Russian President Vladimir Putin’s apparent plan to emerge from his extended self-isolation with new energy did not quite work out as expected, and he needed to pause. Last week (April 28) the U.S. President Joseph Biden touted his achievements at the symbolic 100-day mark of his administration in countering the COVID-19 pandemic and in righting the U.S. economy. But hard as the Russian media tried to downplay that performance (Kommersant, April 30), the Kremlin leader cannot claim similar success: the Russian vaccination campaign is nowhere near the U.S. scope, and he cannot simply order the domestic economy to pick up from its lackluster performance (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, April 29).
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Pavel Baev: Russia’s propensity for trouble-making persists
Two young women walk past the U.S. embassy building in Moscow on April 15, 2021.
