I Know It Must Hurt ...

 ... but when I speak without the mitigating professional courtesy about NATO's militaries, let alone civilian lackeys who are bestowed with largely ceremonial title of NATO Secretary General, I must constantly stress a professional incompetence of both military and civilian bureaucracies of NATO from Pentagon, to London, to Brussels et al. Here is a demonstration: 

Rikhard Husu, Finnish Broadcasting Company

Thanks for taking the question. Rikhard Husu, Finnish Broadcasting Company, this is for both the Secretary General and the Supreme Commander, if I may. The threat of airspace violations and drone attacks is obviously a shared concern for all allies. But would you say that countries with a longer border to Russia are more exposed in this regard, and could they expect some specific or enhanced help from NATO to tackle this situation?  Thank you.

NATO Secretary General

Of course, the problem is, this is about the eastern flank, because here is a direct threat to the eastern flank from, for example, drones or whatever, could threaten our Allies on the eastern flank. But more generally speaking, you know, I don't like that whole eastern flank thinking, because it gives the impression that if I live in Madrid or in London, I am safer than when I live in Tallinn. And it is not true. Because these latest Russian missiles, when they will be launched, they come down with five times the speed of sound, and they will take five or 10 minutes longer to reach Madrid or London than they take to reach Tallinn or Vilnius. So, in that sense, let's agree that within this Alliance of 32 countries, we all live on the eastern flank. Why is this Eastern Sentry so important? Because this concentrates on this very specific issue, which is airspace violations and making sure and whatever other threat is there, that we can better and with more flexibility, defend ourselves in that part of NATO territory.

I am talking here about things which are IMPLICIT in Rutte's answers and which many people will simply overlook. But here is the truth even AFTER the signing of the INF Treaty--USSR in 1980s and Russia ALWAYS had the ability to wipe out Madrid or London by classic strategic missiles either form SSBNs or RVSN, including mobile and stationary ICBM systems. It wouldn't have made ZERO difference in terms of warning time because NATO never had, has and will not have for a foreseeable future anything even remotely capable of intercepting MIRVs of ICBMs. None, zero--all this SM-3, SM-2 "capabilities"--all crap and we saw the state of "development" of the US AD/ABM in SMO and Israel. 

So, it is not JUST "latest Russian missiles", it was always the case starting from late 1960s. By late 1970s NATO could do shit about any kind of defense other that cartoons about SDI (aka Star Wars) and the largest secret was not the capability but a complete lack of thereof. Considering the dynamics of the reduction of the physical fields of Soviet strategic missile submarines with USSR getting on par with the US in terms of quieting already by mid-late 1980s, all this talk about "latest Russian missiles" is just the only thing these morons in NATO can do today--words' play, semantic maneuvering, while in reality it was only cretinism and treason of Gorbachev and his "team" which gave the US (NATO) a respite from what has been already clear before the collapse of the Soviet Union--the US was beginning to lag behind in critical military technologies, especially missilery. Today we merely see delayed effect which caught up with NATO, which was merely saved by the bell of the Soviet collapse. They really believed their own propaganda BS and NATO is defenseless. Well, it is also bankrupt and unprofessional. 

They should have taken a note in 1980s when they saw this. Some did, but they don't like bad news in D.C. and Brussels. Albeit these things did produce an impression. 

And then the rest happened and here we are today in 2025. 

In Related News...

 ... BS primarily occupies the space in the brains of NATO military "leaders" where such things as sound military education, experience, logic and Sun Tzu's triviality about "knowing thy enemy et al" should reside instead of this substance of bovine excrement, but who am I kidding.  

WIESBADEN, Germany (Reuters) - NATO will not be cowed by Russian threats but keep up its strong support of Kyiv, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on his first visit to the alliance's Ukraine mission in Wiesbaden, set to take over the coordination of military aid from the U.S. "The message (to Russian President Vladimir Putin) is that we will continue, that we will do what's necessary to make sure that he will not get his way, that Ukraine will prevail," he told Reuters in a joint interview with German public radio Hessischer Rundfunk on Monday. Rutte spoke at Clay Barracks, the U.S. base hosting the headquarters of the new mission, dubbed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which will gradually assume the coordination of Western military aid to Kyiv.

