portend for putin s behavior? yeah, i wasn t at all surprised that putin said that peace talks are dead and war must go on. he also said that it was inevitable that the war had to happen because russia would be attacked. this is because autocrats don t negotiate with democratic nations they d like to annihilate. they create situations of crisis, then they try to exploit that. you know, just as putin has no regard for the rule of law at home, he doesn t care about the international protocols of diplomacy or the rules of war. unfortunately, it wouldn t be surprising if we see him employing chemical weapons. you know, he s reduced the scope of the war perhaps to save face. that s another autocrat trick. he has to declare victory. he can never lose, or else he is in trouble at home. but would go all out using an arsenal he s used in syria and