Putin has been racking up the airmiles this last few weeks. By my count, he’s been to:
- Ukraine – where he endorsed Yanukovich as his choice for
GovernorPresident - Chile – were he announced details about the first Chilean Cosmonaut.
- Brazil – where he tried to sell some airplanes.
- India – where he supported Indian claims to a permanent veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council
- Turkey – where he pleased by an "independent foreign policy"
In between times, he’s also managed to pop back to Moscow to entertain a few select world leaders:
- Ukraine’s President Kuchma – who went home with support for his handling of Ukraine’s botched election
- Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez – who went home with a bundle of MiGs and a "strategic alliance" with Russia.
- Iraq’s Prime Minister Iyad Allawi – who went home with $8bn of written off loans and the bad news that he was wasting his time with the January elections.
Phew. Hope I didn’t miss anything.
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