Putin issues veiled warning to east Europe

President Vladimir Putin of Russia issues a veiled warning today to Poland and other east European states that they risk “creating fresh division lines in Europe” by treating Moscow as an enemy instead of a long-term strategic partner.

Mr Putin, writing in the Financial Times, suggests that some in Europe try to fit European Union-Russia relations into “the obsolete model of friend or foe”. He argues that there should be nothing to fear from growing interdependence between the two sides. Although he does not mention Poland by name, the Russian president clearly has the country in his sights, along with the seven other former communist countries that joined the EU in 2004 and regard Moscow with suspicion.
Financial Times