Russian President Putin used ominous words on Wednesday to warn the West again against meddling in the war in Ukraine. If a country interferes in the Russian invasion, Russia will respond “with lightning speed” with “resources no one else has. And we will use them if we have to”.
The message to the West is clear. Putin is furious about the large amount of heavy weapons that the West is sending to Ukraine. With his words he also responded to the harsh language from the US in particular that Russia “must be weakened and forced to its knees”.
Western countries say they are supplying weapons and equipment to a peaceful country that has been raided by Russia and is now fighting for its survival. There are no NATO troops active in Ukraine, so there is no question of direct participation in the war, Western leaders say.
Russia denies that. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said this week that NATO is now “essentially” waging an indirect war with Russia through Ukraine. Yesterday he took those words back.
“Collective Hitler”
Yet almost every major Russian broadcaster and government agency for the past week or two has painted the following picture of the conflict in the neighboring country: Russia is not waging war against Ukraine, but NATO is waging war against Russia via Ukraine. It is therefore President Putin’s “holy mission” to save the Ukrainians from that enemy, who only uses them to destroy Russia. If the West doesn’t stop with that, it may provoke a Third World War.
In other words: Russia is not to blame, the West is to blame.
Russian state television this week has been full of accusations of provocation, the threat of World War III and a possible nuclear war. Following a summit of 40 countries in Germany this week on sending heavy weapons to Ukraine, Russia’s viewer has been tipped off that World War III is imminent.
“The representatives of those 40 countries are today’s collective Hitler,” a Kremlin spokesman said on the daily talk show 60 minutes† “Western leaders have now really declared war on us.”
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