It is probably fair to say that Vladimir Putin has had a pretty bad week.
He failed to bully Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka into accepting Russia’s terms for a union state at a summit in Sochi. And he failed to bully Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy into accepting Moscow’s terms for ending the war in the Donbas.
The World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from international sports for four years. And European Union foreign ministers agreed to seek legislation establishing an EU Magnitsky Act, which would sanction officials involved in human rights violations.
Listen to Episode 52 of the Power Vertical Podcast as Brian Whitmore and Donald N. Jensen consider if the Kremlin leader is losing his touch.
The Power Vertical is a CEPA podcast covering the Kremlin for Kremlin watchers. All opinions are those of the guests and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis.
