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Viewpoint by Lyubov Sharkova*
MOSCOW (IDN) – In just a short period of time, the world in Russia has changed for everyone. I've started to notice how people around me are going mad. They've started blaming and avoiding other people, making social distance the priority of their lives. These people are well-educated, well-off, with flexible minds. It doesn't matter who they were in their life "before corona". Now all of them are afraid. And that's the reason for their madness.
Viewpoint by Ben Noble*
LONDON (IDN) – Russia's nationwide vote on controversial constitutional reforms is likely to be postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The vote is currently scheduled for April 22.
The vote is the last hurdle before this set of reforms – including a change allowing Vladimir Putin to stay in the presidency beyond 2024 – can come into force.
Russian press has reported that a decision to postpone the vote has already been taken by the Kremlin, but a new date has yet to be selected.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW (IDN) – President Vladimir Putin maintains that Russia does not prohibit the activities of civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as long as these abide by the country's laws, refrain from meddling in internal politics and inciting extremism and civil disobedience in the country.
He told Russia's state-owned TASS News Agency in an interview for the project titled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin" that any non-governmental organizations operating on Russian territory, including religious ones, must necessarily respect and comply with the Russian law.
By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos
While Kingston Reif is director for disarmament and threat reduction policy, Shannon Bugos is research assistant at the Arms Control Association.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – President Donald Trump said recently that he is open to meeting with the other heads of state of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to discuss arms control and will soon put forward a trilateral arms control proposal with Russia and China. But China continues to express its opposition to trilateral talks and has yet to respond to U.S. overtures to begin a bilateral strategic security dialogue.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW, (IDN) – UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, told the UN Security Council’s first formal meeting in 2020 that the West African region has experienced "a devastating surge in terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets". These have "shaken public confidence" and the humanitarian consequences are alarming, he said.
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*
MOSCOW (IDN) – If education is the ultimate gift one can give a child, then, the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia has given that gift to more than 150,000 deserving young men and women from many countries around the world – who otherwise would never have had the opportunity to receive higher education — especially in a foreign country.
Besides, the university is characterised by a cooperative and friendly attitude — one of respect and mutual assistance. With multinational traditions and customs, cuisine, dancing and music — the whole world is in one Moscow street: the Miklukho-Maklaya Street.
By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos
WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – Russian officials repeated in late December and early January President Vladimir Putin’s call for extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) as soon as possible, though Washington continues to remain silent on the future of the accord, which is scheduled to expire in just over 12 months.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW (IDN) – “We need to address large-scale social, economic and technological tasks facing the country more quickly and, without delay. Our society is clearly calling for change. People want development,” President Vladimir Putin said in his wide-ranging address on January 15 to the Federal Assembly at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall, a few metres away from the Kremlin.
Putin emphasised that this year Russia will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War – World War 2. He said: “For Russia, May 9 is the greatest and sacred holiday. We are proud of the generation of victors and honour their feat, and our memory is not only a tribute to our heroic past, but it also serves our future, inspires us and strengthens our unity.”
Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball
The writer is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. The following is the text of his article published in January/February 2020 issue of Arms Control Today.
WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – This year, the world will mark the 75th anniversary of the catastrophic atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the indispensable but imperfect nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW (IDN) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is keen to deepen and strengthen relations with the former Soviet republics, particularly those which initially formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and joined the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) after the breakup in 1991. Russia was internationally recognized as the successor state to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics out of which 15 sovereign states emerged and re-emerged.
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