Why do you say that? Do you think Russia would have brokered a deal between Armenia and the Azeris without Putin’s intimate input?
I’m not sure if the Armenia-Azeris deal has any future benefit for Putin. So if he is leaving office, he may be looking at what matters in his last days alive.
What does it matter Putin’s part in ending the conflict? The U.S. and France were also involved and they worked with Russia to get the peace negotiations going to halt the fighting. Natural gas pipelines in Azerbaijan that carry natural gas and oil to Europe were in jeopardy with the conflict. I would think that Putin had a concern for that situation. However, that was then. Now Putin has health problems and that will change the dynamics between the Biden Administration and Russia. Biden had better tread carefully with the new regime that he does not know.