Word: russian
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...worthy of being President," he said, referring to Putin. The speech left the eerie impression of a despondent leader who had been persuaded, gently but firmly, that it was time to go. This would explain the defeated tone that at times crept into his speech--his apology to the Russian people for the hardships they had suffered during his rule; the admission that he had been wrong in thinking Russia could be transformed in one sweep from its "gray, stagnant, totalitarian past to a bright, rich and civilized future." In fact, "I believed this too," he added poignantly...
...popular expectations to be significantly deflated. There is also a slight possibility that Putin's views on anything, from economics to defense, will become much clearer in this time. Last week--in what with hindsight seems like a heavy hint that Putin was preparing for greater things--the Russian-government website posted a long and somewhat turgid statement of Putin's beliefs. The statement was light on policy and heavy on theory. "Russia will not soon, if ever, become a second copy of, say, the U.S. or England, where liberal values have deep historical traditions," Putin wrote. Russians, he argued...
...record as Prime Minister suggests a cynical pragmatist rather than a tough reformer. He is, for instance, a fan of former KGB head and Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, on whose grave he publicly laid flowers in June. Last fall, when riot troops stormed the Moscow headquarters of Transneft, the Russian oil-pipeline monopoly, and installed a new CEO of the Kremlin's liking, Putin did not intervene. A charitable observer, Mikhail Berger, editor of the Segodnya daily, suggests that he will turn out to be a "free marketeer...with a strong hand. 'Disciplined reform' may be the best...
Senior U.S. officials who have met recently with Putin say he is level-headed, intelligent and clearly focused on improving life in Russia. He is, they say, more realist than ideologue. Even after the cold war ended, U.S.-Russia meetings were often tense, usually starting with a long Russian recitation about items on which the two nations would never agree. Putin, by contrast, generally starts his conversation with an old salesman's trick--reviewing things that the U.S. and Russia have in common. There is "none of the Jekyll-and-Hyde ambivalence that characterized former Russian leaders, including Yeltsin," says...
Soon after assuming his new office, Putin flew unexpectedly to the Chechen town of Gudermes, where he awarded hunting knives to troops who had distinguished themselves in the fighting. Meanwhile, as word of the resignation spread across Moscow, the Russian stock market jumped about 20%; politicians paid their predictable tributes, and ordinary citizens responded largely with indifference. Gorbachev, who is spending the New Year's holiday in Paris with his children and grandchildren, told the French press agency that Yeltsin should have resigned earlier. Human-rights activist Elena Bonner--Yeltsin nominated her husband Andrei Sakharov as TIME's Person...