The man shifts uncomfortably in his chair. He looks at his wristwatch before pushing the curtain aside to look outside the window. It’s a cold day in Kazakhstan and he is visibly irritated at being made to wait.
The door opens and the middle aged man walks in wearing a thick coat and holding a briefcase.
“My apologies Mr. Putin, it’s my first time back in the UIS since, well, since I was at your Dacha back in 2011…nearly six years ago. My Russian is a bit off and, well, I got lost.”
“Lost?!” Putin said icily. “How do you get lost in Kalashnikovgrad. It’s on a grid and all the signs are in English and Russian!”
“Well, I won’t lie; I was expecting a bit more for the headquarters of the Unity Party of the UIS. It seemed like your party had made something of a comeback in the last federal election. Your party even won several key races here in Kazakhstan. I assumed that you would have moved somewhere…larger.”
“Well we still have to contend with Alexander Lebed and his goons in both the LDP and Radical People’s Party. They have shut down our finances.”
“Right then. Well it looks like we are going to pick up right where we left off in 2011 then: with another conspiracy theory.”
“Conspiracy theory?!” Putin shot back angrily. “Have you been asleep the last six years?! How can you see what’s happened in the world and not recognize the role Lebed and the LDP has played in creating this instability?!”
“Hold on Mr. Putin, I need to set up-“
“The BBC made me look like a madman in 2011! I was told my interview would be a, what did you call it?”
“A blurb.”
“Yes! A Blurb! Instead I’m made to look like a lunatic! I saw the story on the webpage! You called me the Lyndon Larouche of Russia!”
“Well I didn’t call you that. I just said others had called you that.”
“I should kick you out right now!”
“We both know neither of us have the time for posturing. If you were so upset about the interview you wouldn’t have agreed to see me again. And everything I quoted you on was recorded. I didn’t misquote you or misrepresent anything you said.”
“We both know that’s not true!”
“Mr. Putin, despite the unfortunate trend in the UK, the USA, and quite frankly the UIS, screaming doesn’t make a lie true. I know it seems to have worked wonders for Mr. Zhirinovsky in The Hague but we at the BBC still adhere to the basic tenants of journalistic integrity. And the first tenant is to call out a lie. So is this how you want to start this interview? By denying you said what we both know you said in 2011? If you want I can sit here and play you the endless hours of tapes from our first interview but again, we don’t have time for that. So let’s just get back to the matter at hand.”
“I can’t believe you can still deny what should be obvious by now. After the mistrial in The Hague. After the US election scandal. After what happened in Zaire…in Libya…in Syria…in South Afghanistan…and in the former Saudi Arabia…you still think this is all just happenstance?”
Well Mr. Putin…I won’t lie. A lot of what you said…makes more sense than in did in 2011. Now admittedly some of it was a bit much. But that’s why I’m here. Because maybe, just maybe, I have developed…some doubts.”
“Well, where do you wish to start?”
“Well Mr. Putin, let’s start with the big one. Let’s start with Korea.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)