Vladimir Putin's visit to Türkiye in early December 2004 produced sharp anti-Western rhetoric, but his remarks also carried an implicit concession: Russia had lost its bid to shape the outcome of Ukraine's contested presidential election.
After weeks of insisting the original results, which favored the Kremlin-backed candidate, were legitimate, Putin said Moscow was ready to work with any leader Ukrainian voters chose. A supreme court ruling had ordered a fresh runoff, effectively settling the matter against Russia's preferred outcome.
Moscow-based analyst Dmitry Trenin of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace attributed Putin's sharpened tone to political frustration. He said Russia had handled the crisis through a narrow Kremlin circle and used tactics that drove the opposition candidate closer to the West rather than neutralizing him.
Trenin also pointed to a structural factor: Washington and Brussels regard Russia as unable to integrate into the Western community and potentially dangerous, leading them to build a buffer of aligned states along Russia's borders.
Still, Trenin expected continued cooperation on energy and counterterrorism. Ukraine was unlikely to join the EU soon and would have to maintain practical ties with Moscow. If Ukraine were eventually to join NATO, however, that would deepen the east-west divide considerably.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in December 2004, in its own words.