OREANDA-NEWS. In an interview with The Economist, French President Emmanuel Macron outlined his views on Russia's development. In his opinion, there are three scenarios. As the first option, Macron mentioned the possibility of Russia to restore the status of a superpower, relying solely on its own forces.

The second scenario is the development of the state according to the Eurasian model. However, China is already the leader on this path, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is hardly happy with this situation, the French leader said. “I can’t imagine for a second that Putin’s strategy is to be a vassal of China”, Macron explained.

Finally, the third strategy involves balanced cooperation with Europe. According to Macron, Vladimir Putin considers the expansion of NATO to the Russian borders unfair and looks at the EU as a vassal of the United States. However, in the future in Moscow they may reconsider their attitude, the French leader is sure. “Putin’s conservatism has led to the development of an anti-European project, but I don’t understand how this project could translate into anything other than a partnership project with Europe”, he said.