After 1991, European governments grew accustomed to Russian acquiescence. Moscow might have put up a struggle against European policies – from humanitarian intervention in Kosovo, NATO and EU enlargement, to visa arrangements for Kaliningrad and the Kyoto Protocol on climate change – but the Kremlin’s bark always proved worse than its bite. The Russian government, crippled by massive debt, financial instability and the war in Chechnya, caved in each time because of its reliance on Western help. .
