Russia under President Putin is less democratic and less free today than when he assumed office. If Russia cannot fulfill its obligation to the G-8 and maintain a high standard of democratic governance then its membership should be suspended.
Vito Fossella
Related In my personal opinion, Russia is no less democratic than it used to be. It is a democratic country.... ROMAN ABRAMOVICH The people now in charge of the Kremlin administration are rubbing out the results of 15 years of th... DMITRY ROGOZIN Russia just assumed the G-8 chair and can't be allowed to act this way. Russia's demands appear undu... ELMAR BROK Everyone wants Russia to be a prosperous, democratic state that is fully integrated. CONDOLEEZZA RICE President Obama took charge of the Oval Office seven years ago. He promised a positive reset in rela... JOHN MCLAUGHLIN In Russia, every you go, you carry passport. If you don't have passport, they arrest you. We live in... ALEXANDER BUNEGIN This year, Russia has become a different country. It is no longer a democratic country. It is no lon... ANDREI ILLARIONOV The post-Cold War order in Europe is finished, with Vladimir Putin its executioner. Russia's inv... IVAN KRASTEV Russia has its heart divided between its Slav soul and its disgust for (Yugoslav President Slobodan)... JAVIER SOLANA Despite the victory of democratic forces in Yugoslavia and its opening up to the world, the internat... GEORGE ROBERTSON Diplomacy is really far less important than the stock movements within Russia. ALAN GREENSPAN The policy of Russia is changeless. Its methods, its tactics, its maneuvers may change, but the pola... KARL MARX The policy of Russia is changeless. Its methods, its tactics, its maneuvers may change, but the pola... KARL MARX It's a good time to run for mayor because it'll be less poor, less black, less democratic. RAY NAGIN The G-8 summit in St. Petersburg is becoming the focal point for everybody to reconsider where we ar... ANDERS ASLUND Clearly, Russia doesn't measure up. Russia doesn't meet the membership criteria. HUGH BARNES What we are seeing is Russia playing the spoiler for Ukraine because this administration is not very... IVAN LOZOWY Trump has long been a fan of Vladimir Putin but seems to be unaware that Russia's goal in Syria ... PETER L. BERGEN The president is concerned about any sales by Russia to Iran of any missiles and the United States h... ARI FLEISCHER Things will happen when they should. When an event is forced, its outcome would be less than optimal... CHARBEL TADROS Putin has put Russia on a path to be a world power with global influence. JACK KEANE But if Russia is to be part of this larger zone of peace it cannot bring into it its imperial baggag... ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI The length of your education is less important than its breadth, and the length of your life is less... MARILYN VOS SAVANT The length of your education is less important than its breadth, and the length of your life is less... MARILYN VOS SAVANT When the Obama administration announced its 'reset' of relations with Russia in 2009, Americ... JOHN BARRASSO While all democratic systems are works in progress, ours started rather late and therefore has a lon... MELES ZENAWI We understand that in an open and democratic and free society, you cannot make yourself impenetrable... ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON Russia has its heart divided between its Slav soul and its disgust for Milosevic's behavior, JAVIER SOLANA It is clear that Russia is stronger than Ukraine, that it owns the resources and that Ukraine has no... OLEKSANDER DERGACHEV In a democratic set-up, people who are being governed should also be a part of the governing system.... RAJYAVARDHAN SINGH RATHORE It is not possible to conceive a democratic Guatemala, free and independent, without the indigenous ... RIGOBERTA MENCHU It is not advantageous for Russia in its present state to fight against Chechnya. The army is a mess... ASLAN MASKHADOV I guess my view is I believe less governance is best governance and that government should not do wh... JOHN MCCAIN I firmly believe that under your able guidance, Indonesia's success in surmounting the economic and ... GLORIA ARROYO Russia is risking losing credibility as a reliable energy supplier by cutting off supplies to an ext... CHRIS WEAFER We have to remember that Putin was a member of the KGB. He has already demonstrated that kind of mac... GEORGE TAKEI Russian is my native language and what I have said is very precise: I think that Russia needs a robu... BORIS BEREZOVSKY Russia has every reason to dispose of its nuclear arsenal... to suit its interests and international... SERGEI LAVROV a new and free Russia. BORIS YELTSIN NATO was built to counteract the Soviet Union in its day and time. At this point there is no threat ... VLADIMIR PUTIN We ... need the president to live up to his promises and provide full funding to our global HIV/AIDS... BARBARA LEE The capacity of man himself is only revealed when, under stress and responsibility, he breaks throug... HARVEY CUSHING The more consciously democratic Americans became, however, the less they were satisfied with a conce... HERBERT CROLY I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES I think the colleges should be free to give athletes less than a full scholarship, no scholarship an... TAYLOR BRANCH Russia would prefer to rebuild trust rather than allow it to further corrode. That's why, in Jul... SERGEI LAVROV Putin must be punished for violating the Budapest Memorandum, and Russia must learn that the U.S. wi... RAND PAUL Russia also declared its independence. This was approved by the Supreme Soviet, and you know and rem... BORIS YELTSIN A country which is more democratic and more reformed in its economy is apt to find its sovereignty