I hate the format of American Thinker, but this is worth pondering and I'll save you the slog of the first 2/3 of the article.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/08/is_war_with_russia_merely_an_abstraction.htmlOn July 27, the German government “submitted a formal Letter of Request to the United States to procure the Typhon mobile missile system.”
The Typhon system can employ both the Tomahawk cruise missile, which has a 1600 kilometre range, and the SM-6 multi-purpose missile which can be used for both ballistic missile defence and for medium-range anti shipping. The German Defence Ministry is reportedly primarily interest [sic] in the long range strike capabilities provided by the Tomahawk.
President Putin reacted with fury at this announcement, as the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile can reach Moscow from German territory in 10 minutes.
On Tuesday, July 29, President Trump announced he had shortened Moscow’s timeline “from 50 days to just 10 to show progress on ending the war in Ukraine. If Russia fails to comply, Washington will impose fresh tariffs and sanctions.” Based upon information published in June, Russia and Ukraine are still worlds apart when it comes to agreeing on terms to end the war.
The spark that sets off an out-of-control chain reaction can be ignited in unlikely places. Take Kaliningrad, for example. Formerly known as Königsberg, the 70-km-wide slice of land was under German control until the Allies ceded the territory to the Soviet Union in 1946. Kaliningrad is a strategic port that houses Russia’s Baltic fleet and is one of the most militarized regions in Europe. It is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, and the only Russian land access to Kaliningrad consists of a rail line in a strip of land called the Suwalki Gap that runs through Lithuania from Belarus to Kaliningrad.
Since June 2022, Lithuania has been restricting rail transit of European-sanctioned goods to and from Kaliningrad. Just a couple weeks ago, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander General Chris Donahue added to the tension by saying NATO forces could capture Kaliningrad “in a timeframe that is unheard of” if necessary, which elicited the following response:
Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, warned that any attack on Kaliningrad would trigger retaliatory measures. “An attack on the Kaliningrad region is tantamount to an attack on Russia,” Slutsky said, according to Russian state-owned TASS news agency. “With all the corresponding retaliatory measures, including the use of nuclear weapons.”
