Putin's lunacy now stands exposed for the whole world to see.

 In my last blog entry I wrote,

"Whither, therefore, the Minsk2 proposals?

To assume that 'raising the Minsk2 protocols from the dead' can serve to hold back Putin's 'Dogs of War', who are now straining at the leash to invade Ukraine, is tantamount to believing that 'pigs can fly'! " (blog entry 10 February 2022)

As David M. Herszenhorn (right) now reports,

"The heightened alarm came a day after another round of talks between representatives of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia — in the so-called Normandy format — once again yielded no progress in implementing the Minsk peace accords, which are intended to end the existing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
.....
Putin, following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Kremlin on Monday night, had personally demanded that the Ukrainian government talk directly with [ his proxies in the Donbas] the separatists. 

“It won’t work otherwise,” Putin said. 

“They do not want to talk directly with [MY] representatives of Donbass. It is written directly in Point 12, in Point 9, Point 11 that such and such issues will be discussed and agreed upon with representatives of these territories,” Putin said. “Discuss and agree with them. How else can you work then? Impossible." (Politico : 11 February 2022) (my emphasis)

At the same time, using NATO as his excuse, Putin is now threatening to unleash a nuclear war.

Youtube : Bulletin of Atomic Scientists : 11 February 2022

Let us recall, as John Hall reported on 2 April 2015, that,

"Vladimir Putin is planning to exploit the threat of nuclear war to force Nato out of countries bordering Russia, it has been claimed.

A secret meeting between intelligence figures in Moscow and Washington reportedly revealed Putin will consider any attempt to return the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine as declaration of war and will take any necessary step - including using nuclear weapons - to retain control of the region." (MailOnline : 2 April, 2015) (my emphasis) (cf: blog entry 2 August 2015)

Putin is now using that same 'nuclear' political bludgeon except that today, his finger is hovering over the button that will release his nuclear option.

As Mikhail Khordokovsky recently remarked,

"He (Putin) is convinced of his own infallibility, and he is capable of all sorts of actions, including ill-judged ones." (Sky News : 6 February 2022) (my emphasis)

Many countries are now urging their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, as the 'red lights are flashing' that Putin's 'Dogs of War', currently in Belarus, may at any minute launch a 'blitzkrieg' against Kiev.

As reported by Politico,

"In addition to the U.S., the United Kingdom, Latvia, Denmark, Israel, Estonia, Norway, Japan and South Korea all directed their citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible." (ibid David M. Herszenhorn) (my emphasis)

Youtube : BBC News : 11 Feb 2022

More disconcerting, as reported by RFE/RL,

"Russia says six warships from its navy are heading to the Black Sea from the Mediterranean to take part in military maneuvers amid heightened tensions with the West over Moscow's troop buildup on its border with Ukraine, which has raised fears of a possible invasion of the former Soviet republic.." (RFE/RL : 9 February 2022) (my emphasis)

Sky News : 8 February 2022 

 As also reported by Amy Mackinnon (left),

"As part of its exercises in the Black Sea, Moscow has declared large swaths of the sea around the Crimean peninsula and the Ukrainian port of Odessa unsafe for navigation during its drills next week, as well as the southern half of the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainian Naval Forces Command said in a post on Facebook on Thursday. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the move, describing it as a tactic of “hybrid warfare.” (Foreign Policy : 10 February 2022) (my emphasis)

These so-called Russian naval 'navigation drills' that will be taking place in an increasing overcrowded Black Sea ; should anything happen between e.g. a US or British warship and a Russian warship, this WOULD precipitate a dangerous escalation that could give Putin his raison d'être for pressing that nuclear button.

Putin's lunacy now stands exposed for the whole world to see.

(to be continued)