JRL NEWSWATCH: “Could Putin Launch Another Invasion?” – Politico/ Leon Aron

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“The same factors that led up to his incursion into Ukraine are in place again, including domestic protests, a struggling economy and a desire for glory”

“… [O]n the seventh anniversary of the Crimean Anschluss, many of the same vectors that produced the invasion of Ukraine are here again. … There are at least two reasons for Putin to be thinking about similar big and bold actions …. One is strategic and abiding: glory for himself and his Russia, the two by now entwined in his mind. The other motive is tactical: He is working toward a lifetime presidency—a six-year term in 2024, at 72, and perhaps another in 2030— in a country where the economy and incomes have stagnated for over a decade and the still-raging Covid-19 pandemic has left deep scars. What’s more, the arrest of pro-democracy leader Alexei Navalny has ignited waves of protest rallies in over 100 Russian cities for the first time since anti-Putin demonstrations in the winter of 2011-12. …”

Click here for: “Could Putin Launch Another Invasion? The same factors that led up to his incursion into Ukraine are in place again, including domestic protests, a struggling economy and a desire for glory” – Politico/ Leon Aron

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