I am talking about Ray McGovern on Judge today when they discuss the issue of
Minsk Agreements, or rather lies of Western leeaders behind those agreements.

I think, the whole premise is wrong. There is no doubt that Putin "milked" the
issue of treachery by the West to the full extent, as any shrewd statesman would
do, but I doubt, even against the background of Putin's admission, that he was
duped. The reason being of Russia getting ready for clash with NATO as there is
no tomorrow since 2014. Nation which is "duped" and still "trusts" Western
"partners" doesn't undergo a de facto revolutionary re-industrialization within
8 years and doesn't launch real revolution in military affair.

We should not mistake tactical foreign policy adjustments for fundamentally
correct strategy which from the inception saw the clash with NATO as
inevitability. The best proof of it is the December 2021 Ultimatum to the
combined West. It is one thing to make a speech in Munich in 2007 talking about
general vision, totally another--to issue specific demands in 2021, including
the ones which are deliberately formulated as to be unacceptable for
NATO. That's a huge difference. Including in the levels of power of Russia in
2007, 2014 and 2023 - they are dramatically different with Russia of 2023 fully
returning to herself the status of global power.
-- Cont'd at https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2023/05/but-was-putin-really-duped.html