The Kremlin is weighing up its options to preempt harsh new sanctions and unwinnable showdown it otherwise sees imminent when the incoming US administration takes over.
US President-elect Joe Biden, who becomes president on January 20, would almost certainly have bipartisan support for more rounded and far-reaching sanctions to cripple Russia's financial, energy and defence sectors.
The widening rift between the United States and Europe over the past years had suited Russia just fine. However, Biden’s expected fine-tuning of post-Trump US foreign policy to better coordinate with the EU, and put Beijing and Moscow into two different baskets would spell disaster for Russia.
“Among the options being mulled by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is to step down early next year”, according to an intelligence source, who asked not to be named.
The strategy is aimed at taking “the Putin thing” off the table and painting a picture of “the problem isn’t Russia, it’s Putin”.
“You install a new leader [and] win the luxury of time and space. Biden will take a ‘wait and see’ attitude”.
“Putin might have ill health too. [So], it is a two-birds-with-one-stone type of plan”.
In November, British tabloid The Sun released a story claiming Vladimir Putin was resigning as president due to health problems, probably Parkinson's disease.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, rushed to deny the report as "complete nonsense" and attested that Putin is in excellent health.
The story emerged as lawmakers introduced draft legislation to Russia’s parliament early November to reinforce Putin’s immunity against prosecution after his presidency.
The bill, which was eventually signed into law this week, gives former presidents and their families immunity from prosecution for crimes committed during their lifetime.
Former presidents were already entitled to immunity from prosecution for crimes committed while in office, but the new law grants them lifelong immunity and says they cannot be arrested, interrogated, searched or prosecuted.
