The key strategy of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to teach Russia a lesson was revealed yesterday to be two-pronged. First, with Europe incapable of providing its proxy with an air defense, and with their getting no traction the last couple of weeks to have Washington re-engage, Brussels’ leading warmongers—Britain, France, and Germany—promised to buy more weapons from the U.S. via the PURL program later in June. Ukraine’s acting president Volodymyr Zelensky had already stated that this would not do the trick, but that’s all he could get.
Second, was sticking it to Moscow by boldly moving the Ukraine-NATO Council meeting to Kiev and taunting Moscow with a drone circus over the port of St. Petersburg. Meeting in Kiev was to say they don’t listen to Moscow’s warnings about increased dangers to parts of Kiev.
The night before, Ukraine had launched drone attacks against targets in St. Petersburg as 20,000 participants were arriving for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The attack allowed for a photo op, displayed in the media of Kiev’s backers, of delegates arriving with billows of smoke in the distance. Rutte made clear that the operation was a sequel to the threats made against the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow, where Russia celebrated the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany. Rutte crowed that Zelenskyy controlled what went on in Russia, pointing to him and saying: “Ukraine is now so successful that Putin is only able to organize a 9 May parade with an official presidential decree by this President.” And: “I think for two hours you allowed him [Putin] to do it? And it ended in 1 hour and 55 minutes, so he didn’t risk.”
The Kiev Independent opened its coverage of yesterday’s attack: “Black smoke hung over St. Petersburg on the morning of June 3 as the first delegates arrived for Russia’s flagship economic forum. Ukraine had been busy in the night… The attack unfolded as dignitaries arrived for the 2026 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.”
