You are actually very right, Peter. I wanted to be careful, but maybe now is not the right time.
To stay on topic, why do you think the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Melnyk had to go. He was not diplomatic in the best sense but openly clear and plain, as is fitting when you are a country to be wiped out by an evil aggressor. Perhaps he knew too much about the German government and its venality or blackmail by the Russians. Sorry it's just my guesses and it's my common sense. I may be wrong. If the wax soft Macron now even delivers little old tanks, If Biden probably would have delivered Abrahams long ago (if the technology was not so different) then I can hope that Scholz comes under enormous pressure to finally help. In Germany, many people think like me, but there are also some who still live under the cuddly blanket where Germany had settled in pacifism. Only...this cuddle time was perhaps in the past an understandable reaction to deal with the guilt of the Nazi era, but we make ourselves guilty again if we do not show now a clear edge. I didn't want to hijack the thread but just to contribute how I see our role as Germans. To get back to the core of the thread, we (all) have to deal with it and develop strategies how to deal with Russia...with or without Putin. We also have to keep in mind what alliances the Russians can forge with Iran. How China will behave in the end is also far from clear. Perhaps it will be uncomfortable for the West, even if China may be less psychotic than Russia. Putin said two weeks ago that he feels closer to Islam than to (western) Christianity. That is the only comment from him that I believe.
