Vladimir Putin Thread

TR1 wrote:Putin actually do anything concrete?

Try this one. 

Fincantieri secures high-tech Russian projects

TR1 wrote:Putin actually do anything concrete?

Thanks Viktor for that one above.

Very productive summit indeed.


Copy and paste a good summary from the main italian news agency.


Some 28 deals signed on trade, energy amid gay-rights protests

(By Christopher Livesay) (ANSA) - Trieste, November 26 - Deals between energy firms, banks and manufacturers in Italy and Russia were signed Tuesday in a day of meetings between Italian Premier Enrico Letta and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The 28 commercial agreements included pacts between Italian energy companies Enel and Eni with Russia's Rosneft; Eni with natural gas producer Novatek; while other agreements involved Mediobanca, Fincantieri and tire manufacturer Pirelli.

"In the energy sector we have had an important exchange...and need to continue this work," said Letta. A joint investment fund holding one billion euros was also established. Putin noted that Italy is Russia's fourth-largest trading partner with commercial exchanges worth more than $50 billion annually.

The Russian leader has been holding two days of meetings with officials including Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Meanwhile, seven intergovernmental accords, including an arrangement between the two countries' postal services, and a cultural agreement were also reached. Letta and Putin also discussed how to "strengthen the political partnership" between the two nations, added Letta during a news conference, pointing to an agreement to loosen the strictures surrounding tourism visas for Russians in Italy. "The bureaucracy around visas is one of the biggest limits Russian tourists face in Italy," said Letta. Strengthening rights in civil society was also on the agenda and will be pressed when Italy assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2014, Letta added. Outside the summit, banner-waving gay-rights activists in the hundreds were protesting Putin's visit. "There's a cold and violent wind coming from the East, a wind of repression and silence for human rights," said veteran gay-rights campaigner and former Italian lawmaker Vladimir Luxuria, Italy's first transgender MP. "Trieste must remain an open door to dialogue and not to repression," Luxuria told protesters. Russia has triggered loud criticism since it adopted a ban on homosexual "propaganda" among minors in June, which opponents say turns rights on free speech and assembly backwards. "Human rights can't be sold off in bilateral deals," added Luxuria. "It's okay to talk about the economy, but we must lift the veil of silence on dissent that exists in Russia and other Eastern European countries. "I hope for a civil society that makes human rights a focal point".

The protest was the second to meet Putin since touching down in Rome Monday. At various stops in the capital, including outside the Vatican and the premier's office, Greenpeace protesters called on the Russian leader to drop hooliganism charges against the co-called 'Arctic 30' activists who staged a demonstration at a Russian Arctic offshore platform in September.

Sorry for the wall of text but I think was important in order to explain the mood around Russia in Italy. 30% facts, 70% BS. Luxuria is from a party not represented in the parliament because is too small. Enough said.

Import: price for the next stock of gas from Gazprom is not yet been decided. Probably will follow legal action from Eni in order to achieve discount, as usual lately. Funny those "friendly legal action" between giants.

I am not anti gay... what consenting adults do in private is none of my business quite frankly, but it is hard to frame the laws in Russia as anti gay.

Who is anyone in the west to tell Russia how to write its laws?

The laws in question are about not teaching children about gay lifestyle choices... they shouldn't be taught about heterosexual lifestyles either... children don't need to know that sort of stuff.

Perhaps Putin should reply that Europe should not offer the US CIA secret bases to torture and kidnapping people without trial or legal representation?

Or do gays that are not having their actual rights violated have more political power than mostly muslims that are being kidnapped illegally by a foreign power and tortured in third countries?

If you want to preach you should be prepared to receive the same and really the west has no standing to speak from... the damage they have done to the world is horrendous and largely undocumented by western sources.  

Quite right, I think Putin has done a hell of a lot for Russia

And compensated himself appropriately  

guy has the power, and the women, of course he would aslo have the money . 

Its funny because all American presidents are simple poor people who live off the land.

Putin on the other hand has raped and pillaged Russia for all its assets and squandered them on huge yachts and British soccer teams... oops, no wait a minute... isn't it the other way around?

Putin has been chasing the worst of the oligarchs who fled to the west with the wealth of Russia and those aholes have been getting western protection as long as they have a few billion in the bank... easiest way to get a visa to go to live in Britain is to be an oil sheik or have stolen the pension funds from a few dozen Soviet Factories... fired three quarters of the work force without compensation and then on sold the factory for scrap to whoever will pay money.

