The Russians under President Putin certainly pursue ruthless and risky policies in an effort to re-establish the status of the Soviet Union lost under Mikhail Gorbachev. But, in the belief that one has to be thankful for small mercies, at least they are consistent. And that matters in international relations as it makes for predictability, and predictability makes for stability, which should not be underrated given that both Russia and the United States are still armed to the teeth.

Does it matter that the Russians are bewildered? Will it matter that they will increasingly be so while the United States has a president with cerebral atrophy who is also frequently bewildered? It is worrying that those in this condition can respond aggressively, as Biden did when challenged on the campaign trail. And he does have the power to launch nuclear strikes.

How is the Kremlin to react to the name calling that President Biden has descended to? What exactly does it achieve? Even President Reagan never went that far, but then did not believe his vice-president was actually president, as Biden does.

At the moment Moscow is baffled, as I am, by the utter mess that constitutes US foreign policy. Even if President Biden has Alzheimer’s, and he shows every sign of it, the rest of the White House, the National Security Council and CIA can surely create some kind of coherent strategy.

Yet even in relation to Nordstream II and relations with Germany, which they have all had a lot of time to think about in opposition, they simply do not understand that one cannot at one and the same time claim to rebuild close relations with Berlin (which President Trump had no real interest in doing on anyone else’s terms than his own) and aim to halt the completion of the oil pipeline that runs from Russia through the Baltic Sea, which is in its final stages and shows every sign of being unstoppable.

Today Germany’s main business paper Handelsblatt has had to point out this elementary truth, and the Russians have picked up on it immediately. Two and two cannot make five. It is that simple. My fourteen year old could do a better job than this.

Vzglyad.ru:

Немецкие СМИ: Новые санкции США по «Северному потоку – 2» поставят крест на планах Байдена

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19 марта 2021, 18:49 Фото: Stefan Sauer/dpa/Global Look Press Текст: Абдулла Шакиро

Handelsblatt:

RUSSLAND-BEZIEHUNGENUSA bereiten neue Sanktionen gegen Nord Stream 2 vor – dabei ist der Pipeline-Bau kaum zu stoppen

Die US-Regierung will weitere russische Schiffe, womöglich sogar die Betreibergesellschaft der Pipeline sanktionieren. Doch auch das dürfte Russland kaum beeindrucken. Mehr… Von Moritz Koch und Klaus Stratmann