Page 26 - RusRPTJan21

2.7 ​ ​Putin says Russia is more “white and fluffy” than the west (Nato expansion)
Putin defended Russia's aggressive policies against the west at his annual press conference on December 17 by highlighting the Kremlin’s concern over the US ongoing unilateral dismantling of key Cold War security arrangements that Moscow takes as acts of aggression, with more than some justification.
The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg asked Putin if Russia does not bare some of the responsibility for some of the bad relations that plague Russia’s foreign relations these days, or if it is actually “white and fluffy,” using a common Russian idiom that means “honest and innocent.”
"Now, about us being white and fluffy. Compared to you, yes, it is a fact, we are white and fluffy because we agreed to release from an unequivocal Soviet dictate those countries and nations that wanted to develop independently. We heard your assurances that NATO won’t expand to the East but you didn’t keep your promises," the Russian leader responded.
As ​bne IntelliNews​ has reported, the historical record now shows clearly that at least half a dozen senior European diplomats and heads of state promised Gorbachev there would be no NATO expansion eastwards as proven by documents released in 2018.
The president noted that those were not written guarantees but verbal promises, yet emphasised that none of them were kept as a result.
26 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ January 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com