Hands on his desk, a burgundy tie tied around his neck, Vladimir Putin addresses his compatriots and the rest of the world, this Thursday, February 24 around 4 a.m. Leaning on the back of his chair, his cheeks slightly puffy, the russian president his age, he will be 70 on October 7th.
The dark look, he announces the invasion of Ukraine and threatens: To those who would try to interfere with us and even more to threaten our country, our people, they must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead to consequences that you have never experienced before.
Remarks very widely denounced by the Western powers and which reinforce a little more the isolation of a man, at the head of Russia for 22 years.
Vladimir Putin has been in power since 2000, in a Russia that has emerged from 70 years of communism. Young and sporty, he contrasts with his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, physically weakened and undermined by alcohol.
“He stiffened in his positions”
Former KGB spy, especially in East Germany in the late 1980s, Vladimir Putin built a whirlwind political career, rapidly climbing the steps to power. Once elected, the new president goes to war against the Russian oligarchs who control society and proposes a series of reforms.
On the international scene, Vladimir Putin maintains the policy of openness towards the West initiated by his predecessor. In June 2000, he even declared to his American counterpart, Bill Clinton, that he was thinking of joining NATO, an organization that is now despised. On September 11, 2001, when the United States was affected by the attacks, Vladimir Putin was also one of the first heads of state to send a message to GW Bush and ordered a minute’s silence in all schools in Russia.
Positions that contrast with the current climate of mistrust. I think it’s absolutely a continuation of what it was. He’s just older, he stiffened his positions and his bitterness
slice for West France Cécile Vaissié, professor of Russian and Soviet studies at Rennes-2 University.
His politics got tougher over time but the germs were there from the start
continues the researcher, who evokes a rapid takeover of the media and the military operation in Chechnya as soon as she came to power.
“There is this obsession with the United States”
Very popular in Russia during the first years, Vladimir Putin also wants to restore the image of his country on the international scene. Despite good relations with the leaders of the Western world such as American President George W. Bush, French President Jacques Chirac or German Chancellor Gérard Schroeder, tensions quickly appear.
While democratic revolutions broke out in Georgia (2003) and Ukraine (2004), ten Eastern European countries joined the European Union (2004). Vladimir Putin feels threatened. Added to this is the feeling of a lack of consideration on the part of the United States. In Putin’s eyes, the Americans had been arrogant and contemptuous in refusing to treat Moscow as an equal
says Barack Obama, American president between 2008 and 2016, in his memoirs, A Promised Land (Fayard editions)
Vladimir Putin was trained in the 70s by the KGB whose logic was paranoid. There is this obsession with the United States, this obsession with being a fortress under siege
decrypts Cécile Vaissié.
A permanent balance of power
After eight years of presidency and faced with the constitutional rule which limits the number of consecutive mandates to two, Vladimir Putin remains in power between 2008 and 2012 by becoming Prime Minister of Dmitry Medvedev. During this period, he remains the true leader of Russia and establishes a balance of power with the West.
In 2008, the Russian president invaded Georgia and then in 2011, he supported the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The defining moment is 2012, when he returns to power after the Medvedev interlude. He places himself in a determined way as an adversary of the United States
Judge François Hollande in an interview with Point at the beginning of February.
Then, in the summer of 2013, on the eve of the G20 summit it is hosting in Saint Petersburg, the United States refuses to intervene in Syria even though the red line has been crossed with the use of chemical weapons. . He then understands that this hindsight allows him to move forward
continues the former French president.
“He uses his anger”
sometimes referred to as warm
or of charming
by his interlocutors, Vladimir Putin is also renowned for his cold and brittle tone. In June 2007, he allegedly threatened to crush
Nicolas Sarkozy facing the reproaches of the French president on human rights.
He uses his anger, which can go to extremes, and threats, which can be almost direct towards his interlocutors, always the weakest.
still remembers François Hollande still in Point.
Vladimir Poutine speaks as little as possible in order to make his sentences and his anger as impressive as a divine decree
confirms in the magazine 1 the philosopher Michel Eltchaninoff.
He never loses sight of his goal: anything that weakens America, anything that divides the Western camp and Europe is good for him.
says François Hollande.
“The Hollywood image of a hero”
Aware of the balance of power, Vladimir Putin decides to annex Crimea in 2014 in the aftermath of a new Ukrainian revolution. An invasion which earned him to be sidelined by part of the international community; the West takes sanctions and Russia is ejected from the G8.
Conversely, this event boosts its popularity within Russian borders. Crimea mobilized because it was linked to memories of childhood, holidays, there was a kind of nostalgia among the Russians
analyzes Cécile Vaissié.
The Russian president is also surfing on his communication skills. Athlete, passionate about judo and horse riding, he does not hesitate to stage himself and to appear bare-chested like a real celebrity. The main thesis at the time was that Putin should fit the Hollywood image of a savior hero. The world is watching Hollywood – so it will be watching Putin
says Gleb Pavlovsky, adviser and strategist to Vladimir Putin during his first term, in the book Sportokratura under Vladimir Putin: a geopolitics of Russian sport (Bréal editions).
“Physically, he was nothing remarkable”
A cult of virility that is exported beyond the borders of Russia. This is something that has largely worked in the West in far-right circles
, observes Cécile Vaissié. A strategy which, on the other hand, has less marked Barack Obama: Physically, he was unremarkable: short and stocky – the build of a wrestler – fine blond-red hair, a protruding nose, clear and vigilant eyes.
still describes the former American in his memoirs.
Today, as he approaches his 70th birthday, Vladimir Putin is increasingly abandoning this axis of communication. He continues to play a few hockey matches or go for walks in Siberia, but the Russians are a bit tired of seeing him walking around in €3,000 boots when they have €250 pensions.
explains Cécile Vaissié.
Vladimir Putin “is afraid”
Because on the domestic level, Vladimir Putin is also in difficulty. The economic crisis affects the country, poverty is on the rise and the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the country hard. Added to this is an unpopular pension reform and a feeling of weariness, even discontent among part of the population and especially among young people.
Will the invasion of Ukraine, decided in February 2022, have the effect of uniting the population behind its head of state? I do not think so. It is too old, too worn out and at the same time, the life of Russians is too dull, too painful. Many people realize that the Russian project is going nowhere
believes Cécile Vaissié.
According to the researcher, Vladimir Putin gradually cut himself off from society: He’s someone who lives in his own world, a kind of recreation of the basic “KGBist” universe of the 70s with the addition of gold toilets and vermeil toilet brushes.
Vladimir Putin saw the revolutions in Georgia and then in Ukraine and he is afraid that it will happen at home
, continues Cécile Vaissié. In this sense, the invasion of Ukraine sounds like a warning: It is a question of subduing Ukraine, of bringing it to its knees because it dared to free itself.
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