An exchange between Putin and his spy chief Sergey Naryshkin 'went viral' this week to spread the message that Putin publicly bullied his government ministers into going along with his plans for Ukraine.
Aside from the fact that all the other exchanges went smoothly (and the fact that you'll NEVER see a cabinet meeting at which ministers make decisions of historical importance broadcast on Western TV), there's something else to note about why this exchange stands out.
Russia's central intelligence director, of all people, should know that the topic at hand is recognition of Luhansk and Donetsk, not accession into Russia (not yet anyway). Did he just 'goof' because he was nervous? If so, why is he nervous? He's been FSB Director for 6 years, and was Speaker of the Duma for years before that!
And why was Naryshkin not able to give a straight answer until Putin coached him into giving one? Putin didn't like that he said "in the worst case." By saying that, Naryshkin was suggesting that recognizing the two Republics would be a serious or "worst case" scenario. Putin and all others present saw it as a simple matter of fact, necessitated by the action, or rather lack of action (in implementing the Minsk agreements) by the gang in Kiev.
This got me thinking about Kazakhstan's intelligence chief, Karim Masimov, who was arrested for high treason last month as Russian and Kazakh forces snuffed out the regime change op. It's known he had business ties with the Bidens, though no doubt there were other 'ties'. I wonder if Naryshkin too has 'particular friends' in the West. There are discreet links at that spymaster level that are not there at the political level.
Putin knows this, I guess, because he too knows the intel world. Check out that look he gives Naryshkin at 01:17...