised to destroy terrorists wherever they were found, including in toilets.[272] In 2010, Putin also promised to pluck out the remaining terrorists from the bottom of a sewer (выковырять со дна канализации).[2Dell Latitude E6210 Battery
Она утонула – She sank. Putin's short answer to a question from Larry King in September 2000 asking what happened to the Russian submarine K-141 Kursk.[2 Dell Latitude E6220 Battery 73]
72] Many criticized Putin for the cynicism perceived in this answer. This curt reply also spawned a new kind of joke based on giving one short, self-evident answer (including a verb in past tense) to a "What has happened with..?" question.[citation needed] Sony PCG-71318M battery
Пахал, как раб на галерах – literally, Ploughed like a slave on a galley (the Russian verb пахать also has the general meaning of "to do hard work"). This is how Putin described his work as President of Russia from 2000 to 2008 during a Q&A conference in February 2008.[2Dell Latitude E6520 Battery 71] Not only did the phrase itself became popular, but a wrong reading of it—как раб ("like a slave") in Russian sounds almost identical to как краб ("like a crab")—led to the appearance of a popular Internet nickname for Putin, "Crabbe" (Russian: Крабе), while Dmitry Medvedev was (for some reason) similarly nicknamed Shmele (Russian: Шмеле, a non-existent vocative form of шмель, meaning "bumblebee").[27Dell Latitude E6520N Battery 4]
Putin during one of his annual Q&A conferences, indicating with his pen.
От мертвого осла уши – Ears of a dead ass. According to Putin, that was what Latvia would receive instead of the western Pytalovsky District of Russia claimed by Latvia in a territorial dispute stemming from the Soviet border redrawing.[27Dell Inspiron 13R Battery] On 27 March 2007 Russia and Latvia signed the treaty on state border, in which Latvia renounced its territorial claims.[275] Dell Inspiron 13z Battery1
Шакалить у иностранных посольств – Jackaling at foreign embassies. Putin's view of the Russian "non-systemic opposition": characterising them as having minimal support among the population, he says that they turn to asking for money and support from foreign governments.[276] Dell Inspiron 1410 Battery
Как минимум государственный деятель должен иметь голову. – At the very least, a state leader should have a head. Putin's response to Hillary Clinton's claim that Putin has no soul. He also recommended that international relations be built without emotion and instead on the basis of the fundamental interests of the states involved.[272] Dell Inspiron 1420 BatteryРучку верните – Return my pen. A phrase said by Putin to the industrial oligarch Oleg Deripaska, after Deripaska was forced by Putin to sign, using Putin's pen, an agreement aimed at resolving a socio-economic crisis in the monograd of Pikalyovo on 4 June 2009, Dell inspiron 1425 Battery
which had escalated after the different owners of the aluminum oxide plant and connected enterprises in the town did not pay their workers' salaries and were unable to negotiate the terms on which the local industrial complex would work. Putin came to the scene personally to conduct the negotiations.[277] Dell inspiron 1427 Battery
Shearing a pig- On 25 June 2013, Vladimir Putin revealed the surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden is indeed in a Moscow airport, ending a global guessing game over the US fugitive's whereabouts. Dell Inspiron 1440 Battery Putin lashed out at US accusations that the Russia was harbouring a fugitive, saying "I'd rather not deal with such questions, because anyway it's like shearing a pig – lots of screams but little wool". [278] Sony PCG-6Z2M battery,
Public image
Ratings and polls
Putin's approval (blue) and disapproval (red) ratings during his eight-year presidency.
