Pravda.ru / Russia

Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly on March 1 came as a bombshell for the world. The speech that the Russian president delivered at Manezh Exhibition Hall just outside the Kremlin made everyone believe that Putin was presenting Russia's new fantastic weapons to the United States. However, some assumed that Putin was not talking about the United States of America as Russia's prime opponent. Retired general of the Italian army, co-author of the book "Geoeconomics: Tools, Strategy and Tactics," Carlo Jean, said that "Putin announced to the world that he reached nuclear parity with the United States again." According to the general, Russia has been compelled to run the colossal modernization of its nuclear arsenal since the time of Obama's presidency. The Russians started doing it in response to Obama's initiative to modernize the enormous American arsenal contrary to the Nobel Peace Prize that was given to him for his promise to dismantle it, the Italian general told Ilsussidiario.net website. According to him, the US plan is worth about 1.2 trillion dollars and spans 30 years. Forty billion of the amount was invested in the project this year. The significance of Putin's speech is that he has reaffirmed the strength of his country, which he had raised from ruins."We saw the Russian military power reviving in the Middle East, in Ukraine, in the Crimea," the expert said. Putin's call for an international dialogue concerns the Middle East, where Putin remains in a situation which he can not resolve."

In response to the proposal from Vladimir Putin to help the Defense Ministry come up with a name for latest arms systems, which the Russian President presented during the announcement of his Address to the Federal Assembly, the Russians started to make their offers. Two new types of Russian strategic weapons remain nameless for the time being: a global range cruise missile with a nuclear power plant and a nuclear-capable unmanned underwater vehicle. In addition, one needs to coin the name for he new laser weapons as well. "For those who are interested in military equipment, I would like to propose, I would ask them to propose the names for this new hardware," the Russian president said, introducing the new weapons of the Russian Federation, noting that one can submit their options on the websites of the Defense Ministry.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his annual Address to the Federal Assembly presented new fantastic weapons as a response to the deployment of the US missile defense system and the USA's pullout from the Treaty on the Limitation of Strategic Nuclear Offensive Arms.The video parade of Russia's latest developments in armory has showed the whole world that Russia was a global leader in the development of defensive weapons. All these weapons are defensive, rather than offensive, Putin stressed. To explain the need to show the latest developments to the world, Putin referred to the history of relations between Russia and the United States. According to him, the USA had rejected all of Russia's proposals for cooperation on missile defense. "It would have created an atmosphere of confidence and it would have also guaranteed protection from mindless and globally dangerous single-handed use of nuclear weapons," Putin said. "Restrictions for missile defense systems would have made the potential aggressor vulnerable to a retaliatory strike," he said. According to Putin, Russia had long persuaded the United States not to ruin the ABM Treaty, "not to violate the strategic balance." "All was in vain. In 2002, the US unilaterally pulled out from the treaty," the president said. "But even after that, we had been trying for a long time to establish a constructive dialogue with them. We suggested we work together in the area to resolve concerns and preserve the atmosphere of confidence. At some point, it seemed that a compromise could be found. But no, all our suggestions, all of them, were rejected," Putin said. Therefore, several years ago Russia started working on state-of-the-art and second-to-none arms systems.First off, this is a new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile that can overcome any missile defense system and has no limitations on its range. With a weight of 200 tons, the flight range of the Sarmat missile is larger than that of Bulava ICBM. The Voevoda (heavy intercontinental ballistic missile) has a flight range of 11,000 km, but the new system has practically no range limitations, Putin said after demonstrating a computer flight simulation of the Sarmat missile. He said that Sarmat can attack targets both via the North and the South Pole. "This is a very formidable weapon," the Russian president said.Russia also started developing weapons that did not use the ballistic trajectory at all. "We started developing new types of strategic weapons that do not use ballistic flight trajectories when moving to the target," the Russian president said. "Therefore, missile defense systems are useless and simply pointless against them," Putin said.It goes about the new missile with a small-sized nuclear superpowerful power plant, capable of maneuvering as long as possible bypassing ABM systems. The missile does not haму a name yet. It can be housed into a cruise missile, which will provide the latter with an unlimited range and invulnerability for missile and air defenses."A low-flying and low-visible cruise missile carrying a nuclear warhead of an unlimited range, unpredictable flight trajectory and a possibility to circumvent interception lines is invulnerable to all existing and prospective systems of both missile and air defense," Putin said. Afterwards, Putin proceeded to the hypersonic air-missile complex "Kinzhal" ("Dagger"). High-precision hypersonic airborne missile complex "Kinzhal" has been put on combat duty in the Southern Military District of Russia from December 2017. "The trials of the new missile complex have been completed successfully. On December 1 2017, the complex was put on pilot-combat duty at airfields of the Southern Military District," the president added.

