Ranked second most powerful person in the world by Forbes in 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of the most feared politicians on the planet at the moment.
Putin controls the most stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world. Close to 6,000 warheads are at his disposal and around 1,588 are set for immediate launch.
In his annual address aired last month in Moscow, the Russian state capital, President Putin flashed the nuclear card. He inter alia announced the suspension of the last major pillar of nuclear arms control with the United States dubbed – ‘the New START nuclear deal’.
The deal, endorsed by both Washington and Moscow in April 2010, aims to cap the number of strategic nuclear warheads each side can deploy. It has now taken an unpredictable turn.
Putin, the current Kremlin boss, is no doubt a man on a mission. For the record, he has never lost a war and he’s poised to triumph in Ukraine.
Rise to power and popularity
Born October 7, 1952, Putin had a moonshot ascent in the Russian political sphere.
Before his meteoric rise in politics, Putin studied law. The first notable milestone of his career came in the mid-1980s when he became a member of the KGB, the secret service of the USSR.
Putin carried out several undercover operations abroad and became an important asset for the Soviet Union, until its collapse in December 1991.
The year 1991 was indeed a watershed period. The USSR ceased to exist. Chaos and turbulence characterized the post-Soviet era. Russia, one of the independent states, found itself in the throes of a political and economic crisis – under the feeble presidential rule of Boris Yeltsin.
On a personal level, Putin was to a deep extent, impacted by the infamous collapse of the USSR and the consequences it had for the predecessor state of Russia. That defines him.
In 1998, President Yeltsin appointed Putin Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), succeeding KGB.
On the whole, Yeltsin was an unpopular statesman. To make up for his leadership lapses, Putin was appointed prime minister in 1999. Under dubious circumstances, he later stepped down as president. Putin took his place.
Putin’s shift of positions
Putin was elected president for the first time in March 2000 and ruled the Russian Federation for two consecutive terms. In 2008, terms limit set in. The Russian constitution barred a consecutive third term and Putin took a pause.
He re-held the position of Premier from 2008 – 2012 and influenced the political decisions of his successor to the presidency; Dmitry Medvedev. Under Medvedev, the constitution was amended and the presidential term expanded.
In 2012, Putin contested and won the presidential elections for a record third time and was reelected for his fourth term in 2018.
In 2020, he pushed for constitutional reforms to allow him run for two more consecutive terms. It did materialize. To state the obvious, Putin could be in power until 2036 with no real threat to his leadership.
Policies – home and abroad
Putin’s tenure as President is known for its consolidation of power at home – and more assertive policies abroad. He surrounds himself with a close circle of people he trusts.
On the home front, he is credited to have stabilized the economic and political life of the locals. Putin remains popular in Moscow for his stellar track record.
However, he has been criticized for his approach to political opposition, which features the suppression of free speech and persecution of political dissidents. The menace of corruption does exist in his administration.
Outside the shores of Russia, Putin aims to reassert the position of Moscow and faults the unipolar dominance of the US.
Under Putin, Russia has maintained positive relations with several states such as New Delhi and Islamabad.
On an anti-US rhetoric, Putin befriends Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and of more beneficial importance President Xi of China. On the other side of the spectrum, Putin and the leaders of Western democracies are poles apart. Russia’s war in Ukraine raises the specter.
President Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 dubbed a ‘special military operation’. In his words, it aims to – demilitarize – and denazify Kyiv.
One year after Russia’s invasion, the threat of a nuclear conflict dominates the headlines. Putin warns – continued Western arms supplies to Ukraine – could lead to ‘severe consequences’.
Is he in a position to use nukes in Ukraine?
President Putin sees Russia and Ukraine – and by extension Belarus – as one nation that should be united. His influence in Ukraine once runs deep. But that’s not the case in 2023.
It is important to note: the incumbent presidential administration of Ukraine brands Russia as a “terrorist state” and “outlaws” peace discussions with Putin.
To Putin, NATO on Russia’s doorstep in Ukraine poses an existential threat. It’s a no-brainer. However, his nuclear weapon use rhetoric would be of less benefit to the Kremlin if he decides to cross the ‘nuclear Rubicon’.
Nuclear weapons are a tool of deterrence and come with ‘colossal consequences’ if used to prosecute the conflict in Ukraine. President Putin is no newbie to power politics. He cannot afford a political suicide.