Russia is feeling an economic squeeze. Yet Moscow is unwilling to reform and incapable of doing so. Today’s Russia is also an unsatisfied power, which has problems with most of its neighbors. But the veteran diplomat René Nyberg, who has served as Finland’s ambassador to Moscow and Berlin, notes from his personal experience that there is still room for agreement with Russia – even on missile defense.
Russia under Putin has changed considerably and Russia is a middle-income country today. But as PM Dmitri Medvedev responded to complaining Crimean pensioners in 2016: Денег нет, но вы держитесь, which roughly means, “There’s no money, cope with it.” The PM’s insensitive comment went viral and can only be compared to Viktor Chernomyrdin’s aphorisms of the 1990’s. My favorite Chernomyrdin bon mot remains: Хотели как лучше, аполучилось как всегда, “We wanted the best, but got the usual.” Läs artikel