Vladimir Putin

April 3, 2008 -- Bucharest, Romania -- MR. HADLEY: There were a number of issues that were addressed in the morning session. I know [in a briefing this morning my colleague] gave a backgrounder that went through a number of the issues that got adopted and moved forward in the discussions this morning. So it was a fairly rich agenda.    » read more »

Mar 18, 2008 -- MOSCOW — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed here March 17 for two days of talks with their Russian counterparts aimed at gaining ground on key issues that could forge ahead a missile defense plan for all of Europe.

Speaking to reporters during the flight, Gates said a full range of topics is on the table, including economic relationships, counterterrorism and arms sales. But on top on the agenda is locking in some type of commitment by Russia for the U.S. plan to post defensive missiles in Europe, the secretary said.    » read more »

March 3, 2008 -- Washington, DC –Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement on Sunday’s elections in Russia:

“Dmitry Medvedev is taking over one of the toughest jobs in the world. Russia is facing endemic corruption, demographic collapse, a brewing insurgency in the North Caucasus and spiraling inflation.    » read more »

02 March 2008 -- With nearly all of the ballots counted, Dmitri Medvedev has 70 percent of the vote. While the result is hardly a surprise, two of his opponents are crying foul.

Speaking at a political rally on Red Square just hours after polls closed, incumbent President Vladimir Putin said his hand-picked candidate, Dmitri Medvedev, was enjoying a convincing lead in the vote count. He said victory entails enormous responsibility, adding that it will ensure continuation of what he termed the "successful policies of the past eight years."    » read more »

11 February 2008 -- Russia has agreed to write off most of Iraq's multi-billion-dollar debt as Moscow expresses hope for increased economic relations between the two countries.

The deal to write off $12 billion, more than 90 percent of Iraq's nearly $13 billion debt to Russia, was reached in Moscow during a visit by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Baghdad's remaining $900 million arrears to Moscow would be restructured over the next 17 years.    » read more »

27 January 2008 -- Russia's Election Commission has barred former prime minister and Kremlin critic Mikhail Kasyanov from the March presidential election.

The commission ruled Sunday that Kasyanov had tens of thousands of invalid signatures on his nominating petition.

Independent candidates need at least two million valid signatures from across the country to register to run for president.

A Kasyanov spokeswoman says the upcoming presidential election will be a farce. She says the Kremlin is scared of competition and someone with different opinions.    » read more »

07 January 2008 -- The Bush administration said Monday it remains confident Poland will join the United States in a European missile-defense program, despite reservations expressed by the Polish foreign minister. The system is aimed at countering an Iranian missile program but Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski downplays any threat from Iran.

Officials here say they're confident a deal will be struck for Polish participation on the missile defense plan, despite signs the new government in Warsaw is less supportive of the program than its predecessor.    » read more »

15 November 2007 -- A Russian opposition political party says it has asked the country's Supreme Court to disqualify Russian President Vladimir Putin as a candidate in next month's parliamentary elections.

A spokesman for the Union of Right Forces, Nikita Belykh, told reporters in Moscow the president's position as head of state gives his United Russia Party an unfair advantage in the December 2 vote. United Russia has put Mr. Putin at the top of its list of candidates in the parliamentary election.    » read more »

01 November 2007 -- The widow of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of stalling a British inquiry into her husband's murder, and turning the prime suspect into a hero.

A year to the day after Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210, Marina Litvinenko accused Mr. Putin of obstructing the probe.    » read more »

MOSCOW, Oct. 11, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived in Moscow tonight to join Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in meetings with top Russian leaders.

Gates left Washington yesterday evening, stopping first in London for several hours to meet with British Prime Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Defense Desmond Brown. The U.S. and British leaders primarily addressed ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.    » read more »

21 August 2007 -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that her country's dependence on Russian energy will not prevent her from criticizing Russia's human rights record. Ms. Merkel made the comments during a visit to Budapest, where she also discussed the future of Kosovo, the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province of Serbia.

Energy issues were high on the agenda during German Chancellor Merkel's one-day visit to Hungary. There is growing unease in Germany, as well as in former Soviet satellite states, about their dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies.    » read more »

16 August 2007 -- Russia's ambassador to the United Nations says the Security Council should not take any action on Georgian allegations that Russia violated its airspace until after officials of the two countries carry out their own investigation.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin says Russian and Georgian experts will jointly probe allegations that Russian fighter jets entered more than 75 kilometers into Georgian territory and launched a guided missile on August sixth.    » read more »

08 August 2007 -- Georgia is urging the United Nations Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to address Russia's alleged missile firing and violation of Georgian airspace.

Georgia's deputy representative, Irakli Chikovani, says his nation has proof that two Russian fighter jets entered more than 75 kilometers into Georgian territory and launched a guided missile. Georgian officials say that weapon landed by a house near the rebel Georgian province of South Ossetia, but did not explode.    » read more »

03 July 2007 -- The United States and Russia vowed Tuesday to pursue further cuts in their strategic nuclear arsenals and to take new steps to limit weapons proliferation. The announcement was a follow-on to the talks between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin Sunday and Monday in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Arms control advocates have been critical of the administrations of both Presidents Bush and Putin for allegedly neglecting arms control.    » read more »

Bush insists Czech Republic, Poland remain part of anti-missile plan

02 July 2007 -- Washington -- President Bush, meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kennebunkport, Maine, welcomed the Russian president’s proposal to expand a shared missile defense network to include Russia, the United States and European allies via the NATO-Russia Council.

The Russian and U.S. presidents met July 1-2 in at the Bush family’s summer home in Kennebunkport.    » read more »