• Every day the war lasts we see new sanctions on Russia imposed by the West. How effective are they? Read the personal blog and

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  • Lukashenko is able to repress the opposition, but can he manage the economy of Belarus as well as he manages the crack-down of society?
    by Mark Galeotti

  • Confronted with the Covid pandemic the Russian government has put economy over people and propaganda over healthcare, writes

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  • In 2020 the Russian economy on the whole performed better than expected. But the middle class was badly hit by covid-19 and the most vital reforms, long overdue, again failed to materialize. Economic editor Ivan Tkachev of newsagency RBK analyses the bleak prospects for recovery in 2021. According to the government Russians’ real disposable income this year will drop by 3%, whereas independent economists predict a decline of 4–5%.
    by Ivan Tkachev

  • After unseen police violence, anger in Belarus reached even some of the smallest towns across the country. In the weeks before the

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  • What to expect in 2020? Putin’s power within the system and Russia’s leverage in the world are still relatively great, but the ideas to change anything appear to be lacking. Putin and his entourage seem to think 'better safe than sorry'. So it will be more of the same: economic malaise, political repression and frozen conflict in the Donbas, argues Mark Galeotti.
    by Mark Galeotti

  • Russians watch Putin's annual call-in show for clues about what the future will bring, but the president took them back to the past. Putin invoked the 1990s to show that life could be worse, if not for his 20 years in power. We republish a slightly abridged report of the show, written by Steve Gutterman for Radio Free Europe, followed by quotations of Putin's most remarkable statements.
    by Steve Gutterman

  • Politics is politics, but money is money. Three years after the adoption of the EU Energy Security Strategy in Brussels not much has changed.

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