On March 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin started his traditional message to the Federal Assembly. As it could be seen in the beginning of the speech, Putin has not recovered from cold that he caught in the middle of February: he would often wipe his nose with a handkerchief, clear his throat and his voice is husky. This year's Address to the Federal Assembly has become the 14th for Putin and the 24th in the modern history of Russia. In 2018, the format of the event underwent a number of important changes in connection with the presidential election in Russia, which will be held two weeks after today's speech.This year's speech is addressed to all citizens of the country, rather than to the political elite.Secondly, most of the speech is devoted to how, according to the Kremlin, the next six-year rule of the current president will or should look like. Thus, Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly becomes his pre-election message. Thirdly, screens with infographics, diagrams and other visual presentations will be used for the first time to better visualise Putin's words for the population of Russia. Finally, this years's address has been relocated from the Kremlin's St. George Hall to the Central Exhibition Hall "Manege" outside the Kremlin walls that many associate with the inaccessibility and remoteness of power from the people. "It was at such turning points when Russia has repeatedly proved its ability to develop, upgrade, develop lands, build cities, conquer outer space, make grandiose discoveries," Putin said. "This constant aspiration for the future, the fusion of traditions and values, has ensured the continuity of our thousand-year history. We have also been through large-scale complex transformations, we have been able to cope with completely new and very complex economic, social challenges, and we have  preserved the unity of the country and established ourselves as a democratic society on a free, independent path. ""Stability is the basis, but not a guarantee for further development. We have no right to let the achieved stability lead to complacency, given that we still have to work a lot to solve many problems," he said. Russia is one of the leading powers with a defence and economic potential, but from the point of view of people's well-being, there is still a lot to be done. The welfare of citizens is the main and the key factor of Russia's development. "Our priority is the well-being of the people, we must give decent work to people," the president said, adding that as many as 20 million Russian citizens face poverty.The President set the task to reduce poverty twice in Russia within the upcoming six years. "We must solve one of the key tasks for the coming decade - to ensure a confident, long-term growth of real incomes of citizens, and halve the level of poverty in six years," Putin said. "Today we are obliged to set ourselves a goal of a fundamentally new level: by the end of the next decade, Russia must confidently enter the 80+ club of countries where life expectancy exceeds 80 years. They are such counties as Japan, France and Germany," said Putin. In today's Russia, life expectancy has increased and currently makes up 73 years. "This is not enough, of course," Putin said. For the dynamic development Russia should expand space of freedom in all spheres and strengthen institutions of democracy."To move forward, to develop dynamically, we must expand space of freedom in all areas. We must also strengthen institutions of democracy, local government, the structure of civil society and courts," he said adding that Russia should be open to the world, to new ideas and initiatives.Russia needs to ensure the dynamic development, in which no obstacles can stop the nation from moving forward confidently. The coming years will be decisive for the future of the country, Putin said. It goes about the development of technology. Lagging behind in the field of technology is unacceptable, the head of state said, because technological backlog entails risks of the loss of sovereignty. "They are waiting for a strong response from us, and we are ready to give such a response," Putin said.Those who can not take advantage and use the technological wave will drown, the Russian president said. The Russian president ordered regional authorities to improve the condition of roads."We need to double the spending on building roads," Putin said adding that eleven trip ion rubles are to be assigned to finance road construction in Russia. Pensions should be regularly indexed to exceed the level of inflation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual Address to the Federal Assembly.He also pointed to the need to improve the quality of medical and social services for older people, to help those who was left alone and found themselves in a difficult situation.Putin set the goal to increase healthcare expenditure to five percent of GDP using sources of financing that would not restrain economic growth."In 2019-2024, the development of the healthcare system from all sources will require an annual average of more than 4% of GDP, but we must certainly strive for 5% of GDP," Putin said.The Russian authorities will support initiatives that will allow cities to reveal themselves in a new way. Special attention will be paid to social and infrastructure projects, Putin said.The Russian Federation should become one of the world centers for processing and storing informationRussia should become one of the world leaders for processing and storing large amounts of information, said Russian President Vladimir Putin."With the help of advanced communications, we will open all possibilities of the digital world to our citizens, and this is not only about modern services of on-line education or telemedicine, which in itself is extremely important," the Russian leader said.Russia needs to improve the quality of drinking water. There are settlements in Russia, where water is available only according to a schedule, Putin noted. The implementation of various projects connected with the ecology of Lake Baikal will improve the quality of life for a half of the population, he said. Pravda.Ru

