Victory in the war over Ukraine. And for this, Putin is ready to freeze Europe. If recently in Tehran he claimed that it was necessary to "only" agree to the certification of Nord Stream-2 in order to supply gas, now the stakes are even higher: sanctions against Russia must be abandoned and military support for Ukraine must be stopped. Wow!
It can be said that the reduction of gas supply volumes is a strong trump card, considering the dependence of many European countries on these supplies. But blackmail is always a failed policy. Until recently, Putin was blackmailing Ukraine. By the way, he also blackmailed with unacceptable demands, in particular to recognize the Russian status of the annexed Crimea, to agree with the "independence" of the occupied Donbas, to disarm, and to "denazify". Attempts to apply the same approach to European countries are now beginning.
Politics - even power politics, even medieval politics, in the categories of which Putin continues to think - is always the art of the possible and understanding how you can win when you have not humiliated the enemy, trampled on his honor. But the Russian president seems to be worried about the exact opposite. It is important for him not just to win, but to humiliate, trample, and publicly demonstrate that no compromises are acceptable. But this is not politics, it is the behavior of a "gopnik" in St. Petersburg's backyard. For more than two decades of being at the top of power, Putin still has not understood what this is - state activity. His political career took off rapidly when he provided a demonstration of the communication of Yuriy Skuratov, the Prosecutor General of Russia, hated by his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, with ladies of "low social responsibility" - right on television screens. No Russian official has ever stooped to such lowliness, but Putin was able to! His popularity among the agitated crowd began to gain momentum again when he "annexed" foreign territory to Russia. No Soviet or Russian politician since the Second World War has committed such a flagrant violation of international law - and Putin was able to! And now we all think what else he can do. Freeze Europe? Use chemical or nuclear weapons? Is this politics?
Of course not. Blackmail is not politics, but a demonstration of political impotence. The desire to humiliate has never and nowhere led to success, and ended only in the downfall of those who bet on deliberate disrespect for the right to make sovereign decisions. It happens in ordinary everyday life, it happens in politics too - the blackmailer loses sooner or later. Putin can reduce gas volumes. Putin can threaten the Europeans. In such a way, he will only prove how dangerous he is and show why any agreements with him are doomed to failure.