Everything he’s doing now needs to be viewed through this lens.

Via The Independent (4/26/05):

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President, has put his Western critics on notice that his country will develop democracy at its own pace and will not tolerate any outside interference, let alone a “velvet revolution”.

Delivering his annual state of the nation address yesterday, Mr Putin appeared to be directly addressing his critics, notably the United States, which has accused him of backsliding on democracy and being too authoritarian.

Speaking two days ahead of an expected verdict in the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oil tycoon seen as a robber baron by some and as a political prisoner by others, Mr Putin was obviously trying to forestall any criticism later this week. Mr Khodorkovsky’s case has become a PR nightmare for the Kremlin, which is accused of staging a show trial purportedly designed to punish the outspoken businessman for his opposition to the President.

Mr Putin therefore went out of his way to extol the virtues of democracy and talk up Russia’s potential for foreign investment. He lamented, however, the collapse of the USSR in 1991, calling it “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe”. […]

The speech

* “The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geo-political catastrophe of the century. And for the Russian people, it became a real drama. Tens of millions of our citizens found themselves outside the Russian Federation…”

* Russia “will decide for itself the pace, terms and conditions of moving towards democracy”.

* “Any unlawful methods of struggle … for ethnic, religious and other interests contradict the principles of democracy.”

* “In past years we have taken several major steps in the fight against terror. But … the threat is still very strong. We are taking very painful blows. Criminals are still committing dreadful acts with the aim of intimidating society.”