Vladimir Putin and Barack Hussein Obama
Vladimir Putin and Barack Hussein Obama
Putin was born on 7 October 1952, in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (modern day Saint Petersburg, Russia),[25] to parents Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Putina (née Shelomova; 1911–1998). His mother was a factory worker, and his father was a conscript in the Soviet Navy, where he served in the submarine fleet in the early 1930s, and later served in the NKVD during World War II.[26][27Sony PCG-41313M battery
Sony VGP-BPL20 battery][28][29] Two elder brothers were born in the mid-1930s; one died within a few months of birth, while the second succumbed to diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad in World War II.
Putin with his mother, Maria Ivanovna, in July 1958
Vladimir Putin's paternal grandfather, Spiridon Ivanovich Putin (1879–1965), was employed at Vladimir Lenin's dacha at Gorki as a cook, and after Lenin's death in 1924, he continued to work for Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya. Sony PCG-41314M battery
Sony VPCZ21Q9E batteryHe would later cook for Joseph Stalin when the Soviet leader visited one of his dachas in the Moscow region. Spiridon later was employed at a dacha belonging to the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at which the young Putin would visit him.[30] Sony PCG-41315M battery
The ancestry of Vladimir Putin has been described as a mystery with no records surviving of any ancestors of any people with the surname "Putin" beyond his grandfather Spiridon Ivanovich.
His autobiography, Ot Pervogo Litsa (English: In the First Person),[26] Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Sony VPCZ13Z9E/X batterywhich is based on Putin's interviews, speaks of humble beginnings, including early years in a communal apartment in Leningrad. On 1 September 1960, he started at School No. 193 at Baskov Lane, Sony PCG-4U2M battery
Sony VPCZ13V9E battery just across from his house. By fifth grade he was one of a few in a class of more than 45 pupils who was not yet a member of the Pioneers, largely because of his rowdy behavior. In sixth grade he started taking sport seriously in the form of sambo and then judo. Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
Sony VPCZ13M9E/B battery In his youth, Putin was eager to emulate the intelligence officer characters played on the Soviet screen by actors such as Vyacheslav Tikhonov and Georgiy Zhzhonov.[31]
Putin graduated from the International Law branch of the Law Department of the Leningrad State University in 1975, writing his final thesis on international law.[ Sony PCG-6112M battery
32] His PhD thesis was titled "The Strategic Planning of Regional Resources Under the Formation of Market Relations" and it argued that Russian economic success would depend on creating national energy champions.[33Sony PCG-6122M battery
Sony VPCZ13 battery] While at university he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and remained a member until the party was dissolved in December 1991.[34] Also at the University he met Anatoly Sobchak who later played an important role in Putin's career. Sony PCG-6123M battery
Sony PCG-6124M battery Anatoly Sobchak was at the time an Assistant Professor and lectured Putin's class on Business Law (khozyaystvennoye pravo).[35]
KGB career
Putin in KGB uniform
Putin joined the KGB in 1975 upon graduation, and underwent a year's training at the 401st KGB school in Okhta[disambiguation needed], Leningrad. He then went on to work briefly in the Second Chief Directorate (counter-intelligence) Sony VPCZ11 battery
before he was transferred to the First Chief Directorate, where among his duties was the monitoring of foreigners and consular officials in Leningrad.[36][37]
From 1985 to 1990, the KGB stationed Putin in Dresden, East Germany.[38] Following the collapse of the East German government, Putin was recalled to the Soviet Union and returned to Leningrad, where in June 1991 he assumed a position with the International Affairs section of Leningrad State University, reporting to Vice-Rector Yuriy Molchanov.[ Sony VPCZ11X9E/B battery
37] In his new position, Putin maintained surveillance on the student body and kept an eye out for recruits. It was during his stint at the university that Putin grew reacquainted with his former professor Anatoly Sobchak, then mayor of Leningrad.[39] Sony VPCZ11Z9E/B battery
Putin finally resigned from the active state security services with the rank of Lieutenant colonel on 20 August 1991 (with some attempts to resign made earlier),[39] on the second day of the KGB-supported abortive putsch against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.[40] Putin later explained his decision: "As soon as the coup began, Sony VPCZ12C7E/B battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/B batteryI immediately decided which side I was on", though he also noted that the choice was hard because he had spent the best part of his life with "the organs".[41]
Early political career
Saint Petersburg administration
In May 1990, Putin was appointed Mayor Sobchak's advisor on international affairs. On 28 June 1991, he was appointed head of the Committee for External Relations of the Saint Petersburg Mayor's Office, Sony VPCZ12M9E/B battery
Sony VPCZ12X9E/B battery with responsibility for promoting international relations and foreign investments. The Committee also registered business ventures in Saint Petersburg. Less than one year later, Putin was investigated by a commission of the city legislative council. Commission deputies Marina Salye and Yury Gladkov concluded that Putin understated prices and permitted the export of metals valued at $93 million, in exchange for foreign food aid that never arrived.[42][ Sony VPCZ12V9E battery
Sony VPCZ12V9E/B battery43] Despite the commission's recommendation that Putin be fired, Putin remained head of the Committee for External Relations until 1996.[44][45] Sony VGN-TT battery
From 1994 to 1997, Putin was appointed to other positions in Saint Petersburg. In March 1994, he became first deputy head of the city administration. From 1995 through June 1997, he led the Saint Petersburg branch of the pro-government Our Home Is Russia political party.[46
Sony VGN-Z51XG/B battery] From 1995 through June 1997 he was also the head of the Advisory Board of the JSC Newspaper Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti.[46]
Moscow career
Putin as FSB director, 1998
In 1996, Anatoly Sobchak lost the Saint Petersburg mayoral election to Vladimir Yakovlev. Putin was called to Moscow and in June 1996 became a Deputy Chief of the Presidential Property Management Department headed by Pavel Borodin. Sony VGP-BPL14/B battery
Sony VGN-Z51MG/B batteryHe occupied this position until March 1997. During his tenure Putin was responsible for the foreign property of the state and organized transfer of the former assets of the Soviet Union and Communist Party to the Russian Federation.[35] Sony VGP-BPS14 battery
On 26 March 1997, President Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin deputy chief of Presidential Staff, which he remained until May 1998, and chief of the Main Control Directorate of the Presidential Property Management Department (until June 1998). His predecessor on this position was Alexei Kudrin and the successor was Nikolai Patrushev, both future prominent politicians and Putin's associates.[35]
On 27 June 1997, at the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute, guided by rector Vladimir Litvinenko, Putin defended his Candidate of Science dissertation in economics, titled "The Strategic Planning of Regional Resources Under the Formation of Market Relations".[47] When Putin later became president, the dissertation became a target of plagiarism accusations by fellows at the Brookings Institution; though the allegedly plagiarised study was referenced to[48][49] the authors of the allegation felt sure it constituted plagiarism, though they were unsure as to whether it was "intentional";[48][50] the dissertation committee denied the accusations.[49] In his dissertation,[citation needed] and in a later article published in 1999, Putin advocated the idea of so-called National champions, a concept that would later become central to his political thinking.
