Putin's way of exchange: legalized right to violence

1. Legalized right to violence

I'm sorry, but if it's so easy for Putin to take away his spies and assassins, it means that he will continue to send his spies and assassins to Western capitals. To eliminate the undesirables. And this opens a Pandora's box... And of course, this is a signal to his own spies and killers: we will not abandon you if you follow orders and remain loyal to the regime.

It is quite revealing how Russian propaganda media call Krasikov's killer a "terrorist liquidator," heroizing his image. And how they do not hesitate to say that Krasikov was Putin's FSB henchman who carried out his most bloody orders. In fact, this is a confession of the terrorist nature of the Russian government without any embellishment.

2. Electoral logic that prevails over national interests and international security

Obviously, Joe Biden needed this exchange for his election campaign. The meeting and hug of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was released from Russian captivity, was supposed to be a beautiful and humane element of the election campaign. And it did, although it belongs to Kamala Harris, who, along with Biden, was the first to hug Gershkovich.

And the fact that the price for this was the international criminal Krasikov, as well as a certain shock in the German capital, with which Washington had agreed to release Krasikov, was a secondary factor. Because the picture trumps the substance, and the interests of international security lost out to the electoral picture.

Although I do not in any way devalue the fact that the United States is fighting for each of its citizens and that we are talking about human destiny here.

3. The West begins to build relations with Russia outside the Ukrainian context

With this exchange, the West demonstrated that it has its own interests and negotiating positions with Russia. And that the war in Ukraine, the largest war since World War II unleashed by Russia, could not be taken into account in these relations. Russia is holding thousands of Ukrainian prisoners hostage, none of whom were the subject of these negotiations.

“Moreover, the West has freed political prisoners from the captivity of the Russian regime, who, from their first public statements, are beginning to be guided not by legal but by electoral logic. I'm talking about Vladimir Kara-Murza's statement about the need to separate sanctions against Russians and against the Russian government, and for Russians to ease them.”

This is a flirtation with a potential electorate, which means that he is seen as an alternative to the Putin regime and a possible next political power in Moscow.

For me, this is evidence that the West has not understood the essence of the Russian imperial mentality, where the demand for a "strong and cruel" hand and, accordingly, permanent war is shaped by the Russian people themselves. And that liberal times there occurred at the moment of a certain breakdown and were the exception, not the rule.

That's why I'm betting much more on conditional Patrushev than on conditional Kara-Murza or Navalny... And this should definitely be taken into account in the current context of the aggressiveness of a nuclear power when developing a strategy to tame this monster.

And lastly. This exchange shows that warming is possible, that they are ready to negotiate with Putin, not punish him, and that the West chooses reconciliation over punishment. And this is the position of the weak, because unpunished evil always returns…

The stakes in this game are a possible third world war…

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About the author. Victoria Siumar, journalist, media expert.

The editors don't always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.