http://rbth.ru/rubrics/2008politics.html Russia Beyond the Headlines en http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/08/30/grand_duke_with_his_eyes_on_the_kremlin04913.html Dmitry Medvedev’s tenure in the Kremlin could be cut short by a legal suit brought by a man claiming to be the heir to the throne. Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/08/25/medvedevs_new_vector_in_foreign_policy04891.html It was the strongest of directives, and almost a plea: “If we want a normal future for our country, we must work on it now,” President Dmitry Medvedev said on his Twitter account late July. “Otherwise, all will leave the country.” Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/08/16/dont_ever_call_me_president_again04874.html Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/07/16/speech_at_meeting_with_russian_ambassadors.html Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/07/09/belarusian_officials_activists_protest_russian_tv_report_on_lukashenka.html Pro-government youth activists in Belarus staged a protest in Minsk against a Russian TV station after it broadcast a critical documentary about Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports. Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/07/07/belarus_adamant_in_oil_export_dispute.html According to the agreement signed Monday, the Customs Code would take effect between Russia and Kazakhstan as of July 1, the original target date, while Belarus would be included starting July 6. Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/07/07/operational_and_strategic_exercises_of_the_russian_armed_forces_code_named_vostok_2010_are_underway.html “Report to divisional anti-aircraft missile commander on readiness to launch missiles at targets!” said Colonel Igor Nikitin, commander of the anti-aircraft missile guards unit. “Report air situation to duty officer! Fire!” Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/07/05/surkov_russia_needs_as_many_foreigners_working_as_possible.html Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/06/28/medvedev_plans.html At Stanford University last week Medvedev named the conditions under which he would run for re-election in 2012. “If the plans that I formed have been implemented, if there is popular support (and that is the main thing for a politician, including in considering a second term), and if there is a desire to do this, then I do not rule it out for myself,” Medvedev said. Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/06/23/great_expectations.html Last week, Andrew C. Kuchins launched his new book, “Russia After the Global Economic Crisis,” a series of essays on Russia edited by Anders Aslund, Sergei Guriev and Kuchins. On the day his book was released, Russia Now caught up with Kuchins at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and spoke with him about his views on the state of Russian-American relations and President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit. Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/06/23/kremlin_pushes_ahead_for_army_reform.html Military reform has returned to the top of the domestic political agenda. Will money and modernization be enough to turn low morale around? Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/06/23/technology_reset.html President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit is the first in modern history that is not focused on geopolitical issues, but rather on economic and technological ones. Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/06/21/sergei_lavrov_personal_chemistry_is_being_translated_into_practical_steps.html President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to the US later this month should launch a new stage in the “reset” in relations between the two countries, this time in the economic sphere. Russian Foreign Minister SERGEY LAVROV told Kommersant’s VLADIMIR SOLOVYOV what we can expect from the Russian-US summit, why Russia will not join NATO and what kind of relationship Moscow wants to have with the EU. Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/06/18/only_balanced_measures_can_help_the_eu_dmitry_medvedev.html In particular, Medvedev spoke about the controversial bail-out plan, that will cost almost a trillion dollars, aimed at rescuing indebted European economies, primarily Greece, before they sank the rest of Union. The president said such measures are helpful, but only if applied carefully. Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/06/01/two_heads_better_than_one.html Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/05/31/double_or_quits_russia_has_to_succeed_in_modernization.html Speaking on Friday at a meeting with the representatives of the majority party United Russia, Dmitry Medvedev said that he is sure that the country will succeed in modernization. He noted, though, that “it must be carried out quickly and qualitatively, making it attractive for people and business.” Mon, 31 May 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/05/21/the_luzhkov_paradox.html A recent report by the Political and Economic Communications Agency (APEK), which got a lot of attention in the Russian media, said it was likely that the long-serving mayor would be removed before his current term expires in July 2011. Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/05/13/stalin_will_not_be_forgiven_for_anything.html Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/05/07/russian_president_gives_his_view_on_ww2.html Fri, 07 May 2010 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/03/11/110310gorbachev.html All the familiar signs were there. Something was very wrong in Moscow. Black limousines sped to and from the Kremlin in the dead of night. Classical music replaced regular programming on television. An ageing leader had not been seen in public in months. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/03/02/2310oligarchs.html The prime minister, who last year scolded the Rusal CEO over wage arrears and the year before promised to send a doctor to sort out another metals baron, Igor Zyuzin, on Wednesday named and shamed four of the country's top investors - Vladimir Potanin, Mikhail Prokhorov, Viktor Vekselberg and Leonid Lebedev - for "eating" government funds and not investing in the country's electricity sector. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/02/23/230210_agenda.html A think tank close to president Medvedev has released a report recommending a radical overhaul of Russia’s political system, Federal Security Service and Interior Ministry, and a reappraisal of relations with Nato and the EU. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/02/23/230210_knot.html For the second time since 2004’s Beslan tragedy, the Kremlin is taking strong measures to end violence in the North Caucasus. Krasnoyarsk governor Alexander Khloponin is now presidential envoy to the new North Caucasus Federal District. He was also appointed deputy prime minister. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/02/23/230210_ework.html E-government was launched in Russia at the end of 2009, with a single portal for government services. Soon, it might also be the way to get various certificates and documents (including a passport), avoiding long queues and red tape. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/02/16/16210kadyrov.html "Chechen traditions do not allow you to argue with elderly people," Kadyrova was quoted as saying on the Chechen president's official website on Tuesday. "Chechens have always made concessions to those who are older than them, even when those people are not objective in everything. That is why I ask that the court cases against [Memorial chairman Oleg] Orlov and [Moscow Helsinki Group head Lyudmila] Alexeyeva be dropped." Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/02/05/2310bureaucrats.html On Jan. 20, St. Petersburg mayor Valentina Matviyenko told top officials of the municipal police authority to reign in their appetites and stop wasting taxpayer money on fancy foreign cars procured for administrative use. Will they care to listen? Russian bureaucrats have become accustomed to driving expensive cars, living in palatial villas and ordering outrageously extravagant luxury products through the government procurement Web site. Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/02/04/2410food.html On Feb.1, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an executive order approving the Russian Federation’s Food Security Doctrine and charged the government with developing a plan for its implementation. The doctrine aims to boost domestic production of basic foodstuffs by 80 percent by 2020. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/01/22/22110khloponin.html In his state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly last November, President Dmitry Medvedev announced his decision to appoint a special envoy to the North Caucasus. Medvedev has now made good on that promise. Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/01/12/120110_arms.html Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/25/251209_results.html Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/25/251209_kharma.html Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/16/121609putinqa.html Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/16/121609putinqa2.html Maria Sittel: Good afternoon, I am Maria Sittel and this is the annual special programme, “A Conversation with Vladimir Putin Continued”, broadcast live. Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/16/121609putinqa3.html Maria Sittel: Good afternoon, I am Maria Sittel and this is the annual special programme, “A Conversation with Vladimir Putin Continued”, broadcast live. Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/14/141209_putin.html According to one analyst, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was like “Father Christmas dishing out presents” during his question-and-answer session on Dec. 3, making a raft of promises and pledges to anxious callers. Reviving Russia’s single-industry cities and combating terrorism were the main topics at the four-hour-long phone-in session, as Putin tried to calm a nation shaken by the economic crisis and the Nevsky Express bombing. Several recent polls suggest the prime minister’s popularity has taken a tumble. Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/10/101209start.html President Barack Obama will receive the Nobel Peace Prize this week without achieving a key step toward his vision of a nuclear-free world, which helped him win the award in the first place. Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/02/02122009_modern.html Was President Dmitry Medvedev’s annual address to parliament yet another sign of the widening gap between rhetoric and reality? Many commentators believe Medvedev has not done much to earn the reputation of a liberal politician committed to decisive reform. Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/12/02/021209_signals.html We asked some experts and politicians to share their impressions of the Russian president’s address to parliament. Dmitry Medvedev’s words inspired conflicting feelings in the people we consulted. Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/11/24/241109_fedotov.html The Russian government chose Mikhail Fedotov, a senior member of a liberal political party and fierce Kremlin critic. The candidacy of Fedotov - a longtime crusader for media freedom-stunned some members of the OECD. Can Fedotov influence the dire media situation in his own country? What does the Kremlin have to gain from his nomination? Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/11/19/19109_bilateral.html Mrs. Radhika Lal Lokesh has served in Indian missions in Brussels, Lagos, Washington, Pretoria, Vienna and Berne. Since May, 2008 she works as the Consul General of India in St. Petersburg. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/11/18/181109_belykh.html Nikita Belykh is an outsider among Russian governors: a Medvedev appointee, his first decision was to sell his official Lexus and meet his constituents face-to-face. Can he energize a depressed region with liberal values? Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/11/13/131109_medvedev.html At the beginning of his 100 minute-long speech, Dmitry Medvedev referred to his September article "Forward, Russia!" which touched upon the principles of a new political strategy. Medvedev assured the audience that Russia can bear the status of a world power on a fundamentally new basis. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/10/30/301009_pensioners.html As the world looks for ways to stimulate the economy, thereґs a growing interest in those that have finished work. It seems that the retired could be a significant component in the fiscal reconstruction. Theyґre certainly not being overlooked, as a new pension plan reveals. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0300 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/09/25/250909_paradoxes.html Both Stanislav Shushkevich, head of the Byelorussian Supreme Soviet, and Boris Yeltsin regarded their political views (then formally "democratic") as an instrument for the dismantling of the Soviet State system. The political and economic processes that occurred in Belarus in subsequent years showed that the citizens of that country had their own views of relations between Belarus and Russia. These views are, of course, pro-Russian, as distinct from those of an extremely insignificant part of the political class oriented towards the West. Itґs fair to ask: why is this so? Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/09/17/170909_valdai.html Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/09/10/100909_bric.html Anti-monopoly service leaders from BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have decided to join forces against the formation of cartels. They met on September 1 in Kazan at the BRIC International Competition Conference and defined the main aims of their co-operation. Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/08/31/310809_alco.html The Russian government hopes to ease the grip alcoholism has on the country. President Dmitry Medvedev has proposed sweeping changes to Russia's legislation, regulation, sale and advertisement of alcohol, but experts fear the government will be unwilling to take the steps necessary for effective reform. Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/08/31/310809_scope.html President Dmitry Medvedev has introduced a new law to parliament that would broaden the scope of Russian military intervention abroad, a signal that could further strain relationships with its neighbors. The current law allows the armed forces to take action outside Russian territory only in response to aggression that is directed toward the country and poses a threat to Russiaґs territorial integrity. The revised law reads: "to return or prevent aggression against another state, to protect citizens of the Russian Federation abroad, to fight piracy and to ensure the safety of the shipping industry," according to the Kremlin website. Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/07/01/010709_yurgens.html Far from Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin falling out over key policy issues, Russiaґs leaders are united in their determination to modernise the country and prevent it from slipping into extremism during the economic crisis, a top adviser to Medvedev said in an interview. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0400 http://rbth.ru/articles/2009/06/16/160609_start.html Despite scant information available about these talks, it seems fairly clear the negotiators wonґt manage to draft a new START Treaty in time for the Medvedev-Obama summit in Moscow on July 6-8. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0400