This is actually a subtle shift in emphasis. First, the war was against Ukraine, then Ukraine as a proxy and ally of the West, now Ukraine almost as a victim of the United States. What follows, though, is that any peace would be achieved by direct talks with the Americans: “If they really want to end today’s conflict with the help of negotiations, they only need to make one decision: to stop the supply of weapons and equipment — that’s it.”

Of course, this is a serious misreading of the complex dynamics of this war. Not least as without Western military support the Ukrainians would have a great deal more trouble defending their country, but at present every opinion poll suggests a determination to do so regardless. However, it reflects Putin’s worldview, in which a handful of great powers dictate the future of the rest. It also hints at how he thinks this war can eventually be settled, through a gentleman’s agreement between Moscow and Washington, that would inevitably bolster his increasingly threadbare claims to Russia’s great power status.