Tag Archives: Vladimir Putin

The Daily Beast reports: Affectionately referring to Donald Trump as “our Donald,” “Trumpusha” and “Comrade Trump,” Russian lawmakers, experts and pundits repeatedly have expressed their concerns about the future of Moscow’s all-time favorite U.S. president. Co-host of Russian state TV news talk show 60 Minutes Olga Skabeeva brought up the possibility that President Trump would end up seeking asylum in …

The Associated Press reports: Three times last week, the Russian government reported a record number of daily deaths, and the number of daily new infections per 100,000 people has more than doubled since Oct. 1, from 6 to over 15. Overall, Russia has recorded over 2 million cases and over 35,000 deaths, but experts say all numbers worldwide understate the …

Politico Europe reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin will not congratulate Joe Biden until the U.S. election results are finalized, the Kremlin’s top spokesman said Monday. “Anticipating your possible question about Putin congratulating the U.S. president-elect, I want to say the following: we consider it correct to wait for the official summing up of the results of the elections,” Putin’s spokesman …

The Moscow Times reports: Russia has reinstated a nationwide mask mandate starting Wednesday amid a record-setting second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has announced. Russians will be required to wear masks in all crowded places, including public transport, taxis, parking lots and elevators, Rospotrebnadzor said Tuesday. The new nationwide rules come amid widespread reports of hospital …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that he saw nothing criminal in Hunter Biden’s past business ties with Ukraine or Russia, marking out his disagreement with one of Donald Trump’s attack lines in the U.S. presidential election. Putin was responding to comments made by Trump during televised debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden ahead of the Nov. …

The Guardian reports: Russia on Tuesday reported its highest daily coronavirus fatalities since the start of the pandemic, with 244 deaths in the past 24 hours, but said it had no plans to reintroduce a lockdown. The country on Tuesday also reached a record number of new daily infections, at almost 14,000. Russia is the fourth worst-hit country in the …

Axios reports: President Trump is looking to Vladimir Putin to close the deal on a pre-election nuclear agreement, a timetable that’s an October surprise even for senior Republicans and some in the White House. The big picture: Trump and Putin have discussed arms control in a string of phone calls over the last six months, and they’ve dispatched envoys to …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin wished Donald Trump a swift recovery on Friday after the U.S. president tested positive for COVID-19. “I am certain that your inherent vitality, good spirits and optimism will help you cope with this dangerous virus,” Putin wrote to Trump in a telegram, pledging his support during “this difficult time”, according to the Kremlin. Russia’s …

Politico reports: Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Thursday that President Donald Trump is “aiding and abetting” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to sow doubt about the American electoral system. The stern warning from McMaster, who Trump handpicked to lead the White House National Security Council in 2017, came in an interview on MSNBC, after he was asked whether …

The Daily Beast reports: A bizarre and, frankly, deeply disturbing ad from the state-controlled RT network shows a deep-faked President Donald Trump joining the channel as an anchor. Although the wig is dodgy, the video superimposes Trump’s face onto a chubby body and plays real clips of him denigrating CNN and lavishing praise on “amazing” Russia. Moreover, the atrocious hairpiece …

The Washington Post reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top aides are “probably directing” a Russian foreign influence operation to interfere in the 2020 presidential election against former vice president Joe Biden, which involves a prominent Ukrainian lawmaker connected to President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, a top-secret CIA assessment concluded, according to two sources who reviewed it. …

Reuters reports: The nerve agent used to poison Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detected on an empty water bottle from his hotel room in the Siberian city of Tomsk, suggesting he was poisoned there and not at the airport as first thought, his team said on Thursday. Navalny fell violently ill on a flight in Russia last month and …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Russian government hackers have targeted at least 200 organizations tied to the 2020 presidential election in recent weeks, including national and state political parties and political consultants working for both Republicans and Democrats, according to Microsoft Corp. China has also engaged in cyberattacks against “high-profile individuals” linked to Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign, while Iranian …

Axios reports: Former director of national intelligence Dan Coats could not shake his “deep suspicions” that Russian President Vladimir Putin “had something” on President Trump, seeing “no other explanation” for the president’s behavior, according to Bob Woodward’s new book “Rage.” Coats was the president’s top intelligence official from March 2017 until August 2019. Woodward reports that Coats and his staff …

The BBC reports: President Donald Trump has refused to condemn Russia over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, saying he had not seen proof. He said the case was “tragic” but urged reporters to focus instead on China, which he said was a bigger threat to the world than Russia. NATO and Germany say there is “proof beyond doubt” …

CNN reports: The Trump administration remained largely silent Wednesday as leaders around the world expressed concern and demanded answers from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government over the revelation that a leading opposition figure had been poisoned by a Soviet-era chemical nerve agent. Leaders around the world, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, offered strong condemnation …

Reuters reports: Thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday in Russia’s far eastern city of Khabarovsk to protest against President Vladimir Putin’s handling of a regional political crisis and the suspected poisoning of his most vocal critic. “Putin, have some tea,” protesters chanted as they marched on the city’s main thoroughfare, in a reference to the case of …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump exploded with anger at one of his most senior aides about missing a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a former No 10 official. The US president’s rant about the missed call happened “right in front” of former prime minister Theresa May in Washington, her ex-chief of staff Nick Timothy has revealed. …

Sky News reports: German doctors treating Russian dissident Alexei Navalny say tests indicate he was poisoned. Doctors at Charite-Universitatsmedizin Berlin, where the Putin critic has been since being transferred from Siberia on Saturday, said: “The clinical findings indicate intoxication by a substance from the cholinesterase inhibitor group. “The specific substance has not been identified so far and a further wide-ranging …

The BBC reports: Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny is unconscious in hospital suffering from suspected poisoning, his spokeswoman has said. The anti-corruption campaigner fell ill during a flight and the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, Kira Yarmysh said, adding that they suspected something had been mixed into his tea. The Kremlin said that it wished Mr Navalny a …