After a year of military failure, Putin has retreated deep into delusion - dragging the Russian people with him | Samantha de Bendern

Confirmation that Russia will be backing out of the New Start treaty underlines his disdain for the international order

There was perhaps only one truth spoken during Vladimir Putin's two-hour state of the nation address: that Russia would suspend its participation in the New Start treaty with the US. The rest was yet another a trip down the rabbit hole into the Russian president's parallel universe.

Those who were anticipating a major revelation in a speech that had been postponed from December were disappointed. In the absence of any groundbreaking advances on the military front, many expected Putin to finally admit that Russia was at war in Ukraine. But no, the special military operation" is ploughing on step by step". Not only did he fail to offer any reassurance to those who dared hope he was considering making some concessions to the truth that the operation is not going well, but he also left the radical pro-war faction hungry for a more aggressive approach.

Samantha de Bendern is an associate fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House and a political commentator on LCI television in France

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