On Friday, three Russian fighter jets illegally flew into Estonia’s air space in what Estonia’s foreign minister called an “unprecedentedly brazen” incursion. The Baltic nation is a nato ally, and such provocations are causing some East European countries to question nato’s resilience. In truth, the Western security alliance has been tested and found wanting.

nato’s border in the northeast is being tested for a reason. We need to mean business. PS: Turkey set an example 10 years ago. Some food for thought.
—Dovile Šakaliene, Lithuanian defense minister

She was referencing an incident in 2015 when Turkey shot down a Russian jet that strayed into its air space. Today, the nato alliance is not showing the same strength in Estonia.

President Trump’s response was fairly mild. He told reporters at the White House, “I don’t love it. I don’t like it when that happens. It could be big trouble.”

Putin’s goal, even above that of conquering Ukraine, is to destroy nato. In our September 2018 Trumpet issue, 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.

History teaches us a lot about Putin’s strategy. One main reason Adolf Hitler insisted on occupying the Sudetenland was “to expose the spinelessness of the Western powers,” as William L. Shirer put it in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

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