In a quiet voice

The main goal of the TV interview was achieved: Putin again demonstrated to friends and enemies that he is “young and healthy” - he answered questions without hesitation, sprinkled in a heap of numbers and special terms from the field of construction, agriculture, etc. Without knowing these figures and facts, I cannot comment on the president’s words.

Was there any other content in these conversations with walkers (or rather, boners)?

Content is what Putin said (remained silent) when answering really pressing questions.

There were several such questions.

Eternal topics are corruption and “what will happen after oil.” The answer to both questions was a loud, prolonged emptiness. Corruption must be fought, the president said. Well, it would probably be nice... I would also like to understand who will do this? Will the vertical bend itself into a ram's horn?.. The President, however, made a joke about freedom of the media in this regard. Funny, but not very funny. It turns out better about the rape of women.

Regarding oil dependence, the president repeated into the microphone “Sesame - diversify.” Maybe it will work? Or maybe not - maybe the spirits don’t understand the tricky word.

However, for the sake of objectivity, it must be said that not only the president, but NOBODY in Russia can utter ANYTHING intelligible on these topics, except for good (though glowing from holes) slogans. By the way, as far as I understand, humanity does not know any examples of successful diversification of a resource-based economy, turning it into a high-tech one. So who should we take as a model in this matter?

But Putin’s tactics (strategy?) are clear. He knows what to do in some specific socio-economic matters, which he spoke about not without pleasure. Perhaps these are also utopias (automotive industry, benefits, forestry industry, etc.), perhaps there is something feasible here. In any case, here - perhaps - the authorities are able to influence something. What she does is worse or better.

As for general problems - corruption, infrastructure, raw materials or high-tech economy - here (and Putin made this clear with his verbose non-answer) the Kremlin cannot do anything. Well, maintain minimal financial discipline - that’s probably all. As for the rest... Time... It will form itself - or it will fall apart on its own. Life is smarter. Let it go as it goes. No matter how much you jump in the carriage, you know it’s going down the petrodollar rollercoaster - in a direction independent of your jumps. This is practicing Tolstoyanism, or extreme liberalism, or cynicism, or fatalism - whoever likes which definition is better. In any case - for my taste - it's better than unnecessary fuss.

It is better to do nothing (which is what Putin is doing) than to do nothing. And to calm the public, the president makes verbal passes... Position! He strokes the snorting horse - however, without the goal of jumping into the saddle, since he has no idea where to ride...

But God bless it, an economy as dark as oil. There were other, much lighter topics, actually political ones.

Georgia and nationalism.

Putin, in a calm voice (and here intonation is very important!) repeated what he said in Finland: we don’t need the Abkhazian coast, we don’t need Ossetia. Moreover, to his credit, he said a simple, human, but no less important thing. Namely: Russia is great and there is no need for it to grow into pieces of Abkhazia/South Ossetia! Absolutely.

These words, by the way, are of PRINCIPAL IMPORTANCE. Having told the banal, self-evident TRUTH, Putin suddenly opened the window of common sense. And a light breeze blew away all the “imperial dust” - in a second.

Putin not only did not use this stupid word “empire” himself, he simply TRAMPLED the “imperial dream” itself. WHAT... “empire”?! Is this to grab Abkhazia and Ossetia, or what?! No need for nothing! Empire... But imperial blah-blah has become almost obligatory on TV, it seemed that the whole people were actually trembling, they couldn’t eat or sleep without the Empire... And then the “failed emperor” blew - and the imperial bubble burst. So quietly, imperceptibly... However, the “imperialists” themselves continue to a) drone on, b) glorify Putin at the same time! Maybe they are right: what are words worth?

More than that. The president even said something completely unthinkable: let Georgia join NATO if it thinks it can protect itself that way. This is THEIR (Georgia!) business. That's it! Until now, the foreign policy of the Russian Federation has been based on the famous dialogue in the film “Beware of the Car”: “It’s his business!” - “No, OURS!” It turns out that it is not “ours” at all, but just “theirs”.

