Putin is stepping up his threats against the West because he senses that a dead-end situation is approaching, according to an expert
20 July 01:17
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle realize that they will soon find themselves in a dead-end situation, which is why their rhetoric is becoming harsher—a pattern typical of Russian politicians that should not be cause for concern. This was stated in an interview with Ukrinform by Volodymyr Yelchenko, former ambassador and head of international policy research at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, as reported by "Komersant Ukrainian".
“The escalation in rhetoric, in my view, is linked to the fact that Putin and the leadership of the Russian Federation in general understand that they are approaching a dead-end situation, and, as has always been the case in the past, they are raising the stakes. This is typical of Putin and Lavrov—and, in general, of the Russian Federation’s leadership,” Yelchenko noted.
He recalled that previously these were threats involving nuclear weapons; now, they are threats to destroy Ukraine’s entire power grid on the eve of winter. According to him, this is a way to maintain moral and psychological pressure on the Ukrainian population in the hope that they will pressure Ukraine’s leadership to end this war, even on unfavorable terms.
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The second goal of this behavior is an attempt to influence the West as a whole, with the aim of getting it to stop or reduce military, financial, economic, and other forms of aid to Ukraine, the former diplomat added.
“Therefore, we should take this in stride. This isn’t the first time, and all these threats usually come to nothing,” he believes.
Commenting on the “leaks” and certain interviews with representatives of the Russian “elite” in reputable Western media outlets, Yelchenko expressed his conviction that none of this could have come to light without the Kremlin’s permission; moreover, these articles may even be written in the Kremlin itself. The goal is the same—to blackmail the West, this time by instilling fear that Russia might collapse, which would supposedly lead to the “proliferation” of nuclear weapons, terrorism, problems with uncontrolled migration, and so on. The idea being pushed is that only Putin, so to speak, can prevent this, but to do so, he needs at least some kind of victory over Ukraine.
In his view, “only the dismantling of the Russian state can truly bring about change.” And then the discussion will no longer be about regime change in Russia, but about the states that will emerge in that region, the former ambassador stated, though he noted that this may be a distant prospect.
He has no doubt that Russia, in its current form, will collapse sooner or later, because all empires have ceased to exist—it is a law of history.
Volodymyr Yelchenko, who served as Ukraine’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Russian Federation from 2010 to 2015, expressed the hope that he was “the very last Ukrainian ambassador to this ‘non-state,’ which will eventually cease to exist.
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