Putin is now staring into the abyss of nuclear war.

"The world now stands at the crossroads.

Either Putin and his 'siloviki' are stopped from destroying democracy in Ukraine or universal law dies." (blog entry : 26 February 2022)

As AliVelshi reports,

"What we're witnessing unfold in Ukraine right now is possibly the most consequential foreign military conflict since Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939.
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There are bad actors watching ... potentially waiting in the wings for an opportunity of their own that stand to gain from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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Three obvious ones come to mind ...Iran ... North Korea ... and China ..." (MSNBC : 26 February 2022) (my emphasis)

Even the German government, who for years have been supporting their businessmen sucking at the teats of Putin's Russian cash cow, have finally had their eyes opened and are now willing not only to supply Ukraine with defensive armaments but, more significantly, to limit Moscow's access to the SWIFT interbanking system.

As reported by France24,

"Germany on Saturday dramatically ramped up its backing for Ukraine's battle against Russia, approving weapons deliveries for Kyiv in a policy U-turn and agreeing to limit Moscow's access to the SWIFT interbank system. " (France24 : 26 February 2022) (my emphasis)

 As also reported by YeniSafak,

"Germany will supply Ukraine 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, a government spokesman announced on Saturday.
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The German government has taken this decision on Saturday, and the weapons from the German army’s stocks will be delivered to Ukraine as soon as possible, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement....

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russia’s military assault on Ukraine has been “a turning point” for Europe, threatening the international order established after World War II." (YeniSafak : 27 February 2022) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Reuters , AlJazeera, Washington Post)

ABC News : YouTube : 26 February 2022

As Germany now begins to supply Ukraine with weapons, Andrew Rettman also reports that,

"Nato is preparing to send extra troops to Russia-facing allies to reinforce a red line around the war in Ukraine even as it keeps "deconfliction channels" open with Moscow.
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Elements of Nato's response force could be deployed to Poland and further afield within "the next coming days", Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg (right) told a press conference in Brussels on Thursday (24 February).

"There will be more forces in the east of the alliance," he said.
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[...]  Nato had also put hundreds of fighter planes and warships on high alert "from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean," Stoltenberg added.
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Nato already had US, British, German and other troops in Russia-deterrent battalions stationed in the Baltic and Black Sea regions years ago. (EU Observer : 24 February 2022) (my emphasis)

Even though the "deconfliction channels" between NATO and Putin are been kept open, let us remind ourselves of Putin's chilling threat to use nuclear weapons.

As reported by RachelMaddow (left),

"But those [recent military] exercises [between Russia and Belarus] took on new meaning when Putin just went ahead and said it .. when he offered a thinly veiled threat that if any nation dared to try to stop him from invading Ukraine, they would be met with the threat of nuclear war" (MSNBC: YouTube: 25 February 2022) (my emphasis) (cf also: RobertMendick : Daily Telegraph : 24 February 2022)

The world now stands poised on the brink of a global war. 

In Putins own words,

"And now some very very important words for those who could be tempted to intervene from outside.

Whoever tries to hinder us, and more so to create threats to our country ... to our people ... should know that Russia's reponse will be immediate and it will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history. We are ready for any development of events .... All the necessary decisions have been made in this regard ... I hope that I will bea heard ..." (The Sun : YouTube : 24 February 2022) (my emphasis)

 

Putin is now staring into the abyss of nuclear war. 

STOP PRESS 14:31 UK time 27 February 2022

 

PUTIN PUTS NUCLEAR FORCES ON ALERT

 Less than an hour ago Putin has put his nuclear forces on full alert.

As reported by Yuras Karmanau, Jim Heintz and Vladimir Isachenkov,

"In a dramatic escalation of East-West tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces put on high alert Sunday in response to what he called “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers.
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The order means Putin has ordered Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch, raising the threat that the tensions could boil over into nuclear warfare. In giving it, the Russian leader also cited hard-hitting financial sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, including Putin himself." (The Washington Post : 27 February 2022) (my emphasis) (cf also: BBC News  : Business Insider : US News : 27 February 2022)

(to be continued)