This week (April 21), Russian prime minister and former president Dmitry Medvedev spent several hours presenting to the State Duma (lower house of parliament) the annual government report on policies and achievements in 2014, as required by the constitution. According to Medvedev, Russia is under siege and “there should be no illusions—the present economic crisis is not transient”; if oil prices stay low and “external economic pressure [sanctions over Ukraine] continues, we will all be forced to make sacrifices.” Medvedev called the present situation “unique” and an unprecedented combination of challenges: “The addition of Crimea to the Russian Federation did …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation