Russia's War Against Ukraine
OP-ED
John Lough: Putin needs an ‘off-ramp’ for Ukraine’s crisis
Russian President Vladimir Putin during meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Sochi, Russia, Aug. 12, 2014.
If ever an "off-ramp" were needed for Putin, it is now. Unless he and his siloviki advisers can find a face-saving means to reverse his current policies toward Ukraine, Putin will stay locked into the logic of escalation, risking the need to commit ground forces to counter the Ukrainian army's advances. Having released a wave of nationalist, patriotic emotion in Russia, Putin's main difficulty is that he cannot afford to lose or, at least, be seen to lose.