Time to get tougher with Putin

Despite all the weapons provided by the US and the rest of Nato and the huge losses suffered by the Russian troops, Vladimir Putin is still pursuing his war as if he cares not a jot about the thousands of his soldiers who have been killed, anything between 7,000 and 10,000. There is no way Putin is in a compromising mood. He will go on and on until he gets what he wants and will then start thinking of what to do next. This 21st century Hitler act-alike has to be stopped. It's time I fear for Nato to get tougher. I don't mean declare war. But the alliance now needs to send even more fighter aircraft and missiles to eastern Europe to be ready to strike at Russian targets in Ukraine in the event of any move by Putin to extend his aggression towards the Baltics or Poland. Putin may be thinking that he can get away with pushing his luck by sending a fighter plane or armed drone into Nato territory, believing that Joe Biden might be reluctant to retaliate for fear of it leading to the Third World War. The fact is that Putin cannot possibly want a full war in Europe with Nato because he would lose, so if he dares to order a strike of any kind against Nato territory, Biden and the whole alliance must respond with instant retaliation. President Zelensky of Ukraine and columnists in US papers are saying the Third World War has probably already started. But my conviction that this is wrong is based on what we know about Putin. He did not invade Georgia, Crimea, eastern Ukraine and now the whole of Ukraine in order to fight a full-scale war with Nato that would lead inevitably to a nuclear exchange. He did all these things because he thought, rightly in the case of Georgia, Crimea and eastern Ukraine, that he could get away with it without causing a Third World War. This time it's different. He knows that Biden and Nato will fight him if he sends any of his military forces into Nato's eastern flank. Putin does not want a Third World War. This is why Nato needs to send him an ultimatum. The destruction of Ukraine has to stop or every MiG-29 in the Polish air force will be sent to Ukraine. In other words, Biden has to change his mind. Remember, Mr President, Putin will be terrified of causing a Third World War.