According to public opinion surveys conducted by NGO Levada Center, Putin's approval rating was 81% in June 2007, and the highest of any leader in the world.[279] His popularity rose from 31% in August 1999 to 80% in November 1999, Dell Inspiron 1470 BatteryDell Inspiron 1470n Batterynever dropping below 65% during his first Presidency.[280] In January 2013, his approval rating fell to 62%, the lowest point since 2000 and a ten-point drop over two years.[281] Observers see Putin's high approval ratings as a consequence of the significant improvements in living standards and Russia's reassertion of itself on the world scene that occurred during his tenure as President.[2Dell Inspiron 14R Battery82][283][dead link] One analysis attributed Putin's popularity, in part, to state-owned or state-controlled television.[284]
A joint poll by World Public Opinion in the US and Levada Center [285Sony PCG-6X4M battery,
Sony PCG-4Q1M battery] in Russia around June–July 2006 stated that "neither the Russian nor the American publics are convinced Russia is headed in an anti-democratic direction" and "Russians generally support Putin's concentration of political power and strongly support the re-nationalization of Russia's oil and gas industry. Dell Inspiron 14z Battery" Russians generally support the political course of Putin and his team.[286] A 2005 survey showed that three times as many Russians felt the country was "more democratic" Dell Inspiron 1501 Batteryunder Putin than it was during the Yeltsin or Gorbachev years, and the same proportion thought human rights were better under Putin than Yeltsin.[284]
Assessments
Putin was Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2007.[287] In April 2008, Putin was put on the Time 100 most influential people in the world list.[288] Sony PCG-4Q2M battery
Vodka Putinka. Some vodkas in Russia are named after politicians.
On 4 December 2007, at Harvard University, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev credited Putin with having "pulled Russia out of chaos" and said he was "assured a place in history", despite Gorbachev's claim that the news media have been suppressed and that election rules run counter to the democratic ideals he has promoted".Dell Inspiron 1520 Battery [289] In December 2011, amid the protests following the 2011 Russian elections Gorbachev criticized Putin for a decision to seek the third term in the presidential elections and advised Putin to leave politics. Putin's press spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Gorbachev's expressions as following: Dell Inspiron 1521 BatteryDell Inspiron 17R Battery "A former leader, who was basically responsible for the dissolution of his country, gives advice to the person, who could prevented Russia from a similar destiny".[290]
Criticism of Putin has been spread especially over the Runet.[291] It is said that the Russian youth organisations finance a full "network" of pro-government bloggers.[292] Dell Inspiron 1525 Battery
In the U.S. embassy cables, published by WikiLeaks in late 2010, Putin was called "alpha dog" and compared with Batman (while Dmitry Medvedev was compared with Batman's crime-fighting partner Robin). Dell Inspiron 1526 BatteryAmerican diplomats said Putin's Russia had become "a corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy centred on the leadership of Vladimir Putin, in which officials, oligarchs and organised crime are bound together to create a "virtual mafia state."[293][294] Putin called it "slanderous".[295] Dell Inspiron 1570 BatteryBy western commentators and the Russian opposition, Putin has been described as a dictator.[8][296] Putin biographer Masha Gessen has stated that "Putin is a dictator," comparing him to Alexander Lukashenko.[9][297] Former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has described Putin as a "ruthless dictator" whose "days are numbered."[10] U.S. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney called Putin "a real threat to the stability and peace of the world."[298] Dell Inspiron 1570n Battery
In the fall of 2011, the anti-Putin opposition movement in Russia became more visible, with street protests against allegedly falsified parliamentary elections (in favor of Putin's party, United Russia) cropping up across major Russian cities. Following Putin's re-election in March 2012, the movement struggled to redefine its new course of action.[299]
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Putin's name and image are widely used in advertisement and product branding.[300] Among the Putin-branded products are Putinka vodka, the PuTin brand of canned food, the Gorbusha Putina caviar and a collection of T-shirts with his image.[301Dell Inspiron 15z BatteryImage
Putin tries to create an outdoor, sporty, tough guy image in the media, demonstrating his physical capabilities and taking part in unusual or dangerous acts, such as extreme sports and interaction with wild animals.[302] For example, in 2007, the tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda published a huge photograph of a bare-chested Putin vacationing in the Siberian mountains under the headline: "Be Like Putin."[303] Dell Inspiron 1720 Battery
Such photo ops are part of a public relations approach that, according to Wired, "deliberately cultivates the macho, take-charge superhero image".[3Dell Inspiron 1721 Battery
00] Some of the activities have been criticised for involving deception or being completely staged. Notable examples of Putin's macho adventures include:[304] Dell Inspiron 1750 Battery]
Vladimir Putin in Tuva, fishing in 2007. Putin often supports a tough guy image in the media.
