Lilia Shevtsova on Putin Ends the Interregnum

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from the article:

. . . Putin stubbornly refused to admit to the Russian military’s involvement in the war in Ukraine. What this means is that there are no concessions on the part of the West and Ukraine that can satisfy the other side. This is true not because of bellicosity or incompetence of the Russian leader; he is quite rational and competent. Rather, he understands all too well the logic of personalized power in Russia—that, at this late stage of regime decay, it requires him to keep Russia in a state of war with the outside world. The war with Ukraine has thus become an existential problem for the current Russian political regime. It can’t afford a defeat.

Source: Lilia Shevtsova, "Putin Ends the Interregnum," The American Interest, August 28, 2014