It's a random utterance written in a personal telegram channel by a man with little real power. Using it as a basis for such a far reaching conclusion about Putin's intent to conquer all of Europe is quite strange to put it politely.
That's merely a tactic for making threats with plausible deniability. Message gets transmitted, but in a way that shifts authorship away from its true source. Trump uses "people are saying" in this manner, Putin has an actual lackey in flesh doing the talking.
The grandparent was mistaken about an intent to conquer "all" of Europe - but similar threats have been made against Poland and the Baltics (as Putin's appetite for direct annexation seems to be limited to territories of the former Russian Empire).
Communicating through sockpuppets like Medvedev is exactly how a gaslighter par excellence like Putin operates. And Medvedev isn't just any Kremlin flacky, but was Putin's nominal successor at one point. To pretend to not be aware that his messaging on the subject is ultimately Putin's is quite strange, to put it politely.
>Communicating through sockpuppets like Medvedev is exactly how a gaslighter par excellence like Putin operates.
Quite the opposite, in fact. Putin's Munich speech in 2007 was as direct as it gets.
Anyway, your suggestion that Putin telegraphs his true intent (to occupy Poland and Baltics) through sockpuppet doesn't make any sense -- why would anyone do that? Medvedev playing bad cop routine -- that I can imagine, but what you are suggesting is quite strange, to put it politely.
