This is interesting. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I suspect Putin will continue to believe his own fairy tails (at least in some form) rather than come to his senses and face reality.
>>>A career diplomat who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Russia, Burns spoke at length about the "immediate" threat posed by the Kremlin's aggression, and called Russian President Vladimir Putin an "apostle of payback" whose appetite for risk has grown as his circle of trusted advisers has shrunk over the years.
"Every day, Putin demonstrates that declining powers can be at least as disruptive as rising ones," he said.
Burns recounted how he came away "troubled" from an interaction with Putin in November, when President Biden dispatched the
CIA chief to Moscow to warn the Russians of the consequences of potential military action in Ukraine.
"While it did not yet seem that he had made an irreversible decision to invade Ukraine, Putin was defiantly leaning in that direction, apparently concerned that his window was closing for shaping Ukraine's orientation," Burns said.
He said Putin appeared convinced at the time that the Ukrainians would quickly submit; that his own military could achieve victory "at minimal cost;" that Europeans would remain "risk-averse" and that his own economy was "sanctions-proofed" by massive foreign currency reserves.
"When he launched his war seven weeks ago, Putin was proven wrong on each of those counts," Burns said.<<<
He called Putin an "apostle of payback" whose appetite for risk has grown as his circle of trusted advisers has shrunk over the years.
www.cbsnews.com
