Is Putin now fighting for his political life?

Seven years ago, in 2015, Peter Weber (left) reported that,

"After Russia's military occupation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea over the weekend, a lot of analysts are trying to gaze into Russian President Vladimir Putin's psyche.
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But at least one world leader seems to think Putin isn't firmly anchored in reality. 

Here's Peter Baker (right) at The New York Times:

• "Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he [Putin] was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. "In another world," she said. [New York Times] (The Week : 8 January 2015) (my emphasis)" (below: Merkel & Putin 2015)
  

Fast forward to to-day and we have French president Emmanuel Macron, like his predecessor before him Franscoise Hollande (cf: blog post 20/02/2015 ), constantly trying to appease a Putin who, in the words of Merkel in 2015, "...  not sure he [Putin] was in touch with reality" (ibid Peter Weber)

As reported by BBC News,

"Ukraine's foreign minister has hit out at French President Emmanuel Macron (left) after he said it was vital that Russia was not humiliated over its invasion.
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Mr Macron said

it was crucial President Vladimir Putin had a way out of what he called a "fundamental error" (?????).
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But Dmytro Kuleba (right) said allies should "better focus on how to put Russia in its place" as it "humiliates itself".
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Mr Macron has repeatedly spoken to Mr Putin by phone in an effort to broker a ceasefire and negotiations.
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The French attempts to maintain a dialogue with the Kremlin leader contrast with the US and UK positions. ... " (BBC News :5 June 2022) (my emphasis) (cf also: Reuters 4/6/2022, Financial Times June 3 2022, amongst many other reports) 

GZERO Media : YouTube : 6 June 2022

And shortly after Macron's 'foot in mouth' argument that, " ...  it was vital that Russia was not humiliated over its invasion. ...", and that Putin had made, "... a fundamental error .." in starting his  genocidal second war with Ukraine, BBC News reports that,

"Russia will expand the list of targets it will attack in Ukraine if Western countries send long-range weapons to Kyiv, President Vladimir Putin says.
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The warning came as explosions shook parts of Kyiv on Sunday in the first air strikes on the capital for weeks." (BBC News : 6 June 2022) (my emphasis)

Adam Durbin reports, however, that,

"The UK is sending its first long-range missiles to Ukraine, the defence secretary has said, despite a threat from Russia to the West.
..
The government has not confirmed how many weapons will be sent, but the BBC understands it will be three initially.

The decision comes after the US announced last week it was also supplying a rocket system.

The move by the US to send its own M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) has already angered Moscow and on Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to expand the list of targets Russia will attack in Ukraine in response." (BBC News :6 June 2022) (my emphasis)

ABC News : 6 June 2022 : YouTube

And as the UK and US send long-range missile systems to Ukraine, the Russian TV propaganda system steps up pushing for Putin to use the 'nuclear' option.

As Chris Jewers reports,

"Vladimir Putin's state television propagandists have unleashed a new rant about launching nuclear weapons in response to Western weapons being sent to Ukraine.

Vladimir Solovyov, also known as 'Putin's voice', said Western deliveries of long-range weapons that could potentially strike into Russian territory means it is only a matter of time before nuclear war breaks out between Russia and the West." (MailOnline : 6 June 2022) (my emphasis)

 

As also reported by Chris Jewers and Will Stewart, (left) 

 "Moscow's space chief issued wild threats overnight about launching Russia's 'Satan-2' hypersonic missile against NATO countries after Vladimir Putin's top diplomat [Sergei Lavrov] was blocked from travelling to Serbia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) was forced to cancel his visit after Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro - three NATO countries around Serbia - closed their airspace to his aircraft, infuriating the Kremlin." (Mail Online : 6 June 2022) (my emphasis)

And from the sidelines, Alys Davies reports that,

"Russia's UN ambassador has stormed out of a UN Security Council meeting after the European Council president blamed Russia's invasion of Ukraine for causing a global food crisis.
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Charles Michel said Russia was using food supplies as a "stealth missile" against the developing world, forcing people into poverty.
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The Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia (left) accused Mr Michel of spreading lies.
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The war has left food stuck at Ukrainian ports." (BBC News : 7 June 2022) (my emphasis)

And yet ... and yet .... we have French President Macron announcing that,

"....  it was vital that Russia was not humiliated over its invasion." (ibid BBC News 5 June 2022)

Like Merkel and the current German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz, President Macron is simply following in the political footsteps of his near predecessors, together with Olaf Scholtz, singing their 'political mantra of appeasement' towards Putin since his invasion of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014.

And finally we have Angela Merkel trying to justify her appeasement of Putin since 2014, when he started his FIRST war with Ukraine by illegally annexing Ukraine's Crimea and invading the Donbas.

As reported by Riham Alkousaa (left),

• Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that she tried hard when she was in office to prevent the situation in Ukraine from developing to the current state, adding that she does not blame herself for not trying hard enough. 
• "It's a great sadness that it didn't work out, but I don't blame myself for not trying," said Merkel, speaking of the 2014 Minsk agreement with Russia.
  
• 
  The former chancellor defended her policy of supporting trade with Russia, saying Europe and Russia were neighbours that could not ignore each other. (Reuters : 7 June 2022) (my emphasis) (right: German economic jackboots marching over Ukraine towards Putin's Russian "economic bonanza" in 2014)
  

And so, even though Macron and Scholtz are desperately trying to protect Putin's 'face saving' (sic) political 'back' Putin, himself, is being forced to draw his 'Praetorian Guard' ever closer towards himself.

Will his 'Praetorian Guard' be able to protect him now against the Kremlin vultures circling as Russia becomes more isolated on the world stage?

Is Putin now fighting for his political life? 

 

(to be continued)