Vladimir Putin | RCP Story Stream

Might Trump Become Ukraine’s Liberator? February 06, 2025

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin was facing a choice: He could either be the Don of the Donbas and bag its riches, or he could become the Czar of Crimea and militarily dominate the Black Sea. ...

Russia

Putin Has Little Incentive To Accept Trump’s Peace Plan February 06, 2025

President Trump has repeatedly vowed to end the war in Ukraine. However, neither Russia nor Ukraine appears willing to accept the leaked terms of Trump’s proposed peace plan. Regardless of the outcome of his coming talks with Putin and Zelensky, Trum...

Who Would Gain From Knauf’s Russian Exit? February 06, 2025

Knauf, the German construction giant with a substantial footprint in the U.S. market, has reportedly entered negotiations to sell its Russian assets to Gazprombank, a state-owned Russian financial institution that is sanctioned by the U.S. and the E....

‘Strongman’ Leaders of Europe Don’t Look So Strong Anymore February 05, 2025

So-called “strongman” leaders in Eastern Europe — allied with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and often rejecting directives from the European Union — have arguably seen their positions wane in recent years, analysts say. ...

Eastern Europe

Safer, Stronger and More Prosperous February 04, 2025

In his first official message to the Department of State’s (DoS) workforce, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that all the employees will focus on three questions when assessing U.S. foreign policy decisions - How does the action proposed ...

Ukraine

Putin the Resilient August 14, 2024

The political regime that Russian President Vladimir Putin helms today is not the same as the one he started a war with in 2022....

Vladimir Putin

China Is in Denial About the War in Ukraine August 13, 2024

In the weeks following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Chinese government struck a tone of cautious support for Moscow. Spokespeople for the Chinese government repeatedly stressed that Russia had the right to conduct its affairs as it...

china

Russia’s Links With Iran Are Growing Stronger August 13, 2024

Last week, while Secretary of Russia’s Security Council and former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was in Tehran, reports broke out that Russia had transferred Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems and Murmansk-BN electronic warfare systems t...

Russia

iran

Russia Declares State of Emergency in Kursk August 08, 2024

Kyiv hasn’t commented officially on the military action, but Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko said: “Everything is according to plan.” ...

Russia

The Global Backlash Against Globalization August 07, 2024

They were all buddy-buddy for the cameras, going for a joy ride in a deluxe limo and toasting each other at a gala dinner. In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was determined to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin in grand style on his first...

Why Ukraine Should Not Be on an “Irreversible Path” Into NATO August 05, 2024

If Donald Trump wins this November, with Ohio Senator JD Vance as his VP,Ukraine’s hopes of joining NATO could vanish — and that wouldn’t be a bad outcome. Given Ukraine’s minimal economic and strategic relevance to United States national interests, ...

Ukraine

NATO

Russia

Was the Prisoner Swap With Russia a Bad Idea? August 03, 2024

Is the prisoner exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin a pact with the devil in the name of humanity? That is what one leading German commentator is calling it. ...

Russia

Peace in Ukraine Means the End of Vladimir Putin August 01, 2024

There is only one obstacle to peace in Ukraine, and his name is Vladimir Putin. Keep that in mind when you encounter proposed peace plans that speak of “Russia” and its willingness to end the war. ...

Ukraine

Putin Ramps up War Machine Purge With New Arrests August 01, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin ramped up his war machine purge with new arrests this week. ...

Vladimir Putin

Russia

The Russian Economy Has Been Readied for War May 14, 2024

Over his 24 years in charge, Vladimir Putin has filled his cabinets with an array of mostly indistinguishable and eminently replaceable politicians. Some have lasted for just a few months in the upper echelons of the Kremlin machine, but the one figu...

Russia

What Putin’s Choice of New Defense Chief Reveals May 14, 2024

Andrei Belousov hasn't served a day in the Russian military — but the selection of the dour economist to head the defense ministry shows Vladimir Putin intends to win the war by grinding down Ukraine in a protracted arms race. ...

Vladimir Putin

Europe’s Orthodox World Is in Moral Turmoil May 13, 2024

As Patriarch Kirill of Moscow grows increasingly radical, Orthodox priests and their congregations in Moldova and Estonia have starting severing ties with their Russian leadership. ...

Russia

Orthodox Church

Putin and Xi vs Eurovision May 11, 2024

On this spring day, at the end of a European work week interrupted by yet another archaic religious public holiday, I am contemplating three historic figures of great import: Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and … whoever wins the Eurovision Song Contest t...

European Union

Should Russia Survive Putin? May 09, 2024

Whatever happens in the next few years, the West should stay on the sidelines when it comes to Russian state unity. ...

Vladimir Putin

Macron Meets Xi May 06, 2024

Amid arguments over electric cars, cognac and Ukraine, the French president’s dinner with Xi Jinping may not be much fun. ...

china

Ukraine Is Ready Peace — Just Not Russia’s May 04, 2024

As Ukraine struggles to contain the opening moves of an expected Russian offensive in the country’s east, there are again mutterings in some diplomatic quarters about the need to kickstart peace talks. ...

Ukraine

Vladimir Putin Is Preparing Another Kremlin Purge April 26, 2024

The investigation into Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov seems, at a glance, an open-and-shut case. ...

Russia

Biden Needs To Give Putin Something To Worry About April 25, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin is doubling down on his war against Ukraine. In recent days and weeks, the Kremlin has telegraphed that Kharkiv City and Chasiv Yar in the Donbas are next on Putin’s list to be “liberated,” or in other words reduced t...

Russia

Is It Too Late To Save Ukraine From Putin? April 24, 2024

Ukraine’s leaders breathed a hearty sigh of relief when news broke that the U.S. House of Representatives finally, after six months of stalling and wrangling, approved $60.8 billion in assistance to help the country defend itself from Russian Preside...

Ukraine war