Putin cares about only one thing, and it's not oligarchs
In a country where power is nearly everything, sanctions and lost fortunes alone will not change that fundamental dynamic
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The only people who can sway Russian President Vladimir Putin are ideologues who share his views.
PHOTO: AFP
Eileen O'Connor
(NYTIMES) - In 1996, when I was the Moscow bureau chief for CNN, a battle was under way between a faction of corrupt oligarchs and cronies of then President Boris Yeltsin's bodyguard, who was demanding more money from them for political "protection" and threatening to upend planned elections.
I asked Mr Anatoly Chubais, who was then the Deputy Prime Minister, the question that seemed at the heart of the fight: What is more important to Russians, power or money? He replied: "If you have to ask, you don't understand Russia."
