Pavel K. Baev: The futility of dialogue with Putin

The need to keep the channels of dialogue open with an unpredictable Russia is taken as an absolute imperative by many Western politicians. But they are often surprised when this tactic backfires. The foreign ministers of the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held talks, on May 19-20, in preparation for the July summit in Warsaw. They agreed to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in order to clear any possible misunderstandings with Moscow on the decisions to be taken (Kommersant, May 21). However, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was quite upset by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's undiplomatically rude, negative response (RIA Novosti, May 20). Stoltenberg certainly understands Moscow's need to express its displeasure over Montenegro's accession to the Alliance, which confirms that NATO enlargement continues (Gazeta.ru, May 19). Yet, it is apparently a surprise that the Russian government sees no point in talking if there is no opportunity to exploit splits in the West's unity-or to score points for President Vladimir Putin.