Russia’s President Vladimir Putin leads a Security Council meeting via videolink at the Kremlin in the capital Moscow on Sept. 9, 2022. AFP PHOTO
IN the reckoning of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the war on Ukraine has been a net gain for Russia. The Western sanctions are not working. Russia is about to regain the old glory of the Soviet imperium through territories that would accrue to Russia after the war. At no cost at all to Russia, he told an admiring crowd at a recent economic conference in Vladivostok. The efforts of the West to choke Russia's economy means as little as a 2 percent drop in the GDP, Putin said, Meanwhile, Russia;s coffers are full, with the proceeds from oil and gas exports to India, China and a host of sanction-defying countries that have been bulk-buying discounted Russian oil and gas.