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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday is accusing the United States and its allies of trying to "split Russian society" following its invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a meeting with top officials at the Prosecutor Generals office, Putin said Russia has come under "unprecedented Western sanctions" for its military campaign in Ukraine, which is now in its 61st day.

He charged that the U.S, and its allies have sought to "split the Russian society and to destroy Russia from within," adding that their plans have failed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a meeting of the executive board of the General Procurator's Office in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, April 25. (Sputnik/Sergey Guneev/Kremlin via Reuters)

RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES

Putin urged Russian prosecutors to act more quickly to block unsanctioned demonstrations organized from abroad.

He also noted that they should focus on exposing "open provocations" against the Russian military allegedly involving international media and social platforms.

At one pointduring the meeting, Putin claimed Russia foiled a plot by a "terrorist group" to kill state TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyev, according to Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on economic issues via a video link in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, April 25. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters)

The news outlet quoted Russian Federal Security Service leader Alexander Bortnikov as saying that a group of six neo-nationalist Russian citizens were trying to murder Solovyev on behalf of Ukraine's State Security Service.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends Orthodox Easter mass led by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill at the Christ The Saviour Cathedral on Sunday, April 24 in Moscow, Russia. (Getty Images)

But Ukraine said in a statement that it has "no plans to assassinate V. Solovyev," Reuters reported.

The meeting Monday comes hours ahead of U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres planned visit Tuesday with Putin in Moscow.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Putin: US, allies are trying to 'split Russian society' with war in Ukraine - Fox News

V

ladimir Putin risks sending thousands of young Russians to their death if he seeks to grab some form of significant victory in Ukraine by May 9, a senior MP warned on Monday.

The day is a key date in the Russian military calendar as it marks the Nazis surrender in the Second World War and an annual parade is held through Moscows Red Square.

Military experts believe the Russian President will have to start within days to make preparations for a major offensive in the Donbas if he is to snatch a meaningful victory.

However, if he continues to deploy troops piecemeal into the eastern region against well-trained Ukrainian forces it is expected to lead to more casualties compared to if it gave them more time to properly regroup and re-equip, following a series of defeats and setbacks at the start of the invasion.

Former army officer Tom Tugendhat MP, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told The Standard: Moscows timetable is writing promises its generals cant keep. Theyre pushing a unified campaign now but without the logistics to support it.

Putin will have to start making major preparations if hes not going to just send thousands of young Russians to their deaths.

Defence chiefs in London stressed on Monday morning that Mr Putins forces are yet to make a significant breakthrough in the Donbas.

They emphasised that Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, still ongoing after the war entered its third month, was preventing Russian generals from redeploying troops surrounding the last stronghold of local fighters within the city.

The defence of Mariupol had left many Russian units exhausted and had hit their combat effectiveness, they added.

In addition, they accused defence chiefs in Moscow of putting military personnel rather than civilian officials in charge of payments to the families of soldiers killed in Ukraine in what is thought to be an attempt to hide the scale of losses from the Russian people.

Estimates of the number of Russian soldiers killed ranges from around 10,000 to more than 20,000.

Three or four times as many Russian troops are believed to have been injured or incapacitated.

In its latest intelligence briefing, the Ministry of Defence said: Russia has made minor advances in some areas since shifting its focus to fully occupying the Donbas. Without sufficient logistical and combat support enablers in place, Russia has yet to achieve a significant breakthrough.

Russias decision to besiege rather than attack Mariupols Azovstal steel plant means many Russian units remain fixed in the city and cannot be redeployed. Ukraines defence of Mariupol has also exhausted many Russian units and reduced their combat effectiveness.

It added: Russias Ministry of Defence has proposed compensation payments for the families of deceased service personnel be overseen by military rather than civilian officials. This likely reflects a desire to hide the true scale of Russias losses from the domestic population.

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Putin sending thousands of Russians to their death if he seeks victory by May 9 - Evening Standard

Maksym Kurochkin is a playwright. For almost three years, he and 20 other Ukrainian playwrights had been planning to build a new theatre in the heart of Old Kyiv. The group found a magnificent old structure that they were busy renovating in order to open the Playwrights theatre on 12 March. On 24 February, Maksym and his colleagues awoke to the horrific sound of bombs. 12 March came and went. Instead of planning a grand opening for a new theatre, Maksym is now examining military strategies to defeat the Russian invaders. Instead of a pen in his hand, he now carries a weapon.