On 25 May 1998, Putin was appointed First Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff for regions, replacing Viktoriya Mitina; and, on 15 July, the Head of the Commission for the preparation of agreements on the delimitation of power of regions and the federal center attached to the President, replacing Sergey Shakhray. Sony VGP-BPS14/S battery
Sony VGN-Z51XTG/B batteryAfter Putin's appointment, the commission completed no such agreements, although during Shakhray's term as the Head of the Commission there were 46 agreements signed.[51Sony VGN-Z11WN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z31XN/B battery] Later, after becoming President Putin canceled all those agreements.[35]
On 25 July 1998, Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin head of the FSB (one of the successor agencies to the KGB), the position Putin occupied until August 1999. Sony VGN-Z21MN/B battery
Sony VGP-BPS12/Q batteryHe became a permanent member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation on 1 October 1998 and its Secretary on 29 March 1999. Sony VGN-Z21 battery
First Premiership (1999)
On 9 August 1999, Vladimir Putin was appointed one of three First Deputy Prime Ministers, which enabled him later on that day, as the previous government led by Sergei Stepashin had been sacked, to be appointed acting Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Boris Yeltsin.[5Sony VGN-Z21XN battery
2] Yeltsin also announced that he wanted to see Putin as his successor. Later, that same day, Putin agreed to run for the presidency.[5Sony VGN-Z21ZN/X battery
Sony VGP-BPS12 battery3] On 16 August, the State Duma approved his appointment as Prime Minister with 233 votes in favour (vs. 84 against, 17 abstained),[54] while a simple majority of 226 was required, making him Russia's fifth PM in fewer than eighteen months. Sony VGN-Z31 battery
Sony VGP-BPL12 batteryOn his appointment, few expected Putin, virtually unknown to the general public, to last any longer than his predecessors. He was initially regarded as a Yeltsin loyalist; like other prime ministers of Boris Yeltsin, Putin did not choose ministers himself, his cabinet being determined by the presidential administration.[55] Sony VGN-Z31MN/B battery
Yeltsin's main opponents and would-be successors, Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov and former Chairman of the Russian Government Yevgeniy Primakov, were already campaigning to replace the ailing president, and they fought hard to prevent Putin's emergence as a potential successor. Sony VGN-Z31WN/B battery
Putin's law-and-order image and his unrelenting approach to the renewed crisis in the North Caucasus, which started when the Islamic International Brigade based in Chechnya invaded a neighboring region starting the War in Dagestan, soon combined to raise Putin's popularity and allowed him to overtake all rivals. Sony VGN-Z31ZN/B battery
While not formally associated with any party, Putin pledged his support to the newly formed Unity Party,[56] which won the second largest percentage of the popular vote (23.3%) in the December 1999 Duma elections, and in turn he was supported by it. Sony VGN-Z51 battery
Acting Presidency
Putin landing in Grozny in a Su-27 fighter jet (20 March 2000)
On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and, according to the constitution, Putin became Acting President of the Russian Federation. On assuming this role, Putin went on a previously scheduled visit to Russian troops in Chechnya.[citation needed] Sony SVE1511A1EW battery
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The first Presidential Decree that Putin signed, on 31 December 1999, was titled "On guarantees for former president of the Russian Federation and members of his family".[57][58] This ensured that "corruption charges against the outgoing President and his relatives" Sony SVE1511K1E battery
Sony SVE1513Q1E batterywould not be pursued, although this claim is not strictly verifiable.[clarification needed][59] Later, on 12 February 2001, Putin signed a federal law on guarantees for former presidents and their families, which replaced the similar decree. Sony SVE1511L1E battery
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While his opponents had been preparing for an election in June 2000, Yeltsin's resignation resulted in the Presidential elections being held within three months, on 26 March 2000; Putin won in the first round with 53% of the vote.[60] Sony SVE1511M1E battery
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First Presidential term (2000–2004)
Vladimir Putin was inaugurated president on 7 May 2000. He appointed Minister of Finance Mikhail Kasyanov as his Prime minister. Having announced his intention to consolidate power in the country into a strict vertical, Sony SVE1511P1E battery
Sony SVE1513D1E battery in May 2000 he issued a decree dividing 89 federal subjects of Russia between 7 federal districts overseen by representatives of his in order to facilitate federal administration.
Putin taking the presidential oath with Boris Yeltsin looking on (7 May 2000)
During his first term in office, he moved to curb the political ambitions of some of the Yeltsin-era oligarchs such as former Kremlin insider Boris Berezovsky, who had "helped Mr. Putin enter the family, and funded the party that formed Mr. Putin's parliamentary base", according to BBC profile.[61] Sony SVE1511V1E battery
Sony SVE1513C5E battery [62] At the same time, according to Vladimir Solovyev, it was Alexey Kudrin who was instrumental in Putin's assignment to the Presidential Administration of Russia to work with Pavel Borodin,[63] and according to Solovyev, Berezovsky was proposing Igor Ivanov rather than Putin as a new president.[64][65] Sony SVE1511W1E battery
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Between 2000 and 2004, and ending following the Yukos-affair, Putin apparently won a power-struggle with the oligarchs, reaching a 'grand-bargain' with them. This bargain allowed the oligarchs to maintain most of their powers, in exchange for their explicit support - and alignment with - his government.[66][67] Sony SVE1512C6E battery
A new group of business magnates, such as Gennady Timchenko, Vladimir Yakunin, Yuriy Kovalchuk, Sergey Chemezov, with close personal ties to Putin, also emerged.
Russia's legal reform continued productively during Putin's first term. In particular, Putin succeeded in the codification of land law and tax law, Sony SVE1512J1E battery
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Sony SVE1512M1E battery where progress had been slow during Yeltsin's administration, because of Communist and oligarch opposition, respectively. Other legal reforms included new codes on labour, administrative, criminal, commercial and civil procedural law, as well as a major statute on the Bar.[22] Sony SVE1711R1E battery
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The first major challenge to Putin's popularity came in August 2000, when he was criticised for his alleged mishandling of the Kursk submarine disaster.[68]
In December 2000, Putin sanctioned the law to change the National Anthem of Russia. At the time the Anthem had music by Glinka and no words. Sony SVE1711F1E battery
The change was to restore (with a minor modification) the music of the post-1944 Soviet anthem by Alexandrov, while the new text was composed by Sergey Mikhalkov, who previously had authored the lyrics of the two versions of the Soviet anthem.[69][70] Sony SVE1711X1E battery
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Putin with John Paul II in the Vatican City (5 June 2000)
Many in the Russian press and in the international media warned that the death of some 130 hostages in the special forces' rescue operation during the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis would severely damage President Putin's popularity. However, Sony SVE1712Z1E battery
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shortly after the siege had ended, the Russian president was enjoying record public approval ratings – 83% of Russians declared themselves satisfied with Putin and his handling of the siege.[71] Sony SVE1713C5E battery
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A few months before the elections, Putin fired Kasyanov's cabinet and appointed Mikhail Fradkov to his place. Sergey Ivanov became the first civilian in Russia to take Defense Minister position.