These saints of democracy and entrepreneurs of the highest order get praise in the west because what they do hastens the collapse of Russia so they can rush in a pick over the scraps and rape the natural resources of the worlds largest country.

Putin on the other hand is working against such scum and has done a pretty good job of getting Russia back on its feet, so the old tactics are the best... blame your enemy for the crimes you yourself commit... no need for evidence... just keep repeating it at every opportunity and if no one comes up and refutes it pretty soon it is accepted as truth... Putin proving he isn't stealing from Russia is like Saddam proving he doesn't have WMDs... absence of evidence is no evidence of absence.

For every oligarch Putin has chased out, he protects 10 others.

Sad but true.

sepheronx wrote:

TR1 wrote:For every oligarch Putin has chased out, he protects 10 others.

Sad but true.

Besides Pokorov(?) Who else? Thats the only billionair who I know of whom still in Russia and using Russian money to buy US basketball team and stadium, as well as a football team from UK.

All of them.
Anyway it's not so much that he protects them, as much as reached an accomodation with them. They have no influence in politics now, but are allowed to keep their previous wealth and are tied into many government and large private investment programs now, e.g. Vekselberg with Skolkovo.

Realistically it's the only solution. It would have been economic suicide for Putin to have attempted to expropriate the wealth of the oligarchs back in the early 2000s Bolshevik-style; they all would have fled overseas with their money and the country would have ended up politically isolated to boot. Look at how much Berezovsky managed alone.

You can't just get elected into power and change a whole country over night... and certainly trying to move the money and land and power from those minority that have it to the majority who don't has never worked anywhere else in the world.

Even communist uprisings result in a few with power and the majority with a job, health and education, but not a whole lot else.

As FP has said he has come to an accommodation with those that remain in Russia that has allowed Russia to continue to function.

It will take a long time to change the culture of Russia of bribery in government... just like alcohol and drug problems aren't solved overnight either... and will always be present in society... the key is to reduce it to the exception rather than the rule.

flamming_python wrote:

sepheronx wrote:

TR1 wrote:For every oligarch Putin has chased out, he protects 10 others.

Sad but true.

Besides Pokorov(?) Who else? Thats the only billionair who I know of whom still in Russia and using Russian money to buy US basketball team and stadium, as well as a football team from UK.

All of them.
Anyway it's not so much that he protects them, as much as reached an accomodation with them. They have no influence in politics now, but are allowed to keep their previous wealth and are tied into many government and large private investment programs now, e.g. Vekselberg with Skolkovo.

Realistically it's the only solution. It would have been economic suicide for Putin to have attempted to expropriate the wealth of the oligarchs back in the early 2000s Bolshevik-style; they all would have fled overseas with their money and the country would have ended up politically isolated to boot. Look at how much Berezovsky managed alone.

he controls them though look at Gasprom , RosNeft and others ( goverment shares that he can withdraw , if they disagree with him)

Tasmania sports club proposes judo fight between Putin, Australian PM Abbot

Sambo is very good - a close approximation to MMA. The only problem with sports Sambo was a restriction on choke holds. I don't know if that has been changed. If you want to know what martial arts really work in a fight, just watch MMA. It is basically a mix of Muay Thai or kick boxing in the standup game with BJJ/submission wrestling as the ground game. Sambo combines both elements. A little weaker than pure Muay Thai in the standup and a little weaker than BJJ in pure ground but superior in leg/ankle locks.

You my friend have not heard of Combat Sambo matches then. Chokes are allowed then. I wouldn't say they are weaker either per say, It all depends on how much time you have to develop Sambo skills. Obviously it will take longer then BBJ or Muay Thai.

Putin’s 15 years at top of Russia’s politics

MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. Fifteen years ago, on December 31, 1999, Russia’s first president Boris Yeltsin announced his surprise resignation and handing power to his successor Vladimir Putin.

Over these years, Putin’s approval ratings have remained at stably high levels, and Russia’s voice on the international arena has become louder. By the end of his second presidential term, the US Time magazine called Putin a “Person of the Year” for returning Russia to "the table of world power."

Meanwhile, Russia’s rising authority and influence have resulted not only in a stronger state but also in an increase in global political rivalry where the stakes are high.

