Ukraine Crisis and Putin: Putin is about to fall into an apocalyptic abyss

As night follows day, it was inevitable that Medvedev would ramp up Putin's threat to light the fuse that will plunge the world into a nuclear war as international pressure against Putin and his 'siloviki' continues to mount.

As reported by Pavel Polityuk and Simon Lewis (right),

"Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said attempts by the West to punish a nuclear power such as Russia for the war in Ukraine risked endangering humanity, as the near five-month conflict leaves cities in ruins and thousands homeless.
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"The idea of punishing a country that has one of the largest nuclear potentials is absurd. And potentially poses a threat to the existence of humanity," Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said on Telegram on Wednesday." (Reuters : 7 July 2022) (my emphasis)

And now, as reported by Arpan Rai and Liam James (left),

"Russia has ramped up its naval presence in the Black Sea by adding five missile carriers, two submarines and one amphibious assault ship, officials from Ukraine’s southern operational command said." (Independent :7 July 2022) (my emphasis)

In Sergei Shoigu's current 'glowing' report to Putin about Russian 'successes' (sic) against Ukrainian forces in the Donbas, Putin's response at the end of this report should give cause for concern.

As he says to Shoigu,

"... the east grouping and the west grouping should carry out their task according to previously approved plans, according to a single plan .. and I hope that everything will happen in their direction in the same way .." (cf: Arpan Rai and Liam James)

In other words, Putin is telling Shoigu to continue to raze villages and towns to the ground, irrespective of the war crimes that this will perpetrate against Ukrainian civilians.

Yet notwithstanding the criminal devastation that Putin's war with Ukraine has so far cost the Ukrainians, Michael Curzon now informs us that,

Polling [in Germany] suggests, however, that most Germans do not believe Ukrainian forces are capable of succeeding in pushing their Russian counterparts out of the occupied territories.
Sixty-nine percent said that even if the West continues to increase its level of arms support for Ukraine, a full victory is not possible.
As a result of this, close to half of those polled said Ukraine should be ready to make territorial concessions in negotiations. (Express : 6 July 2022) (my emphasis)

I am reminded of an article written in the Economist in 2014 which possibly explains why close to half of Germans recently polled still suffer from the Putinversteher mentality.

"WHEN Germans add the word Versteher (one who understands) to a term, they generally mix flattery with irony. So a Frauenversteher (one who understands women) is usually a man who boasts excessively about his knowledge of the opposite sex. The label is now being attached to so-called Russlandversteher or Putinversteher: members of the elite or intelligentsia who gush with empathy for Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, on talk shows, in journals and at dinner parties.
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They include two former Social Democratic chancellors. In the newspaper Die Zeit, Helmut Schmidt said Mr Putin’s annexation of Crimea was not quite “legitimate” but certainly “understandable”." (The Economist : (8 May 2014) (my emphasis)

And in December of 2014, Roula Khalaf (right) pointed out that,

" More recently Matthias Platzeck, chairman of the German-Russian business forum and former chief of the Social Democratic party (SPD), a partner in the ruling coalition, became the first high-profile German to suggest the west should accept the annexation of Crimea to ease tensions with Moscow. (The Financial Times : 3 December 2014) (my emphasis)

It would seem that seven years later this Putinversteher mentality is still alive and well in Germany, notwithstanding what Putin is now doing to the people and country of Ukraine. (cf also: DW : 27 May 2022)

And whilst the Putinversteher mentality is alive and well in Germany, Millie Cooke (left) informs us that,

"The West could form a "United Nations Army" and send troops into Ukraine, a weapons expert has claimed.
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Former army officer and chemical weapons expert Hamish de Breton-Gordon told Express.co.uk that a UN army could be sent in to seize grain from Ukraine, which is allegedly being stolen by Russian forces. He described the move as being a "realistic" option, as it would be less inflammatory than British or American troops being sent in alone." (Express : 7 July 2022) (my emphasis)

It is therfore no wonder that, as reported by Rebecca Ratcliffe and agencies,

"Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has flown into the Indonesian island of Bali for a gathering of G20 foreign ministers, which is likely to be overshadowed by Moscow’s war in Ukraine and deep divisions within the bloc over how to respond to the crisis.
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There would not be a formal meeting between the US and Lavrov, it said, adding that Russia was not “serious about diplomacy”.
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“We have not seen that yet,” said state department spokesperson Ned Price." (The Guardian : 7 July 2022) (my emphasis)

Al Jazeera : YouTube : 7 July 2022

That Russia is not “serious about diplomacy” is underscored by Putin stating that,

"... the east grouping and the west grouping should carry out their task according to previously approved plans, according to a single plan" (cf: Arpan Rai and Liam James video)

Putin has dug himself so deep into the hole of his war with Ukraine that neither diplomacy nor the German mentality of Ukraine caving in by simply giving him the Ukrainian territory that he has illegally annexed in 2014, and the territory which his army now controls, can now satisfy him.

As Medvedev has threatened, " ... attempts by the West to punish a nuclear power such as Russia for the war in Ukraine risked endangering humanity.."

Putin no longer teeters at the edge of an apocalyptic abyss.

He is about to fall into it.

STOP PRESS 8 JULY 2022

Putin has now fallen into the abyss.

As reported by Sky News, amongst many other reports throught the world,

"Vladimir Putin has told Kyiv it should quickly accept Moscow's terms or brace for the worst, adding ominously that Russia has barely started its action in Ukraine.
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"It's a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it looks like it's heading in that direction," he said during a meeting with leaders of the Kremlin-controlled parliament.
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"Everybody should know that largely speaking, we haven't even yet started anything in earnest."
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The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russian sovereignty over the Crimea peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

It is also demanding the independence of Moscow-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine and an acceptance of the existing situation on the ground - a reference to other land gains it has made since troops invaded on 24 February." (Sky News :8 July 2022) (my emphasis)