Russian actor Nikolay Fomenko perfectly describes the "complex Russian soul" in Russian TV in 2004 (there still was some freedom of speech in Russia back then). Fomenko first highlights the phenomenon Russian "goldfish memory" when political narratives are completely reversed by the authorities and Russians happily switch over, even when yesterday's heroes become villains literally overnight. He then ironically comments on Russia's attitude to membership in international community, where Russia feels entitled to all benefits of EU and WTO, while feeling absolutely no obligation to cooperate with anyone or fulfill any obligations. In the last part he comments on the violent and bullying attitude of Russian authorities which about that time started to resort to fuel blackmail towards the countries it supplied oil to. The video from 2004 clearly demonstrates Russian authorities never made any attempts to build a true partnership with EU and always resorted to bullying and cheating, which was obviously visible especially to people inside Russia.

Note: the video has English, Polish and Russian subtitles but they are only rendered in the native PeerTube player, click on the title to view with subtitles.

Original: Николай Фоменко в «Школе злословия» на НТВ, 2004 год