Flying military jets. Putin flew a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter over Chechnya in 2000 and a Tu-160 supersonic heavy bomber on 16 August 2005 at MAKS Airshow.[304] Dell Latitude E6230 Battery Dell Inspiron N7110 Battery
Martial arts. Putin demonstrated his martial art skills on a tatami at the Kodokan Institute in Tokyo on 5 September 2000 and has subsequently made further demonstrations.[304]
Adventures in the wild. On his trip to Tuva in August 2007, Putin was riding horses, rafting, fishing and swimming in a cold Siberian river (doing all that mostly bare-chested).[303] In August 2009 Putin repeated the experience.[305] Dell Latitude E6320 Battery Descending in a deepwater submersible. On 1 August 2009 Putin descended 1395 m to the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake, on a MIR submersible accompanied by deepwater explorer Anatoly Sagalevich (who had been among the team which had reached the bottom at the North Pole in the Arktika 2007 expedition). From the bottom of Baikal Putin spoke to journalists via hydrophone.[306] Dell Latitude E6420 Battery Dell Inspiron N7010D BatteryDell Inspiron N7010R Battery
Tranquilizing tigers. In 2008 Putin visited the Ussuri national park, where he sedated an Amur tiger with a tranquiliser gun and then helped measure its teeth and fit it with a tracker.[303] Claims were made later that the tiger was actually from the Khabarovsk Zoo and that it died soon after the stunt, but the suspected tiger named by the Khabarovsk Zoo workers[307] was found in late 2009 in Zelenogorsk,[308] while the claims of a stunt were denied by the scientists who organized the "safari".[309] Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Battery
Tranquilizing polar bears. In April 2010 Putin traveled to Franz Josef Land in the Russian Arctic, where he tranquilized a polar bear and attached a satellite tag to him.[310]
Riding a motorbike. In July 2010 Putin appeared at a Bikers festival in Sevastopol riding a Harley-Davidson tricycle; the high council of Russian bikers movements unanimously voted him into a Hells Angel rank with the nickname of Abaddon.[3Dell Latitude E6420M Battery 04][311] Putin's associations with motorcycle gangs led to him being accidentally placed on a blacklist of banned people in Finland.[312]
Firefighting from the air. In August 2010, Russian TV broadcasted video of Putin co-piloting a firefighting plane Beriev Be-200 to dump water on a raging fire during the 2010 Russian wildfires.[300][304] Dell Latitude E6420 XFR Battery
Putin driving a Formula 1 car, 2010 (see the video).
Shooting darts at whales. In late August 2010 Putin shot darts from a crossbow at a gray whale off Kamchatka Peninsula coast as part of an eco-tracking effort, while balancing on a rubber boat in the sea.[304][313] Dell Inspiron M301ZD BatteryDell Inspiron N5110 BatteryDell Inspiron N7010 Battery
Driving a race car. Putin tested a Formula 1 car on 7 November 2010 in Saint Petersburg, reaching a maximum speed of 240 km per hour.[304][314]
Scuba diving. Putin took part in scuba diving at the archaeological site of the ancient Greek colony of Phanagoria in the Taman Bay on 11 August 2011.[31Dell Inspiron M301ZR Battery5] During the dive he "discovered" two amphorae and emerged from the sea exclaiming to television cameras "Treasure!" In October 2011, spokesman Dmitry Peskov told media: "Putin did not find the amphorae on the sea bed that had been lying there for thousands of years [Dell Inspiron M4110 BatteryDell Inspiron N5010R Battery...] They were found during an [archaeological] expedition several weeks or days beforehand. Of course they were then left there [for him to find] or placed there. It is a completely normal thing to do."[316] Dell Inspiron M501 BatteryDell Inspiron N5010D Battery
Leading endangered cranes. Putin attempted to help endangered Siberian cranes begin their migration routes by leading them through the air in a motorized hang glider. Initially, the birds did not follow him. Putin blamed this outcome on strong winds.[317]
