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Added on the 16/04/2021 14:00:00 - Copyright : EFE Inglés
In the first half of 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to be coasting toward a presidency-for-life. But according to CNN, what followed instead was Putin's most challenging year to date. Putin's political durability is often attributed to a simple bargain between him and his citizens. At its essence, it is to accept limited political competition in exchange for stability and steady increases in the standard of living. But in the face of the government's ability to control the coronavirus pandemic, that deal has begun to unravel. In August, protests in Belarus frayed the deal's edges. And the August poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny came close to ripping it up completely.
Russia's president Vladimir Putin greets Kyrgyz officials at an airport in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek, where he will attend the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. IMAGES
Russian president Vladimir Putin attends memorial ceremony for victims of the siege of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by Nazi Germany during WWII. The siege lasted 872 days between 8 September 1941 and 27 January 1944, leading to hundreds of thousands of casualties. IMAGES
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a video call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. IMAGES
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is greeted by Russia's Vladimir Putin with a bouquet of flowers in Moscow on the anniversary of a nerve-agent attack on now-jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose life was saved by Berlin doctors. The pair are expected to discuss the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the simmering war in eastern Ukraine and the authoritarian crackdown in Russian-allied Belarus. IMAGES
U.S. President Barack Obama attends an outdoor arrival ceremony in heavy rain, as the first sitting U.S. president to visit Laos. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).