In 2003, a referendum was held in Chechnya adopting a new constitution which declares the Republic as a part of Russia. Sony SVE1713S1E battery
Chechnya has been gradually stabilized with the establishment of the parliamentary elections and a regional government.[72][73] Throughout the war Russia has severely disabled the Chechen rebel movement, although sporadic violence continued to occur throughout the North Caucasus.[74] Sony SVE1511A1EB battery
Sony SVE1511W1ESI batterySecond Presidential term (2004–2008)
Putin speaking at the 2005 Victory Day Parade on Red Square. Saint Basil's Cathedral is on the background.
On 14 March 2004, Putin was elected to the presidency for a second term, receiving 71% of the vote.[60] Sony SVE14A1S1EB battery
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The Beslan school hostage crisis took place in September 2004, in which hundreds died. Among the administrative measures taken after that terrorist act, Putin launched an initiative to replace the direct election of the Governors and Presidents of the Federal subjects of Russia with a system whereby they would be nominated by the President and approved or disapproved by regional legislatures.[75][7Sony SVE14A1S1EP battery
6] In 2005 Putin created the Public Chamber of Russia.
In 2005, the National Priority Projects were launched to improve Russia's health care, education, housing and agriculture. Sony SVE1511Q1EB battery
Sony SVE1511R9ESI battery The most high-profile change within the national priority project frameworks was probably the 2006 across-the-board increase in wages in healthcare and education, as well as the decision to modernise equipment in both sectors in 2006 and 2007.[77] Sony SVE1511A1E battery
Sony SVS13A1S9E battery In his May 2006 annual speech, Putin announced increasing maternity benefits and state support of prenatal care for women. By 2012 the demographic programmes of the government led to a 45% increase in second child births by women, and a 60% increase in third, fourth etc. births.[78] Sony SVE1511R9E battery
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Putin with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel in March 2008
The continued criminal prosecution of Russia's then richest man, President of YUKOS company Mikhail Khodorkovsky, for fraud and tax evasion was seen by the international press as a retaliation for Khodorkovsky's donations to both liberal and communist opponents of the Kremlin. Sony SVE1513A4E battery
The government said that Khodorkovsky was corrupting a large segment of the Duma to prevent tax code changes such as taxes on windfall profits and closing offshore tax evasion vehicles. Khodorkovsky was arrested, Sony SVE1513B1E battery
Sony VPCCA3E1E battery Yukos was bunkrupted and the company's assets were auctioned at below-market value, with the largest share acquired by the state company Rosneft.[79] The fate of Yukos was seen in the West as a sign of a broader shift of Russia towards a system of state capitalism.[80][81] Sony SVE1513B4E battery
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A study by Bank of Finland's Institute for Economies in Transition (BOFIT) in 2008 found that state intervention had made a positive impact on the corporate governance of many companies in Russia: the governance was better in companies with state control or with a stake held by the government.[82] Sony SVE1513V1E battery
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George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin take a sunset walk on a pier along the Black Sea, 5 April 2008
Putin was criticized in the West and also by Russian liberals for what many observers considered a wide-scale crackdown on media freedom in Russia. On 7 October 2006, Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who exposed corruption in the Russian army and its conduct in Chechnya, was shot in the lobby of her apartment building. Sony SVE1713Z1E battery
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Sony VPCCB3 battery The death of Politkovskaya triggered an outcry in Western media, with accusations that, at best, Putin has failed to protect the country's new independent media.[83][84] When asked about the Politkovskaya murder in his interview with the German TV channel ARD, Putin said that her murder brings much more harm to the Russian authorities than her writing.[8Sony SVE17 battery
Sony VPCCB2M0E battery5] By 2012 the performers of the murder were arrested and named Boris Berezovsky and Akhmed Zakayev as a possible clients.[86] Sony VPCCA1C5E battery
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In 2007, "Dissenters' Marches" were organized by the opposition group The Other Russia,[87] led by former chess champion Garry Kasparov and national-Bolshevist leader Eduard Limonov. Following prior warnings, demonstrations in several Russian cities were met by police action, Sony VPCCA2 battery
which included interfering with the travel of the protesters and the arrests of as many as 150 people who attempted to break through police lines.[88] The Dissenters' Marches have received little support among the Russian general public, according to polls.[89] Sony VPCCA2S0E battery
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On 12 September 2007, Putin dissolved the government upon the request of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Fradkov commented that it was to give the President a "free hand" in the run-up to the parliamentary election. Viktor Zubkov was appointed the new prime minister.[90]
In December 2007, Sony VPCCA2Z0E battery
Sony VPCCA3 battery United Russia won 64.24% of the popular vote in their run for State Duma according to election preliminary results.[91] United Russia's victory in December 2007 elections was seen by many as an indication of strong popular support of the then Russian leadership and its policies.[92][93] Sony SVS13A1X9E battery
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On 8 February 2008, Putin delivered a speech before the expanded session of the State Council headlined "On the Strategy of Russia's Development until 2020".[94] In his last days in office Putin was reported to have taken a series of steps to re-align the regional bureaucracy to make the governors report to the prime minister rather than the president.[95Sony SVS1312P9E battery
Sony VPCSB1X9E battery][96] The presidential site explained that "the changes... bear a refining nature and do not affect the essential positions of the system. The key role in estimating the effectiveness of activity of regional authority still belongs to President of the Russian Federation."
Second Premiership (2008–2012) Sony SVS1312S9E battery
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Main article: Vladimir Putin's Second Cabinet
Vladimir Putin with Dmitry Medvedev
Putin was barred from a third term by the Constitution. First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was elected his successor. On 8 May 2008, only a day after handing the presidency to Medvedev, Putin was appointed Prime Minister of Russia, maintaining his political dominance.[97] Sony SVS1313S9E battery
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The 2008-2009 world crisis hit the Russian economy especially hard, interrupting the flow of cheap Western credit and investments. This coincided with tension in relationships with the EU and the U.S. following the 2008 South Ossetia war, in which Russia defeated the U.S. and NATO ally Georgia.
