February 16: Called it! Putin capitalizes on publicity

In which, Putin spins an interview into a week of grandstanding, Trump punches NATO buttons again, and the world wonders if the US is ready to go all in on a Palestinian state?

Called it! Putin capitalizes on publicity

Last week, a big media story was Tucker Carlson’s extensive interview with Vladimir Putin. I expressed concern that Putin would seek to leverage the interview for disinformation/propaganda purposes. Boy, and how!

Here’s a run down of Russia’s activities this week:

• A new intel report suggests 1) Russia is preparing for war with NATO within the decade, which 2) includes deploying anti-satellite space-based weapons.

• The Wagner Group has been redirected towards Africa as a way of eliminating future coup attempts without some kind of blood purge. Turns out, that’s exactly what Putin is doing. Meet Wagner rebranded: Africa Corps.

• Putin announced Russia is close to a cancer vaccine.

• Just a month away from a national election, opposition leader Alexei Navalny ended up dead in his Siberian prison.

Each of those items serves to demonstrate Russia/Putin’s strength, permanence, and confidence in the face of Western opposition. 

The cherry on top was Putin’s troll job of suggesting he’d like to see a second Biden term for its “predictable” nature.

As the Ukraine war approaches its two-year anniversary and Putin anticipates another term as president, the Kremlin is already working to set the diplomatic table to its advantage.