The double-headed eagle that dominates Russia’s coat of arms holds many meanings, from signifying a historical connection to the Byzantine Empire to acknowledging the influence of the vast country’s eastern and western regions.
Following the recent meeting between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s subsequent phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, the eagle’s two heads is also a reminder of the country’s two minds, pulling it in opposing directions — and, potentially, tearing it apart.
Putin has, at long last, secured the upper hand in the Ukraine war. Russian troops are making (admittedly slow) progress toward seizing full control of the regions Russia claimed as its own in September 2022: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. The country is achieving this despite unprecedented sanctions and many billions of dollars in Western support for Ukraine. Putin has thus sent a clear message to the West and any would-be challenger: Never underestimate Russia. There has never been a better time to end the fighting.
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