Silent Cold War

Vladimir Putin continues to send messages to the West that Russia is back in the game of direct confrontations. The erstwhile KGB 'guy' seems not to have forgotten and not ready to forget the power that USSR's greatness gave him and his fellows. Throughout the years of Dmitry Medvedev as Russian President, Russia had limited direct confrontations. They were years of reset.

The granting of citizenship to Gerard Depardieu is a message to France that Russia is no joke in the next five years. Tax in Russia compared to the US and France is better. Russia is 39%, the US is 45% while France is 75%. Depardieu expressed his thanks to his new compatriots in letter published in the media, in which he praised the cultural, social and political virtues of his new home and vowed to learn Russian.

Depardieu initially considered three countries to move to: Belgium, where he had just bought a house, Montenegro, where he has friends and some businesses, and Russia. 

French politicians mocked Depardieu’s plans as an unbelievably “foolish thing”.  The Prime Minster called Depardieu`s decision to leave France "pathetic".