solarz
Brigadier
Incredibly naive. Just like how Xi Jinping thinks too well of Americans, Putin thinks too well of Europeans. How can you hope to improve relations with those who call you subhuman? Interestingly, the sources of hate are inverted in these two scenarios.
The hospitality shown to Xi Jinping by the Iowa family hosting him is not representative of the hatred for Red China held by the elites. Vice versa, the lip service European leaders pay for cheap resources is not representative of their populace seeing Russians as orcs to be exterminated.
LOL, anyone who thinks Putin is naive would do well to check their ego. We're talking about someone who eliminated Prigozhin the moment the threat of a mutiny has passed.
At the end of the day, the political and economic centre of Russia is in Europe, and that's where the majority of their interests lie. It would be much more foolish of Putin to appear belligerent to such an important aspect of Russia's foreign policy.