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However, the large financial reserves, accumulated in the Stabilization Fund of Russia in the previous period of high oil prices, alongside the strong management helped the country to cope with the crisis and resume economic growth since mid-2009. Sony SVS1511S9E battery
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Sony SVS13 batteryThe Russian government's anti-crisis measures have been praised by the World Bank, which said in its Russia Economic Report from November 2008: "prudent fiscal management and substantial financial reserves have protected Russia from deeper consequences of this external shock. The government's policy response so far—swift, comprehensive, and coordinated—has helped limit the impact."[ Sony VPCSB battery
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98] Putin himself named the overcoming of consequences of the world economic crisis one of the two main achievements of his 2nd Premiership[78] (the other named achievement being the stabilisation of the size of Russia's population between 2008-2011 following the long period of demographic collapse started in the 1990s).[78] Sony SVS13A1Y9E battery
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At the United Russia Congress in Moscow on 24 September 2011, Medvedev officially proposed that Putin stand for the Presidency in 2012; an offer which Putin accepted. Given United Russia's near-total dominance of Russian politics, Sony SVS1311F3E battery
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Sony SVS15 batterymany observers believed that Putin was all but assured of a third term. The move was expected to see Medvedev stand on the United Russia ticket in the parliamentary elections in December, with a goal of becoming Prime Minister at the end of his presidential term.[99Sony SVS1311K9E battery
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After the parliamentary elections on 4 December 2011, tens of thousands Russians engaged in protests against alleged electoral fraud, the largest protests in Putin's time; protesters criticized Putin and United Russia and demanded annulment of the election results.[100] However, those protests, organized by the leaders of the Russian "non-systemic opposition", sparked the fear of a colour revolution in society, and a number of "anti-Orange" counter-protests (the name alludes to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine) and rallies of Putin supporters were carried out, surpassing in scale the opposition protests.[101][102][103]
Third Presidential term (2012–present)
Putin taking the presidential oath at his 3rd inauguration ceremony (7 May 2012)
On 4 March 2012, Putin won the 2012 Russian presidential elections in the first round, with 63.6% of the vote.[60] Sony SVS1311N9E battery
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While extraordinary measures were taken to make the elections transparent, including the usage of webcams on the vast majority of polling stations, the vote was criticized by Russian opposition and some international bodies for perceived irregularities.[citation needed]. Several heads of states around the world congratulated Putin on winning elections. Sony SVS1311S9E battery
Sony vgp-bps24 batteryChinese Premier Hu Jintao congratulated Vladimir Putin on taking office as Russian president, and wished the Russian people greater achievements in developing their country under Putin's leadership.[1Sony SVS1313P9E battery
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Sony VPCSE2E1E battery04] The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh said "Your success in these elections is an affirmation by the Russian people of your vision of a strong, prosperous and democratic Russia," Sony SVS1511Q9E battery
Sony VPCSE2C5E batteryand added that he "deeply appreciated the personal commitment and attention that you have brought to nurturing the India-Russia strategic partnership over the last 12 years".[105] The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari called the election results a "resounding victory".[1
Sony VPCSE1X9E battery06] Venezuela President Hugo Chavez personally congratulated Putin on his victory, calling Putin "a driving force behind strategic ties of cooperation between Venezuela and Russia."[107]
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Anti-Putin protests took place during and directly after the presidential campaign. The most notorious protest was the 21 February Pussy Riot performance, and subsequent trial.[108] As well, an estimated 8,000-20,000 protesters gathered in Moscow on 6 May.[109][110] On 6 May, eighty people were injured in confrontations with police,[111] Sony SVS1511S2C battery
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Sony SVS1511V9E battery 450 were arrested, with another 120 arrests taking place the following day.[112]
Putin was inaugurated in the Kremlin on 7 May 2012. On his first day as President, Putin issued 14 Presidential decrees, including a lengthy one stating wide-ranging goals for the Russian economy. Other decrees concerned education, housing, skilled-labor training, Sony SVE171A11M battery
Sony SVS1511W9EB battery relations with the European Union, the defense industry, inter-ethnic relations, and other policy areas dealt with in Putin's programme articles issued during the Presidential campaign.[113][114] Sony SVE151C11M battery
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In 2012 and 2013, Putin and the United Russia backed stricter legislation against the rights of the LGBT community in Russia, first in Saint Petersburg, Archangelsk and Novosibirsk, but a law against "homosexual propaganda"Sony SVE1711T1EB battery
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In June 2013 Putin attended a televised rally of the All-Russia People's Front where he was elected head of the movement,[120Sony SVE1711K1EW battery
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Policies
Domestic policies
See also: Sovereign democracy and Putinism
Putin's domestic policies, especially early in his first presidency, were aimed at creating a strict "vertical of power". On 13 May 2000, Sony SVE1711X1EB battery
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he issued a decree dividing the 89 federal subjects of Russia between 7 federal districts overseen by representatives named by himself in order to facilitate federal administration. Putin also pursued a policy of enlargement of federal subjects: Sony SVE1511G1ESI battery
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Sony SVS1511N3ES batterytheir number was reduced from 89 in 2000 to the present 83 after the autonomous okrugs of Russia were merged with their parent subjects.
On 13 May 2000, Putin divided Russia into 7 federal districts. On 19 January 2010, the new 8th North Caucasian Federal District (shown here in purple) was split from Southern Federal District.
