Putin has painted himself into an even tighter 'political corner'

From being 'gingerely' held in Putin's hand, the 'flag of peace' is now been held aloft by him.

And in his other hand he is holding aloft Iranian missiles with which to continue his war with Ukraine.

As reported by Meduza,

"The Pentagon says it’s confirmed that Iran has given “a number of close-range ballistic missiles to Russia.” While Washington isn’t sure exactly how many rockets are being handed over to Moscow, the U.S. Defense Department assesses that Russia could begin putting them to use within a few weeks, “leading to the deaths of even more Ukrainian civilians.” (Meduza: 13 September 2024) (my emphasis)

And whilst Putin is receiving his missiles from the Ayatollas in Iran,  James Landale and Malu Cursino (right) report that,

"The delivery of Iranian missiles to Russia has changed the debate about Ukraine using Western-provided long-range missiles against targets inside Russia, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has told the BBC on a visit to Kyiv.
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In an interview with the BBC, Lammy said Iran providing Russia with ballistic missiles "clearly changes the debate" as they would allow Moscow's forces "to have further penetration into Ukraine". (BBC News: 11 September 2024) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, as reported by David E Sanger, Helene Cooper, and Eric Schmitt,

"United States president Joe Biden appears to be on the verge of clearing the way for Ukraine to launch long-range western weapons deep inside Russian territory, as long as it doesn’t use arms provided by the US, European officials say.
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Britain has already signalled to the US that it is eager to let Ukraine use its “Storm Shadow” long-range missiles to strike at Russian military targets far from the Ukrainian border. But it wants explicit permission from Mr Biden in order to demonstrate a co-ordinated strategy with the United States and France, which makes a similar missile." (Irish Times: 13 September 2024) (my emphasis)

As Sir Keith Starmer (left) states,

"Russia started the conflict in Ukraine and can end it "straight away”, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

“Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away,” he said.

He later added: “To reiterate, it was Russia who started this in the first place. They caused the conflict, they’re the ones who are acting unlawfully.” (Chris Mason and Isabella Allen: BBC News: 12 September 2024) (my emphasis)

But with the threat of US and UK long-range missiles being aimed at Russia's war infrastructure, Putin once again is threatening to unleash war against NATO members who may greenlight their use of long-range missiles to destroy Putins' war infrastructure.

Sarah Hooper and Jasper King: Metro: 12 September 2024 

The 'political emptiness' of Putin's threats of war with NATO members is best desribed by  LT Col Stuart Crawford (left) as,

"Putin and the Russian people will now be brought ever closer to the front line of their illegal, unprovoked, and aggressive war in Ukraine. Typically, he has reacted to the news with his usual mix of threats and bluster, suggesting that Moscow would regard western missiles being used against it as a serious escalation of the war.
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While it would be both brave and foolhardy to dismiss such threats completely out of hand, it is most unlikely that Putin would follow through, or be allowed to follow through by his political advisers and rivals in the Kremlin, with such threats.

The reason? Quite simply it would lead to the demise of both him and the Russian regime. NATO is so many times more powerful both militarily and economically than Russia that there could be only one winner. So it won’t happen." (Express: 13 September 2024) (my emphasis)

Sean Bell (right) also states that,

"But frankly, president Putin shown here knows that if the West were directly engaged .... if NATO is directly engaged .... Russia would be stopped in its tracks" (Sky News: 13 September 2024) (my emphasis) (cf also: Mark Moore: International Busness Times: 13 Sept 2024)

Sean Bell: Sky News: 13 September 2024

Putin has painted himself into an even tighter 'political corner' with his threat of war with NATO.

The 'siloviki' in the Kremlin no doubt realise this.

What will be the reaction of the Russian people when they are told that they are at war with NATO?

Will they 'man the barricades' to protect the motherland, with the threat of near total 'nuclear' annihilation hanging like a sword of Damocles over their head if Putin fires even one of his 'nuclear' warheads against a NATO country?

Laura-brick: Metro: 14 September 2024

 

 

 

(to be continued)