Putin Taking Bold Steps in the Middle East

NATO observers are noting with alarm that a Russian flotilla, including an aircraft carrier carrying strike aircraft and headed for the eastern Mediterranean, apparently meant to be part of a massive strike on Aleppo in Syria. “They are deploying all of the Northern fleet and much of the Baltic fleet in the largest surface deployment since the end of the Cold War,” a NATO diplomat said on condition of anonymity. “This is not a friendly port call. In two weeks, we will see a crescendo of air attacks on Aleppo as part of Russia’s strategy to declare victory there.”