The United States will be able to strike blows from space already in a few years, the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force David Goldfein said. According to him, the US needs to achieve predominance in space just as much as it needs to achieve leadership in airspace.The agreement on principles of activities of states for the exploration and the use of outer space was signed in 1967. The document does not allow the deployment of nuclear weapons in space, but it does not ban the deployment of other types of weapons there either.In 2008, at the Conference on Disarmament, China and Russia introduced a draft treaty that would prohibit the deployment of any kind of weapons in space of and exclude the use of force against space objects. However, the document has not been adopted yet. Pravda.Ru asked an expert opinion from military expert of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Alexei Leonkov, to find out what threat the new initiative of the United States poses to the world. "The Americans have been seriously dealing with issues of the militarisation of space. They have a number of programs on their completion stage. As soon as they launch weapons into space, another arms race will kick off. Russia proposed signing the treaty on the demilitarisation of outer space in 2011, but the Americans rejected the initiative, because many of its regulations did not leave them any loopholes to deploy any weapons into space save for reconnaissance vehicles."The militarisation of space is a component of the concept, which the US has been following to rebuild their armed forces. They plan to strike instant blows within an hour and develop several programs to create hypersonic aerial vehicles," the expert said.In addition, the United States has a project known as HTV Falcon. As part of this project, the Americans will put into orbit a spacecraft carrying assault elements made of solid alloys.If such a block descends from orbit at a speed of five to seven kilometres per second, one will not be able to shoot it down. In addition, upon touchdown, the object will strike the so-called kinetic impact that will cause destruction, but exclude contamination of the territory and other consequences. Moreover, it will be possible to retrieve the block and use it again. In addition, the disc can then be removed and used again. Nowadays, one can track and monitor any launch of any missile. In case of threat, the missile can be destroyed. The aerospace system allows to launch such vehicles from an airplane that ascends to an altitude of 15-20 kilometres and launches a second or a third stage. Tracking such a launch is practically impossible. "Russia has been working a lot lately to upgrade its air defences. We are all waiting for S-500 systems to arrive. Russian space engineers develop a new engine that will enable spacecraft to manoeuvre in space. They will be able to approach a satellite, and they identify it as dangerous, they will be able to destroy it. Unfortunately, however, Russia responds when it is too late, as it was the case with the import substitution. We could not support our producers until they imposed sanctions on Russia. Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

US Ambassador to Russia John Huntsman and representatives of the Russian authorities continue the discussion about the interference of the United States in the upcoming elections in Russia. According to Huntsman, an exchange of harsh statements on the subject may escalate the relations between the two countries. His concerns are understandable, although Moscow has a lot to catch up with Washington at this point. Not that long ago, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that the United States was trying to interfere in the Russian elections because of the internal political situation in the USA. "They are interested in our elections for two reasons. First off, they need it to continue the domestic political rhetoric, which as you can see, does not reduce tensions," she said on NTV. The US is to hold intermediate elections to the Congress in November 2018. The question is whether the Democrats can intercept majority from the Republicans. Therefore, the widely advertised subject of the "Russian intervention" will, beyond any doubt, remain in high demand.Secondly, the USA needs to be traditionally involved in all internal processes in all regions of the world. "There is no region where Washington does not want to play.  The rule of no interference in domestic politics and lives of other states works and should work from their point of view for all, except for one exceptional country - the United States of America," added Zakharova.The American Ambassador to Russia stated when visiting Kazan that he was concerned about accusations of USA's interference in the Russian elections and said that it was impossible. "We are often accused that we interfere in elections, but it seems to me meaningless, as we very much value our relations. Sometimes I worry that such an exchange of statements would lead to unnecessary escalation," the diplomat said. Perhaps, the US ambassador to Russia remains the only American official who tries to observe proprieties. It is hard to imagine someone else in Washington could say things like "we value our relations" and "unnecessary escalation."As for facts, one can only recall the statement from the US State Department in connection with the refusal of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation to register blogger Alexei Navalny as a presidential candidate in late December of 2017. US officials said back then that such actions indicated the inability of the Russian authorities to ensure the implementation of basic freedoms and human rights in the country. They urged the Russian government to hold fair, transparent and free elections to guarantee "the free expression of the will of the people."President Putin reacted to the statement from the US State Department. "The persona that you mentioned (Navalny) - he is not the only one who was not admitted to the elections. For some reason, they do not name others," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the meeting with the leaders of Russian media in January. "This, as it seems, indicates certain preferences of the US administration," he added. "This is the person, whom they would like to promote into the political sphere of Russia and see as the country's leader," Putin said noting that the Americans should have kept silence on the subject because they fouled up. Obviously, Moscow intends to serve the subject of elections with the same sauce for Washington. John Huntsman's remarks about "unnecessary escalation" if it was not for two aspects. Mr. Huntsman should send this message to the US administration. Last but not least, the escalation in the US-Russian relationship has gone too far primarily because of Washington's actions. To make matters worse, Washington is not going to stop. Oleg Artyukov Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

