Ukraine Allies Shouldn’t Overplay Their Hand on Putin
Western governments have so far avoided the potential traps of the chaos in Moscow.
For the first time since the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is fighting to defend the home front and not the frontline. He looks weaker, humiliated and more distracted than before mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin mounted his short-lived challenge, boosting the morale of Kyiv and allies amid a grueling counter-offensive that’s made slow progress.
But the West shouldn’t overplay a good hand. As historical parallels go, this seems less like 1917 than 1905 — when a mutiny on the Potemkin warship was repressed and didn’t morph into a revolution. Nothing suggests a game-changer on the battlefield yet. Ukraine’s allies should unite on a prudent “keep calm and carry on” line of beefing up assistance to Ukraine as much as possible for the counter-offensive this summer, and on hashing out a long-term security commitment to avoid widening divides among allies at a NATO summit in two weeks.