Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Putin: Russia will respond to NATO Black Sea presence

Vladimir Putin has told journalists in Tashkent that Russia will respond to what he called "the build-up of the NATO grouping in the Black Sea", but "without any kind of hysteria", Interfax reports. When asked what kind of measures were involved, he said only: "You'll find out."

Putin also claimed that European leaders have begun to use the word “regime” when referring to the Georgian government. “This tends to suggest that it is not a democratic state, but a regime of personal power, the nature of which is in need of examination. Clearly, there is nothing democratic about it,” he is reported as saying.

Sarkozy was, however, apparently using the French word "régime" in its neutral sense of "government". So Putin "misunderstood".

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