WSJ: War Escalation In Ukraine May Mean End To Putin's Regime

In this case, even the "energy card" will not save him.

The escalation of Russia's war against Ukraine is only being carried out to save the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin and could mean the end of his regime. This opinion was expressed by the columnist of the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal, Holman Jenkins Jr, reports glavred.info.

According to him, the threat to the Russian president may come from within - from the circle of his former allies, and "Putin knows that nothing will finish him off any faster now."

Jenkins Jr. called a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine a reckless attempt. It could only have paid off if the original view of pro-Kremlin propaganda had been real: if "Ukraine was a fake country and a rotten state ready to fall gratefully into Russia's hands".

However, it is not the case, and now the aggressor has had to escalate the situation even further. The best way out for Putin now is to negotiate, says the author.

"To begin with, secure a ceasefire and then allow the negotiations for a final settlement to drag on for 10, 20 years, however long he expects to live, trying to restore his energy," the article says.

That said, even Putin's "energy card" cannot save him - "he has waited too long to play it out." In Germany, for example, the panic over a possible crisis has already given way to preparation and planning.

"The real question now is not whether Mr Putin wants to withdraw [from the war]. The question is whether Ukrainian President Zelensky will give it to him," writes Jenkins Jr.

He believes that Putin can survive the failed war in Ukraine, as the Russian president has tried to make sure that "vital sections of the population" don't realise there is a war going on.

"The privileged 17 million in Moscow and St Petersburg are not going to protest in the streets if he doesn't conquer Ukraine. And they might if he tried to drag their families into his deceptive project," says The Wall Street Journal columnist.