WHEN IT comes to tweaking the West's noses, there are few better exponents that Vladimir Putin. Last week, the Russian leader was at it again. During a whistlestop European tour which took in Vienna and Luxembourg, he showed no sign of easing up in his opposition to the proposed US missile shield, made clear his dislike of the UN's plans for an internationally monitored scheme to give independence to Kosovo and insisted the European Union should think again before doing anything which might damage relations with Moscow.
He also showed that he would not be told what to do about human rights: "We in Russia should listen to the criticism against us," he said in Vienna. "But, also, the European partners should listen to the accusations against them."
Putin does not take kindly to what he regards as peremptory demands from the West. He is also under pressure from the military, who are arguing that, as it now has the spending power, Russia should start re-equipping its armed forces. The expansion of Nato eastwards has also made Russian commanders nervous: they object to seeing Western military hardware on their borders and former allies such as the Baltic states embracing the transatlantic alliance.
All this helps to explain Putin's hardline attitude to the British request for the extradition of Andrei Lugovoy for his alleged involvement in the murder of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. And apart from it being a matter of national pride, Putin is nearing the end of his presidency - he stands down next April - and he wants to be remembered as a leader who made Russia strong again.
The remainder of Why Putin is determined to make Russia strong again has some interesting bits and is not worth reading - as are the comments.
Today's New York Times reports that American and Iranian diplomats are speaking directly for the first time in decades. Hopefully, Bush is out decorating graves and will keep his mouth shut.There are connections between these two stories.
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