The United States has been increasing its presence in the Black Sea. USS Carney entered the water area of the Black Sea on February 17. According to representatives of the US Department of Defense, the purpose of the naval build up in the Black Sea is to reduce Moscow's sensitivity to the activity of US forces in the region. The method that the USA resorts to to "reduce sensitivity" is rather strange, because it will most likely bring the opposite result, given that deputy head of the State Duma Committee for Defense and Security, Yury Shvytkin, said that the arrival of another US Navy destroyer in the Black Sea was a provocation. Nevertheless, Washington believes that Russia will view the naval buildup in the Black Sea as a normal activity. Moreover, the neighborly presence of the military fleets of the two countries will help elaborate a better strategy of mutual behavior.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said recently that the notorious "Kremlin report" materialised as a result of the undercover struggle of the American establishment with US President Donald Trump and the overall confrontation of the Washington elite, which has nothing to do with Russia's reality. Official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, warned the US not to interfere in the presidential election in Russia in March, adding that the USA was already taking efforts in this direction. The "Kremlin report" controversy is essentially much ado about nothing. The expectation of the publication of the list was a lot more intriguing than the actual exposure of the copied and pasted list of Russian names from web pages of the presidential administration and Forbes magazine. Moreover, a warning from the US Treasury saying that new sanctions against Russia may potentially lead to negative side effects for the global financial markets has clarified the situation.Given that US officials are bad at observing their own "instructions" with respect to sanctioned individuals, it brings up one simple question: whom is this circus for? It goes about the recent visit of Russian security officials to the USA. Not only did they receive visas to the United States, but also demonstratively entered the buildings where they intended to hold meetings with US colleagues.One shall assume that it was Washington that wanted Russian security officials to come to the USA. CIA chief Mike Pompeo stated afterwards that such meetings were to ensure the safety of US citizens in the first place. Representatives of the US State Department said that such contacts were an exception for the sake of benefit. In my opinion, one can give a small ovation to the CIA director in his approach to public security.  Everyone in this world knows who is standing behind the procedure for creating a world-wide terrorist threat, and Washington is well aware of further unpredictable consequences for the Americans themselves.The Americans understand that effective anti-terrorist work without Russia is impossible. I am sure that the Americans took great care of their own image when they invited Russian security officials. It seems to me that the nonsensical "Kremlin report" and the "progress" in the Surkov-Volker format on the Ukrainian issue came as a result of the analysis of the current state off affairs in the world and Washington's realisation of the fact hat America no longer holds the initiative in the struggle for  global domination.At the same time, such an approach can be based on the interests of the United States in the first place, because the forthcoming elections to the US Congress this year can change the balance of forces. Neither Trump himself, nor his team need any surprises at this point. The Americans were forced to invite top Russian security officials to come to the States, because if meetings of such level had been held in Moscow, they would not have been allowed to take advantage of the game. One may assume that the West and the USA could be interested in the strong Russia and the strong Russian leader against the background of the global terrorist threat. After all, ensuring security is  much more important than following illusions of geopolitical domination in the world. The West understands that attempts to interfere in the Russian presidential election may lead to  unpredictable and lethal consequences for both politicians and global elites. Both Western politicians and "globalists" realise that it is only Putin who can handle all the sore points on the geopolitical map. The Americans have not been able to take successful pinpoint measures to ensure their own safety, because their strategy was always to create hotbeds of tensions and provocation. To crown it all, the West and the US have not learned to effectively counter the effects of their "colour revolutions." Many authors and bloggers in the West claim that it is too difficult for Putin to create a new image for himself to be able to surprise people on the eve of elections. Why would Putin need a new image taking into consideration the fact that he already has the reputation of one of the most influential politicians in the world?The image of Putin has been stable for long already, and Russia's recent successes in the field of defence and foreign policy are based on Putin's verified and pragmatic policy. Never before has the world respected Russia like this; never before have we been so proud of our own army and our arms. In my opinion, the March elections in Russia will be relatively smooth and quiet, because all measures to ensure the citizens' safety have been prepared very carefully. One may, of course, expect provocations, but they will mostly be informational in nature.If the West runs the risk of putting pressure on Russia, that Russians will stand up for their president and they will unite around him. This is what the phenomenon of the Russian people is about. Vladimir GromovPravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Helicopter carrier Priboi (Surf) is expected to become part of the new concept of the Russian Navy. The model of the new vessel was presented at the stand of the Russian fleet during the international forum in the Moscow region in 2015. Back then, military analysts said that the Priboy would be an alternative to French Mistrals that had never found themselves in the Russian waters.Russian shipbuilders took account of the experience of their French colleagues and offered their own concept of a ship for over-the-horizon landing purposes. The ship is to have a semi-trimmed body that ensures high resistance to disturbance at sea and provides for less resistance to movement while cruising.It is expected that the first of the two landing ships will pass into service at the Russian Navy in 2025, although no official statement has been made on the matter. The construction of the helicopter carrier, which is to become a universal landing ship, is scheduled to begin in 2020. Preparations have already started in St. Petersburg at Severnaya Verf shipyard. The mock-up of the Nevsky Design Bureau presented at the forum differed from the design of the French Mistral helicopter carrier. The stated specifications of the vessel do not match those of large amphibious ships of the Soviet period and most foreign analogues.The Russian Priboi vessel will have the displacement of 14,000 tons, a running speed of 19-20 knots and the draft of five meters. The navigation range will make up 6,000 nautical miles with the autonomy of 60 days. The length of the ship is expected to be 165 meters and width of 25 meters.The French Mistral helicopter carrier has different specifications: displacement of 22,000 tons, speed of 19 knots, and draft of 6.42 meters. The crew of the French landing ship is 177 men.A Mistral can carry 16 attack helicopters (Eurocopter Tiger), a tank battalion (40 French Leclerc) and 450 paratroopers. The ship can also be used as a hospital at the same time. In addition, Mistral helicopter carriers can also assume the role of floating headquarters. It is equipped with a French combat information management system, which unites several ships into a single whole. It remains unknown whether the new Russian vessel is going to have such a system. The Priboi will be able to carry eight deck-based Ka-52/Ka-52K helicopters, which is significantly less than with the French ship. Helicopters will receive a modified on-board radar station with a radius of up to 80 km.It is not ruled out that the Priboi will also carry Ka-27 helicopters, which is an antisubmarine chopper. However, the Ka-27 exists in two modifications - an anti-submarine and a search and rescue vehicle. It appears that the new ship will be able to carry out complex tasks rather than operate within a rigid framework of narrow specialisation.It is possible that the new Russian vessel will be able to carry Russia's first unmanned aircraft known as Chirok with a wingspan of 10 meters. The Priboi will be able to transport up to 900 troops, about ten tanks and fifty infantry vehicles. Two or four landing boats are also going to be on board. The ship is expected to be armed with three anti-aircraft missile systems Pantsir-M/Palitsa (SA-22 Greyhound).Many experts were puzzled by Russia's desire to create a ship like the Priboi. After all, a Mistral helicopter carrier can travel for 20,000 nautical miles. Yet, the ship is clearly intended for defence purposes to protect the extensive coastline along the Arctic Ocean, or in the Black Sea and along the chain of Kuril Islands. The ship is not designed to travel across oceans, and this is where the 6,000 mile range comes from. Alexander Artamonov Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

