. Vladimir Putin faces growing criticism from his own population, even from the elite - as symbolised by the flight to Lithuania of a critic rumoured to be his goddaughter. It fits the Kremlin playbook to deflect with disinformation, to make Russia out to be the victim of a British-led conspiracy, as if Moscow was just going about its business when it attempted to carve up Ukraine. For all Putin's pathetic bluster, however, he remains highly dangerous - be it his demented threat to use nuclear weapons or the fact that economically, he still holds a knife to the world's throat. Nord Stream reflected an attempt by a generation of European statesmen to integrate Russian energy into their economies, exposing them to blackmail. Its disastrous error is now clear to see. And Moscow has announced that it is suspending its agreement to ensure the continued export of Ukrainian food, which will be a nightmare for poorer nations and likely raise prices. International and domestic crises are thus linked. The new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak must support Ukraine to the hilt because the cause is just - but it's also true that energy and food markets will only recover when the conflict is resolved. And given that Russia shows no sign of backing down, Putin is only going to place more pressure on the UK economy. That's why it is absolutely vital to g){kind=link}
With Russia blackmailing the West over energy and food, Rishi Sunak must be careful not to cripple us with tax hikes.
Vladimir Putin has decided to make Britain public enemy number one, accusing the UK of being behind the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines last month and for facilitating Ukrainian strikes on Russian ships in occupied Crimea. These are “false claims of an epic scale,” said British officials, saying far more about what’s “going on inside the Russian government than it does about the West.”
Indeed, Russia is on the backfoot, fighting to hold on to the lands illegally seized in eastern Ukraine. Its military stocks are depleting; it has been forced to mobilise soldiers who plainly do not want to serve (thousands have tried to go abroad). Vladimir Putin faces growing criticism from his own population, even from the elite – as symbolised by the flight to Lithuania of a critic rumoured to be his goddaughter.
It fits the Kremlin playbook to deflect with disinformation, to make Russia out to be the victim of a British-led conspiracy, as if Moscow was just going about its business when it attempted to carve up Ukraine.
For all Putin’s pathetic bluster, however, he remains highly dangerous – be it his demented threat to use nuclear weapons or the fact that economically, he still holds a knife to the world’s throat. Nord Stream reflected an attempt by a generation of European statesmen to integrate Russian energy into their economies, exposing them to blackmail. Its disastrous error is now clear to see. And Moscow has announced that it is suspending its agreement to ensure the continued export of Ukrainian food, which will be a nightmare for poorer nations and likely raise prices.