Putin’s threat doesn’t stop at Ukraine

Moscow is acting with newfound confidence, and with total disregard for European norms. The west’s line of military defence must now be bolstered, writes Keir Giles

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. In his speech, Putin reached back far further than the cold war to find his grievances.

Vladimir Putin’s lengthy speech justifying the dismemberment of Ukraine said much about him but also contains chilling warnings for the rest of Europe. And European states must heed those warnings if they do not wish to be the next victims of the Russian president’s imperial ambition.

It’s long been known that Putin hankers for a lost age of Russian dominance over its neighbours. Calling the collapse of the USSR the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century” is one of his most-quoted (and most misunderstood) historical judgments.