Can the West outlast Putin?

The invasion of Ukraine will end someday, and the war may continue as a guerilla type war that could last for years. Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin will probably still rule Russia even if the Russian people eventually learn how he lied to them. Putin has his base of supporters that will buy anything he says because it’s for their benefit to believe (sounds a little familiar). Such is the rule of dictators.

So how will we ever deal with a nuclear-armed Russia in the future? Putin has proved to us what a liar he is with his numerous denials of the coming invasion of Ukraine. He has proved, once again, that what comes out of his mouth is usually garbage (hmmm, familiarity strikes again). Putin is the head of a powerful well-armed nation of almost 150 million souls. We have no choice but to deal with them. They have almost unlimited natural resources, especially oil and gas. They can dictate who will be their friends and who will not. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, who once dominated Europe with its military might, is dependent on Russia for a large part of its energy needs.

NATO countries are applying sanctions on the Russian economy, but it’s a two-way street. High gas prices are the least of our worries regarding Russia. The Russian people can handle any hardship that we can impose on them far better than we can handle what Russia can do to Europe. What hurts Europe will hurt us, in my opinion.

K. Morgan

Sultan