That's an Adolph Hitler quote after the September 1938 Munich sellout that handed the Czech Sudetenland over to Nazi Germany, in case you were wondering. Which seems all too appropo:
Russia is not a threat to the West, President Vladimir Putin insisted in an interview published on Saturday, saying he was still committed to a Ukraine peace deal after a fresh flare-up in the country's east.
"I would like to say - there's no need to be afraid of Russia," Putin told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview published Saturday, ruling out a major conflict between Russia and NATO member countries.
"The world has changed so much that people in their right mind cannot imagine such a large-scale military conflict today."
"We have other things to do, I can assure you," the Russian president said.
"Only a sick person -- and even then only in his sleep -- can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack NATO." [emphasis added]
Indeed. Why would Russia suddenly attack NATO? It's not like they suddenly attacked Ukraine, after all. Or suddenly buzzed U.S. and NATO air defenses. Or suddenly rehearsed an attack on NATO. Or suddenly added using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states to their military doctrine. Or suddenly plotted to attack Sweden.
Vladimir Putin is not the Hitlerite hare. But he is the Soviet tortoise, and the KGB spook he's always been. And the tortoise, as you'll recall, won that race.
And, lo and behold, further down in the linked story:
To ensure a strategic balance, Russia will develop "systems to overpower anti-missile defenses", Putin said.
"We have made significant progress in this direction," he added, without providing further details.
Strategic nuclear first strike capability, in other words. Which I seem to recall was a bad thing for us back in the Cold War.
And that would most definitely be....sudden.
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