As president of Russia, Vladimir Putin has been playing with fire for quite some time now. His opponents have been wiped out by treacherous tactics on the part of Putin himself and the oligarchs close to him.
If Xi Jinping of China is the world's most powerful man, conventional wisdom puts Vladimir V. Putin a close second - but the latter is more despotic, crueler and more brutal, taking into consideration last March attempted killings of a double agent and his daughter in the United Kingdom.
It is true that Moscow's in extremis intervention prevented the collapse of Syria's brutal dictator Bashar-al-Assad, and preserved Russia's sole foothold in the Middle East. But having put his finger in the dyke, Mr Putin cannot remove it or Mr Assad will drown. So Putin is now stuck in the middle of multiple conflicts he cannot control - between the Assad regime and the rebels; between Turkey and the Kurds; between American-led coalition forces and the Islamic state; between Israel, Syria and Iran; between Sunni and Shiite. With this cube of conflicting interests, Mr Putin has made partners on one front and adversaries on another - most notably the United Kingdom, for the continued shock waves he is sending to Britain's political establishment and citizens alike.
Mr Putin has made his own bare-chested virility synonymous with a resurgent Russia. He seems to be playing on every chessboard, from Russia to the Middle East, from Europe to America. During last year's State of the Nation speech, he bragged about Russia's nuclear arsenal, with new sophisticated weapons in the works - even if his rhetoric far outpaced their technical reality.
A masterful painter of façades, Mr Putin's meddling in foreign affairs is feeding a growing, gnawing case of indigestion, especially in the UK. Since the last case of Novichok poisoning a few weeks ago, of two innocent British citizens living close to Salisbury, people are feeling more uneasy and uncomfortable. And it is masking a deep-set rot in Russia itself. Putin's attempted murder of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury just a couple of months ago and the latest episode of Novichok poisoning must be met with force. His aggression and his threats are unacceptable. His low-cost, high impact meddling in Western democracies must be forcefully stopped.
NATO is now more energised than it has been in years and it is high time that this alliance acts as swiftly as it can by teaching this menace a lesson: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
Jos Edmond Zarb
Birkirkara