The Week In Russia: Hunger Games: Putin’s Big Appetite For A Seat At The Table

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The Week In Russia: Hunger Games: Putin’s Big Appetite For A Seat At The Table
Steve Gutterman

Tasty Morsels

Vladimir Putin is sometimes portrayed as ravenous: a hungry wolf on the ragged edge of Europe, about to descend diagonally down the map and devour what’s in his path.

But throughout his years in power, and particularly over the last few, some of Russia’s actions abroad suggest that despite a prodigious appetite, he’s a picky eater. Or at least a wary one, usually trying not to bite off more than he can chew -- though not always succeeding.

He can also be something of a scavenger, nosing around for what he might call a “tasty morsel” -- words he used when he basically blamed the West for the Beslan school attack in 2004 -- and jumping when he sees an opening but backing off, if only to circle and wait for another chance when he senses that the price may be too high.

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Libyan opposition leader Khalifa Haftar (left) meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow in 2017.

Read more at: https://www.rferl.org/a/the-week-in-russia-hunger-games-putin-s-big-appetite-for-a-seat-at-the-table/29877736.html