JRL NEWSWATCH: “Time to get real about the Russian threat; Eastern Europeans know that unless Ukraine claims victory the Kremlin will be back for more” – The Times (UK)
“… Countries closer to Russia, such as Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, see the war quite differently. Their flinty perception … draws on deep historical traumas. … The atrocities Russia inflicts now on Ukraine echo these experiences and awaken new fears. The east Europeans’ intense support for the Ukrainian cause rests not on the desire to back a winner but on the understanding that if Russian imperialism is not defeated now, the Kremlin will be back for more later. … Well-informed estimates of the time it could take Russia to reload once the fighting in Ukraine pauses vary from eight years to (alarmingly) just three. It is worth noting that only Russia’s army has taken a pounding in the past 14 months: the navy, air force and other elements of Putin’s arsenal are almost untouched. … “