Subscribe RSSA Medium One analyst, Mikhail Leontiev, described him as “not an expert” on Russia.
As Russia’s presidential elections way, the criticisms by Lavrov and the TV program were in a sense elaborations on remarks made earlier by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that Russia has to undertake its proper role in shaping world affairs. That almost inevitably means sparring with the United States.
But after a year of popularized uprisings in the Arab world, which Russia has taken a very dim view of, Moscow has become especially sensitive to American support for civil camaraderie, an unfettered Internet , and what Putin calls “exporting democracy.” Some Russian officials have suggested that the Joint States helped to sponsor the protests that Russia experienced in December.
The TV program, which was broadcast Tuesday night, specifically linked McFaul to what it sarcastically referred to as “revolt” in Russia. That day, he had met with a group of opposition figures, including Yevgenia Chirikova, who led the effort to try to save the Khimki Forest shell Moscow from road construction and has become a leader of the political protests here.
