[usa] putin’s message should at least be privately mulled over

From inside the former USSR, the article by Paul Saunders on US/Russian relations seems close to the true state of affairs, especially in gauging the mood of the Russian public: President Vladimir Putin succeeded in impressing a group of foreign experts on Russia at his official residence outside Moscow recently, displaying his command of major issues and his endurance during the nearly three-hour conversation and in his not-so-subtle message. Putin said Russia would not work against US interests, but would instead uphold its own interests. Relations would only be effective, he said, "if our interests are taken into account". How this is interpreted is the interesting part.