West must be prepared for long confrontation with Russia - Ijabs

RIGA - The West must be prepared for a long confrontation with Russia, Ivars Ijabs, a member of the European Parliament and political analyst (For the Development of Latvia), told LETA.

According to him, dictator Vladimir Putin fully identifies with his country. "As the Chairman of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, put it, if there is no Putin, there is no Russia. And this is very dangerous. Putin is ready to ruin the whole world to preserve his power, so he is a truly dangerous character," Ijabs believes.

If Putin were to suddenly die, Russia would most likely have collective leadership for a while, similar to that which existed after the death of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the MP believes.

In Ijabs' view, Putin has set up the system in such a way that he is not one of many, but stands above them all at an unreachable distance. In this collective leadership, some will try to get ahead, Ijabs believes.

He thinks that in such a scenario, Russia could become more reasonable in its negotiations with Ukraine. "Starting the war was really Putin's personal initiative. So after Putin, there would be a new situation, and also from the European side negotiating with Russia could be more realistic. Because at the moment, Putin is seen in Europe as a mass murderer, which he actually is," said Ijabs.