PDA

View Full Version : Western Isolation of Moscow Helps Putin, Opens New Opportunities for Russia



Balu
06-01-2015, 08:38 PM
All attempts by Western countries to put political and economic pressure on Russia have failed. If anything, they have helped Vladimir Putin to become an even more popular leader, Boulevard Voltaire said.

Over the last year, Russia has gone through some tough times — the political isolation from the West over the country's alleged intervention in the Ukrainian crisis, the fall of the ruble and economic sanctions.
However, at the end of the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin came out as a victor from all the adversities and should even thank the West for giving him an opportunity to strengthen his country, open up new economic venues and unite his citizens under a new national idea, French magazine Boulevard Voltaire reported.

Western Sanctions Give Impetus to Development of Russian Economy – Lawmaker (http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150514/1022152655.html)

After the Western-backed illegal coup that ousted officially elected Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 and the start of the Ukrainian civil war, Russia was able to re-unite with Crimea. The people of the Crimean peninsula did not accept the illegal coup in Kiev and voted to get out of Ukraine and join back the Russian Federation. Thus, Russia ended up expanding its territory, Boulevard Voltaire said.Although Western sanctions against Russia hurt the country's economy, they forced Russia to reconsider its economic policies, look for new business partners and strive towards economic independence by developing domestic industries. The road may be long and hard, but the end result will be sure worth it.
Western isolation gave Moscow a chance to develop new relationships with its Eastern neighbors. Russia has pursued a great deal of economic, financial and military cooperation with China and India over the past year. The West, on the other hand, missed out on great economic opportunities by turning Russia from a potential partner to an adversary, Boulevard Voltaire argued.
http://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/images/102192/67/1021926773.jpg
© Sputnik/ Vladimir Pesnya
Hundreds of Thousands March Through Moscow in Memory of ‘Immortal Regiment’ (http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150509/1021926988.html)

By rejecting their invitations to the Moscow Victory Day Parade on May 9, Western leaders not only insulted Putin personally, but the entire Russian population. The march of the Immortal Regiment demonstrated that most Russians were behind their president. People may not like Joseph Stalin, but everyone holds dear the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Western attempts to play down the role of the Soviet army in World War II certainly did not find support among ordinary Russians.Thanks to Western attempts to pressure Russia, Putin has become the undisputed leader of the country that cherishes its history and values, Boulevard Voltaire concluded.




Read more: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150519/1022319195.html#ixzz3bre77ZIm

Drummond
06-01-2015, 09:07 PM
Perhaps there's a particular reason for the timing of your post, Balu. I wonder if I know what it is ?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-names-nick-clegg-on-eu-stop-list-10287199.html


Russia has blacklisted 89 European Union politicians and officials among them Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister.

The list imposes a travel ban on the named individuals.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European parliament, on Saturday called the list "unacceptable" and warned that it "hampers any efforts for constructive dialogue".

Moscow is thought to have imposed the travel ban in response to EU sanctions against Russia drawn up over Russia's support for separatist fighters in the Ukraine conflict.

In recent months a number of EU politicians who attempted to travel to Russia have been turned away at the border.

An EU spokesman said the list had been handed over after repeated requests for details from the EU and the member states concerned.

"The list with 89 names has now been shared by the Russian authorities. We don't have any other information on legal basis, criteria and process of this decision," the spokesman said.

Other names on the list are thought to include: Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary; General Sir Nicholas Houghton, the chief of defence staff; Philip Dunne, the defence minister; and Andrew Robathan, a former defence minister.

In the UK, the Foreign Office strongly condemned the Russian move saying there was "absolutely no justification" for the list and said it would make no difference to EU sanctions against Russia.

If Putin, and Russia, are weathering the sanctions as well as you're trying to suggest, then why has any of the above happened ? Why does Putin feel the need to indulge in this sort of petty point-scoring ? If he feels strong enough to just shrug off the West's actions, why doesn't he just do it ?

Personally, I couldn't care less about Russia banning Westerners. But that's not to say that the action isn't instructive.

Balu
06-01-2015, 09:54 PM
Perhaps there's a particular reason for the timing of your post, Balu. I wonder if I know what it is ?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-names-nick-clegg-on-eu-stop-list-10287199.html



If Putin, and Russia, are weathering the sanctions as well as you're trying to suggest, then why has any of the above happened ? Why does Putin feel the need to indulge in this sort of petty point-scoring ?If he feels strong enough to just shrug off the West's actions, why doesn't he just do it ?
Personally, I couldn't care less about Russia banning Westerners. But that's not to say that the action isn't instructive.
The reciprocal sanctions were implement by Russia immediately. All the fuss is about co-called reciprocal "black list". Actually this reciprocal black list was composed as a morrow action to the West one. Russia included to this list all the persons who organized and supported armed coup in Kiev. This list was handed over to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the countries in question. This is a diplomatic practice, that the names are not announced in public. All Russian Embassys in these countries obtained them and rejected the persons in this list applying for visas. But... there are some categories of officials who have diplomatic passports and the have no need to apply for visas. They could have addressed to Russian Embassy to find out whether they are in the list, or not, to avoid further inconvenience when in Russian air ports they were not allowed to enter the country.

Drummond
06-02-2015, 09:04 AM
The reciprocal sanctions were implement by Russia immediately. All the fuss is about co-called reciprocal "black list". Actually this reciprocal black list was composed as a morrow action to the West one. Russia included to this list all the persons who organized and supported armed coup in Kiev. This list was handed over to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the countries in question. This is a diplomatic practice, that the names are not announced in public. All Russian Embassys in these countries obtained them and rejected the persons in this list applying for visas. But... there are some categories of officials who have diplomatic passports and the have no need to apply for visas. They could have addressed to Russian Embassy to find out whether they are in the list, or not, to avoid further inconvenience when in Russian air ports they were not allowed to enter the country.

This is all very well .. thanks for the procedural insights, by the way .. but it still doesn't address a point I made earlier. In my other post, I said ...


If he feels strong enough to just shrug off the West's actions, why doesn't he just do it ?

Your first post here was designed to show us, was it not, that Russia COULD regard sanctions as nothing to concern them. Yet ... bothering with 'tit for tat' banning orders sends out a very different message, one of feeling a need to swipe back at someone who's made an impact you don't like.

Since the EU bans were new .. current news items, in my part of the world .. the timing of your own post seemed rather 'suspect' ...

At the heart of this, of course, is Putin's arrogant resistance to very understandable world opinion because of his empire-building exploits. If ONLY Putin could learn to act as a creditable, reputable and responsible leader on the world stage, none of this stupidity need ever occur.

I wonder if Putin's - WHOLLY AVOIDABLE AND UNNECESSARY - future actions will precipitate another Cold War ?

Quite a pity, if so.