Winter, Sochi, Putin: Russian President tries out Olympic slopes

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 President Vladimir Putin tested the ski slopes at the Olympic host city of Sochi Friday as the Black Sea resort counts down to the start of the Winter Games.

“Russia is a force for peace and morality that had no desire to be global superpower” - Putin

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin, in a thinly veiled criticism of the United States, portrayed Russia on Thursday as a force for peace and morality that had no desire to be a global superpower.

“We do not aspire to be called some kind of superpower, understanding that as a claim to world or regional hegemony,” Putin said in an annual address to parliamentarians and senior national officials.

“We do not infringe on anyone’s interests, we do not force our patronage on anyone, or try to teach anyone how to live,” he said, using phrases that echo his previous criticisms of the United States.

Putin accuses EU of blackmail and force against Ukraine Over trade pact

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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the European Union on Friday of blackmail and pressure against Ukraine over its decision to suspend preparations for a trade pact that would have wrested the nation further from Moscow’s orbit.

The former Soviet republic abruptly spurned an historic alliance with its western neighbors on Thursday, suspending an imminent trade pact with the EU and saying it would revive talks on a deal instead with Russia.
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Putin calls Assad on Geneva-2, chemical weapons destruction

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday held telephone talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and discussed Geneva peace conference, progress in chemical weapons destruction and humanitarian situation in Syria, the Kremlin press service reported.

Russia to help Syria in case of external military strike - Putin

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"Will we be helping Syria? We will," Vladimir Putin said at a press conference following a G20 summit in St. Petersburg on Friday. The US and other countries will put themselves outside of law if they begin a military operation in Syria, Putin added. 

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Putin got a message for Obama: 'We defend the norms and principles of international law'

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Moscow suggests that the critical situation around Syria should be discussed at the "Group of Twenty" summit on September 5 – 6 in St. Petersburg.

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Putin's Message to Obama: 'We defend the norms and principles of international law"

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 Putin has once again urged to wait for the results of the work of the UN experts, who had taken samples in the suburbs of Damascus, where chemical weapons had been allegedly used on August 21. Russia’s uncompromising position, the Russian President has stressed, was that no matter who used the weapons of mass destruction it was a crime.

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Claims of chemical weapons use by Syria regime 'utter nonsense' - Putin

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According to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, allegations that Assad's government used chemical weapons in Syria are largely ungrounded. "Syrian government troops are on the offensive and have the opposition contained within several areas. In this situation, to give those calling for intervention such a trump card is utter nonsense," - Putin told journalists in Vladivostok.

At the same time Putin notes that next week's G20 Summit in Russia's St Petersburg could be a good platform to discuss Syria crisis.

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"Chemical weapons" crisis in #Syria - LIVE updates - Putin Praises British Leaders (Photos + Video)

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International pressure has been building for a military strike on Syria in the wake of an alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb. The West blames President Assad, as UN inspectors probe the site of the attack.

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PUTIN ON THE RITZ: RUSSIA BECOMES THE WORLD’S BIGGEST GOLD BUYER (ADDED 570 METRIC TONS IN 10 YEARS!)

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Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, holds a gold bar while visiting the Central Depository of the Bank of Russia. (Alexsey Druginyn/AFP/Getty Images).

In September 2012, TheBlaze reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been grabbing up gold “as fast as he can get his hands on it.” And since that initial report, he has only doubled his efforts. “Not only has Putin made Russia the world’s largest oil producer, he’s also made it the biggest gold buyer,” Bloomberg notes.

“His central bank has added 570 metric tons of the metal in the past decade, a quarter more than runner-up China,” the report adds. “The added gold is also almost triple the weight of the Statue of Liberty.”