All politicians are part actors. To be elected to office, they know they must appeal to a constituency in search of a particular type of leader, according to the needs of the day: whether tough and courageous, kind and empathetic, witty and charismatic, or scholarly and statesmanlike. And to do their jobs, they must also be adept at dealing with people of a variety of temperaments.

But few are as skilled at changing character so quickly, or manipulating others so easily, as Vladimir Putin. And — fortunately for the world — even fewer are as innately evil in the application of those skills as he is.

From the above montage of photographs of Putin as a boy, as a young KGB officer, and as President of the Russian Federation, he appears to be little changed over the years: sullen, introverted, even sad. But he has proven that behind that face is a sharp intellect and a fierce determination that has carried him from a disadvantaged childhood to the pinnacle of power.

Among his many talents is the ability to analyze the character and mentality of an adversary or competitor and to turn that knowledge to his own advantage. Such has been the case with Donald Trump, whom he has consistently manipulated through the simple use of flattery and a pretense at having a shared interest in building a mutually-profitable trade relationship for the future, thus appealing to two of Trump’s most dominant character flaws: ego and greed.

Most recently, as Trump’s disastrous invasion of Iran has cut off oil supplies from the Middle East and upended the world’s economy, Putin — immediately recognizing the opportunity for Russia to fill the gap from its vast oil resources — managed once again to convince Trump to ease existing sanctions, including those against India, one of the major remaining purchasers of Russian energy.

On its face, that might seem simply to be enviable business acumen on Putin’s part . . . except that he has also offered to mediate the conflict with Iran. According to the Kremlin, in a telephone conversation with Trump on Monday, Putin “expressed several thoughts aimed at a swift diplomatic resolution of the Iran conflict, based among other things on contacts with leaders of Gulf states, the president of Iran, and leaders of other countries.” [Steve Rosenberg, BBC, March 10, 2026.]

Aside from the irony of the instigator of a four-year-old war of attrition against Ukraine offering himself up as a peacemaker in another conflict, there is the newly-acquired evidence that the Kremlin has been furnishing Iran with intelligence on the locations and movements of U.S. troops, ships and aircraft. And this week, Putin unabashedly reaffirmed Moscow’s “unwavering support” for Iran, based on the two countries’ existing “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” agreement [id.] — hardly the actions of a neutral third party.

But despite the decades-long history of Putin’s duplicity, Trump continues to take him at his word, saying on Monday following their telephone call that Putin “wants to be helpful.” [Id.]

The entire world has Vladimir Putin’s number — everyone, that is, except Donald Trump, who continues to rely on the “Beavis and Butthead” of international diplomacy — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — to bring Putin to the table for serious peace discussions.

What none of them realize is that they are dealing, not with a merely difficult opponent, but with a many-headed hydra who will eventually eat them alive.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/12/26