NATO has a new Secretary General, following the close of Jens Stoltenberg’s term. He is Mark Rutte, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

And predictably, my favorite Russian mouthpiece — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov — had a few thoughts on the subject. Saying that Vladimir Putin was well acquainted with Rutte, he told the world that:

“Our expectations are that the North Atlantic alliance will continue to work in the same direction in which it has been working.

“At one time, there were hopes for the possibility of building good pragmatic relations — at least, such a dialogue was conducted — but subsequently we know that the Netherlands took a rather irreconcilable position, a position on the complete exclusion of any contacts with our country.

“Therefore, we do not think that anything significantly new will happen in the alliance’s policy.” [Dmitry Atonov and Mark Trevelyan, Reuters, October 1, 2024.]

Well, he started out on the right track. But in the next breath it was, basically, “Blow it out your ditty bag, NATO.”

While taking a dim view (to say the least) of the prospects of improved relations between Russia and NATO, Peskov is not altogether wrong — other than that “irreconcilable position” thing, where as usual he shifts the blame for Russia’s own actions onto the nearest scapegoat.

On Tuesday, Rutte told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels:

“We have to make sure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation.” [Id.]

That’s pretty much what you were talking about, isn’t it, Dima? You expected business as usual. Hope that’s “usual” enough for you.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/3/24