It is two months since the Russian army illegally crossed our borders. They have been failing ever since in their attempts to invade Ukraine. Part of the reason for their failure is that they were not expecting to meet such fierce and heroic resistance, both from our sophisticated military and from territorial defenders like Maksym who, when faced with the reality of the Russian invasion, decided to take up arms and fight.

Many of these brave territorial defenders, including my own daughter, who immediately signed up once the war began, have never had any military training or been in any kind of conflict situation. Stories like that of the young couple who pushed their wedding day forward in order to join the territorial defence force, or the comedian who usually helps veterans get over their trauma but has decided to become a fighter himself, show you the unbreakable spirit of the Ukrainian people. Tragically, some of these defenders have fallen in battle. Others have been beaten and killed in cities such as Bucha, Kharkiv and Mariupol. We will not know how many of our citizens have died until we open the mass graves and clear the rubble of our razed cities.

As shocking as these stories are to hear, this is exactly what we should expect from the savage Russian army led by the dictator Vladimir Putin. My own history with Putin goes back to 2000, when we were both prime ministers of our respective countries. It was only when I ran to be president of Ukraine in 2004 that he actively campaigned against me. The extreme lengths he was willing to go to in order to get what he wanted became clear. I could not allow this to deter me; after I won, I realised that I needed to try to keep a workable relationship with him as the leader of our neighbour in the east. But the Putin I dealt with then no longer exists. He has since become a completely isolated and brutal despot who cannot stand any opposition.

One of the greatest weapons we now have against Putin is international solidarity and support. This is something that really bothers him. I know that, while news about our war made headlines all over the world and dominated the global conversation for several weeks, interest in stories of our territorial defenders is starting to wane. Fatigue towards the horrors of war is sadly common; we saw this with Syria, Yemen and our own Donbas. But those of us in Ukraine cannot afford to feel fatigued, or else we risk losing sight of victory. Our strength is now more important than ever. Although various Russian retreats are taking place, we hear stories that Russian troops are regrouping and planning to continue their attack. It is now that we must resolve to win this war.

We cannot do this without external support. This war is a defining moment, not just in Ukrainian history, but in defence of democracy. This is not just a regional conflict between Ukraine and Russia but a fight against tyranny and imperialism. Our army continues to need weapons and military assistance from all our allies. And we need monetary assistance to help us plug the holes that this war is blowing in our previously strong economy. Our leadership is not only at the forefront of the war with Russia, but is also fighting behind battle lines in the safety of international offices and institutions to secure the support from allies that we need in order to restore peace and freedom to Ukraine.

At the same time, we have an army of volunteers who must keep supplying our territorial defenders with the protective equipment they need in order to keep fighting on the frontlines. Thankfully, civil society organisations such as the Ukrainian World Congress have worked tirelessly to ensure a steady stream of non-lethal supplies to our defenders. They have also mounted a mammoth effort to advocate for our allies to send the weapons we desperately need, and impose the economic blockades and sanctions necessary to defeat Russian aggression. Our defenders will keep fighting until we finally achieve victory, and our supporters will keep doing everything they can to help them.

I strongly believe that victory for Ukraine is inevitable. When ordinary Ukrainians give everything up to fight for their freedom and dignity, victory is the only option. I cannot wait for the day when this war is finally over and Maksym and his colleagues will be able to open their theatre and stage new plays written by brave and defiant playwrights who will focus not on propaganda, but on their own voices and ideas. Today, we fight for freedom. Tomorrow, we will watch the plays of our authors who won this freedom, defining what it means to be Ukrainian.

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Ive dealt with Putin before: I know what it will take to defeat this brutal despot - The Guardian

Russia's youth are "more sophisticated" technologically than President Vladimir Putin's regime, says journalist Ekaterina Kotrikadze.Sergey Guneev - Host Photo Agency via Getty Images

Russia's youth are finding ways to break through Moscow's internet blockade, said a Russian journalist.

Ekaterina Kotrikadze said the country's "new generation" is "more sophisticated" technologically than Putin's regime.

She told CNN that many Russians access independent journalism through YouTube, which isn't blocked.

