Putin flays US, mum on re-election bid Launched a scathing televised discussion critiquing US foreign policy

Moscow, Oct. 20: President Vladimir Putin launched one of his most stinging critiques of US foreign policy on Thursday, listing what he called some of the biggest betrayals in USRussia relations.

He declined to say if he would run for a fourth presidential term in an election set for March, though he is expected to stand after dominating Russian politics for 18 years.

Instead, he used a highprofile televised discussion with foreign academics in southern Russia to reach back to what he regards as the darkest days of US-Russia relations.

Opinion polls suggest that harsh rhetoric towards the West plays well with many Russian voters, who credit Mr Putin for restoring national pride and standing up to what they see as Western encroachment.

Asked by a Germanybased academic to identify what mistakes Moscow had made in its relations with the West, Mr Putin told the Valdai discussion forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi:

“Our biggest mistake was that we trusted you too much. You interpreted our trust as weakness and you exploited that.”

Visibly angry at times, Mr Putin cast Russia as righteousness having declared themselves the victors of the ‘Cold War,’” said Mr Putin.

“They started to openly interfere in the sovereign affairs of countries and to export democracy in the same way as in their time the Soviet leadership tried to export the Socialist revolution to the whole world.”

Mr Putin said US-Russia relations were in a lamentable state, referencing an “unprecedented” antiRussian campaign in the United States, the closure of Russian diplomatic facilities there and pressure on Russian media by US authorities. — AFP