Yes, it is always a good idea of creating the commission on managing the previous commissions which have been created for the study of the issue on creating more commissions. 

Speaking in one of 12 green tents that house NSATU as it is built up, Rutte earlier on Monday addressed allied troops from more than a dozen nations already working on the mission that will, at a later stage, move into a nearby hangar and be complemented by Ukrainian troops. NSATU is expected to have a total strength of some 700 personnel, including troops stationed at NATO's military headquarters SHAPE in Belgium and at logistics hubs in Poland and Romania. The Wiesbaden base is also home to the U.S. unit in charge of long-range missiles that Washington will deploy to Germany temporarily from 2026, to counter what both countries describe as a threat posed by Russian missiles stationed as close as Kaliningrad, some 500 kilometres (311 miles) from Berlin.

Say what? How could they have allowed this thing to happen in the midst of... only 12 green tents. There should have been at least... three times more green tents. 

How can anyone plan aid and NATO operations for VSU in only 12 green tents is beyond me, plus--what kind of a joke is this? Why green tents? They should be pink or, at least, of some sort of light reddish hue. 

But, of course, the reality of the resources and scales is not known to such people as Rutte (look up his bio--the guy's background is... fabulous) who from the day one has a firm hand of Washington up his ass to assure that he doesn't deviate from the party line while NATO (a euphemism for the USA) is in desperate search of a solution to this conundrum. After all, in accordance to Pentagon and State Department "planning" Putin's "regime" was supposed to collapse some time late 2022--early 2023. Well, it is the end of 2024, and apart from demolishing best ever American proxy, the news are really bad. Like this:

МОСКВА, 15 окт — РИА Новости. Рубль по итогам августа впервые стал главной валютой для расчетов за импорт товаров и услуг из стран азиатского региона, следует из анализа РИА Новости данных Банка России. В конце лета его доля в платежах достигла рекордных 43,6% против 42,9% месяцем ранее. При этом удельный вес рубля превысил валюты дружественных стран в августе на 0,6 процентного пункта, что позволило российской валюте стать основной для оплаты поставок. Рекордную долю рубль также занял в расчетах за африканские товары, увеличившись на 0,5 процентного пункта — до 69,9%, а также за поставки из Океании, где им оплачивается 84,3%. В целом в августе российская валюта стала использоваться в импорте немного меньше — 44,7% против 45,9% в июле. Одновременно сократилась и доля дружественных валют — сразу на 2,2 процентного пункта, до 31,2%. А вот главными бенефициарами стали "токсичные" валюты, в которых стали оплачивать 24,1% российского импорта против 20,7% месяцем ранее. Главным образом это произошло за счет увеличения доли недружественных валют в расчетах за импорт из Азии (+1,1 процентного пункта, 13,3%), Америки (+8,3 процентного пункта, 71%) и Европы (+6,9 процентного пункта, 49,3%).

Translation: MOSCOW, 15 Oct — RIA Novosti. The ruble became the main currency for payments for imported goods and services from Asian countries for the first time in August, according to RIA Novosti’s analysis of Bank of Russia data. At the end of summer, its share in payments reached a record 43.6% against 42.9% a month earlier. At the same time, the share of the ruble exceeded the currencies of friendly countries in August by 0.6 percentage points, which allowed the Russian currency to become the main one for paying for deliveries. The ruble also took a record share in payments for African goods, increasing by 0.5 percentage points to 69.9%, as well as for deliveries from Oceania, where it is used to pay for 84.3%. Overall, the Russian currency began to be used slightly less in imports in August — 44.7% against 45.9% in July. At the same time, the share of friendly currencies also decreased — by 2.2 percentage points, to 31.2%. But the main beneficiaries were "toxic" currencies, which began to pay for 24.1% of Russian imports, compared to 20.7% a month earlier. This was mainly due to the increase in the share of unfriendly currencies in payments for imports from Asia (+1.1 percentage points, 13.3%), America (+8.3 percentage points, 71%) and Europe (+6.9 percentage points, 49.3%).

These numbers (with minor fluctuations) are the material manifestation of what real military power buys one, not just sovereignty but the ability to trade with your partners in whatever currency and on whatever conditions one wants. And Kazan is coming...