Despite the Kremlin's grip on information in Russia, one Russian journalist said the country's youth still have ways to access banned social media networks and websites and are "one step ahead" of a regime trying to control the narrative of the war in Ukraine.

"It is really important to understand that new generation in Russian Federation is more sophisticated than Vladimir Putin and his team, technologically," said Ekaterina Kotrikadze, news director and anchor for independent Russian news outlet TV Rain, in a Sunday interview with CNN.

"They know how to be one step ahead of the regime, so that's why they are still getting information," Kotrikadze said.

Kotrikadze said several independent journalists streaming on YouTube one of the only platforms not blocked by Russia still receive a mostly Russian audience.

"You know, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram these social media networks are actually banned in Russia, but still people use VPN," Kotrkiadze said.

She highlighted the story of a father who initially supported Putin but turned on the Russian president after losing his son in the sinking of the Russian warship "Moskva."

"Right now, we are all witnessing the process of waking up of this person, and he suddenly understood what was going on," Kotrkiadze said. "And he's posting on social media what his feelings are, and he's talking with other relatives and fathers and mothers of Russian sailors who also died on this flagship. And Moscow is not actually saying a word about these victims."

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The Kremlin has admitted that one sailor died in the Moskva's sinking and that 27 others are missing. The ship was struck by Ukrainian missiles on April 14.

Kotrkiadze added that state media continue to portray a Russian army that is liberating territories in Ukraine from Nazi control. "They do not show the destroyed cities, the destroyed towns," she said.

"They want 100 million people in Russia to trust these fake, fake statements with the: 'Thank you so much for coming and liberating and setting us free from this Nazi regime.' This is getting more and more fake, this getting more and more ridiculous," Kotrkiadze said.

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Russia's youth are still technologically 'one step ahead' of Putin's regime and can get access to social media and international news, Russian...

Former President Donald Trump lashed out against Russian President Vladimir Putin for repeatedly using the nuclear word, claiming that if he were still president he would try and stop the strongman from ever saying it again.

Putin uses the N-word. I call it the N-word. He uses the N-word, the nuclear word all the time. Thats a no-no, youre not supposed to do that, Trump railed during an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored that aired Monday.

He uses it on a daily basis. And everybodys so afraid, so afraid, so afraid. And as theyre afraid he uses it more and more. Thats why hes doing the kind of things hes doing right now.

Asked by Morgan what he would tell Putin if he was still commander in chief, Trump replied: I would say, we have far more than you do. Far, far more powerful than you. And you cant use that word ever again. You cannot use the nuclear word ever again. And if you do, were gonna have problems.

Trump also said he warned Putin in very strong language not to invade Ukraine and threatened a US response if Russia did.

I told him what our response was going to be. And his response was Really?. I said, Really,' Trump recalled.

Asked by Morgan whether Trump suggested the US could turn to nuclear capability against the Kremlin, Trump clammed up.

I dont want to talk about it, he responded.

Later in the interview, Trump who has previously said hed gotten along with Putin when he was in the White House agreed with Morgans assertion that the Russian president is now an evil, genocidal monster following the deadly invasion of Ukraine.

I do, well sure, who wouldnt? Trump said when asked if he agreed.

Whats happening is horrible. When you see rockets going into apartment buildings, and there are plenty of people in those buildings, you know, they think theyre, like the people moved out, they didnt move, they wanted to stay because they think theyre safe in their apartments.

The 45th president served as the first guest on Morgans new show. Teased clips showed both men butting heads and at one point,Trump storming out as Morgan pressed him on his claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

During the sit-down, Trump blamed Russias brutal invasion of Ukraine on the rigged election, suggesting that if he were president now, the war wouldnt be happening.Isnt it a shame all those people are dead all because of a rigged election? he said.

Morgans new show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, launches Monday. The program will air every weeknight on networks across the globe, including Fox Nation, Talk TV in the United Kingdom, and on Sky News Australia in that country.

Excerpt from:

Trump blasts Putin's use of the 'N-word' on Piers Morgan's new show - New York Post

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists during a 2019 rally in Moscow. Navalny premieres April 24 on CNN and CNN+. Maxim Zmeyev/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks with journalists during a 2019 rally in Moscow. Navalny premieres April 24 on CNN and CNN+.

