Vladimir Putin has done it again; Putin received over 63% of the votes for presidency in Russia this past Sunday leaving several mad, dazed and confused. While it seemed certain that Putin was going to win, many are questioning his future plans for Russia, and his relationships with the rest of the world.

After tens of thousands of Russians rioted against Putin in Moscow on Monday evening, many are questioning if his re-election into office was “rigged.” Opposition activist Garry Kasprov believes that there was “massive fraud” surrounding the election by claiming the polls had been packed with additional voters.

And Putin is even admitting that their might have been some sort of violation of the electoral law. On Wednesday, Putin spoke out about any potential violations by stating that, “it’s possible there were some irregularities; there probably were some.” Putin believes that these irregularities could have only influenced up to 1% of the total vote while opposition supporters believe that his victory was inflated by over 10% of votes.

Considering all of the allegations of electoral fraud, the U.S. State Department decided to ask for a “credible” investigation of the election. Additionally, the department chose not to congratulate Putin as cause for concern of Putin’s motives rises. The United States and Europe have concerns that Putin will try to intervene with their policies regarding threats of Israel’s military strike against Iran and the bloodshed from the uprising going on in Syria.

While Putin claims that he won’t dabble in any international interference with what’s going on in Syria, he claims that the U.S. would rather be “vassals” than allies. Putin is already criticizing the United States and Europe for their plans to place missile defense elements in Eastern Europe but claims that he is fully against any military strikes against Iran.

Former Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev sought to improve Russia’s relationship with the U.S. during his time as President from 2008 to 2012 and even signed an agreement with the United States regarding a nuclear arms reduction pact as well as working toward making Russia one of the countries part of the World Trade Organization, a goal the country had been working on for nearly two decades.

It seems that Putin has little intentions of further improving ties with the U.S. as he is already opposing a new United Nations resolution with Syria. Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov claims the reason for the opposition is because the resolution is a “slightly modified version” of what Russia was wanting.

Putin plans on spending over $700 billion dollars in the next decade in order to create a stronger military and upgrade the country’s weaponry. Considering that a single presidential term in Russia is only six years, it looks as though Putin is already looking toward re-election in 2018. The European Union relies on Russia for approximately one quarter of it’s natural gas, as Russia relies on the Western hemisphere for technological purposes to modernize Russia’s economy.

Tony Brenton, a former U.K. ambassador to Russia, put it bluntly as he stated, “like it or not, we have to do business with the Russian government, whoever is in power and however they got there.” Despite all the allegations of electoral fraud regarding Putin, that’s just what the U.S. might have to do.

Image Courtesy of   Mark III Photonics / Shutterstock.com

The article As Putin Wins, What’s Next for Russia? appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

International conference calls for closer bilateral ties between Europe and Russia following the return of Vladimir Putin as President of the Russian Federation.

A panel of senior European and Russian politicians has said that the likely return of Vladimir Putin as President of the Russian Federation will ensure “positive stability”, at an international conference in Venice today. Despite recent protests in Moscow, and protests across the major cities of Russia expected in the lead up to the election, the panel said that Mr. Putin is still the most popular politician in Russia.

H.E. Hon. Franco Frattini, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, said: “There is still some mistrust in Europe of Russia. But we should be the best friend that Russia has… Russia and Europe are too small to work individually. We must work together to have a global impact…Despite some critics the EU will be ready to recognize (Vladimir) Putin as leader.

Stability in Russia is an added value… Under the leadership of Putin Russia has moved forward. Further economic and political reforms are needed, but substantial progress has been made, especially if we compare the situation in Russia to 15 years ago”.

“The upcoming elections will mark an important time in our shared history. It will be a great opportunity to strengthen co-operation between EU states and Russia… I am confident that Mr Putin, the future President of Russia, will give the green light to a new agreement of partnership and co-operation. We must consider Russia not just a strategic partner, but a loyal friend.”

Speaking after Franco Frattini, Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain, commented: “Russia is key for the stability of Europe. Russia will emerge strengthened from the upcoming elections… I believe Mr. Putin still has a project for Russia.”

The panel argued that of all the Presidential candidates Mr. Putin would be the most likely to bring “increased bi-lateral relations between Europe and Russia”, calling on further co-operation in the areas of economic and trade relations, energy security, international political relations and international security.

H.R. Yitzah Herzog MP, former Minister of Social Welfare, Israel, said: “We all ask ourselves what Russia will be like after the election. The answer is clear – stability is essential for the continuation of reform. Russia should adjust its position on the current key issues related to the Middle East.”

The panel called for the pace of discussions on bilateral relations to quicken, concluding that given the Eurozone crisis and the relative economic and political stability in Russia the Russian Federation has become an increasingly important neighbor and partner to Europe.

Helen Teplitskaia, President of the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated: “The increase in Europe-Russia trade shows that the two are coming closer together… However, the ghost of the Cold War still prevails for many in Europe. The more Russia is pushed away from the West, the closer it gets to China.”
“Russia’s WTO accession will be beneficial for Europe,” she added.

Organized by prominent Italian organization “Fondazione Alcide De Gaspari”, with the support of a Russian think tank “The Institute of International Integration Studies”, the conference, entitled ‘The Russian Presidential elections: European expectations’, was held at Isola di San Servolo, Venice.

Speakers at the conference included H.E. Hon. Franco Frattini, former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain; Marino Zorzato, Member of the Italian Parliament; Alexander Babakov, Member of the Russian State Duma and deputy Co-Chairman of the Duma Inter-parliamentary.

Image Courtesy of  Alexey Kryuchkov / Shutterstock.com

The article Europe Predicts “Positive Stability” with Putin Re-Election appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Boris Gryzlov, a close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is stepping down from his post as speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, their political party said on Wednesday. However, he will keep his executive position in Putin’s United Russia party.

Gryzlov resigned after fraud allegations came out during the parliamentary elections in early December. These allegations gave way to the biggest anti-government protests seen in twenty years. Gryzlov believes he achieved a lot of what he set out to do during his eight years in the Duma. He plans to continue leading the political party’s supreme council and stated that he is, “ready to accept a post determined by the president.”

The candidate that will be Gryzlov’s replacement will be nominated next Saturday. Tens of thousands of people protested against the results of the election on Saturday that brought Putin’s United Russia party to power again. There was an estimated 25,000 protesters in Moscow, the police said, but organizers said there were 40,000.

Whether the police are correct or the organizers, either number would qualify as the largest protest in the Russian capital in two decades. The protesters believe the election results were rigged and were not afraid to protest in freezing temperatures in other Russian cities as well.

They shouted, “Putin out!” Another protest is scheduled to occur on Christmas Eve, December 24, which will be three days after the new parliament holds its first session. After a day of protests, President Dmitry Medvedev said he wanted the allegations to be investigated. The statement on his Facebook page read, “I agree neither with the slogans nor the statements voiced at the protests.

Nevertheless, I have ordered checks into all the reports from polling stations, regarding the compliance with the election laws.” Many people criticized his post on Facebook. “It’s awful,” Elena Panina wrote. “Really. He was drunk when he wrote that, or he didn’t read what he wrote. … What slogans does our president disagree with? ‘We are for fair elections?’”

Some pro-government demonstrators came out on Monday, but their numbers were not as vast as the protesters that showed during the weekend. Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire that owns the New Jersey Nets basketball team, announced on Monday that he will run for president of Russia next year.

There was some speculation as to whether he was going to run with the Kremlin’s tactic backing, to make people believe that there was a real contest for president, or whether he genuinely wants to defeat Putin.

Mark III Photonics / Shutterstock.com

The article Putin’s Ally Resigns from Russian Parliament appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.