Putin is set to open Russia’s top air show

September 15th, 2009 Reports: Medvedev wants to meet US 'dissidents'MOSCOW — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he would like to meet with "dissidents" when he visits the U.S. next week. Russian news agencies quote him as telling a group of visiting foreign experts that "I believe there are dissidents in the United States." ITAR-Tass quotes him as saying: "Let them tell me what problems the United States has.

August 24th, 2009 Putin visits Chechnya in show of supportMOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin showed support for Chechnya's controversial leader Monday by praising his assassinated father — the first Kremlin-backed Chechen president — and laying flowers at his grave. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who is accused by critics of human rights abuses, has been facing an upsurge of regional violence that has raised questions about Russian government policy in Chechnya and the surrounding provinces of the North Caucasus.

August 18th, 2009 Putin opens air show, pays tribute to crash victimZHUKOVSKY, Russia — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged billions more in government funding to support Russia's aging aerospace industries at the opening of the country's largest air show Tuesday, two days after a fatal air force crash. The International Aviation and Space Show's opening has been overshadowed by Sunday's collision of two air force stunt jets, which killed the leader of an elite aerobatic squadron, as they practiced for the exposition.

August 5th, 2009 Putin again bares his torso in SiberiaMOSCOW — Vladimir Putin has once again stripped to the waist for photographers while visiting a rugged region of Siberia. The Russian prime minister rode a horse bare-chested and went swimming while visiting the Tuva region.

August 5th, 2009 Putin bares his torso in SiberiaMOSCOW — Vladimir Putin stripped to the waist for photographers while visiting a remote, rugged region of Siberia, cultivating the macho image that has helped him remain Russia's most popular leader more than a year after stepping down as president. Putin, now the prime minister, rode a horse bare-chested and swam the butterfly in an icy river while visiting the Tuva region of southern Siberia.

July 20th, 2009 Russia eases restrictions on rights groups, NGOsMOSCOW — The Kremlin says President Dmitry Medvedev has signed legislation easing restrictions on human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations. The legislation is one of the few palpable signs of change in the Kremlin's treatment of independent organizations since Medvedev succeeded Vladimir Putin as president last year.

July 10th, 2009 Russian channel cuts Putin scene on 'South Park'MOSCOW — A Russian TV channel cut a segment of the ribald U.S. cartoon comedy "South Park" that appeared to mock Vladimir Putin, a spokesman said Friday.

July 7th, 2009 Official: Obama, Putin established 'good relation'MOSCOW — A White House official says President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "formed the basis of a good relation" during a two-hour meeting at Putin's residence outside Moscow. Before heading to Russia last week, Obama told the Associated Press in an interview that Putin "has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." But after meeting the Russian leader, a senior administration official described Obama's reaction this way: "I would say he's very convinced that the prime minister is a man of today and he's got his eyes firmly on the future." The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private details of the meeting, said Obama and Putin shared concerns about terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

July 7th, 2009 Putin says Obama meeting went wellMOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says his first meeting with President Barack Obama went "very well." The former Russian president called the two-hour meeting "substantive, informative and collaborative." Putin told reporters he and Obama "covered the issues from previous years" and found "many positives" and "many points in common." Obama also had good things to say about their meeting Tuesday, and said he found Putin's views similar to those of Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev. Before heading to Russia, Obama had described Putin as still having a confrontational Cold War mentality, while the younger Medvedev seemed to understand that it was time for a new approach to U.S.-Russia relations.

July 3rd, 2009 Spokesman: Obama wrong about Russian premier PutinMOSCOW — President Barack Obama was wrong to suggest Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remains partially mired in a Cold War mindset and is sure to change his opinion when they meet next week in Moscow, Putin's spokesman said Friday. Obama said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that Putin needs to understand "that the old Cold War approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated, that it's time to move forward in a different direction." Obama said he believes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "understands that," but Putin "has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." Obama makes his first trip as U.S.

July 3rd, 2009 Putin responds to Obama's criticismMOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the U.S. president is wrong to suggest he remains mired in a Cold War mindset.

July 2nd, 2009 Obama says Putin lives partly in pastWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is describing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." He says one reason he's meeting with Putin — as well as with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) — during his upcoming visit to Moscow is that he wants Putin to know that "the old Cold War approaches" to relations with the United States are "outdated." Obama says Putin "still has sway" in Russia. He also says the U.S.

June 27th, 2009 Russia's Putin invites role for Shell in SakhalinMOSCOW — Russia's RIA news agency says Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has invited Royal Dutch Shell PLS to participate in developing two oil fields on Sakhalin island. The news agency quotes Putin as telling Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer that his company's participation in the Sakhalin 3 and Sakhalin 4 projects is "highly possible." In 2007, Shell was forced to sell its controlling stake in Sakhalin 2 to state-controlled Gazprom for $7.5 billion as the Kremlin stepped up pressure on foreign energy companies in an effort to consolidate control over Russia's largest hydrocarbon deposits.

June 12th, 2009 Putin sends 85th birthday wishes to Bush Sr.MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram wishing former U.S. President George H.W.

June 10th, 2009 Russia might abandon nukes if other countries doMOSCOW — Russian news agencies are quoting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as saying that Russia is willing to abandon nuclear weapons if the United States and all other countries that have them do the same. State-owned RIA Novosti quotes Putin as saying that, "if those who made the atomic bomb and used it are ready to abandon it — like, I hope, other nuclear powers — of course we will welcome and facilitate this process in all ways." Interfax and RIA Novosti reported that Putin made the comments during a meeting Wednesday with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.