In his valuable new book, The Age of the Strongman, Gideon Rachman argues that our world is dominated by populist leaders who are destroying democracy, in part by making a cult of their own leadership. He devotes his first chapter to the strongman he calls "the archetype": Vladimir Putin, the Russian president/dictator whose true nature is currently on display in Ukraine.

Of course, Putin isn't shy about attacking his own citizens either. Among his top targets is Alexei Navalny, the charismatic, media-savvy dissident who's been so forceful in calling out the Kremlin's lies and corruption that Putin literally won't say his name.

Navalny, currently in prison, is the subject of a new documentary by Daniel Roher that, while sometimes heavy-handed, is never less than compelling. Made before the invasion of Ukraine, and titled simply Navalny, it offers intimate, sometimes amazing access to the bravery, and human cost, of opposing a despot.

Rather than offer a head-on summary of Navalny's career, the film centers on its most dramatic episode. In August 2020, Navalny is flying from Siberia back to Moscow we see footage from the plane when he suddenly becomes deathly ill.

The flight is diverted to Omsk, where he's taken to a hospital whose doctors are weirdly reluctant to let his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, see him. Fearing a murder attempt, she and his colleagues fight to get him flown to a hospital in Germany. There it's established that he'd been given a dose of Novichok, a deadly nerve gas known as Putin's signature poison.

Once he starts to recover, Navalny and his team try to figure out who had tried to kill him. They hook up with the investigative journalist Christo Grozev from the website Bellingcat, whom Navalny calls a "nice, very kind Bulgarian nerd with a laptop." Hacking into flight manifests and so forth, Grozev narrows down the possible killers, some of whom have been shadowing Navalny since 2017. In the film's most breathtaking moment which I won't spoil they get the smoking gun with the Kremlin's fingerprints on it.

While this investigation unfolds as excitingly as a thriller, Roher is equally interested in providing us with a close-up portrait of the man inside the hero. We see Navalny's joy at feeding donkeys with his wife and his love for his son and TikTokking daughter. We see his humor and brilliance on the stump: He gets a Russian crowd gleefully chanting that Putin is a thief. And we sense the fury that helps fuel him. At one point, a colleague tells him that in answering Roher's questions his eyes are too angry, that he needs to look kinder.

Now, Navalny is not beyond reproach. Although he's grown more enlightened over the years, he has a somewhat unsettling past as a Russian nationalist. He once walked in a march that included neo-fascists, an action he still defends by arguing that to oust one as powerful as Putin, you must be willing to work with groups you don't fully approve of.

In any case, one shouldn't be too critical of someone willing to risk everything battling oppressive authorities. A certain messianic vanity and wildness comes with this territory.

Navalny is obviously brilliant at channeling his rebelliousness, and his success as a YouTube provocateur shows the power of social media to challenge dictatorship. Putin clearly finds him threatening; after all, crowds turn up at the airport to greet Navalny on his return to Moscow.

Yet we're also reminded that social media's soft power is rarely a match for the hard power of state repression, like the cops arresting and beating those supporters who turned up at the airport. Navalny exults that one of his videos gets a million views in an hour, yet that doesn't stop Putin from putting him in prison he's still there, serving a nine-year term any more than the world's horror stopped Putin from invading Ukraine.

Late in the film, as he heads back to almost certain arrest in Russia, Navalny posts an inspiring video in which he declares that he's not afraid and he urges his supporters and us not to be afraid either. Now, he doesn't really expect that we will all be as flamboyantly brave as he is. Few are. Yet as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his fellow Ukrainians are proving right now, it's possible for ordinary people to be terrified by the malevolence of a tyrant like Putin and still muster the courage to fight him.

Originally posted here:

'Navalny' review: The man who dared to take on Putin - NPR

Any aid, he added, is likely to be matched and then doubled and tripled and quadrupled by Russia.

Neither the Obama administration nor its key European allies believed Ukraine was ready to join NATO. But tensions in the alliance were growing as Europeans sought to maintain trade ties and energy deals with Russia.

The division was captured in a phone call in which a senior State Department official profanely criticized European leaders approach to helping Ukraine. A leaked recording of the call was posted on YouTube in February 2014 in what was widely believed to be an attempt by Russia to stir up discord between the United States and Europe.

