Russia has been criticized in Western media for its treatment of its smaller neighbors, particularly after U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said May 4 that the country had been backsliding on democracy and using energy to blackmail other nations.
But Igor Shuvalov, Russia's representative within the G8 club of industrialized nations, was at pains to highlight the country's stable supplies of energy to Europe and beyond.
"There has never been a firm conviction that Russia is a positive European partner and in this case a PR agency is needed to make another viewpoint heard," he said.
"It is true that we [Russia] act aggressively," he said. "We have acted purposefully in recent years and will continue to say that we are the most reliable energy partner and want to do good for all people in Europe."
In the light of a May 3 announcement that the Kremlin had hired a team led by the U.S.-based Ketchum PR agency to bring its message to Western media, Shuvalov said if Russia had attempted to improve its image abroad in recent years than the effect would have been considerable.
"We [Russia] want the opportunity to be heard through professional sources," he said. "People will be able to read this and may agree or disagree with it, but we will provide objective explanations about why we are acting in this way."
