The Council of Europe, responding to Russia threatening to quit the organization, recently agree to restore Russian ability to vote on Council of Europe resolutions and participate in debates. These rights had been suspended in 2014 because of the Russian attack on Ukraine, which is still underway.
Yeah, five years of mild punishment for breaking the long peace in Europe by invading a sovereign European state and seizing parts of its territory is more than enough punishment, eh?
Explain to me again why a politically unified Europe under the European Union is necessary to resist Russia. Face it, two imperial entities would get along just fine.
On the bright side, Putin is losing support in Russia:
The current government, run by Vladimir Putin and his KGB cronies, is visibly losing its popular support. Despite the restoration of the many police state aspects of the old Soviet Union, and a constant diet of “we are at war with NATO” propaganda, a growing number of Russians are visibly blaming Putin and his policies for a growing list of problems. Worse are the Russians who are defying new laws against public demonstrations. Because of declining support in opinion polls using police state tactics on critics has now makes the problem worse rather than burying it for a while. This is how the Soviet Union collapsed 1991, as did the communist governments in East Europe in 1989. Sacrificing good relations with the West for an alliance including traditional enemies like Iran, Turkey and China does not leave most Russians feeling better. That’s especially true as the economy keeps getting worse and living standards decline visibly every year since 2014. That was the year Putin sought to forcibly make Ukraine pro-Russian.
Wait until more Russians figure out that Putin is effing up royally.
Will Europe ease Putin's problems? If the current Europe is willing to rehabilitate Russia in the Council of Europe, imagine what an imperial Europe with a strong EU central authority will have in common with the rump Russian empire.
