Russia ‘crosses’ new lines in crackdown on Putin’s enemies?
With virtually all the Kremlin’s opponents already jailed or in exile, and liberal press outlets and human rights groups forced to shut down, it might have appeared that years of…
Putin’s land grab
“Our citizens forever.” These words were spoken by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he signed annexation documents in the St George’s Hall of the Kremlin on September 30. These three…
Putin’s goals
The last of the Ukrainian defenders in the port city of Mariupol surrendered at the Azovstal plant on Friday. The fact that at least half of them belong to the…
Saudi Arabia walks oil policy tightrope between Biden and Putin
Saudi Arabia’s push for swifter oil production hikes by OPEC+, which were agreed in June, involved behind-the-scenes diplomacy to ensure Russia backed the move that followed US appeals for more…
Putin makes inroads in pressure campaign against West, Ukraine
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has secured some wins in his confrontation with the West over Ukraine, but it’s too early to discern an end to a crisis that could yet…
Putin’s Ukraine gambit
THE unfolding crisis over Ukraine has heightened the danger of prolonged turmoil and instability in Europe. After weeks of failed diplomacy to avert this crisis, the situation took a fateful turn when…
Losing the Muslim World to Putin
For Vladimir Putin, the news from Ukraine is not good. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not going particularly well, by many Western and Ukrainian accounts. As the masters of the…
Coronavirus, falling oil hit Putin hopes for economic revival
Russian President Vladimir Putin insists the economy can weather the coronavirus storm and low oil prices but the two-pronged crisis is a huge challenge to his promises to reduce poverty…
As president-elect, Biden makes diplomacy dull again
After Donald Trump in his first week as president spoke to Australia’s prime minister, leaks of the call left many dumbfounded, with the new US leader haranguing and hanging up…
Putin and Biden won’t be friends but see path together
There was no talk of gazing into Vladimir Putin’s “soul” and the Russian president didn’t try to gaslight a rookie US leader. Instead, Putin’s first summit with the fifth US…
