Anne Applebaum Quotes

Putin has all the power under his control, all the security forces, all the billions of dollars he needs. It's mad to pretend otherwise.

The only game [Vladimir] Putin can play is to establish a lifelong dictatorship in the country, at first de facto and finally also de jure. In this case, [Dmitri] Medvedev is an interim figure bound to assist Putin in his plan to guarantee a smooth transition to a new term in office.

Russia - having sat across the table from Vladimir Putin, it's pretty clear when you meet him that he has an almost limitless ambition for power. And he's been very good at acquiring it - political power, economic power, military power, territorial power.

Putin can't afford to leave the office because he will be in real danger of being prosecuted for things he and his people did during their stay in power.

Hard men present hard choices - none more so than Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.

Russian elites believe that he [President Vladimir Putin] serves the same function as the Czars of old, keeping diverse political clans and their leaders (the boyars) in balance, preventing the civil war or chaos that a country of Russia’s vast size and relative emptiness would face if it were left open to competition by those who retain loyal militias.

In power for 16 years now, Mr. Putin and his global propaganda machine aggressively promote the idea that democracy is a chaotic mess that only the hero Putin can save Russia from falling into.

You cannot compare any leaders in our country to what Vladimir Putin has done.

In a system created by Putin, it is only possible for Putin to win. I am realistic about who will become the president.

Let's not make out as though I will be the winner. I won't be. Putin will run and he will win.

Donald Trump ran for autocrat, he didn't run for president. The first thing in autocrat does is take over the media, or alienate the media, which is what Trump is doing, he is doing it actively.

Russia is a mafia state today, and Putin is its top godfather.

Russia has named Vladimir Putin its man of the year for the 15th year in a row. Putin got 143 million votes and the guy he was up against got killed in a mysterious boating accident. The boat was in a warehouse.

Numerous politicians have seized absolute power and muzzled the press. Never in history has the press seized absolute power and muzzled the politicians.

Outcome of these elections is not in doubt due to simple fact that there is only one candidate for each position…. You may be wondering why party propaganda machine attaches such importance to electoral campaign and surrounds it with such unparalleled pomp and circumstance.

Within the Russian system, everything depends on the character of those few who hold full power in their hands. The position of the individual within present-day Russia has been described as follows: far-reaching economic security by sacrificing personal liberty.

Politics is television and whoever masters it is likely to win.

I order you to hold a free election but forbid you to elect any but Richard [d'Ilchester.]

We are a slack people but deeply destructive … I think that a constitutional regime would mean the end of Russia. We need a despot!

The Rules Committee is the place that Democracy comes to die.

Both Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev have law degrees but they do not know what the rule of law means.

I think that Putin and his cronies are really a kleptocracy, that are really an imperialist power that want to expand.

To somebody like Obama, substantive opposition is not tolerable. The objective is to eliminate all opposition - be it a political party, be it media, or what have you.

Of course for some Putin is a tyrant and dictator. Others consider him Russia's savior. But I'm in a difficult position. Putin helped my father - and practically saved his life.

Russia is so feudal in its system of patronage and reward that it is virtually impossible for a leader to hand over power without controlling his successor or at least receiving an exemption from prosecution - something Mr. Putin granted his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, in 1999.