The former ambassador explained why Putin is stepping up his threats against the West
Vladimir Putin and his inner circle sense that they are approaching a dead end, which is why their rhetoric is becoming harsher. The former ambassador noted that such behavior is typical of Russian politicians and should not be a cause for concern.
Vladimir Yelchenko, former ambassador and head of the international policy research department at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, made these remarks in an interview with Ukrinform.
“The escalation in rhetoric, in my view, stems from the fact that Putin and the leadership of the Russian Federation as a whole realize they are approaching a dead end, and, as has always been the case in the past, they are raising the stakes. This is typical of Putin and Lavrov—and, in general, of the Russian Federation’s leadership,” Yelchenko noted.
He recalled that previously these were threats involving nuclear weapons; now, they are threats to destroy Ukraine’s entire power grid on the eve of winter. According to him, this is a way of continuing moral and psychological pressure on the Ukrainian population in the hope that they will pressure Ukraine’s leadership to end this war, even on unfavorable terms.
The second goal of this behavior is an attempt to influence the West as a whole, with the aim of getting it to stop or reduce military, financial, economic, and other forms of aid to Ukraine, the former diplomat added.
“Therefore, we should take this in stride. This is not the first time, and all these threats usually come to nothing,” he believes.
Commenting on the “leaks” and certain interviews with representatives of the Russian “elite” in reputable Western media outlets, Yelchenko expressed his conviction that none of this could have emerged without the Kremlin’s permission; moreover, these articles may even be written in the Kremlin itself. The goal is the same—to blackmail the West, this time by instilling fear that Russia might collapse, which would supposedly lead to the “proliferation” of nuclear weapons, terrorism, problems with uncontrolled migration, and so on. The idea being pushed is that only Putin, so to speak, can prevent this, but to do so, he needs at least some kind of victory over Ukraine.
In his view, “only the dismantling of the Russian state can truly bring about change.” And then the discussion will no longer be about regime change in Russia, but about the states that will emerge in that region, the former ambassador stated, though he noted that this may be a distant prospect.
He has no doubt that Russia, in its current form, will collapse sooner or later, because all empires have ceased to exist—that is the law of history.
Source: Ukrinform
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