The world did not flinch from the speech of the President of Russia at the economic forum
Although the organizers of the World Economic Forum in Davos regularly send out invitations to all the heads of important states, Vladimir Putin has not spoken there since 2009, apparently believing that a similar forum in St. Petersburg is more suitable for broadcasting his ideas and goals. But now the 12-year silence has been broken – on January 27, our president spoke online at the big Davos meeting.
There are, apparently, two reasons for this. First, there was an opportunity to make a policy statement to the Western world, and this did not require complex organizational actions, as, for example, for participation in the G20. Second, Russia wants and must remind its friends and adversaries that it exists and should be taken into account. In a pandemic environment, there are few opportunities for this, and Davos is far from the best platform, but there is not much to choose from.
When the speech was first announced, many political experts expected that there would be something like a second "Munich speech", but this did not happen. Well, I did. Well, they listened. And silence in the air, no one is thrown out of the windows of skyscrapers.
Photo: kremlin.ru
The reason for such a quiet perception of the head of one of the most important countries in the world, probably, is that the speech in each section consisted of omissions. For example, comparing the current situation in the world with the thirties of the last century, he recalled that the cause of the Second World War was largely the humiliated position of Germany after the signing of the Peace of Versailles. The losing side in the Cold War was Russia, which was also humiliated by the Western victors. It would be logical to continue the association until 1945 and to the fate of the second time humiliated by the defeat of Germany, but no-Putin does not see such a fate for the new Russia. Why, then, would you go back to your memories?
Similarly with the social stratification of society. Vladimir Vladimirovich strictly pointed out to the United States that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, but did not finish this thought with the phrase that the situation in Russia is at least no better. Calling on all countries to act as a united front in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, it would probably be worth saying specifically how many millions of doses of the vaccine Russia is ready to provide free of charge to those countries that are unable to buy it. But no – again, just a general concern.
In my opinion, the most interesting part of the speech was the one that was addressed specifically to Europe. It is possible that this is why the whole performance was started.
"The major political figures of Europe in the recent past spoke about the need to develop relations between Europe and Russia, pointing out that Russia is part of Europe. And geographically, what is most important in the cultural sense of the word, in fact-it is one civilization. The French leaders spoke about the need to create a single space from Lisbon to the Urals. I believe, and I also said this, why to the Urals? Until Vladivostok, " Putin said, adding at the end that the love of Russia and Europe can only be mutual, otherwise there is no way.
Now it is pointless to talk about a single economic space in the length of all of Eurasia, although if the global hegemony of the United States suddenly crumbles, such a union can become a salvation for the world and an alternative to Chinese expansion. Let's assume that Vladimir Putin is starting to move in this direction, slowly opening the window of Overton and teaching Europeans to think that sooner or later they will have to merge with Russia in a love rush. Why not?
Alexey Peskov
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue No. 4 (867) for February 2, 2021
