Clara Ferreira Marques, Columnist

Vladimir Putin Sends a Gloomy Postcard From Davos

The Russian president's cameo this week says a lot about what's happening back home, even if widespread protests didn’t merit a mention.

January 29, 2021 at 7:45 AM UTC

By Clara Ferreira Marques

Clara Ferreira Marques is a managing editor for Commodities and Energy in Asia. Previously, she was a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and editorial board member.

Kremlin air waves.
Photographer: Mikhail Klementyev/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

President Vladimir Putin nailed the prototypical Davos leader address this week. He started with a little light chat about first meeting his host, the World Economic Forum’s smooth-talking Klaus Schwab, segued into remarks on the challenges of virtual communication, a little hand-wringing about global challenges, and then his favorite themes remixed into a reassuringly vague address.

So far, so normal. But context is everything.