According to Stephen White, Russia under the presidency of Putin made it clear that it had no intention of establishing a "second edition" Sony SVE1511S1EW battery
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of the American or British political system, but rather a system that was closer to Russia's own traditions and circumstances.[123] Putin's administration has often been described as a "sovereign democracy".[124Sony SVE1511S1EB battery
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Sony SVS1511M3EW battery] First proposed by Vladislav Surkov in February 2006, the term quickly gained currency within Russia and arguably unified various political elites around it. According to its proponents, the government's actions and policies ought above all to enjoy popular support within Russia itself and not be determined from outside the country.[125][ Sony SVE1511H1EW battery
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In July 2000, according to a law proposed by him and approved by the Federal Assembly of Russia, Putin gained the right to dismiss heads of the federal subjects. In 2004, the direct election of governors by popular vote was ended. This was seen by Putin as a necessary move to stop separatist tendencies and get rid of those governors who were connected with organised crime.[127Sony SVE1511J1EW battery
Sony SVS1311P9EB battery] The measure proved to be temporary: in 2012, as proposed by Putin's successor Dmitry Medvedev, the direct election of governors was re-introduced.[128] Along with the return of elected governors, Medvedev's reforms also simplified the registration of political parties and reduced the number of signatures required by non-parliamentary parties and independent candidates to participate in elections,[128Sony VPCCA4S1E battery
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During his first term in office, Putin moved to curb the political ambitions of some of the Yeltsin-era oligarchs, resulting in the exile or imprisonment of such people as Boris Berezovsky, Vladimir Gusinsky, Mikhail Khodorkovsky; other oligarchs soon joined Putin's camp.[citation needed]
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Putin presided over an intensified fight with organised crime and terrorism that resulted in two times lower murder rates by 2011,[131] as well as significant reduction in the numbers of terrorist acts by the late 2000s (decade).[132] Sony VPCCB3M1E battery
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Putin succeeded in codifying land law and tax law and promulgated new codes on labour, administrative, criminal, commercial and civil procedural law.[22] Under Medvedev's presidency, Putin's government implemented some key reforms in the area of state security, the Russian police reform and the Russian military reform. Sony VPCCA2S1E battery
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Economic policy
See also: Economy of Russia
Russian GDP since the end of the Soviet Union. The Russian term for GDP is ВВП (VVP) which coincides with the initials of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and is often used as a shortcut when writing or speaking about him. Sony SVS13AA11M battery
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Under the Putin administration the economy made real gains of an average 7% per year (2000: 10%, 2001: 5.1%, 2002: 4.7%, 2003: 7.3%, 2004: 7.2%, 2005: 6.4%, 2006: 8.2%, 2007: 8.5%),[133] making it the 7th largest economy in the world in purchasing power. Russia's nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Sony VPCSA3Q9E battery
Sony PCG-4121GM battery increased 6 fold, climbing from 22nd to 10th largest in the world. In 2007, Russia's GDP exceeded that of Russian SFSR in 1990, meaning it has overcome the devastating consequences of the 1998 financial crisis and preceding recession in the 1990s.[16] Sony VPCSB4S9E battery
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During Putin's eight years in office, industry grew by 76%, investments increased by 125%,[16] and agricultural production and construction increased as well. Real incomes more than doubled and the average monthly salary increased sevenfold from $80 to $640.[14][17] From 2000 to 2006 the volume of consumer credit increased 45 times[134]
Sony PCG-41414M battery [135] and the middle class grew from 8 million to 55 million. The number of people living below the poverty line decreased from 30% in 2000 to 14% in 2008.[16][136]
In 2001, Putin, who has advocated liberal economic policies, introduced a flat tax rate of 13%;[137][13
Sony PCG-41218M battery8] the corporate rate of tax was also reduced from 35 percent to 24 percent;[137] Small businesses also get better treatment. The old system with high tax rates has been replaced by a new system where companies can choose either a 6-percent tax on gross revenue or a 15-percent tax on profits.[13Sony VPCSE2F1E battery
Sony PCG-41213M battery7] The overall tax burden is lower in Russia than in most European countries.[139]
A central concept in Putin's economic thinking was the creation of so-called National champions, vertically integrated companies in strategic sectors that are expected not only to seek profit, but also to "advance the interests of the nation". Examples of such companies include Gazprom, Rosneft and United Aircraft Corporation.[140] Sony VPCSE2V9E battery
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Before the Putin era, in 1998, over 60% of industrial turnover in Russia was based on barter and various monetary surrogates. The use of such alternatives to money has now fallen out of favour, boosting economic productivity significantly. Besides raising wages and consumption, Putin's government has received broad praise also for eliminating this problem.[141] Sony PCG-4121EM battery
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Some oil revenue went to the stabilization fund established in 2004. The fund accumulated oil revenue, allowing Russia to repay all of the Soviet Union's debts by 2005. In early 2008, it was split into the Reserve Fund (designed to protect Russia from possible global financial shocks) and the National Welfare Fund, whose revenues will be used for a pension reform.[16] Dell XPS 14 battery
Inflation remained a problem however, as between 1999–2007 it was kept at the forecast ceiling only twice, and in 2007 the inflation exceeded that of 2006, continuing an upward trend at the beginning of 2008.[ Dell XPS 15 battery
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Dell XPS M2010 battery16] The Russian economy is still commodity-driven despite its growth. Payments from the fuel and energy sector in the form of customs duties and taxes accounted for nearly half of the federal budget's revenues. The large majority of Russia's exports are made up of raw materials and fertilizers,[16Dell XPS L401X battery
Dell XPS M1730 battery] although exports as a whole accounted for only 8.7% of the GDP in 2007, compared to 20% in 2000.[142]
In December 2011, after 15 years of negotiations, Russia finally joined the World Trade Organisation. The accession to WTO was expected to be ratified by Russian Parliament in the spring of 2012. Dell XPS L501X battery
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Industrial development
See also: Automotive industry in Russia, Petroleum industry in Russia, Aircraft industry of Russia, and Shipbuilding in Russia
Putin promotes the Lada Kalina brand driving through the recently opened Amur Highway in 2010.
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To boost the market share of locally produced vehicles and support the Russia's automotive industry, the government under Putin implemented several protectionist measures and launched programs to attract foreign producers into the country. In late 2005, the government enacted legislation to create special economic zones Dell XPS L701X battery
Dell XPS M140 battery (SEZ) with the aim of encouraging investments by foreign automotive companies. The benefits of operating in the special economic zones include tax allowances, abolishment of asset and land taxes and protection against changes in the tax regime. Some regions also provide extensive support for large investors (over $100 million.) These include Saint Petersburg/Leningrad Oblast, Dell XPS L702X battery
Kaluga Oblast and Kaliningrad Oblast.[143] Under Putin as President and Premier, most of the world's largest automotive companies opened plants in Russia, including Ford Motor Company, Toyota, General Motors, Nissan, Hyundai Motor, Suzuki, Magna International, Scania and MAN SE.
In 2005, Dell XPS M1210 battery
Dell XPS M1330 battery Putin initiated an industry consolidation programme to bring the main aircraft producing companies under a single umbrella organization, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). The aim was optimize production lines and minimise losses. The programme was divided in three parts: reorganization and crisis management (2007–2010), Dell Latitude E4200 battery
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evolution of existing projects (2010–2015) and further progress within the newly created structure (2015–2025).[144]
The UAC, one of the so-called national champions and comparable to EADS in Europe, enjoyed considerable financial support from the Russian government, and injected money to the companies it had acquired to improve their financial standing. The deliveries of civilian aircraft increased to 6 in 2005, Dell Latitude E5410 battery
Dell Latitude E5420 batteryand in 2009 the industry delivered 15 civilian aircraft, worth 12.5 billion roubles, mostly to domestic customers.[145] Since then Russia has successfully tested the fifth generation jet fighter, Sukhoi PAK FA, Dell Latitude E5510 battery
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Dell Latitude E5220 battery and started the commercial production of the regional airliner Sukhoi Superjet 100, as well as started developing a number of other major projects. Dell Latitude E6400 battery
In a similar fashion, Putin created the United Shipbuilding Corporation in 2007, which led to the recovery[citation needed] of shipbuilding in Russia. Since 2006, much efforts were put into consolidation and development of the Rosatom Nuclear Energy State Corporation, Dell Latitude E6400 ATG battery
which led to the renewed construction of nuclear power plants in Russia as well as a vast activity of Rosatom abroad, buying huge shares in world's leading uranium production companies and building nuclear power plants in many countries, Dell Latitude E6500 battery
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Dell Latitude E6430 battery including Iran, China, Vietnam and Belarus.[citation needed] In 2007, the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation was established, aimed to boost the science and technology and high-tech industry in Russia.[146] Dell Latitude E4310 battery
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Energy policy
Main article: Energy policy of Russia
See also: Energy in Russia, Oil industry of Russia, and Nuclear power in Russia
Under Putin, Russia strengthened its position as a key oil and gas supplier to much of Europe.