On January 29, a closed briefing was held at US Congress, during which US Senators discussed anti-Russian sanctions. Neither US lawmakers, nor representatives of the State Department and other government structures reported any details about the meeting.The so-called "Kremlin Report" or the "Kremlin List" was published soon afterwards. The report includes Russian politicians and businessmen, who, according to Washington, are members of  Russian President Putin's team. As for the new sanctions that were discussed at the above-mentioned briefing, US officials discussed (judging from scanty reports) restrictive measures against enterprises of the Russian defence complex and their foreign counterparts. According to representatives of the State Department, the current restrictive measures have deprived Russia of contracts worth several billions of dollars. Yet, it is difficult to be specific here, as the meeting was held behind closed doors. After the meeting, however, several Democratic Congressmen accused the Trump administration of unwillingness to impose new sanctions against Russia.A little later, State Department spokesman Heather Nauert indirectly confirmed this opinion. As she said, the United States did not see the need to impose new sanctions on the Russian defence industry, because the already effective measures against Russian defence companies have shown their effectiveness.As for the Kremlin List, the document contains the names of 210 people - all, as Washington believes, are part of Putin's milieu. The entire Russian government, including its chairman, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, happens to be part of Putin's milieu, as US Treasury believes. The list includes all Russian wealthiest people according to Forbes Magazine - i.e. all major entrepreneurs  holding fortunes over one billion dollars. It is worthy of note that there is the classified part of the Kremlin List, which includes officials and entrepreneurs with a fortune of less than a billion dollars.Officials with the US Treasury noted that the list did not imply restrictive measures against the persons named. At the same time, the Kremlin List does not include all representatives of the Russian authorities and state corporations. For example, chairwoman of the Russian Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina and the head of Rosnano Anatoly Chubais do not appear on the list. Chairwoman of the Accounting Chamber Tatyana Golikova is not there either. Alexei Kudrin's name does not appear on the list: although he does not hold office in Russian power structures, is hardly a secret who in the Kremlin  listens to his opinions.So there, there is the list and thee are sanctions. What will be the response? Judging by first reactions - Russia is not working on something impressive. "A look at the American list, which  the Treasury sent to Congress yesterday, creates (at least in its political part) a strong feeling that US security services, being so desperate to find the promised and, most importantly, provable compromising information against Russian politicians, have simply rewritten the Kremlin telephone book," Senator Konstantin Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page.Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said the list looked like the book "Who's Who in Russian Politics." "As a member of the government, I was supposed to be on this list, the whole government is there, and there is nothing surprising in this. This is the list of persons who are obviously leading figures in Russian politics and business. This is not the sanctions list - this is the list that is going to be used for further decisions and assessments. We will keep an eye on the situation and evaluate whether there is a need to respond. For the time being, there are no reasons for action so far," he said.The head of the Human Rights Council, Mikhail Fedotov, who also appears on the list, called his authors lazy. "I understand that it was not politicians but bureaucrats who made the list, and like all bureaucrats, they are lazy, so they just took the list of all presidential advisors from the Kremlin's website and included them on their list. One does not have to take any intellectual effort for this," he said. Alexei Navalny's companion Leonid Volkov was also disappointed:"As expected, this is utter rubbish. US Congress ordered the Treasury to prepare the list of most influential Russian officials and oligarchs within 180 days, and the Treasury has formally executed the formal assignment. They have used exactly 180 days and compiled the list that could be made within a couple of hours:a) all officials, starting from a certain level (primarily from the administration of the president);b) all business people with fortunes worth more than $1 billion."It appears that Moscow will simply shrug the "Kremlin List" off. After all, US Ambassador to Russia John Huntsman urged the Russian authorities several days ago not to show a too emotional relation to the publication of the report. More importantly, Russia does have many reasons to respond to USA's actions, and the number of those reasons is more than enough. Oleg Artyukov Pravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

