By Mike Whitney

Unfortunately, at some point, the idea of using Ukraine to achieve this goal was conceived. In fact, to prevent such a development, we launched the special military operation (SMO). This is precisely what some western countries –led by the United States– strive for; to create an anti-Russian enclave and then threaten us from this direction. Preventing this from happening is our primary goal. Vladimir Putin

Here's your geopolitical quiz for the day: What did Angela Merkel mean when she said "that the Cold War never really ended, because ultimately Russia was never pacified"?

Merkel was referring to the fact that Russia has never accepted its subordinate role in the "Rules-based Order."
Merkel was referring to the fact that Russia's economic collapse did not produce the 'compliant state' western elites had hoped for.
Merkel is suggesting that the Cold War was never really a struggle between democracy and communism, but a 45 year-long effort to "pacify" Russia.
What Merkel meant was that the western states –particularly the United States– do not want a strong, prosperous and independent Russia but a servile lackey that does as it is told.
All of the above.
If you chose (5), then pat yourself on the back. That is the right answer.

Last week, Angela Merkel confirmed what many analysts have been saying for years, that Washington's hostile relations with Russia –which date back more than a century– have nothing to do with ideology, 'bad behavior' or alleged "unprovoked aggression". Russia's primary offense is that it occupies a strategic area of the world that contains vast natural resources and which is critical to Washington's "pivot to Asia" plan. Russia's real crime is that its mere existence poses a threat to the globalist project to spread US military bases across Central Asia, encircle China, and become the regional hegemon in the world's most prosperous and populous region.