You may remember them — not a vaudeville team, but the two signatories to the short-lived non-aggression pact of 1939 between Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union.

They’re long gone, of course. But from the way things are headed, we may need another negotiating team to set things right — or at least achieve an acceptable level of detente — between Germany and Russia again.

With Vladimir Putin engaging in a hybrid war of sabotage, drone incursions, and other acts of aggression against various NATO member countries, and now the latest attempt to blow up a Ukrainian aircraft on the ground at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany in August, the rhetoric between the two countries has heated up to the boiling point.

Germany says their investigation proves that Russian forces were behind the incident, while Russia denies involvement and calls it an “anti-Russian action.” And each of them has already ordered the closure of some of the other’s key cultural and diplomatic institutions in their respective countries.

Meanwhile, following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels, EC President Ursula von der Leyen issued this statement:

“Europe and NATO will not just maintain our pressure on Russia; we will increase it, and we will not stop — not until Russia stops bombing and killing innocent children, men and women in Ukraine. Europeans are faced with the hard truth that this is the new normal. We have to step up, and that means being ready to respond to Russia’s recklessness faster and better.” [Andrew Gray and Andreas Rinke, Reuters, September 2, 2026.]

That is precisely the strong reaction this situation requires. Putin is feeling vulnerable; his failure to achieve a victory in Ukraine, the increasingly successful counter-attacks on Russian territory, and the costs in terms of battlefield casualties and economic strain, all have combined to weaken his standing with his own people. Now is the time to keep up the pressure on him in every way possible.

Europe has already expeienced the devastation of two world wars. Putin’s blatant expansionist ambitions — now spilling over from Ukraine into NATO territory — must be stopped before it leads to a third.

Stay the course, Europe. You hold the future in your hands.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/4/26