Vladimir Putin

8:05 AM, Mar 27, 2012 • By WILLIAM KRISTOL

President Obama's explanation today of his private request yesterday, captured on an open microphone, of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev for some "space" and "flexibility" until after November's election, simply compounds the problem.

7:41 AM, Mar 27, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER

Today, President Obama played down his hot mic moment with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev that set-off a firestorm yesterday.

Obama and Medvedev sign Prague Treaty 2010.jpeg

12:21 PM, Mar 26, 2012 • By ROBERT ZARATE

Congressman Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, sent a letter to President Obama demanding an “urgent explanation of [his] comments to [Russian] President Medvedev in Seoul this morning,” only hours after a hot microphone caught Obama privately telling Medvedev this morning that he’ll have “more flexibility” after the November 2012 elections to deal with Russian objections to U.S.-NATO missile defense.

8:34 AM, Mar 26, 2012 • By WILLIAM KRISTOL

If one needed a reminder of why President Obama must be defeated in November, he provided it today in Seoul, where the end of his private conversation with Russian president Dmitri Medvedev was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room:

8:01 AM, Mar 26, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER

President Obama got caught in private conversation with a hot mic today in Seoul, South Korea, telling outgoing Russian president Dmitry Medvedev that Vladimir Putin should give him more "space" and that "[a]fter my election I have more flexibility."

4:28 PM, Mar 14, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER

The Kremlin television network RT praised the supposed fairness of the Russian election after strongman Vladimir Putin won reelection in the rigged contest. RT's claim was that the election was the most transparent in history:

A depressing victory for Putin.

Mar 19, 2012, Vol. 17, No. 26 • By CATHY YOUNG

In the end, the outcome of the Russian presidential election was as predictable as it was depressing. Vladimir Putin won, with an official tally of nearly 64 percent of the vote—more than enough to spare him the dreaded runoff—amid charges of widespread fraud at the ballot box. The question remains whether this is a lasting defeat for freedom in Russia or a last and ephemeral victory for Putinism.

11:35 AM, Mar 9, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER

CBS's Mark Knoller reports:

Pres. Obama phoning congratulations from AF-1 to Pres-elect Vladimir Putin of Russia.

1:16 PM, Mar 5, 2012 • By DANIEL HALPER

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "congratulated" Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Russian people for the strongman's "decisive victory" Sunday night. The message was posted on the Iranian foreign ministry website (and translated using Google Translate).

Putin loses his grip.

Jan 2, 2012, Vol. 17, No. 16 • By CATHY YOUNG

"We went to jail in one country and came out in another,” Russia’s most famous blogger, 35-year-old anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, said on December 21 after serving two weeks’ detention for alleged disorderly conduct during demonstrations against vote-rigging in the parliamentary elections of December 4.

9:03 AM, Dec 14, 2011 • By DANIEL HALPER

Now is the time to undermine Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. With major protests going on in response to the recent fraudulent parliamentary elections, with Mikhail Prokhorov announcing that he is likely to challenge Putin for the presidency in the next election, and with major ferment in Russia, it is the best time to further undermine Putin’s control structure by holding human rights violators accountable. And there are several efforts underway to do just that in Congress.

1:00 PM, Oct 10, 2011 • By JAMES POULOS

Vlad’s at it again.