What has happened to Putin?

 What has happened to Putin? Why has he flipped? The major question of the day is how can he withdraw Russian forces without losing his job/head?

Both Sir John Sawyers, former head of MI6 and Donald Trump who met Putin on several occasions agree that he has changed from a strong, rational leader with a deep sense of Russia and its proper place in the world to an irrational leader doing very strange things. It is reported that Tump thought that the massing of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border was a negotiating tactic and one that he could see the sense of.

Something within Putin has changed over the last two years; what is it? We need to understand Putin so that he can be persuaded to withdraw his forces whilst appearing to have gained something.

If he cannot do that then he will say and more and more innocent lives on both sides will be wasted.