Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
BY Unknown Thursday, December 28, 2017 0

St. Petersburg explosion: Putin declares blast ‘Terrorist Attack’

St. Petersburg explosion: Putin declares blast ‘Terrorist Attack’

On Wednesday, a blast occurred in a store in St. Petersburg, injuring 13 people.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared the explosion in St. Petersburg a “terrorist attack,” ordering to act in accordance with law when detaining those responsible for the crime.
The president said that if there is a threat to the lives of law enforcement officers, they need to “act decisively, not to capture anyone, to kill on the spot.”
An explosion occurred on Wednesday at a grocery store in Putin’s home city of St. Petersburg, leaving at least 13 injured. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, preliminary data shows that a device stuffed with damage agents is likely to be the cause for the explosion.
The Russian leader has reminded that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had recently averted another terrorist attack in the city.
Earlier in December, the Kremlin press service said Putin spoke with his US counterpart Donald Trump by phone to express his gratitude after the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided information that terrorists were preparing attacks in St. Petersburg.
Fight Against Terrorism in Syria
Speaking about the fight against terrorism in Syria, Putin said that all the tasks set before the Russian forces have been fulfilled.
He said the Syrian army, with the support of Russia’s combat jets and navy, liberated nearly the entire territory of the country from terrorists — over 1,000 settlements.
“More than 48,000 officers and soldiers have taken part in the operation in Syria over the past two years. They are representatives of nearly all military professions — pilots and sailors, special forces and military police, sappers, scouts, communications officers, medical and logistics specialists, command officers and military advisers,” Putin said at a meeting with the Russian servicemen who had returned from Syria.
“Russia’s army and navy fully demonstrated their increased capabilities, successfully used state-of-the-art weapons and equipment. Aerospace Forces pilots carried out 34,000 sorties, 166 high precision missile strikes were made on facilities,” the president added.
According to Putin, Russia’s bases in Hmeymim and Tartus would be permanent, adding that “this is an important factor in protecting our national interests and ensuring Russia’s security in one of the key strategic directions.”
During his surprise visit to the Hmeymim airbase on December 11, Putin ordered to start the withdrawal of the main part of Russian troop contingents back to their permanent location after major Daesh hotbeds have been eliminated by the Syrian government forces during an operation in the area of the Euphrates River.
Most recently, the president said that Russia would continue its fight against terrorism, including within Syrian territory, if it was necessary.

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BY Unknown Monday, December 18, 2017 0

Campaign begins for Russia’s presidential election

Campaign begins for Russia’s presidential election
Campaigning officially started, on Monday, for Russia’s presidential election in March, in which President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win a fourth term that would keep him in power until 2024.
Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta published a resolution adopted by the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, scheduling the election for Mar 18.
Lawmakers had earlier voted to change the date of the March vote so that it marks the fourth anniversary of the signing of a treaty formally annexing Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula. The treaty came two days after a controversial referendum deemed illegal by the West.
Putin, who was first elected president in 2000, is widely expected to sail to victory, cementing his status as Russia’s longest-serving ruler since dictator Joseph Stalin.
With the result of the election a foregone conclusion, turnout could be low, analysts warn.
According to a study by the independent Levada pollster released last week, 58 per cent of Russians said they would vote in March, down from 75 per cent in December 2007.
Last week, the head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said 23 people had expressed their wish to run for the presidency. She added that the number of presidential hopefuls could grow.
One of the potential candidates is Ksenia Sobchak, a former socialite turned liberal TV presenter who many suspect is running as a Kremlin “spoiler” candidate to split the opposition and boost interest in the polls.
Putin’s top critic Alexi Navalny, 41, has been barred from putting his name on the ballot paper because of a criminal conviction, which he says is politically motivated.
Gennady Zyuganov and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the long-time leaders of Russia’s Communist Party and ultra-conservative LDPR, who are tolerated by the Kremlin and sit in parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, have both expressed a desire to run.
They are not expected to win more than 10 per cent of the vote, however, according to the Levada pollster.
During his annual end-of-year news conference last week, Putin said he would stand for election as an independent candidate rather than with the backing of the ruling party, United Russia. (ChannelNewsAsia)


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BY Unknown Thursday, December 14, 2017 0

'Candidate Putin' makes first appearance at annual press conference

'Candidate Putin' makes first appearance at annual press conference



Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual press conference in Moscow on December 14, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Alexander NEMENOV
Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold an annual press conference Thursday in his first major public appearance since announcing he would seek a new six-year term in March 2018 elections.

