Last month I wrote that there were grounds for cautious optimism in Russia's stance on Syria. Unfortunately recent events threaten to overwhelm them.

Although the events of the massacre near the town of Houla in Syria are still unclear, the scale of the tragedy is not. United Nations observers reported...

The United Nations Security Council is now crucial for Russia to achieve its foreign policy aims, and this should provide grounds for optimism over Syria.

For all the criticism levelled at Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, his government's policy of non-interference has remained remarkably consistent over the past decade....

Now the euphoria of the protest movement in Russia is abating, the opposition must choose between pragmatic unity or a foothold approach.

Since Vladimir Putin's victory in the 4 March presidential election there have been signs that the street protests of recent months were losing their lustre. Yet even before...

The stuttering of Russia's protest movement should be seen as a failure of leadership, not a reflection of Vladimir Putin's success.

After the relatively modest turnout at the protest on Moscow's Novy Arbat street last weekend it is tempting to see the events of the past few months...

Following his victory in Sunday's presidential election Vladimir Putin gave a tearful, patriotic speech to supporters in central Moscow befitting the characterisation of his election campaign as a battle. Having won another six years to enact 'plan Putina', however, his challenge may now be drawing back many of...

Vladimir Putin's preoccupation with shadowy political manoeuvring betrays a self-defeating unwillingness to engage in an open debate with the public.

Earlier this week Putin, Russia's prime minister and leading presidential candidate, released his latest pre-election article in the daily newspaper Moskovskie Novosti. The piece was...