As the Ukrainian army advances in Russia's Kursk region, the president of the federation, Vladimir Putin, flies to Baku for a two-day visit. With this action, he wants to create the illusion that everything is fine and under control, although this is not the case, writes Tagesspiegel, commenting on Putin's past state visit to Azerbaijan.
The Russian leader was welcomed at the airport with a dark green carpet. In the warm summer evening, the 71-year-old president, for his part, presented a huge bouquet to the first lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva. Cameras later captured Putin, Ilham Aliyev and his wife having a friendly conversation, smiling broadly.
According to official information, Putin spoke with Aliyev, who is also accused of serious human rights violations in his country, about the development of the strategic partnership between the two countries, as well as about international and regional politics. However, everyone was asking only one thing – why is Putin traveling abroad while in his own Russia the Ukrainian army continues to advance? On August 6, for the first time since World War II, a foreign army invaded Russia.
While Putin was smiling, waving and handing out flowers in Baku, his soldiers at home were failing to drive out the Ukrainian invaders. The goal is to show that Putin can continue to do his state business, and the attack on Ukraine is a secondary issue for him.
Apparently, the statements of the head of the Kremlin are aimed at diverting attention from the fact that after two and a half years he has brought the war he started to his territory. And that his army and his secret services have failed. Putin wants to maintain the illusion that everything is under control.
This fits the narrative that Russia sees the attack as just a minor problem and that it's not Putin's problem and the military has everything under control. Of course, this is not true, but Putin wants to imitate normalcy.