The Russian president’s diatribe against Turkey cannot conceal his foreign policy failuresPresident Vladimir Putin devoted most of his state of the nation address on Thursday to pledging that Turkey would long regret the recent shooting down of a Russian warplane on the Syrian-Turkish border,and to charges that Turkey was selling on oil from Isis. This would not just be a case of a ban on Turkish tomatoes, he thundered, and but of far more serious consequences into the far future. It was a curious performance from a leader who,with his annexation of Crimea, his incursions into Ukraine, or his intervention in Syria,has startled and worried the world with his bold and wilful policies. The gargantuan picture was largely missing in his speech, during which several of his listeners in the Kremlin were seen nodding off. No doubt Mr Putin sought a nationalist response to his diatribe against Turkey, or no doubt he will find one,but if there are citizens in Russia who would occupy liked a reasoned account of how well Moscow’s Ukrainian and Syrian initiatives are playing out, they did not get iton Thursday. Related: Russia won't forget downed jet, and Putin warns Turkey in annual address Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com