For the first time since Vladimir Putin took power in Russia, he was curious about the possibilities of NATO membership and wanted to support the United States. Now the Russian president expresses contempt for NATO and the United States, which he describes as an “empire of lies”.
“From Vladimir Putin took over and until today, relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated and deteriorated,” Iver B. Neumann, Russia researcher and director of the research institute Fridtjof Nansen’s Institute (FNI), told Dagbladet.
Neumann considers that Putin’s overall desire is to restore the status quo they had under the Soviet Union. He also believes that Putin has been on his head to get US attention during his time at the helm.
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Two speeches
On Monday last week, Putin declared in a televised speech that Russia recognizes two breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine as independent states. In the same speech he said he wanted to tell something he had never talked about in public before; that he asked then-US President Bill Clinton how the United States would react if Russia joined NATO. The words fell when Clinton visited Moscow in 2000, according to Putin.
On Thursday, Putin gave a new televised speech in which he launched Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In his speech, Putin mentioned the Kosovo war, the Iraq war, the Libyan war and the Syria war, and said that the example that really stands out is the invasion of Iraq. He also pointed out that more and more Eastern European countries have joined NATO. He then branded the United States and the West an “empire of lies.”
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– It’s all a little sad
But just after the 9/11 attacks, which later led to the Iraq war, Putin offered his support to the United States. Neumann says Putin even made his airspace available to the United States during the Iraq war.
– Russia would probably have something back for it. Russia was not allowed to join NATO, but later they became members of the G7, formerly the G8, which is the rich club itself. It became clear to everyone that Russia did not have a large enough economy to fit in as a member, and moreover, Russia was not willing to take the responsibility for world order that comes with being a member of such a club, says Neumann.
– Russia would like to be a great power, but they do not have the capacity and resources required to be so. It’s all a little sad.
– What’s sad?
– It is sad that Russia wants to be a great power despite the fact that they do not have the prerequisites to be so. It takes a lot to be a great power. Russia has the nuclear weapons, the traditional weapons and the disinformation apparatus, but it does not have the required economic and cultural appeal. It is clear that it is frustrating to try to be recognized as something you are not.
