Gesture =うわべだけのそぶり

 

「NATOの東方拡大がプーチンを刺激した」という都市伝説がいつまでも繰り返されるが、そういう人は2000年にロンドンをおとずれたプーチンが「いつかロシアもNATOに加盟したい」とインタビューで言ったことを知ってるのかな。https://t.co/MxpGHYrCuc

— 池田信夫 (@ikedanob) February 26, 2022

おもしろいな、と思ったけど・・・読んでみると・・・どうなんだろうねえ。

。Acting Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an unexpected gesture to the West, suggested in a television interview today that Russia would consider joining NATO if the Western alliance agreed to treat Russia as an equal partner.

ジェスチャーだからね。

 an action that expresses your feelings or intentions, although it might have little practical effect:

(意思表示としての)行為、(思わせぶりな)言動、(うわべだけの)そぶり

記事ではうわべだけの素振りとして捉えられている。記事の後半では、

NATO attacked Yugoslavia last spring, the Russian military and political leadership reacted with anger and bitterness, freezing the relationship. When the fighting ended, Russia further aggravated NATO by sending its soldiers into Kosovo ahead of NATO peacekeepers.

While tensions have eased, Russian officials expressed irritation that a recent NATO meeting was held in Ukraine, and Russian officials have steadfastly opposed NATO inclusion of any former Soviet republics, some of which have expressed interest in joining.

Putin's statement on NATO drew immediate reaction at home. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, a presidential candidate, said it is "naive and unpardonable for a politician of his level" to make such a statement. 

　プーチンの安易な発言がロシアのエリートたちの反発を食らっている様が記述されている。 

　テレグラフのインタビュー受けてたロシア研究家が、ロシアのある世代の人達は西欧をきらってはいない、と・・・まあ、西欧と中国でどっちが文化的親近感があるか、といえば、それや西欧だわなああ。

　他方、西欧に対して神経症的な被害者意識もあるんだろうなああ。

　文化の話と戦略の話は違うけど、しかし、そうした複合的な心理＝コンプレックスが、NATOとの関係も微妙で複雑なものしているんじゃないかね？

表向きの発言を取り上げて、

Why does Russia want to block Ukraine from joining Nato?

Russian leader vehemently opposed to neighbouring state signing up to western military alliance

Joe Sommerlad

To address those anxieties, the Nato-Russia Founding Act was signed in 1997, a political agreement explicitly stating that: “Nato and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries.”

The formation of the Nato-Russia Council followed in 2002.

But Mr Putin is nevertheless said to begrudge what he regards as the alliance’s gradual extension eastwards, which saw ex-Soviet satellites Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join in 1999, followed by Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia in 2004.

 “It is obvious that Nato expansion does not have any relation with the modernisation of the alliance itself or with ensuring security in Europe,” he said at the Munich Security Conference in 2007. “On the contrary, it represents a serious provocation that reduces the level of mutual trust.”

The following April, attending a Nato summit in Bucharest, he was even more emphatic: “No Russian leader could stand idly by in the face of steps toward Nato membership for Ukraine. That would be a hostile act toward Russia.”

 Four months later, Mr Putin invaded Georgia, destroying the country’s armed forces, occupying two autonomous regions and humiliating a president, Mikheil Saakashvili, who had openly courted Nato membership, actions that brought fresh international condemnation.

プーチンはNATOに反対していなかった、みたいな結論にはならなそうだけどね。