Putin’s Darwinian rhetoric signals no pause in Ukraine war

At the SCO gathering in Bishkek, Vladimir Putin framed global competition in Darwinian terms, portraying Russia as ready to break the teeth of Western ‘sharks’ and signaling a hardline stance in Ukraine with continued drone and missile strikes even as he professes openness to concrete negotiations with Trump’s aides Kushner and Witkoff. He dismissed Western assertions such as Germany’s Leipzig attack claims and downplayed talk of a looming mobilization or a negotiated pause, underscoring that his focus is on winning, while keeping a channel to Trump’s circle possible for future talks.