At the G20 summit last Saturday (Nov. 21), virtually hosted by Saudi Arabia, Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to play the role of a wise statesman charting a course of cautious moderation in tumultuous times of economic spasms and pandemic. His advertising of the Russian vaccine was perhaps not entirely convincing but generally in tune with the sober attention he paid to the new coronavirus wave during a special government meeting days earlier. He had sternly instructed Russia’s governors not to hide the real scale of the disaster; and official statistics duly registered a moderate increase in infection rates, which still remain suspiciously lower than independently gathered evidence might suggest. His attempt to show that the situation remains under firm control, while denying responsibility for apparent breakdowns of the Russian healthcare system in many regions, is characteristic of Putin’s reserved leadership style—which may, perhaps, have become even more cautious in recent months due to his protracted self-isolation.
OP-ED
Pavel Baev: Rediscovered moderation a poor fit for Putinist policy
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on the epidemiological situation in the country, via teleconference call at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on May 22, 2020.
