ABSTRACT
During the September 1994 Russian-US summit Russian President Boris Yeltsin sternly asserted that the CIS states, are our neighbours. Yesterday we lived in the same house, in the Soviet Union. They are our blood, right? Come on, let's be honest'. Western observers have noted with a degree of disbelief that Russia has been rather inflexible about its role of influence in the former Soviet republics. John Dunlop (1993) thought it odd that Yeltsin was supporting Gorbachev and playing the role of the 'Velvet' emperor after the August 1991 coup failed. But if we take a close look at what Yeltsin and some important members of the Russian government thought about Russia's relations with the Soviet republics during the period covered by this study, June 1990-August 1991, we would not have reason to be puzzled by Russian behaviour in late 1991 or the present.
