Talk politics.

Let's not underestimate his chameleonic capabilities, though. He may look visibly older, but the question is, does he have enough willingness to show himself as a "modern" and strong leader and reformer? Because that was his trademark in the past. Let's recall that in the beginning he was Mr Nobody. He was hand-picked by Yeltsin because the old man believed his protege would be easy to control. And for a time Putin was indeed a very useful tool. Remember what he looked like in the beginning. He was hardly able to say two sentences in front of more than 10 people. It was never his speciality to be a charismatic orator in the first place. But his polit-technologians from his Effective Policy foundation worked very hard on him and they polished his image of a modern Tzar. One of them even likened Putin to a doctor and the Russian society to a patient who urgently needs their leg set in plaster. Well, plaster indeed it is. Russia hasn't removed that plaster ever since.

He has always managed to adjust to the changing realities, posing as a firm and powerful leader who knows what he's doing. In the beginning he even ventured with some economic liberalisation, something that looked like real reforms. He was flirting with the West. He closed the Russian military bases in Cuba and Vietnam. But then he suddenly decided that it's worth trying to strengthen the state, he arrested Khodorkovsky and he started a series of authoritarian actions that eventually shaped his regime as a repressive machine rather than a reformed modern state. And he said byebye to all attempts for rapprochement with the West. The Re-start episode with Hillary was a nice breath of fresh air but that was all, it stopped right there.