Stop playing in the hands of Vladimir Putin, you idiot

It’s hard to see the current sword running between US and Russian officials without swearing, loudly and inappropriately, in the face of increasingly stark warnings and feverish talk of war.

Weeks of escalating tension and shameless bastard of Russia leads to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken took part in a courtesy launch in Stockholm on Thursday with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov. This is the first high-level meeting between the two sides since Moscow began to accumulate up to 90,000 troops Ukraine border, which sounded the alarm in the West of a possible invasion only growing louder as Russia deliberately raised concerns about military action.

Before the meeting, pressure was on the US to push back.

It’s not random Kremlin started raising the stakes just before Thursday’s meeting. First, there is the claim – denied by Ukraine – that Ukrainian spies were caught as they prepared to bomb all over Russia. Then, of course, came predictable rhetoric by Vladimir Putin’s mustached spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who told reporters that “the risk of military action in Ukraine remains.” still high” due to the “aggressive” rhetoric of the Ukrainian authorities and “provocative actions” on the road ahead.

Following Blinken’s threat on Wednesday to “impose serious costs” on Moscow in the event of any “large-scale military operation” in Ukraine, it’s hard not to see his comments. Peskov and the Kremlin’s latest statement about Ukrainian spies as Russia is simply pressing the US to see how Washington will push back.

But we’ve been here before — too many times to count, and thousands of Ukrainian lives after.

While armchair experts take to social media to (perhaps a little too excitedly?) scream about what they are most certain, absolutely, a Russian invader anytime, I can’t help but recall his conversations with Ukrainian soldiers in the Mariynka trenches in 2015, when a similar concentration of Russian troops on the border raised fears of invasion. A strange attack on the town by pro-Russian militants has led many to believe it is a test run for a takeover.

That was the strangest thing, the Ukrainian soldiers said. The Russian-backed army was really smiling, as if to them it was all a great, great thing.

In the end, that’s exactly what it was. And I guess that’s exactly what this is, is good.

Just to be clear, it’s not stupidity without consequences, and lives lost. Pro-Russian snipers continue to wipe out Ukraine’s military repeatedly and, angeredly, it has gone largely unnoticed on the world stage as Moscow’s war with Ukraine enters its eighth year.

While the US seems ready to prey on the hype about the Kremlin invasion, let’s not forget that there have been a large number of deaths on the front lines in the Donbass for almost eight years now.

One more hurtful insult, the Kremlin still has Nord Stream 2 after the Biden administration waives sanctions.

And most importantly, Putin still gets exactly what he wants: the West is on the rise and Ukraine increasingly looks like it has too much baggage to be able to join NATO. That’s always a problem, just like bloodshed.

Let’s take a moment to consider, if only briefly, not the clear, chesty message that the Kremlin has carefully sent through all of its propaganda arms and diplomatic utterances during the campaign. recent weeks — but the silent part of Putin speak loudly right before all that pounding gets overwhelming.

Putin, apparently referring to New interest is spreading in America at the beginning of November about the construction of troops and military equipment on the border with Ukraine, it was almost impossible to contain his excitement that Moscow had caused fear among NATO countries.

At an extended session of the State Department representative, he said: “Our recent warnings have been felt and they have had some effect – there has been marked tension there after all. In this regard, I see two points here. First, this condition needs to last with them for as long as possible, so that they don’t get involved in arranging for us on our western border some kind of unnecessary conflict, we don’t need one. sudden. ”

Is Ukraine under threat from Russia? Of course it does, and a whole generation of Ukrainians will suffer the consequences of the Kremlin’s geopolitical carnage for decades to come.

But perhaps instead of baiting Putin and allowing him to indulge in his role as the almighty villain, American officials should forgo the wits, ignore the new sanctions, and just let it be. for the old, insecure dictator he was beholding.