Topic: Vladimir Putin

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Moscow says US aid for Syria helps 'extremists'

The Kremlin has urged the US to move cautiously. Moscow claims it is doing all it can to promote a settlement in Syria that avoids an Afghanistan-style militant blowback.
Backchannels Will limited US aid to Syria rebels hasten the end of war, or prolong it?

The US has promised to do a lot more to help Syria's rebellion against the government of Bashar al-Assad, but is stopping well short of the kind of aid that might prove decisive.
Circling the wagons? Putin urges 'drastic upgrade' to Russia's military

Experts say that Putin's message was meant to play well to Russian generals who have resented the dramatic reforms of recent years.
Van Cliburn: A piano virtuoso who transcended Cold War (+video)

Van Cliburn passed away Wednesday at his Texas home. Van Cliburn, a Grammy award-winning classical pianist, was a star in both the US and Russia.
John Kerry hints at more aid for Syria rebels. Does that mean arming them? (+video)

The answer could come Thursday, when Secretary of State John Kerry and other Western officials are to gather in Rome for a meeting with at least some of Syria’s divided opposition groups.
Newly Russian, Gérard Depardieu tours his adopted homeland

But critics say that his high-profile, flamboyant appearances echo the old Soviet-era practice of using sympathetic foreign celebrities to reflect well on the government.
So many nyets: Why the chasm between US, Russia is so hard to bridge

Many in the West see a perplexing obstructionism in Russia's stands on everything from Syria to adoption. But Russia is working from a fundamentally different understanding of the post-cold war world.
Forget feathers and beads: At Basel's carnival Fasnacht, it's all about politics

The Swiss city of Basel is hosting its annual carnival, Fasnacht, this week. But while as colorful as those in Rio and New Orleans, Fasnacht's floats and lanterns have a decidedly political bent.
Adopted toddler's alleged death-by-abuse in Texas inflames Russia

A Kremlin ombudsman says that Russian 3-year-old Maxim Kuzmin was killed by his adoptive Texan mother last month. The accusation has stoked a new firestorm in Russia over US adoptions.
Russians may end up with a web vetted by The League for Internet Safety

Russia's Internet is facing official efforts to rein it in. Users are in an uproar over suggestions they should soon be sent only to a list of approved websites proposed by The League for Internet Safety.
TV drama? Putin rips Sochi official on air over Olympic cost overruns

Analysts say that the Russian president's angry tirade, followed by the official's firing, may be a bit of political theater meant to ease public concerns over the troubled Sochi Games preparations.
Japan says Russian jets intruded in its airspace

Tokyo's claim coincides with Japan's annual 'Northern Territories Day,' during which rallies are held to urge Russia to return several islands the Soviet Union seized during World War II.
Sochi cha-ching: Putin defends most expensive Olympics ever (+video)

London 2012 cost $19 billion. Beijing 2008 clocked in at $40 billion. But Sochi's price may be more than $50 billion, sporting the world's most expensive road, amid allegations of corruption.
What's in a name? Russian city mulls returning to its Stalinist moniker.

Volgograd will temporarily revert to its former name, Stalingrad, in commemoration of its WWII Soviet victory. But some see it as a Trojan horse for glorification of Stalinist times.
Anti-drug pact latest casualty of souring US-Russia relations

Russian experts say the downturn is a result of Putin's determination to do away with international pacts that he sees as demeaning or forcing Russia into a 'junior partner' role.
Global News Blog Putin eyes trip to Antarctica, shuns elder image

The Russian president has insisted on a full slate of his traditional macho stunts this year, including scuba diving and possibly a trip to the way down under.
Russian PM Medvedev says odds against Assad's political survival

In a CNN interview aired over the weekend, the former president and current prime minister commented on Syria, Sergei Magnitsky, and his office-swap with Vladimir Putin.
Russia's Vladimir Putin says West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'

Moscow is criticized for weak support of the Arab Spring, and for actively backing Bashir al-Assad in Syria. But the Kremlin says its policies are consistent and the West is exporting revolt.
Kremlin: Adoption ban needed to create 'Russia Without Orphans' (+video)

Responding to a 20,000-strong protest in Moscow Sunday against the ban on US adoptions of Russian orphans, the Kremlin said that the law is part of a plan to improve Russian orphanages.
Russians march in protest of American adoption ban

On Sunday, about 20,000 protesters took part in a march in Moscow, protesting a new law supported by both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia's parliament, which bans Americans from adopting Russian children.
Is Russia backing off its anti-US adoption ban?

A Putin spokesman said today that the ban on adoption of Russian orphans by Americans will not kick in until 2014. Is Putin just abiding by treaty requirements, or is he softening?
Does Depardieu herald Russia as a tax haven for Europe?

Fleeing France's high taxes for Russia's flat 13 percent rate, the French actor spoke of Russia in glowing terms during a high-profile meeting with Vladimir Putin over the weekend.
Depardieu, now Russian citizen, welcomed warmly (+video)

Gerard Depardieu, the French actor who sought Russian citizenship to avoid a millionaires tax in France, arrived in Saransk, Russia, Sunday. Depardieu has been welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Russian citizens.
Global News Blog Gerard Depardieu's latest drama: a Russian passport (+video)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given a Russian passport to the famous French movie star in what some see as part of an escalating war of words between Russia and the West.
Global News Blog Russia plans biggest war games since Soviet era

Some see the naval exercises scheduled later this month as cover for a massive evacuation of Russian citizens from war-torn Syria.