I’m Putin and I’m sat back watching how the EU, Britain and the US respond to Ukraine and the energy crisis. I’m aware China and my allies are watching with interest. Democracy, in my opinion, has been a massive failure, it’s too chaotic having lots of different opinions. You need one powerful leader backed up by state apparatus and authority. People respect me because I don’t tolerate dissent. We all need to be pointing in the same direction. Anyone who crosses Russia will be found and dealt with appropriately.
The internet has been a powerful tool to interfere with western democracy. Trump’s inauguration was a victory for us. That awful Obama sanctioned us so it was very important we supported a US leader who we could work with. His propensity towards egoism, clumsiness and right wing appeal was useful. We enjoyed watching the chaos in January 2021. Speaking of which, Boris Johnson and Brexit helped to sever the uk and EU links. It pleases me to think that the little annexe of the US is enjoying their independence and sovereignty. And don’t forget my shillshops have been working hard to create/add to conspiracy theories and whip up mistrust against western governments for many years. It’s worked well.
Economically we’ve been very busy over the years. London, for example, has been a terrific money laundering opportunity for our rubles. It’s very kind of them to allow us to buy property, football clubs, access to politicians. We do like to vary our economic interests and gain a foothold in different countries. Our shiny gas pipeline has worked wonders for us and I have to say that some of the EU were a bit naive in becoming so dependent but it was entirely their choice.
Covid turned out to be a blessing in disguise. EU and US economies were weakened and rising inflation meant we could add to the economic difficulty. Some may have wondered why Gazprom didn’t fulfil its obligations to EU gas storage in autumn 2021. This failure was part of a much bigger plan as you all found out in 2022.
My main ambition for my beloved Russia is to ensure we have full access to the Mediterranean coastline. A return to the old borders of the USSR would be ideal if a little ambitious. Occasionally I dream of being the world’s supreme leader but I keep myself in check. In the meantime it’s fortunate the EU is paying for my invasion so I will just run the clock to see how far we can go. I’ve made it clear that if you all interfere too much in Ukraine, I’ll wave the nuclear deterrent at you. I’m up for playing cat and mouse with the west but I won’t tolerate you interfering with my Ukraine.