The fine art of giving official gifts requires a subtle blend of restraint and audacity – particularly in the post-Soviet space, where leaders, mostly male and elderly, pose as champions of conservatism.
For the traditional end-of-year meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Monday, December 26, in Saint Petersburg, Vladimir Putin will have leaned resolutely on the side of the unexpected. Host of this informal summit, the Russian leader presented his counterparts with astonishing white and yellow gold rings, on which are carved the symbol of the regional organization as well as the words “Happy New Year 2023” and “Russia”.
Eight rings – for the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan – and a final one for Mr. Putin himself: it is difficult for observers not to see there a reference to the nine rings of the Lord of the Ringsthe world famous work of JRR Tolkien, published in 1954-1955.
For political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann, the parallel is anything but fortuitous and the Kremlin has established it “in all conscience” – what a spokesman for the presidency denied, citing “just a memory”. For the record, the nine rings, in the British writer’s book, are forged by the nefarious Sauron with the aim of enslaving men.
A gift that caused a stir on social networks
The initiative is all the more striking in that the references to Lord of the Rings are omnipresent in the Ukrainian conflict: in kyiv, Ukraine is easily assimilated to the peaceful County attacked by an absolute evil, coming from Muscovite Mordor. In everyday language as in that of Ukrainian officials, Russian soldiers are frequently referred to as “Orcs”, a name that some Russians have reappropriated in defiance.
The astonishing gift naturally caused a stir on social networks, with the most sassy reveling in the supposed resemblance between Mr Putin and the character of Gollum, a creature that has become a slave to his ring. Others wondered if the Russian president was trying to “preserving the CIS through the power of magic”. The joke touches on a sensitive subject: the recurring tensions between members of the organization give rise to armed clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
On Monday, during the meeting, the Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, also recalled once again his exasperation vis-à-vis Moscow, which remains passive in the face of Azerbaijan’s takeover of the Lachin corridor. , connecting Yerevan to Nagorno-Karabakh and believed to be under the protection of Russian forces.
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