Inaugurated for his fourth official term as Russia's president Monday, Vladimir Putin surprised many by declaring what sounds like a “Russia first” program: a relentless focus on domestic development, to be partially paid for by sharp cuts in defense spending. ...
Recent opinion polls suggest that Putin's priority shift coincides with a war weariness on the part of Russians[.]
Russia has spent a decade claiming an ever weaker NATO is a threat to Russia.
Eventually, as Putin repeated this claim again and again, along with thinly veiled (or open) nuclear threats, and with the invasion of Ukraine finally rousing NATO to think about defending its eastern border again, Russia finds that it can't afford to spend money on their military.
And now Russia has alienated the West and can't afford to spend as much on their military.
Even as China rises in their east, from which Russia averts their eyes.
Bravo.
At this rate, rather than rebuild the glorious empire, Putin will recreate the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
And then there is the polling noted that shows that unlike World War II, Russians clearly don't want to suffer casualties on even a tiny scale for Russian adventures abroad.
Will anybody in Moscow explain to Putin that he is screwing up royally?