The only thing that worries the Russian Federation (and this, again, is absolutely CORRECT) is that there is no war, that Georgia does not attack Abkhazia-South Ossetia. But Saakashvili has already stated that he is not going to attack.

All: Well, NO more disagreements! It’s time to get behind Georgia and Abkhazia and “suddenly” realize that all of this actually doesn’t matter to us at all – it’s an invented topic, pulled out of thin air...

It would seem that this should be followed by an invitation to Georgia for negotiations in order to remove all the existing minor rough edges - since there are NO differences on fundamental issues. Let's say: the troops of the Russian Federation and Georgia leave Abkhazia, “blue helmets” are introduced in their place - here you have a complete guarantee that that same war will not happen. Well, no... Keep your pocket wider! Putin did NOT propose any PRACTICAL steps to regulate relations with Georgia.

Moral: Putin wants to keep his hands free. He is clean before the West - he confirmed the inviolability of borders. But the Russian Federation is not going to abandon the anti-Georgian campaign as a way to unite society so cheaply (for nothing). The Kremlin will continue to play this card – exclusively for internal use, of course.

The same applies to nationalism.

Putin leaves his hands free here too.

Thus, he showered compliments on the Georgian people – thereby eliminating the question of state “Georgian phobia”. It was said mildly about the “fool switchmen” who overdid it in the fight against the Georgians.

At the same time, the president again emphasized that it is necessary to “ensure the priority of the indigenous population of Russia” - but this was said so calmly and non-aggressively that it does not cause retaliatory rejection... Naturally, in every country, first of all, the rights of the “indigenous population” are ensured - although I I would still prefer to hear the more legally accurate “citizens of the country.”

There was also a question about fascism in Russia. And again Putin’s answer is such that it slips out of his hands. He said that we condemn it when other countries glorify the SS (obviously meaning the Baltic states), while in our own country...

And what, exactly, do we have ourselves?

We are not talking about completely sick “Untermenschs” with shaved heads, “playing Stirlitz” and “to spite the teacher” screaming “Heil, Hitler!” Putin knows very well that the problem lies elsewhere - in mass xenophobia, in the growth of completely Russian nationalism, “Russia for Russians”! But he said NOTHING about this - not a word.

True, nothing was said that could be considered as even indirect encouragement of Russian nationalism. Simply - there is no such problem. Well, she doesn’t exist – judging by TV. Even the citizens of Kondopoga did not squeeze out a sound about the national question. And so does the president in response. For citizens, there is no problem, and for the president, no.

And since there is a problem and Putin knows it better than anyone, the conclusion is simple. He doesn't want to take any position here. “Don’t wake him up while he sleeps quietly.” What if you've already woken up? And you... pretend that you are sleeping! "Deaf unconscious."

It is clear that a chauvinistic position for the president of a multinational country... and simply for the president of a modern European country is unthinkable by definition. But he also doesn’t want to speak AGAINST nationalism and xenophobia - why fight mass sentiment? And when there is nothing to say, all that remains is to remain silent. Which is what was done.

It is quite possible that the Kremlin is confident that they can turn the wick of nationalism as far as is convenient for them - up/down, with a simple turn of the wheel.

If they think so, then this is an exaggeration. Yes, the completely made-up “conflict with Georgia” or the imperial glitches of several crazy intellectuals can easily be inflated or deflated, as needed - these are all pseudo-problems. But nationalism is a very real thing, it lives not by order, but by its own separate life. Of course, here too the Kremlin has free rein... but it’s very relative.

In general, Putin’s speech was unusually “quiet” - soothing. Everything is going... slowly, but in the right direction. We are not gods, but we try – that’s roughly the motive.

Well, that's not bad. While oil prices remain the same and while those unnamed (“don’t wake up while he sleeps quietly”) nationalists are sitting relatively quietly by Putin.

And if... But “if” happens, then the authorities, apparently, really have nothing to say or do. Most authorities in the world probably think the same way...