Putin Demanding of Ukraine Now What Stalin Demanded of Baltic Countries Before Annexing Them Completely, ‘Continuation Follows’ Portal Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Jan. 2 – Moscow is doing something now that it has done before, the Continuation Follows portal says. The Putin regime is demanding from Ukraine almost exactly what Stalin demanded from the Baltic countries in 1939 and 1940 before moving to annex them completely.
    Like Stalin with the Baltic countries 85 years ago, Putin is demanding that Ukraine adopt a friendly attitude toward Russia, that it not enter into any military-political blocs that Moscow opposes, and that it accept the presence on Ukrainian territory of a limited contingent of Russian forces (prosleduet.media/details/occupation-of-the-baltic-countries/).
    One of the reasons few want to talk about such parallels is that less than a year after Stalin made these demands and the isolated Baltic governments felt compelled to accept them, the Soviet dictator moved to annex the three leading to an occupation that lasted until the Soviet Union collapsed a half century later.
    Four years ago, Putin published in the National Interest an article about how World War II began and openly stated that the Baltic countries were absorbed into the USSR not by force but “on the basis of a treaty agreed to by the elected leaders,” an action he insisted “corresponded to international law at that time” (nationalinterest.org/print/feature/vladimir-putin-real-lessons-75th-anniversary-world-war-ii-162982).
    What is tragic is that Putin is following Stalin’s playbook step by step, and the Western democracies instead of recognizing this as the opening round of a new world war are pushing Ukraine to come to an agreement with the instigator. At least in 1940, the US and some Western countries adopted a non-recognition policy.
    One can only wonder whether they would be willing to do the same if Putin takes even more steps along the path Stalin trod. The likely answer is anything but encouraging.