Speaking at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin talked of leading a flock of birds and got in a veiled dig at voters who spurned him.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vladivostok September 9.
Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
EnlargeThis year's Russian-hosted summit?of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation?(APEC) wrapped up in Vladivostok Sunday, with leaders of the 21-member Pacific Rim group ??which accounts for 40 percent of the world's trade ??pledging to promote freer?regional commerce as a buffer against a lingering global crisis and financial woes in the?Eurozone.
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The host, President Vladimir Putin, declared the week-long meeting a complete?success. "We managed not only to preserve the continuity of APEC activities, but to set?new horizons and most importantly give a positive signal to business circles," he told the?final news conference Sunday.
But, in an odd aside, Mr. Putin managed to overshadow the event's serious?achievements and add to an already huge compendium of Putin lore?by likening Russia's?citizenry to a flock of birds.
He was responding to a question about the overwhelmingly derisive public reaction to?his televised PR stunt last week, in which he dressed up like an endangered Siberian crane, mounted a motorized?hang glider, and led a group of the captivity-raised birds onto their correct migratory?path.
Among the multitude of jokes that spawned in the wake of that performance was TV?hostess and opposition leader Ksenia Sobchak's jibe that actually "only 63 percent of the?cranes followed him" ??the same percentage that voted for Putin in March presidential?polls.
Putin's response instantly lit up the Russian Internet, and will probably have commentators scratching their?heads for at least the next few days: "Indeed, not all of the cranes followed me. Only the?weak ones didn't follow," he said, leaving little doubt that he was working with Ms.?Sobchak's metaphor.
"There are certain birds that do not fly in flocks," he went on. "They prefer to nest?separately.... Even if they are not members of the flock, they are members of our?population, and they have to be treated carefully ??of course, to the extent that this is?possible."
Big plans for Siberia
Aside from that, Putin could rightly claim the Vladivostok summit as a major impetus?for Russia's efforts to turn itself into a key economic and political player in the Far East.
Among other things, he pledged that Russia ??which finally joined the World Trade?Organization in August ??will promote Asian free trade, build an array of infrastructure?projects in Siberia to facilitate the flow of Russian raw materials eastward, and create?road, rail, pipeline, and sea links that will make Russian territory the main corridor for?trade between Europe and the Far East.
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