s... DANIEL FRIED I've said in the primary race repeatedly that a Labour Party that I lead would be a true red Lab... DAVID CUNLIFFE Russia wants to restore its superpower status, and that includes putting these countries back into i... YEVGENY VOLK The Chinese want to use Russia in a complicated game with the U.S. and Taiwan. China is expanding it... ALEXANDER GOLTS Though it is clear that present-day Russia poses no threat to it, NATO is methodically and persisten... ALEKSANDER SOLZHENITSYN I think Russia now will be mindful of its reputation as a secure energy supplier. MALCOLM WICKS At least in Russia, you cannot just go and tap into someone's phone conversation without a warra... VLADIMIR PUTIN What I said was that in a democratic society, people must be permitted to make their choices and tha... DENNIS KUCINICH I am president of Russian Standard Company, biggest luxury vodka in Russia. My bank, Russian Standar... ROUSTAM TARIKO Watergate was unique because it allowed the public to play its democratic role in expressing its out... SAMUEL DASH Our country needs a Democratic president, a Democratic Congress and most important, a Democratic con... BILL BRADLEY E.U. membership is the means of realizing Turkey's claim of being a democratic, liberal, just and pr... RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN The state is nothing but an instrument of opression of one class by another - no less so in a democr... FRIEDRICH ENGELS The state is nothing but an instrument of oppression of one class by another--no less so in a democr... FRIEDRICH ENGELS I'm not a big fan of Putin. I'm not a big fan of Russia. DAN COATS Love in its essence is unconditional. When conditions, exceptions, and ultimatums are cast into the ... RICHELLE E. GOODRICH It is unclear how much money Trump has, but it is not enough to matter in Russia. If he keeps up his... TIMOTHY D. SNYDER Regardless of the results of the German elections on Sept. 18, relations with Russia will remain no ... SERGEI LAVROV In its current form, globalization cannot be sustained. Democratic societies will not support it. Au... JOHN J. SWEENEY In its current form, globalization cannot be sustained. Democratic societies will not support it. Au... JOHN SWEENEY A president cannot defend a nation if he is not held accountable to its laws. DASHANNE STOKES less respect for high standard and more interest in high enrollment. CHARLES GREEN Russia's long-standing problems with human rights violations have persisted and in some respects wor... DICK OOSTING Western investment is usually assumed to walk hand-in-hand with the democratic values of its home co... CHRYSTIA FREELAND When you meet the president, you ask yourself, "How did it ever occur to anybody that he should be g... HENRY KISSINGER The Autocrat of Russia possesses more power than any other man in the earth; but he cannot stop a sn... MARK TWAIN Democratic, market-oriented Taiwan is a thorn in its side. STEVE JOHNSON Not how it is meant. Law is defined by its effect rather than its intention, and its chief affect hi... WILLIAM MCDAVID He rejects the New World Order established at the Cold War's end by the United States. Putin put... PAT BUCHANAN I don't think that a Justice should have uppermost in her mind, 'A Democratic president appo... RUTH BADER GINSBURG I myself find myself constantly under pressure and can perfectly understand that [this provocation] ... BORIS BEREZOVSKY That a marriage ends is less than ideal; but all things end under heaven, and if temporality is held... JOHN UPDIKE Since the start of the Abe administration, we resumed peace treaty negotiations with Russia, which h... SHINZO ABE Imagine what it means to us for a party like Democratic Action to say today that under these conditi... HENRY RAMOS Hosni Mubarak... his constitution is not democratic, but he is democratic. We can voice our opinions... NAGUIB MAHFOUZ The democratic state can sometimes abuse its power as much as those who seek to destroy it abuse fun... DAVID BLUNKETT I think Russia has made a serious mistake. It has demonstrated its willingness to use its gas as a p... WILLIAM RAMSAY Russia continues to side with... rogue states and terrorist organizations, following Vladimir Putin&... MIKE POMPEO Russia is unable to increase its exports without cheap gas from Central Asia to compensate for a def... CHRIS WEAFER People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselve... FRIEDRICH ENGELS I think that most people believe that Russia, because of its - it has regained some of its military ... CHARLIE ROSE The message of the free world to any potential Palestinian leadership should be a simple one: Embrac... NATAN SHARANSKY The commission has recommended a very bad plan. It is my belief that it makes the nominating process... KATHLEEN SULLIVAN Bulgaria must continue to support Iraq and its reconstruction, stabilization and democratic developm... GEORGI PARVANOV Polls and focus groups show younger blacks less likely to identify themselves as Democrats, and more... LARRY ELDER free and democratic Iraq. BOB STERN Feast of Joseph of Nazareth Some day, we hope, study will be as much a part of churchmanship as w... CARL R. SMITH In social institutions, the whole is always less than the sum of its parts. There will never be a st... EDWARD ABBEY A democratic despotism is like a theocracy: it assumes its own correctness. WALTER BAGEHOT Why would anyone want to be President today? The answer is not one of glory, or fame; today the burd... RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON Even if Teheran accepts Russia's proposal after lengthy negotiations, one should be prepared for Ira... IVAN SAFRANCHUK Russia does not want to have another nuclear power in its region, FRANCOIS HEISBOURG
More Vito Fossella
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