American Putin expert Angela Stent can well imagine that Russia will completely stop supplying gas to Germany. Presumably Vladimir Putin was specifically aiming for many Germans to freeze in the coming winter, she explains in an interview with FOCUS Online.
Stent fears that turning off the gas tap would serve the Kremlin chief as an excellent strategy for economic warfare. According to the Putin expert, the more dissatisfied and frustrated the mood in the German population becomes, the more the Russian President hopes for it: “As much anger and resentment as possible among the Germans – Putin expects this to divide society and weaken the west. He is intent on making populist movements stronger.”
Her current prophecy: “Putin is probably just waiting for the fact that many Germans will no longer be able to heat sufficiently this autumn and winter. That could be part of his strategy. He probably hopes that people will freeze, that inflation will continue to rise and that the economy will suffer massive losses. When unity among the population then crumbles, radical politicians gain ground. And Putin is rubbing his hands.”
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Angela Stent is one of the most well-founded experts on Putin in the United States. She has had dinner with the Russian President fifteen times over the past few years. These table talks usually lasted two to three hours, she says. Their last dinner together with the Kremlin boss took place in 2019. After the outbreak of the pandemic, Putin put his annual dinners with around twenty selected international guests on hold.
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In addition, Stent worked for many years for the US Secret Service and as a foreign policy advisor to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Today, the author of “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest” (2019) holds a leadership position at the Brookings Institution – a non-partisan think tank in Washington. The university professor also heads the Center for Russian and Eastern European Studies at the renowned Georgetown University in the American capital.
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Stent cannot understand these appeals anyway: “Actually, it should be clear to everyone that Putin has no interest in a ceasefire.” In fact, the exact opposite is the case, she says. Accordingly, Stent also answers the question of whether Russia could be content with conquering eastern Ukraine with a resounding no: “Absolutely not. Putin said that himself. Actually, you just have to pay attention to his words and listen to what he says: He compares himself to Peter the Great. It’s about much, much more than the regions in eastern Ukraine.”
On the question of who the Kremlin boss might now accept an invitation to peace negotiations from, Stent expresses his pessimism: “From nobody. At least I can’t imagine a person anymore. Except maybe from the Chinese President.”
She also said on the current Russian-Chinese relations: “I heard that Putin is very disappointed in Xi Jinping. Although Beijing verbally supports Moscow and repeats Russian propaganda at home, these are just words. Russia had expected much more from China and also hoped for arms deliveries. But Jinping is extremely cautious – there is simply a lot at stake economically for China.”
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