Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has likened Russian President Vladimir Putin's approach to the war in Ukraine to Soviet-era strategies that ultimately led to the USSR's demise.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's approach to the war in Ukraine is reminiscent of Soviet-era strategies that ultimately led to the USSR's demise, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Sikorski drew parallels between Putin's actions and the mistakes made by Soviet leadership.
He stated that Putin is 'repeating the mistakes of Soviet leadership' in his invasion of Ukraine, emphasizing that 'The Soviet Union took on the West and lost.'Sikorski pointed out Putin's past criticisms of the Soviet Union's excessive military spending under Leonid Brezhnev, which he argued bankrupted the country. He noted that Putin had been 'very insistent that this mistake should not be repeated. And he's doing exactly that.' Brezhnev, who led the Soviet Union from the 1960s until his death in 1982, is widely recognized for failing to reform the USSR and steering it into a period of stagnation marked by escalating global tensions, particularly due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.Putin has previously expressed concern over the Soviet Union's economic downfall. In February 2024, he pledged to avoid a similar situation, accusing the West of attempting to lure Russia into an arms race – a tactic he claimed the West had successfully used against the Soviet Union. He cited the period between 1981 and 1988, when the Soviet Union's military spending reached 13 percent of its GDP. Russia's current defense spending plans reflect this trajectory. In 2025, Russia aims to allocate 6.3% of its GDP to national defense, the highest level since the Cold War. This commitment translates to 32.5% of its federal budget dedicated to defense, up from 28.3% in 2024.Sikorski warned that Russia under Putin is mirroring Soviet-era isolation by antagonizing countries that were previously amicable or neutral. He highlighted the Nordics as a case in point, citing Sweden and Finland's decision to join NATO as a direct consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The international community has widely condemned Russia's invasion, resulting in severe sanctions against Russia and Western companies withdrawing from the country. Since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has restructured its economy to prioritize its war effort, pouring vast resources into its military. This has come at a cost, with rising inflation, a shrinking labor force, and a depreciating ruble. Economists, such as Anders Åslund, a Swedish economist and former fellow at the Atlantic Council, predict that Russia's financial reserves could dwindle before the end of the year. Russia's economic trajectory echoes the collapse of the Soviet economy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, ultimately leading to its dissolution in 1991. Sikorski's remarks align with a warning issued by the managing director of the International Monetary Fund in February 2024, who compared Russia's economy to the Soviet Union's. Alexander Kolyandr, a financial analyst and non-resident senior scholar at the Center for European Policy Analysis, echoed this sentiment in December, stating that Russia's economic outlook is 'pretty grim', characterized by stagnation similar to the early 1980s Soviet Union.However, other economists argue that Russia is not currently on a path toward a Soviet-style collapse, pointing to encouraging signs in certain sectors of its economy. Meanwhile, Ukraine's economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, asserted at Davos that Ukraine's economy has fared better than Russia's, but emphasized the need to strengthen sanctions against Russia to weaken its position prior to any peace negotiations
RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR VLAIDIMIR PUTIN SOVIET UNION LEONID BREZHNEV ECONOMY INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS NATO
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