Putin's irrelevance at the Davos Forum is irreversible

Putin is likely upset about the work to finalize a peace plan, about which Russia is informed, but not involved. The Kremlin’s push to gain a position of military strength is also failing. Russia’s ground campaign has lost even the weak momentum it had in late autumn; the barbaric air campaign against Ukrainian cities adds to civilian suffering but is not substantially diminishing the Ukrainian will to resist aggression. The lack of official Russian participation in the Davos Forum demonstrates that Putin has no cards to play in global financial competition, as the burden of war expenditures drags down Putin’s economy. A pause to fighting would be the rational choice, but Putin is loath to make it. He suspects that Ukraine would use the intermission better than Russia, which can neither clean its toxic political reputation nor alter its predatory business environment. Russia may only begin to rehabilitate when new leadership dares to depart from the course of militaristic imperialism, but this is an option Putin will not begin to contemplate.