not invited, Vladimir Putin sets his own rules

The head of the Kremlin did not invite the commemorations and takes on the role of victim. He thus justifies his desire to circumvent economic sanctions. It now assumes its desire to arm all states likely to threaten Western interests.

Vladimir Putin observes from afar the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, he is the big absentee of the day. 10 years ago, the Russian head of state was invited to encourage him to negotiate with Ukraine a few weeks after the annexation of Crimea. Today, it is impossible. Vladimir Putin is inaccessible in the eyes of Western leaders. As usual, the head of the Kremlin draws his own conclusions, those which allow him to take on the role of the victim. He threatened on Wednesday June 5, 2024 to deliver weapons to third countries likely to strike Western interests.

Vladimir Putin would be treated as a pariah by Western leaders who seek to rewrite History, to erase the sacrifice of Soviet soldiers. The USSR, whose heritage Vladimir Putin claims, has the highest number of deaths in this campaign to liberate Europe. Today, Western allies want to isolate Russia. Vladimir Putin takes note of this decision: “Too bad they celebrate without us, it won’t hurt us“. The head of the Kremlin admitted to the press on Wednesday that he now wants to follow his own path.

Vladimir Putin has the means to guarantee the survival of a country placed under economic sanctions and that is precisely what he is doing. When he insists on this unfair sidelining by Westerners, he also justifies his desire to free himself from the rules they have set. The mistake of the Americans and Europeans is to think that Moscow is isolated in this dissident project. Even if it is explained today that the Russian economy is overheating, in the short term, Vladimir Putin managed to find enough allies to set up a system to circumvent sanctions.

A system that a certain number of States have integrated. For example, dozens of ghost ships crisscross the oceans to sell Russian gas and oil production. Russia continues to trade with Iran, North Korea and India. Agreements have been reached with China, a little too many in fact, which could ultimately pose problems of Moscow’s dependence on Beijing. The Kremlin also recovered Wagner’s activities in several African countries, military skills in exchange for authorizations to extract gold, diamonds and rare metals. Russia is exploring alternative paths, even illegal ones. For Vladimir Putin, it is the fault of the West, the consequence of the measures taken to isolate his country.

Russia is also now banking heavily on its war economy. This is probably what is most worrying about Vladimir Putin’s deviant trajectory. The Russian state now devotes 30% of its budget to the defense sector, all other areas have been neglected in favor of armaments. Russian diplomacy continues touring Africa and Latin America, and it is moving closer to anti- or falsely democratic regimes. Vladimir Putin considers that the West has sidelined him, so he sets his own rules. It assumes its desire to arm all states likely to threaten Western interests. Everything indicates today that this project should be taken seriously.