To Kill a Dragon

The wishy-washy West. What else is the Kremlin counting on?

A quick xlation of practicing philosopher Volodymyr Pastukhov’s take on the Russia-Ukraine war drama appearing on February 14, 2022, courtesy of Echo Moscow.

Ritual visits to the Dragon have become an obligatory attribute of Western political etiquette. Every self-respecting knight of the European common table should pay a visit to the Dragon to discuss with him the fate of the Beautiful Maiden (Ukraine). Orban and Macron have already visited Moscow, Scholz is on the way. The Dragon is happy with everyone, except for the Anglo-Saxons, who turned out to be unpalatable.

Gradually, the configuration of the Kremlin's game and, accordingly, the West’s counterplay becomes more understandable, yet no more predictable. The starting point for modeling the situation may be an adjusted understanding of the Kremlin's goals in this game. Contrary to popular belief, they are not offensive, but defensive - in the sense that the Kremlin's aggression today is not at all from a good life. The Kremlin i…