In the 2000s (decade) Russia's oil and gas wealth was transformed into the country's well-being and international influence, and Russia was frequently been described in the media as an energy superpower.[23] Dell Latitude E6400 XFR battery
Dell Latitude E6320 batteryPutin oversaw that the growing taxation of oil and gas exports filled in the Russian budget, while oil and gas prices, production, and exports all significantly grew.
Putin sought to Russia's large share on the European energy market by building the submerged gas pipelines bypassing Ukraine and the New Europe (the countries which were often seen as non-reliable transit partners by Russia, especially following Russia-Ukraine gas disputes of the late 2000s (decade)). Dell Latitude E6410 battery
Dell Latitude E6230 battery The pipeline projects backed by Putin include the Blue Stream from Russia to Turkey (build on the Black Sea bed), Nord Stream from Russia to Germany (the longest sub-sea pipeline in the world, built through the Baltic Sea) and the planned South Stream from Russia to the Balkans and Italy (via the Black Sea). Dell Latitude E6410 ATG battery
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Dell Latitude E6220 battery Russia also undermined the rival pipeline project Nabucco by buying the Turkmen gas and redirecting it into Russian pipelines.
On the other hand Russia diversified its export markets by building the Trans-Siberian oil pipeline to the markets of China, Japan and Korea, as well as the Sakhalin–Khabarovsk–Vladivostok gas pipeline in the Russian Far East. Dell Latitude E6510 battery
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Dell Latitude E6210 battery Russia has built LNG plant on Sakhalin and is building another one in Primorye, aiming to increase the overseas gas exports. Meanwhile, in the Gulf of Finland Russia has built a major Ust-Luga port connected to the Baltic Pipeline System-II, which allowed to export oil without transit through the ports of the Baltic states. Sony PCG-41311M battery
The share of processed oil slowly grows with major oil refineries being built in Tatarstan and other regions of Russia.
Putin also presided over resuming the construction of major hydropower plants, such as the Bureya Dam and the Boguchany Dam, as well as the restoration of the nuclear industry of Russia, with some 1 trillion rubles ($42.7 billion) Sony PCG-41314M battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/X batteryallocated from the federal budget to nuclear power and industry development before 2015.[147] A large number of nuclear power stations and units are currently being constructed by the state corporation Rosatom in Russia and abroad. Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Arctic policy
Main article: Arctic policy of Russia
Putin aboard the battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy during the Northern Fleet manoeuvres in the Barents Sea, 2005.
Putin has sought to increase Russian military and economic presence in the Arctic. In August 2007, a Russian expedition named Arktika 2007, led by Artur Chilingarov, planted a Russian flag on the seabed below the North Pole to underline Russia's 2001 claim submission.[148] Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Sony VPCZ12X9E/B battery [148] In June 2008 General Vladimir Shamanov announced that Russia would increase the operational radius of its Northern Fleet submarines.[149] and in July 2011, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced plans for two brigades to be stationed in the Arctic.[150] Sony PCG-4U2M battery
A construction program of floating nuclear power plants will provide power to Russian Arctic coastal cities and gas rigs. A 21,500-ton barge with twin 35-megawatt reactors, the Akademik Lomonosov, will go into operation in 2012.[151][15Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
Sony VPCZ12V9E battery2] The Prirazlomnoye field, an offshore oilfield in the Pechora Sea that will include up to 40 wells, is currently under construction and drilling is expected to start in early 2012. It will have the world's first ice-resistant oil platform and will also be the first offshore Arctic platform.[153][154] Sony PCG-6112M battery
In August 2011 Rosneft, a Russian government-operated oil company, signed a deal with ExxonMobil to receive oil assets in exchange for the joint development of Russian Arctic resources by both companies.[15Sony PCG-6121M battery
5] The agreement includes a $3.2 billion hydrocarbon exploration of the Kara and Black seas,[156] as well as joint development of ice-resistant drilling platforms and other Arctic technologies.[157] "The scale of the investment is very large. It’s scary to utter such huge figures" said Putin on signing the deal.[155]
Environmental policy
Main articles: Environment of Russia and Environmental issues in Russia
Putin uses a tranquilizer gun to sedate an Amur Tiger in the Ussuri Nature Reserve in Primorsky Krai, 2008. Sony PCG-6122M battery
In 2004, President Putin signed the Kyoto Protocol treaty designed to reduce greenhouse gases.[158] However Russia did not face mandatory cuts, because the Kyoto Protocol limits emissions to a percentage increase or decrease from 1990 levels and Russia's greenhouse-gas emissions fell well below the 1990 baseline due to a drop in economic output after the breakup of the Soviet Union.[159] Sony PCG-6123M battery
Putin personally supervises and/or promotes a number of protection programmes for rare and endangered animals in Russia:
The Amur Tiger Programme[160]
The White Whale Programme[161]
The Polar Bear Programme[162]
The Snow Leopard Programme[163]
Religious and national policy
Main article: Religion in Russia
Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism, defined by law as Russia's traditional religions and a part of Russia's "historical heritage"[16Sony VPCZ13 battery
Sony VPCZ11Z9E battery4] enjoyed limited state support in the Putin era. The vast construction and restoration of churches, started in 1990s, continued under Putin, and the state allowed the teaching of religion in schools (parents are provided with a choice for their children to learn the basics of one of the traditional religions or secular ethics). Sony VPCZ13V9E battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E/B battery His approach to religious policy has been characterised as one of support for religious freedoms, but also the attempt to unify different religions under the authority of the state.[165] In 2012, Putin was honored in Bethlehem and a street was named after him.[166]
Putin meeting with religious leaders of Russia in 2001
Putin regularly attends the most important services of the Russian Orthodox Church on the main Orthodox Christian holidays. He established a good relationship with Patriarchs of the Russian Church, the late Alexy II of Moscow and the current Kirill of Moscow.
