But at his annual marathon phone-in today, the Russian president showed a hint of glee when he spoke about the dwindling prospect of Ukraine getting US aid.
“Today Ukraine produces almost nothing,” he said, according to a BBC translation. “Excuse my vulgarity, but everything is being brought in as a freebie. But those freebies could run out at some point. And it seems that they are gradually running out.”.
For months Russian and Ukrainian forces have been locked in a stalemate, with Russia losing tens of thousands of men as it seeks to prevent Ukrainian forces from breaking through its defenses.
But at today’s phone-in, in which Putin fielded questions from journalists and ordinary Russians, the Russian president said that the balance is now tipping in Russia’s favor.
Putin’s comments were a barely concealed reference to the impasse in the US House of Representatives, where Republicans are blocking a $61 billion Ukraine aid bill.
Ukraine has been heavily dependent on US, and to a lesser extent European, aid throughout the conflict. Unless it receives more its capacity to fight Russia could be seriously compromised, or collapse entirely.
Putin has long claimed that Western democracies are frail and can’t be trusted as allies, and analysts say he is counting on grinding out a win against Ukraine in a war of attrition.
The Biden administration is trying to persuade Republicans to unblock the bill before the end of the year, and on Monday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington to make a desperate plea. He said a failure to defeat Russia would endanger democracy internationally.
Republicans say that they want proof that more aid to Ukraine will help it achieve victory, and not just prolong the stalemate, and are also seeking increased border security spending.
But analysts claim that Republicans are doing Putin a massive favor, and helping him claw back the advantage in a war that has cost Russia 87% of its original invasion ground force.
Fiona Hill, who served as a Russia advisor in the Trump administration, told Politico that Republicans are so focused on humiliating President Joe Biden, that they’ve forgotten about the importance of resisting Russian aggression.
“They are thinking less about US national security, European security, international security, and foreign policy, and much more about how they can humiliate Biden,” said Hill.
“In that regard,” she continued, “whether they like it or not, members of Congress are doing exactly the same thing as Vladimir Putin. They hate that. They want to refute that. But Vladimir Putin wants Biden to lose, and they want Biden to be seen to lose as well.”
With the US presidential election approaching, Donald Trump is widely expected to be the GOP nominee. The former president has long attracted controversy for his admiration for Putin, and on the campaign trail has criticized US support for Ukraine.
The Russian president will likely be hoping for more favors from Republicans as he seeks to break down Ukrainian resistance and erode its alliances in 2024.
