Word: putin
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...friend, who would not let me print his name but volunteered he studied spying with ?Volodya? Putin (an affectionate nickname for the Russian President who earned his stripes in the KGB) and Sasha Lebed (another prominent Russian politician) in the old Soviet days, leaned over to give me the plot. Ostravak is a drinking buddy of his from another bar, a real writer who pens the diary based on stories he hears in pubs. "I promised not to tell his name. I give you some hints, or even better I'll arrange for you to meet...
...past: the battle for energy supplies among countries heavily dependent on imported oil and gas, which include the U.S. and the E.U., plus the rocketing economies of China and India. That necessity is a powerful weapon in this new battle. Shortly before Christmas, Russian President Vladimir Putin forced Royal Dutch Shell to cede control of Sakhalin II, the world's biggest oil and gas project, to the state-owned giant Gazprom, opening the North Pacific island's vast resources to Asian markets. The $7.45 billion price was small to Gazprom, whose value has soared from $9 billion...
That's given Russia immense power to dictate terms for much of Europe. In one power play, the Russians briefly blocked gas last winter to Ukraine, leaving millions freezing. In December, Putin threatened to do the same to Belarus unless it began paying Western-level gas prices. Belarus agreed. Infuriated that Azerbaijan's new BP-operated pipeline to the West bypasses Russia, Putin has said he intends to double gas prices for Azerbaijan, which in turn threatened to stop exporting its oil through the Russian-controlled section of the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline to the Black Sea. "We want...
...Over New Year's, Russia forced Belarus to pay a whopping increase in gas prices; Belarus retaliated by stealing oil from the pipeline. But Putin's bile may have origins other than the current quarrel over the price of energy. In the 1990s, Lukashenko, although the president of another country, was immensely popular in Russia because he loudly advocated the reintegration of Belarus with Russia - so much so that some analysts believed he was maneuvering for the top position at the Kremlin itself. At that time, Lukashenko cut a much more attractive figure than then Russian President Boris Yeltsin...
...order to monitor the West, the Russians have maintained an electronic warning station in Baranovichi, Belarus, staffed with an estimated 1,200 Russian military personnel. A critical nuclear submarine control and communication facility for the Russian navy is also located in Belarus. Hence, a pliant Belarus would make Putin's generals happier. An openly hostile regime in Minsk would...