Critique of the SMO - Competing Forces in Russia - Putin and the US Declaration of Independence

An interesting conversation with Eric Arnow, an American living in Chiang Mai, Thailand beginning with a critique of the Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine. Also, why didn't Putin use the often used US justification for invading other countries, "The Right to Protect," instead of the drawn out, legal justification? Eric shared his views on Putin's recent speeches and found a close parallel with the US Declaration of Independence. We also discussed that Putin is not an autocrat, but has had to balance the conflicting and competing views of Russian oligarchs, academics and politicians and this may have slowed down the decision to use overwhelming force in Ukraine after the 2014 coup.