Word: putin
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...known globally for her powerful reporting on atrocities committed by the Russian military in Chechnya; after being shot repeatedly by an unidentified gunman as she stepped off the elevator in her apartment building; in Moscow. Her murder, the 13th contract-style killing of a journalist in Russia since Vladimir Putin became President in 1999, sparked allegations that the Kremlin might have been involved in the crime. Putin denied the charge, calling the shooting "dreadful and unacceptable...
...condemn this [nuclear test]," Russia's President Vladimir Putin told a German newspaper Wednesday, "but we must not break off the process of talks." And China, while joining the call for its longtime friend and neighbor to face sanctions as punishment for its transgression, nonetheless added that such sanctions would have to be "appropriate" and "prudent." Added a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman: "The only way to resolve this issue is to get all the parties back to the negotiating table...
...defenders in Russia today" would have been taken as a chilling development whenever it had occurred. The fact that it coincided with Kremlin efforts to drum up hostility toward neighboring Georgia following the arrest of four Russian military officers on spying charges make it even more so. President Vladimir Putin's tenure has seen a systematic rolling back of many of the freedoms attained by Russians after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russians have watched their legislature and judiciary become increasingly subordinate to the Kremlin, which also claimed the power to run the regions by directly appointing governors...
...Given the U.S. commitment to Georgia, the standoff raises a dilemma for the Bush Administration: Unless both Putin and Saakashvili are restrained, the spat that began with the arrest of four Russian officers could degenerate quickly into a real disaster...
...back into the fold unless Tbilisi make that choice look more attractive to the Ossetians and Abkhaz than alignment with Russia. Saakashvili's heavy hints that he might force the issue has allowed Moscow to accuse the Georgian leadership of threatening aggression. And it has certainly helped President Vladimir Putin rally the Russian public behind a nationalist cause. A poll taken by the Moscow-based Echo Moskvy radio station late last month found that 40% of its typically liberal audience believe that Russia's national interests justify any hard line on Georgia. Such jingoism could work as smartly for Putin...