麻豆社

Bulgarian-born political scientist Ivan Krastev argues that the West has not understood President Putin and post-Soviet Russia correctly. He says for the last 30 years, a majority of Russians, including Putin, have never reconciled themselves to the "loss of empire" that occurred when the Soviet Union broke up, and that the Russian leadership believes it has a special role in the post-Soviet space with the right to influence the countries around them.

He believes that Putin has made two miscalculations - that the invasion of Ukraine would be much more straightforward and that it would be impossible for the West to do anything decisive. The fact that Russia left 55 percent of its foreign currency reserves in US and European banks is evidence he says. However, he thinks the West should be mindful that its unity may not last and realise that not everyone sees the situation as they do with countries such as India and China refraining from comments that go against Putin.

"Russia never reconciled itself to being surrounded by sovereign states"

Photo: Russian President Putin teleconference in Moscow, 25 March 2022

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