(EDM) It is still difficult to figure out what sorts of conclusions President Vladimir Putin drew from the long meeting he held with US Secretary of State John Kerry two weeks ago (May 12), in Sochi (see EDM, May 19). But the recent behavior of top Russian officials betrays much apparent anxiety and even nervousness about the future in the halls of power in Moscow. Last week, the Russian government had implemented a concerted effort aimed at discrediting the European Union’s May 21–22 Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit in Riga; and there was much speculation about Armenia’s and Belarus’s objections to the words “annexation of Crimea” in the joint end-of-summit statement (RBC.ru, May 22). German Chancellor Angela Merkel evidently saw no need to reiterate her point on defining that breach of international law as “criminal,” and some clever wording was invented. In turn, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs felt obliged to decry that the EU “mumbled yet again its inadequate position on Crimea” (Kommersant, May 23). In fact, Europe tries hard to demonstrate that the EaP has nothing to do with “spheres of influence” and exhibits no anti-Russian character (Carnegie.ru, May 21). […]
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