German and Russian companies do business on the basis of mutual gain and it will stay that way. But good relations open doors.

Forget chummy foreign policy. Welcome to the chill winds of economic competition, Frau Merkel.

It's not that he wants to be friends with the U.S. for friendship's sake, he does it for Russia's sake -- as he sees it.

I think what he did was a revolution in terms of Russia's foreign policy,

But that revolution did not happen overnight and it did not happen because of September 11. He used, he seized upon September 11 as an opportunity to leapfrog in his foreign policy, the outlines of which by that time had been complete.