John J. Mearsheimer

And since that war broke out, we have a situation where Ukraine...

which was backed by the United States, invaded Mother Russia.

Just want to think about that.

Ukraine, an ally of the United States, a country we're supporting, invaded Mother Russia.

Then, that was in August of 2024, then in February of 2025, Ukraine attacked one leg of the strategic nuclear triad of Russia.

It went after its nuclear bomber force.

And it was supported – again, Ukraine is supported by the United States.

It gets intelligence from the United States.

These kind of actions were unthinkable during the Cold War.

So here you have a situation today where we are right on Russia's doorstep.

And we are supporting Ukraine, which invaded Mother Russia and is launching attacks on its strategic nuclear triad.

The Russians think that this is categorically unacceptable.

And they're going to go to enormous lengths to prevent this from continuing.

They're going to win the war.

They're determined to win the war.

And they're determined to make sure that NATO does not continue fighting.

working with the Ukrainians, to hit targets deep inside Russia.

They feel like their survival is threatened.

They feel like they've been backed into a corner.

And when great powers feel like they've been backed into a corner, you never want to underestimate the risk that they're willing to take.