“Yes, Yeltsin is the one who brought the “We’re friends now” era in. Too bad it didn’t last.”
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The Russian people were glad to see Yeltsin go away, the 90s were exceptionally awful for them. He also was pretty much a drunken buffoon.
They ended the Cold War. We should have returned the favor. Nike and Apple and Microsoft should have built factories in Russia. Corruption is an issue. They were communists. So all of a sudden they had to transition to a market economy? Yeah they were in for rough times. Still we should have done more to help out. Instead we are potentially risking a nuclear holocaust.
The Soviet Union ceased to exist the moment Yeltsin took the Russian Republic out of the USSR. He was greatly honored at his funeral for bringing the first buds of liberty. Of course, the 90s were tough. It was a time of transition that included inevitable economic instability. But Yeltsin stopped the atmosphere of the Lubyanka and replaced it with the airs of freedom.
He was no buffoon.