The marathon event has in the past lasted up to almost five hours and this year will be attended by more than 1,600 journalists.
The president typically answers questions on a broad range of topics -- from foreign policy to the state of provincial roads to his private life -- and receives televised requests from the far corners of Russia.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin planned to spend all of the previous day preparing for what would be his 13th such press conference, due to start at 0900 GMT.
Analysts said the event would give a clearer idea of what to expect from Putin ahead of an election in which he is widely expected to extend his rule to 2024, making him the country's longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin.
"It will be the start of the election campaign: he will have to demonstrate the result of his work and make election promises," Russian political analyst Konstantin Kalachev told AFP.
According to a survey published by independent pollster Levada on Wednesday, 75 percent of Russians would be prepared to vote for Putin in March, despite having yet to hear any campaign pledges since he announced his candidacy last week.
Putin, who has ruled Russia since 1999, will face a handful of token opponents at the ballot box.
One of these is Ksenia Sobchak, a former socialite turned liberal TV presenter who many suspect is running as Kremlin "spoiler" candidate to split the opposition and boost interest in the polls.
Sobchak, whose father was Putin's political mentor and who is rumoured to be the president's goddaughter, will be at Thursday's event as a journalist for opposition channel Dozhd and is expected to be allowed to ask a question.
Putin's main challenge will be to convince Russians to vote at all in an election in which he is widely expected to win. According to Levada, only 28 percent of Russians said they were certain to vote in March.
- Success in Syria -
The President is expected to highlight Russia's military campaign in Syria, where he intervened on the side of Bashar al-Assad's regime in 2015.
On Tuesday, Russian state television showed round-the-clock footage of Russian soldiers returning home after Putin's surprise trip to Syria on which he announced a partial withdrawal of troops.
"Russians are generally against war and Putin will try to show that the situation is normalising, that the army is strong and that he is once again a winner," said Kalachev.
Independent analyst Evgeny Minchenko agreed, saying Syria was a "good pillar for Putin's image" -- especially compared to the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in the 1980s, which had disastrous effects for Moscow.
"Comparatively, there was little blood spilled among Russian servicemen (in Syria). The army demonstrated a high level of readiness, more than the Americans did," said Minchenko.
Focusing on the end of the Syria campaign would allow Putin to downplay the country's international isolation following Western sanctions imposed on Moscow since 2014 for its role in the Ukraine conflict, said Russia expert Alexander Golts.
- Babies, football -
Putin is also expected to reassure Russians on domestic issues, particularly on the economy which is returning to growth after a financial crisis following a crash in oil prices and Western sanctions.
"The main domestic topic will be economic reform: he wants to demonstrate that stability is possible even under Western sanctions," said Minchenko.
Putin, who recently announced new monthly handouts after the birth of a first child in response to an ongoing demographic crisis, is also expected to weigh in on social issues.
The president has also traditionally used sport to encourage optimism among Russians and, with the country hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup, analysts said this year would be no exception.


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BY Unknown Thursday, November 30, 2017 0

North Korea: Russia accuses US of goading Kim Jong-un


Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the US of seeking to provoke North Korea into stepping up its nuclear missile programme.
He rejected a call by the American envoy to the UN Security Council to sever ties with the North after its latest ballistic missile test.
Russia argues sanctions do not work and advocates negotiations instead.
The US has warned that North Korea's government will be "utterly destroyed" if war breaks out.
On Wednesday, the North tested its first missile in two months, saying the continental US was now within striking distance.
However, defence experts have cast doubt on its ability to master the technology needed to launch a missile carrying a warhead capable of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

What exactly did Lavrov say?

Speaking on a visit to the Belarussian capital Minsk, Mr Lavrov asked whether America was actively seeking to destroy North Korea.
"One gets the impression that everything has been done on purpose to make Kim Jong-un snap and carry out further inadvisable actions," he said.
The Americans, he said, "should explain to us all what they're after".
However, defence experts have cast doubt on its ability to master the technology needed to launch a missile carrying a warhead capable of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

What exactly did Lavrov say?

Speaking on a visit to the Belarussian capital Minsk, Mr Lavrov asked whether America was actively seeking to destroy North Korea.
"One gets the impression that everything has been done on purpose to make Kim Jong-un snap and carry out further inadvisable actions," he said.
The Americans, he said, "should explain to us all what they're after".

"If they want to find a pretext for destroying North Korea, as the US envoy said at the UN Security Council, then let them say it outright and let the supreme American leadership confirm it."
Calling for new talks with North Korea, Mr Lavrov added: "We have already emphasised several times that the squeeze of sanctions has essentially come to an end, and that those resolutions which introduced the sanctions should have included a requirement to renew the political process, a requirement to renew talks.
"But the Americans completely ignore this requirement and I consider this a big mistake."
After China, Russia is one of the few states with which North Korea still has good relations. Both Russia and China wield a veto at the UN Security Council.

What is the US position?

Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the UN, urged all nations to cut diplomatic and trade ties.
President Donald Trump asked his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to cut off oil supplies to the North.
"We know the main driver of its [North Korea's] nuclear production is oil," said Ms Haley. "The major supplier of that oil is China."
China is a historic ally and North Korea's most important trading partner, and Pyongyang is thought to depend on China for much of its oil supplies.
Responding to the US request for an embargo, the Chinese foreign ministry said merely that the country had "always implemented full, comprehensive, serious and strict resolutions".

How has the missile threat changed?

The Hwasong 15 missile launched on Wednesday flew higher than any other previously tested by the North before falling in Japanese waters.
The government says it reached an altitude of about 4,475km (2,780 miles) - more than 10 times the height of the International Space Station.
It says the rocket carried a warhead capable of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.


They have extended the range now out to a point that it is hard to credibly argue that North Korea couldn't have the US eastern seaboard within its range," Vipin Narang, associate professor of political science at MIT, told the BBC.
However, David Wright at the Union of Concerned Scientists points out in his blog that the missile is likely to have carried a very light mock warhead and that "means it would be incapable of carrying a nuclear warhead to this long distance, since such a warhead would be much heavier".




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