The entire Russian government, including its chairman, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, happens to be part of Putin's milieu, as US Treasury believes

Russian opposition activists reproach Russian President Vladimir Putin for not wanting to participate in the debate during the presidential campaign. "This silence is no longer perceived as a sign of force, but as lack of content and program, even as some sort of illegitimacy. The man can keep silence for two reasons: he either has nothing to talk about with us, or he has problems with discourse and he is afraid of any discussions," Dmitry Bykov wrote on Echo of Moscow radio station. According to Bykov, Putin allegedly "has nothing to say, nothing to show, except for the quarrel with the whole world and a huge number of people comfortably stagnating as he remains in power." The administration of the Communist Party in the person of its leader Gennady Zyuganov has been trying to arrange a debate between party candidate Pavel Grudinin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.According to Zyuganov, "the president said that it was very important that candidates coming for the elections should have creative programs. We have such a program, we have nominated a talented candidate, as we insist on a public debate with the main candidate, President Putin," Gennady Zyuganov said. It is worthy of note that candidates Pavel Grudinin, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Ksenia Sobchak, Grigory Yavlinsky, and Boris Titov intend to participate in the debate. Most of them want to debate directly with Putin, rather than with his representatives.Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin has already announced that he will not take part in the process. Other candidates said that they do not want to debate with each other. Opposition also insists on the debate, in fact, trying to superimpose the American reality on the Russian reality. In Western countries, it is allegedly believed that the debate sometimes shows who is going to win the votes of the wavering electorate.Many experts believe that this would be wrong to believe so in Russia, because a presidential campaign in the United States is not limited to the debate only. US candidates travel from coast to coast and meet their electors, sometimes several times in one day. There is also the fund raising activity. In Russia, candidates have their programs, but they do not travel all over the country nor do they try to work with electorate groups selectively - they do not try to meet specifically workers or farmers, for example.Therefore, candidate's unwillingness to participate in debates is a prerogative of a politician who is aware of his advantage over other competitors. "The law gives the right to participate or not to participate in the debate, but what does the opposition do? They do not care about consequences of decisions - they simply appeal to the needs of citizens, telling them that they would do this and that. Yet, talking about the need to make everyone happy, wealthy and healthy overnight is not a conversation on an equal footing," Putin said in 2012.Pravda.Ru Read article in Russian

