But it is now clear not only that Putin is returning Russia to the stagnation of the late-Soviet era, but also that he subscribes to former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev’s dictum that “what we have, we hold.” So Putin’s talk about reaching an agreement with Japan on the Northern Territories was likely as mendacious as his claims that Russians in Crimea were in peril, and thus in need of protection by Russian troops.