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""...Putin views himself increasingly in historical terms. “Putin has got himself so wrapped up with the Russian state that he can’t extract himself from the idea that he is the state,” said Fiona Hill, who held the top Russia post at the NSC under President Donald Trump. “He is already living history.” To lose Ukraine would be to suffer a severe humiliation in Putin’s eyes, she said, describing Putin’s thinking as, “He’s not going to let Ukraine get away, not on his watch.”
The pandemic left Putin isolated and surrounded by a group of hard-liners who, like him, fail to comprehend the genuine rise in pro-Western sentiment in Ukraine, said Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst at R. Politik. In Putin’s eyes, she said, Ukrainians are like “hostages” to foreign interests suffering from Stockholm syndrome, who don’t realize their true interests lie with Russia. “It’s a very dangerous situation in that he is closing in on himself,” Stanovaya said, arguing that Putin believes no one recognizes Moscow’s concerns, so he has no choice but to opt for the most radical scenario. His pandemic isolation was punctuated last July by the release of a sweeping historical treatise in which he said sovereignty for Ukraine is possible “only in partnership with Russia” and described the country as a vassal state being used by Western nations to attack Moscow. “We will never allow our historical territories and people close to us living there to be used against Russia,” he said. “And to those who will undertake such an attempt, I would like to say that this way they will destroy their own country.”"
...“People say, ‘He wouldn’t dare. He is not going to cross this line of a large-scale war in Europe,’” said Michael Kofman, a Russian military analyst at research group CNA. “I would love to agree. But in the last three years I have seen him cross a lot of lines I thought he wouldn’t.”"
Link
Putin is, if course, playing a very dangerous game. The countries around him look west, for obvious reasons, while a terribly aggrieved Putin is determined to make Russia great again. Sound familiar? You can't go home again. Let's hope Putin doesn't destroy the world and we don't destroy ourselves trying to get there.
The pandemic left Putin isolated and surrounded by a group of hard-liners who, like him, fail to comprehend the genuine rise in pro-Western sentiment in Ukraine, said Tatiana Stanovaya, a political analyst at R. Politik. In Putin’s eyes, she said, Ukrainians are like “hostages” to foreign interests suffering from Stockholm syndrome, who don’t realize their true interests lie with Russia. “It’s a very dangerous situation in that he is closing in on himself,” Stanovaya said, arguing that Putin believes no one recognizes Moscow’s concerns, so he has no choice but to opt for the most radical scenario. His pandemic isolation was punctuated last July by the release of a sweeping historical treatise in which he said sovereignty for Ukraine is possible “only in partnership with Russia” and described the country as a vassal state being used by Western nations to attack Moscow. “We will never allow our historical territories and people close to us living there to be used against Russia,” he said. “And to those who will undertake such an attempt, I would like to say that this way they will destroy their own country.”"
...“People say, ‘He wouldn’t dare. He is not going to cross this line of a large-scale war in Europe,’” said Michael Kofman, a Russian military analyst at research group CNA. “I would love to agree. But in the last three years I have seen him cross a lot of lines I thought he wouldn’t.”"
Link
Putin is, if course, playing a very dangerous game. The countries around him look west, for obvious reasons, while a terribly aggrieved Putin is determined to make Russia great again. Sound familiar? You can't go home again. Let's hope Putin doesn't destroy the world and we don't destroy ourselves trying to get there.
