Putin dampens Sarko's party

Afternoon update from the Kremlin:

Sarko's version of his bonding session with the master of Russia (last post) was a little implausible but we didn't expect to have it deflated so quickly. Vladimir Putin has just came out before us with President Sarkozy in the Catherine's Hall and contradicted the French president's claim that he had come round on Iran's nuclear programme. On top of that, his cold tones and stiff body language made a mockery of Sarkozy's voluble mateyness towards "my dear Vladimir".

Putin said nothing to substantiate Sarkozy's claim last night on Iran. "We do not have information that Iran is trying to create a nuclear weapon," said Putin. "We operate on the principle that Iran does not have those plans." There was nothing new on Kosovo and and only diplomatic banalities on the rest.

The pair offered a slice of political theatre as they stood side-by-side at white wooden lecterns, both in dark blue suits. Under the spectacular blue and white dome, the short dark-haired man on the left gesticulated and smiled as he talked of the "very fascinating, very positive" sessions in which Putin and he had opened up to one another. The short pale-haired man on the right never smiled and occasionally winced at all Sarkozy's bonhomie as he offered his critical advice to Russia. The wince grew to a frown when Sarko said that he had invited Dear Vladimir to make France his first foreign visit as ex-President next year. French and Russian journalists were not allowed to ask more than four pre-arranged questions, so it was hardly a news conference. 

Sarkozy the super-salesman delivered a more convincing performance this morning at the Bauman University, Russia's elite technology and engineering establishment. Fielding questions from a theatre full of students, he vaunted the merits of independent justice and a free press to a generation that has become suspicious of "western" democracy.

"Build a democratic society in Russia and the world will be grateful," he said. "The last 20 years of history have not spared you," he said, talking of the upheavals that came with the collapse of Soviet rule. "But it is important to understand this history and not try to avenge it."

There was some mockery and jeering when Sarkozy responded to a question about his shift towards the Americans. "I am a friend of the United States, but friend does not mean vassal," he said. "I have disagreements with the United States. The world cannot be ruled over by one power, even the main one."

In answer to a question about a Russian billionaire who was briefly detained by French police on prostitution charges last winter, Sarko seized the occasion to say that French judges were independent. "In my country, every branch of power is accountable and no-one is above the law. It is so much better to live in a democracy."

Putin was not there, but no doubt he was briefed on his new friend's swipes at his regime.

[Picture is Putin driving Sarko around his country house grounds in his Mercedes last night. There weren't so many smiles today]

Comments

[Ros]

Here's the latest photo taken of Sarko at 15H18 (he certainly does look much more gloomy than yesterday!)http://www.france-soir.fr/reuters/show/article/2007-10-10T131808Z_01_CHE047858_RTRIDST_0_OFRTP-FRANCE-RUSSIE-SARKOZY-DROITS-DE-LHOMME-20071/image/2007-10-10T133052Z_01_NOOTR_RTRIDSP_0_OFRTP-FRANCE-RUSSIE-SARKOZY-DROITS-DE-LHOMME-20071

[Frank Schnittger]

Scary. Sarkozy acts like a child playing with adults who doesn't understand the nuamces of the conversation: the winces, the lack of smiles, the lack of reciprocal warmth. A sort of poor man's Clinton, except that Clinton was much smarter than that. I hope he doesn't visit Burma because he would soon be doing "high fives" with the Burmese Junta.

[J. Russell]

Sarkozy and others need to wake up, smell the coffee and realize what type of politician Putin really is. Communism is alive and well in Russia and it is still out to destroy the West. And if that means buddying up with Islam, then so be it.

[rocket]

What is this up and close act that Sarkozy puts on?

"my dear Vladimir", Bear Hugging Angela, practically tongue kissing Bush. etc. All this tactile manoeuvering will stop in time when Sarkozy realizes that it has limited effect on his attempts to soften up world leaders as a prelude in order that they see things his way. It also diminishes the seriousness of a major world leader.

