Ten Years Ago Today, Putin Declared War

Brian Whitmore
RFE/RL, February 10th, 2017

Ten years ago today, a cold wind blew in Munich. A decade ago today, Vladimir
Putin telegraphed his intentions.

On February 10, 2007, the Kremlin leader threw down the gauntlet to the West.
On that day, Putin stunned the Munich Security Conference with a bellicose speech in
which he railed against the post-Cold War international order and suggested that Russia
was preparing to challenge it.

And, in fact, they already were challenging it. Just months before Putins speech,
Kremlin agents assassinated Aleksandr Litvinenko in downtown London. And they got
away with it.

The Putin regime learned that it could commit murder in a Western capital with few
consequences. And a year and a half after Putins speech, Russian troops rolled into
Georgia. And they got away with it.

The Putin regime learned that it could invade a neighbor with few consequences. In the
10 years since the Munich speech, Putin has been busy ripping apart the rules-based
international order from South Ossetia to Crimea to the Donbas to Aleppo.

And in the decade since, Russia has assaulted the West itself, hacking its institutions,
kidnapping its citizens, and subverting its politics. And there is no indication that this is
going to stop anytime soon.

A decade ago Putin telegraphed all of this. And if the message wasnt entirely clear to all
then it sure is now. We didnt know it at the time, but Putins Munich speech was a
declaration of war.

Article from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty rferl.org 2017 RFE/RL, Inc. Article
also appeared at rferl.org/a/daily-vertical-10-years-ago-today-putin-declared-war/
28302092.html