Professor John Mearsheimer (@MearsheimerJ) warns that Western leaders’ rhetoric — including Ursula von der Leyen’s — “reinforces the point” that Moscow now believes the West is fully in the fight.
He says that from Vladimir Putin’s perspective, “Europe has basically declared war on Russia,” and that the U.S. and Ukraine “don’t respect Russian red lines.”
Mearsheimer adds that President Trump, who once vowed to end the war, is now “moving in that direction” toward escalation — driven partly by events in the Iran war.
His question is blunt and chilling: “If you’re in Putin’s shoes… what do you do?”
This is the most dangerous phase of the conflict — and the West may be sleepwalking into it.
👉 Watch the full clip — the stakes for U.S. strategy and European security are enormous.
