London: Nearing the 100-day mark in the war, which he refused to call its name, Russian President Vladimir Putin As always there is one intended to convey the impression of the business.
As his army fought its way this week in the Ukrainian city of Svyarodonetsk, Putin There was awkward small talk at a televised event to honor parents of extraordinarily large families.
Since the beginning of May, he has met — mostly online — with teachers, oil and transportation bosses, officials responsible for dealing with wildfires, and heads of at least a dozen Russian regions, many thousands of miles from Ukraine. .
With several sessions of his Security Council and several calls with foreign leaders, he found time for a video address to players, coaches and spectators of the All-Russian Night Hockey League.
Conforms to the appearance of solid, even boring routines Kremlinstates that it is not waging a war – only waging a “special military operation” to bring a troubled neighbor to heel.
For a man whose military has done little in Ukraine and has been beaten by its two largest cities, killing thousands, Putin shows no obvious signs of tension.
Unlike the February 24 invasion, when he denounced Ukraine and the West in scathing, angry speeches, his rhetoric was restrained. The 69-year-old appears calm, focused and completely in command of data and details.
Acknowledging the impact of Western sanctions, he told the Russians that their economy would become stronger and more self-sufficient, while the West would suffer the boomerang effect from a boom in food and fuel prices.
keeping up appearances
But with no end in sight for the war, Putin faces a growing challenge to maintain normalcy.
Economically, the situation will worsen as sanctions tighten and Russia is headed for a recession.
Militarily, Putin’s forces have advanced slowly into eastern Ukraine, but the United States and its allies are increasing arms supplies to the country. KyivIncluding America’s promise of advanced rocket systems this week.
Western defense experts say whether Russia’s offensive falters, Putin may be forced to announce a full-scale mobilization of reserves to bolster his dwindling forces.
“It will involve more than a million people in Russia, and then of course it will be visible to those who have not yet realized that Russia is in a full-blown war,” said Gerhard Mangot, an Austrian academic. Those who met Putin and watched him over many years.
This would be a hard sell for the Russian public which is mainly dependent on state media loyal to the Kremlin and therefore kept in disregard of the scale of Russian setbacks and casualties.
Yet Russia is still not at that point, Mangot said, and Putin may draw some impetus from signs of Western fatigue with the war. Divisions are emerging between Ukraine’s most staunch supporters – the United States, Britain, Poland and the Baltic states – and a group of countries including Italy, France and Germany that are pushing for an end to the war.
“Putin is counting that the longer this war drags on, the more conflict and friction will appear within the Western camp,” he said.
Meanwhile, peace talks with Ukraine had stalled weeks ago, and Putin showed no signs of calling for a diplomatic exit. “He still thinks there is a good military solution to this problem,” said Olga Olikar, program director for Europe and Central Asia at Crisis Group.
Putin retains the option to claim victory at any point because his stated objectives – which he called demilitarization and demilitarization of Ukraine – “were always goals you could accomplish because they were never clearly defined.” were and were always somewhat ridiculous”, Olikar said.
The words “war” and “Ukraine” were never spoken during Putin’s 40-minute video encounter on Wednesday with prolific families, including the Vadim and Vadim. Larisa Kadzayev With her 15 children from Beslan, North Caucasus region.
The families, dressed in their best clothes and suits, sat down at tables laden with flowers and food when Putin took turns calling them to introduce themselves. On the same day, eight empty school buses pulled into Lviv’s main square in western Ukraine, commemorating the 243 Ukrainian children killed since the start of Putin’s invasion.
The closest he came to accepting the war was in reference to the plight of the children in the Donbass and the “extraordinary situation” there.
Russia had many problems, but ending the online meeting, he said that this was always the case. “There’s really nothing unusual happening here.”
As his army fought its way this week in the Ukrainian city of Svyarodonetsk, Putin There was awkward small talk at a televised event to honor parents of extraordinarily large families.
Since the beginning of May, he has met — mostly online — with teachers, oil and transportation bosses, officials responsible for dealing with wildfires, and heads of at least a dozen Russian regions, many thousands of miles from Ukraine. .
With several sessions of his Security Council and several calls with foreign leaders, he found time for a video address to players, coaches and spectators of the All-Russian Night Hockey League.
Conforms to the appearance of solid, even boring routines Kremlinstates that it is not waging a war – only waging a “special military operation” to bring a troubled neighbor to heel.
For a man whose military has done little in Ukraine and has been beaten by its two largest cities, killing thousands, Putin shows no obvious signs of tension.
Unlike the February 24 invasion, when he denounced Ukraine and the West in scathing, angry speeches, his rhetoric was restrained. The 69-year-old appears calm, focused and completely in command of data and details.
Acknowledging the impact of Western sanctions, he told the Russians that their economy would become stronger and more self-sufficient, while the West would suffer the boomerang effect from a boom in food and fuel prices.
keeping up appearances
But with no end in sight for the war, Putin faces a growing challenge to maintain normalcy.
Economically, the situation will worsen as sanctions tighten and Russia is headed for a recession.
Militarily, Putin’s forces have advanced slowly into eastern Ukraine, but the United States and its allies are increasing arms supplies to the country. KyivIncluding America’s promise of advanced rocket systems this week.
Western defense experts say whether Russia’s offensive falters, Putin may be forced to announce a full-scale mobilization of reserves to bolster his dwindling forces.
“It will involve more than a million people in Russia, and then of course it will be visible to those who have not yet realized that Russia is in a full-blown war,” said Gerhard Mangot, an Austrian academic. Those who met Putin and watched him over many years.
This would be a hard sell for the Russian public which is mainly dependent on state media loyal to the Kremlin and therefore kept in disregard of the scale of Russian setbacks and casualties.
Yet Russia is still not at that point, Mangot said, and Putin may draw some impetus from signs of Western fatigue with the war. Divisions are emerging between Ukraine’s most staunch supporters – the United States, Britain, Poland and the Baltic states – and a group of countries including Italy, France and Germany that are pushing for an end to the war.
“Putin is counting that the longer this war drags on, the more conflict and friction will appear within the Western camp,” he said.
Meanwhile, peace talks with Ukraine had stalled weeks ago, and Putin showed no signs of calling for a diplomatic exit. “He still thinks there is a good military solution to this problem,” said Olga Olikar, program director for Europe and Central Asia at Crisis Group.
Putin retains the option to claim victory at any point because his stated objectives – which he called demilitarization and demilitarization of Ukraine – “were always goals you could accomplish because they were never clearly defined.” were and were always somewhat ridiculous”, Olikar said.
The words “war” and “Ukraine” were never spoken during Putin’s 40-minute video encounter on Wednesday with prolific families, including the Vadim and Vadim. Larisa Kadzayev With her 15 children from Beslan, North Caucasus region.
The families, dressed in their best clothes and suits, sat down at tables laden with flowers and food when Putin took turns calling them to introduce themselves. On the same day, eight empty school buses pulled into Lviv’s main square in western Ukraine, commemorating the 243 Ukrainian children killed since the start of Putin’s invasion.
The closest he came to accepting the war was in reference to the plight of the children in the Donbass and the “extraordinary situation” there.
Russia had many problems, but ending the online meeting, he said that this was always the case. “There’s really nothing unusual happening here.”