FTA: “What effect, then, will it have on Putin’s resolve and Russian public opinion when the German Foreign Minister casually declares war against Russia...”
When did Germany declare war on Russia? And I’m not talking about June, 1941.
Is there a link to support that claim? I’m asking you because you posted this thread, though you didn’t write the article. So, you may not have a link.
“...and when Germany dispatches its most modern tanks to fight on Ukrainian battlefields?”
Tanks, not German crews to operate them. It’s not even close to what the USSR did for the NVA, as it armed the NVA with pretty much ALL its weapons and military assets, including Soviet “advisors” and “contractors” who flew missions against the US and manned some of the AA batteries.
Yet, strangely enough, we did not go to war with the Soviet Union over that. Why not?
“The question answers itself. These intemperate actions...”
No bias there, huh?
“...are a fulfillment of the worst Russian nightmare: of an aggressive Western campaign to invade and destroy Russia herself (of which Ukraine is a part, in most Russian minds).”
What nonsense! If the West had wanted to invade Russia what better time to do it then in early 1992 in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union? Think about it: The USSR had just collapsed, and the West — especially the US — was at its strongest militarily in years; light years stronger than Russia conventionally (remember, we had just come off a great military victory — along with many Western allies — over Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The West was armed, trained, experienced, combat-tested...but it didn’t attack Russia, or even threaten it. Why is that?).
“...It is a repeat, in fact, of the German tactics of World War II, which sought to use Ukrainian ‘nationalists’ as cannon fodder against Soviet Russian forces.”
Don’t you mean the tactic of Russia using Ukrainian (including many ethnic Russians, but Ukrainian citizens nonetheless) nationalists as cannon fodder against Ukraine in 2014 and beyond?
“All this is confirmation, from the Russian point of view, of the extremely high stakes for which they are fighting, and of the fact that they, not Ukraine, are the nation that is targeted for destruction.”
More nonsense! Russia invaded Ukraine because 80% of Ukraine’s natural resources are in eastern Ukraine, not all that far from the Russian border, and Russia wants those resources, because Russia does not want a rival to what Russia considers its economic hegemony; and Russia thought it would be easy pickings. It thought wrong.
Are you playing games, or have you completely stopped following the news?
I find it hard to believe this is a sincere question and not a rhetorical one, but I've always considered you to be a sincere person (assuming you are the 0-6 who posts at WRSA) so here is the sincere answer: January 21, 2023 is the day that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made her remarks.
WW3 Watch: German Foreign Minister Declares ‘We Are Fighting a War Against Russia’
“I’ve said already in the last days – yes, we have to do more to defend Ukraine. Yes, we have to do more also on tanks,” Baerbock said. “But the most important and the crucial part is that we do it together and that we do not do the blame game in Europe, because we are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.”
There was a lot of commotion caused by her intemperate statement. But still, it's out there and was made on the same day that Germany reversed itself and said they would send tanks to Ukraine.
Other coverage:
Germany Says Quiet Part Out Loud About Ukraine War
German Foreign Minister Declares War on Russia
German Foreign Minister: We Are Fighting A War With Russia
Baerbock has publicly declared ‘a war against Russia’
German foreign minister rebuked for saying country is fighting ‘a war with Russia’
And many more...