Putin is now in denial about his continuing failures in Ukraine. His speech today claimed that Russia will conquer new territories and prepare intercontinental missiles for use. He is very obviously losing ground, and by his threat with missiles he admitted that they are currently not ready for use.
He also claimed that his army has gained valuable battle experience and that Nato is using most of its resources to hold Russia back. The reality is that the Russian army has lost a significant part of its soldiers without learning anything at all, and that Ukraine is quite successful at pushing them back with nothing but weapons support from Nato. If actual Nato forces were to be employed against Russia, they would outnumber the Russians ten to one, have immeasurably better training and equipment, and obliterate the broken remains of the Russian army.
By his statement that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are now impossible after President Zelenskyy visited President Biden, Putin is definitively burning his bridges with the international community and openly claiming Russia to be an enemy of the United States. His actions seem erratic, badly planned, even irrational, and his tower of lies might not be far from a complete collapse, leaving him buried under the rubble.
