The Economist is worried that Putin may be sold on his own flawed rhetoric. “The most worrying thing about Putin’s address is that he may actually believe it,” says its editorial. “Just as the Russian media invented Ukrainian fascists to justify its hybrid war in Ukraine, it is now inventing American aggression to justify its isolation and confrontation with the West.
“Putin did talk about the economy, promising not to raise taxes for four years, and to provide legal amnesty for repatriation of money coming into the country from offshore. In contrast to Mikhail Gorbachev who, in the face of the oil price collapse in the mid-1980s, opened the Soviet political system to competition and improved relations with the West, Putin did not utter a word about the Russian political system or about corruption.” Putin clearly hopes that the devaluation of the currency, combined with a less draconian attitude to private property, will spur economic growth, says the editorial. But he is wrong. “The trouble is that it is not just the rouble that has been devalued, Putin’s words as well,” it concludes.
The Chicago Tribune points to the old adage that what’s good news for some is bad news for others. “The falling price of oil is good news for American motorists, and it has an extra added attraction: It’s making life miserable for Russian President Vladimir Putin,” says its editorial. “Oil prices have fallen nearly 40 per cent since June. US and European officials have imposed economic sanctions to deter Russia from encroaching on neighbouring Ukraine and other nations. The sanctions have inflicted some pain on Putin’s economy. But the recent plunge in the price of crude has done more to leave Putin gobsmacked than all the sanctions put together. So Americans, says the editorial, can relax in their warm homes, maybe go for a long drive and otherwise enjoy a welcome respite from high energy costs. “And think about Vlad’s very bad days.”
The Guardian too fails to see a bright sky over Russia. “As Vladimir Putin pursues a high-stakes expansionist foreign policy, problems are piling up on the home front,” says its editorial. “The rouble appears to be in freefall. Never since the financial crash of 1998 has the national currency seemed so weak. But the bleak economic picture is also the result of one of the hugely wasted opportunities of the Putin era: There has been no genuine economic modernisation of Russia, a country that remains overwhelmingly dependent on oil and gas exports, just as it was in Soviet times.”
The Indian Express, weighs the worth of Indo-Russia ties in light of Putin’s visit to India. “Putin’s visit [to India] this week comes against the backdrop of the toughest challenge faced by the Russian economy since the late 1990s,” says its editorial. “With falling global oil prices and bruising western sanctions, Russia is set to slip into recession next year and Putin’s state-of-the-nation address last Thursday warned Russians to brace for hard times ahead. In this situation, Moscow would naturally seek to reach out to other partners, such as India and China.”
