Ukraine Crisis and Putin: "Uncontrollable" Putin is now skating on very thin 'political' ice.

Putin could not have fully forseen the backlash of the responses of the US, UK, and EU when he imported North Korean soldiers into his war with Ukraine.

His previous 'bluffing' that NATO countries will be met with a forceful response from Russia if they allow NATO missiles to be used inside Russia itself has now been met by NATO coutries.

By 'forceful response' he was shaking nuclear missiles at NATO countries in the hope that this would deter NATO countries from allowing their missiles to be used inside Russia by Ukraine.

This 'threat' of Putin scared German Chancellor Scholtz (left) to such an extent that he steadfastly refused suppplying Ukraine with German Taurus missiles and, more recently, sought to appease Putin by having a tête-à-tête with him. (remember Angela Merkel? (right))

This recent appeasement of Putin by Scholtz caused 'international' political opprobium to be poured on his head.

As reported by The Straits Times,

"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his conversation with Vladimir Putin on Friday had given no indication of a shift in the Russian President's thinking on the war in Ukraine, but defended his much-criticised decision to phone the Kremlin.
...
Critics, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the call was a breach of Western solidarity for the sake of domestic political advantage." (The Straits Times: 17 November 2024) (my emphasis) (cf. also: Sky News: Monday 18 November 2024)

Adil Lateef: The Times Of India on Micrisoft Start: 16 November 2024

And now, as Putin shakes uncontrollaby in his bunker, Paul Adams and Kathryn Armstrong report that,

"US President Joe Biden has given the green light for Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the US to strike Russia, US officials say.

The move marks a major change in policy for Washington which had refused for months to agree to Kyiv's requests for authorisation to use the ATACMS missiles outside its own borders." (BBC News: 17 November 2024) (my emphasis)

This decision of President Biden, together with the increased pounding of Ukraine by Putin's missiles, has exposed the emptiness of Trump's political boasting that he could, "... quickly end the war in Ukraine".

End? How?

As Mac William Bishop (right) explains,

"Still, every indication is that under Trump 2.0, Washington will forsake NATO, coddle Putin, and end American support for Ukraine — handing a significant victory to Moscow." (Rolling Stone: 14 November 2024) (my emphasis)

Even President Macron of France has stated that Putin simply does not want peace.

As The Straits Times reports,

"French President Emmanuel Macron (left) said that a major Russian air barrage against Ukraine on Sunday showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin "does not want peace and is not ready to negotiate".

The priority for France was to "equip, support and help Ukraine to resist", Macron told reporters as he prepared to leave Argentina to attend the G20 Summit in Brazil." (The Straits Times: 18 November 2024) (my emphasis)

The upcoming G20 summit in Argentina represents a "Kennedy moment" for the participants when, in 1962, US President John Kennedy confronted USSR president Nikita Kruschev, and forced him to withdraw his intention of stationing nuclear missiles in Cuba.

Fast foreward to 2024, and the question that now arises is :-

"Given the green light for Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the US to strike Russia, does Putin now finally realise that the awakening giant of NATO will retaliate in kind to his recent "blustering" threats against NATO countries?"

Hindustan Times: 19 November 2024: YouTube

"Uncontrollable" Putin is now skating on very thin 'political' ice indeed.

UPDATE: 19 November 2024: 08.52 GMT

Sergey Markov (left) argues that the use of US, French, and British missiles used against Russian forces by Ukraine will constitute an attack against Russia, and that Russia will then attack those countries whose missiles are being used. (Sky News: 19 November 2024) (my emphasis)

Sky News: 19 November 2024

Twisting himself into a 'political pretzel', Markov desperately tries to ignore the fact that North Korean troops, and the use of North Korean military equipment, now fighting alongside Putin's troops against Ukraine in both Russia and Ukraine, is somewhat of no consequence in his argument against the use of US, UK, and French missiles, at all.

As stated before, ".... does Putin now finally realise that the awakening giant of NATO will retaliate in kind to his recent "blustering" threats against NATO countries?""

Already, yesterday (18 November 2024), Newsweek reports that,

"An undersea telecommunications cable connecting Finland and Germany across the Baltic Sea was severed, raising suspicions of intentional damage, the NATO member states said.
...
This was the first time the cable has broken, said Ari-Jussi Knaapila, CEO of Cinia. The cable did not break without an external impact, a company spokesperson explained, adding that no seismic events—such as earthquakes—could have been responsible for this.
....
"Our European security is not only under threat from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors," they added. "Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies." (Newsweek: 19 November 2024) (my emphasis)