Totally different atmosphere than 1980s/1990s. One can say the same over Putin, his intentions, and Oligarch landscape that is the entire economy. The ‘Potemkin village’ image that economists and the CIA projected....is marginalized.
funny thing is, leading up to 2022, there was even talk of disbanding NATO
up to that point, Russia had worn the mask of a well-behaved nation so well that many leading Europeans were seriously considering getting rid of NATO ... it wasn’t needed anymore, because Russia was a civilized part of Europe, right?
if Vlady had only waited a few years, Europe would’ve let down their defenses and be vulnerable ...
but Putin couldn’t wait, so in February 2022, the mask dropped ... and Europe suddenly woke up enough to see that, despite all its sunny optimism, the menacing monster in the East was still there after all