Originally Posted by
ORAC
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The Russian foreign ministry said it wanted legal guarantees that the pledge was no longer in force, as well as other agreements that Nato would not deploy weaponry to countries bordering Russia, hold military drills beyond a certain distance from Russia, and setting maximum approach distances for ships in the Baltic and Black seas.
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Entirely unacceptable AND undoable.
Firstly: Norway, Poland and Baltic countres are NATO countries and bordering Russia. Should they de-arm and leave NATO?
Secondly: Putin will NOT state his terms on Finland nor whom Finns train with, is visited by or ally with. That is not going to happen,
Soviet union collapsed and there is no more russian dominance as it was within USSR. Putin has to accept it.
But, as a dictator with overly boosted ego tangling to power, he cant. He is a remain of the cold war living in an illusion that HE will return the soviet era influence of Russia.
Bearing in mind that in 2005 already he called the collapse of SU as "the biggest geopolitical catastrophy of the century" tells what this guy is thinking.
Putin does not understand any soft talk. In his mind that is weakness. He only understands and appreciiates tough approach, so he must be placed in between a rock and a hard place.