As the Russian army now moves into Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly painful to realize that the West has failed to prevent this war , despite its best efforts.

And so, with the result almost predetermined, we must turn our attention to what the future may hold for us. This question was answered this week by the President of the United States, Joe Biden during probably the most important speech of his presidency, so far.

Putin’s goal, the U.S. president said, is to restore the Soviet Union. But here an issue of great importance is raised. An issue that could lead to the greatest danger to man to date for his own survival on Earth: Nuclear conflict. Putin raised this possibility for the first time since Khrushchev: “As for military affairs, even after the dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerable part of its capabilities, today’s Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states.”

The point is that the conquest of Ukraine is not enough to achieve the revival of the Soviet Union. Several of the other member states of the former Soviet Union are already members of NATO. So what will NATO do? Will it fight, if necessary, to defend them, as is called for in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty which established NATO, or will it back down, something that would naturally lead to its disintegration? To avoid misunderstanding, but also as a warning to Putin, Biden was very clear in his speech the day before yesterday:

“As I made crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power”. He added: “The only thing that I’m convinced of is: If we don’t stop him now, he’ll be emboldened.”

This reasoning is a result of the experience of the Second World War, or rather, the appeasement that was aimed at preventing it. When the nations of Europe, in order to avoid a new catastrophic war – 20 years after the First World War – made significant concessions to Hitler, with the known result. So the same mistake cannot be repeated.

Putin chose this time to carry out his grandiose plans, concluding that the West is in decline. That it is lazy. That it has strayed from his principles and values. That, in other words, it is weakened.

It is not difficult to understand this analysis and agree with it to some degree, mainly regarding the internal situation in the USA, the creation of which, however, Putin himself played an important role by interfering in the elections and by sowing fake news that divided and thus weakened the country. But his knowledge of American history is superficial. Because if he knew history better, he would understand Biden’s statement that: “America stands up to bullies. We stand up for freedom. This is who we are.”

Let’s hope that humanity will avoid a third world war. But we must prepare for the worst in order to have the best result.