I think Putin's MO is making people in Russia complacent with the kleptocratic regime he heads - be it through relative economic stability/growth, or, lacking t

I think Putin's MO is making people in Russia complacent with the kleptocratic regime he heads - be it through relative economic stability/growth, or, lacking that, the pride that their country is feared by the rest of the world. Still, you can only rely on the latter so much, so you want to be able to sell natural gas and oil without European/American sanctions getting in the way. Keeping Europe politically divided would sink any chance of serious sanctions put in place against Russia. Keeping it from forming a military alliance would ensure that he can launch "hybrid warfare" at will without triggering a major military response. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Putin's popularity soared. But just two years before that, there were major protests in the streets of Moscow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9313_Russian_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9313_Russian_protes...