Putin's desperation is now on full view for all to see.

 Miriam Kuepper (left) reports that,

"Vladimir Putin is allegedly putting out feelers to see if America is ready for talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

The Russian president is also 'prepared to drop opposition to Kyiv joining Nato', according to a new Bloomberg report.

He approached senior US officials last month via an unnamed intermediary as he was 'testing the waters' to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, two people close to the Kremlin claimed. (Mail Online : 26 January 2024) (my emphasis)

 As also reported by Bloomberg News,

"Vladimir Putin is testing the waters on whether the US is ready to engage in talks for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He’s put out feelers to the US via indirect channels to signal he’s open to discussion, including potentially on future security arrangements for Ukraine, according to two people close to the Kremlin.

US officials say they’re not aware of the supposed overtures, which may amount to a trial balloon, and see no indication the Russian president is serious about looking for a way to end the fighting, which has settled into a deadly stalemate as the war heads into a third year. (Bloomberg News : 25 January 2024) (my emphasis)

But, as reported by Mark Trevelyan and Alison Williams (right),

"The Kremlin on Friday denied a Bloomberg report that President Vladimir Putin was "putting out feelers" to the United States for possible talks on ending the war in Ukraine and might consider dropping key demands on Ukraine's security status.

The Bloomberg report said Putin was "testing the waters" on whether Washington was ready to engage in talks, and had reached out to the United States via indirect channels." (Reuters : 26 January 2024) (my emphasis)

And whilst US officials state that Putin [Pu-truschev] may be flying a "trial baloon" to end his war with Ukraine, this "trial baloon" may just have something to do with the fact that,

"Ukraine appears to be targeting Russia's oil and gas industry with small, cheap drones as it seeks to disrupt Russian supply lines.

Fires have broken out at several energy infrastructure locations in Russia over the last few weeks following suspected drone strikes, including at a Rosneft oil refinery in Tuapse, a Rosneft storage facility in Klintsy, and Novatek's Baltic Sea Ust-Luga terminal.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show the fires at the facilities in Tuapse and Klintsy.

Ukraine is likely targeting the facilities in an attempt to disrupt Russia's military operations." (Alia Shoaib (left) : Business Insider : 27 January 2024) (my emphasis)

Joe Blogs : 23 January 2024 : YouTube

And as reported by Ukrayinska Pravda,

"Ukraine’s defence forces killed 770 Russian soldiers and destroyed 15 armoured combat vehicles and 3 artillery systems over the past day.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook" (Ukrayinska Pravda on Yahoo News : 27 January 2024) (my emphasis)

And on the economic front,, as reported by Charter97,

"Last year, Russian exports amounted to $422.7 billion — $169.4 billion (almost 30%) less than in the record year of 2022 ($592.1 billion) — this is the preliminary assessment of the Central Bank. This is the minimum since 2020, and if we exclude the pandemic year, since 2018.

At the same time, imports increased by $27.9 billion (10%) and returned to the pre-war level — $304.4 billion, as in 2021. This was the main factor in the collapse of the current account balance of the balance of payments — almost 5 times from $238 billion in 2022 to $50.2 billion." (Charter97 : 28 january 2024) (my emphasis)

And as now reported by Amy Walker (left),

"In Russia, the government and central bank are arguing about how best to protect the currency.

Putin considers his measures to be the best - the head of the central bank denies this.

Moscow : In Russia, a public dispute is emerging between President Vladimir Putin and central bank chief Elvira Nabiullina. (right)

This is about capital controls that are intended to stabilize the ruble.
...
Putin introduced capital controls to prevent currency collapse

The Russian government ordered the capital controls by decree in October 2023; they were initially limited to April.

According to the government's wishes, the regulation should run until the end of the year (i.e. 2024), as it announced on Tuesday (January 23) in the messaging app Telegram.

It obliges exporters to convert their foreign exchange earnings into the local currency, rubles.

In the summer of 2023, the ruble collapsed massively; at times there were 101 rubles for one dollar." (The Limited Times  : 26 January 2024) (my emphasis)

As the Russian economy continues to head South, and Ukraine continues to inflict serious damage on Putin's [Pu-truschev's] oil refineries and oil storage facilities, the very backbone of Russia's economy, is it any wonder that Putin [Pu-truschev] is now "flying 'peace' balloons"?

Putin's desperation is now on full view for all to see.  

                              

    

(to be continued)