warmongers squawk about World War III, but Putin is playing it cool.
composed as ever, he tells us his plans.
Good day, spectators,
And today is going to be a really quick one as I am travelling. Just minutes ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed his nation following Ukrainian strikes in Russia in the regions of Kursk and Bryansk, blaming the West for “turning the Ukraine war into a global" conflict. However, instead of unleashing fiery rhetoric or threats of imminent escalation which many online warmongers were predicting, Putin adopted a calm, calculated tone that signaled a very deliberate strategy.
In his speech, Putin unveiled Russia’s new "Oreshnik" missile, claiming it can reach speeds of 10 Mach and is impervious to any known defence system. He reassured his audience that Russia will continue testing its arsenal on "targets of our choosing," but there were no dramatic ultimatums or overt threats of expanding the war as many had seemingly hoped for.
This cool approach contrasts sharply with the panic we see all over our social media channels. Many thought Putin would go full apocalyptic, fuelling World War III hysteria. Instead, his composure suggests he’s content to wait—likely eyeing January and the impending inauguration of Donald Trump hoping it will accelerate a deal.
Trump’s stance on Ukraine is no secret. He’s repeatedly indicated that he would push for a deal favouring Russia, one that might include Ukraine conceding territory in the east. Zelensky himself has already hinted that Crimea isn’t a fight he plans to pursue. I believe Putin knows he doesn’t need to escalate—he just needs to wait.
This isn’t a moment of quiet before the storm; it looks like a calculated pause. His restrained tone and focus on weaponry reveal a strongman who knows he doesn’t have to do anything. If Trump takes office as anticipated, the next chapter in the Ukraine conflict will be written in Washington, where the West’s resolve may face its greatest test yet.
Just a quick one today, anyway, folks. I’m working on a much larger piece for this weekend about this three-year-old war.
What do you think? Comment below!
(Thanks for reading as always, please give this post a ❤️ and restack below to help bring this news to more people.)
I think you’re more sensible than I have been lately. There’s no denying that the Biden administration is looking like a burning Cybertruck gone rogue headed for the cliff of catastrophe – what a perfect Viking funeral that would be for old Creepy Uncle Joe!
But you pay attention to President Putin’s icy demeanour. Good call! Moscow, not Washington, has got several possible ways to Checkmate here and it’s Moscow’s move.
I’d say Mr Putin seems not so much calm and serene as menacing, but quietly menacing in the way a mile high sheer wall of ice-covered basalt mountain-side is menacing. More like, “You boys don’t want to even start. This is for your own safety. Trust me.”
“Just thought I’d mention it. We’ve got a new missile, comes in at Mach 10, no way to defend against it. We are going to use it on targets of our choosing. At the times and places of our choosing. Just thought I’d put that out there. Know what I mean? Word to the wise guys?”
I’m old enough to personally remember Nikita Khrushchev on b&w TV banging his shoe on the table and shouting in front of the UNSC about the threat from America. I picture old Nikita having a laugh or two with John F. Kennedy as they look down upon young Vlad and thumbs-up his cool style.
I’ve concentrated on the potential for runaway escalation to nuclear armageddon implicated by Joe Biden’s string-holders giving Zelensky “permission” to use ATACMS missiles to strike deep into Russia. Doug MacGregor and Scott Ritter are even more alarmed than most people and they certainly have the credentials and the contacts and friends within the US military to know what they are talking about.
Col MacGregor and Dave Ramaswamy wrote for The American Conservative:
<< TRUMP AND THE STORM OF THE CENTURY
<< The U.S. is sleepwalking into disaster in the Middle East.
<< Nov 19/24
<< (The American Conservative) — The fear in many nations’ capitals is that President Donald Trump’s return to Washington might make Israel feel more confident in attacking Iran. According to Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem, “There is no world leader Trump respects more than Netanyahu.
<< ”The evangelical leader also confides that President Trump would support an Israeli attack before his inauguration on the assumption that the destruction of Iran’s oil production facilities would devastate Iran’s economy, inducing Iran to end the war with Israel before President Trump assumes his office. This thinking by no means excludes an Israeli decision to strike Iran’s nuclear development sites as well… >>
Oh? He “confides”, does he? Like Christian Zionists are going to be so trusted in Jerusalem that they’ll be told the score?
LtCol Karen Kwiatkowski ( with Judge Napolitano’s Judging Freedom “Who Can Stop Netanyahu?"-YouTube) has some hope that Trump is not in fact the tool of Neocons or Christian Zionists or any war mongers.
She opines that by authorizing ATACMS missiles targeted on Russia, Biden "has created targets", namely all US personnel potentially everywhere. She suggests that the decision to let the Ukrainians strike deep with ATACMS is just a way to spend all the billions authorized, and waste it, before Trump is inaugurated.
She also opines that this is basically toddler-like vindictiveness on the part of Blinken and the rest. Does Biden make these decisions? "His mouth is moving" and that's the most one can say. "Where is the desire we have that nuclear weapons never be used again?" Nowhere in their estimation! "They don't care about Americans... I think this is why this administration has been tossed out."... "This 7 billion, half of it, more than half, will line the pockets of ... lobbyists...".
Is Bibi really respected by Trump? Or is he seen as a loser who needs to be cut loose before he fucks up the whole business?
Karen: "Bibi is on his last legs ... possibly the end of the Zionist state [is soon] ... Trump does not align himself with the weak... [Christian Zionists] are even less trusted by the Israelis than Jewish critics". They are not increasing in political power. "Trump is throwing Israel the poisoned bones". Not even the most ardent Christian Zionists or US officials of any stripe can be trusted or will be trusted by Israel unless the Israelis have "bought them or have something on them."
The distinction is that in former years Israel had real friends in Washington and now they don't. They have stooges (and they also have ignorant people looking through rose coloured glasses like my Canadian former friends] and that's a big difference. They won't even talk with Christian Zionists sent into Jerusalem thinking that Israel is our ally. "Israel is not our ally and is not our friend."
Alexander Mercouris mentioned an incident that has excited little comment so far. The American military operators of the UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles which are in diminishing supply in Kiev’s arsenal have sent 12 of these vaunted long-range weapons to bombard a small insignificant village in Kursk region yesterday.
Is somebody up there in the US military deciding to waste as many of these weapons as they can so that the nutcases who run Zelensky will not have any left with which to make the Russian bear angry?
Fingers crossed