Putin’s remarks were not “off-the-cuff.” It was a carefully crafted message directed specifically at Biden and NATO leaders and came in the wake off French President Macron’s incredibly tone-deaf speech earlier in the week:
Macron was not the only European leader with a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. Olaf Scholz did his share to sow more NATO disunity. While he strongly dismissed Macron’s claim that Europe would deploy troops to Ukraine, he threw the U.K. and France under the bus:
Besides Putin’s clear warning to the NATO alliance that it is playing with potential nuclear fire, Russia’ s intelligence service leaked a stunning conversation between German military officers who were discussing plans to attack Russia. According to the transcript, a conversation took place on February 19, 2024 among Grafe (department head for operations and exercises at the Air Force Forces Command of the Bundeswehr), Gerhartz (Bundeswehr Air Force Inspector), Fenske and Frohstedte (employees of the Air Operations Command within the Space Operations Center of the Bundeswehr). There was a detailed discussion of using German missiles to attack targets in Russia, such as the Kerch Bridge in Crimea. You can read the full transcript here.
This was not an accidental leak. It was intended to put the West on notice that Russia is fully aware of what NATO officials across the alliance are saying to each other and is aware of plans to attack Russian targets. This leak coupled with Putin’s remarks the previous day is an unmistakable warning to the West that it is approaching a red-line that, if crossed, will require a strong Russian response. Such a response could include destroying NATO bases used to launch attacks on Russia. Putin is not bullshitting. He is serious and the gravity of the matter is underscored by Putin giving the green light to leak intercepted conversations of NATO officers to the media. The West better pay close attention.
Ray McGovern and I discussed this with Judge Napolitano today:
