Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin talking during 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Benouville Castle, France. Regis Duvignau / Reuters
Putin 'Privately Threatened To Invade Poland, Romania And The Baltic States' -- The Telegraph
German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reports that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told European Commission that Putin made the threat in a recent conversation.
President Vladimir Putin privately threatened to invade Poland, Romania and the Baltic states, according to a record of a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart.
"If I wanted, in two days I could have Russian troops not only in Kiev, but also in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Warsaw and Bucharest," Mr Putin allegedly told President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, reported Süddeustche Zeitung, a German newspaper.
If true, this would be the first time that Mr Putin has threatened to invade Nato or EU members. Any threat to send Russian troops into the capitals of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Romania would cause grave alarm among Western leaders.
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Update #1: EU silent on reported Putin threat against east Europe -- AFP
Update #2: Putin's Bullying Gets Scarier and Subtler -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
My Comment: This threat is similar to the one that EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Putin made a few weeks ago in a telephone conversation .... but it should be noted that those remarks were then "clarified" by Moscow a few days later .... Kremlin Official: Putin's 'I Can Take Kiev In Two Weeks' Remark Was Taken Out Of Context.
Now .... according to a German source .....Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is saying the same thing (but expanded to include the Baltics and Poland) .... an accusation that he apparently made after having a meeting with the same EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso who accused Putin of making the remark that he could "take Kiev in two weeks". Consider me skeptical .... but this is an incredibly serious accusation .... and considering the gravity of it all I am hopeful that more information is released soon (like a taped record of the conversation) .... rather than just hearsay.