Putin’s Change and Invariance

　　　　On April 4th, in Bucharest, Romania, Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a press conference after the NATO-Russia Council meeting. Putin spoke positively of the meeting as a whole, but at the same time he once again expressed his dissatisfaction on controversial issues such as NATO expansion. Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Jinquan photo

　　　　As many people had expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin showed people a calm smile in Bucharest this time, instead of a cold face and aggressive words.

　　　　Although Russia is not a formal participant in this NATO summit, the results of the meeting show Russia’s influence that cannot be ignored everywhere-the accession of Ukraine and Georgia will be put on hold for at least several years; If the United States wants to complete its plan to deploy a missile defense system in eastern Europe, it must continue to "convince" Russia; In addition, it seems that not many people are keen to talk about the Kosovo issue at this summit. Obviously, in this round of game, Russia has safeguarded its core interests to the maximum extent by virtue of its growing strength and skillful diplomatic skills.

　　　　Analysts have noticed that compared with his words and deeds in Munich more than a year ago, Putin’s attitude in Bucharest has undergone an impressive change. On the one hand, it still refuses to budge on issues concerning national interests; On the other hand, it puts more emphasis on dialogue and cooperation. Putin made it clear that Russia is willing to carry out constructive cooperation with NATO and jointly seek solutions to major problems in today’s world. As a concrete measure of cooperation, the Russian government announced that it agreed that NATO would transit Russian territory (land) to transport "non-military materials" such as food and fuel to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. It can be considered that Putin stood at a high point again this time. What NATO countries, including the United States, should understand is that dealing with countries like Russia can’t solve any problems by coercion and squeezing. Only by carrying out dialogue and cooperation on the premise of respecting each other’s interests and concerns can a benign interaction be formed. In this regard, Putin seems to have taught his NATO opponents another lesson.

　　　　Putin’s trip to Bucharest can also be regarded as a fixed-tone trip. After Russia elected a new president, the west has been trying to find out the future diplomatic direction of Russia, especially whether its attitude towards the west will become more moderate. In fact, Putin’s "curtain call performance" in Bucharest has clearly explained everything: resolutely safeguarding national interests is the bottom line of Russian diplomacy. As long as you don’t touch this bottom line, everything is negotiable. Russia’s national interests determine that its diplomacy can only adopt such a posture, which is not something that anyone can change if he wants to. In this sense, Putin’s words and deeds in Bucharest also set the tone for the diplomatic line and policy of the next President of medvedev. (Chen Dawei)

Editor: Li Erqing