Russia is now bringing together its allies, including as part of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS ( Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).

Even the refusal of the world leaders to come for a G8 summit in Russia in 2014 was not an extraordinary event - without Russia the format seems to have come to a standstill.
Ukrainian crisis accelerates tensions

In January 2000, Putin held one of the first international talks with Ukraine’s prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, and President Leonid Kuchma. The Russian leader said he was sure that the economic problems in Russia-Ukraine relations could be solved soon.

Fifteen years later, Ukraine became an apple of discord between Russia and the West.

Putin said in his state of the nation address in early December this is a result of a containment policy which was not invented yesterday and has been carried out for years “whenever someone thinks that Russia has become too strong or independent.”

The February coup in Kiev and attempts to pull Russia’s neighbor Ukraine into a European camp under doubtful promises at Maidan protests demanded the Kremlin’s rapid response. Moscow supported the referendum in Crimea which determined its wish to rejoin Russia, and sent humanitarian aid to militias in southeastern Ukraine who refused to accept the new authorities.

The anti-Russian sanctions, which came amid decreasing oil prices and the turbulent global economy, have not affected the president’s rating and the support for Putin has reached a maximum level.
Sanctions as reason for modernization

Putin said the current circumstances allow Russia focusing on the task which has not been solved for many years - diversifying the country’s economy. Russia’s authorities are set to deal with import replacement and developing non-raw material spheres, and these are the main priorities for the coming years.

Putin said the current economic crisis will last for two years. This coincides with what political scientists call a “window of opportunities” - the time until the next election cycle when the authorities can carry out active reforms and the risks linked to unpopular measures are low.

In an interview with TASS in late November, Putin said the current tensions with the West are not only due to Crimea, but because Russia is protecting its independence, its sovereignty and the right to exist.

“Take a look at our millennium-long history. As soon as we rise, some other nations immediately feel the urge to push Russia aside, to put it “where it belongs,” to slow it down,” Putin said. “How old is the theory of containment? We tend to think it dates back to the Soviet era but, however, it is centuries-old. But we shouldn’t fan any passions over it on our side because that’s how the world is functioning.”

“We are strong because we are right,” Putin said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/04/putin-aspergers-syndrome-study-pentagon/22855927/

F-15E wrote:http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/04/putin-aspergers-syndrome-study-pentagon/22855927/

And a Pentagon study claimed Saddam had WMD's, and the Iraqi people will hail America as liberators...

magnumcromagnon wrote:

F-15E wrote:http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/04/putin-aspergers-syndrome-study-pentagon/22855927/

And a Pentagon study claimed Saddam had WMD's, and the Iraqi people will hail America as liberators...  

Funny thing is the State Department made a really in depth study and prescribed solutions, and the DoD was like "lol no, we know better".

Turned out great.

Biggest joke of the year so far... Even biased as all **** media sources like HuffPost and TheDailyBeast are saying this is crap. That's saying something....

F-15E wrote:http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/02/04/putin-aspergers-syndrome-study-pentagon/22855927/

So it basically go's like this:
"Ooh, Putin isn't obeying our commands, he must be sick in the head or something."

Typical American arrogance, believing that someone who disagrees with them or stands in there way must by wrong in the head, because America is never wrong.

Yes... you have to ask what sort of future Russia could even have with the US when it has this sort of mentality.

We are the good guys so we must be right.

If you dont agree with us then you are with the terrorists... there is no alternative point of view.

It is OK to demean and demonise those which oppose us and to gloss over the evil of those that bend to our will... we can call Putin all the bad names we like... he is a gay hater... yet Saudi Arabia is our ally... so there can be no criticism that they execute people for being gay or committing gay acts.

There is no real point to any resets with the US, and for the foreseeable future Russia should just cooperate in areas that benefit Russia and structure their economy so that there are not too many critical ties to the US and the west in general as the west seems unable to think and act for itself.

There is a whole world of people out there to trade with... of the 7 odd billion less than 2 would be considered westernised...

Kyo wrote:Putin's popularity in Russia attains 88%

As soon as it hits 90% the West is gonna claim that it must be a lie cuzz 90% is "impossible" so it must be a lie just like it was for the Crimea.

like so:




I would like to add for the record that after seeing that first vid when it aired, i immediately unsubscribed from the YT, so yea Vann was right.