Big Russian Smiles

To be fair, Dmitry Medvedev did exude a fair amount of charm on his US trip, perhaps the kind of charm we haven't seen before. My personal feeling is that it comes from his sincere sympathy for the US and President Obama. However, I hope the White House realizes that Medvedev's personal feelings will not be reflected in the Russian policies towards the US. Especially when Putin is formally back in Kremlin, which looks increasingly inevitable. The reality is this: If Russian rulers will have 5 rubles in front of them and a choice to spend it on feeding their own people or fighting the outside enemy (very likely, artificially created), they will always choose the latter.