Catching big fish. In July 2013 Putin was pictured in Tuva, Siberia, holding up a large pike that he 'caught' and which the Kremlin claimed weighed 21kg, a very large amount for that species. Many media outlets and internet users questioned whether the fish could have weighed that much.[318] Dell Inspiron M5010D BatteryDell Inspiron N4050 BatteryDell Inspiron N4110 BatteryDell Inspiron N5010 Battery Some bloggers also pointed out that Putin's fishing trip wasn't on the official schedule and that he was photographed wearing clothing identical to that worn during a previous trip to the region.[319]
Singing and painting
Putin playing and then singing Blueberry Hill at a charity concert. Dell Inspiron M5010R Battery
On 11 December 2010, at a concert organized for a children's charity in Saint Petersburg, Putin sang Blueberry Hill accompanying himself on the piano. The concert was attended by various Hollywood and European stars such as Kevin Costner, Dell Inspiron M501D BatterySharon Stone, Alain Delon, and Gerard Depardieu.[320][321] At the same event Putin played "С чего начинается Родина?" (From What the Motherland Begins?, a patriotic song from Putin's favourite spy movie "Щит и меч", The Shield and the Sword).[3Dell Inspiron M5110 Battery21] Putin also played or sang that song on a number of other occasions,[322] such as a meeting with the Russian spies deported from the U.S., including Anna Chapman.[323Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Battery] Another melody which Putin is known to play on the piano is the Anthem of Saint Petersburg, his native city.[324]
Putin's painting "Узор на заиндевевшем окне" (A Pattern on a Hoarfrost-Encrusted Window), which he had painted during the Christmas Fair on 26 December 2008, became the top lot at the charity auction in Saint Petersburg and sold for 37 million rubles.[325Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Battery] The picture was made for a series of other paintings by famous Russians. The painters were required to illustrate one of the letters of the Russian alphabet with a subject connected to Nikolay Gogol's novel Christmas Eve Dell Inspiron Mini 10 BatteryDell Inspiron N4010R Battery (the 200th anniversary from Gogol's birth was celebrated in 2008). Putin's picture depicted a hoarfrost pattern (Russian: Узор, illustrating the Cyrillic letter У) on a window with curtains sewn with traditional Ukrainian ornaments.[325Dell Inspiron Mini 1011 Battery] The creation of the painting coincided with the 2009 Russia-Ukraine gas dispute, which left a number of European states without Russian gas and amid January frosts.[237] Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 BatteryDell Inspiron N4010 BatteryDell Inspiron N4010D Battery
In popular culture
A scene from the Superputin comics
A Russian movie called A Kiss not for Press was premiered in 2008 on DVD. The movie is said to be based on biography of Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila.[326] Dobby, a house elf from Harry Potter film series, has been found to look like Putin,[327] and so was also Daniel Craig in his role of James Bond (he was the first blond actor to play James Bond).[328] Dell Inspiron mini 1018 Battery
There are a large number of songs about Putin.[329] Some of the more popular include:
Такого, как Путин – "[I Want] A Man Like Putin" by Singing Together[330]
Гороскоп (Путин, не ссы!) – "Horoscope (Putin, Don't Piss!)" by Uma2rman[331]
ВВП – "VVP" by a Tajik singer Tolibjon Kurbankhanov (Толибджон Курбанханов)[332][333]
Our Madhouse is Voting for Putin by Working Faculty. Dell Inspiron Mini 10v BatteryDell Inspiron N3110 Battery
Putin also is a subject of Russian jokes and chastushki, such as the popular "[Before Putin] There Was No Orgasm" featured in the comedy film The Day of Elections.[334] There is a meta-joke, that since the coming of Putin to power, all the classic jokes about a smart yet rude boy called Вовочка (Vovochka, diminutive from Vladimir) have suddenly become political jokes. Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Battery
Putin features in the colouring book for children Vova and Dima (presented on his 59th birthday),[335] where he and Dmitry Medvedev are drawn as good-behaving little boys, and in the Superputin online comics series, where Putin and Medvedev are portrayed first as superheroes,[300] and then as a troll and an orc in the World of Warcraft.[336] Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Battery
