I think Vladimir Putin, because of all of his experiences, has a real fear about being - about NATO being on his borders. He's always had that.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
You don't have to be a brilliant historian to know that in Europe, messing with countries' borders, messing with their self-determination, their ability to choose their own futures, this is extremely dangerous, and that's why I think it is important to stand up to Putin.
Russia is a part of European culture. Therefore, it is with difficulty that I imagine NATO as an enemy.
NATO was built to counteract the Soviet Union in its day and time. At this point there is no threat coming from the Soviet Union, because there is no Soviet Union anymore. And where there was the Soviet Union once, there is now a number of countries, among them the new and democratic Russia.
Putin is playing the long game. He has a strategic plan in mind: the Eurasian Union, which would be in competition to Europe.
Russia - having sat across the table from Vladimir Putin, it's pretty clear when you meet him that he has an almost limitless ambition for power. And he's been very good at acquiring it - political power, economic power, military power, territorial power.
Putin probably, almost certainly, thinks that one of the great disasters of the 20th century was the demise of the Soviet Union. It's very obvious that he's trying to work its way back and maintain something similar to that sort of institution.
Stalin's policies pushed the world into the Cold War. Putin has the potential to be equally as dangerous.
Our military might is the guarantor of Russia's security and independence.
NATO has been a thread throughout my life.
Well, we are very glad that Russia is so close with NATO.