Masha Lipman
Masha Lipman
behind political
He was a big-time political operator, behind many political developments, not least Yeltsin's re-election in 1996.
popular russian
(Motherland's policies) are very, very popular with the Russian people.
appears coalition economic goal government kremlin looking russian twin ukraine vulnerable weak
The goal of Kremlin strategists appears to be a weak coalition government in Ukraine that will be more vulnerable to Russian economic pressure. One twin is looking to Moscow, the other to Washington. And they can't separate.
bad clearly cooling policy shift talking
There is clearly a policy shift underway. We're talking about a bad trend; not just a cooling but a deterioration in relations.