When he’s not combating suspicion for meddling in another nation’s election or astride a horse while shirtless, Russian President Vladimir Putin also finds time to pen essays in the western media.
His latest foray just appeared in Bloomberg. In it the Russian president lauds the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum which is set to take place in Danang, Vietnam this week.
The piece is a pretty dry affair, and mostly reiterates bland platitudes on the value of international cooperation and how he hoped APEC could help Russia with a number of strategic goals.
“I am confident that, acting together, we will find solutions to the challenge of supporting the steady, balanced and harmonious growth of our shared region, and securing its prosperity. Russia is ready for such a collaborative effort,” he writes.
During his nearly two decades ruling Russia, Putin has cast a controversial shadow. His leadership has rejuvenated the country after the fall of Communism and its immediate aftermath, but he has also been connected to the murder of journalists and international aggression in the region.
Most recently, U.S. intelligence agencies accused his government of trying to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
It’s not the fist time Putin’s unfiltered views have been published in western media. In 2013, the autocrat also wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times urging caution in the U.S. approach to the Syrian civil war.
“This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners,” Bloomberg wrote at the bottom of the piece in their typical — but unusually necessary — disclaimer.
The piece also includes a way to contact Putin himself.
If you’d like to email the Russian president, he can be reached at en.letters.kremlin.ru.