Putin is ex-KGB and he has a ruthlessness that comes with it. The fact that hes had decades to cultivate a government of loyalists gives him the freedom to act and say as he pleases.

I feel he has a lot more understanding of the nuances of politics than Trump, due to sheer experience.

I always think back to that meeting he aud with Merkel (who has a phobia of dogs) where he let his dogs roam free in the meeting as a power play