Under what rock had this person been living if he believed Russia could be trusted in the first place.
“Under what rock had this person been living if he believed Russia could be trusted in the first place.”
It makes no difference whatsoever what rock this or any other person had been living under, because the peace overtures of the other nations to post-Soviet Russia required treating the new Russian state as an equal partner in peace regardless of Russia’s true intentions. Call it an application of the principle of “due diligence” or whatever else you wish, the other nations were offering Russia the opportunity of joining their ranks as a nation at peace and exercising good will with the other nations. Russia has now spurned the opportunity to live in peace with its neighbors, and is now in the process of guaranteeing Russia can never be trusted no or in the future when it comes time to make decisions about relatons with Russia or any further separatist states which emerge from today’s Russia.
In other words, Putin and his regime are now guaranteeing the future dissolution of Russia as it is known today. It is now only a question of time, treasure, and bloodshed by all parties involved before we see Russia permanently fall apart as a consequence of its criminal conduct.