In 1939, as Nazi Germany was gearing up to unleash six years of unimaginable horror upon the peoples of Europe, and Germany and the Soviet Union entered into a mutual non-aggression treaty known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill had this to say about Russia’s political stance:

“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interests.”

And nearly seven years later, when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact had long since been broken by Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, and the war had finally been won by the Allies — including the Soviet Union — Soviet Premier Josef Stalin gave a chilling speech on February 9, 1946, in which he declared that war between the East and West was inevitable.

On March 5, 1946, Churchill — by then no longer Prime Minister — spoke to students at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, at the invitation of President Truman, in which he uttered these immortal words:

“From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”

And that “iron curtain” — supposedly torn down along with the demolition of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 — is in danger of being rebuilt as Vladimir Putin continues his devastating march through Ukraine, and now threatens nearby nations of Eastern Europe and the Baltic region with a new concentration of Russian and Belarusian troops near the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Known as “Zapad 2025” (“Zapad” being the Russian word for “West”), the four-day exercises have been described by Russian officials as “the final stage of this year’s joint training between the two countries’ armies,” and will include practice actions “at firing ranges in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation and in the Baltic Sea and the Barents Sea.” [Harry Cockburn, The Independent, September 12, 2025.]

Russian officials said that the war games will simulate a defense against an imaginary enemy attack. But Western analysts say that a principal aim of the exercises is to show the world that the Russian military is still powerful despite three and a half years of the losses incurred by its war in Ukraine and the impact of multi-national sanctions.

There is also concern that the drills may be a cover for other planned activities, as occurred in the last Zapad exercises in 2021, when Russia began moving troops into Belarus in preparation for its invasion of Ukraine in the following February. [Reid Standish, RFE/RL, September 12, 2025.]

These long-planned exercises, which began yesterday, September 12th, were preceded two days earlier by a barrage of Russian drones that invaded Polish airspace, precipitating defensive military action on the part of NATO member Poland. There were no casualties, and only minimal structural damage was done; but Vladimir Putin’s purpose appears to have been to test NATO’s response to a crisis situation.

Also on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a regular briefing call:

“The channels of communication exist and are established; our negotiators are able to use them to communicate. However, at the moment, it’s fair to say things are more on pause than active interaction. It’s important not to wear rose-tinted glasses or expect that the negotiation process will deliver lightning-fast results. I want to remind you of President Trump’s own words: at first, he thought it could be settled quickly, but later realized it would take more time.”

Then he added, rather incongruously, that Russia “remains committed to pursuing peaceful dialogue.” [Lauren Kent and Darya Tarasova, CNN, September 12, 2025.]

While Poland’s European allies — and even far-away Japan — have rushed to its defense, Donald Trump has remained disturbingly quiet. With most of the real experts purged from the Pentagon and all other leadership posts in his administration, he is most likely in conference with his hand-picked team of inexperienced advisers, trying to figure out how to sell his claims of wanting to put an end to Putin’s aggression while also fulfilling his pathological need to continue mollifying Putin.

But it’s the weekend. Perhaps he’ll opt for another round of golf instead.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/13/25