MOSCOW: A big squeeze is on in Moscow, as President Putin seeks to drill the country's wayward regions into line with Kremlin policies. Soon a squeeze of a different type will be put on the West, as the Kremlin bids for new international loans. With the IMF and Russia engaged in talks over such loans, and as the summit of the Group of Eight (G8) big industrial countries approaches, the time is ripe to assess a decade of economic cooperation between Russia and the West. The verdict may determine the success of Vladimir Putin's presidency.
MOSCOW: A big squeeze is on in Moscow, as President Putin seeks to drill the country's wayward regions into line with Kremlin policies. Soon a squeeze of a different type will be put on the West, as the Kremlin bids for new international loans. With the IMF and Russia engaged in talks over such loans, and as the summit of the Group of Eight (G8) big industrial countries approaches, the time is ripe to assess a decade of economic cooperation between Russia and the West. The verdict may determine the success of Vladimir Putin's presidency.