Russian President Vladimir Putin, always paranoid about enemies, may be feeling cornered this spring. His army is at a standstill in Ukraine, despite suffering enormous casualties. He appears powerless to help Iran, one of his few allies. And his best friend in Europe, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, just got dumped.

Worse problems are probably ahead. The Russian economy, despite a momentary windfall from the spike in oil prices, is a mess. European nations are getting stronger and angrier, with NATO forces arrayed from the White Sea in the Arctic to the Black Sea in the south. And the Ukraine war is grinding on with little chance of the decisive victory that Putin craves.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, always paranoid about enemies, may be feeling cornered this spring. His army is at a standstill in Ukraine, despite suffering enormous casualties. He appears powerless to help Iran, one of his few allies. And his best friend in Europe, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, just got dumped.

Worse problems are probably ahead. The Russian economy, despite a momentary windfall from the spike in oil prices, is a mess. European nations are getting stronger and angrier, with NATO forces arrayed from the White Sea in the Arctic to the Black Sea in the south. And the Ukraine war is grinding on with little chance of the decisive victory that Putin craves.

If you’re Putin, feeling so embattled, you might be starting to think about the next war—against Europe—even as you slog ahead in Ukraine. You could even be wondering if the time to strike might be soon—before European nations fully rearm, before Ukraine develops new weapons that can reach even deeper into Russia, and while your chum President Donald Trump is in the White House treating........

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