LOS ANGELES.–Making the hypothetical case for resisting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Germany’s intel chief Bruno Kahl, head of Federal Intelligence Service, said the Russia no longer thinks NATO treaty obligations have any practical force. Kahl’s comments suggest that Putin doesn’t believe that NATO countries would invoke Article 5 for mutual defense in the event of a Russian military invasion. Ukraine never received NATO membership, told by former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that they don’t qualify based on NATO’s criteria. Germany now subscribes to spurious intel supplied by Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky and former President Joe Biden saying that Putin wants to move on from Ukraine and seize more territory in the European Union. Zelensky and Biden have no facts to support their accusation of Putin seeking another land grab.
President Donald Trump met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last week asking Trump whether he still backed Ukraine in its war with the Kremlin. Trump said he still supported Ukraine but not in the same way as Biden. Biden decided Feb. 24, 2022, the date of the Russian invasion, to fund proxy war with the Kremlin. Zelensky has received some $300 billion from the U.S. Treasury to fund his bankrupt Kiev government and war with the Kremlin. Since Trump took office, he sought to reconcile U.S.-Russian relations, after Biden turned the U.S. and Russia into mortal enemies. So, when Merz asks Trump if he still backs Ukraine, it’s a loaded question. Trump backs Ukraine to make peace with the Russian Federation, not to continue a failed war that has done nothing other than destroy Ukraine, kill thousands, exile millions and lose 20-25% of Ukraine best sovereign territory.
Germany’s FIS Director Bruno Kahl said he believes that Russia is only a short step westward to the European Union. “We are quite certain, and we have intelligence showing it, that Ukraine is only a step on the journey westward,” Kahl told Table Media podcast. Kahl didn’t offer any proof for his assertion that Putin sought to take over more European territory. German Chancellor Merz has stepped into the role of being Ukraine’s biggest arms supplier from the EU, exceeding France and the U.K. Merz didn’t announce last week that he planned to supply Ukraine with German-made Taurus long-range missiles to strike deep into the Russian Federation. Merz said Germany would help Ukraine develop long-range missiles but didn’t confirm whether he would supply Kiev Taurus missiles. Putin said that Germany would be considered an enemy of the Russian state if he supplies the missiles.
Zelensky has been upping the pressure on Germany and the EU after his drone strike at Russia’s strategic military bombers escalated the conflict where Putin no longer feels obligated to hold his fire during peace talks. Zelensky has been begging for more air defense weapons now the Putin has escalated air strike on Ukraine. As far as Trump is concerned, Zelensky was obligated to go along Trump peace efforts, something that hasn’t happened. So, when it comes to Zelensky, it’s clear he wants the EU to take over peace negotiations with the Kremlin, rather than rely on Trump. EU officials know then have little or no clout with Putin now that he sees them as funding Zelensky’s war with the Kremlin. Putin wants the EU to stop arming Ukraine or pressuring him to sign a 30-day ceasefire deal. Since Zelensky’s drone strike on Russia, Putin has escalated attacks.
Germany’s intel chief Kahl has no real facts to back up his assertion that Putin no longer believes in NATO’s Article 5, or mutual defense provision. It’s really not relevant because Zelensky is not part of NATO, nor will he be anytime in the future. Putin does know that Trump no longer funds proxy war with the Kremlin, leaving that task to the EU. EU officials haven’t decided what to do with Ukraine, whether to go along with Trump’s peace talks or to go it alone with Zelensky. Zelensky pitted the EU against the U.S. by telling the Munich Security Conference that Trump isn’t concerned with European security. Zelensky made his statement based on Trump trying to restore normal diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. Kahl has no reliable intel that Putin wants to retake territory in the EU. He’s speculating based on statements from Zelensky.
German intelligence has exaggerated its findings that Putin wants to take over more European territory. Putin wants no war with NATO, he wants to end the war in Ukraine with Zelensky meeting him halfway to find an acceptable solution. Trump was within 90% of an acceptable deal until Zelensky decided he wanted all his sovereign territory returned to Kiev. “The don need to dispatch armies of tanks for that,” Kahl said. It’s enough to send “little green men” to Estonia to protect supposedly oppressed Russian minorities, a reference to when Russian sent to the Crimean Peninsula Russian bureaucrats to occupy government buildings. Trump finds the Ukraine a thorough waste for both Russia and Ukraine. He finds an easy solution to the conflict if Zelensky would stop hiding behind the EU and oppose his peace efforts. Zelensky has refused to cede Ukrainian territory to Russia.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.