Mark Galeotti
Mark Galeotti - How long before Putin's generals start thinking the only way out of this mess is to get rid of the man who created it, asks Professor Mark Galeotti (UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies). Despite his bombastic rhetoric, and what looks like Botox, the strain is showing on Vladimir Putin's face. His dream of a lightning war - Kyiv falling in two days and the rest of Ukraine within two weeks - has become a nightmare. The evidence is everywhere: a massive convoy bogged down in the mud, smoking hulks of aircraft shot down by Ukrainian forces, and Russian artillery resorting to shelling apartment blocks and hospitals. Meanwhile, the invaders have even taken to laying landmines in humanitarian corridors and gunning down fleeing families - it is frightened and demoralised soldiers, unable to prevail on the battlefield, who commit such crimes. Yesterday came another, even more telling sign that Putin is rattled. In a surprise move, Russia announced that it would stop its onslaught 'in a moment' if Ukraine agrees to a raft of extraordinary demands. It must cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge the Crimea as Russian territory, and recognise the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent territories. So what is behind this abrupt about-turn? Two weeks ago, Putin would have scoffed at the notion that he might offer an olive branch - albeit a rotten one - just ten days after sending troops into Ukraine. So why is he proffering it now? Is it because he fears that his armed forces are incapable of completing their mission successfully?
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