None of this will be easy, not only because Europe’s relationship with Russia has grown so chilly, but also because Putin is understood to despise the EU as politically impotent. Russian leaders may have misinterpreted as a sign of weakness Europe’s representation at last month’s EU-Russia summit by two Portuguese politicians – European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose government currently holds the revolving EU presidency.
所有这些都不会轻而易举。这不仅是因为欧洲和俄国的关系变得如此冷淡，而且是由于人们觉得普京认为欧盟在政治上无足轻重。上个月的欧盟俄国首脑会议上两位葡萄牙政坛人物即欧盟委员会主席巴罗索和欧盟轮值主席国葡萄牙总理苏格拉底代表欧盟出席。俄国领导人将此误解为软弱的迹象。