Russia's new ambassador to Nato has warned the west to expect no change in Moscow's tough foreign policy after the presidential elections next month - in part because Vladimir Putin, the outgoing president, would remain "as strong as ever".
As Russia prepares for elections on March 2 that are almost certain to see Dmitry Medvedev elected president, there have been questions over whether he might soften Moscow's stance.
But in an interview with the Financial Times, Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian nationalist, said: "Medvedev expects to have friendly relations with his neighbours. But he will defend Russia's national interests in the same way as Putin is doing. And you have to take into account that Putin's role will be as strong as ever."
He said he knew Mr Medvedev well: "Despite coming across as a soft, mild person, there is steel inside him."
Mr Rogozin, 44, is seen by some western diplomats as a controversial choice for the Nato post he took up last month. He made his name as one of the leaders of Rodina (Motherland), a Kremlin-backed nationalist party that did unexpectedly well in the 2003 parliamentary elections, winning more than 9 per cent of the vote.
As Rodina became too much of a challenger to the main pro-Kremlin party, United Russia, Mr Rogozin was deposed as its leader in 2006 and Rodina was merged into another group. His appointment as Nato ambassador was seen as a consolation prize for a politician who retains close Kremlin links. It also means Moscow's top man at Nato does not pull his punches.
Mr Rogozin hit out, for example, at a comment by John McCain, the Republican frontrunner in the US presidential poll, that the G8 should include Brazil and India but exclude Russia.
"I just don't like Russia being mentioned as though it is supposed to be thrown away somewhere," Mr Rogozin retorted.
He added: "I know McCain well: he is a very brave and prominent man. He was in custody in Vietnam. I just want to say to McCain . . . that the war is long ago over - and the Russians are not the Vietnamese."
On security policy, Mr Rogozin argued the west was being highly confrontational by enlarging Nato to former Soviet republics and by planning ballistic missile defences. "We are like a wolf that has been surrounded - and that provokes our hunter's instinct," he said.
The US is negotiating to place a base for 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a special radar in the Czech Republic, which it says are needed to counter a future threat from Iranian nuclear missiles.
But Mr Rogozin said: "These 10 missiles are like a hole in a submarine. Today, it's 10. Tomorrow it's 100 and then it's 1,000. If there is a hole then the boat will sink, no matter how big the hole is."
He said Moscow wanted permanent monitors at the Czech radar site to make sure it was never directed at Russia.
However, Mr Rogozin saw Washington's missile defence argument as a pretext. "We don't believe this fairy tale about Iran," he said, arguing that the US and Israel would eliminate any Iranian nuclear capability long before it could be deployed. "Why do you need all these debates, all this building work, and the deployment of radars and weapons in Poland and the Czech Republic, if we know that the Jews and Americans would take pre-emptive action?" he said.
Nor did he seem keen to smooth diplomatic tensions. Last weekend, the Japanese government protested when a Russian bomber violated its airspace, the latest in a series of exercises by Russia's navy and air force that has worried its neighbours.
But Mr Rogozin laughed it off. "What do the Japanese want? That our planes don't fly? . . . It's been a long time since the Japanese have seen the Russians in the air. They got quite a surprise."
US military officials have questioned whether the exercises represent a return to a cold-war mindset. Asked about this, Mr Rogozin said: "It's simpler than that. Our navy and air force have fuel so they can sail and fly. Before, they didn't have any."
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