In March, Vladimir Putin showcased himself as the character I like to call the Terminator. He performed this role for the benefit of a global audience, as well as for his opposition inside Russia. In his March 18 address to the Russian Federal Assembly and the public, the one intended to legitimize the Crimea annexation, Putin attacked the United States for “[being] guided not by international law, but by the rule of the gun.” Borrowing a term from Hitler’s lexicon, Putin also berated the “national traitors” inside Russia who refuse to toe the Kremlin line. It was bellicose rhetoric intended to portray the Russian leader as a wartime president addressing his nation in a time of crisis. Putin’s March pronouncements were in line with his 2013 speeches, in which he stated that Russia’s aim was to contain the “demoralized” Euro-Atlantic states.

Now let us take a look at what Putin was saying during this April 17 question-and-answer session. He slipped into an entirely new skin, one projecting calm and a congenial nature. He chided his belligerent supporters in the audience. He even surprised many by saying, “Russia’s values do not differ dramatically from European values. We belong to the same civilization.” In a later interview he indicated that there is “nothing that could prevent normalization and normal cooperation” between Russia and the United States. Programs on Russian television stations have begun to preach the virtues of “tolerance” and “discussion.”

So what happened? How are we to interpret this shift in Putin’s rhetoric? Does it reflect a genuine change of course, or is this just another special operation?

I believe the latter to be the case. Putin is presenting himself as a victor who has formulated and applied the new rules of the game. He is not about to make any concessions to the West. Rather, he has apparently decided to take a break, strengthen his position, and entangle the West in endless and fruitless negotiations on Ukraine—but this time from a position of strength. Once again, he is giving the West hope for transactional relations with Moscow while also trying to evade more painful sanctions.

Putin knows full well that this is exactly what many in the West expect of him. Large businesses whose representatives regularly visit the Kremlin to pay homage to the Terminator want just that. Putin is giving the West a chance to return to business as usual—but it’s the new “usual,” with him as the one calling the shots. Putin will again be testing the West’s commitment to its own principles. He believes that the West will accept his Faustian bargain, as it has done many times in the past.

But let’s wait and see whether his seductions work this time (they probably will). If so, we’ll soon hear politicians and pundits sing as one that Moscow has given in and turned pragmatic again: “Forget Crimea. Ukraine isn’t worth ruining our relations.” And the Kremlin will chalk up another win.