The delay, intended to show the EU’s determination to make the association agreement work, has instead only whetted Putin’s appetite. His hope is that some EU members’ interest in securing&nbsp;Russian gas supplies during the winter&nbsp;will cause them to forget their allies’ security interests – a classic divide-and-rule strategy, served chilled.
此次推迟的本意是要显示欧盟确保联合协议生效的决心，但相反只是刺激了普京的胃口。他希望当寒冬到来，某些欧盟成员国对俄罗斯天然气供应的兴趣会致使他们将盟国的安全利益抛在脑后&mdash;&mdash;这是经典的分而治之策略，再一次被俄国冷冻上桌。