Yet as much as anything else, Ukraine was a costly distraction to Mr. Obamas broader agenda.

It was hard to reconcile the time and energy required to lead the diplomacy on Ukraine with the demands on the United States elsewhere around the world, especially after ISIS took over much of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014, Derek H. Chollet, a senior Pentagon official at the time, wrote in a book about Mr. Obamas foreign policy.

Mr. Chollet is now a senior counselor to Mr. Blinken at the State Department.

Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian, won a landslide victory in Ukraines presidential elections in April 2019 after campaigning on an anti-corruption pledge.

Once in office, he turned to ending the war in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine through negotiations with Mr. Putin.

The new Ukrainian president knew he needed the backing of the United States and the American president, said William B. Taylor Jr., who started his second tour as ambassador to Ukraine that June after his predecessor, Marie L. Yovanovitch, was pushed out on Mr. Trumps orders.

Mr. Zelensky tried to arrange a meeting with Mr. Trump at the White House. But Mr. Trump had negative views of Ukraine even before he took office, influenced partly by his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who had made more than $60 million consulting for a Ukrainian political party backed by Russia.

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Americas Road to the Ukraine War - The New York Times

Targeting sanctions at the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin is key to raising the pressure and exacerbating splits among his supporters over the war in Ukraine, says a former spokesperson for Alexei Navalny.

Anna Veduta is now vice-president of the anti-corruption foundation created by Navalny the jailed Russian opposition leader. She told The West Block guest host David Akin that Russians are feeling the impact of Western sanctions laid over Putins unprovoked and bloody invasion of Ukraine, but that continuing them and targeting his allies closely is vital.

All sanctions have an impact, both economic and personal sanctions. Personal sanctions are the key here, actually, she said.

So sanctioning those who are close to Putin, sanctioning oligarchs, sanctioning their family members and proxies and nominal owners of assets. All of that works, and all of that will help to exacerbate the split in Putins allies.

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On Tuesday, the Canadian government announced sanctions against the two adult daughters of Putin as well as 12 other close associates of the Russian regime.

The two daughters are suspected to be hiding their fathers wealth.

That followed a similar move by the United States on April 6, and comes after successive rounds of sanctions since the invasion began on Feb. 24.

Those rounds have targeted roughly 750 individuals from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in an effort to impose steep economic and political costs on Putin for the invasion, which shattered international laws and has led to scores of Ukrainians killed in violence increasingly being described as war crimes.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested as much during a press conference last week, and has said it is absolutely right to consider whether Russian violence constitutes genocide under international law.

Veduta said Navalny, who is currently a political prisoner in Russia for opposing Putin, is urging an escalation in the campaign to get accurate information to the people inside Russia about what is going on. Putin severely limited access to information that is not propaganda following the invasion.

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As a result, there are growing questions about whether the scale of reported deaths of Russian men killed during attacks on Ukraine are known by their families and fellow citizens.

There is this demand for the truth in Russia, Veduta said. People are trying to find it.

Navalny has called for the West to buy up advertising placements on the websites that are still allowed in Russia, including YouTube, so that those ads can display accurate information about the butchery and horrors carried out at Putins orders.

Dissent in Russia carries steep consequences, but there is still an appetite for the truth, Veduta said.

Even with these high risks, a lot of people in Russia are still trying to protest this war, she said.Every attempt to convey the truth, every attempt to show the real picture of what is going on must be supported.

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Sanctioning Putins circle over Ukraine key to raising pressure: Navalny ally - Global News

When announcing Russias imminent invasion of Ukraine back in February, President Vladimir Putin mentioned NATO 40 times. It was clear he wanted to present NATO as the devil but it wasnt always like that.

I first met Mr. Putin while serving as the prime minister of Denmark in 2002. Back then, he was still willing to engage and work with the West. For some time, Russia even assisted the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

This all changed with the color revolutions of the mid-2000s: Seeing democratic movements spring up in Georgia and Ukraine terrified Mr. Putin. He worried Russia would be next. When I took over as NATOs secretary general in 2009, Mr. Putin coldly informed me the organization I oversaw was a relic that should be resigned to history.

The irony is that Mr. Putins cruel war in Ukraine will achieve the opposite of his ambitions: NATO will emerge from this crisis larger, stronger and more united. The sight of Russian tanks pouring across the border into Ukraine shattered many long-held beliefs about security in Europe. Nowhere is this more true than in Finland and Sweden. As Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland dryly put it, Russia is not the neighbor we imagined.

