Putin Seen as Both Partner and Adversary as NATO Boosts East
- Hollande says Russia is a partner as others demand security
- NATO will inform Russia of outcome of Warsaw summit next week
President of France Francois Hollande arrives for the Warsaw NATO Summit on July 8, in Warsaw, Poland.
Photographer: Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia shouldn’t be considered an adversary, but rather a “partner that can, at times, use force,” Francois Hollande said as he arrived at a summit of NATO leaders.
The French president’s remark not only summed up NATO’s complex relationship with its largest and most aggressive neighbor; it also revealed how its 28 leaders are struggling to come up with a unified message to send to Vladimir Putin more than two years after he snatched Crimea from Ukraine.