Russia’s Appetite for more Countries

It’s not merely Ukraine. According to the UK’s Independent, Andrej Illarionov, Putin’s chief economic adviser from 2000 to 2005, the Russian leader seeks to create “historical justice” with a return to the days of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Soviet Union under Stalin. What The Torn Curtain 1991 has referred to as Russia’s manifest destiny.

Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Illarionov warned that Russia will argue that the granting of independence to Finland in 1917 was an act of “treason against national interests.”

“Putin’s view is that he protects what belongs to him and his predecessors,” Illarionov said.  “Parts of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Finland are states where Putin claims to have ownership.

He added: “The West’s leaders seem, from what they say, entirely to have forgotten that there are some leaders in the world who want to conquer other countries.”

Thanks to Putin, Russia must not be allowed to return to the G-8. Seven is quite adequate. Russia’s global activity must also be curbed until it demonstrates that it deserves to sit at the same table with other civilized countries.