Alexey Melnikov: “Putin publicly flogged himself”

“V.V. Putin’s decision to expel 755 American diplomats from Russia can be assessed from different points of view,” the publicist writes in LiveJournal .

“First of all, this is a demonstration of Russia’s weakness, the inability to give the economically powerful United States an adequate economic response. From this point of view, V.V. Putin’s decision exposed the weakness of our country.

In addition, a large embassy is a sign of recognition of the importance of the country. If V.V. Putin expels about two-thirds of US diplomats from Russia, then he himself shows that our country should not have a US embassy with a large number of employees. In general, even in such an extravagant form, this is a recognition of the real place of our country in world politics - its secondary importance. V.V. Putin has now demonstrated our place clearly.

Finally, the impulsiveness of V.V. Putin’s decision, who took “retaliatory measures” without waiting for the US President to sign the sanctions law against Russia, suggests that he is losing his head. And there is a reason - V.V. Putin’s foreign policy towards Western countries has failed. This is now obvious.

In general, V.V. Putin arranged sanctions and anti-sanctions for himself and his country. Then it’s unclear who he took offense at and, finally, publicly flogged himself.”