The conversation was timed to mark 200 days since the start of the war and coincided with the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast. According to Belkovsky, it was precisely these events that became the occasion for fireworks in Moscow — this was how the first question of the interview was framed.
On command of the operation
Belkovsky's central thesis, featured in the headline of the publication, is the assertion that the Russian president personally commands what Russian official rhetoric calls the "special operation Z." This is the political analyst's assessment, not a confirmed fact.
Kharkiv Oblast and domestic consequences
A significant portion of the interview is devoted to the domestic consequences within Russia of the Russian army's retreat from Kharkiv Oblast. Belkovsky discussed this as the key event of the first two hundred days of the war.
Europe, the Baltics and gas
Separate topics of the conversation included Brussels' reaction to the closure of the EU's land borders to tourists from Russia and the question of whether the Baltic states would be reined in for such decisions. Belkovsky also assessed how realistic the Russian president's calculation is that a gas war with Europe will lead to a change of elites in EU countries. All these versions and forecasts are presented in the interview as his own assessments.
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