There is pressure on Scholz to send long-range TAURUS cruise missiles to Ukraine, missiles that could reach Moscow. So far, Scholz has refused. But recall that Scholz caved to pressure to join U.S. sanctions on Russian energy sources in 2022, despite the cost to German industry.

Russian intelligence reports an intercepted discussion among German officers about how the TAURUS missiles could be used to destroy the long bridge connecting Crimea, which is part of Russia, with Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin then reminded the [neo]imperialist governments in the West that Russia is also a nuclear power and that Russian strategy allows for the use of these weapons if its existence and sovereignty are threatened.

Perhaps Macron finally heard Putin. Perhaps he heard the workers and farmers of France. On March 16 he walked back his threat to send ground troops. He started muttering about brokering a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Olympic Games, which begin in Paris July 26.