A retrospective of the course of the president of Russia who, from the first moment, set his goal to highlight and maintain his country as a “great power”
A look back at the course of the president of Russia who, from the first moment, set his goal to highlight and maintain his country as a “great power”. In August 1999, Vladimir Putin is appointed Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. At the turn of the year 1999/2000, he succeeds the ailing president Boris Yeltsin. Upon taking office, Putin declared that Russia was and would remain a great power. In Europe he is seen more as a reformer who is supposed to reorganize the chaotic Russia of the wild 90s.
In June 2001, US President George W. Bush called Putin “reliable and straightforward” after their summit meeting. He had looked into his soul, said Bush, the head of state of NATO’s top power.
In September 2001, Vladimir Putin offers Europe a security partnership with Russia during a speech to the German parliament. It questions the role of the leading Western power, the USA. The Kremlin leader does not rule out Russia’s subsequent accession to NATO and the EU.
The EU and Russia agree on various support and cooperation programmes. A “strategic partnership” is sought. NATO opens office in Moscow. Russia establishes a representative office in NATO in Brussels. A special NATO-Russia Council discusses strategic issues and the imminent voluntary accession of Central and Eastern European countries to the alliance.
As one of the main suppliers of oil and gas to the EU, Russia does profitable business with Europe. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder calls Putin a “perfect democrat,” despite Russia’s well-known crackdown on opposition and press freedom. After his term, Schroeder is appointed to well-paid positions in Russian state-owned energy companies.
The turn
In 2006, at the Munich Security Conference, Vladimir Putin launched a U-turn. He complained that the West does not accept Russia as a great power. He characterizes the enlargement of NATO as a violation of the agreed. Promises by NATO states not to encroach on Russia’s borders were being ignored. In 1997, however, Russia had agreed to the expansion in accord with NATO.
Disarmament agreements are cancelled. Russia strongly criticizes planned US missile defenses. Vladimir Putin is enraged when at the NATO summit in April 2008 Ukraine and Georgia are promised to join the Western alliance.
In August 2008, Putin showed Europeans his military might. It intervenes in a conflict in Georgia and after a short war, places parts of South Ossetia and Abkhazia under Russian control.
In 2013, the EU Commission is still talking about creating a common “economic and human space” with Putin’s Russia from Lisbon to Vladivostok – as a long-term vision.
The wars
After the pro-Russian president was ousted from Ukraine in the spring of 2014 and the Maidan democratic revolution, Russian President Putin is attacking Ukraine. It annexes the Crimean peninsula in violation of international law and brings under its control parts of eastern Ukraine with pro-Russian separatists. The West reacts with initial sanctions and mediation efforts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande are brokering the Minsk Agreement, which is supposed to lead to peace. This never materialized, but “it served to give Ukraine time to become stronger,” as Chancellor Merkel later stated.
Relations deteriorated rapidly, but Russian energy imports continued. In Europe’s perception, Putin was increasingly turning into an authoritarian ruler. In 2021, the EU spoke of a “negative spiral” in mutual relations.
In March 2022, shortly after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, US President Joe Biden described Putin as a ruthless “dictator, war criminal, murderer”. Since then, NATO has declared Putin’s Russia the “greatest threat to peace in Europe.” The EU is imposing comprehensive sanctions on Russia and is attempting to cut off oil and gas supplies as soon as possible. Even two years after the start of the war, this has yet to be fully achieved. Russian liquefied gas continues to reach Europe. Trade with Russia is shrinking, but many European companies are still active in the country. The food, drug and chemical industries are not affected by the sanctions.
25 years after Putin took office, NATO is preparing for a new arms race. Defense against Russian aggression is now the main task of the alliance.
Source :Skai
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
