For the first time in a long while, the Russian president called his American counterpart, seemingly with a single purpose: to create opportunities for the safe conduct of the May 9 parade.

This day has long become the main date in Putin's ideology—so central that the victory in World War II in modern Russia has turned into a grotesque "victory frenzy." Of course, the desecration of this date began back in Soviet times, when events and periods were erased from the history of the war, and the soldiers' truth was replaced with the memoirs of marshals and political officers. However, in Putin's era, when there are practically no war participants left, when even the "children of war" are approaching 90 years old, the victory in World War II has been turned into a convenient tool for justifying the aggression and crimes of the Chekist state. And that's why it's so important for Putin that the parade takes place. After all, what else, besides this parade, unites modern Russians? All other dates in the festive calendar have long turned into anachronisms. Even the formally main "national holiday"—Russia Day—is celebrated to mark the adoption by the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation of the declaration of sovereignty from... the Soviet Union. And, of course, no one in modern Russia, filled to the brim with nostalgia for the USSR, can explain what exactly they are celebrating on this day.

But even with the May 9 parade this year, things aren't going very well. The fact that Ukrainian drones and missiles can reach Moscow is obvious to Putin. His paranoid obsession with his own safety is also well known, let's recall the long white table during the coronavirus times, at which Putin received his guests, or the weeks of quarantine that Russian officials had to undergo before meeting with the pandemic-fearing president. And that's why Putin doesn't want to stand on the podium and wait for an air raid alert.

The parade has already been significantly shortened. There will be no military equipment—and the Kremlin doesn't even hide that they fear possible Ukrainian strikes. There will be no cadets from military academies and schools, who traditionally participated in the parade. It's not even clear if Putin himself will be there. But he would very much like to demonstrate that the parade will take place under any conditions and with the participation of the supreme commander-in-chief.           

Last year, the Kremlin organized the arrival of Central Asian leaders, essentially trying to turn them into a "human shield" for Putin. This year, there has been no information yet about who is planning to come to Moscow. The only politician from the European Union who has expressed readiness to come to Moscow is Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. However, it is still unknown how he will get to the Russian capital after a number of countries have already announced that they will deny his plane the use of their airspace if the Slovak leader decides to attend the parade. Moreover, does Putin himself want to talk to Fico after he had a warm conversation with Zelensky and emphasized that there can be no peace agreement without Ukraine.

The call to Trump remains. However, even here, things are not so simple. The American president does not want to hear about Russian assistance in his negotiations with Iran and cannot simply suggest that Ukraine not shoot at Russia while regular deadly Russian attacks continue. Putin has to offer something that would look like a compromise. At least a compromise in Trump's eyes.

The paradox of the situation is that Putin does not want to seek compromises. He just wants to safely conduct the parade—and on May 10, continue the war, no longer tied to dates important to him. The main question here is—what does Ukraine need all this for?