Putin Blames the West
Ariel Cohen /
In the latest anti-Western rant, the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has blamed the United States and the West for once again thwarting bilateral relations with Russia by deploying missile defense in Europe and “lying” about NATO enlargement. However, his statements are clearly political propaganda intended for internal consumption and distort the reality of events. Yet they raise questions regarding Russia’s commitment to President Barak Obama’s “reset” policy and broader Russian integration with the West.
For example, Putin has chosen to criticize the current missile defense plan of the Obama Administration. “We had just come to terms that there would be no missiles [NATO missile defense systems] in Poland…but it was suddenly announced that the same [missile defense system deployment] was planned for other European countries,” Putin stated. (more…)