Bloomberg Surveillance · Thursday, October 1, 2026
Jack Devine suggests that Vladimir Putin may have missed an opportunity and is now in an increasingly vulnerable position regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He believes Putin is facing internal questions about the war's progress and that Russia has lost significant global momentum and economic strength, indicating that Putin might need to consider 'retirement plans.'
“I think he had a deal when he was in Alaska, didn't take it. I think deep down inside, he probably should have taken it. And the more I read about war fighting in the Ukraine and now in the Crimea and what they're doing. If you're inside the inner circle of Russia, you have to be scratching your head about what's going on and how this is going to play out in our favor. How do we turn the table? So I think he's in an increasingly treacherous water. Dictators can stay in treacherous rural waters, but it takes an iron hand. So I think he's in a much more vulnerable position, not by elections and so on. But we've crossed that stalemate point, and he's lost a lot of momentum, a lot of power around the world. His economy is extraordinary. I think he needs to think about retirement plans.”