Kremlin Corruption Sparks Outrage

In 1993, Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, who was a key figure in breaking up the USSR and who served as Russian president from 1991 to 1999, said that “Corruption in the organs of power and administration is literally eating away the body of the Russian state from top to bottom, according to John Kramer writing for the Eurasia Center.

Over the weekend, protests were held to focus on corruption charges against Prime Minister Demetri Medvedev, who is said, according to the BBC, to possess mansions, yachts and properties that he couldn’t be expected to afford on his salary. It is alleged that Mr Medvedev even “had a special house for a duck on one of his properties – and on Sunday, some demonstrators held up images of yellow rubber ducks.” Mr Medvedev’s spokeswoman called the allegations against him “propagandistic attacks”.

Americans may particularly remember Mr. Medvedev as the recipient of Mr. Obama’s infamous “whisper” at a conference in which the former president promised to weaken U.S. ABM defenses after his re-election.

Bloomberg news notes that the independent Ekho Moskvy radio station reported that “60,000 people participated in 82 protests around the country. The number of detentions in Moscow — and the heavy presence of riot police — was the highest seen “since demonstrations erupted in winter 2011 and spring 2012 against alleged vote-rigging in parliamentary elections and Putin’s return to the presidency for a third term. Putin, 64, is likely to seek a further six years as president in elections next March, though he hasn’t officially said he’ll run.”

It helps to impregnate your viagra canada cheap woman naturally. Not only this, the treatment provides long-term cialis samples free recovery from the condition. It helps to maintain erection quality and boosts the commander viagra https://www.unica-web.com/ENGLISH/2013/general-secretary-report-2013.html stamina of a living being. That way, the next time you go into the making of herbal https://unica-web.com/archive/2011/General-Assembly/filmlibrary11.pdf levitra sale will help. Alexei Navalny plans to run for Putin’s job in 2018 but the Kremlin has attempted to short-circuit his candidacy by levying potentially false embezzlement charges against him. This past weekend, He was arrested after arriving on Moscow’s Tverskaya Street. Authorities convicted the nationally-known opponent of the Putin regime of disobeying police. He was fined 20,000 rubles ($352) for organizing what authorities described as an unsanctioned protest and sentenced to 15 days in jail. Along with Navalny, in excess of 1,000 people were detained. The protests were the largest since demonstrations erupted in 2011 and 2012, when many Russians were enraged about vote-rigging in parliamentary elections and Putin’s gaining the presidency for a third term. (Bloomberg reports thatPutin, 64, is likely to seek a further six years as president in elections next March, though he hasn’t officially said he’ll run.”

Although Russian state television and pro-Putin publications completely ignored the protests on Sunday, The U.S. and the European Union condemned the Kremlin’s handling of the events. The U.S. State Department issued a statement strongly condemning the arrest of the protesters, noting that “Detaining peaceful protesters, human rights observers, and journalists is an affront to core democratic values. We were troubled to hear of the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny upon arrival at the demonstration, as well as the police raids on the anti-corruption organization he heads.” According to the Russian semi-official news source RT, the Kremlin “rejected calls by foreign countries and organizations, particularly the US and the Council of Europe, to release protesters detained on Sunday.”

The Institute of Modern Russia reported in 2013 that “Transparency International has ranked Russia 133^rd in its recently-published 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index…According to economist Alexandra Kalinina…corruption in Russia remains ‘not a problem, but a business.’… Corruption has penetrated all levels of government and most other aspects of life in Russia. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, corruption in Russia is worse than in many African countries…According to Sergei Ivanov, the Kremlin chief of staff, the most corrupt spheres in Russia (in terms of household corruption) are healthcare, education, housing and communal services. In comparison, independent experts from RBC magazine name law-enforcement agencies (including the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate) as the most corrupt sphere in Russia, which is followed by healthcare, education, housing and communal services, and social security services.At the government level, however, the five top areas for corruption are.. Government contracts and purchases, Issuance of permits and certificates, Law-enforcement agencies Land distribution and land relations, [and] Construction.”

Kramer’s Eurasian Center analysis sounds similar to complaints of those in the United States who point to big government as a corrupting factor: “an analysis of political corruption in both the USSR and post-communist Russia reveals that in each state it exhibits strikingly similar (albeit not identical) characteristics, including: (1) manifold opportunities for corruption arising from the massive role of the state in regulating societal life…The distinctive hybrid character of political corruption in Russia today derives precisely from its roots in both the communist and post-communist periods.”

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.