This article is reproduced from Niu tanqin (ID: bullpiano) with authorization by Niu tanqin
Some seemingly inadvertent details often reveal the wind direction with other intentions.
After Gorbachev’s death, if you observe carefully, you will find Putin’s two very unusual moves.
The first move, after the news of his death was announced, Putin only said “deepest condolences” through a spokesman. It was not until the early morning of the next day (15 hours later) that he released a more detailed message of condolences.
You should know that before him, US President Biden, German Chancellor Scholz, British Prime Minister Johnson, French President macron, etc. all made very moving speeches, praising Gorbachev from various angles.
On the contrary, the Russian president needs 15 hours to prepare the words of mourning.
Putin’s belated attitude, you know.
The second move, the Kremlin has announced that Gorbachev’s funeral will be held on September 3, but “unfortunately”, Putin will go to Kaliningrad for inspection, so he will not participate.
You should know that when Yeltsin died in 2007, Putin immediately announced national mourning and, together with world leaders, attended the grand state funeral held in Moscow’s Christ the Redeemer cathedral.
But for Gorbachev, Putin did not even want to attend the funeral.
The so-called itinerary conflict, you know.
But was Putin rude?
It doesn’t seem to be rude.
Before his inspection trip to Kaliningrad, Putin took a bunch of bright red roses to the central clinical hospital to bid farewell to Gorbachev’s body.
The video shows Putin in a black suit silently walking to Gorbachev’s coffin, putting down the red roses in his hands, bowing to Gorbachev’s body, touching the edge of the coffin and drawing a cross on his chest.
I just don’t know, standing in front of Gorbachev’s coffin and looking at this once powerful leader, what exactly is Putin thinking?
Is it a high degree of certainty? Is it a deep regret? Or is it just quiet mourning?
However, in the telegram of condolence issued earlier, Putin, in addition to expressing his condolences, also commented that:
Mikhail Gorbachev was a politician and statesman who had a great impact on the process of world history. He led our country at a time of complex, dramatic changes and major foreign policy, economic and social challenges. He has a profound understanding of the necessity of reform and tries to propose his own solutions to solve urgent problems.
I would like to specifically mention Mikhail Gorbachev’s great humanitarian, charitable and educational work in recent years. Please accept once again my sincere sympathy and support for your loss.
If you compare the messages of condolence from Western leaders, you will find that.
1. Compared with Western leaders, Putin’s message of condolence is not one or two levels lower in recognizing Gorbachev’s historical contribution.
2. Putin stated the facts more in a neutral manner, such as “he led our country during the period of…” and “he has a profound understanding of the necessity of reform”, but did not explicitly say whether he succeeded or failed. I didn’t say this, but I did.
3. If you think carefully, what was Putin’s “our country” at that time? Soviet Union! The Soviet Union is “our country”. As the president of Russia, Putin has enough connotation.
4. Putin gave more affirmation to his charitable and educational contributions after Gorbachev stepped down. This is indeed ironic enough for Gorbachev.
Many of Putin’s inconvenient words were expressed more through his press secretary Peskov.
Peskov put it bluntly: Gorbachev is a very complex, multifaceted and often contradictory personality, Gorbachev’s personality. And it still sometimes causes very difficult debates in our society. But this is part of our history and will be recorded in history.
Therefore, don’t expect Putin to affirm Gorbachev like Western leaders, but don’t expect Putin to criticize Gorbachev regardless of etiquette.
Funerals are still necessary. Peskov disclosed that Gorbachev’s funeral will include some elements of the state funeral, and there will be a guard of honor at the scene.
But a state funeral like Yeltsin is definitely impossible. Putin will not attend because Western leaders will not be able to attend the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Of course, the relationship is different.
Yeltsin is Putin’s bole. Yeltsin finally took the initiative to abdicate and put Putin on the presidency. Gorbachev was Yeltsin’s political enemy. He was the last president of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union disintegrated during his term.
Putin has been deeply troubled by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Five years after assuming power in Russia, he once said bitterly: the disintegration of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.
As for Gorbachev, he once said, “he is a coward who throws power on the ground and lets some hysterical lunatics pick it up.”.
In Putin’s view, if the Soviet Union had not disintegrated, there would certainly have been no current Russian Ukrainian conflict, no fierce confrontation between Russia and Lithuania, Georgia and other countries, and no such strangulation of Russia and him by the West.
What is more interesting is that a leader of his own country and a leader of the West are all praising him, and they also use them to make various insinuations about Putin. It can be imagined how Putin will feel.
Therefore, it took me 15 hours to issue a very restrained message of condolence.
Therefore, I will not attend the funeral on September 3, and I will visit Kaliningrad.
This is Putin. The necessary etiquette will be followed, so before leaving, I went to the hospital to say goodbye to Gorbachev’s body and present a bunch of red roses; But there is no need to cover up your unhappiness. These two unusual actions have already explained everything.
But reality is reality. We all live in reality.
When asked why Gorbachev could not leave a clear impression on himself, Peskov replied: “this is because the process of history is sometimes stronger.”
You may as well consider the connotation of this sentence.
He then quoted Putin’s famous remark: “if you do not regret the collapse of the Soviet Union, you have no conscience; but if you still want to restore the Soviet Union, you have no mind.”
Among them, the five flavors are miscellaneous, and you can experience them in detail.