He was sometimes called the 'Red Baron,' and advocated friendship between Japan and Russia through the viewpoint of common people, considering that communist ideology was only a nationalistic ideology of Russia and not worth worrying about, and that the normalization of diplomatic relations was desirable in order to soften the Soviet Union.
一部から新平は「赤い男爵」といわれたが、新平はあくまで日本とロシアの国民としての友好を唱え共産主義というイデオロギーは単なるロシア主義として恐れるに足らず、むしろソビエト体制の軟化のために日露関係の正常化が望ましいとしていた。