Russian President Putin: Russia Was Close To Yugoslav Scenario In 1990's

Russian President Vladimir Putin (RIA Novosti/Aleksey Nikolskyi)

ITAR-TASS: Putin acknowledges that Russia was close to Yugoslav scenario in 1990's

The president noted that the role of Russia's military in preserving the country's territorial integrity

ST. PETERSBURG, April 28. /TASS/. At the end of the 1990s Russia was pretty close to following the Yugoslav scenario but the unity and integrity of the country was preserved after all, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a media forum of the All-Russia Popular Front, as he commented on the documentary The President, the Rossiya-1 television channel aired last Sunday.

"We preserved the unity and territorial integrity of the country. We must be grateful to the ordinary guys, our military, who in those very complicated conditions were taking the necessary military measures in the North Caucasus. That’s who really deserves greater publicity. They protected the country with their own bodies," Putin said. "It was not just a local conflict. That local conflict could have caused the situation in Russia to follow the Yugoslav scenario."

WNU Editor: The Yugoslav conflict was deeply sectarian in nature that ended up in fracturing the country .... could a similar situation have occurred in Russia at the end of the 1990s? Maybe in places in the Caucasus .... but elsewhere .... no. I know from my own personal experience that Russians have always had a deep sense of unity .... and it would have survived even if the economic crisis at the time got worse.

Russian Poll: Majority Of Russians Continue To Support Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin (RIA Novosti/Alexei Druzhinin)

Putin’s Rating At Two-Year High For Second Consecutive Week – Pollsters -- RT

According to an early March poll the Russian President’s rating remains at its highest in the last two years and researchers list the Sochi Olympics and moves for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis as possible reasons.

Almost 68 percent of Russians approve of the work of President Vladimir Putin, reads the report published by the WCIOM All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center. The respondents named two major events as having an effect. 53 percent say it's the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine, including the situation on the Crimean Peninsula. 42 percent say the main event of the past few weeks was the successful completion of the Sochi Olympics, and the preparations for the Paralympic Games.

Read more ....

My Comment: I know that RT is a cheerleader for Putin .... and I am certainly no fan of his Presidency .... but I will concede that in Russia he enjoys broad and popular support.

Update: A New Poll Shows That Putin's Approval Increased After Sending Troops To Crimea -- Forbes

What Is Russia's Grand Strategy For Asia?

Photo Credit: World Economic Forum

Putin’s Grand Plan For Asia -- Richard Weitz, The Diplomat

Worried Russia will be marginalized by China, expect Vladimir Putin to push his Eurasian Union vision – and perhaps spring a surprise over Pakistan.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s current prime minister and future president, has shown a strong interest in Asian affairs. In his second term, Putin would undoubtedly like to maintain good ties with China, consolidate Moscow’s first-among-equals status in Central Asia, manage the regional repercussions of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, prevent a war or major crisis in the Koreas, and deepen Russia’s integration into East Asia’s more dynamic and prosperous economic networks. At the same time, Putin is eager to strengthen Russia’s position in Europe.

Read more ....

My Comment: When it comes to Asia the focus has been on America's pivot to the region .... emphasizing the military component that the U.S. is bringing. But it appears that the Americans are not alone .... the Russians are also focused on Asia, but they are emphasizing the economic component in their policy.

Who will be more successful .... hmmmm .... if I was a betting man .... I would put my money on Russia to succeed in the long run over the U.S. in establishing better relations with Asian countries who .... while they may be wary of the growing power of China .... are still more focused on their economies and prosperity.

Further Proof That Putin Runs Russia

From All Our Might:

This from Foreign Policy’s Passport blog, via the Times Online (which is just like U2 stealing Helter Skelter from the Beatles, who stole it from Charles Manson… but I digress):

You gotta love it when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin goes uncensored while on official business, as he did during talks with Nicholas Sarkozy when the French president was at the Kremlin trying to forge a cease-fire after Russia invaded Georgia. In an attempt to illustrate just how hard he planned to lay the smack down on Georgia, Putin told Sarkozy, “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” referring to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Read more .....

Russia: A Totalitarian Regime In Thrall To A Tsar Who's Creating The New Facist Empire

From The Daily Mail:

As ex-President Putin settles in to his new role as Prime Minister, he has every reason to congratulate himself.

After all, he has not only written the script for his constitutional coup d'etat, but staged the play and given himself the starring role as well.

Of course, he has given a walk-on role to Dmitry Medvedev, his personally anointed successor.

Read more ....

Update: A Russian Documents the Truth About Russia -- Pajamas media

My Comment: Here is a disclaimer -- my background is Russian. My mother was born 100 kilometers west of Moscow, taken to Germany during the Second World War to work as a nanny in a German Officer's home. My father was a Soviet soldier, who after fighting for four years had the opportunity to escape to the West at the end of the war .... ending up in Canada where he eventually met my mother.

Since 1992, I have visited Russia on a number of occasions, meeting my huge and extended family, and they in turn have visited us in Canada and the U.S. My relatives are .... what we would call .... middle class in Russia. They work hard, do not have much to show for their efforts, but are proud of what they are doing, and they personally feel confident that their lives are improving. For example, one of my aunts, who after living in a very very very small 1 and a half, was given a brand new 3 and a half in a new apartment complex that is filled with retired seniors of her generation. This action by the state has naturally made her and my extended family (of about 150 members) extremely loyal to Prime Minister Putin.

But Jonathan Dimbleby is right when he mentions in his article that everyone should be even better off. That the rule of law and democratic principles is the way to go, not security and perceived stability. But while this is the way to go .... for the moment Russia will not change. It will take a few more generations before the young have accepted the Western culture of open government, a completely free press, and tolerance of those who disagree with us. In the meantime, we must be patient, but we must also openly give our moral support to those who are working for a positive change in Russia.