MOSCOW: Tsar Alexander III said in the 19th century that Russia had only two true allies: its navy and its army. Today you can add a third — its mineral wealth.

President Vladimir Putin will meet European heads of government on Friday in Finland at a time when high world oil prices and Russia’s mighty natural resources have given the Kremlin an extra spring in its step.

Diplomats and analysts say Moscow’s growing economic muscle is making Putin more assertive on domestic and international issues — and less bothered about European leaders’ opinions.

Russia is in its eighth year of strong economic growth, the central bank has $268 billion of reserves and cash-rich Russian companies are on the prowl

for trophy assets on world markets.

In a dramatic reversal of roles from 1998, when a bankrupt Russia defaulted on its debt and begged for foreign investment, a Russian state bank last month snapped up a stake in the pride of European industry, giant aerospace firm EADS.

“Never before in Russia’s history have we had so much money and resources which are needed by everyone in the world,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, who edits the independent quarterly journal Russia in Global Affairs.

“The really aggressive stance is the reflection of a feeling that Russia is indispensable.”

Since hosting the G-8 summit in St Petersburg in July, Russia has attacked big foreign oil companies operating here, closed a giant new gas field to foreign partners and imposed a wave of sanctions on its small southern neighbour Georgia.

“These events amount to the Russian state throwing its weight about in a way which is hard to square with the St Petersburg conclusions,” one senior diplomat said.

“With St Petersburg out of the way, Russia is less constrained and less concerned with international respectability.”

A Kremlin spokesman disputed that recent events could be read as evidence of a harder line, saying Moscow wanted to enhance trade and investment cooperation with the EU.

“Assertive is not the proper word,” he said. “It is more self-confident, more pragmatic....We want to be equal partners and we want to be respected”.—Reuters