Vladimir Putin is in his interventions as his troops are on the ground: on several fronts. He addresses himself first and foremost to the Russians themselves, when he poses as a warlord from day one. And then, there is this slap addressed on March 16 to his fellow citizens who live abroad: “Any people, especially the Russian people, are able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors. The Russian people can spit them out like a gnat that has landed in their mouths.”
While apparently he had given no signs of nervousness, Vladimir Putin shows a certain nervousness. This is partly explained by the situation on the ground. This protrusion corresponds precisely to the moment when Russian troops begin to tread water in Ukraine. The tone is brutal. Borrowed from the mafia style and vocabulary, according to Françoise Thom. Author of the book Understanding Putinismit describes what the Russians call the “mat”. A sometimes violent form of slang. “Whoever is not in the band or whoever breaks away from it is necessarily a traitor, says the historian. As a traitor, he must be eliminated. Those facing west in Russia and Ukraine must be liquidated. “
“It’s Mafia logic, but it’s also Stalinist logic.”
Francoise Thomat franceinfo
Putin also changes in the face of heads of state. There is obviously the visible part of the block of ice that is Vladimir Putin. And then there is its submerged part. The one that only diplomats see. Discussions where the Russian president had until then used to deliver a very structured speech, bordering on the predictable.
Antoine Vitkine, director of the documentary Putin’s Revengebroadcast Sunday March 27 on France 5, got wind of certain exchanges with heads of state and he evokes a change in his ways of doing things: “He started talking at length when usually he’s rather concise. He displays a world view, a resentment… Going back to the rather long history of Russia, explaining that Russia has been humiliated. He also says that all this happens because Russia is not respected.”
All of this gradually infused Vladimir Putin’s private discussions into his television appearances. Nobody is obviously in the head of the Russian president but several specialists agree on one thing: this testifies to a certain change of mental state. A less structured speech. Perhaps because he isolates himself and is less and less advised.
Putin speaks only to the great powers and leaves Europe aside. His warrior rhetoric is well-honed, sometimes repetitive. But Sergei Guriev, a Russian economist, professor at Sciences Po Paris and having fled Russia in 2013, notes one thing: Vladimir Putin always addresses the same foreign leaders.
“He only talks about the United States, China and the Russians. All the other countries are just puppets of Washington.”
Sergeï Gurievat franceinfo
Clearly, Vladimir Putin continues to sideline the European Union and its Member States. He does not consider them as first-rate interlocutors, at least to try to discredit them.
There are also elements of discourse that tend to disappear. The Russian president initially justified his invasion by a desire to “dénazifier l’Ukraine”. He no longer talks about it in his exchanges with Emmanuel Macron, for example, and he demands less and less the departure of Volodymyr Zelensky. Historian Françoise Thom sees this as a shift towards possible negotiations: “Ukraine is already abandoning the idea of joining NATO. It’s already taken. It launches the process of negotiations but Russia thus reserves the possibility of raising the stakes.”
“I let go on one side, it’s up to you to give me pledges”, the Russian president can say in a way. But that’s speculation here. Vladimir will always remain Putin. Unfathomable.