Vladimir Putin’s close aide and press spokesman, showing a flair for self-satire and parody, made the following statement following the NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, January 12:
Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s spokesman, said on Wednesday that Russia would wait for the outcome of further talks today on Thursday with members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe before it decides on its next moves.
“We wouldn’t want to offer threats and ultimatums like American officials do,” he said.
–See Nataliya Vasilyeva and James Crisp, “Russia rejects Nato’s steps to de-escalate Ukraine crisis; Russia’s head negotiator says it makes no sense to discuss incremental steps with a “hostile” alliance, The Telegraph, January 12, 2022 (9:08pm).
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I’m sure Peskov’s boss, Vladimir Putin, who with over 100,000 troops massed near the Ukrainian border is threatening an invasion of Ukraine, chuckled and found the comment very amusing.
Putin is a terrorist who is holding the whole world hostage, not just Ukraine and NATO, and who is full of hubris.
Wars are full of surprises, however, and often go in unexpected directions.
What an irony it would be if Putin’s hubris led him to invade Ukraine, and the consequences of that action–as the Russian body bags came home, Russia was expelled from the SWIFT international payments system, Russia’s economy suffered from severe sectorial sanctions, and Finland* and Sweden* moved toward joining NATO–led to his removal from power.
If Putin invades Ukraine, it could be his last rodeo.
The Trenchant Observer
* See
1) Anne-Françoise Hivert (Malmö (Suède), “En Suède et en Finlande, le débat sur une adhésion à l’OTAN connaît un nouvel élan; Dans les deux pays nordiques, non-membres de l’OTAN, les menaces de Moscou et la crise ukrainienne ont réveillé des discussions sur la nécessité, notamment, de garder une « option ‘d’adhésion à l’Alliance nord-atlantique,'” Le Monde, le 12 janvier 2021 (11h29);
2) Marc Pfitzenmaier, “Skandinavien verärgert – Putins Nato-Erpressung geht nach hinten los,” Die Welt, den 15.Januar 2022.
