Russia Beyond the Headlines — Putin confesses he expected radical upturn in relations with West after fall of the Communist regime

Putin and the then U.S. president George Bush had "an excellent relationship," Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov recalled.

However, the U.S. came to believe by that moment that Russia "entered a regime of colonial democracy, that we sort of got hooked on International Monetary Fund injections and that the experts' community must continue teaching us how we should further develop our economy and where we should pump our oil," he said.

"On the surface, though, everything looked extremely tactful: they would pat us on the shoulder and cheer us up: guys, your are sort of moving in the rights direction," Ivanov said.

Russia Beyond the Headlines
Putin confesses he expected radical upturn in relations with West after fall of the Communist regime