Russian opposition activists reproach Russian President Vladimir Putin for not wanting to participate in the debate during the presidential campaign

Russia is weakly represented at the 48th World Economic Forum that opened in Davos on 23 January. Why discuss the system, which Russia should abandon? Strange as it may seem, the motto  of the forum - "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World" - reflects the situation at its best. In Davos, Russia will be represented by Vice Prime Minister Vladislav Dvorkovich and "old wave" businessmen of the Yeltsin era. Chairwoman of the Central Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina wanted to attend the forum, but subsequently declined for a number of undeclared reasons. Judging by the slogan of the forum, globalists accused Russia of disunity in the world. So why go?Yet, the Russians are no strangers there, because the world cannot live without Russia's oil and gas, Andrei Suzdaltsev, political scientist and deputy head of the Faculty of World Economy and Politics at the Higher School of Economics, told Pravda.Ru. "They will make us believe that Russia should return to the joint economic system, to the world without sanctions, but Russia would need to make concessions for this. They will try to put pressure on Russia in an effort to return the Crimea to Ukraine, etc, promising that everything will get better for Russia and investments will come," the expert said. Davos will show interest in Russia's economic policy after the elections, because some things will change considerably, the expert believes. During the 1990s, an agreement was concluded between Russia and the United States, according to which the West received all assets of the USSR outside the borders of the RSFSR at its disposal. In return, the West guaranteed investment and support of economy within the framework of the so-called "Yeltsin family" economist Mikhail Khazin said in an interview with "Echo of Moscow."Since then, the "family" has been setting Russia's economic policy following instructions from Washington. "Nabiullina is bending over backwards to prevent an increase in the monetisation of the economy, not to let Russian enterprises get access to cheap loans," the economist said. However, the economist believes, the "family" has not been fulfilling its obligations properly for a while already and may therefore retire after the presidential election in Russia in March 2018. Russia is not interested in the Davos forum from the point of view of strategic prospects, because the forum is devoted to outdated economic models, which Russia should leave behind. Trump has "divided" the world too The US also has big problems in Davos. US President Donald Trump has managed to quarrel with all his allies by the first anniversary of his stay in power. According to Andrei Suzdaltsev, Trump does not have a close dialogue either with Europe or with Asia. Trump needs to support the global leadership of the United States, not only in the political, but also in an economic sense, the expert believes. Therefore, Trump will predictably speak about the "rise of the US economy, the minimal level of unemployment, available investments, the growth of the US stock market to let the whole world appreciate all those achievements."According to Mikhail Khazin, Trump represents the real, rather than the financial sector" of the United States. In other words, Trump uses an administrative resource to support the real sector and exports, the expert concluded. The new global leader is China China intercepts the leadership of the United States in the globalisation of the world. Chinese leader Xi Jinping regularly uses phrases like "common future" in his speeches. For example, a year ago he spoke at the UN office in Geneva with a keynote address - "Working together to create common future for humanity."Beijing is watching turbulence in Europe and the United States while implementing its grandiose global project known as One Belt, One Road Initiative. This is a win-win option, because it is based on the construction of infrastructure - the basis of economic growth in any system. The project will cost China about 900 billion dollars and embrace 65 countries throughout Eurasia. Chinese companies will build railways and roads, ports, warehouses. China will benefit greatly from exporting its products.Russia does not have the strength for an independent project like that. At this stage, Beijing acts as an ally in switching the world to a new economic model. One should not forget that the economic union may quickly evolve into dictatorship, including in politics. Lyuba Lulko (Stepushova)Pravda.Ru Read article in the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Russia is not interested in the Davos forum from the point of view of strategic prospects, because the forum is devoted to outdated economic models