The change in public opinion is even more remarkable. Last year, an annual poll showed that only 26 percent of Finns wanted to join NATO. A more recent survey demonstrates this number has now increased to 68 percent. The same is true in Sweden. Both populations recognize the new reality in Europe. A dictator in charge of a nuclear-armed state has launched a full-scale invasion of a neighboring country. Joining a powerful military alliance with a specific commitment to collective defense is the logical response.

Finland and Sweden should seize this opportunity to become part of NATO. The governments of both countries should apply before the NATO summit in June. Finland and Sweden could join NATO relatively quickly and painlessly. Both countries are already closely aligned with the organization, take part in joint exercises and clearly meet the political requirements for membership, including a democratic system of governance and a market economy. At NATO headquarters, membership could be approved overnight. While the decision would need to be ratified by all members of the alliance, the urgency of the situation could expedite the process to a matter of months.

Finland and Sweden joining NATO is a win-win. Both countries would receive the security guarantee of NATOs Article 5 on collective defense, and NATO would gain new capabilities in a strategically important region. This convenient buffer zone between Russia and current NATO members would make it easier to react to any incursion by Russian forces into the Baltic States.

While the debate on membership continues, the Kremlins propaganda machine will go into overdrive. It will warn against further NATO expansion, claiming it will destabilize the region and make war more likely.

Of course, this is not the case. The only person destabilizing Europe is Mr. Putin. Russia targeted Ukraine, and Georgia before that, precisely because they are not members of NATO. Russias international strategy is to threaten escalation in order to bully less powerful countries into submission and push more powerful ones toward inaction. In this war, Mr. Putin threatened to target NATO convoys bringing weapons to Ukraine and to cut off gas supplies to Europe if bills were not paid in rubles. On both of those issues, the West called Russias bluff. The threats did not materialize.

If Sweden and Finland do join NATO especially in the face of such threats it would show Mr. Putin that war is counterproductive, that war only strengthens Western unity, resolve and military preparedness.

Finland and Sweden are not the only countries reassessing decades-old foreign policy doctrine in the face of Russias invasion. Across Europe, governments are raising military spending to meet NATOs 2 percent target. About time. For too long, the United States has carried too great a share of the burden for European security.

The most significant change is in Germany. Its refusal to spend more on defense has been a consistent source of tension within the NATO alliance, which almost reached a breaking point during the Trump presidency. The war in Ukraine finally pushed the German government to act. It has committed to spending $112.7 billion on military procurement and more than 2 percent of its G.D.P. on defense going forward. Germany has also reversed its longstanding policy of not exporting arms to conflict zones, a policy that was based on the collective guilt and trauma of World War II. The countrys new positions on military spending and weapons exports have the potential to transform Germany into one of the most advanced militaries in the world.

Despite these commendable changes, Germany must do more. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other political leaders are still dragging their feet over imposing sanctions and sending higher-caliber arms to Ukraine. But if Germany ended all import of Russian oil and gas, Mr. Putin would be forced to quickly stop the war in Ukraine.

It is unconscionable that while Ukrainians are being slaughtered, NATO members still send hundreds of millions of euros every day to Mr. Putins coffers to buy oil and gas. Political leaders who oppose a total halt to transfers to Russia are complicit in Mr. Putins war crimes. They are indirectly paying the wages of those who committed atrocities in Bucha. Ending all imports of Russian oil and gas would come at a significant price, but it would be small compared to the continued destruction in Ukraine. Here too, Finland is moving in the right direction, promising to end the countrys reliance on Russian energy imports in a matter of weeks or months.

NATOs previous posture of deterrence with Russia did not work: It failed to avoid a full-scale war in Europe. If Mr. Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he is not likely to stop there. He will continue to test NATO wherever he sees weak links. Countries that are closely aligned with the Western alliance but not protected by its Article 5 such as Sweden and Finland will be at risk.

For the past 70 years, NATO has been the bedrock of security in Europe, creating an environment in which freedom and democracy can thrive. Mr. Putin may want to see NATO resigned to history but his actions in Ukraine show why the alliance is needed now more than ever.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen (@AndersFoghR) served as the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from 2009-2014 and as the prime minister of Denmark from 2001-2009. He is the founder and chairman of Rasmussen Global.

