Pjotr Sauer

It's been helping out Iran, meddling in Armenia, the recent elections there.

How would you assess what's happened to his global influence recently?

Their resources, both political and economic, have been so focused on Ukraine that they've sort of had to sacrifice their influence elsewhere.

You know, Russia was dealt a very sensitive blow in Syria, where Assad, a longtime ally, was overthrown and Russia wasn't really able to do anything about it.

You know, Russia has tried to prop up candidates, pro-Russia candidates in Moldova, where they lost.

Most recently in Hungary, obviously, Viktor Orban, a big ally of Putin, he lost.

Cuba is being squeezed by the Trump administration.

I'm now in Armenia where there were elections on Sunday and a pro-Western candidate won.

Among the losses, I think Putin will be watching the Iran war with a lot of satisfaction.

I think the Iran war has shown the weakness of the US.

Putin is said to be secretly supplying Iran with weapons.

Obviously, the Iran war has led to a spike in oil prices.

So I think, you know, even though overall the picture isn't looking that good for him internationally, the Iran war is this one sort of bright spot in Kremlin's perspective, where actually key allies seem to be coming out stronger out of it.

And finally, you've set out really convincingly how the mood in Russia is turning against Putin.

But realistically, is there anyone or anything that is in a position to topple him or persuade him, maybe persuade him to step down after 26 years with that little break in the middle on the throne?

I think most analysts and observers agree that if there's going to be change, the change will come from the top.

So from the elites.

At this moment, we've seen no indication that Putin is willing to change course because of pressure at home.

You know, he told one of his economic advisors who warned him that, you know, spending more on the war would be a bad idea.

He said, well, then we should cut in other sectors, you know, whether it's education or finance.