George Will lays out why Putin faces a 'grim future'

Over the years, Vladimir Putin has moved from the far left to the far right. Putin was a KGB agent in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, but he later rejected communism and embraced an authoritarian form of crony capitalism as president of the Russia Federation.

Putin, now 73, is seeking to expand the Russia Federation with the invasion of Ukraine, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his troops have vigorously fought back against. But in his February 13 column for the Washington Post, Never Trump conservative George Will lays out some reasons why Putin is facing a "grim future" politically.

"As the fifth year of Russia's war to subdue Ukraine approaches, Putin has learned that the past is easier to control than the present," the 84-year-old Will explains. "He has a grim future if the United States and Europe press their advantages. A much-diminished Russia occupies just 20 percent of Ukrainian territory that Kyiv controlled four Februarys ago. Europe, which has not yet even completely weaned itself from Russian energy, is at least accustoming itself to the vocabulary of military seriousness."

Will notes that Putin has little support in the European Union (EU) beyond Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

"Putin's only sympathizer in the European Union, Hungary's Viktor Orbán, might now have firmer support among American authoritarians ('national conservatives') than among Hungarians," the conservative columnist writes. "Putin's 'special military operation' in Ukraine (calling it a war can mean imprisonment) has lasted longer than Russia's involvement in World War II. By now, Putin has surely defined success down: a negotiated armistice that provides Ukraine with security 'guarantees' even more gossamer than those of the infamous 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances…. In the first half of 2025, the most stolen item was the Russian Constitution, which guarantees free speech and forbids censorship."

Will adds, "Hence, a Russian joke: 'We read (George) Orwell for his reflection of reality, and the constitution as a beautiful utopia.' Negotiate accordingly."