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Opinion | Putin Is Pushing Finland and Sweden Into NATOs Arms - The New York Times

Just how dangerous is the Russian military after all? Considering its performance in Ukraine so far, its truly hard to say: During the 2012 Presidential Election, then-Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who is currently serving as a United States senator representing Utah, warned that Russia remained Americas great geopolitical threat.

This is without question our number one geopolitical foe, Romney said a decade ago while on the campaign trail in March 2012. He reiterated his stance during an October 2012 debate with President Barack Obama and was quickly mocked for it.

The1980s are callingto ask for their foreign policy back, Obama quipped. Because the Cold Wars been over for 20 years.

Then-Vice President Biden also scoffed at Romneys suggestion that Russia remained a significant foe on the world stage, stating, Romney acts like he thinks the Cold Wars still on I dont know where hes been.

In recent years, Obama and Biden have admitted that those comments havent aged well, and Russia underPresident Vladimir Putinhas been seen again as a near peer adversary. Moscow has made great strides in developing advanced weapons, including its hypersonic missiles.

Russia has certainly stirred up trouble, including its 2014 annexation of Crimea, while Moscow has sought to expand its presence to overseas bases in Africa and the Middle East. The 1980s didnt call, but the United States certainly has found itself inCold War 2.0.

Moreover, as Russia massed its forces on the border prior to its unprovoked invasion ofUkraine, it seemed that the Russian bear was showing its claws andwas again a near peer adversaryto fear.

Putins Ukraine invasion is the first time in 80 years that a great power has moved to conquer a sovereign nation. It is without justification, without provocation, and without honor,Romney said last monthafter Russia launched its attack.

Romney also recalled his past warnings, adding, The 80s called, and we didnt answer.

Then It Invaded

Perhaps Romney was right, even if Russiasperformancein Ukraine has shown considerable shortcomings.

Russian tanks have been destroyed in ambushes, while others have been reportedly stolen by Ukrainian farmers who have used tractors to tow them away. Russiancasualties have mounted, and its combat losses after just three weeks have already overtaken Soviet casualties in Afghanistan over a nine-year period beginning in 1979.

Russia has also lost as many soldiers in Ukraine as theUnited States lostin Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001!

What is clear is that even if Russia has shown itself to be more of a paper tiger than a mighty bear, NATO wont and shouldnt let its guard down. Across the alliance, member states areincreasingdefense spending, while Sweden and Finland are moving ever closer to joining the alliance.

Officials from the United States Air Force have also made it clear that Russias setbacks wont give them reason to rethink existing strategy or spending.

I dont know that, for me personally, its really changed my perspective, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles CQ Brown Jr. told reporters March 3 at an Air Force Association conference in Orlando,Air Force Times reported.

We will learn more and more to really make an assessment of how we need to think about the Russians in the future, Gen. Brown added.

Russias invasion of Ukraine may have revealed significant problems with its militarys logistics, command and control, and even attempts to maintain control of the skies.

Lessons From History

It might be easy to dismiss Russia given its setbacks in Ukraine, but history offers a reminder that Moscow has overcome far worse.

The Soviet Union showed that it was largely unprepared when it launched its assault on Finland in 1939. It faced a determined enemy that it thought it would quickly defeat. Instead, the Winter War dragged on for months, and the Soviets looked weaker for it.

That helped convinced Nazi Germany that it would quickly roll over the Soviet Red Army, which did take significant losses and faced serious setbacks in the early stages of the Nazi invasion, but the Soviets came back stronger than ever.

The United States and NATO would be unwise to believe that Russia isnt still a significant threat. It is a nuclear power, has been more successful than the United States in developinghypersonic weapons,and still has a sizeable force of submarines and combat aircraft.

Nations often come back stronger from tough fights, as the military undergoes reforms to address shortcomings. Russia will learn from its mistakes, and possibly even be battle-hardened albeit battered in the process. Should Russia actually lose in Ukraine, this bear wont be declawed.

Now a Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military hardware, and is the author of several books on military headgear includingA Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. Peter is also aContributing Writerfor Forbes.

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Putin's Real Problem: The Russian Military Is a Paper Tiger - 19FortyFive