Today at 16:02
Diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis appear to have stalled. In the past month, Putin has escalated his long proxy war in two eastern provinces and accelerated a massive Russian troop buildup that now surrounds Ukraine on three sides. The United States, in response, has put thousands of troops on high alert, while European allies are sending weapons and ammunition to Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank. According to the interview political experts, who study the theme of Russia, for Politico edition, Putin is going to become a master.
This was reported by UA.
Lilia Shevtsova: President Putin has become a “Master of Suspense” – Hitchcock would be jealous! Suspense provokes confusion in the West, whereas war could unite the West. So far, escalation has worked, forcing the West to look for a deal with the Kremlin. Putin’s challenge now is to prevent suspense from turning into a bluff. In the end he will have to choose between war and farce – which means humiliation, and he is not ready for that.
These observers tell that Putin is impossible to predict. Some said they expect Putin to invade, while others believe he is likely to give diplomacy more time.
According to Alyona Hetmanchuk, director of the New Europe Center, Putin has made himself a hostage of his own strategy, imposing his ultimatum about NATO enlargement and threatening to invade Ukraine. The West will react.
Alyona Hetmanchuk: Russia is the only country in the world whose official narratives portray Ukraine as a military power that is able to create a threat or even attack Russia. In fact, the country in the world that most desperately needs security guarantees today is not Russia, but Ukraine.
“Despite Putin’s statement that Ukraine is “not a real country,” 80 percent of Russians in regular surveys over the last 15 years would prefer to see normal relations with Ukraine and only 20 percent prefer unification. Public opinion also suggests that Russians are rather sensitive to casualties. The Kremlin has taken this into account in its military tactics in Georgia, Syria, Crimea, and Eastern Ukraine” – Timothy Frye, professor on post-Soviet foreign policy in Columbia University in the interview with Politico edition told about Putin’s fakes on Ukraine.
Political scientists named Putin pseudo-patriotic who is going to create Big Russia and said that his doings in the international politics and conflicts could become fatal for himself.
