Vladimir Putin is perhaps as strong as the then Soviet leader Josef Stalin was. Putin seeks to restore and expand the Soviet influence 30 years after the demise of the Soviet Union. Ironically, however, he offers no ideology nor does he nurse any empirical communist ambitions. For die-hard Communists in Russia, Putin is a ‘thug’, to say the least, who seeks to cash in on the Soviet legacy, communism, without identifying himself as a communist or even someone who shows empathy for communists.

Putin has been able to successfully wean Germany away from the anti-Russia Western alliance through the efforts of German elite that has become too pro-Russia post-Merkel because of some historical and economic reasons but he has no choice but to deescalate the situation as Boris at 10 Downing Street is more belligerent towards the Kremlin than Biden in the White House.

Praful K. Patel (London)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022