"Putin seeks reason to invade"

WORLD "Putin seeks reason to invade" Yesterday at 23:30 The designated new head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, attests to Russian President Vladimir Putin's "lust for expansion" and advises the West to take a tough stance in the Ukraine conflict. Putin sees the USA and Europe as weakened by the change of government and because of the inglorious end of the Afghanistan mission and is looking for a reason to invade Ukraine, the former German ambassador to the United Nations told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. In that case, sanctions would also have to include the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, as well as Russia's exclusion from the Swift international payments system, Heusgen said. "A soft response would be interpreted by Putin as weakness and would only stimulate his expansionist desires." The EPP group leader in the EU Parliament, Manfred Weber, also expressed concern. The CSU politician warned of a new war in Europe. "The situation is serious. It is very, very serious," Weber told the "Münchner Merkur". Russia had massed more than 100,000 soldiers at the border, he said. Moreover, the latest propaganda worries him, Weber said. "Words prepare actions. Putin is talking about genocide in the Donbass, you could then use that to justify a war." Moscow wants Ukraine not to become a Nato member For weeks now, the West has been concerned about findings that Russia has massed tens of thousands of soldiers in areas not far from Ukraine. Last week, however, Putin expressed his willingness to resolve the tensions diplomatically. Talks with the USA are scheduled for January. Moscow is ostensibly demanding an end to Nato's eastward expansion, which it sees as a threat. Russia also wants to ensure that Ukraine does not become a Nato member. Heusgen, Angela Merkel's long-time foreign and security policy advisor, said: "Putin lives in his own nostalgic world in which international law is not a yardstick. He glorifies the Soviet Union and even the Stalin regime, he said. "He aspires to a restoration of a Russian empire reminiscent of the Soviet Union." Putin's claim that Nato promised not to expand eastwards after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact is "pure propaganda" and lacks any basis. "Putin knows all this perfectly well." Defence ministry warns of danger of armed conflict In view of the tensions between Russia and Nato, the Defence Ministry in Moscow had warned Western military attaches only on Monday of the danger of an armed conflict. "Recently, the alliance has shifted to a practice of direct provocations that pose a high risk of escalating into an armed confrontation," Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin said. Fomin accused Nato of a massive increase in military activities. In 2020 alone, the number of military flights on Russia's borders had risen from 436 to 710, he said. Every year, Nato also holds 30 large manoeuvres with combat scenarios against Russia. Fomin said that Russia was always ready for talks at eye level. At the same time, he criticised Nato for rejecting every offer of talks from Moscow for years and preferring confrontation. Russia accuses NATO of moving military bases and weapons systems ever closer to Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years ago. In Eastern Europe alone, 13,000 soldiers from Nato countries and, among other things, 200 tanks and 30 planes and helicopters are now permanently stationed.