Given what the press is saying about his personal life, he may need a hug, himself.

Charles did you see that there was a cabinet meeting yesterday morning at 7:30 in the morning? I saw pics of it and outside the sky was still black, the sun hadn't even risen yet! What is this impression they are trying to give. That they are really dynamic and workaholics. That they are going to change centuries of behavior in 6 months.

PS. Charles you published a picture in your post "France's incredible victory" If you look carefully at the picture you will notice that the man carrying the ball is none other than Sarkozy himself.

[azloon]

i must have logged on an instant or two after the first blog story appeared, and my first thought was, uh-oh, sarko has opened his pie hole a little too much and a little too fast, hence my comment quoting curley from city slickers.

in rugby terms, sarko vs. putin is a little like the americans vs. anyone else. i don't think sarko quite gets that vlad eats guys like him for breakfast.

[JackieZ]

Je crois que notre cher Président is making a bit of a fool of himself. I wonder if, for all his brilliance, is is not a little naif to think that he can fly in an turn around Putin with a mixture of charm offensive and criticism.

[christopher muir]

Were I a French citizen, my fear would be that Sarkozy is severely infected by the pernicious celebrity bug. His appearances with foreign leaders have a kind of crass Hollywood "Gee, I 'm here with him/her, please look at me" feel to them. Curiously, he may be a president who is also, of all things, a groupie. This could provide political scientists with fresh, fertile ground for analysis. God knows how he would cope with, say, Ahmadinejad if they were ever to meet. I suspect that such an encounter would be full of surprises.

[textibule]

While I never was a great admirer of Sarkozy's, I really did believe he was the first French politician in a LONG time to say things that didn't sound exactly like every other French politician.

And I did give him credit (still do) for single-handedly changing Frenchpersonne's driving habits from stark mad to almost reasonable.

So I bought into his plea that he was the one to reform that which seems unreformable.

Now, it looks like he's the goofy smart kid who can't open his mouth without a 1000 eyes rolling to the ceiling.

At least he didn't give Angela Merkel a backrub, but yeah, vlad could eat him for breakfast.

Very embarrassing

[Blendi Progri]

Let`s give Sarko some time; Putin is at the end of his mandate, S. just started it, one needs time to look like a stateman.

He`s a tad naive on international stage, but will grow out of it.

[Antoine Delord]

Mr Bremner - there is a clear explanation for Putin's change of mood between his two meetings with Sarko, and it is the latter's comments at the Bauman university. It's a pity that you don't make this link appear clearly here, prefering to depict Sarko as an over-excited schoolboy who got scolded by the older bully (Le Monde does put things in the right context: http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3232,36-965722,0.html). I think Sarko should get some credit for speaking so bluntly on Russian soil, which no other western leader has done before...

[Yes you are right, Antoine, I didn't really give Sarkozy credit for speaking out on human rights and the rest. I was really questionng his strategy. Knowing that the only thing that counts in Russia is force, he didn't really have any bargaining chips. He appealed to Putin's good nature, which was a big mistake. And on le Monde, I think we are in agreement. Nathalie, their correspondent, is an old friend and we talked it through in the Kremlin. CB]

[Bluto]

Sarko reminds me of a dreadful account handler I knew when I was an adman - always cosying up and being matey with senior clients, oblivious to the fact that they thought he was a loathsome little squirt and tolerated him out of politeness and/or expediency, whilst doing the real business over his head with people they respected.

[rocket]

From Le Monde

"M. Sarkozy avait décidé en outre de rencontrer des représentants des ONG. Or ces organisations non gouvernementales sont la bête noire de M. Poutine car elles restent à peu près les seules institutions en Russie que le Kremlin ne contrôle pas."

Yeh right. 30 minutes of a meeting on the fly. Lip service.

I still ask where's the beef?

From le Monde also

"M. Sarkozy avait cru déceler, au premier soir de sa visite, mardi 9 octobre, des "convergences" avec M. Poutine, en particulier sur l'Iran et le Kosovo. Il lui a fallu déchanter."

