I actually believe that Putin is totally predictable. The draconian methods that he uses to try and achieve his goals are well known. He is stuck in a cold war mentality. He doesn’t seem to understand that his methods are building up great hatred and dislike towards him both outside and inside Russia.
This is how the deputy-director of Moscow’s state university IT department Alexander Karavaev interpreted the actions of Russia. In the words of Karavaev, the opinions about the steps of Russia vary in the country. A part of the people thinks that there was no sense to interfere. Another part thinks that Russia should have stationed its troops in the eastern parts of Ukraine as well not only Crimea because it is a matter of self-defense.
Concerning potential sanctions against Russia he said that such scenario cannot go too far. The expert believes Russia’s role in the international economy is significant as its annual investment amounts $700 billion and there are many international companies in Russia.
In a series of secretly recorded phone conversations revealed last week, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was heard instructing his son to hide from police tens of millions of dollars of cash stashed in his Istanbul house.
Russia seemingly declared a war against Ukraine, the Russian troops are added in Crimea every day and at any moment Putin may start using military force in Crimea as promised to the Federal Council of Russia. The international community is trying to prevent the threat of war in a diplomatic way by not only threatening to show military support to Ukraine but also by applying economic and political sanctions against Russia.
If you analyze all the scenarios of revolutions of the world during the past ten years you could realize all the dictators in those countries would claim a week ago that in their countries there would be no chance of revolution. This is an accepted norm and would recommend Tigran Sargsyan to start thinking about the routine of the society, trying to cut the rates of migration, created workplaces instead of giving political viewpoints.
Yesterday several media agencies published information about a proposed bill in Russia that would ease the procedures for granting Russian citizenship to Ukrainians, as well as establishing new procedures for joining the Russian Federation. This new bill is connected with the recent movements in Ukraine. Russians openly say that this bill would allow them not only join entire Ukraine but at least parts of it to their territory.
Today the Armenian National Congress is going to organize a demonstration in Freedom square of Yerevan. This is the first demonstration after a long-lasting break, which may be crowded due to the fact that several opposition powers want to unite and also there is some movement due to the government’s initiative for creation of a compulsory pension fund. Even though the ANC targets more people at the demonstration, if they succeed in bringing a lot of people to the square, it may become a challenge for them.
At a presentation yesterday on the topic of “National Brand Strategy: Tasks and Perspectives” in Yerevan the Armenian society was informed of an initiative that would bring an American company to help Armenia to help the country develop a competitive brand strategy. The total cost of this project will be 450,000 USD, 150,000 out of which will be paid by the Armenian government.
“It is the right of political powers; I have said several times that it is a tool for political competition that is accepted in many countries. Normally our opposition can use this tool too, and it is very normal that they possess such tool and whenever they need they have the right to use it,” said Prime-Minister Tigran Sargsyan to journalists in a meeting at the parliament yesterday.
