What to expect in 2020? Putin’s power within the system and Russia’s leverage in the world are still relatively great, but the ideas to change anything appear to be lacking. Putin and his entourage seem to think 'better safe than sorry'. So it will be more of the same: economic malaise, political repression and frozen conflict in the Donbas, argues Mark Galeotti.

Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu gave a lenghty interview in which he spoke about the reform of the army, the victories in Syria and Russia's successful defence against the West's hybrid warfare. According to our columnist Mark Galeotti, it looks like the application letter for the presidency after Putin's current term ends in 2024. But there are competitors.