Putin shrugs off setbacks despite Russia's pariah status and heavy losses in Ukraine
CNN
International sanctions may be starting to bite, his troops are seeing "significant" losses in Ukraine and US President Joe Biden just called his war a genocide, but for Russian President Vladimir Putin, everything is still going to plan.
In remarks this week, Putin has shown no hint of introspection, spinning Russia's pariah status on the international stage as a sort of victory.
Take his remarks in a virtual meeting on Russia's development of the Arctic. Western oil companies may be abandoning ventures in Russia, taking their technical expertise with them, Biden has slapped a ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports and the EU, though far from going cold turkey, is looking to decouple from Russian energy.
Senate Democrats have confirmed some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench this week in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a total GOP blockade of judicial nominations – in part because several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes.
Donald Trump is considering a right-wing media personality and people who have served on his US Secret Service detail to run the agency that has been plagued by its failure to preempt two alleged assassination attempts on Trump this summer, sources familiar with the president-elect’s thinking tell CNN.