Russian President Vladimir Putin is turning the Western security alliance into a laughingstock. Through cyberattacks, air space violations and other provocations, he is exposing the alliance’s vulnerabilities.

On September 9, Russia sent drones into Polish air space, prompting some—including United States President Donald Trump—to wonder whether it was accidental. Moscow quickly made clear it was not by sending manned fighter jets into Estonian air space on September 19.

These violations come as negotiations continue over Russia’s war in Ukraine. One might assume Putin would avoid further provocation to reduce the risk of sanctions or other consequences. But that assumption misreads his true objectives.

What Trump Needs to Know About Putin

President Trump once again expressed disappointment with his Russian counterpart on September 18, saying, “He’s really let me down.” President Putin has repeatedly rejected even the most generous peace deals offered to him. At one point, Trump reportedly offered to recognize Russian control of Crimea and to freeze the conflict in Ukraine. The Atlantic Council asked in July, “Trump Offered Putin Victory in Ukraine. Why Did Putin Refuse?”

There is much debate about Putin’s objectives in Ukraine. Initially, Russia claimed its war was a military operation to denazify Ukraine and prevent “genocide” of ethnic Russians. Some believed Putin was provoked by the possibility of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Putin has repeatedly claimed Ukraine as part of the greater Russian territory. Yet his recent reactions to peace talks show that one of his primary objectives is to expose the spinelessness of the West.

If you view recent events in light of this goal, they are easily understood. Trump has complained that after every phone call with Putin, Russia has increased the number of missiles and drone attacks on Ukraine.

If Putin were interested in a peace deal granting him as much land as possible, such incidents wouldn’t make sense. The incursions into nato territory also don’t help his goal to usurp Ukraine militarily or to “denazify” its leadership. But what it does do, for the whole world to see, is expose nato’s spinelessness, specifically the lack of response from the U.S.

On a popular German talk show, former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg explained:

Alaska was one triumphal procession for Vladimir Putin …. And that, in combination with the bombs and drones that then rained down on Ukraine days later, can hardly be surpassed in terms of ludicrousness. And of course it has already shown the extent to which we are displaying a certain paralysis within nato. … nato does not necessarily present itself as a completely monolithic bloc. And that’s particularly due to the U.S.A.

Putin’s goal, even above that of conquering Ukraine, is to destroy nato. In our September 2018 Trumpet issue, editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote:

Russian President Vladimir Putin views nato as a force that restricts Russia’s rise and slows down his quest to rebuild the old Soviet Empire. He has made no secret of his loathing for this U.S.-led organization. So his reason for wanting to unravel it is plain.

By exposing nato’s spinelessness, Putin is spreading division and fear, making it easier to bring former Soviet territory under his rule. If world leaders recognized this overarching goal, they would treat the Russian dictator differently in their negotiations.

A historical example illustrates what’s happening.

A Little-Known Twist in the Infamous Peace Talks

In 1938, Britain and France pressured the Czech government to give up land for peace. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain negotiated with Adolf Hitler directly and forced the Czech government to accept the terms or lose its security guarantees.

The Czechs, betrayed by their Western allies, turned to Russia—which likewise abandoned them. The Czechs were forced to accept Hitler’s unbelievable terms to turn over the Sudetenland.

Chamberlain was eager to share the news with Hitler at a meeting in Godesberg, Germany, Sept. 22 to 23, 1938. Even Hitler apparently couldn’t believe how quickly his terms had been accepted. He then rejected his own proposal and demanded more: The area must be militarily occupied by Germany. Hitler could have received more and more through peace negotiations, but that wasn’t enough for him.

William L. Shirer was present during the negotiations and explained Hitler’s motivation in his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich:

Though Chamberlain did not know it, the fuehrer’s real objective, as he had laid it down in his okw directive after the May crisis, was “to destroy Czechoslovakia by military action.” To accept the Anglo-French plan, which the Czechs already had agreed to, however reluctantly, would not only give Hitler his Sudeten Germans but would effectively destroy the Czech state, since it would be left defenseless. But it would not be by military action, and the fuehrer was determined not only to humiliate President Benes and the Czech government, which had so offended him in May, but to expose the spinelessness of the Western powers. For that, at least a military occupation was necessary. It could be bloodless, as was the military occupation of Austria, but it must take place. He must have at least that much revenge on the upstart Czechs.

We see something very similar today. Not only does Putin want “to expose the spinelessness of the Western powers,” he also wants to humiliate Ukraine for resisting the “grand” Russian Army.

A journalist asked Chamberlain: “Is the position hopeless, sir?” He responded, “I would not like to say that. It is up to the Czechs now.” Shirer commented: “It did not occur to him, it is evident, that it was up to the Germans, with their outrageous demands, too.”

Trump made similar statements regarding Ukraine, stating in March that he found it “more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine” than Russia—though he has recently complained more about Putin. Like Trump, Chamberlain was a businessman. Like Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Chamberlain’s special envoy Sir Horace Wilson was “a man with no diplomatic training but who was as anxious as the prime minister, if not more so, to give Hitler the Sudetenland if the dictator would only accept it peacefully,” Shirer wrote.

Chamberlain was unwilling to involve Britain. In a broadcast to the nation, he said: “If we have to fight, it must be on larger issues than that. I am myself a man of peace to the very depths of my soul.”

He was looking for any possible opportunity to declare a victory in negotiations.

On Sept. 29, 1938, he traveled once more to Germany to sign the infamous Munich Agreement, where he capitulated to Hitler’s demands. In doing so, he postponed a conflict the Western powers could likely have won with ease at the time—and instead paved the way for a catastrophic world war that claimed some 60 million lives.

Reversing Roles

When Germany took over the Sudetenland, Russia was closely observing the weakness of Britain and France. It chose not to intervene and sided with Germany. Today, the two nations seem to have switched roles but are using the same strategy.

As Mr. Flurry wrote in “Germany and Russia’s Secret War Against America,” Russia and Germany used the Nord Stream pipeline project to undermine nato. In many ways, Germany’s dependence on Russian gas has enabled Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Even after Russia invaded Ukraine, Germany delayed meaningful sanctions against Russia and denied critical weapon exports to Ukraine. To this day, Germany has ruled out any peace plans that would mean German troops in Ukraine as a security guarantee. Germany knows that the longer the war lasts, the weaker nato looks and the more Europe unites militarily to become independent from the U.S.

Of course, men like Guttenberg want to blame Trump, but the truth is that Germany and Russia are seeking to destroy nato. But Trump fails to see it. Mr. Flurry explained in “Germany’s Secret Deal With Russia—Exposed”:

Many elite Germans feel that their nation has now extracted all the benefit it can from the United States, and they are now ready for a new phase in German strategy. Some want modern Germany to use its impressive industrial and economic power to multiply its political and military power. They want to establish Europe as a new superpower, a modern Holy Roman Empire!

This is Germany’s primary goal—but it has to play its cards wisely. For now, it must keep the U.S. in the alliance and keep its strategy secret. ​​​​​​When it has amassed enough power and trust, Germany will lead Europe to break away completely from the U.S.