Vladimir Putin officially revealed his next military targets: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Saturday, during the 80e anniversary of the commemoration of the end of the siege of Leningrad, Putin launched wild accusations against NATO and its member countries, which he accused of having adopted Nazi ideology and methods.
More specifically, Putin attacked the Baltic countries. He accuses them of treating their Russian-speaking populations as “subhumans” and of depriving them of their most fundamental rights.
Putin, who claims to be the protector of the Russian diaspora, has already used the same kind of rhetoric to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
- Listen to international politics expert Loïc Tassé on Benoit Dutrizac’s show via QUB :
Orwellian
The Orwellian propaganda of the Russian leadership has long been quite obvious.
Nobody believes that NATO leaders are fascists. Conversely, Putin’s dictatorship strengthens year after year, and although he is not himself a Nazi, his regime, which was initially more or less democratic, has become authoritarian. He is now flirting with totalitarianism.
Moreover, Putin relies on other dictatorships: Belarus, Iran, North Korea and China. We would look in vain for a democracy that supports its occupation of Ukrainian territories.
How can Putin now have the audacity to threaten the Baltics so directly?
Development in favor of Russia
The answer probably comes from developments in the war in Ukraine and the state of the coalition supporting Ukraine.
Strengthened by the contribution of Iranian and North Korean military equipment, the Russians have launched around fifty attacks on all fronts in Ukraine in recent days. They are counting on winter conditions to establish new breakthroughs.
The situation is all the more perilous for the Ukrainians as the Trumpists in the American Congress refuse to release any new military aid to Ukraine.
- Listen to international politics expert Loïc Tassé on Benoit Dutrizac’s show via QUB :
Will Putin really attack the Baltic States? If words still mean anything, it is quite clear that Putin is preparing the Russian population for this new war.
However, there are many indications that Russia does not have the means to conquer all of Ukraine. More than 40% of Russian GDP is in fact devoted to the war effort against Ukraine.
Under these conditions, it is difficult to see how Putin could wage a war against the Baltic States. However, until the eve of the outbreak of war against Ukraine, most people still doubted the possibility of this invasion.
An attack on the Baltic states, which are part of NATO, would most likely trigger a war against Russia.
Unless Donald Trump comes to power and decides to back down. His very limited understanding of international relations as well as his love of dictators surely make Putin believe that a great opportunity to expand his empire could present itself.