I've been criticized for my blog on Putin’s girl friend hiding in Switzerland as being a trivial topic in the midst of a raging war, but it’s a perfect example of huge potential leverage.
Consider this:
Firstly, in spite of heavy personal security, this woman and her children are susceptible of kidnapping or murder by some activist that want to put pressure to bear on Putin. How would you feel if you were the mayor of say, Verbier, the posh Swiss ski resort if she were hiding there? Of course there is ski resort’s economic and prestigious benefits of hosting such a VIP, but it might costs much more than it brings to the small mountain community, because after all we’re talking about the companion and kids of a terrorist.
Secondly, if the Swiss government was to tell Putin, “Look, we’re concerned about Ms. Kabaeva’s security, can you please remove her from our country?” It would strike a chord and make Putin think twice about the personal consequences of what he’s doing to Ukraine.
As combats are reaching a stalemate, it’s important to bring pressure to bear on the Russian dictator and if he doesn’t care about the thousands Russian soldiers dead or wounded, having to worry more about his family might take part of his deadly attention off from Ukraine.In a terrorist situation like this one, there is no detail unimportant, and if it can make Putin bend, it should be used or at the very least tried. Again, this is called leverage.
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