Peter Lavelle writes an insightful article on President Medvedev’s State of the Union address on Wednesday November 5th.
Here’s the link to Peter’s article.
As Sergey on one of the forums so succintly put it, Medvedev was basically saying:
Guys, there are red lines. One of them was crossed, and there was a war which we had to fight. You are about to cross another line, and here is our answer. We don’t won’t to fight another war over this line, so please hear us. If you hear us, and want to talk business, please come back, we would be happy to work together. But… did I mention there were red lines?
or to put it in my words:
Enough already. We want to turn the page but we also will remind you that if you guys continue to insist on playing these Cold War games we will not back down…. your move Obama.
Here’s a link to a translation of key moments in Medvedev’s speech.
Here’s the first 2 paragraphs of Peter’s article. Click link above to read full article:
Peter Lavelle
November 6th, 2008
http://www.peterlavelle.com/
On November 5 two important events happened almost simultaneously – Barack Obama became US president-elect and Russian President Dmirty Medvedev addressed his country’s Federal Assembly for the first time. Obama stated that he would pursue a foreign policy that respected America’s partners. Medvedev said (and I am paraphrasing) “don’t tread on Russia.” Was this the wrong way for Medvedev to turn the page in Russia-US relations? I don’t think. Let me explain.
Western broadsheets slammed Medvedev for not congratulating Obama on his great and historical victory. Why would Medvedev do this? He was addressing a joint session of the Russian parliament. I may be wrong but I don’t remember an American president stopping the State of Union address to convey a message of congratulation to any world leader. Why would an American president to that? The US president addresses the Congress and the American people with that speech. (Note: three hours after the address Medvedev did sent a telegram to Obama congratulating him on his victory)……..
