Are There Any Left Around to Challenge the Hard Headed Realist on Putinside?

I was interested that you argued in your column that it was actually h expansion of the e u, rather than nato, that became putin's main obsession. It would appear that he's restricted those around about him to a very small group of people who seem to have the same vexations and that he has ar so many hard headed realists on both sides. I don't think there's going to be any settlement with russia that involves them joining the european union.