But in his meetings with the general, he was forced to tread on treacherous ground nonetheless.
Mr Chernomyrdin's future will depend first and foremost on how he satisfies the men who had his predecessor, the courageous but hapless Sergei Kiriyenko, sacked for daring to tread on their toes.
However, the Prime Minister's arm's length attitude to managing Northern Ireland isn't likely to change, and Ms Villiers will soon discover that when it comes to juggling issues like parades or dealing with the past, it's hard to keep all sides happy and easy to tread on someone's toe.
Yet the decision to tread lightly on financial malfeasance might cost Romney the election.
This past cabinet member for climate change knew to tread lightly on that.
But like Mr Graham, he has realised that you need to tread lightly on those non-negotiables if you want to preserve your influence.
Much like Element by Westin, Home2 Suites by Hilton is a green-minded mid-tier extended stay hotel concept ideal for business travelers looking to tread lightly on the planet.
He has used his calm skills to tread a careful line on such controversial issues as the EU Rapid Reaction Force and British participation in National Missile Defence, as well as overseeing British forces in military action in Afghanistan.
The more pertinent question for that year is whether fiscal consolidation will continue, or whether the prime minister will prefer to tread water and so concentrate on other priorities.
But history suggests that the politicians need to tread carefully: Congressional limits on how much benefit the bosses could get for themselves contributed to the now much lamented decline of the traditional defined benefit pension system, warns Sylvester J.
FORBES: Could Obama's Plan To Curb The Boss' Tax Breaks Hurt Workers' Retirements?
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says President Obama continues to tread a fine line in commenting on Iran - anxious not to be seen as interfering nor to fuel anti-American sentiment.
US-based researchers were the first to propose that the wrinkles might act like the tread on tyres, and even demonstrated how the patterns in the skin resembled those of run-off channels seen on the sides of hills.
Land-based itineraries also go off the beaten path that is well tread by cruise passengers on shore excursions, to see less-visited and more pristine areas.
An iconoclast who goes where few rivals dare to tread, who shuns a public listing and stays focused on building his company according to his own long-term vision.
But Lexmark has thrived where others have feared to tread before and if the company maintains its monomaniacal focus on printers and printers alone, we bet they will keep on thriving.
Explorer rollover accidents blamed on Firestone tyre tread separations have been linked to 271 deaths and 800 injuries.
By contrast, her speeches to MSPs, in Aberdeen, on the Mound and then at Holyrood, tread a more cautious and subtle diplomatic path between stressing the distinct nature of Scotland and placing that distinction within a wider British context.
Parente said someone brought the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, also known as the Gadsden flag, to a sunset ceremony on March 21 and the veterans decided to fly it, given the flag's historic military connections.
The most striking additions are of course the caterpillar tread on the back and ski on the front, in theory enabling this thing to manage a man-powered escape across land or snow.
After cutting an eight day losing streak on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tread down again, shedding 238 points to 11, 658 by 10:56 AM.
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According to the thinking in Berlin, there will be more German boots on foreign soil, but they will tread with sensitivity.
But she also has an increasingly thin line to tread - between those who are growing sick and tired of what they see as ingratitude outside Germany and, on the other hand, those who remain fully committed to the euro and to German efforts to preserve it.
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