The importance of having a benevolent leader who is striving hard to bring the best for the country may diminish in the long term as every leader believes they know what is best. Refreshing the leadership may be necessary for the growth of the country.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that Biden intends to place the Ukraine war within a larger context of growing democratic strength, with the trip aiming to deliver a message to both the Russians and Ukrainians. However, the visit is complicated because it was a covert trip and not like traditional presidential trips to war zones.
Putin's goals for Russia are to restore it as a great power, control it as a dictatorship, and establish himself and his associates as major figures in Russian history. He also aims to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and to maintain Crimea and the southeastern passage to Russia.
The transcript discusses the influence of the pandemic on Putin's viewpoints, and how diverse sources of information are funneled into him via people in the presidential administration.
In this podcast, a journalist explains his belief that the Russian apartment bombings in 1999 were an FSB operation to bring Putin to power, and discusses how Putin's aggression towards Ukraine has redirected attention towards this theory.