![]() But we’ve never been in this situation with Putin or Russia before so, we don’t know how it’s going to play out. My instinct is that he will continue to escalate until he reaches a position where he’s sure he can present whatever the result is as an acceptable outcome for him. If you look back at the last 20 years of Putin’s time in power, this is the first time he’s taken a major initiative that has gone seriously wrong, so there’s nothing really to guide us in how, in the end, he’s going to react. And now, we really are going into uncharted waters because it’s not at all clear that this partial mobilization will be sufficient. He’d much rather that the war continued, or the fighting continued, as something far away which wasn’t really affecting most Russians daily lives. He’d much rather avoid any mobilization at all because it risks fomenting discontent among the Russian population. This is a significant escalation, but he’s doing it pretty cautiously. But clearly, they just don’t have enough troops on the ground to do what he wanted to do, so he’s had to escalate. One has to be very cautious about evaluating this because it is an ongoing situation. And he miscalculated terribly over the capacities of the Russian army and how extremely poorly it has performed in military terms. He didn’t expect Zelensky to remain in Kyiv and lead the resistance. But he didn’t expect them to rise up as a nation and oppose the Russians. That was the kind of propaganda myth that was put around. ![]() There was never any question that he thought they were going to be welcomed with flowers. Putin catastrophically miscalculated on several scores: He did not expect the Ukrainians to resist as strongly as they have done. That may seem an obvious thing to say, but it’s the basis for everything that is happening. ![]() One, and the most important, is that the war is not going well for the Russians. SHORT: There are a number of elements which one has to bear in mind. GAZETTE: How does Russia’s position look right now? Interview has been edited for clarity and length. Short spoke to the Gazette about Putin’s escalations of the war and whether there is growing reason to worry about how he will respond if Ukraine continues to make gains. Philip Short is a former foreign correspondent in Moscow for the BBC, the Economist, and The Times of London, and author of the new book “ Putin: The Man Behind the War in Ukraine.” He gave a virtual talk about Putin and Ukraine hosted by the Belfer Center’s Intelligence Project at Harvard Kennedy School Wednesday. Putin also said he would defend his country with nuclear weapons, if threatened by the West. This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin began calling up 300,000 military reservists in the country’s first mobilization since World War II to replenish its badly depleted armed forces. The Ukrainian successes have spurred discussion in the West about the prospect for negotiations to end the aggression and at what cost. Forgot your password? Click here to sign-in and subscribe via a link sent to your email.At least for now the tide appears to be turning against Russia in its attack on Ukraine, which has recaptured wide swaths of land in recent weeks. #WORLD WAR 3 NEWS PASSWORD#Please ensure your password has at least 8 characters, an uppercase and a lowercase letter, and a number or symbol. Use at least 8 characters, an uppercase and a lowercase letter, and a number or symbol. You can unsubscribe whenever you want.īy clicking 'Sign in and Subscribe' you agree to us subscribing you to our newsletter in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.Įmail: (change email) Create Account and Subscribe Sign in and Subscribe ![]() We will not share your email address with any third parties. Already have an account? Don't already have an account?īy clicking 'Create Account and Subscribe' you agree to us creating an account for you and subscribing you to our newsletter in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.Įmails, which may be sent daily or less frequently, may include marketing elements. Please click 'Create Account and Subscribe' to create a new account and subscribe to our email alerts. We don't have an account for this email address. Please click 'Sign in and Subscribe' to continue. Please check you have typed it correctly.Īn existing account was found for this email address. We are sorry, but the email address you entered does not appear to be valid. Create Account and Subscribe Sign in and Subscribe Subscribe to our email alert of the day's top stories from the UK and around the world. #WORLD WAR 3 NEWS FREE#Sign up for a FREE NewsNow account and get our email alert of the day's top stories from the UK and around the world. ![]()
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