Sony VGP-BPS20/S battery As President, he took an active personal part in promoting the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate, signed 17 May 2007 that restored relations between the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia after the 80-year schism.[167] Sony VGP-BPL20 battery
Putin and United Russia enjoy high electoral support in the national republics of Russia, in particular in the Muslim-majority republics of Povolzhye and the North Caucasus. Sony PCG-31111M battery
Under Putin, the Hasidic FJCR became increasingly influential within the Jewish community, partly due to the influence of Federation-supporting businessmen mediated through their alliances with Putin, notably Lev Leviev and Roman Abramovich.[168][1
Sony PCG-31113M battery68][169] According to the JTA, Putin is popular amongst the Russian Jewish community, who see him as a force for stability. Russia's chief rabbi, Berel Lazar, said Putin "paid great attention to the needs of our community and related to us with a deep respect."[170] Sony PCG-31112M battery
Sports development
Main article: Sport in Russia
Vladimir Putin addressing the International Olympic Committee in Guatemala City in 2007, on behalf of the successful bid of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
On 4 July 2007 Putin addressed the delegates at the 119th International Olympic Committee Session in Guatemala City on behalf of the successful bid of Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2014 Winter Paralympics,[1Sony PCG-41212M battery
Sony PCG-41218M battery71] the first Winter Olympic Games in Russia. In 2008, the city of Kazan won the bid for the 2013 Summer Universiade, and on 2 December 2010 Russia won the right to host the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup, also for the first time in Russia.
Other major tournaments which the country has been chosen to host include the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow and the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan (both events never held in Russia so far), Sony PCG-41215M battery
Sony PCG-41216M batterythe Russian Grand Prix (a new race of the Formula One since 2014, to be held in Sochi) and the 2016 IIHF World Championship.
Military development
Main article: Russian military reform
The resumption of long-distance flights of Russia's strategic bombers was followed by the announcement by Russian Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov during his meeting with Putin on 5 December 2007, that 11 ships, including the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov, would take part in the first major navy sortie into the Mediterranean since Soviet times. Sony PCG-41311M battery
[172] The sortie was to be backed up by 47 aircraft, including strategic bombers.[173]
Putin in the cockpit of a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber before the flight, August 2005.
While from the early 2000s (decade) Russia started pumping more money into its military and defence industry, Sony PCG-41313M battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/X batteryit was only in 2008 that the full-scale Russian military reform began, aimed to modernize Russian Armed Forces and made them significantly more effective. The reform was largely carried by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov during Medvedev's Presidency, under supervision of both Putin, Sony PCG-41212M battery
Sony PCG-31114M battery as the Head of Government, and Medvedev, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces.
Key elements of the reform included reducing the armed forces to a strength of one million; reducing the number of officers; centralising officer training from 65 military schools into 10 'systemic' military training centres; creating a professional NCO corps; Sony PCG-41315M battery
reducing the size of the central command; introducing more civilian logistics and auxiliary staff; elimination of cadre-strength formations; reorganising the reserves; reorganising the army into a brigade system; reorganising air forces into an air base system instead of regiments.[174]
The number of Russia's military districts was reduced to just 4. The term of draft service was reduced from two years to one, which put an end to the old harassment traditions in the army, since all conscripts became very close by draft age. Sony PCG-41215M battery
Sony PCG-31113M batteryThe gradual transition to the majority professional army by the late 2010s was announced, and a large programme of supplying the Armed Forces with new military equipment and ships was started. The Russian Space Forces were replaced on 1 December 2011 with the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces.
In spite of Putin's call for major investments in strategic nuclear weapons, these will fall well below the New START limits due to the retirement of aging systems.[175]
Foreign policy
Main articles: Foreign policy of Russia, Foreign policy of Vladimir Putin, and List of presidential trips made by Vladimir Putin
Relations with NATO and the West
U.S. President George W. Bush and Putin at the 33rd G8 summit, June 2007.
Main articles: NATO–Russia relations and Russia–United States relations
Putin's Russia relationships with NATO and the U.S. have passed several stages. When Putin first became President, the relations were cautious. After the 9/11 attacks when Putin quickly supported U.S. in the War on Terror, the opportunity for partnership appeared.[17Sony PCG-41216M battery
6] However, the U.S. responded by further expansion of NATO to Russia's borders and by unilateral withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.[17Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/B battery6] Since 2003, when Russia did not support the Iraq War and when Putin became ever more distant from the West in his internal and external policies, the relations continued to deteriorate. Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
Sony VPCZ12X9E/B batteryAccording to Russia scholar Stephen F. Cohen, the narrative of the mainstream U.S. media, following that of the White House, became profoundly anti-Putin, Sony PCG-41217M battery
full of accusations that Putin had caused problems which actually stem from the 1990s, and assertions that Putin was personally responsible for any murders of his Russian political opponents, such as the journalist Anna Politkovskaya and the supposed KGB defector in London, Aleksandr Litvinenko.[1Sony PCG-6121M battery
Sony VPCZ12V9E/B battery76] In an interview with Michael Stürmer, Putin was quoted saying that there were three questions which most concerned Russia and Eastern Europe; namely the status of Kosovo, the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty and American plans to build missile defence sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, and suggested that all three were some way linked.[17Sony PCG-6122M battery
Sony VPCZ12M9E battery7] In Putin's view, concessions on one of these questions on the Western side might be met with concessions from Russia on another.[177Sony PCG-41218M battery
Putin with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in 2008.
In February 2007, at the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, Putin openly criticized what he called the United States' monopolistic dominance in global relations, and "almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations". Sony PCG-6123M battery
Sony VPCZ12C7E/B batteryHe said the result of it is that "no one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them. Of course such a policy stimulates an arms race."[17Sony PCG-31111M battery]8] In this speech, which became known as Munich Speech, Putin called for a "fair and democratic world order that would ensure security and prosperity not only for a select few, but for all".[178] His remarks however were met with criticism by some delegates[179] such as former NATO secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who called his speech, "disappointing and not helpful."[180] Previously, in a January 2007 interview Putin said Russia is in favor of a democratic multipolar world and of strengthening the systems of international law.[181] The months following Putin's Munich speech[17Sony PCG-6124M battery
Sony VPCZ11Z9E/B battery8] were marked by tension and a surge in rhetoric on both sides of the Atlantic. Both Russian and American officials, however, denied the idea of a new Cold War.[182]
Putin publicly opposed plans for the U.S. missile shield in Europe, Sony VPCZ13 battery
Sony VPCZ11Z9E batteryand presented President George W. Bush with a counterproposal on 7 June 2007 of modernising and sharing the use of the Soviet-era Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan rather than building a new system in the Czech Republic[Sony VPCZ13M9E/B battery
177] Putin proposed it would not be necessary to place interceptor missiles in Poland then, but interceptors could be placed in NATO member Turkey or Iraq. Putin suggested also equal involvement of interested European countries in the project.[1Sony VPCZ13Z9E/X battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E/B battery83] The proposal was declined. Russia suspended its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe on 11 December 2007.[184]
Vladimir Putin strongly opposes the secession of Kosovo from Serbia. He called any support for this act "immoral" and "illegal".[18Sony VPCZ23K9E battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E battery5] He described Kosovo's declaration of independence a "terrible precedent" that will come back to hit the West "in the face".[186] He stated that the Kosovo precedent will de facto destroy the whole system of international relations, developed over centuries.[187]
Putin's relations with former American President George W. Bush, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, former French President Jacques Chirac, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are reported to be personally friendly. Sony VGP-BPS20/B battery
Sony VGP-BPS20/S batteryPutin's "cooler" and "more business-like" relationship with Germany's new Chancellor, Angela Merkel is often attributed to Merkel's upbringing in the former DDR, where Putin was stationed when he was a KGB agent.[188] Sony VGP-BPL14 battery
Relations with the U.K.