To expand the horizons of its "red lines," Russia should get out of someone else's economic project, political analyst Leonid Krutakov said.In an interview with Kommersant, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov outlined Russia's "red lines," which Western "partners" are not recommended to cross. Serious Western politicians should not only understand but also respect this, he added. "Russia has the right to defend the interests of its compatriots, especially when they are persecuted in many countries, when their rights are oppressed, as it happened in Ukraine," Sergei Lavrov said.He referred to Russia's action in the Crimea after the coup in Ukraine. "The first thing that the Ukrainian parliament did after the coup was the law which said that the Russian language should know its place. This place, roughly speaking, was simply under the bench," Lavrov said."Two days later, there were statements made that the Russians would never honour Bandera and Shukhevych, so the Russians should be expelled from the Crimea. After that, the Supreme Council of the republic was in the hands of thugs. Russia could no longer stand by and look at how Russian people would be killed there," the Russian Foreign Minister said.Political analyst Leonid Krutakov told Pravda.Ru that Ukraine has been and still remains Russia's "red line." "NATO's presence is absolutely excluded there - this is an absolutely clear condition that is constantly voiced at all closed and open meetings."As for the Donbass "red line," Russian President Putin clearly stated that Russia would never let anyone to destroy and massacre those people.Russia has "red lines" not only in the "Russian world," the political scientist noted. Russia's "red line" in Syria is the preservation of Syrian statehood. The world has seen what happened to Iraq and Libya, and one can see chaos in the Middle East at the moment, where the state framework and public consensus have been breaking down. This is the reason why Russia vetoed the decision of the UN Security Council to create a no-fly zone over Syria, having thus prevented the development of the "Libyan scenario."To make the West respect Russia's taboos, "it's about time Russia needs to exit someone else's project," said Leonid Krutakov. "Politically, we advocate sovereignty, but economically, we live in the institutional environment created by the Western world - their banking system of dollar settlements, stock markets, and the West will continue putting pressure on Russia through these institutions because Russia is a competitor on the political field," he said."The United States does not have a picture of the strong Russia, and the Americans will never allow us to become strong. The conflict is so obvious that we were shown through sanctions that we do not have the common financial market. Russia is not strong enough to exit the Western system alone, so we need to cooperate with other countries that share the same view of the world's future - China, India, the BRICS, SCO, Eurasian Economic Union - to create a separate monetary system. Otherwise we will lose in the long term," the political scientist summed up.Lyuba LulkoPravda.Ru Read article in Russian

The USA does not have a picture of the strong Russia, and the Americans will never allow Russians become strong. Sanctions show how obvious the conflict is

The media interpretation of the remarks by Putin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov about the contacts between Russian and Ukrainian presidents was incorrect. The rumours about Putin's secret contacts with Poroshenko appeared after Dmitry Peskov's interview on Rossiya 1 TV channel. In this regard, Peskov stressed that "no one said anything about any meetings." During the interview, a journalist wondered about the time of the most recent meeting between the two presidents recalling such "contacts from last year, when the press was notified about them several months afterwards." According to Peskov, "President Putin has a huge number of meetings and contacts that are not of public nature. "We do not report anything about those meetings, and this is common practice. The president's working day ... is much busier than one can see it on television. Indeed, there are meetings about which we do not inform the press," Peskov said.The Ukrainian side has already announced that President Poroshenko did not hold bilateral meetings with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after the conclusion of the Minsk agreements. However, not so long ago, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, who earlier became the main mediator in Erdoğan's apologies to Putin, said that Poroshenko had asked him [the Kazakh president] for help in finding a compromise with Russia. After attempts to commit subversive activities in the Crimea, Russian President Putin stated that  Ukraine had "crossed the line" and "proceeded to terror" adding that the Norman format meeting in China was not going to take place. Poroshenko was reportedly begged the Chinese side to find an opportunity for his arrival at the G20 summit, although to no avail. It was also reported that Poroshenko and Putin conduct secret telephone conversations. The Security Bureau of Ukraine supposedly classifies those talks not to cast any suspicion on the Ukrainian president. It was in particular said that the two presidents talked to each other on the phone in April. "The presidents would periodically switch to irony not to quarrel with each other," a source from the Ukrainian administration said. Pravda.Ru Read article in Russian

It was in particular said that the two presidents talked to each other on the phone in April. They had to maintain irony during the conversation not to quarrel

World's most powerful nuclear submarines, Arkhangelsk and Severstal, are to be dismantled after 2020. The Russian federal nuclear power watchdog, Rosatom, found their further exploitation unprofitable. The submarines have already been withdrawn from the combat structure of the Russian Navy. Why such a hurry? The work on the submarines started in December 1973. The construction of the first heavy submarine strategic missile cruiser of Project 941 (codenamed "Akula", NATO reporting name SSBN "Typhoon"), the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear cruiser, was launched in 1976. The sub entered the combat strength of the Northern Fleet in 1981. The Dmitry Donskoy was the only submarine that was modernized and re-equipped for Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Dmitry Donskoy will remain the only underwater cruiser of Project 941, which remains part of the Russian Navy. A total of six cruisers had been built afterwards, but three of them (TK-12, TK-202 and TK-13) were withdrawn from the Russian Navy in 1996-1997 due to the lack of funds. It is worthy of note that it was the United States that covered the costs for the dismantlement of those submarines.