Humouring Putin

Give Putin no concessions, but show him respect. Keep talking to him, and eventually he’ll come down from the ledge he’s gone out on at the moment.

The geopolitical question of the moment is: how important is it to humour Russian Leader Vladimir Putin? The answer is: not very. Throw him a fish or two, because he’s running a bluff and you don’t want to humiliate him, but there’s no need to placate him with major concessions, writes Gwynne Dyer. Photograph courtesy of Flickr

Opinion

BY GWYNNE DYER

December 20, 2021

LONDON, U.K.—The geopolitical question of the moment is: how important is it to humour Russian Leader Vladimir Putin? The answer is: not very. Throw him a fish or two, because he’s running a bluff and you don’t want to humiliate him, but there’s no need to placate him with major concessions....

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