This refers to a Business Recorder news item "Putin makes pitch for better Europe ties as economy suffers" carried by the newspaper on Saturday. According to it, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he was willing to reach out to Europe to mend relations shattered by the Ukraine crisis but insisted the West was responsible for the bad blood.
"Putin was making a pitch at Russia's major annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg to improve business ties with Europe, as Moscow desperately tries to breathe life into its recession-hit economy battered by Western sanctions," according to the news item.
That Putin is finding it difficult to successfully steer country's economy out of troubled waters is a fact. He has alienated Europe by abandoning the wider European discourse. He has been accused of turning Russia into an "anti-Europe" state. The question therefore is: Why is Putin, who considers Europe as second class and troublesome, seeking to improve ties with Europe? An answer could be that falling energy prices and hubris are eroding his early gains.