We've actually... enabled our enemy? Is that to an extreme view?

I think to a large extent, the dynamics of the war itself have done that.

But again, there is a parallel that could be drawn with the Great Patriotic War.

I mean, what actually happened? It's a very interesting parallel.

Because Hitler launched that war on the assumption that the Soviet Union would collapse in six weeks.

The level of destruction that the Wehrmacht and all its subsidiaries inflicted on the Soviet Union in those first six weeks was extraordinary.

It was unprecedented.

Is there a breaking point? Is there a point at which, to use a phrase of a book around the invasion time, overreach? Is it possible that Putin's system will overreach itself? Of course, we

In Ankara, with this meeting

with very top people, possibly Putin, just after the Ukrainian summer offensive of 2022, when they were in a panic.

And they threatened then nuclear weapons.

And the Americans, the Biden administration said it was the first time they were really tough.

And they said this will have catastrophic consequences.

Don't do it.

We never heard this subject mentioned after that, even with the Biden administration that was so hesitant.

What do you got to add here?

Would you agree with all of this?

Now, I would, but I would put it in rather darker terms than you.

You had Michael Kaufman on a week ago talking about the war in Ukraine.

And I usually agree with a fair amount of what he says.

On this occasion, I found myself agreeing with nearly all of it.

that the war is not going well for Russia in Ukraine.

This does not mean, and Mike stayed very far away from this line of argument, that Russia's about to collapse, that its resources do not remain considerable and by most measurable standards greater than Ukraine's, that it has lost the capacity to wage a prolonged conflict in Ukraine.

I would quibble with the word

James, I know you just got back from Poland and you got a lot to say, so I'm just going to hand the mic over to you for now.

Thank you.

I was there for a week.

First of all, I think we should all know that tomorrow is the anniversary of of the date that the Polish Parliament set as a commemorative date to mark what is referred to officially as the Volhynia Genocide.

Interestingly enough, my overwhelming impression coincides with one of the final points Sergei made.

This is not a party political issue.

Friends of mine across the political spectrum, highly credentialed, cerebral, rational, educated people, they all...

Do you think there would be pushback if Poland tried to block Ukraine's accession over this? Do you see possibly, I mean, I would imagine there would be, but what do you see? Yeah.

Mm.

The, uh, [sighs] the Russians perceive a mental revolution has taken place in Europe, and it has triggered something of a revolution in Russians' understanding of it, of its threats.

And it really pretty much dates from the period just after the Alaska Summit, when senior European leaders en bloc went to confront Trump and basically said to him, "Whatever your views are about Ukraine, this is a vital interest for us, and we're not going to let Ukraine fail." The Russians, all along in my entire life, have seen Europe as a vassal of the United States, as a platform, uh, for US weapon systems and US capabilities, uh, but not as a cohesive actor in its own right.

What they are seeing now, and I think with a degree of justice, is that in much of Europe, in the key parts of Europe, there's been a realization of that, uh, e- even if it is not publicly articulated for diplomatic reasons, that it's up to us now.

We have to take the lead when it comes to shoring up, um, and backing Ukraine.

We need, on our own, an answer to the question: how do we deter and contain Russia going forward? Uh, I think I have mentioned once on your program that even before Trump was reelected, the, uh, former, let's just say a former h- very high-ranking British military officer said, "We m- must plan for the next war on the assumption that the United States will not be there." Well, this kind of thinking, at least privately, has advanced, and the, um, the Russians have been alerted to it.

And let me just make a c- a contrast, uh, to underscore this point.

Britain trying to, to prod Europe to-