Throughout its nearly quarter-century history, the Putin regime has not learned to do virtually anything, whether it concerns politics, or social relations, or the economy. And yet it must be admitted after all that it has mastered one thing in its relations with the West, that is, the skill of bargaining. That said, the regime understands bargaining in a very special way, as it usually bargains in trying to sell something stolen before.
It steals first (territories, people, ideas, or know-how) and then invites the West to buy part of what was stolen in exchange for recognising the rest as the lawfully acquired. And as an incentive in the process of bargaining, the regime exploits such a natural human feeling as fear — fear that, unless a consensus is reached on its terms, everything will be even worse. Just as the satirist Mikhail Zhvanetsky’s well-known phrase goes (in which ‘well’ could be replaced by ‘badly’): “We did not promise you that you would live well. We promised you that you would live even better.”
The regime has not been very successful trading in fear of one’s life: Sweden and Finland, which have maintained neutrality for decades, if not centuries, have become NATO members, and Ukraine is effectively resisting its invasion.
Trading in fear of starvation by stealing grain from Ukraine in exchange for having the sanctions eased has gone awry, too — and now Defence Minister Shoigu, assuming the role as foreign trade minister, travels to Istanbul to sign a deal on exporting Ukrainian grain from the seized territories.