* “We have the right to ask: Against whom is this (NATO) expansion intended?” That was Vladimir Putin in 2007. In short, the KGB alum never, ever got over the humiliating collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and NATO spiking the geopolitical football as it expanded into erstwhile Warsaw Pact countries. Cold War nostalgia and a gut animosity toward the West rule the Kremlin as long as the vengeful Putin remains in charge of the world’s most notorious outlier nation.
* Those looking for some semblance of progress on the Russian front found a bit of hope in that U.S./Russian prisoner exchange. It was a notable diplomatic achievement during a time of notably heightened tension that includes the lowest point in U.S.-Russia relations in decades. Most of the world doesn’t miss Donald Trump, but it should miss Mikhail Gorbachev.
* Ironic, however gruesome, that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has become a recruiting tool for NATO. Ask Finland, which shares a border with Russia. And Sweden could follow.
* “Putin miscalculated. This is not what he foresaw.”–Anna Wieslamder, The Atlantic Council’s Northern Europe director.
* The Russian Central Bank said Russia’s economy is expected to contract by up to 10 percent this year. It termed the economic outlook as “extremely uncertain.”
* NATO members Poland and Bulgaria said natural gas supplies from Russia have been cut off. Both nations had refused Russia’s demands that they pay in rubles.
* “Strategic rapprochement.” What French far-right ideologue Marine Le Pen—who lost to incumbent President Emmanuel Macron—has advocated for Russia.