Whether he invades Ukraine or backs down, Putin has harmed Russia
He will try to claim victory though
THE NEWS, for a moment, seemed encouraging. In a stage-managed television appearance on February 14th Vladimir Putin grunted a terse “good” to the proposal of his foreign minister that, despite warnings by the West of an imminent invasion of Ukraine, diplomacy should continue. A day later Russia’s defence ministry said that some of the 180,000 or so troops it has deployed at its borders with Ukraine are to be withdrawn to barracks, having completed their military exercises which, it has always maintained, is why they were there in the first place.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Putin’s botched job”
Leaders February 19th 2022
From the February 19th 2022 edition
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