Endgame
(Another Prediction)
In 2015 Putin annexed Crimea. What is his next country? What is his long-term goal? What is his endgame? According to some, he will try to annex the three Balkan states, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
Some of the signs of this annexation are continued military operations in eastern Ukraine, ongoing violations of U.S. and NATO airspace, assignations of former Russian intelligence agents on U.K. soil and various military operations on NATO’s borders.
However, the annexation of the Balkans presents him with problems he didn’t face in the Crimean invasion.
These three countries bordering on Russia and the Baltic Sea are members of NATO. If Putin raids the Balkans, he risks NATO invoking Article V of the NATO charter. Article Five is the agreement that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all the NATO countries.
Therefore, Putin must find some way of neutralizing NATO or at least weakening it. How can he do this?
Enter our incompetent President, Donald Trump. Ever since Trump took over the Presidency, he has tried to weaken NATO. He has declared NATO obsolete; he talks about pulling the United States out of NATO. He continually undermines allies’ participation in NATO exercises.
Putin couldn’t find a more perfect stooge than Trump. A Hartford Courant editorial dated June 15, 2018 says, “The weakness in Mr. Trump’s NATO diplomacy so far, and it’s a big one, has been his willingness to denigrate the alliance, even to the point of suggesting America might withdraw from it.
“Maybe that’s meant to scare other members into meeting their financial commitments, but when Mr. Putin hears the same comments they sound like a weak and fracturing West. His strategic goal is to crack the alliance so he can have a freer hand to dominate Eastern Europe and reassemble at least a de facto version of Greater Russia. He could then use his military leverage to influence diplomatic and economic decisions across Europe...”
There is new evidence showing Putin bought out Trump years ago. Presumably, he knew Trump would wittingly or unwittingly help him achieve his goals. This YouTube video supports this conclusion. http://youtu.be/TwhkyAh35Eg
So why should we care if Putin invades the Balkans? In the same editorial, the writer claims:
“There has never been a richer, more powerful or more important alliance than NATO in world history — it represents around half of the world's gross domestic product and boasts 3 million men and women (almost all volunteers) under arms…
“When we next turn to NATO for assistance in a global hot spot — from Africa to Afghanistan to our own shores — the response may well be justifiably tepid. We should remember that the only time the NATO Alliance has executed an Article V commitment (an attack on one is an attack on all) was in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, when Europeans came to our defense, followed us into Afghanistan, and many of them also into Iraq…
“What Trump risks with his constant attacks on NATO, his disrespect of European and Canadian leaders, is the stability and longevity of the transatlantic alliance. This is more than a "family spat" as some administration officials have styled it. This division is beginning to feel permanent, at least in the context of the Trump administration…”
The endgame for Putin is to try to restore the old Soviet empire and dominate Eastern Europe and institute a new Cold War. He needs a stooge like Trump. Trump is aiding and abetting Putin and helping him achieve his goal.
thought provoking!!!
never stop writing
m
The Balkan states had a very difficult time during Soviet repression. I would hope that NATO would be strong enough to thwart any more ambitions by Putin and Russia to reinitiate that nightmare.
Ron