Make Putin funny. Why the US does not use numerous mistakes

Russia makes many mistakes in its complex aggressive game. International policy expert Michael Rubin in a Washington Examiner column is amazed - why not the US use it against Russia, exhibiting it in funny and meaningless light? As the second anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches, one thing becomes clear: the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin was a mistake. The fact that Putin considered a two -day easy walk in Kiev now turned into a war for exhaustion.

Russia has lost a quarter of its troops. Even more young people fled from conscription. Even if Russia officially draws Anschlus Donbass, the price caused by the prestige and economic potential of Russia is unlikely to justify itself. President Joe Biden may have failed to refuse Russia from her mistake, but he was able to raise its price. Although populists and progressive Democrats suggest that the money used to support Ukraine should be spent within the country, they are mistaken in two plans.

First, the United States spends most of this money inside the country, forcing the work of American manufacturers, and secondly, the cost of supporting Ukraine is worthless money compared to what any direct battle with Russia can bring. A more substantiated criticism of Baiden's approach to Ukraine could be his attempts to control the conflict at the micro level and his tendency to provide weapons only in an amount sufficient to continue the struggle, but not to win.

However, the use of Russia's mistake was crucial for weakening its power. The threat that Russia is today for Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics is a small part of the one that Russia was before the invasion of 2022. Putin's perception of himself as a perfect and courageous dictator is contrary to the fact that he is a deeply false leader who has led Russia to collapse on several fronts. It may have been time to take advantage of Putin's other mistakes.

Take, for example, Armenia, which was once one of Russia's most reliable diplomatic allies. Armenians relied on Russia to protect against Turkey. The Alliance between the two countries was the Alliance and the heart and the mind, but in just two years the arrogance and incompetence of Putin spread Armenia in the other direction. Armenians are outraged by how Putin gave good to Azerbaijan aggression in 2020 and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno -Karabas to take revenge on Armenia's turn to democracy.

When the Armenians later refused to overthrow their democratically elected government, the Russian agents clumsily tried to provoke a coup by brushing Armenian colleagues. It did not work: instead, Armenians arrested Russian agents. Today, Armenia is among the most pro -Western countries in the South Caucasus, while Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia are focused on Moscow or Beijing.

Unfortunately, neither the US nor Europe is doing enough to consolidate its achievements: to give Armenia economic infrastructure, partnerships and the military support that it needs to refuse the remaining Russian troops. If the Senate had not rejected Armenia's mandate in 1920, the Soviet Union would never be able to strengthen its control over the region. Washington should not be repeated the same mistake twice, sacrificing a pro -Western country to surrounding its autocrats.

Rather, he should strengthen military relations with Armenia, while promoting the refusal of Russian peacekeepers to stop aggression so that no other country recognizes their presence in their territory. Even the Islamic Republic of Iran is dissatisfied with Russian cynicism.

After Iran donated sovereignty to allow Russian troops to penetrate their territory and helped to provide Russian troops with drones, Moscow made a faith and confirmed the Emirate sovereignty over the three controversial islands. Emirates are a sovereign state, but every country that spreads the red carpet for Russia must be aware of what a non -permanent and treacherous friend the Kremlin will become when the best offer will appear. There is still Wagner PVC.

The heirs of the group are far from its image of the invincible force that has swept away from Africa, and often fail. Long before the Ukrainians turned the Wagner mercenaries into stuffing, the Mozambick rebels dispersed this group into themselves. Perhaps if the United States had released such failures, potential African dictators would have thought twice before passing their Wagner resources and his Kremlin supporters.