How to negotiate with Russians

Russians are notorious for an aggressiveness at the negotiating table. In 2017 I met a group of diplomats from eastern Europe who highlighted this. They made the point that western commentary understates, if anything, the Russian habit in official talks to insult and intimidate. Apparently Putinite finger-wagging is the least of it and street-language curses and threats are completely normal. Countries to the east of the river Elbe are still regarded in the Kremlin as Russia’s eternal zone of influence.

But Russian politicians also know how to diversify their table manners. They can recognise an opportunity when they see one, and Vladimir Putin expects to deploy gentler manners with Donald J. Trump. Trump’s son, Donald Jr, has already given Putin a look at his father’s bargaining hand by asking whether anyone really wants to kick off world war three. Putin, taking the hint, has raised the heat of international relations by threatening, yet again, to use nuclear weapons.