LONDON — As the leaders of the G7 countries meet in St. Petersburg this week I hope they will have another look into the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is five years since U.S. President George W. Bush looked into those eyes and claimed to be able to see Putin's soul, which he found to be "straightforward and trustworthy."
Since Russia joined the Group of Seven and made it the Group of Eight, Putin's behavior has been raising more and more questions as to whether or not Russia should continue to be a member of this country club for the rich. Many people have been calling for Russia to be thrown out, chiefly because "straightforward and trustworthy" are not the words that spring to mind when evaluating Putin's activities and speeches over the last five years.
He described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century — largely because it left tens of millions of Russian citizens and countrymen stranded in the country's former colonies.