Putin Signals Openness to Diplomacy While Blaming U.S. for Crisis
MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin said on Tuesday that the United States was trying to pull Russia into an armed conflict over Ukraine that his government did not want and signaled he was prepared to engage in more diplomacy...
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Mr. Putin said he hoped that “dialogue will be continued” over Russia’s security demands, refraining from repeating his earlier threat to take unspecified “military-technical” measures...Mr. Putin appeared to be trying to dial down tensions slightly...
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Mr. Putin’s carefully calibrated comments spoke to...the pivotal decisions the longtime Russian leader faces in the coming weeks. Military analysts say that maintaining Russia’s current military buildup, which involves units from thousands of miles away, will become increasingly expensive and logistically challenging.
Sending some of them back to base before securing a diplomatic victory could be read as a sign of weakness, while launching an attack on Ukraine would be likely to cost many lives and have wide-ranging consequences.
Putin just realized Biden gave him no way out. He made Putin his bitch.