Vladimir Putin was portrayed by internet personality Nice Peter in his Youtube series Epic Rap Battles of History, in Season 2's finale episode, "Rasputin vs. Stalin" (aired on April 22, 2013).[337]
Personal life Dell Inspiron Mini 9N Battery
Family
See also: Lyudmila Putina
Lyudmila Putina in 2007
On 28 July 1983 Putin married Kaliningrad-born Lyudmila Shkrebneva, at that time an undergraduate student of the Spanish branch of the Philology Department of the Leningrad State University and a former Aeroflot flight attendant. Dell Inspiron N301 Battery
They lived together in Germany from 1985 to 1990. During this time, according to BND archives, a German spy befriended Putina, who said that Putin beat her and had love affairs.[338] When the couple left Germany in 1990 it was rumoured that Putin left behind an illegitimate child.[338] Putina is now rarely seen with Putin[339][340Dell Latitude E6330 Battery
] and there have been rumours, according to the Daily Mail and other newspapers, that the couple have separated.[339][340][341] Putin has been linked by newspapers with other women, including gymnast Alina Kabayeva[339Dell Latitude E6430 Battery
][340] and ex-spy Anna Chapman.[341][342] These rumours have been denied.[343][344] Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, announced on June 6, 2013 that their marriage is over, ending years of speculation about their relationship. Dell Latitude E6430s Battery Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no official divorce had been drawn up yet, and he did not know when it would be, but he attached little importance to the formality.[345] Dell Latitude E5220 Battery
Putin and his wife have two daughters, Mariya Putina (born 28 April 1985 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) and Yekaterina Putina (born 31 August 1986 in Dresden, East Germany). The daughters grew up in East Germany[346] and attended the German School in Moscow until his appointment as Prime Minister. Dell Latitude E5420 Battery After that they studied international economics at the Finance Academy in Moscow, although it was not officially reported due to security reasons.[citation needed] According to the Daily Mail, Dell Latitude E5520 Batterytheir photographs have never been published by the Russian media, and no family portrait has ever been issued.[341] According to an article in the newspaper De Pers Mariya is married to the Dutchman Jorrit Faassen.[347][348] Today they live in Voorschoten, Netherlands.[349] Dell Inspiron N3010 Battery
Personal wealth and residences
Figures released during the legislative election of 2007 put Putin's wealth at approximately 3.7 million rubles ($150,000) in bank accounts, a private 77.4-square-meter (833 sq ft) apartment in Saint Petersburg, 260 shares of Bank Saint Petersburg (with a December 2007 market price $5.36 per share[3Dell Inspiron N3010D Battery50]) and two 1960s-era Volga M21 cars that he inherited from his father and does not register for on-road use. In 2012 Putin reported an income of 3.6 million rubles ($113,000). This has led opponents, such as politician Boris Nemtsov, to question how Putin can afford certain possessions, such as his 11 luxury watches worth an estimated $700,000.[351] Dell Inspiron N3010R Battery
An Italianate palace on Russia's southern Black Sea coast allegedly built for Vladimir Putin's personal use.[352]
Putin's purported 2006 income totalled 2 million rubles (approximately $80,000).[353] According to the data Putin did not make it into the 100 wealthiest Duma candidates of his own United Russia party.[354] Dell Inspiron N301Z Battery
Unconfirmed claims by some Russian opposition politicians and journalists allege that Putin secretly possesses a large fortune (as much as $40 billion) via successive ownership of stakes in a number of Russian companies.[355][3Dell Inspiron N301ZD Battery
56] Asked at a press conference on 14 February 2008 whether he was the richest person in Europe, as some newspapers claimed; and if so, to state the source of his wealth, Putin said "This is plain chatter, not worthy discussion, plain bosh. They have picked this in their noses and have smeared this across their pieces of paper. This is how I view this."[357] Dell Studio 1436 Battery