Sarkozy "décele" also 3% growth for France in 2008 qu'il va chercher.

Yeh, right. Why couldn't Sarkozy have waited until the next morning instead of announcing to the world that there was "peace in our time"

When push comes to shove let's see where he stands.

[rocket]

Bluto.

He does that to try to break down resistance. Unfortunately he doesn't realize that not everyone in the world is like the French who liked their fur stroked in the right direction.

[Antoine Delord]

Charles - you're absolutely right, Sarkozy's odd "mélange des genres" backfired, and it can be argued that he made a tactical mistake by making this plea for democracy in Russia after trying to secure Putin's support on Iran's nuclear programme. You don't do good realpolitik with nice principles, to loosely paraphrase Gide...

[azloon]

somehow julie delphy and vlad putin don't quite fit together (tho with her libido, and his bare chest, maybe they could), but i can't help it that her movie, 'a weekend in paris,' unexpectedly arrrived in prescott, az (la fin de la monde) this week.

a friend and i were the only ones in the theatre (a multiplex), tho i think the snackbar guy may have snuck in for a few minutes becasue we once or twice heard someone else laughing, but the theatre was empty when the lights went on.

delphy may have tried to do too much: writing, directing, acting, writing/singing music. the movie was occasionally very funny, sometimes farfetched and a bit aimless. production values were not very high. i think i'll re-rent 'before sunset' to restore my favorable image of her.

[John Gregory Flinn]

I'm just getting a hint - only a whiff - that M.Sarkozy is out of his depth in these affairs of State....
I hope BLENDI PROGRI is right and he will grow into the job, otherwise the French establishment are going to have a field day - as DANIEL STROHL alludes to in a previous post.

However Russia is not to be underestimated. China and India are the favourites for Global economic superpowers, but Kerensky's brief fledgling democracy in 1917 was, by all accounts quite extraordinary.
It seems to be a bit of habit for the West to lecture others about democracy, perhaps this is what irritates President Putin.

[azloon]

i would say this was a mixed week for sarko. a bit of a comeuppance at the franco-russian discussions, but the extrordinarily good news that his wife is on the verge of leaving him.

i think the following, from the timesonline story on the imminent divorce (which i am certain CB is following closely), says all that needs saying about this marriage:

"1984 The couple met when Nicolas, then mayor of Neuilly officiated at Cécilia’s first marriage, to Jacques Martin, a French TV personality"

some folks just have a knack for picking the wrong person, and in totally inappropriate circumstances. sarko/ceci fits this bill.

as i've remarked before, sarko now has his 'pick of the litter.' let's hope he takes advantage of this.

[Juliette]

Just because tonight is soooooo important, I thought you should read this post by a French blogger, on the History of rugby - and the French-English antagonism:
http://www.maitre-eolas.fr/2007/10/13/747-devine-qui-vient-diner-ce-soir
I love the "Swing Low, Swing Chariot"

[azloon]

Juliette --

great link!!

i was hoping to discover that a choir of french broke into "swing low, sweet chariot" (unlikely) but anyone singing it, for any reason, is good.

i think i've posted before that my francophile mama sang "swing low, sweet chariot" to me when i was a young boy before i went to sleep each night. fond memory. i would fly to europe to hear a rugby crowd sing that wonderful spiritual.

i am about to leave for a sports bar in phoenix where i will cheer on les bleus.

[Maggie G]

"I would fly to europe to hear a rugby crowd sing that wonderful spiritual."

Azloon, I'm not so sure you would appreciate hearing it sung by a football crowd. What for us North Americans is a beautiful spiritual is a roudy football song for the Brits. Not sung in the same manner AT ALL!! I sometimes wonder if they even realize that it started out as a beautiful spiritual.

[azloon]

Maggie -- i should have suspected. well, then, i hope they have little reason to butcher it tonite.