Main article: Russia–United Kingdom relations
Putin, Koni and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2005
By mid-2000s (decade), the relations between Russia and the United Kingdom deteriorated when the United Kingdom granted political asylum to Putin's former patron, oligarch Boris Berezovsky in 2003.[189] Berezovsky, located in London, Sony VGP-BPL14/S battery
often called for the overthrow of Putin[189] and allegedly directed anti-Putin activities in Russia. The United Kingdom also granted asylum to the Chechen rebel leader Akhmed Zakayev and other people who fled from Russia. Sony VGP-BPS14/S battery
In 2006 it became known that Britain spied on Russia using a fake rock, which was located on a street and contained electronic equipment that allowed British diplomats to receive and transmit information.[19Sony VGN-Z11WN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z51WG/B battery0] The Russian security service FSB linked the rock with allegations that British were making secret payments to pro-democracy and human rights groups, and the same year President Putin introduced a law which restricted non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Sony VGN-Z11XN/X battery
Sony VGN-Z51MG/B batteryfrom getting funding from foreign governments. This resulted in many NGOs closing.[190] In 2006, the Russian liberal opposition met the media reports on "spy rock" with contempt, alleging that it was made-up by FSB,[191Sony VGN-Z21 battery
Sony VGN-Z51XTG/B battery] but in 2012 Jonathan Powell, ex-chief of staff of the U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, confessed that the story with the rock was true.[190]
The end of 2006 brought very strained relations in the wake of the death by polonium poisoning[192][1Sony VGN-Z21WN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z31XN/B battery93] of Alexander Litvinenko in London. Litvinenko's friends Andrei Nekrasov and Alex Goldfarb claimed that Litvinenko had made a statement, in which Putin was accused of directing the assassination.[194][1Sony VGN-Z21XN battery
Sony VGN-Z41WD/B battery95][196] Critics have doubted that Litvinenko is the true author of the released statement.[197][198][199] When asked about the Litvinenko accusations, Putin said that a statement released after death of its author "naturally deserves no comment", and stated his belief it was being used for political purposes.[200Sony VGN-Z31 battery
Sony VGP-BPS12 battery] In 2012, when Litvinenko's widow admitted that her husband had worked for British intelligence services, Litvinenko's father said that the Russian secret services had a right to kill traitors,[192] and regretted "his participation in the smear campaign against Russia in general and [current] Prime Minister Putin in particular".[192] Sony VGN-Z31VN/X battery
In 2007, the crisis in relations involved expelling four Russian envoys over Russia's refusal to extradite a former KGB bodyguard Andrei Lugovoi to face charges on the alleged murder of Litvinenko,[189]
Sony VGN-Z battery since the Russian constitution prohibits the extradition of Russian nationals to third countries. Mirroring the British actions, Russia expelled UK diplomats and announced that it would suspend issuing visas to UK officials and froze cooperation on counterterrorism in response to Britain suspending contacts with their Federal Security Service.[1Sony VGN-Z31WN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z51XG battery89] Lugovoi subsequently became an MP in the Russian Duma, giving him immunity from prosecution within Russia. On 10 December 2007, the British Ambassador in Moscow, Tony Brenton, reacted by saying: "It is a pity that a man wanted for murder gains political recognition.
Sony VGN-Z51WG battery It does Russia no good at all to have Lugovoy there in the parliament. It continues the suspicion."[201] The same day, Russia ordered the British Council to halt work at its regional offices in the country.[202] Sony VGN-Z31ZN/B battery
Relations with India
Main article: India–Russia relations
India's Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with Russia's president Vladimir Putin in November 2001.
During his first and second term in office, bilateral trade turnover between India and Russia was modest and stood at US$ 3 billion, of which Indian exports to Russia were valued at US$ 908 million. The major Indian exports to Russia are pharmaceuticals; tea, coffee and spices; apparel and clothing; edible preparations; Sony PCG-4121DL Battery
and engineering goods. Main Indian imports from Russia are iron and steel; fertilisers; non-ferrous metals; paper products; coal, coke & briquettes; cereals; and rubber. Indo-Russian trade is expected to reach US$10 billion by 2010. Putin wrote in an article in the Hindu, Sony PCG-4121EL Battery
sony PCG-6Z3L battery"The Declaration on Strategic Partnership between India and Russia signed in October 2000 became a truly historic step".[203][204] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also agreed with his counterpart by stated in speech given during President Putin's 2012 visit to India, Sony PCG-4121FL Battery
sony PCG-6Z2L battery"President Putin is a valued friend of India and the original architect of the India-Russia strategic partnership".[205Sony PCG-4121GL Battery
sony PCG-6Z1L battery] Both countries closely collaborate on matters of shared national interest these include at the UN, BRICS, G20 and SCO where India has observer status and has been asked by Russia to become a full member.[206Sony PCG-41211L Battery
sony PCG-6XBL battery] Russia also strongly supports India receiving a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. In addition, Russia has vocally backed India joining the NSG[207] and APEC.[208] Moreover, it has also expressed interest in joining SAARC with observer status in which India is a founding member.[209][210] Sony PCG-41212L Battery
Russia currently is one of only two countries in the world (the other being Japan) that has a mechanism for annual ministerial-level defence reviews with India.[211] The Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC), Sony PCG-41215L Battery
sony PCG-6X8L battery which is one of the largest and comprehensive governmental mechanisms that India has had with any country internationally. Almost every department from the Government of India attends it.[211] Sony PCG-41217L Battery
Relations with China and SCO
Main articles: People's Republic of China-Russia relations and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation